The past few months I’ve been meeting people while on the road. It’s such a cool experience to connect with people all over the world and discover our similarities and differences. One of the main questions I get in the self-help world is how to manage or release fears. Fears are something we all have, whether imaginary or real, that can have a crippling effect on our lives. I’ve spent a lot of the past few years of my life striving to manage my fear-based mindset, because I’ve recognized that I do not want to live in fear. While on a daily basis my ego brings up my biggest fears, I’ve incorporated tools that help me gently let them go so I can live my life in peace. If you’re looking to manage your fears in a simple, meaningful way, I offer you, in this week’s blog, some tips below.
1. Out your fears. One way to start to tame a unruly situation is to recognize its reality and out it to yourself; name it out loud. What exactly are you afraid of? I’ll start and out mine here. Is it safe to ride the subway in NYC? Will I be single forever? Am I liked enough? Is my family healthy and safe? When will the world be more peaceful? And the list could go on. I am aware of these common fears of mine, so that when they pop into my mind, I can use the following tools to bring me back to peace. Take some time to notice your fears, but do not ruminate in them. Become familiar so you can then take action.
2. Meditate. I’m pretty sure I use meditation as my top tool for most of my blogs, but it’s simply because it’s such a powerful tool. Whenever I get bogged down in fear-based thinking, I know I can close my eyes, and take a few deep breaths and bring myself back to a calmer place. Incorporating a daily meditation practice allows you to live in that calmer place more often.
3. Present moment living. Generally when we start to become fearful, we are leaving the present moment and thinking about the past or the future. The fears I listed above fall into this category as most of them are uncertainties on what is to come. When I get into this space, I try to remember that this very moment right now, is all we really have. We cannot control what has happened or what will happen, nor can we know the outcome of certain actions, we simply have to live presently in every moment from a place of love and peace. When your mind begins to wander, gently bring it back to the now, enjoy the now, and live in peace.
4. Recite positive affirmations. When all else fails above, I quietly recite affirmations or mantras to keep me calm. I have learned that a negative thought and a positive thought cannot exist at the same time. A great affirmation when feeling fearful is “all is well”. Trust that in this moment, all really is well.
I hope these tools help you in managing your daily fears! As an end note, the fears I speak of here stem from the mind, and not from actual dangerous situations. Of course, if you find yourself in a harmful situation, please seek help and take care of you! Have a beautiful week!
This article “How To Manage Fears” by Michelle Maros was originally posted on Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life.org To view the original article, click here.
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