Excessive fear is a feeling that paralyzes us. It disorganizes our thoughts, prevents us from analyzing reality, weakens our ability to reflect, hinders our socialization, weakens our confidence, hinders our decisions.
For many years I suffered from panic disorder. Abruptly, for no apparent reason, a feeling of near death invaded my inner space and made me ask for help from anyone close to me. I was afraid of driving, afraid of being alone in the house, in addition to the terrible fear of dying, of course. As the situation became unbearable, I started treatment with medication and psychotherapy sessions. But she remained very insecure and suffering from the effects of psychotropic drugs.
One day, I became aware of a book by an author from Maranhão, whose name I don't remember now. The title caught my attention: “Yoga for Panic Disorder”. I dedicated myself to reading it and practicing her guidelines, which focused on the breathing exercise. At that moment, I began my healing process. I did other readings and started to attend regular Yoga classes. Considering my growing interest in the subject, I decided to take a Yoga instructor course. This course mainly covered Hatha Yoga postures, but it helped me a lot to control the unpleasant sensations caused by panic.
I recall this episode of my life with the intention of inviting the reader to reflect with me on the difficult moment the whole world is going through. Currently, the fear of dying worries and often sickens people of all social levels who live anywhere on the planet. It is true that this fear is part of human life, at all times, sometimes in a beneficial way. Millions of years ago, for example, man already lived in caves, wore the skin of the animals he hunted for food and, a long time later, discovered fire. All this in the fight for survival.
At different times in his evolution, man has always feared death, although hidden in the manifestation of other fears: fear of the fury and punishment of the gods, fear of wild animals, fear of natural phenomena, fear of contagious diseases, fear of horrors of war, fear of terrorist attacks, fear of the unknown, of one's own peers. It is necessary to admit that fear is part of the human condition, which is why we must understand that it is a natural reaction in the face of imminent danger. However, the contemporary world, due to a combination of social, cultural, economic and ideological factors, has favored the emergence of extreme, out of control and obsessive fears, which are characterized as phobias.
Phobias are fueled by pessimistic ideas and behavior about everything and everyone. The mind of a phobic person is full of tragic, sad and distressing thoughts. Such thoughts lead this person to social isolation, irritability and low self-esteem. That's why the help of a psychotherapist is of paramount importance. But no less important is self-care, which comprises a diversity of practices that nurture attitudes of self-knowledge and self-love from the perspective of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Meditation is such a practice.
Unfortunately, Yoga has lost many of its original characteristics. Ancient India was concerned with the moral and spiritual integrity of the human being. In this sense, Yoga was practiced as a philosophy of life whose purpose was the transcendence of the self and the union with the Absolute Being. In the West, the practice of Yoga has focused on asanas, postures that provide physical vigor and bodily beauty. The practice of meditation as a form of spiritual liberation took a back seat. The culture of valuing the body and physical appearance is fed by the consumer society, especially in contemporary times.
Many people are unable to do Yoga and, mainly, to practice meditation on the grounds that they cannot concentrate on the movements and calm the thoughts. This argument reveals how beneficial it would be for them to experience a practice of this nature. They live in a busy world, they suffer from anxiety, stress, fear, existential anguish and they get sick very often, taking too many medications. These people seek immediate results that are actually transient.
Avicenna, physician and probably the most important philosopher of the Islamic tradition, said that “imagination is half the disease, tranquility is half the medicine and patience is the first step towards healing.” Through this aphorism, the philosopher highlights the power of the subject's imagination in the elaboration of the explanation about their state of health, the importance of tranquility to overcome the typical symptoms of a disease and the need to cultivate patience in the healing process. This behavior presupposes the access and development of our inner technology, that is, the tools for healing and self-management of our emotions and feelings.
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Meditation plays a very important role in our path of self-knowledge, in the development of our intuition and creativity, in the self-management of our inner experiences, in our relationship with the world and with other people. It favors inner silence, which provides self-awareness, self-confidence, enlightenment and wisdom. Fear arises when we value the reality outside of us more and forget about our inner strength. This strength gives us vitality and makes us proactive. Cultivating inner silence is not easy. We have many voices in our heads, which are not always just our voices: they are the voices of our parents, our teachers, the people we live with in our daily lives, they are voices from yesterday and today, from here and elsewhere. Most of the time, they are voices that provoke, that judge, that criticize, that disorient... We have to learn to silence them, we have to learn to listen to our silence.
The pedagogical practice of meditation makes it possible to improve our life experience, to overcome all the mental conditioning that we ourselves create when experiencing external events. We are our thoughts. Therefore, why don't we cultivate thoughts that transform our lives for the better, that bring us well-being, happiness, health, tranquility and peace? Why do we cultivate so many fears created by our minds? After all, what do we really want for our life? Face the wonderful challenge of meditating!
