Fear Is An Illusion
Amygdala is the part of our brain that controls our emotional response, including fear. Our brains have evolved to better detect danger in the environment and increase our chance of survival.
The emotion of fear that rubbles in your belly, races your heart, and trickles sweat down your temples are real. Fear is a normal human response to contextual triggers.
In modern times, our environment is constantly throwing stimuli at us. Fear of financial destruction, political manipulation, lost loves and lost lives. Many things can trigger our internal fears based on the imagined scenarios of "what ifs".
Without self-awareness, fear can run our lives. Too much fear can lead to stress and anxiety. It stops you from taking appropriate action, giving others a chance or learning something new.
But, fear is an illusion.
What ifs come from anxieties of the future or regrets from the past, and neither is happening in the present moment. When you realise that fear is running your life, not you, stop and take a breath. Step back and assess.
What is really happening now?
Inspired by Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
