This prospect of exploring deeper reasons for fears may evoke discomfort, but its necessary for self-mastery. You can’t master a fear that is hidden in your subconscious. You must face it. As you face a person, you see features more clearly, identify traits and behaviours. Similarly, as you explore your fears, you notice things you missed before. This awareness helps you reclaim power that you may have unconsciously given away.
To face your fears and anxiety, keeping a day or dream journal can assist. Record observations, palpable or visceral sensations and behaviour patterns. Do your hands go clammy and muscles clench as perform regular tasks? Do you feel more anxious at different times of day, in certain places or during specific weather? What do you tend to do when fears arise? Write whatever feels significant. Transferring your fear patterns and symptoms into writing or pictures deflates their power and helps demystify them. They are no longer as intimidating.
You may discover more than one kind of fear-based pattern in yourself. To get a handle on this, it helps to break the situation down into fragments. Focusing on each apparent fear individually reveals how to respond in empowering ways. For example, if it appears that you fear taking more responsibility in your life and some life areas seem scarier or more daunting than others, making systematic changes in small steps can be more manageable than undertaking a lot of changes or bigger ones altogether. If procrastination and tidiness seems an issue, then appraoch this one room of your house at a time. As confidence builds, you'll find you naturally work faster, make more changes that feel right intuitively without thinking. The thinking itself points to fear that invites addressing.
3: Consciously engage the Imagination
Imagination gives you power, creativity, and ability to see a wider view. If fuelled by fear, an active imagination can focus attention on the negative, magnify illusion. However, you can purposely use it to see through fear.
How do engage more consciously? Pinpoint a calm moment when you are relaxed. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a situation that repeatedly evokes fear. For instance, if you are afraid of being lost in a crowd, picture yourself in a crowded place. Now, imagine yourself handling the situation peacefully. You don’t freeze and begin to cry. Instead, you search for signs that will help you regain your sense of control over your life and direction. Imagine how it feels to find your car easily in a huge parking lot, to unlock your car door, and drive safely home. The peace felt in your imagined scenario can help you manage the actual ordeal more peacefully.
Your fear and anxiety arise out of a certain part of your brain, and they allow emotion to overcome rational thought. When you feel your fearful symptoms coming forth, engage a different part of your brain. Reflect on numbers, for instance. Before and after breathwork workshops, we ask participants to rate their pain and emotions on a scale of 1-10. Use this scale for your fear. How anxious are you when 1 is perfectly calm and 10 is your very worst symptom? Stop and analyze. Whatever your answer, you can work on lowering that.
5: Focus on Your Breathing
Breathing is a powerful healing tool. Every emotion can be linked to a particular frequency, breathing pattern and rhythm. Anxiety is often noticable due to short breaths. The short breaths precipitate negative reactions in your body which can escalate. The key to overcoming those is to consciously control your breathing.
Many useful breathing techniques exist. For instance, deep breathing is simple. As you recognize fear arising, stop and focus on your breath. Take a breath in, and then slowly let it out. Ensure your exhale is longer than your inhale. This isn’t just some psychological trick; deep breathing forces your body to physically calm itself.
You may hear about mindfulness, but what is it? A passive thinking activity. It allows you to grow more aware of your fear. The earlier you grow aware of fearful signs and symptoms, the easier it is to overcome your fear.
Practice these mindfulness tips during some of your less severe times of fear and anxiety. As you recognize your fear symptoms arising, sit down and reflect oon what is happening to you. This is like making a mental journal entry. Simply observe symptoms as they arise. Sit and keep track of yourself as the moment continues. Being passive or calmly abiding, raises your self-awareness, and it prevents you from doing the typical things you do when you experience fear. It helps get you break patterns.
Many approaches exist to work through your fears and anxiety. Talk therapy can be useful. Creating regular spiritual practices reveals that to truly heal you must feel. Breathwork, yoga, somatic therapy all help you make the unconscious conscious. Benefits are reinforced in Nature. Walking outside shifts your energy into balance. Natural beauty found in parks, backyards, or wherever something green is growing does help reduce symptoms of fear and anxiety. Nature calms people, reducing stress levels and changing moods from anxious to relaxed. Plus, the physical activity of moving outdoors requires us to use our brains differently, which can cause a switch from irrational fearful thoughts to clearer more engaged heart-mind & brain activity that helps dissolve fear.