Friday Inspiration—Fear and Freedom from Fear

Published: Fri, 10/21/16

"If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place."

~Lao Tzu

Dear ,

Fear is a survival reaction built into the human body. When even the tiniest threat is perceived, in a matter of milliseconds the brain reacts and the body is in a state of fight or flight. Have you felt that?

This bare physical reaction isn't problematic until the brain's thinking processes get involved. The mind adds in personalized stories that breed chronic worry, anxiety, and a sense of inadequacy.

Thinking about fear, worry, and doubt is at the root of feeling alienated and unhappy. With attention caught in the mind, we overlook the immediate, expansive aliveness of our true nature.

So let's untangle the contraction around the fear response. The key insight is to not believe the content of the thoughts, and the key practice is to withdraw attention from thoughts and physical sensations, allowing them to be present as is without making them real through identifying with them.

Then attention is free to rest deeply in itself, which is the sacred return to our natural state. In any moment, we know ourselves as consciousness—fully welcoming the arising of fear yet not being touched by it.

Love always,

Gail