In one of my weekly meditation/healing groups, we have been exploring the transformational possibilities within the most basic of human experiences:
Fear
At no other time in our personal history has there been such a universal catalyst of fear than Covid-19. Overwhelming our individual triggers, Covid represents the most basic danger of all: the threat to our physical body.
So universal is our fear of disease and death, that the whole world has been in various stages of lockdown for a full year now, all to keep this single wolf from the door. People have lost jobs, businesses, homes, educational opportunities, social connections and even mental health in the quest of preventing that which we are all ultimately destined to experience.
Because these bodies are susceptible to harm, one of the first things we teach our children is how to preserve our physical life. Toddlers see the whole world as a great playground – so the parent must impress, deeply, the ever-present threats. If we don’t learn how to keep our bodies safe, then our time on the planet will likely be quite short. The need to preserve the body is our earliest lesson and the fear response hardwired within our brains.
But when our fear response is so heightened that every shadow becomes a monster or every pain must be cancer, then that automatic reactivity exceeds its original function. It becomes a prison, restricting our ability to live the lives we now so desperately protect. We lose sleep, burn out our nervous system, may even develop physical pathology – all because we have become hyper-attuned to the least semblance of danger.
When we lose our basic feeling of safety in the world, we lose the freedom to explore, grow and actually live our lives.
Consider this verse from the Tao te Ching:
There is no greater illusion than fear.
No greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself,
No greater misfortune than having an enemy.
Whoever can see through all fear
Will always be safe.
(Tao te Ching Chapter 46
Stephen Mitchell translation)
How do you relate to your own feelings of fear? Perhaps you retreat and barricade yourself away from the world. Or go on the offensive, instantly attacking any perceived invader. Maybe you freeze, momentarily unable to respond or react at all.
How often does fear hold you back or negatively impact your relationships?
To gain more conscious control over your fear response, join me for a 2-hour zoom mastery class entitled “Seeing Through Fear” on Thursday, March 25th from 6-8 pm. Together we will consciously work with our triggers, reactions and responses, and learn to short-circuit runaway fear cycles. We will see through our own illusions of fear and find a new sense of safety, regardless of what is happening in the external world.
Limited spaces available for this Mastery Class. Call 604-671-7863 or email druryperry@shaw.ca to register.
May you always feel safe!
Love,
Susan