Overcoming Fear Part One
Fear is a normal, natural and necessary emotion we feel. For some of us, fear is a more frequent and debilitating experience. Fear is a physiological response to danger. Our amygdala in our lower brain detects threat and sends out signals to our adrenal glands to engage our response. These responses are fight, flee or freeze. Do I attack, run, or shut down? For some of us, our amygdala is overactive and in turn, detects threat when there is none. This can be debilitating as we are trying to live our lives. So, what to do?
1. Is there a tiger in the room?
The amygdala is a vital part of our brain. Without it, we would not respond to actual danger. The amygdala formed a long time ago and hasn’t evolved beyond basic survival. It’s still looking for tigers in the room. So, it’s important for us to check our environment. Is there an actual danger? If so, we need to remove ourselves from that environment. If there is no tiger in the room, we need to address the response of fear that we’re experiencing.
2. Exercise!
It’s seems simple, but we are probably not getting enough exercise. Stress hormones are released into the bloodstream to initiate a response to fear. This happens for both real and imagined fear. These stress hormones take a while to filter through our system. Getting regular exercise is a great way to speed up the filtration of these stress hormones. Getting exercise will also increase the feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine. Go run!
3. Meditate (Om)
When we are in constant fear, our whole central nervous system pays the price. Meditation has been around for millennia and is a great way to settle our frayed central nervous systems. Meditation is difficult for many people. The idea of sitting is silence for a minute, let alone ten or fifteen can seem like torture. This is why I recommend to clients to try guided meditation to start. Getting into the practice of taking five to ten minutes a day to sit peacefully and settle an overactive system will have a positive effect on your responses to fear.
So, remember:
Check your environment, if there’s a tiger, RUN! If not, getting some regular exercise and taking time to meditate will have a positive effect on your response to fear.
Helpful resources:
Insight Timer- https://insighttimer.com
Why 10 minutes a day? https://fortune.com/well/2023/02/11/how-long-you-need-to-meditate-to-see-results-for-your-body-and-brain/
