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Besides being biologically wired for fear and also the experience of being brought up as a child in constant fear, I have the additional fear stimuli surrounding the effect that the cancer has on my body. There are many times when I feel sick or feel like something really bad is happening to my body. The mind and ego tend to freak out. 'We have to DO something about this NOW or we could DIE!' Adrenalin pumps into my system exacerbating this reaction. Within a few breaths I generally become aware that 'I' am doing all that I can to lessen the effects that are occurring in the moment. When I release the idea that there's something that I need to do, then there is just the experience of dizziness or nausea or the heart pounding or exhaustion or whatever is going on. It is the game we play here.
Sometimes, I just sit back and allow the mind and ego to freak out. The fear is still occurring but it isn't having any effect on my experience.
Showing posts with label Fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fear. Show all posts
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Fear
According to Rick Hansen, a neurologist, who spoke on the Beyond Awakening Series recently, the human brain is hardwired for fear. His quote was, "Fear is Velcro, Good Feelings are Teflon."
There's an entire structure in the brain devoted to fear, the sympathetic nervous system, the oldest and most primitive part of the brain. We're basically running outdated software on outdated hardware, but all is not apparently lost. The reason that original wiring was put into place was that historically although finding food and procreation were important, not being eaten by wild animals was MORE important to the survival of the species. Hansen claims that 2/3 of the cells in the amygdala (the brain's router) are wired for fear with only 1/3 wired for anything other than fear.
Of course in this day and age, there are few tigers wanting to eat us and the fear response is only really useful if we're trying to avoid a traffic accident or something of that nature. Because the fear response is so ingrained and prevalent, we utilize that response for other events, like when our beliefs or our ego is being threatened.
Hansen claims that we CAN rebuild those neural pathways so that when a non threatening event occurs we're less likely to respond from fear. He claims that when a good event occurs that we can strengthen a non fear response by spending 11 seconds appreciating the 'good' event. That's really only a couple of slow breaths. He further stated that meditation supports the strengthening of non fear neural pathways. His statement was that 'if you fire it, you wire it'. In other words if you allow yourself to have a particular type of response, you strengthen that pathway.
There's an entire structure in the brain devoted to fear, the sympathetic nervous system, the oldest and most primitive part of the brain. We're basically running outdated software on outdated hardware, but all is not apparently lost. The reason that original wiring was put into place was that historically although finding food and procreation were important, not being eaten by wild animals was MORE important to the survival of the species. Hansen claims that 2/3 of the cells in the amygdala (the brain's router) are wired for fear with only 1/3 wired for anything other than fear.
Of course in this day and age, there are few tigers wanting to eat us and the fear response is only really useful if we're trying to avoid a traffic accident or something of that nature. Because the fear response is so ingrained and prevalent, we utilize that response for other events, like when our beliefs or our ego is being threatened.
Hansen claims that we CAN rebuild those neural pathways so that when a non threatening event occurs we're less likely to respond from fear. He claims that when a good event occurs that we can strengthen a non fear response by spending 11 seconds appreciating the 'good' event. That's really only a couple of slow breaths. He further stated that meditation supports the strengthening of non fear neural pathways. His statement was that 'if you fire it, you wire it'. In other words if you allow yourself to have a particular type of response, you strengthen that pathway.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
so now seeming struggle
so much fell into place of it's own accord for so long. sure, there was fear, but it wasn't hard to accept or deal with. There has been lots to take care of and there is still quite a bit it seems in order to get myself to Nogales for dental work while completing the final aspects of semipermanently shifting life to nomadic. But now, I go out to do something and there are pieces missing. I can't see the perfection at this time. Feels like struggle. I'm still sure the perfection is there, I just can't see it.
Monday, December 21, 2009
When you reach for awareness
You can't make enlightenment happen. There's nothing you can 'do' to achieve full consciousness. It comes of it's own accord when you remove every ego/mind/body/thought block to it.
When you reach for the highest levels of awareness what you’re asking for is that every issue you’ve ever had be brought to the surface to be healed.
Every button you’ve ever had will be pushed and pushed again until those buttons no longer exist or you give up and crawl back into your denial.
Your issues and buttons and fears are what stand between you and consciousness.
Once you reach a certain point, the only way out is in.
You're given the ability to deal with it when you're ready to take the next step, heal the next issue.
What do you fear most? That’s where you’re headed.
When you reach for the highest levels of awareness what you’re asking for is that every issue you’ve ever had be brought to the surface to be healed.
Every button you’ve ever had will be pushed and pushed again until those buttons no longer exist or you give up and crawl back into your denial.
Your issues and buttons and fears are what stand between you and consciousness.
Once you reach a certain point, the only way out is in.
You're given the ability to deal with it when you're ready to take the next step, heal the next issue.
What do you fear most? That’s where you’re headed.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Shifting All Negativity
I was sitting in ‘it’ this morning, allowing the teachings to filter past my ego’s desire to set an agenda and be in control. Up at 5, this is my time to sit in my skin (in the skin of the infinite) and see what appears. Now that my mh is in ‘liveable’ shape (i.e. I can find most of the things I NEED if not all of the things I might want, and can make meals) I’m able to return to my practice of staying connected to truth and keeping this physical body healthy enough to take me the next steps down the path. This body may have been somewhat compromised by what has occurred (all of my own creation) but it is good enough to get me ‘home’ and for that I am tearfully grateful.
Today’s info:
1. Fear is all the same (judgment and fear or any ‘not love’ are the same thing, btw). It doesn’t matter what causes it or triggers it, energetically all of the negativity is identical.
Once you understand that at a cellular level, that is you sit with it and fully realize it and allow the knowledge to become real, you can shift all of the ‘not love’ as a single energetic entity, to love or light or whatever you want to call it. The shift is not an action that we take. The action is sitting in the awareness. The shift happens of its own accord when we set it up energetically and then simply ‘allow’.
2. Small judgments (defined as a negative take on an event in a ‘now’) create a path that leads to separation from oneness. Like attracts like. It can be as small as ‘oh shit, I forgot to buy coffee on the way home yesterday’ followed by a feeling as subtle as ‘that sucks’ or ‘that was dumb’. As a matter of fact, normally the HUGE things that we trip over are more obvious. We don’t tend so much to trip over logs as we do small sticks in the path. The logs are more obvious and we adjust our gait to accommodate them. We are given the ability in any moment to ‘correct’ such a judgment. The correction could be as small as ‘I forgot to buy coffee last night. I wonder what that is supposed to show me’. If allowed to settle in the body uncorrected, the choice (and it is a choice) for ‘not love’ can set up an energetic field tainted by negativity which can be as self fulfilling as a positive outlook. ‘What you believe, you will see’. We are asked to be diligent in our perception because each moment in time is a new reality, a new ‘now’ and in each now, there is a choice. This is the more challenging aspect, the diligence, the consistency.
Dat’s all I know for now. Now I go sit to fully realize point one.
Love to all you are, all you see, all with whom you interact
Today’s info:
1. Fear is all the same (judgment and fear or any ‘not love’ are the same thing, btw). It doesn’t matter what causes it or triggers it, energetically all of the negativity is identical.
Once you understand that at a cellular level, that is you sit with it and fully realize it and allow the knowledge to become real, you can shift all of the ‘not love’ as a single energetic entity, to love or light or whatever you want to call it. The shift is not an action that we take. The action is sitting in the awareness. The shift happens of its own accord when we set it up energetically and then simply ‘allow’.
2. Small judgments (defined as a negative take on an event in a ‘now’) create a path that leads to separation from oneness. Like attracts like. It can be as small as ‘oh shit, I forgot to buy coffee on the way home yesterday’ followed by a feeling as subtle as ‘that sucks’ or ‘that was dumb’. As a matter of fact, normally the HUGE things that we trip over are more obvious. We don’t tend so much to trip over logs as we do small sticks in the path. The logs are more obvious and we adjust our gait to accommodate them. We are given the ability in any moment to ‘correct’ such a judgment. The correction could be as small as ‘I forgot to buy coffee last night. I wonder what that is supposed to show me’. If allowed to settle in the body uncorrected, the choice (and it is a choice) for ‘not love’ can set up an energetic field tainted by negativity which can be as self fulfilling as a positive outlook. ‘What you believe, you will see’. We are asked to be diligent in our perception because each moment in time is a new reality, a new ‘now’ and in each now, there is a choice. This is the more challenging aspect, the diligence, the consistency.
Dat’s all I know for now. Now I go sit to fully realize point one.
Love to all you are, all you see, all with whom you interact
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