Danny Trejo Says He Has Anxiety Attacks: 'I Blow into a Bag' to Handle Them

Danny Trejo shared that he struggles with anxiety attacks — but relies on an old-school way to handle hyperventilating.

“I have anxiety attacks, you know, a lot, but I blow into a bag. That always helps me,” Trejo, 80, told host Michael Rosenbaum on the Nov. 5 episode of his podcast, Inside of You.

But Trejo said that he tries to stay in a grateful state of mind, which he says can help prevent those episodes of anxiety. “There's an attitude of gratitude that we have to keep. You know what I mean? It's like, man, I don't know how to say it.”

“I'm so grateful,” he continued. “I'm so grateful that I'm on the green side of the grass.” 

The Spy Kids alum and cookbook author, who released Trejo's Cantina last year, mentioned a good friend who passed away at age 56, saying he was “a beautiful guy” — and it was his passing that inspired him to make sure he does something positive every day.

“It’s like, wait a minute, man. He's got me here for some reason. I know it's not to do bad, so I gotta do good every day. Gotta help somebody every — I don't care what it is. I don't care if you go to a neighbor. Just knock on the door. ‘Hey, are you okay?’ ‘Yeah. I'm fine, Dan. Could you help me take out the trash?’ “ 

“Sure. I'm okay. And help them take out the trash or whatever.” 

“I 100% agree,” Rosenbaum chimed in. “Just a kind gesture. Just do something for another human being, not yourself.”

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“It's funny because I got dogs. I love dogs. And there's this one lady who — I guess she had hurt her leg — we always would see her walking her dog. And so, Mario, my assistant, I see knocks on her doors. ‘Hey. Would you like me to walk your dog? I've noticed you haven't walked [your dog].’ “

“ ‘Oh, yeah. Oh, thank you. Thank you.’ And the soon as she grabs the leash, the dog is jumping up and down walking,” Trejo explained, adding that the kind gesture took “ten minutes.” 

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“You know what I mean? What is that out of your life? And yet—” 

“It means something to someone else’s life,” Rosenbaum interjected. 

“That's the way I wanna live my life,” Trejo said. “And I think that's one of the reasons I got to be 80.”