Dealing With Fear and Anxiety: Principle 2 - Tapping into Your Body Wisdom

Our bodies are safe havens, the home bases in which we ground ourselves so that we can deal with our fears with grace and clarity. They are wise companions, ever-present witnesses to our experience and guides to the next step. Our bodies' wisdom is available whenever we take the time to check in and hear what they have to say.

Tapping Into Your Body's Wisdom

In order to tap into your body's wisdom to deal with fear and get free from it, it is vital that you first acknowledge your body and become willing to let go of all the ways you may have stifled its messages to you. Many of us have run roughshod over the gifts of the body, numbing our senses with food or other substances, dulling our awareness with overwork, and ignoring symptoms or turning them off with painkillers.

Note, I said "become willing" to let go of your body-deadening patterns. Please do not keep yourself stuck by looking for perfection on this point. All that is needed is that you make a beginning by acknowledging the ways that you turn away from your body's wisdom and affirming that you are willing to be different. You do not need to know how you will change this, only that you desire to do so.

You can transform the way you deal with fear by simply holding from day to day a curious wondering about how your body might be a safe haven. How might you cultivate this wondering? Is there a symbol for how it would feel to be safe and utterly at home in your own skin? How might you use this symbol to bring your awareness to the possible safety and wisdom of your own body? (Clue: ask your body to suggest a symbol to you. Then draw it, paint it, dance it, sing it, sculpt it. This is a personal expression of your body's wisdom, not an art project. Critics are not invited to this party.)

Tapping Into Your Body's Wisdom: Exercise

Here's an exercise that will connect you with that safe inner space as well as open a dialogue with your body.

Sit quietly, feet flat on the floor, hands relaxed at your side, back straight and eyes gently closed. (You may lie down if you will not fall asleep.) Scan your body for sensations by simply directing your awareness to your feet, then ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, etc. all the way up your body to the crown of your head. As your attention pauses at each area, simply notice what is. Suspend judgment, making no attempt to change things. This is not a relaxation exercise, though you may find it profoundly restful. It is first and foremost a practice of noticing how it is with your body right now.

It can deepen your experience and keep your attention from drifting to speak your observations aloud. "I notice a sort of buzz in my left calf. Hmmm, my right thigh is a bit tight. I feel a kind of excitement in my abdomen. My right shoulder blade is higher than the left…." This is also a way of letting your body know, "Yes, I hear you. Yes, I notice that, too." Just as our friends would soon tire of a one-sided conversation, our bodies will only speak to us when we listen and acknowledge what they have to say.

Now, find the place of center in your body. Often this is at the center of the abdomen, a couple of inches below your navel. Find where it is for you by sensing into your body for that place where you feel whole and intact. (It can help to recall a time when you felt whole and intact, then notice how you experience that in your body.) Breathe into this place and allow the well being you find there to expand into the rest of your body.

Don't fret if nothing seems to be happening, or if you do not seem to understand what "sensing into your body" means. Simply set the intention, spend a few minutes with your body in interested curiosity about what might happen, and listen. If there is resistance, simply notice that, too, and let it be. Over time you will become more skilled at connecting with your body. For now, let it be enough that you are saying, "Hello."

While her focus is on healing, the potential of focusing extends beyond healing into accessing your body's wisdom for inner guidance and support for living a life based on your core values, a life that is free from fear.

About the Author
Molly Gordon is a Master Certified Coach, who shows accidental entrepreneurs how to manifest the success that is the natural consequence of living their hearts' desires with integrity, authenticity, and passion. Since 1996, she has coached hundreds of clients through personal and professional transformation. Her unique coaching style is informed by her experience as a business owner and artist as well as her lifetime commitment to service and creativity. She is a widely sought after speaker and facilitator.

Molly says:
I support my clients to live lives of meaning and prosperity. Learn more about business coaching and personal growth coaching I offer. When you are ready to transform your life, email me, mgordonATmollygordon.com, to discuss whether coaching is right for you and to see if we are a good fit. Until then, please accept my heartfelt good wishes.

How to Overcome Fears and Anxiety
by Molly Gordon, MCC

Table of Contents

How to Overcome Fears and Anxiety - Introduction
Dealing With Fear: Principle 1 - F.E.A.R.
Dealing With Fear: Principle 2 - Tapping into Your Body Wisdom
Dealing With Fear: Principle 3 - Discerning Two Types of Fear
Dealing With Fear: Principle 4 - Maintaining Homeostasis,
Self Sabotage, and Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
What is Important in Working with Homeostasis to Get Unstuck
The List of Books on Fear
Fear Quotes

Business Coach and Personal Growth Coach Molly Gordon
available in Greater Seattle Area and internationally can be reached at:
mgordonATmollygordon.com | Phone: 360.633.4397 | Fax: 206.201.5020

Dealing With Fear and Anxiety: Principle 2 - Tapping into Your Body Wisdom

Your Wise Body

Tapping Into Your Body's Wisdom

Tapping Into Your Body's Wisdom: Exercise

Dealing With Fear and Anxiety:
Principle 2 - Tapping into Your Body Wisdom