Go beyond the mind for healing fear

Intense worry or fear can rarely be relieved in the mind alone. We can't think our way out of it, because it's the mind that's holding the fear. So much of our fear resides in the unconscious mind and is stored in the tissues of our body. Therefore, when fear gets triggered, it's challenging to talk or think our way out of it. Some cognitive behavioural therapies offer us coping strategies that can be useful when the fear arises since we cannot deal with the deeper root cause in the moment.

I see people spinning in one mental strategy after another to manage their fear. But how do we actually release the fear? How do we address embodied unconscious fear and learn to feel safe? From my experience, both personally and professionally, we need a body-based approach. It’s hard to free the mind just by using the mind without accessing presence in the body.

We need a practice that accesses the fear from within the body and bears witness to it. When we become strong enough to see our fear it’s rarely as menacing as the monster we envisioned in the closet. Once the symbolic closet door is opened and we’re bearing witness to ourselves, then we can teach our fearful part to release, trust, and let go. .

Healing fear is a gradual process. When we heal our fear through the body, we can begin to find true resolution and access inner safety. I will be discussing more details about embodied approaches to healing fear in my next post.