Letting Go Of Fear

When we're haunted by what's happened in the past or what might happen in the future, a common takeaway is fear, which seldom serves our present moment. Let's meditate together and envision a presence filled with love, gratitude, and acceptance that all we have is now -- and that letting fear go is a gift worth giving ourselves every moment of our lives.

Transcript

Hi,

My name is Greg McBride.

I'm a teacher here on Insight Timer,

As well as a writer,

As well as a human being.

And I know fear.

Fear for me started out at a very early age.

I was raised by two very abusive parents and was basically responsible for my sisters and my upbringing.

And there were a lot of times,

Even at a very young age,

That we were subjected to severe torture and even our parents being absent.

Not sure when they would return,

Not sure how we would get our next meal.

But like so many of you listening,

I'm a survivor.

And that's one of the reasons that I loved not only sharing my story,

But trying to help other people not only share their stories,

But also come out of that fear.

I'm sure you have your own story.

Perhaps one that's in the past.

Perhaps something that you're dealing with now.

Maybe several things.

And maybe some things you're thinking about that could be coming your way.

One of my favorite writers and speakers,

Byron Katie,

Has a saying,

If you want fear,

Get a future.

And if you want sadness,

Get a past.

I'm paraphrasing a little bit,

But these messages really resonate with me.

And I imagine resonate with lots of you listening right now.

We are here in the present moment.

And while everything we've survived in the past,

Everything we've gone through,

Everything we've known up till now does define us.

It doesn't make us who we are in this present moment.

That's up to us.

And same is true for what's going to happen an hour from now,

Tomorrow,

Next week,

In a few months,

In the coming years.

We can only affect this moment.

And that's why I'm going to share this meditation today.

And I hope that it's one that you'll turn to when the voices in your head from the past or the future start telling you to live in fear.

Fear does not serve us.

We are not able to make good decisions.

We are not able to find our way out of predicaments.

Let's face it,

Challenges are going to happen.

Are we better off facing them with a clear and open mind?

One that even has gratitude no matter what we're facing?

Isn't that where the good and helpful decisions are going to come from?

And similarly with the past.

We are crying over spilled milk.

It's already spilled.

We cannot undo the past.

And trust me,

I have to remind myself of this all the time.

Sometimes I worry about the past as if I might have a time machine somewhere that I can get into and go back and switch a few things around.

But you know what?

I've looked for that time machine.

It does not exist.

So instead,

I can look to the past with reverence,

With acceptance,

And even a sense of humor.

It's the past.

This is the present.

So what do you say?

Let's close our eyes and find a way to leave fear behind in this moment.

And as we move forward with our day,

Our evening,

Our night,

Whenever you're listening to this,

Whenever you need it,

I hope you'll turn to it and I hope it will be something that helps.

So I invite you,

If you're not already seated,

To get into a comfortable position.

You might want to lay back.

You might want to sit on a mat.

Perhaps you're in a chair.

Maybe you're standing at a countertop or even on a busy subway train.

Wherever you're listening to this,

Just relax.

If you need to be aware because you're on a subway train,

That's okay.

But if not,

Just flutter your eyes closed or maybe take a soft gaze.

Just tune into your breath right now.

Listen to your breath.

Your beautiful,

Healing,

Life-giving breath.

Let's breathe in together and let's think in as we breathe in.

And we're going to hold it for a second and then we're going to breathe out and think out.

This is going to help our mind and body get into sync.

So let's do this three times.

And just relax with each breath.

Breathing in,

Hold at the top,

Breathing out.

Breathing in,

Thinking in,

Hold at the top,

Breathing out,

Thinking out.

One more time.

In unison,

You and me together,

Breathing in,

Slight hold at the top,

And breathing out.

Now if you'd like,

You can roll your shoulders.

Just get yourself situated.

Feel whatever surface you're on right now.

Feel the solidity of it.

It's holding you.

The universe is holding you right now.

Just feel that strength and know that you're a part of it.

You are strong.

You are beautiful.

No matter what challenges you're facing,

No matter what you've survived in the past,

No matter what you imagine might be waiting to cause you harm in the future,

You are strong.

Continue to focus on your breath as you listen to my words.

Try and be present as we meditate together.

And if a thought comes,

Right on.

That's what your brain does,

Comes up with thoughts.

But we don't have to tune into them.

We don't have to be distracted by them.

They'll be there when we're done.

So just see them as a passing cloud and tune back into your breath.

And I'd like you to think of a time when you were challenged in life.

Might be a small incident.

Might be something harrowing that a lot of people can't even imagine what it's like to go through.

Think of that time.

Try not to tap into emotions having to do with it.

We don't want to initiate any panic,

Regret,

Or even shame.

What we want to do is realize you came through it.

And you did it the best that you knew how to do it at the time.

You know what that is?

That's perfection.

It really is.

There's no other definition for it.

We can all look back on things from our past.

We can see ways that we might have approached things differently.

But we've got the gift of hindsight.

We didn't have that then.

We were doing the best we could.

You were doing your best.

And your best is still the best even today.

You got through it.

Just let any regrets about the past go.

Even just in this minute.

Just let them go.

They can't harm you now.

What can harm us are our thoughts about the past.

But the past is done.

It's complete.

They're beautiful lessons that we can look back to and realize we've come a long way from and learned from.

We can even keep our sense of humor about it if that serves us.

But to overanalyze,

To reanalyze,

To play those scenarios over and over and over again,

It takes up too much precious time.

Be in the minute.

Be here now.

Live your beautiful life.

Let the past be where it is.

The past.

Let's breathe in together.

Breathe out.

Just do everything you can to be present in this moment.

All right,

I hope you're still focusing on your breath.

Now I'd like you to think of something in the future,

Maybe that's got you distracted.

You might be worried about something having to do with your career.

Perhaps it's about a relationship.

Could be a health issue.

These are all real.

I'm not discounting anything that you might be worried about.

But I do want to remind you in this moment,

You've decided to breathe,

To meditate,

To be present.

So let's let the fear of what might happen go.

We are not going to be able to affect the future.

We are not going to be able to keep challenging things from happening.

And we're also not going to be able to keep wonderful things from happening.

Life is for living and life is going to happen.

We know change is constant.

We know this.

You're a very smart person,

As well as being beautiful and strong.

So you know that worrying about the future is only going to affect today.

It's only going to hurt you in this minute.

So let it go.

We're going to give the future permission to unfold as it sees fit because guess what,

It's going to do it whether we give it permission or not.

So let's give it permission.

Let's be in charge.

Future bring it on because we're going to handle it.

And we know we're going to handle it because we are survivors.

We are here in this moment.

And as busy as we are,

As harried as our lives are,

As crazy as the time seemed that we're living in,

We even know to take time to meditate.

We know that by taking care of ourselves,

We can be better friends,

Better in romantic relationships,

Better parents,

Whether it's to human children or pet children,

And better to ourselves.

We deserve to be good to ourselves.

We deserve for our self-talk to remind us we cannot affect the future.

So we can let that fear go.

Give yourself permission right now.

Take in a deep breath.

And as you breathe out,

Let go of the fear.

Let go of your need to control the future.

Let go.

It's okay to be happy.

By being happy now,

You are making life happier.

I know it sounds basic,

But it's because it is.

It's that basic.

And when we get out of our own heads,

When we let go of the thoughts that aren't serving us about the future or even the past,

We live happier,

Healthier lives.

We make better decisions and we're able to handle whatever comes our way.

But we're not fortune tellers.

Sure,

We may think we're intuitive,

But we just don't know what the future holds.

So let's just let it unfold.

That's the universe's business.

It's not our business.

Our business is being here now.

Breathe it in.

Breathe it in.

A deep breath.

Let it go.

Feel the freedom you can give yourself by letting go of fear,

Of letting go of worry.

Again,

It doesn't mean that you won't handle something when it arises,

But with a clear mind,

You're going to handle it so much more adeptly.

So be present.

Be happy.

And yes,

I know there's a lot of challenges right now.

We use meditation as a tool to help guide us,

To help us get through things.

Whatever you're facing,

I'm here with you right now.

I know that the fear can be very real.

But the fear is not going to help solve the situation.

And even though you're facing so many things,

You can still be happy in the moment.

Imagine being that model for other people in your life,

Your friends,

Your family members,

Your co-workers.

What does that feel like when people look at you and think,

Wow,

I know they're facing a lot,

But they just smiled at me?

How is that person not scared,

Not angry,

Not pissed off,

Not mad at the world?

I'll tell you why.

Because you're a superhero.

You're a superhero.

And we're letting fear go.

We're letting it go.

And I want to remind you that letting go of fear is a muscle.

When we want to build actual muscles in our body,

It doesn't happen overnight.

It takes training.

And so we're going to train our fear muscle to relax.

So you can come back to this meditation anytime.

You could write yourself a post-it note.

You could write the word fear and put a little void symbol on top of it.

Any way to remind yourself,

Wear a favorite bracelet and know when you look at it,

Oh,

I'm letting go of fear.

I'm letting go of fear.

Not going to worry about the future.

I can't affect it.

Not going to regret the past.

I can't change it.

What can I do?

Oh,

I could live a happy life.

Yeah,

That's me.

I'm a strong,

Beautiful,

Happy person.

I'm going to exercise these muscles and remind myself,

Just like I would remind my best friend,

Just like I would encourage a pet,

Just like I would help teach a child,

You're beautiful.

You've got this.

You've got this in your own unique,

Original way.

You've got this.

And I'm going to be quiet for a minute and just let you breathe this in.

Try and stay present with your breath.

Find which of these messages resonate with you and that you'd like to keep.

Let go of whichever messages don't.

But just breathe into your own beauty,

Your own strength,

Your own ability to not let fear rule your life.

You are so strong.

You are so beautiful,

Inside and out.

I want you to own that as we close this meditation with three breaths.

Again,

We're going to breathe in,

Thinking in.

Hold it at the top and breathe out,

Thinking out.

So let's breathe in together.

Hold it at the top.

Breathe out.

A second time,

Let's breathe in,

Thinking in.

Hold it at the top.

Breathe out,

Thinking out.

Let all that breath go.

And now let's breathe in again,

Thinking in.

Fill your lungs.

Fill your diaphragm.

Feel the light shining inside you.

Hold it at the top.

Breathe out.

Let these breaths solidify the work that we've done here today.

The strengthening of our muscle that helps us be resilient in the face of fear.

While there are certainly occasions in our life that can be aided by fear,

Fear isn't something that we should carry with us 24-7.

It ultimately does not serve us and can inhibit us.

Carrying fear as a full-time feeling does not serve us.

And we can get through anything.

You can get through anything.

Do not let fear ruin this moment,

This day,

This week.

Let fear go.

Now become a little more aware of your body,

A little more aware of your surroundings.

You can flutter your eyes open and congratulate yourself for taking this time for self-care.

Again,

I know you're busy.

I am honored that you chose this meditation.

I hope it's helped.

Please feel free to comment.

You can share what you're going through.

You can make suggestions.

Let me know what you're thinking.

And please know that I am sending so much love and light your way.

You are incredible.

And fear has no place in your heart.

Namaste.

Reviews

I also went through similar experiences so this meditation very much helped. Namaste 🙏

Thank you beautiful soul, I really needed this today xx

Fear of the unknown due to going through a divorce. Thank you for this… 🙏