How to Make Fear Disappear

by | Dec 20, 2024

Fear is an emotion that has a wide range of manifestations – it could be vague uneasiness, a depressed attitude, a reoccurring avoidance of something threatening, or a sense of impending doom, an urgent need to run away, or striking out with body and speech. Ultimately, it can result in a full-blown paralysis of mind and body.

Fear is everywhere. You know this. The media thrives on it. Politicians stoke it for their own gain. Personal relationships may be defined by it. Fear comes in a variety of sizes and colors. We have a fundamental reaction of “fight, flight or freeze” to fearful situations.

Chronic fear is deadly. It’s been shown to cause heart attacks, countless internal organ dysfunctions, and many debilitating mental conditions. Chinese medicine tells us that fear will exhaust the Yang Qi of the Kidneys. If prolonged, or reoccurs frequently, it will lead to burnout of the adrenal glands and a definite decline in our health. The medical texts say that “the Kidneys store our Essence (jing) and are the foundation of each organ’s yin and yang”.

Fear resides in a very primitive part of the brain. It is a survival system.  In positive terms, the feeling of fear prompts us to evaluate a situation and then act appropriately. In the worse cases it may lead to hysteria and harmful violence.

Our reaction to any situation – past, present, or future – begins in our mind. Many fears are based on past events or future predictions. Most fears are exaggerations that don’t come true. As Mark Twain said, “The worse things in my life never happened”.

People are always talking to themselves. Meditation can help us stop this internal babble and come to rest in a place of stillness where we can understand the true nature of things. Winter is the Water Phase, a time to focus on the health of the Kidney system by practicing how to make fear disappear. This meditation is a wonderful way to do that.

 

Meditation to Make Fear Disappear

Begin by sitting quietly, relaxing, and just gently breathing.

Slowly breathing and being aware of your breath coming in and going out.

 

Now, imagine that you are observing a snowy field in nature. And there on the edge of the field you see a bank of drifted snow in the pale sunlight.

Look at the snow. Breathe from your lower belly.

 

 

 


Now, name what you fear, at this time.
Name this fear with only a word or two that really summarizes what it is that’s fearful.

Put that word in big bold letters.

 

 

 

 

Now, just look at the word.
On this white bank of snow you see – written in clear black letters – the words of what you fear. Be aware of how fear feels in your body.

Look closely. Breathe slowly. Where is fear in your body?

Now, use your mind to direct your out breath to this drift of fear. Let your exhalations blow across the words in the snow. Slowly, one breath, then another, and another.

As you sit and calmly breathe in and out, don’t have any thoughts about the fear – just see the words. Breathe slowly.

 

Feel your warm breath go out to the words on the snow bank. Feel your body relaxing.

Now, with each exhalation see how the fear melts away as you continue to mindfully breathe. The word of fear is slowly fading…

 

…eventually there is nothing there to fear.