Our video of our webinar collaboration with healingworx4U is now out! We discussed the topic of fear, and how it holds us back from achieving our dreams! We spoke about the negative effects of fear on our bodies, our health, our memories and our minds! We offered some tools and insights on how to manage the fear and anxiety of going after our dreams! Below are some of the topics we discussed; you can watch the entire video by clicking on the link below:
WHAT IS FEAR?
Fear is an emotion induced by perceived danger or threat, which causes physiological changes and ultimately behavioural changes, such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat.
Usually along with physical/ bodily responses :
- Increased heart rate.
- Faster breathing or shortness of breath.
- Butterflies or digestive changes.
- Sweating and chills.
- Trembling muscles
Fear is one of the seven universal emotions experienced by everyone around the world.
While traditionally considered a “negative” emotion, fear actually serves an important role in keeping one safe/protecting us/ mobilises us to cope with potential danger.
YOUR BODY & FEAR
- Fear is experienced & perceived in your mind, but it triggers a strong physical reaction in your body
- The fear response starts in the brain – and spreads through the body to make adjustments for the best defence, or flight reaction. The fear response starts in a region of the brain called the amygdala
- Fear is based on our subjective experiences …
- Seeing a lion in the wild can trigger a strong fear reaction, but the response to a view of the same lion at a zoo is more of curiosity and thinking that the lion is perhaps ‘cute’. This is because the hippocampus and the frontal cortex process contextual information, and inhibitory pathways dampen the amygdala’s fear response and its downstream results.
FEAR & OUR HEALTH
- Physical health. Fear weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility. It can lead to accelerated ageing and even premature death.
- Memory. Fear can impair the formation of long-term memories and cause damage to certain parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This can make it even more difficult to regulate fear and can leave a person anxious most of the time. To someone in chronic fear, the world looks ‘scarier’ and their memories confirm that.
- Brain processing and reactivity. Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before acting, and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision-making in negative ways, leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions. All of these effects can leave us unable to act & respond appropriately
- Mental health. Other consequences of long-term fear include fatigue, clinical depression, and PSTD.
FEAR & OUR MEMORY
- When we’re afraid, we release high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. According to secondary research by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, at low and medium levels cortisol can actually improve our ability to learn and retain information. However, at the high levels that fear induces, it’s believed Cortisol may have the opposite effect — and can even contribute to memory impairment. That means it’s possible that too much fear could make you forget!
- Your mind will imagine the worst-case scenarios – that are not really that make you even more terrified.
- In traumatic instances of excessive fear or stress, such as war, abuse, or disaster, significant memory impairments like dissociative amnesia can occur. It’s often a symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and results in (usually traumatic) memories being deeply buried in the mind. Those memories may resurface on their own, or an outside influence may trigger the affected person into remembering the event.
- Researchers are debating about the validity of these recovered memories — are they real memories, or constructed?
- Psychology Today says that 60-80% of those who practice but don’t typically conduct research (clinicians, psychoanalysts, and therapists) feel therapy-based
- recovery of traumatic memories can be frequent and authentic, but under 30% of research-oriented psychologists agree.
HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR OF FAILURE:
- Reframe Your Goals
- Reframe failure by shifting your goals. Expand your goal to include learning something new and you will never technically “fail” because there is always something to be learned.
- Visualize Obstacles
Positive thinking alone is not enough. Research has shown that the best outcomes are created when we balance positive thinking with visualizing the future obstacles and struggles we will encounter.
- Uncover Your Story
- When we take failure very personally, we are always – always – associating the failure with a bigger story about ourselves – most often a made-up story of who we think we are
- You can RECREATE YOURSELF at any point in time
- Figure out Where the Fear Comes From
Ask yourself what the root cause of your negative belief could be and then realise that may or may not be the truth – it is only your frame of reference. Write down where you think the fear comes from, and try to understand it as an outsider( detach from the emotion)
Watch yourself Talk
If it helps, imagine you’re trying to help one of your best friends. Perhaps your fear stems from something that happened in your childhood or deep-seated insecurity. Naming the source of the fear takes away some of its power.
Hire a Life Coach
Professionals with NLP life coach certification can help their coaching clients reframe their thinking, we are equipped to ask you the right questions and assist you on your journey to overcoming negative emotions and reframe your fears to create positive outcomes and results for yourself! With a coach by your side, we can aid you to overcome the fear of failure!
Services At HEALINGWORX4U
To contact Francisca Al-Halaseh for her services email her here:
Personal Life Coaching
NLP
Rieke
Meditation
Services At EverJourney:
Personal Life Coaching (NLP based)
Executive, Business & Leadership Coaching
Facilitation Workshops ( Wellness, Business, Strategy)
Wellness Coaching (Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness, Meditation & Yoga sessions)
References used during our webinar :
- The Science Daily fear, Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/fear.htm#:~:text=Fear%20is%20an%20unpleasant%20feeling,it%20be%20real%20or%20imagined.&text=Humans%20can%20become%20very%20intimidated,caring%20about%20their%20own%20input.
- WebMD, The Signs of Fear, link: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/signs-of-fear
- What is Your Brain Afraid Of? The Neuroscience of Fear, link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jALOi5dZUIM&ab_channel=SITNBoston
- Smithsonian Magazine, What Happens in the Brain When We Feel Fear, Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-brain-feel-fear-180966992/
- Simple Phycology, Classical Conditioning https://www.simplypsychology.org/classical-conditioning.html
- Impact of Fear and Anxiety, University of Minnesota, Link: https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/impact-fear-and-anxiety
- The science of behind fear, Killer Visual strategies, Link: https://killervisualstrategies.com/blog/the-science-behind-fear.html
- Choosing Therapy, Fear of Failure: Causes & 5 Ways to Cope with Atychiphobia, Link: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/fear-of-failure/
- You Are Only Born With 2 Fears, So Why Are You So Afraid? Link: https://medium.com/@kollinkennedy1/you-are-only-born-with-2-fears-so-why-are-you-so-afraid-c9c097bdfbd9
- With Which Two Fears Are We Born? Link: https://www.theskysthelimitconsulting.com/blog/with-which-two-fears-are-we-born
- Sadhguru on Fear of Failure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gavq4LM8XK0&t=77s
