We all have experienced fear at one time or another. Fear has the ability to paralyse us, change our breathing patterns, blood flow and generate emotional states of such as anxiety and urge to withdraw. Fear is generally “felt” as a sensation in our stomach area. Our intestines area has a neuron mass similar to those found in the brain.
It has been demonstrated that being afraid triggers the “fight or flight” response in people, our body feels the most stark effects of being afraid, this produces a host of hormones like adrenaline, that are pumped into every area of the body. These hormones and their impact prepare us to react if the need arises to physically perform beyond our standard levels.
Fear is normally triggered through from sensory information in the form of what we see, hear, smell, feel or taste. Once a certain stimuli have been interpreted as an unwanted sensation, it causes us to both subconsciously and actively avoids those sensations and triggers our “flight or fight” response.
This process is well understood, especially with regards to how language can be used to generate specific emotions, however, more alarmingly this knowledge is effectively used to generate fear within the general population by those who wish to “control” the behaviour of individuals.
There are many active examples of such fear inducing tactics, take swine flu as an example, where language is used to induce a fear response its target audiences by using highly emotive language coupled with danger. e.g “Swine flu will kill millions!” while the other “news” channels broadcast the same language in a different order “millions at risk from swine flu”, the result is through constant repetition of the same fear language we are brainwashed into the belief being propagated, thus inducing fear and therefore easier to control.
The good news is that once you recognise how fear is induced and the emotion of fear developing within oneself, it loses its control over you and enables you to manage the emotion. This simple exercise helps us work with fear
Working with fear:
Step 1: Recall a story or memory about when you experienced fear;
Step 2: Replay the memory, remembering details and allow the fear to manifest;
Step 3: Now, notice where in your body the fear is occurring;
Step 4: Take your attention off the story or memory as to why you feel fear;
Step5: Place your attention and focus on the fear itself; does it have a shape? Does it have a colour? Once you can “see” the fear, every time your mind wanders back to the memory or away, simply bring it back gently to the fear itself;
Step6: Recognise fear as being just energy, don’t try and change it, move it or dissolve it, just “see” the fear for what it is, energy that is detached from you the observer.
Meditation enables us to see our thoughts and emotions, helping us recognise that although we may thoughts, emotions, intentions or sensations, we are NOT our thoughts, emotions or sensations.
EXERCISES:
Mindfulness (by Dav Panesar)
Holding Attention (by Dav Panesar)
Five Breaths (by Dav Panesar)
