Yoga For When You Are Feeling SCARED

Hello!

I hope that your day is off to a fantastic start! 

What do you enjoy doing during the month of October? 

This year my family and I went to our local pumpkin patch.

They had a lot of fun activities there, such as a corn maze, a tractor ride and haunted houses. 

It felt so great to play again! 

I strongly believe that no matter what age you are, making time for play is essential to your overall health. 

I discovered that there are adult playgrounds in Germany for this very reason. 

Play is not only important for physical mobility, but it is also fantastic for mental and emotional health as play can release feel-good chemicals into the body. 

Now, what happens to the body when you’re experiencing fear? 

Fear triggers a physical response in the body. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released into your body. You will likely experience a quickened heart and respiratory rate. Your blood flow changes. Blood starts to move towards the limbs when you are feeling afraid as your body is preparing to run and/or fight. 

You may have heard of the fight-flight-freeze response.

When a friend jumps out of the closet to scare you, your brain quickly evaluates this situation, compares this situation to past situations, and prepares your body for a specific response. 

This is why you could end up punching your friend (a knee-jerk reaction), you could jump back to give yourself distance or maybe run out of the room, or you could stand there frozen (with or without sound). 

Your brain’s job is to protect and keep you safe at all costs. 

Typically after a situation like this one, you may laugh, tell your friend to never do that again, or perhaps you begin to plot how you’re going to get back at your friend. 

Once your brain recognizes that you are safe and not in danger, you’ll notice your heart rate slow down, your breathing becomes more steady, your core may feel a little warmer, and you will likely feel more steady and grounded. 

Now, you might be wondering what happens if your brain doesn’t register that you are safe? Is it possible to remain stuck in a fight-flight-freeze response? 

The simple answer is yes. 

I’ll provide a personal example. 

As you may already know, I experienced chronic symptoms following a car accident. 

Over the past four years, I’ve experienced vertigo, dizziness, ear fullness, facial pain, headaches, increased heart rate, tingling, numbness and muscular spasms.

Was I worried at the onset of these symptoms? Oh yes, I was quite alarmed. 

This is why I saw numerous health care professionals and underwent so many tests. 

Everything came back normal. 

This further increased my worry as I was convinced that they were missing something. 

As time went on, the pain increased in severity. In addition to this, the symptoms were spreading to other areas of my body. 

I felt so helpless. I felt defeated. I felt a loss of control. I felt SCARED! 

Thankfully I stumbled across an app that taught me about how fear is the fuel that can keep chronic pain alive. 

That’s when I made the connection. 

I have been in a fear state for FOUR years without realizing it!!! 

I mean my body was aware of it; however, I wasn’t feeling or sensing this emotion in my body.

As a result, this created physiological changes in my brain (which impacts how my body functions and feels). 

I then realized that in order to heal, I needed to acknowledge the presence of fear in my body, feel fear in my body, and learn strategies to help me release this emotion.

Strategies like yoga, meditation practices, breathwork practices, daily walks in nature, dance, play, placing my hand on my heart, hugging something soft, affirmations (“I choose to release fear. I feel calm, centered, grounded and at peace.”), shake and release techniques, and more. 

This is an ongoing practice for me. 

I’m happy to report that most symptoms have resolved. 

When I experience setbacks, I do my best to view these setbacks as an opportunity to learn more about myself and to explore why fear is present in my body.

These setbacks serve as a wonderful reminder to practice self-love and compassion. 

This provides my brain with messages of safety. 

I used my personal experiences to help me create a yoga practice for when you’re feeling scared. 

This class will offer strategies to help you release fear in a gentle, nurturing and safe way. 

Fear is an emotion.

It is a part of the human experience. 

Suppressing fear, running away from it and ignoring fear will NOT work. 

The body always remembers. 

Click on the picture below to join this free class….if you dare! insert sinister laugh here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter!

I appreciate your love, support and kindness. 

Wishing you an amazing rest of your day!!!

Take care, 

~Rachel xoxo 

P.S. Happy Halloween!!! Here’s a few of my pumpkin creations!