The Litany Against Fear

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

-Bene Gesserit 'Litany Against Fear'

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

Commentary on Fear:



I just finished my yoga practice this morning, and I did some poses that are called inversions, where I support my entire body, upside down, on my hands, in various ways. Inversions are partially an act of strength but for the most part they are about overcoming fear as your feet leave the ground and your pelvic floor sits above your head. Everyone overcomes fear in a different way, and the only thing that matters is that we eventually do overcome it. Most decisions, even logical ones, have a basis in fear - that's just how we are built. But it is possible to be mindful of your thoughts and actively seperate what is fear based and what is from a more eloquent place.

The benefits of this are enormous. It seems to me that most human suffering is a result of either a) regret over the past or b) worry or fear about the future. In other words, most human suffering is rarely a result of the present moment. With this in mind, I try to seperate and observe what I am thinking, and I question and examine any fear based responses. While I admit that worry about your future IS very valid, it is possible to injure yourself with it as well. Some people worry for nothing, and this consumes you, ages you prematurely, and saps your energy without preventing the problem.

Focus on the present moment and realize that there is often nothing wrong with it. It is possible to use fear as a tool but it's even better to abolish it completely. Then you can worry about the future - without fear - and actualize in a more clear and concise way.

[k-os]

It seems to me that most human suffering is a result of either a) regret over the past or b) worry or fear about the future.


This is why I am very pleased to have a horrible memory. :) I suppose it could also be why I dislike making plans for the future.

Interesting, TheNocturnalEgyptian.

[gunDriller]

I just finished my yoga practice this morning

definitely yoga is a good way to stop worrying about stuff.

i tend not to breathe loudly. some yoga instructors interpret this to mean that i am not breathing, so they make this "breathing heavy" sound. sounds like a 976 line ;D

[TheNocturnalEgyptian]

I am with you on that, gunDriller. I take long and slow breaths, through the nose, aiming it directly through the center of my throat. I breath into the space below my bellybutton, expanding the diaphram outward.

The diaphram is so powerful. It isn't the poses that are making you more flexible, it's the expansion and contraction of the diaphram while you are IN the poses that does so. By expanding and contracting the diaphram via the breath, you are literally giving yourself a massage from the inside out. In this sense the poses are just loose guides that tighten certain muscles, which makes it much easier to "massage" them with the movement of the diaphram.