Is FEAR stopping you?

Fear. This word conjures images of sweaty palms, quickened breath, and a racing heartbeat. You think of fear as the hunter – stalking you, rendering you immobile.

Fear disguises itself – as indecision, avoidance, anger, anxiety, depression and it shrinks our world and steals the joy out of living.

Everyone experiences fear once in a while; but it can wreck our lives if it becomes too extreme or irrational.

You know the feeling: Your heart starts pumping uncontrollably and you feel like it’s going to jump up to your throat. You start to breathe very heavily, your ears might start ringing, and your palms might get sweaty. It’s a terrible experience to be in.

There are different kinds of fears – from simple ones like fear of bugs and snakes – to something more limiting like stage freight or fear of public speaking, where a person experiences panicky feelings when talking in front of an audience.

Our irrational fear prevents us from interacting with people, limits our ability to earn a living, and even stops us from performing ordinary tasks or going to certain places.

As a Hypnotherapist, I am often asked to assist individuals with eliminating over-indulgent fear responses. Hypnosis is a powerful tool for overcoming a hyperactive imagination. Since, as we know, some of the fears we conjure up are not as a result of a major trauma but rather our own imaginings. It would stand to reason then, that the way to bypass the imaginative response is by altering our perception in our own imagination.

Recently, I worked with a young girl on just one of these fears. With all the rain we have been experiencing, she was struggling just to be outdoors, participating in any sporting activities, including walking. Why? Because she had developed an irrational fear of worms. Her mom brought her to my office in desperation (and frustration).

After anchoring a more positive response to the sighting of a worm and having her imagine worms in a delightfully cartoonish way, she was able to put this fear completely behind her. In fact, her Mom emailed to say that she has actually been picking them up and placing them in the backpacks of her fellow school mates.

Although we don’t condone the latter, I am thrilled to report that she no longer experiences panic attacks at the thought of a worm coming in contact with her.So what are you holding back on out of fear? What would you accomplish if your fear were not so hyper vigilant?