Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Oct/Nov 2017 Aspire Mag Full Issue: Feminine Wisdo | Page 51
The Mind-Body Effects
of Fear
The skeleton of fear is composed of
thoughts about a perceived (not usually
real) threat. The flesh of fear is composed of
the unpleasant emotions triggered by those
thoughts.
As soon as a fear is birthed in your mind,
the amygdala (a nut-shaped organ in the
core of your brain) sends a wake-up signal
to your autonomic nervous system, causing
your body to acknowledge the fear. The two
lanes of the autonomic nervous system, the
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous
systems, are the boss ladies regulating your
internal organs, telling them what to do in
times of danger and peace. But sometimes,
they get a little confused.
Without the sympathetic nervous system
(the Panic Room), you might pet a great
white shark. Without the parasympathetic
nervous system (the Meditation Room), you
might have a panic attack when the waiter
brings you a salad instead of a hamburger.
The confounding thing is, the chemical
You’re going to
open the door and
get to know fear.
You’re going to
observe it, chat with
it, and befriend it
so it’s no longer
the hidden demon
you run from, but
a known entity
you know how to
communicate with,
know how to kindly
ask to leave when
it has served its
purpose.
The unknown sound you hear at night is
much scarier than opening the door, peering
outside, and seeing that the sound is just
your cat chasing its tail. You’re going to
open the door and get to know fear. You’re
going to observe it, chat with it, and befriend
it so it’s no longer the hidden demon you
run from, but a known entity you know how
to communicate with, know how to kindly
ask to leave when it has served its purpose.
The first step is exploring the basic (illusory)
anatomy of fear, and how it affects your very
real physical anatomy.
response created in the body when facing
either the shark or the salad is the same, even
though one has the potential to cause death,
while the other is just inconvenient. Death
and inconvenience both sound unpleasant,
but they’re way different. Unfortunately, the
body does not know that they’re not rated the
same on the scale of seriousness.
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