More on Fear...What is the antidote to Fear?

A plea for my daughter Dana, More on Fear…What is the antidote to Fear?

Today my daughter Dana is going in for her 6 month PET Scan of which I acutely feel in my heart.  In our journey and my work with The Mindfulness Center, I have learned that you are not fully in recovery until you can let go of the fear.  I know, “Easier said than one…”

This is why I gave every member of my family and a few close friends, the book “The Gifts of Imperfection” this year for Christmas and a big catalyst for my group on “Cultivating Joy”.  Written by Brene Brown, Ph.D., L.M.S.W., the book is your guide to a wholehearted life.  I am using her book as one of the tools and a guide for our group that gets together and practices courage, compassion and connection, the three “C’s” that Brene has identified as essential for developing resilience and an antidote against fear and anxiety.

What is the ultimate antidote to fear?  It is not courage. Courage comes from the latin word Cour and means owning and telling your story with your whole heart.  Dana is certainly accomplishing that with her blog that has reached over 10,000 people showing us her strength, her courage, her humor and her gift of writing. 

According to Gary Zukav, which I now believe to be true, the antidote to fear is love.  Every day, every moment we have a choice on how to think, act and respond to the situation given to us.  We can either choose to react based on our fears or set the intention to respond out of love.

When I let my fear overcome me I become the over-functioning, caretaking, crazed mother who is desperately trying to “fix” Dana with the right combination of food, supplements, yoga and meditation.  Don’t get me wrong, these practices can be life changing and transformational, but my beautiful daughter does not need “fixing”.   

Dana is perfectly imperfect and like all of us, like nature intended, has the ability to heal from within.  All of us can choose love over fear.  Again this requires courage, compassion (self compassion) and connection.   This requires a practice and a safe place and community for support.

Last night, I posted on my Facebook page that I had been listening to Candace Pert, another well-known Ph.D researcher who discussed the importance of authenticity and emotional integrity.  She sited research on spontaneous remissions happening after an angry outburst and suggests that releasing pent up emotions can be a dramatic boost to the immune system.  I’ve already stated previously how Dean Ornish, M.D. book on Love & Survival, speaks to the research on how much more powerful and essential Love is to healing.

Finally, how do we cultivate Joy & Gratitude?  First we have to let go of the practices of numbing and learn how to cultivate a resilient spirit, which Dana is proving good at.  Second, we must let go of scarcity and fear.  Scarcity is when we keep saying to ourselves, “I don’t have enough (time, money, health, etc.).  As Deepak Chopra says, If you think you don’t have enough time that is the fastest way to a heart attack.  Our subconscious thoughts are drivers of our reality.

What is Joy?

Joy seems to me a step beyond happiness. Happiness is

 a sort of atmosphere you can live in sometimes when you’re lucky.

Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love.

-Adela Rogers St. John

Here is my Plea, a request for action.  Please join me TODAY, right now as she is getting her scan, in spreading hope and faith and love to Dana.  Please send your Metta, your LOVE & Kindness, your prayers and meditations to my daughter Dana so she can feel in her heart this positive healing energy and be filled with hope and faith and love.

With Love & Gratitude,

Dana's "Momma Bear"

PS

Please sign up and join us in Mind Body Week DC next week to learn more about the science and research behind the power to heal from within.  Don’t forget to sign up for our workshop at Beloved Yoga Studio on Sunday too.