Dancing with Change, Overcoming Fear

By Jon Terrell, M.A.

Change can bring both elation and fear. We long for positive change. But at the same time change brings uncertainty, and that can be scary. We can experience fear and anxiety for many reasons. Just reading the headlines can be scary.  

We can easily get stuck in a limiting story, buying right into the collective story voiced my the media as fact. And that story can take us for quite a wild, uncomfortable ride.

How can we dance between changes two extremes, of excitement/elation and panic/dread? Can we learn how to overcome fear?

I help people navigate through change in my roles as a meditation instructor (see Agni Yoga Meditation ), psychotherapist and retreat leader. This work helps clients find their internal compass and inner resources to move with clarity when appropriate or "stand steady" as needed.

It's all about freeing ourselves from these hypnotic stories we tell ourselves and learning to live in the spaciousness of the present moment.

We can easily get caught in the story all around us and lose ourselves. And we can lose ourselves just as easily in the soaring heights of joy and elation as in the muddy waters of a scary story.

You might find the following guidelines valuable to awaken from these stories:

5 KEYS TO HELP WITH CHANGE

1. Take a break from the story in your head. Pausing and taking a few deep breaths can often allow you to break the trance and stop buying into the story. To really free up your awareness, learn to meditate. Agni Yoga Meditation (Inner Light Fire) is an accelerated form of meditation that combines awareness and energy techniques.

2. Search for the bigger story. Psychological fear and anxiety can lock us into a very small, limited world. These story lines, often from our childhoods, are seductive and familiar, but they steal our power by shrinking us and placing power outside. There is always a larger, more expansive story than the one our uncomfortable feelings tell. Look for it. 

3. Turn off the TV, Internet and print media news. Take a break, or check it much less frequently. Fear sells and the media knows how to exploit us to sell what they want. (Do we really need "clinical strength" deodorant?)

4. Get a massage, bodywork or energy healing. A good session from a skilled practitioner will both clear out uncomfortable feelings from your body and ground you. You need to be grounded to take appropriate action once you've released it.

5. Pay attention to when you find yourself soaring too high. The "New Age" may be dawning, but we've got to do the step-by-step work of bringing changes to earth. Otherwise you may find yourself unexpectedly crashing down, like Icarus when he flew too close to the sun. Stay grounded.

Breaking Free from the Old Story

I believe that within our emotions are great treasures. But we often miss out because we are afraid of our feelings. We're afraid we'll get stuck in them.

We deal with uncomfortable emotions by suppressing or manipulating them in various ways. See the Emotions Page for more information.

A better way is to transform these dark feelings and reveal their gifts. We do this at our Grief and Difficult Emotions Retreats.

If you have a question and wish to contact me, use the form below.

Go from Overcoming Fear Page to Emotions page

Go to Anxiety Page

Go to Fear of Intimacy

Go To Awakenment Wellness Home Page