This post is all about my ‘Adventures in overcoming Fear‘, using Qigong exercises and other methods to develop a healthy relationship with fear. My hope is that if your enjoyment of life is being limited by out of control fear then you’ll find something of benefit here.
“While fear is a deep seated and adaptive evolutionary drive for self preservation, it make is impossible to concentrate on anything” – Dr Gregory Berns
I used to live my life in constant fear. I was scared of everything and everyone I was virtually paralyzed by fear and often I couldn’t even point at anything specific that was causing it. Yes I can point to events in my early years that sowed the seeds of this fear, but that’s not much use as an adult. So I began a quest to find an antidote to fear. Here are some of my more useful discoveries:
The 5 Elemental Processes Can Be Used to Successfully Treat Emotional Problems
If we look at the 5 Elemental processes we can see that fear is linked to the kidneys and that the kidneys are linked to the Water element. Using this theory we could:
- Overcome fear by strengthening the kidneys.
- Use the creative cycle to strengthen the lungs, which would provide more energy to nourish the kidneys. This would be using the principle of Metal creating Water.
But there is an even better option, there is a Chinese saying that:
’emotional illness is best overcome by using emotions’
Theory: Fear is linked to the Water process. Earth can destroy Water and the emotion that corresponds to Earth is worry.
In theory worry is a way to overcome fear. But that’s where my understanding ends. Luckily for my students and private clients I’m not a TCM practitioner. As such I question how useful it would be to cause somebody to experience worry as an antidote to their fear.
If anyone reading this can explain a good way to use worry to overcome fear, please let me know.
FEAR is an acronym in the English language for “False Evidence Appearing Real”
Neale Donald Walsch
Qigong
It’s at times like this that I’m glad I’m a Qigong teacher and healer, because from the Qigong perspective, the problem is one of Yin Yang disharmony caused by blockages to harmonious energy flow through the meridians of the body.
Because it is natural to be healthy, if we can restore harmonious energy flow (by removing blockages) then we will restore Yin Yang harmony and our fear will be overcome.
Energy flow is the most powerful (and simple) way I know to remove blockages and the Qigong exercises I would recommend as being most cost effective for overcoming fear are: Reverse Hands Bend Waist (more popularly known as Nourishing Kidneys) and Green Dragon Separating Water.
I truly believe that it is possible to overcome the effects of fear using Qigong only. But why would you want to? I’m a big believer in having my cake and eating it (just ask my wife). I like to benefit from the best of both worlds. So let me share the most powerful antidote I discovered to overcoming fear that will complement your Qigong practice:
Faith is the antidote to fear
I knew of this for years before I was able to apply it. I just couldn’t get my head around faith. I just couldn’t seem to acquire it. The first step that started to turn this around was when someone pointed out that I did indeed have faith.
I began to argue with them, but they told me that if I drove a car, then I had faith. I had faith in those thin white lines. I had faith in the other drivers on the road not to cross them. If I didn’t have this faith I wouldn’t be able to drive.
This was the seed that helped me to understand how to develop faith.
So how do we develop the kind of faith that overcomes fear?
You start with a simple belief. For me it was ‘everything is going to be okay’.
I’d repeat this hundreds of times a day to myself, like a mantra. But instead of just repeating it at a surface level, I’d really chew it over, I’d say it slowly, I’d ponder it and contemplate it.
Gradually I began to have experiences that backed up this belief and gradually this belief became faith that everything will be alright. The kind of faith that overcomes fear.
Conclusion
If fear is limiting and damaging your life my recommendation would be to practice Qigong and when not doing your training repeat your mantra, ponder it, contemplate it and let it develop into faith.
If you want more help on how to use Qigong specifically to:
- Overcome mild to moderate depression
- Be free from paralysing worry
- Kick fear into touch
- Develop bullet proof self esteem
And increase your resistance to the stresses and strains of 21st Century life…
Read my book: Smiling From The Heart
For full details…
Marcus James Santer