Removing fear from the body

[jbischke]

I'm a firm believer that 99% of what we don't accomplish in life stem from one simple thing: fear. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of what other people will think of us, etc.

I think a huge part of eradicating the unhealthy fears (i.e. the non fight-or-flight fears) is mindset. Realizing (as Steve puts in his most recent podcast) that we are always unconditionally safe. That's huge.

But I also think that past events, disempowering beliefs, etc. probably trap fear within the body. This manifests as stress, anxiety, depression, etc. and creates a cycle where we feel disempowered and therefore more fearful which leads to a greater feeling of disempowerment.

So I've been thinking about this and researching ways to try to eradicate fear not just from my thoughts but from my body as well. I think it's possible that a number of ways exist. For instance, here's something I found from Dan Millman:

MILLMAN: Well, this was based upon an ancient practice. The Mongolian warriors used to do a bone massage. It wasn't actually massaging the muscles. It was going as deep as the bone, actually scraping the bone surfaces. It sounds painful, and it's really not; it just goes deep into the body to release old fears which are stored in the neuromuscular system, and it does soften the body, and I will someday be working with this with other people, showing them how to do this.

Yoga seems to be good for this too. Rolfing perhaps (haven't tried it yet).

I'm wondering what else is possible. A determined effort to eradicate fear not just from the mind but from the body as well could produce an incredibly healthy and powerful human being.

Thoughts?

[Gary]

If you don't remove the underlying beliefs from the mind, fear will just be recreated in the body.

[jbischke]

I totally agree with you.

However, even as you remove the fear-creating beliefs (something I'm in the process of doing) I feel we probably have remnants of past fears, etc. So I'm looking for an approach that addresses both mind and body rather than just one or the other.

[kpreston]

Fear is a natural survival instinct; leave it alone.

Re-read your post.

I think a huge part of eradicating the unhealthy fears (i.e. the non fight-or-flight fears) is mindset. Realizing (as Steve puts in his most recent podcast) that we are always unconditionally safe. That's huge.

Disregard.

[jbischke]

Yeah, I think it's really important to differentiate healthy fears (e.g., I'm in the woods and I see a bear...time to run!) vs. unhealthy fears (e.g., I have to give a speech at work and I'm so scared that I call in sick rather than having to do the speech).

It's the latter I'm looking to completely eradicate from my life.

[Michelle]

You see? People do not wish to be free of fear. They are addicted to it.

Personally, I find when my body is ready to release old built up fear, it does just that. I'll suddenly feel nauseaus or have the need to cry.

I think getting something like a deep tissue massage or doing intense physical activity as well as meditation can all help the process.