Hooked on Fear?
Break out of the fear cycle and rewire your brain
when you have chronic symptoms (or want to prevent them)
(Photo from Unsplash)
Yesterday my patient came in distressed by his shoulder pain
‘I couldn’t do anything you asked me to because my shoulder hurt too bad! I don’t know how I’ll cope!’
- 30mins later with some mindful listening, questioning, breathing and guidance he was moving confidently:
‘I feel tired but better! The pain is there but it doesn’t feel as bad’ ..
What made the difference? I hear you ask, Having a confident coach by his side.. yes.. but also.. A SHIFT IN FOCUS
We’ve all heard the saying that what we focus on grows. Where your attention goes your energy flows.
Focus on your pain and it spreads and becomes more intense and unbearable.
Focus on how your boss hates you and you feel more and more paranoid, nervous and make more mistakes.
Here’s how it works:
What you think about affects how you feel- your emotions and body physiology.
How you feel determines what you do or don’t do or the manner with which you do it.
Perhaps you’ve been in the scenario above:
Your pain feels awful, it’s so awful that you can’t take your mind off it, soon it feels all encompassing, and there seems to be no other possibility but to focus on it. Your mind races:
‘What if this doesn’t pass? What if it gets worse? What if I’ve injured myself? I’ll have to let my friend down AGAIN, what will she think of me?!’
- As you think this way, you feel anxious and your body tenses, you shut yourself away from others.
You do less, think more and feel worse.
As you can see meditating on the negative, on what we fear only gives rise to more of what we don’t want
Our brain is programmed to focus on the negative, the fearful; programmed to focus on threat and danger (which includes the loss of love and connection.)
It does this to help us plan, prepare for and survive any eventuality. Yet it also keeps us on edge – in a state of constant hyperalert and hyperarousal. In a constant state of hypervigilance. In this state we can end up creating the very scenarios we fear: more pain, more isolation, more chronic symptoms.
Sadly it takes five times more effort to focus on the good than to focus on the bad.
The good news is that we CAN shift the bias of our brain and nervous system; from fear and worry to what is positive and healthy. We do this by choosing where we place our attention.
Here's a short meditation practise called savouring the good to help you:
Here it is in a nutshell:
-Linger on what feels good rather than what doesn’t.
-Stay a while longer with positive thoughts, feelings and experiences, instead of glossing over them.
-When you have a pleasant experience, let it sink in instead of rushing to the next thing you need to do.
-Feel it in your body. Talk or write about the beauty, the richness, the joy, warmth, pleasure and appreciation you experience.
This switches on the soothing and safety centres of the brain and nervous system which in turn regulate our emotions and reverses stress.
“A Miracle is a shift in perception, from Fear to Love.”
— Marianne Williamson