Instead Of Fear, I Feel

Fear is a complex emotion that is often a mask for things hiding beneath the surface. Instead of fear, perhaps we feel disappointed, angry, sad, frustrated or confused. Rarely, is it fear alone. In this session, we sit with fear with open hearts and explore it with curiosity with the intention of looking beyond the fear to find what is lying behind it.

Transcript

Welcome to your session today.

Today we are going to explore the theme of fear with open hearts and open curiosity.

Wherever you find yourself joining me from today,

I invite you to get nice and comfortable with your body.

If you need to lie down,

If you find yourself in a comfortable chair,

Axe supported,

Feet firmly planted on the ground.

I invite you to close the windows of your eyes.

We're going to pull that breath in through your nose,

Noticing the coolness of the inhalation all the way down to your feet.

Seeking first to get grounded there in your body and in your space.

Ever so gently pulling that breath up out of your body and noticing the warmth as you exhale.

We're going to begin with a gentle body scan using that breath starting down at the feet.

So I invite you to inhale in,

Pulling that breath down to your feet.

And with each new breath,

Pulling that breath through your feet into your ankles,

Into your calves and your shins.

Spending a little bit of time there in your knees.

As you pull this breath up through your body,

I invite you to actively look for fear.

Where is fear hiding in your body,

There in your being?

As you beautifully exist and move through your space today.

Where is fear?

The first step of working with it is acknowledging that it lives somewhere inside of us.

Pulling that breath through your thighs and your hamstrings.

Letting it weave its way in and out of your hips and your pelvis.

Drawing that breath into your core,

The very center of your being.

Before allowing it to come and rest there at your heart.

Taking a few moments of breath here,

Sending all of that energy into your heart and asking yourself is fear here?

Is this where your fear resides?

You'll know it when you find it.

You'll be able to acknowledge it and validate it so easily.

Taking that breath and spreading it down each arm.

Then back up through the back of your neck before pulling that breath out the crown of your head ever so gently suspending you between earth and sky today.

As you found fear,

I invite you to allow your thoughts to go back to the space in your body where fear was located for you.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Being very,

Very gentle with this exploration.

Validating your fear.

Acknowledging that it's there in your body is just one step.

Today I invite you to consider is this really fear?

Is all of the emotion that you've been holding onto so tightly there in your body as you recognize it as fear,

Is it really fear?

Fear has a beautiful way of being a mask for disappointment,

Shame,

Anger,

Guilt,

Grief and pain.

It's easier as human beings to go to fear to say I am scared than to say I am disappointed.

I am sad.

I feel lonely.

I'm angry.

Fear becomes the automatic response but today I invite you to actively lean into it and ask yourself instead of fear I feel.

What is it?

What's there?

What's hiding for you?

Instead of fear I feel.

As it bubbles to the surface call it by name,

Say it out loud and see how differently your body starts to feel and starts to respond as you normalize and acknowledge what is there within.

Instead of fear I feel.

Guilt.

Shame.

Anger.

Envy.

Disappointment.

Disgust.

Confusion.

Nervousness.

What is it that is attaching to your fear?

If you were to look at fear as the center of a nucleus,

The very middle,

If you were to look at fear as that center,

What would be attached to your fear?

In our human experience it is perfectly natural to experience and feel different emotions simultaneously.

We can be both fearful and angry.

We can be sad yet content.

We can be envious yet proud.

Perfectly reasonable to think that instead of fear you might feel something else but you've suppressed it because society has taught us to suppress what doesn't feel good.

To push down what might make someone else feel uncomfortable.

To push away things,

People,

Places that don't fill us with joy.

Here today we seek to normalize this element of fear and the things that are lying beneath the surface instead of fear I feel.

Taking another big deep breath in and out.

Instead of fear I feel.

Allowing yourself the opportunity to feel today.

Hands over heart.

Breathing gently and simply in your own time.

Instead of fear I feel.

Just as we began breathing down into your feet but this time the intention is to wake yourself up.

Breathe yourself back into the present moment.

When it feels right to you allowing the windows of your eyes to come back open and if it's available to you taking pen and paper,

Maybe the note file in your phone and writing down instead of fear I feel.

Call the emotions by name.

You deserve to feel however it is that you're feeling there in this moment.

To unravel,

To not be held so captive to fear that you can't move through life.

Instead of fear I feel.

Bring yourself home.

Reviews

That really helped calm my sense of dread on waking up. Many thanks! 🙏

Nice scan of body to find the truth of what’s hiding and name it. Thank you.

That was just what I needed to hear today. Bringing me back to center

Wonderful invitation to rename this feeling inside and how deeper emotions hide in the veil of fear. I realized im scared of losing love, and that i feel not deserving of the love I feel in my life. It’s okay to feel those things but now im thinking about how do I move past them.

A very helpful practice for my continued journey to shift beyond my fear of loving fully.

Excellent for helping me process chronic fear and anxiety. “Instead of fear, I feel…”

Excellent. Your meditation resonated with me right to my core helping me pinpoint what is driving that fear.

I needed to hear this more than you could understand!! Thank you thank you thank you ….

I love the words and phrases, apart from the content of this particular meditation, I enjoy the way I'm led through the process. Thank you.

That was amazing. Highly recommend. Would give six stars, if possible.

Perfect, thanks, Shannon. It helped to ground me 🙂🖤

This was more powerful than I anticipated. So good….

I like this meditation. Instead of fear What I really feel. Thank you

Validating, interesting concept. Curious, tho: isn’t “nervousness” fear? Feels same to me.

Very good..
going to listen more often.. thank you

Very interesting approach to this, and so beautiful thank you 🥰

An insightful opportunity to re-think fear, thank you for your insights.

Powerful and insightful meditation. Thank you Shannon

This was a powerful meditation that evoked an emotional response for me. Really helpful for processing feelings.

Excellent! Your thoughts of encouragement make perfect sense! Instead of fear, I feel unwell. I am getting better, however. This COVID recover will take time, but now i have no fear! Thank you for your lesson! Namaste 🙏