Lets talk about fear

What is fear, anyway?  

It can show up in thoughts as anxiety, worry, and lamenting about situations and circumstances that are seemingly contrary to our desires. (I see you, politics.)

It can show up in response to a threat to our physical life or way of being. (I see you, Covid.)

Fear is an experience of the nervous system. Something within us senses danger. The danger may be real and imminent or it may be recurring thought that that keeps your nervous system in constant response.

Fear is a response. It is not meant to linger. It's meant to be experienced as a communication to  activate physical action in that moment, and then released.

That is generally not how we experience it. Everything around us these days inspires fear.

I watched a Russell Brand video on Instagram last night. I was surprised to see how many #Trump2020 responses there were in the comments.  My heart tightened, my belly screamed, and my mind generated all sorts of fear thoughts about the possibility of him winning the election again. 

When I load up the NY Times on my phone, it has the daily coronavirus hospital and death count in red font reminding me that just outside my door lingers a threat to my and my family’s lives.

Then, to add insult to injury, my Facebook feed is sprinkled (okay, more than sprinkled) with political arguments from reasonable people who can get unreasonable really fast.

I observe fear being projected at me everywhere.  In response, I’m noticing a revolt in the wellness social media space. Some yogis, energy healers, and self-described light workers push back against the fear they feel is being fed to them by the corporate media narratives.

They refuse to accept any narrative presented to them in the media. They distrust everything they read or watch. They shout that fear of the coronavirus is the problem, not the coronavirus itself. 

But from my perspective, this is just another expression of fear. 

Collectively, we are all scared shitless. Whether we admit it or not, we have to be. What we see in the world around us is simply a reflection of our inner worlds.

When we change our inner world, our outer world changes. It cannot be any other way. This is the work we do as we self-actualize into more conscious, compassionate, and present human beings.

Even as I write this, I feel fear. My chest is tight, my belly nervous, and my breath is shallow. Yes, at 6am Friday morning, while my family is sleeping soundly, my home is warm and cozy, and my fridge is filled with food. I could not be any safer. 

Yet, I feel scared. Is it the outside world?  No, it can’t be because my experience of the outside world is a reflection of my inner world.

Like attracts like, so I dig deeper.  Where are the threads of thought and belief vibration that resonate with fear?

Fears that are unconscious cause problems. They keep us from leaving our homes for fear of getting sick (wear a mask). They cause us to pace our apartments lamenting about the Supreme Court (vote). 

How do we make the unconscious conscious? Our yoga and meditation practices are golden opportunities to do this. Use these practices to go inward. Examine your own psyche. Your fears are in there. Name them and feel them. Feel where these fears live in the body. Sit with your fears, feel them for at least ninety seconds, and then release them. Breathe. You don’t have to have your subconscious fears infecting daily experiences.

And do your best. Be gentle with yourself. Give yourself grace. I’m learning this, too. Let’s practice this together. 

Let us surrender together. Let us pray together. 

Together, may we bow to a consciousness that is bigger than our own and I ask:

Please guide my life for the greatest good of all.

Please infuse my mind and my heart with the knowledge of the next step to take that is in service to the greatest good of all involved.

May my fear serve as an alarm clock to remind me that love is more powerful, that surrender is the path to peace and that in the larger fabric of our mysterious existence; all is as it should be for the greatest good of all. 

Fear is rampant in this world right now. What a powerful opportunity to change it from the inside out.