These bodies we live in are built for survival, and fear is the gatekeeper. It protects us and keeps us safe by being on guard for any danger coming our way. Fear breeds caution, vigilance, and suspicion.
Which is fine if a hungry lion is chasing you. But if your intention is to align with infinite possibility and live from love, then fear deserves your attention.
Simply said, running from fear doesn’t work. If we avoid turning to face it, it will nip at our heels forever.
What does this mean? We live a fear-led life, choosing partners, jobs, and friends out of fear. Habits and addictions run wild because we’re afraid of meeting our feelings.
We feel fragmented and separate—and disconnected from the simple ease in life we somehow know is
possible.
Rather than running from fear, the invitation is to make fear your friend.
Befriending fear is like the martial art of aikido. The philosophy behind aikido is to join with the motion of your attacker rather than
opposing them. You’re in harmony with what’s happening rather than fighting it, even caring about the well-being of the one attacking you.
We already know how to fight with fear, but how to be in harmony with the motion of it?
- Turn toward fear, take
a deep breath, and open to it with curiosity and a loving heart;
- Get to know how it spins thoughts that deflate you—and connect with what you really want, what is most alive in you;
- Explore to see if there are other emotions underneath fear, such as sadness or grief, and offer
them space to be;
- Attend to your body, as the experience of fear has a somatic quality. Feel the sensations and energy in your body, do practices to relax your nervous system, and bring your attention into the present moment by connecting through your senses.
Fear can be the voice of reason and caution and may serve you well at times. But unexamined fear keeps you locked into the diminished world of “no” and “can’t.”
The medicine is to befriend fear—every time it appears. Welcome it and love it, and it will lose its power. Then look beyond fear.
Be in harmony with the creative life force (so alive!) waiting for the space to move you.
Love to you,
Gail