Fear is one of the most useful emotions human being can feel. If you would not fear - you would be in great danger. Fear is the tool to make us run away from dangerous situations.
I have talked about living in the present moment in earlier posts. It is a good way of living, and you should do it. Fear is something we can feel only if we are present and observing. If we are lost in our thoughts or other emotions, we will not see dangerous situation and would suffer the consequences.
I can conclude that fear is a part of our lives and we should welcome it and accept it. When someone tells you he or she does not fear anything, you ask them how can they be alive? When they ask why, ask them counter question - why you do not cross the street while the red light is on?
So we all should fear. What is then the problem? The problem lies in our evolution. When our ancestors were in wilderness surrounded by wild animals and other dangers, it was literally vital to sense fear rapidly. If sabretooth tiger was starting to run after you, you would sense fear and gain physical advantage by releasing of necessary hormones and reducing blood flow to unnecessary parts of the body. This is what we call fear.
Today, number of lethal situations is greatly reduced, but our fear mechanism stayed. Our prefrontal cortex is part of the brain tasked for imagination, and is one of the most powerful tools humans have. We can imagine things that do not exist, avoid things that are unpleasant (we do not make sea water tasting ice cream). This way we are able to think and contemplate about past and present, as if we are actually there. Our brain has power to fool the body to think that what we think about is actually happening. This is thanks to layered structure of our brain. As new parts evolved (like prefrontal cortex) they started to influence old parts (like amygdala).
When we get lost in difficult or unpleasant thoughts or emotions, our brain starts to react as if contents of our thoughts are actually happening. This way, we can get annoyed by some event that happened long ago or something we think will happen in future.
How Can We Face Fears
Facing fears is pretty abstract advice. It sounds confrontational but it is not. It is the exact opposite. You need to see your fear and find it in your body. Is it in your stomach, chest, jaw? Observe it and do not try to erase it. You will fail. Fear can not be erased or neutralized because fighting what already exists always lead to defeat. Embrace your fear and see it for what it is - unnecessary part of your life. Do not fear to lose your job or to speak in public. That fear you experience is just relic from very old times when we needed to run away from predators. Now we feel this urge when we face a dentist, which is quite silly.
By observing your fear it might not go away completely. It might be just a bit reduced. You might feel a bit more calm. You might even feel more scared when you clearly see your fear. Do not give up! Stay in the moment by watching your breath and gently return to it when your mind starts to produce fear by thinking. Do this for ten minutes.
Facing fear is an activity with steps. I gave you one example of steps to do when afraid. There are a number of methods of using mindfulness meditation available on the web.
Why We Need to Face Fears
Main reason for facing fears is that they do not just go away by themselves. For example, when you delay going to the dentist for a couple of months, your fear comes back later. Not only it comes back, but it enhances.
If we try to push away fear we will fail. No matter what we do to fight it will not make it go away. When the even we fear about passes we feel relieved. The problem is - it might happen again. We need to meet our fears eye to eye and accept them as they are.
Today, number of lethal situations is greatly reduced, but our fear mechanism stayed. Our prefrontal cortex is part of the brain tasked for imagination, and is one of the most powerful tools humans have. We can imagine things that do not exist, avoid things that are unpleasant (we do not make sea water tasting ice cream). This way we are able to think and contemplate about past and present, as if we are actually there. Our brain has power to fool the body to think that what we think about is actually happening. This is thanks to layered structure of our brain. As new parts evolved (like prefrontal cortex) they started to influence old parts (like amygdala).
When we get lost in difficult or unpleasant thoughts or emotions, our brain starts to react as if contents of our thoughts are actually happening. This way, we can get annoyed by some event that happened long ago or something we think will happen in future.
How Can We Face Fears
Facing fears is pretty abstract advice. It sounds confrontational but it is not. It is the exact opposite. You need to see your fear and find it in your body. Is it in your stomach, chest, jaw? Observe it and do not try to erase it. You will fail. Fear can not be erased or neutralized because fighting what already exists always lead to defeat. Embrace your fear and see it for what it is - unnecessary part of your life. Do not fear to lose your job or to speak in public. That fear you experience is just relic from very old times when we needed to run away from predators. Now we feel this urge when we face a dentist, which is quite silly.
By observing your fear it might not go away completely. It might be just a bit reduced. You might feel a bit more calm. You might even feel more scared when you clearly see your fear. Do not give up! Stay in the moment by watching your breath and gently return to it when your mind starts to produce fear by thinking. Do this for ten minutes.
Facing fear is an activity with steps. I gave you one example of steps to do when afraid. There are a number of methods of using mindfulness meditation available on the web.
Why We Need to Face Fears
Main reason for facing fears is that they do not just go away by themselves. For example, when you delay going to the dentist for a couple of months, your fear comes back later. Not only it comes back, but it enhances.
If we try to push away fear we will fail. No matter what we do to fight it will not make it go away. When the even we fear about passes we feel relieved. The problem is - it might happen again. We need to meet our fears eye to eye and accept them as they are.
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