Meeting Fear

My name is Gerald Blomile,

And I've wrote and recorded this podcast meditation for you.

Enjoy!

Fear arises when we think something is threatening or painful.

We are afraid of losing a person,

An object,

Or of getting hurt.

We fear being embarrassed,

Weak,

Or stupid.

We are anxious if we feel we do not have enough money or feel we are not being loved.

Fear makes our heart beat fast,

And we sweat.

Sometimes we feel pressure rising from our stomach,

Through our chest,

To our throat.

When fear arises,

People often feel vulnerable and try to cover that with aggression.

Fear can be an internal response to something outside of us.

Lie down or sit down comfortably.

Notice where your body is supported.

Take three deep breaths,

Letting go of any tension in the body as you exhale.

Keep breathing slowly.

Follow your breath into your abdomen and notice that your body is breathing by itself.

Ask yourself,

Why am I afraid of fear?

Try to feel the fear without letting it distract you.

There is a saying,

What we resist persists.

By resisting fear,

We cannot heal.

By accepting it,

We allow ourselves to be at peace.

Learning to live without fear means learning to welcome it.

Think about that.

Remember an instance where you tried to suppress your fear.

Did it go away,

Or was its presence strengthened?

Throughout our lives,

We have experienced fear.

We tried to manage or to suppress it.

Acknowledging this requires courage.

Ask yourself,

What do I fear?

What will fear do to me?

Why do I fear it?

Where in my body do I feel fear?

Try to stay with the feeling.

If you're honest,

You don't really want to do that.

Nevertheless,

Try to stay with your fear.

Wanting to get rid of it is a thought.

However,

Thinking cannot overcome fear.

Now take a step back.

Notice that since you were born,

You were always aware.

Awareness is prior to every experience.

Notice the difference between what you experience and being aware of what you experience.

You are not your fear.

You are aware of your fear.

Try to focus your attention on awareness itself.

It's like the sky,

A huge space in which everything is welcome.

It receives both feelings of fear and its opposite,

Feelings of security and trust.

Awareness is like love.

It doesn't judge.

Nothing is pushed away.

Nothing is held onto.

Feel yourself as this awareness in which everything comes and goes.

Instead of getting caught up in your fear,

Focus on the fact that you are aware.

Awareness is always here.

It is always whole and complete.

Instead of trying to overpower fear,

Recognize that you are the awareness that can welcome it.

Now feel the fear without resisting it.

Think of yourself.

Who is thinking?

I can't stand this.

I don't want that.

This is too much for me.

Fear is a thought,

A story,

A feeling.

Notice that you cannot be present or aware in the here and now and be lost in your story at the same time.

Sensations can be felt in the body.

Move your attention to the sensation of fear in your body.

Where is it?

Does it have a size?

Does it have a shape?

Maybe you feel choked,

Experience a pain in your chest or heart palpitations.

Now drop the stories that are connected to the feeling.

How does that feel?

Fear comes from being attached to the self.

This is how we identify with ourselves.

This is what we love most dearly.

Everything that we do or think confirms its existence.

It is the self that fears failure and loathes suffering.

But the self is not a thing but a process.

It's like a feeling that changes all the time.

It moves,

Sometimes being more and sometimes less intense.

It constantly changes its form.

Check and see if this self is actually here.

After judging anything as right or wrong,

Just be here where silence is.

This is the place where the stillness dances.

Just being refers to awareness before knowing or not knowing something.

Just being means not wanting anything.

Just being is experienced as stillness,

Allowing everything to fall away into radiant emptiness.

Forms change,

Feelings change and vibrate.

Pay attention to the tingling in the palms of your hand.

This is a neutral,

Formless vibration.

Now compare the neutral sensation in your hand with the feeling of fear in your chest or throat.

How do they differ?

Which feels more intense?

Which vibration is really unpleasant?

Or does the unpleasantness only start when a thought is added?

When you say,

I can't live with it,

You're talking about your thoughts and not about the sensations in your body.

You're not referring to what you feel,

But what you think.

Feel only the sensation without naming or interpreting it.

Leave out any interpretations that say,

This is fear,

It will kill me.

If you put these thoughts aside,

You do not need to refer to them.

Just pay attention to the sensation itself.

It is just a vibration consisting only of awareness.

Relax your body and expand your awareness.

Feel the sensations without naming them.

Feeling is neither pleasant nor unpleasant,

Neither positive nor negative.

It is only vibrational energy.

It dissolves,

Relaxes,

Opens,

And merges with awareness.

Other feelings may arise.

Every emotion wants to be seen and heard,

Even fear and anxiety.

Therefore it is important to welcome every emotion and to allow it to be there.

Only then can it be liberated,

Dissolved,

And integrated.

Allow yourself to be the silence,

The vast and discerning quality of awareness.

Feel the lightness,

Love,

And the power of this field that permeates everything.

Everything is happening without effort.

So rise and pass away in infinite consciousness.

We are coming to the end.

Feel the firmness and clear boundaries of your body.

Feel your weight and that you are on earth.

Feel your body breathing by itself.

Feel the vast clarity of awareness.

It is always present.

You can step back into the freedom of this expanse at any time.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast.

I invite you to support the project with a donation.

You can find more information on blomire.

Berlin or in the text to this episode.