Fear is a common affliction and specific fears are very personal. It takes effort, but people are able to overcome their fears using a variety of tools and techniques. Yoga can help you on your path to conquering your fears.
Whether it is a fear of flying, financial worries or any other phobia, yoga offers the tools to calm your mind, observe your thoughts, and overcome your imagination. Regardless of the specific fear or cause of anxiety, the danger is imagined and has little basis in reality.
There are many good reasons to overcome fears. Over time, fear and stress can contribute to a broad range of health problems. Reducing stress is beneficial to your body, mind and spirit and yoga can help.
Through yoga and meditation you can learn to calm the mind and still irrational thoughts that trigger feelings of fear. The asanas help to release tension from the muscles, calm the body, create a sense of balance and center your body and mind.
Through yoga, you learn to live in the present moment and stop identifying with your thoughts and fears. When thoughts of fear or worries about the future intrude on your peaceful day, you can observe your feelings and breathe until they dissipate. With practice, this gets easier and begins to happen naturally.
Later, these techniques can be used to help conquer your specific fears. For example, if you have a fear of flying or boats, you can use the breathing and relaxation you learned in yoga class on the plane to help reduce fear.
At times when you feel anxious or fearful, you can use pranayama breathing techniques. Remember that shallow breathing keeps the body tense. Breathe deeply and evenly, visualize the breath moving through the body and relaxing the muscles. This technique is very effective for fear, anxiety and panic attacks.