“Having a panic attack tonight? Me too. Let’s do Tae Bo.”
That is the opener. Audri Pettirossi, known as “Dri” on social media, starts her nightly videos like this. Pajamas on. No excuses. For weeks she has been streaming herself doing Tae Bo while viewers watch from their screens. Pettirossi lives with OCD and panic attacks. She uses these old-school workouts to survive. The comment sections are proof. People try it. It works for them.
Tae Bo isn’t exactly new. Billy Blanks invented it. A karate champion turned infomercial legend. He blended taekwondo. Boxing. Aerobics. Dance. You can still find his tapes on YouTube for free. He leads a room full of people in kicking. Punching. Jumping. To 90s dance beats. It is intense. You will sweat. You will gasp. It feels like the exact opposite of the deep breathing exercises therapists usually prescribe.
Does it make sense?
Aleksandra Rayska says yes. She is a clinical psychologist in NYC. Specializing in somatic and dance therapy she looks at the body not just the mind.
When you panic your brain floods with adrenaline and cortisol. The “fight or flight” signal. Terrifying. Real. Exercise spikes cortisol too. But here is the twist. It comes down fast. Often below baseline. Immediately after the workout you get serotonin and dopamine. Feel good chemicals. Rayska puts it bluntly.
It sometimes works to match fire with fire and speed up in order to slow down.
Think about the mechanics. Panic feels chaotic. Telling someone in the middle of a spiral to “breathe slowly” can feel impossible. Absurd. Moving your body channels that adrenaline. You stop fighting the feeling and use the energy instead. It is a distraction. A heavy physical task takes precedence over racing thoughts.
Plus exercise self-regulates. Your body knows what it has done. After exertion the nervous system resets. It forces a rest. High-intensity stuff is particularly effective for this. A 2026 study in Frontiers in Psychiatry looked at 72 people with panic disorders. They split them into groups. One group did stretching and deep breathing. The other did jogging and sprints. Twelve weeks later the high-intensity group showed bigger improvements. The benefits lasted five months after the trial ended.
Is this a cure? No.
Rayska is clear on this. Fitness is a tool. Not a treatment. It helps coping but it doesn’t replace therapy. If you want to dig into the root cause you need a licensed professional. That said exercise is a powerful support. You don’t have to blast through Tae Bo. Yoga works. Slow movements work. Playfulness helps. It tells the nervous system: we are safe.
Digital workouts have another trick. Syncing movement with others—even through a screen—creates connection. A virtual coach leads the way. You follow. One less thing to decide. One less worry to carry.
It might seem wild. To run toward the panic instead of away from it. But maybe that is exactly how you pass through it. Or maybe you just need to kick the air a few times.
Who knows? You have to try it yourself.
