Don’t let your fears hold you back

Fears

Fear can be a positive force. Really. Fear has served us well over the thousands of years before you or I even existed. Fear is what kept our ancestors alive. Fear can still help to keep us alive now. It is an adaptive response which is genetically hard wired into our DNA. Everyone experiences fear. Now, fear can often be a rational response to our environment or situations we find ourselves in - it is then that it helps us to predict threat and respond in a way that will give us a better chance of survival.

However, fear can also work against us. Our primitive brains can not distinguish between real threats and perceived threats. If we interpret something as a threat or something to be scared of, it doesn’t matter whether its a hungry lion or a worry about an upcoming deadline, it will respond in the same way and throw us into a state of stress.

Unfortunately, in the modern world we are constantly exposed to triggers which we may perceive as a threat and therefore we can exist in a perpetual state of stress, if we allow our fears to control us.

However, you can learn to control your fear response and the therefore the stress and anxiety we experience. Being aware of the response is the first step and then when you recognise you are responding with fear, stress or anxiety you can take steps to start controlling the response. The most immediate and effective strategy is simply to breath. Take long, slow and controlled breaths in through the nose and then slowly exhale. This simple strategy switches on the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system which promotes a state of relaxation.

So next time you find yourself in a state of stress or anxiety as a result of irrational fear, just breath.