Our “Mental Health” video series (click here to watch the series) inspired exploration on a related topic that is on top of people’s minds – Fear!  Fear of the future, the current situation or your destiny! Let’s talk about how fear affects your body and examine ways to walk out of fear.

Fright or Fear?

Fear is in our imagination; Fright is different than fear in that it is sudden and unexpected. It is shocking and alarming. I remembered I visited Madame Tussauds in the UK many years ago and there was a “Ghost” house and I was fearful of the scenes, so I barely moved an inch at a time. Some visitors spotted my fearfulness and came very close to me and screamed at me. I was frightened! My fear was in my head but the frightening experience was real!

Fear originates from our imagination of danger or negative consequences – Fear is nothing more than “False Expectation Appearing Real”! I love this acronym! What if we can all become fearlessness?! What would change in your life?!

FEAR-Aware

Being aware of the fear and be receptive to the fear. Accept that we have fear and exploring where that fear comes from and its purpose. Allow time to be with emotion can help us to see the emotion clearer. This should include the emotional and physical aspect as fear can have a detrimental impact on health too! In Traditional Chinese Medicine, fear is associated with weakened kidney qi over time. A common symptom of weakened kidney qi is frequent urination.

FEAR-LessNess

The next step is Becoming Fearlessness. I recently came across a 25-min session from ProgressU in Becoming Fearlessness. You can access the mini-Session free from here. Three approaches were shared in the session: the STOIC approach, Playing-to-win vs. Playing-not-to-lose and the “Tao” approach. STOIC approach focuses on getting a strategy for the worst-case scenario to shrink the elephant; “Tao” approach is about the philosophy of “Good or Bad? Who knows?”

Playing-to-win vs. Playing-not-to-lose in sports / life

In tennis, I clearly remembered that each coaching session would help me get better in specific shots, be it down-the-line or cross-the-court. The analogy of playing-to-win vs. playing-not-to-lose on a tennis court: If you focus on getting your balls over the net, it gives you no idea where your ball will land and how the ball will be like as it lands. If you focus on getting your balls down the line right inside the court, you have a very clear idea of what your ball will be like. Which one would you like to focus on?

Accepting GROUND-LessNess

Changing how we think about Fear is the key to becoming Fearlessness and all three approaches discussed in the “Becoming Fearlessness” session are invaluable tools to have. I want to share “Embracing the joy of groundlessness” can also be powerful! We often fear uncertainty, yet uncertainty is what gets life excited. When we can appreciate the beauty of impermanence or the unpredictability, life becomes cherished! Life is not a problem to be solved, but a journey to be experienced! Embrace Groundlessness in your next encounter of Fear and nourish your kidneys!