Think back on every self-help book,
Article,
Social media post,
Or image that encouraged you to push your fear away.
Chances are,
You're likely to come up with a few instances of such language or imagery.
That's because we're constantly in the flux of information download and just how much it all affects our everyday thinking is quite powerful.
Particularly in the industry of wellness and health,
The kind of guidance we receive from healers and teachers and experts gradually defines how we approach our own unique health needs.
When we're facing difficulties in our own life,
We tend to reach out externally for the answers to our problems.
And because we may feel desperate for a solution,
Or in moments of just utter tiredness,
We grab onto these outside pieces of advice like a life raft.
More so,
We start to label these tools and suggestions and advice as the truth long before we've explored alternate avenues or tested how these truths feel in our own bodies,
In our own minds and spirits.
This is particularly evident when it comes to the topic of fear.
We've labeled this emotion as the bad guy.
Book after book,
Image after image,
We've subscribed to the idea that fear is something to fear.
In our fervent search for ourselves,
We've pushed away the one emotion that can complete us.
This is the biggest misconception about fear and our own healing,
That it comes from removing things.
The idea that healing comes from removing the bad,
The ugly and the scared is our own self-sabotage.
It's the reason why we can't be happy,
Why we scour the world looking for joy in all the wrong places.
It's the reason why we often feel stuck in our life and we have these midlife crises where everything feels insignificantly unimportant.
Happiness isn't obtained in removing the things that keep you from your joy.
Happiness is created by allowing all of your emotions to coexist.
Sadness,
Grief,
Anger and yes,
Fear.
More than anything,
Fear.
And this coexistence brings about your happiness because it teaches you,
Once and for all,
That your joy can only be as wholesome as you are.
So stop removing parts of yourself.
Let go of picking out pieces that fit well and look good in the mirror and shutting the closet door on everything else.
Your fear needs to live beside you,
Just as much as your love.
This is the path towards healing and self-love.
But it's one path of many.
It's up to you to try it and see where it takes you.
The myth around fear is that it keeps you from being who you are.
But if anything,
You are a myriad of emotions,
A sea of experiences unfolding and resonating within you,
A pulse and a beat of energy thrumming through your bones.
How utterly incomplete would it be to not give space to be all of those things?
Because that's what fear gives you.
A space in which to simply be a human being,
Complete and wholesome,
Scared and confused,
Excited and joyful.
If you can,
Take a moment to have a seat and close your eyes.
Get comfortable.
Ground yourself and tune into your consciously aware breath.
Do the way any tension in the shoulders,
In your face,
Hands and arms,
Legs and feet.
Imagine that you're sitting in your favorite spot in the whole world.
Unless you're already in that spot,
Then even better.
Now imagine that you're safe and that you feel really comfortable where you are.
You may even smile a little.
Now imagine that your fear comes and takes a seat next to you in this favorite spot.
With a gentle gaze,
Take a look at your fear.
What do you see?
How does it feel?
Can you observe without judgment?
Can you look at your fear with everything that you've been told about it and still choose to see a friend?
Now look deeper at your fear and allow every memory,
Thought and belief that you have about it to surface.
Whatever sensation arises,
Allow it to.
If you feel compelled,
Speak,
Yell or cry.
Take your time with this.
Now imagine that you're sitting in your favorite spot in the whole world.
Imagine that you're sitting in your favorite spot in the whole world.
When you're ready,
Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out and repeat this prayer,
Either out loud or to yourself.
My dearest fear,
What I see in you is me.
May I reclaim every lost part of myself and bring it back with me into my life.
May I gaze deep into your eyes and meet the gaze of my entire complete self.
May I find forgiveness and compassion.
May I find love and fear and know that they are the same.
May you walk into your day and into your life wholesomely and authentically.
Namaste.
