How to Stop Fear in Fibromyalgia
Learning to stop fear can be a valuable self care strategy for Fibromyalgia Syndrome sufferers. There are many different self care options for fibromyalgia patients to properly deal with all the aspects of fibromyalgia syndrome.
Fear weakens us, it invites stress and illness into our lives. It silently affects every part of our life. You can stop fear by simply observing the sensations in your body when fear arises, observe the unpleasant sensations, go deeply to them, and they will dissolve. Every emotion in the mind has a corresponding sensation in the body. When we observe sensations in the body and release them, our mind becomes clear. The world is constantly changing. See the impermanence in everything changing within you and around you, you are not the same person you were last year. If you sincerely and persistently try various fibromyalgia self care strategies to cope with fibromyalgia syndrome, eventually you will find recipes that will work for you. Follow our self care strategies for FIBROMYALGIA below, they may help you to look at life differently.
The process for transforming your fear is to discover more about yourself. Choose what you want to be, develop a course of action to achieve that, achieve your change and lastly celebrate your achievements. This process is summarized in the following formula:
Transform = Discover + Choose + Achieve + Celebrate
We have choices when it comes to dealing with fear. We can decide how we want to react to fear. Here are some activities that will help you recognize and deal with your fear following the four step approach.
- Discover and Choose - The following questions will help you get in touch with your fear. Some people prefer to write out their answers in a journal. Others find that they prefer to discuss their thoughts with friends, family or with an objective person such as a coach.
- Identify a source of unreasonable fear that you experienced when you were a child. How did the fear manifest itself? How is it still manifesting itself? How do the stories you made up as a child affect how you think and feel today about your fear?
- Pinpoint what it is that you fear in present significant relationships.
- Pick a difficult situation where you experience fear. Consider the source of the fear. Does the fear stem from judgment, old stories, prejudice, comparisons you make, competition you feel or assumptions you make, to name a few possibilities. Consider where these stories originated. They are all manufactured by you, right? Is there any objective truth in these fears?
- Make a list of at least 10 of your fears. Write beside each fear whether it is based on objective truth or have you made up or expanded the fear. Achieve: Use the following approaches to help you achieve transformation in your relationship with fear.
- Select fears identified in #1 and #2 above and practice mindfulness. Just recognize the fear and concentrate on your breathing. Notice what happens, how the fear of this fear goes away, and how you accept the fear as existing, but less threatening.
- Consider your list of fears from #4. Look for the positive elements in the fears. Where do the fears help to move you ahead in life? How has fear, in a positive way, made you what you are today? What can you do to acknowledge the positive role of fear in your life?
- Go back to your list of fears. Select one fear that holds you back in an area where you want to move forward. Think of the people or situations involved in your fear. Create a scenario where you interact with the people and situations. Role play yourself and others or involve other people in your scenario to play roles. Role play once with the fears holding you back. Role play a second time with the fear not present, notice the difference. Identify what you need to do to move from fear to love.
- Exaggerate your fears. Make up a humorous rant about how the fear is going to mess up your life. Be ridiculous. Make fun of your concern about your fear and the fears you have.
- Return to your list of fears from #4. Separate the fears from the suffering. Identify where you can acknowledge that the fears exist, where it is normal to have fears, and where you can stop your suffering and still have the fears.
- Select a fear that keeps cropping up in your life. Feel the pain that it causes. Note how long you have had the fear, how it has held you back and what it has cost in terms of your personal satisfaction and growth. Be with the pain. Feel the pain in your body, in your heart, in your soul. Find an image that represents the pain for you. Visualize that physical image of your fear. What color is it? How does it feel when you touch it? What would you have to do to destroy the image of your fear? Take the necessary steps to destroy the image of fear that you have created. Celebrate: Pat yourself on the back, give yourself a reward that you have earned, share your learning about fear with others. Make it clear to them that you are celebrating your accomplishments and you would like them to participate in the celebration.
Unhealthy fear is a fact of life, and for many people, fear increases as we grow older. One can control their fear by simply controlling their thoughts. To do this we need to first of all become aware of our thoughts. When we are quiet and concentrate on our thoughts we notice that there are many negative ones. Our fear grows out of these negative thoughts when we engage them. We can avoid fanning the flames of our negative fear by acknowledging that the fear exists and choosing to ignore it. The challenge is to learn to hear the fears without engaging them. One way to help us do this is to concentrate on something else such as a mantra, our breath or a repetitive sound. The simple act of recognizing our fears while distancing ourselves from them helps us to control our fears.
There are many actions we can take to deal with our fear. It helps to talk to others about your fear, this will help to identify the positive and negative fears. When you articulate your feelings about fear, you have an opportunity to clarify what your fear is and its impact on you. You will probably find that when you become more vulnerable about your fear with someone, they will also open up with you, and as a result you will become closer to the other person.
Plan ways to overcome fear and when you do, give yourself credit for your achievement. Our fears get embedded in our way of life. They seem to become us, but they are not. We have the power to overcome fear.
Fear makes us run from challenges, hide from the truth, resisting growth. Fear holds us back from living fully, from loving fully, from reaching our potential, from making the rich contribution that each of us brings to the world. So you need to deal with fear before you can live fully from the heart.
In the next section we will discuss the Death of Fear and how this will help your syptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome.