Breaking Out of Fear and Anxiety
April 2021
Maureen Rae, RN (Ret.), E-RYT, YACEP
……with thanks and notes from Tara Brach
There’s a part of our brain, the primitive reptilian brain, that is left over from the time that we first arrived on the planet. This is part of what is called the Limbic System. The LS served us well way back when when we were hunted by wild animals and by other tribes..... when we were always looking to be warm and fed.....and SAFE. The Limbic System operates in what is now called Sympathetic Nervous System response. When sensing danger, an astronomical amount of specialized hormones, (chemical messengers) are released into the body....and these result in physical ways to keep us safe from harm – to run, to hide, to attack....That is to say, rapid heart beat to bring more blood to legs and arms, rapid breathing to oxygenate muscles, etc. You may have felt these effects in the body when being cut off by another driver, or by another threatening situation in your life, even if it is not real. Sometimes watching a scary movie will do it.
Now, this is all well and good. We still need this Operating System...but the thing is, we don’t need it to be operating CONSTANTLY! Being in SNS response for extended periods of times impairs the bodily organs and results in chronic illness – both physical and mental.
Here’s a step by step way to step out of fear and anxiety.
1. Pause. Just stop whatever you are doing.
Notice your posture. Standing. Sitting, Lying down. “I’m standing, I’m sitting, etc. “
2. What sensations are happening in your body?
Notice what is happening in your body right now. Tightening? Jaw held shut? Brow furrowed? Tears? Shaky? What is happening with my breath? Fast? Jerky? Have I stopped breathing entirely! Am I holding my breath in? Is there a sensation of cold or heat somewhere? Squeezing?
This helps you to just get a real sense of what you are feeling. (called a ‘felt-sense.)
“What emotion am I sensing right now? If it is fear, then to label it fear.” “Ah, this is anxiety.” etc. There is research that states that once you label something, it activates the parasympathetic nervous system and starts to reduce that psychophysiological (mind/body) arousal – so just naming the emotion is so important.
3. Then, the third thing is naming what thoughts are happening right now. You might just say, “My mind is really busy” or “My mind is really chaotic.” This helps you to at least break out of the autopilot response that is still in the brain. In doing so, you are studying the mind, and you are grounding yourself back into this present moment.
You are learning to take control of your mind.
4. Mantra Meditation Tames the “Monkey Mind”
The following is a quote regarding Mantra Meditation from the highly respected yoga and meditation teacher and researcher, Kristine Weber.
“The brain uses several major network systems for cognition – two important ones are the Attention Networks and the Default Networks. The Attention Networks are essential for focusing, paying attention, consciously figuring out problems, etc. These networks light up when we practice mantra meditation.”
Mantra meditation is the recitation of a short phrase in Sanskrit, or you can make up one of your own….be it a prayer, or an affirmation. Mantra is widely used across most Yogic traditions. Perhaps you have heard ‘Om’, or ‘Lokah Samasta Suhkino Bhavantu.’ (May all beings be at peace.) It’s a powerful way to tame the fluctuations of the mind. To train the mind to serve YOU, and not the other way around.
Now, let’s pay particular attention to the second sentence of the above quote – ‘focusing, paying attention, figuring out problems.’ Could this be the reason why so many of us are now having great difficulty in staying focused? Can’t concentrate? Feeling fragmented? Scattered? And how can we possibly figure out the obvious problem of what is coming? No doubt, all agreed we are in a place of great change – where many Humpty Dumptys in high places are tumbling off the walls – where we are seeing the great gaps between those who have, and those who have not. The future isn’t here yet, of course, but who knows how it will all play out? The Universe, I would guess…but since the downloads are few and far between, we will have to practice being patient and being kind. And reciting Mantras.
Tina Turner has a hauntingly beautiful version of Lokah Samasta Suhkina Bhavantu on YouTube. You may want to listen in, and focus for a bit.
Greetings Everyone!
October 2023
My fingers started to type this newsletter before I had actually formalized a plan in my mind….and instead of critiquing and judging what I had written, I just let my fingers go and do their thing - to write what was coming through me, and instead of from me.
This is called, of course, being in ‘the zone’….something that most often happens when I’m teaching yoga. My teacher and mentor, Erich Schiffmann, used to say ‘just open the top of your head and let it flow through you!’ So that is what is happening here, no plan…just fingers making sense (I hope!) of what is flowing through, from me to you.
No plan. Lately I find myself without a concrete plan. Days can go by, where I feel like I haven’t accomplished one doggone thing outside of taking care of basic needs. Can anyone relate?
This is such a difficult time. These last 3 years have essentially broken the world as we knew it. We knew how to move through our days. Where things were. How to manage finances (for the most part). How to relate to one another without a mask. I could go on, but you know what I mean. It’s broken.
This rather realistic (if quite negative) way of thinking needs to be put under a microscope. If you will, please take a look at the giant photo below. I took it in Scotland (in the rain!) a few years ago. I’ve always been immensely intrigued by stone circles, by stories of the ancient Druids, celebrations of the sun and moon and the seasons, and by Celtic songs of woe and wailing. Presumably I owe this hankering to my northern Scottish ancestry. Anyway. Please notice the sheep who seem to be going on their sheep-like way, munching grass and hanging together.
Now notice the rock in the front - left hand side of the picture. Looks exactly like a turtle to me! And in his turtle-like fashion, he is peeking out, and just about to hunker down inside his shell again, making no headway whatsoever.
Life is always about making decisions. In fact, we make decisions every moment of every waking day. And, if you buy into this fact, we need to decide THIS very moment to live our lives as sheep, rather than as turtles.
Hanging Together. (Human beings are in need of one another.) Managing the Essentials, instead of shying away from what is needed. Supporting a Positive Outlook with a Healthy Mind through Meditation and Breath (and yes, bodily movement through yoga.)
Fingers have run out of words. I’m always delighted to have your comments.
