Breaking the Trance of Fear
Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe.
-- Tao te Ching (trans. Stephen Mitchell)

Fear is the biggest energy thief there is. A master seducer, it shamelessly robs of us of everything good and powerful, preys on our vulnerabilities. Many people become mesmerized for a lifetime, letting negative attitudes seize control. Enough! Though some fears are intuitively protective (we'll go into these), we can't let the irrational ones bamboozle us. Fear never stands alone; it inflames every vampiric emotion from worry to shame. This program shows you how to break fear's trance and reacquire lost energy.

As a psychiatrist, I know we all experience fear. Me. You. Your mother. The President. No one escapes. The wise ones admit it, and eyes open, confront and heal fear. The ones who're in trouble look the other way, and bit by bit, get eaten alive. The point is to stay conscious. When we know what we're dealing with, we decide who's in charge.

HOW TO SHRINK FEAR WITH POSITIVE ENERGY

7 Anti-Fear Tactics

Tactic One. Know your fears well to avoid ambush
First, to de-energize fear you must name it. Identify the whole gamut, miniscule or monstrous."I'm not smart enough, pretty enough...I'll never find a soulmate so I might as well not try." Some of my biggest fears include ending up drooling and alone in a nursing home: or if I suddenly die at home I'd just lie there unmissed until my cleaning lady found me.

Breaking the Trance. Don't drift into denial. Say to the fear, "Thank you for sharing." Then make a conscious move into your heart. Do this by verbally reframing your dilemma from a compassionate perspective. For instance, to replace fear with faith, I affirm, "I will be taken care of,not abandoned in my time of need." To further cement your new affirmation, I suggest meditating on your heart to reconnect with whatever you love. Conjuring positive energy in these ways collapses fear.

Tactic Two. Listen to your intuition
Once you've identified the fear, tune into the actual truth of the situation. Some fears are protective, others are not.

Breaking the Trance. Follow these guidelines to tell intuition from fear.
(1) Trustworthy intuitions will energize you. They are either neutral, simply conveying information; compassionate, never beating you up; or a gut feeling that something feels right or off.
(2) Irrational fear, on the other hand, exhausts you. It's emotionally charged so that centered neutrality is impossible. The content is often cruel or demeaning, with no gut-level confirmation.

Tactic Three. Say A Prayer to Lift Fear
Sometimes fear grips your spirit and just won't let go. You do everything right. You know fear is irrational, but still can't shake it. Now, ask for another kind of help. You may believe in angels, or that your grandfather is watching over you (mine is!). Whoever your positive energy emissaries are, get ready to call in the troops.

Breaking the Trance. Take a breath. Close your eyes. Know that the non-material world holds much magic our rational mind can never understand. Then say a prayer from the heart. It could be very simple: "Please take this fear from me." Meanwhile, just stay open. Let the positive energy you're summoning do its job.