Introspection that helps identify old unprocessed material that may be causing your system to be overly sensitive is also useful. In addition, if there are long standing issues in regard to chronic anxiety and fear then a nutritional status check is warranted. Our systems need certain nutrients to function properly. The ability to maintain proper inner balance is made more difficult if the proper nutrients are not available.

 Learning skills that work to ‘erase’ the effects of old input and unconscious automatic reactions are also useful. These methods can work ‘on the spot’ to reduce fear and anxiety as well as erasing lifelong patterns. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is one such approach.  Emotional Freedom and Healing is another.

Meditation techniques that help you learn how to remain present and open to difficult feelings with no resistance, simply observing them without your normal responses can be very powerful ways of releasing embedded patterns of fear.

 Breathwork is another technique that functions well as an on the spot remedy as well as a preventative one. Most people who experience a great deal of fear or anxiety have breathing patterns that are a contributing factor.  Sit quiet for a moment and listen to your pattern.  After you get a sense for it, breathe consciously.  Breathe slowly and deeply.  Pull your breath as deep into your abdomen as you can.  Hold it for a few seconds and then slowly let it go.  Repeating this process for five or ten minutes at a time is an excellent way to bring yourself into the present moment.

 Ultimately, developing higher consciousness, an ability to live from a higher level of awareness or the authentic self, is perhaps the best solution to alleviating fear and anxiety. However, it is important to remember that this is a process and not an event. It requires a deep fundamental shift within, a commitment and participation in order to be cultivated and become a way of BEING. 

 Shift to being present at all times.  You will then live in the space where fear does not exist.

Both our recorded programs, 12 Keys for Life and Self Mastery and Feng Shui and Chakras: Inner and Outer Balance, include helpful information about releasing fear, as well as guided exercises to help you learn methods to permanently release fear’s grasp.

 There are certainly situations in life that justify a fear response. In those cases it is a good thing that our adrenaline pumps and we are given the energy to fight or flee. In those cases we are prepared to do what is needed to get out of harm’s way and return to safety. Once safety returns our natural balancing mechanism brings us back to a neutral state.

 The problem comes when this same fear response is activated by things that are not life threatening. In our present culture it is not unusual for this natural self-protective mechanism to be overly sensitized and active. This can result in a sense of chronic anxiety and tension or a hair trigger response to the smallest stimuli. All that fascinating fight/ flight/freeze physiology has been activated and has nowhere to go as it is not used up in the effort to regain safety.  As a result our fear deepens and limits our daily lives.

 When this occurs there tends to be an emotional paralysis or overload that happens which is accompanied by an inability to think clearly and make good decisions and choices. When our systems are thus set in motion we can feel as if we are under a threat to our lives; it all feels that important as our neurology and biochemistry rocks and rolls within causing us to feel out of control. We have all had that feeling that our minds know that our reactions are over the top but that knowing seems useless to calm our emotions.

 It takes energy to move beyond fear.  We must go to a level other than the cognitive to alleviate fear and anxiety.  

Tomorrow—moving beyond fear.

 False Evidence Appearing Real

 FEAR! False? Not real?

 How can we say that?

Everyone knows we all feel fear and it’s real!

What this acronym hints at is that there is a lot of fear that is unnecessary….perhaps most!

According to Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, fear is always a projection of something that might happen, not something that is happening now.  When we let our mind wander into the future, we create an anxiety gap between what is real and what we are projecting to be real.  The future is not real.  Only the present is real.

 Fear is a psychological condition that is separate and separates us from who we really are.  It comes in many forms such as nervousness, unease, worry, dread, anxiety and more.  If we allow it, fear can grip us so tight that we lose touch with our inner and true self.  Fear separates us from our true power and our inner source.

 Fear manifests in our minds through our ego self.  When we identify with our lower mind, the ego runs our life.  When we let fear take over, we yield our personal power to others.  When we identify with our heart, we can become the creator of our lives.  There is no place for fear in the heart.  When it comes down to it, fear is not real. 

 Although fear may seem to have many causes…stay tuned, more to follow on Thurs. re: the causes as well as the antidotes for fear.

 Join us on Monday at 10 A.M. when we will be talking with Debby Hoffman Adair about this topic. Debby will be sharing her experience and expertise in regards to transitioning through major changes in our lives.

 Debby is an award winning presenter, and the president of Positive Results Seminars. Her programs reflect her mission statement: to help people see the possibilities within themselves and create the results they want—Positive Results! Her programs are filled with information, motivation, inspiration, and of course—Fun!

 We hope you will join us as Debby shares how she reinvented herself from house wife to entrepreneur, overcame shyness, conquered her fear of public speaking, and transformed herself into a professional speaker and author.

If you cannot join us live, please listen to the recording at your leisure.

 When disaster strikes it can rock the very foundation of our individual and collective psyches. It is  as though our deepest fears are shaken loose from the comfortable bed where they have been lying and rise up to remind us that they are still there. We become aware once again that safety is not a guarantee in this world. The truly terrifying emotion that gets triggered in such circumstances is one of powerlessness.

 Someone once said that the emotion we most feared was one of powerlessness. My experience and observation in this lifetime is that this is probably true. We REALLY do NOT like to feel that we are powerless in any area of our lives.

 Daily life, at least in most of the western world, can lull us into a sense of complacency where we can “forget” about this issue of powerlessness. Of course unconscious behaviors show us that in fact some part of us is trying mightily to hang on to a feeling of power, control and safety. However, when catastrophe strikes the mighty energy of fear awakens.

 Each person has their own unique way to defend or cope with the arousal of such fear. Some go on the offensive and cast hateful (and often totally illogical) blame on others. Some creatively weave stories that assign power to an external source with rules and regulations that they themselves just happen to be in alignment with, but the folks who are suffering the calamity are not and hence their troubles.  In fact it may be that we all carry some version of this story in our deepest of hidden places—be good, do this, follow that and no harm will come to you! But disaster has a way of shaking our belief systems and opening us up to our fears about safety, security, as well as to what is really important. This can be a time when we can discover things about ourselves and choose (or be forced!) to grow and develop aspects of ourselves that we may not otherwise.

 If we ask questions about our deepest fears…if we confront them and look to what it would take to dissolve them, heal them, let them go…and yes, maybe even accept that we may have to live with some part of them and learn to manage them more grace-fully.

 Our true power lies within the better part of ourselves, in our spiritual nature. We can choose to grow and develop this aspect—to learn how to attune to the energy of love, peace and ease and allow it to flow through us even in an imperfect world. Aligning with the energy of these higher qualities strengthens us and those around us through a kind of ripple effect.

 Learning to root and ground ourselves in these stronger energies opens us up so we become more aware of healthier choices and responses to our world –ones that nourish and enhance ourselves, others and the world. Centering in these energies brings clarity, a higher way of knowing and Being to us. Our choices and responses can become more kind, loving and wise.

 A question that often is asked is, “Is there a higher purpose in the disasters that strike us? “  Perhaps the answer is that is our choice. Perhaps the real question needs to be, “How do we want to respond to the challenges and conditions of our lives?” We can choose to develop our awareness and consciousness. We can choose to work toward an integration of mind and heart. It is there that we can find the deep choice of wisdom and love.

We can work with our minds to shift our energy or we can work directly with our energy to shift our minds—both work but I find it simpler, more effective and efficient to go directly to working with the energy—fewer stories, less resistance to change  and it is going to the source!

To beginto work from the level of energy: Choose to center within yourself and ground your energy (see Articles and Tips elsewhere on this site for information regarding these two concepts). Once grounded you can more easily place your attention on thoughts and feelings that open and build energy.

 Open from the inside out and feel the miracle of your life force coursing through you. Once in touch with your inner energy in this way it becomes easier to place your mind (feeling and thought) on things that enliven, nourish and strengthen you. As you become stronger, lighter and brighter in your energy you can more easily connect to soul and flow with more joy, peace and love.

1. Upon awakening, before you even get out of bed, notice how you feel. If you dreamt something that has a negative hangover effect, consciously release it. Use whatever means you can to accomplish this: EFT, breath-work, imagery and pivoting can help you shift your feelings.
2. Choose you emotional state for the day. Yes, you can! Let yourself feel ease, peace, well being to whatever level you can and imagine flowing that good feeling out from your deep inner center into your day.
3. As you move through the day notice what expands and opens you and make it a point to settle into these feelings. Appreciate and feel gratitude for all that is present that is adding to your life. (These feelings create very real biochemical and neuro-hormonal changes.)
4. Notice what triggers negative feelings or thought patterns and consciously release them as best you can as they arise. At times there may be a need for more than you can manage in the moment. If the latter is the case, schedule time to do what you need to in order to collapse those patterns more thoroughly from your bodymind.
5. As you notice what diminishes and drags you down can you also begin to think about how you can consciously make choices that eliminate those situations from your life. That may not be possible in all cases, but you may be able to let go of more than you realize. Over the longer term you can do what you can to build and strengthen your energy in order to more easily change de-energizing ways of reacting to the situations or people in your life that cannot be eliminated.

We would love to have you join us on our radio show on Diva Toolbox on Monday 11-23-09 @ 10 A.M. where our topic will be Practical Solutions for Holiday Stress. If you cannot make it at that time the show is aways recorded and you can access it from our link on Diva Toolbox.

http://www.divatoolbox.com/diva-toolbox-radio-/hosts/2007-peg-donahue-and-karen-kallie-living-energy.html

Have a happy stress free weekend!