Although fear can feel like an indestructible force, overcoming fear is easier than you think. We can feel very vulnerable when we have to respond to a situation, and feel unable to do so.
Sensing our own vulnerability, can activate an intense fear. Fear can have a very powerful effect, as the instinct to survive! takes over our thoughts, emotions, and actions.
What is Fear?
Fear is a biological response to threat. It is an instinctive response to perceived danger. Fear will arise when our safety is uncertain. This is a fear of the unknown. When the unknown confronts us, we are forced to face our fragility.
We can often identify what it is “out there” that is triggering fear. This is a sure sign that our survival brains are scanning the environment and have identified threats. This scanning allows us to deal with the world around us in such a way that our personal safety is guaranteed.
The truth is, that our fear arises from within. So our position of control over fear is also within us. If we are not able to face our true fears, the external circumstances will always have the upper hand and pull us by the nose, and in fact will disable us from responding well to any real dangers.
The unknown can be populated by anything within our imaginations and past experiences. Our fear of failing, of loss, of non-achievement, of isolation, of death – and all of the consequences that we associate with those fears can bubble up to fill in the blank canvas of an unknown future.
The trouble starts when we feel like fear is “out there” and in control of us “in here.”
Fear that runs the shows infests the mind, the imagination, and the emotions with unpleasant and negative outcomes, causing us to behave in ways that we otherwise would not.
When you can identify the real fear inside, that the external circumstances are triggering, you immediately put yourself into a much more powerful position over the fear instinct.
Common responses to fear include denial, disconnection, and shutting down from the external triggers. On the other end of the spectrum, fear can trigger hyperactivity of thought, emotion, and action as we take “survival into our own hands” and behave chaotically.
Neither response serves well. Both indicate a disturbance of inner balance, of clear vision, and of understanding our natural interdependence. Fear can be a very isolating experience.
Connection often helps us to allay our fears. The challenge is that when in a state of fear we either disconnect completely, or become too frenzied to connect.
How Do You Deal with Fear?
Fear is a chaotic energy that disrupts and scatters our consciousness. Love is in direct opposition to fear. Here are a few ways to stop fear before it takes over.
- Understand that fear is a sensation. You know when you are feeling fear, because your body is sending you fear signals in the form of physical sensation. Fear is a feeling that arises from the body as biological chemical and electrical signals let us know that we perceive danger. This makes fear nothing more than a phantom.
- Presence & Disidentification. Mindfulness can seem like a trite thing, but it is a very powerful state to be in. From a state of non-judgmental presence and awareness, you can experience fear without being washed away by it. It is overall a very healing state of being. This state requires that you can accept the fear without resisting or judging the sensations of it, while observing it as a totally accepting witness (like experiencing unconditional love).
- Entrainment. Instead of connecting your consciousness with fear, connect it with your heart. This has very real and measurable consequences for your physiology, neurology, and electromagnetic field. Placing your hands on your heart with the left over top of the right can instantly calm you. The hands are energetically connected with the heart, and placing them on your hear will create a circuit that allows heart energy to amplify. Sitting in the energy of your heart field is analogous to being a baby being soothed in the loving arms of a trusted person.
- Tell the truth. Psychologically speaking, there is no fear more confronting than an unnamed one. An abstract fear can really run amok in the imagination. What is the ‘thing’ that causes you to feel in danger? What does thing mean for you or about you? That’s the Core Fear. Core Fears can be existential fears that every human being must face, like the fear of death. Other Core Fears are connected with childhood wounds and our inner shadow. These fears require inner work (shadow work, inner child work, psychotherapy, energy healing, trauma release for example) to resolve completely.
We are endowed with many resources, including the ability to love, learn, grow, create, give, and receive. To get a real hold on fear, connect consciously with the heart, get heal your shadows, and see fear for what it really is – a ghost.
Rachel is a professional psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and energy healer practicing in Sydney’s Northern Beaches and remotely online. Formally trained in Psychology (BA) and Social Work (BSW, MSW), Rachel integrates spiritual awareness into psychotherapy and inner work. This enables her to practice in tune with your soul and provide healing facilitation on higher levels than conventional healing modalities.