tsol
the most helpful thing for me was when my college T told me to relax when i was panicing because you cant panic and relax at the same time. that seemed to stick in my head so when i was superanxious, my mind would repeat, whatdoido, whatdoido and another part of me popped in with relax. whic includes the breathing. but reminding myself a lot when i am not anxious or upset of what i can do when i am anxious or upset seems to work. i do a lot of self-talk. its like a mantra -"you cant panic and relax at the same time","i recognize my anxiety, i embrace my anxiety, i release my anxiety"(as i breathe in and out) by practicing these things when i am not upset, they are more readily available to me when i am upset cause when i am upset i start grasping desperatelyat straws to make that feeling go away and these skills are right there because i have been thinking about them regularly...thats right, im supposed to breathe, relax. so i start using them and for the most part they work to reduce my anxiety.

visualizing - i dont "see" images either. i think them. if you go with it, you can still think a pretty good picture if you go to get all the senses involved. think what it would smell, feel, temperatures, sounds, sense the ground under yur feet, the wind in your hair. its a little more difficult than for those who can see the images but with practice yu can get a pretty good pic without the visual.

meditating - i suck at it. cant shut the mind down. too much noise.

maybe getting a relaxation tape could help you, just a simple one that goes through relaxing your muscles from head to toe so you know what your body feels like when it is relaxed. that way when you tell yourself to relax and breathe, your body will be able to respond.

good luck.