A Balanced Approach to Wellness!

Posts tagged ‘fear’

“The stage before experiencing calamity is filled with hope, anxiety, and fear.”

Previous section: “The Desire for Power“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 22-24:

Dreading Events

The stage before experiencing calamity is filled with hope, anxiety, and fear. Fear fills the lungs and shortens the breath. Anxiety flows through the blood and causes sleeplessness or hysteria. Hope is in the thoughts that the dreaded event will prove less dreadful than anticipated.

Shortening of the breath combined with sleeplessness can cause a weakened immune system, which can lead to sudden illness and incapacitation. Shortening of the breath combined with hysteria can cause behavior that is societally unacceptable, but is condoned at the moment. Shortening of the breath combined with sleeplessness and hysteria weakens the body’s ability to rationally process information so that violent or retrogressive actions can occur.

These changes apply to men and women; however, societal morés influence the extent of the changes. Children descend less quickly into the consequences of shortened breath, sleeplessness, and hysteria; although they may experience hope, anxiety, and fear acutely. A person’s attitude also influences the impact of hope, anxiety, and fear.

Anticipation of the calamity to come affects the spirit, indisputably. The stronger a person’s sense of connection to spiritual belief, the stronger the control of emotions and the less the sinking into anxiety and fear. The connection doesn’t prevent anxiety and fear from appearing, but the sense of support that comes from spiritual connection provides strength in self-conviction and self-dependence. The connection must be sincere to have the strengthening effects.

Calamities are different due to the circumstances in which they happen. A government-sanctioned purge has positive and negative effects on the inhabitants, depending on loyalties and societal standing. Supporters may be fearful, yet joyous, and those who resist may be hopeful, yet afraid. Rebellious uprisings, like government-sanctioned purges, have positive and negative effects. They embolden some and terrify others. Individual attackers, such as serial killers, frighten all because the targets are less clear and the locations seem random. Revenge seekers bring calamity that is frightening and demurring, because the victims can be anyone in any part of society. Honor killings come under the category of revenge seeking.

Fear, a natural emotion, is intensified by calamities that are real or anticipated. Anticipating violence can cause similar emotional distress as experiencing it. Experiencing violence creates altered behavior that invades subsequent actions. Experiencing violence also teaches forceful reactivity that can be released on others in the future.

When intense hatred has been experienced, the experience can be internalized and then used against others. When intense hatred is witnessed but not personally experienced, the demonstrations of intense hatred towards others may be digested un-consciously and then be displayed towards others (towards those displaying the hatred or those receiving it) in the future.

Intense hatred is an emotion that propels towards action or retreat. Either of these reactions causes internal turbulence, so that health can be compromised if the reactions are too extreme. After a calamity, intense hatred requires release so that people can handle the altered circumstances.

Calamities that become long-term evolve into ways of life. They push people to change routines and priorities, but they are less anxiety- and fear-causing. Depending on age, health and attitude, each person reacts to the changed reality by seeing beyond the new situations or pushing against them. Life situations are ever-evolving, and the nature of people is to adapt and learn new rhythms. Refusing to adapt is not human nature.

The stage before experiencing calamity is difficult to endure. It is not a time for judgment of others nor high expectations. It is a time to offer help and provisions. Calamity is a change, megacosmically or societally created, that occurs as a matter of course. To consider it rare is unrealistic. The more that people accept calamity’s place in life, the more they can weather the storms and upheavals.

Next section: “Preparing for the Fight”

Category:

Conflict

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More about immune system decimators

Cecil the lion

In the blog post, “Immune system decimators”, the major things that decimate the immune system are listed. Today we’ll find out about a few of them that are related.

From the list, 2. Trauma that is physical and emotional which overwhelms the body and 4. Holding onto perceived injustices are closely related. If 8. Fear is involved with either of them, their effects on the immune system are more devastating.

The immune system is meant to keep our bodies protected from viruses, bacteria, funguses, protozoa, wounds, and criticism. The immune system also helps prevent gene-initiated diseases and syndromes.

# 2. When a traumatic event occurs, the body can be resilient or can store the traumatic memory. Traumas can wash through a person and leave little effects or they can imbed reminders in organs and systems in the body. These reminders swerve functionality, which then changes the ways in which the body handles onslaughts of germs. After a trauma, a person can be more susceptible to illness. If the trauma left reminders, the susceptibility to illness can continue for years.

# 4. Holding onto perceived injustices is surprising in its ability to unhinge the immune system. People face disappointments throughout their lives, and people who remember and regurgitate the disappointments are lowering their body’s ability to maintain a strong immune system.

# 8. Fear is a difficult emotion. It is natural, and yet, it sometimes overtakes living. A fearful event has repercussions in the body, but usually the fear instigates protective responses. If the fear is chronic, the protective responses slowly weaken the immune system. If fear is present during a traumatic event, the body can “rebel” and various buried syndromes can ignite. For example, if a person experiences a trauma and feels VERY fearful while the trauma is occurring, gene activation can occur and possibly trigger an autoimmune response.

Fear that accompanies holding onto perceived injustices is less destructive, but keeps the immune system lowered.

As with the other decimators of the immune system, damage depends on the person’s age, current health status, and emotional stamina.

Note: This information has been spiritually received.

Category:

Immune system

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Dreaded fears, a poem

No Sleep

Lurking in shadows
Lie worry and suspicion.
Double versions of
Dreaded fear.

Behind each ache.
Behind each pain.
Suspicion of illness,
Worry of death.

Dreaded fear and
Over-fretting focus.
Upstaging health,
Unsupporting well-being.

Focus on terrible
Is focus askew.
Waiting for disaster
Is waiting awry.

Constant worry
Is wasted effort.
Overshadowing suspicion
Is wasted time.

Lurking in shadows
Lie worry and suspicion.
Double versions of
Dreaded fear.

This poem is from the book Growth, which can be purchased through this link: http://a.co/fpl41JV.

Cover-Growth

Category:

Poetry

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What’s up with “fight or flight”?

Distracting colors

Are “fight or flight” our main responses to fear and stress? That’s what everyone says, but is that so? I’ve asked Spirit, because I want to know. Here’s what Spirit informs me:

People have built-in mechanisms that evaluate danger. (We can call them signals and pulls.) These mechanisms help us evaluate situations and feel how to respond. Our responses depend on many things: age, health status, physical impediments, mental breadth, hunger or thirst, breath capacity, emotional attachments, emotional memories, abdominal state, vision, fears, and awakeness. Besides these uniquely personal statuses, we are influenced by our family, neighbors, responsibilities, and desires.

When a situation requires a response, our bodies (intangible and tangible) must process a response that suits our personal statuses and our outer circle. If the outer circle (family, neighbors, etc.) has strong influence, then our response will be geared towards others. If our response is completely our own, then the personal statuses will force us to devise a response to suit our current situation. If we choose a response that doesn’t suit (for example, choosing to hide when we are too exhausted to move), our signals or pulls will usually join to give us the ability to pursue the chosen response.

Here are typical responses to fear and stress: hiding, lowering to the ground, pulling inwards to be physically compact, freezing in place, falling asleep, entering a shock state, denial, emotional displays (crying, sobbing, begging, anger), and confusion. And possibly, fight. And possibly, flight.  Fight and flight are two responses among many so that to speak only of fight or flight is an incorrect characterization of human response.

Each of the responses has a different effect on the body, some effects being more destructive than others. Stress that is handled through freezing in place or denial has differing effects than fight or angry actions. Stress that is denied can be more destructive than stress that is released through tears. Fear that is handled by hiding can be permanently installed in the body, while fear that is handled through entering a shock state can be forgotten. Each response yields a different effect on the body depending on the personal statuses and the forces of the outer circle.

Characterizing the effects of fear and stress as fight or flight is too broad. Each person is an individual response being, and no two people are alike.

Category:

Act, People

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To continue or not

Continue living

When faced with disasters, whether or not they actually affect people, some are unsure how to function. Continue living as before? Stop regular activities and focus on the disaster?

The confusion that surrounds clear thinking during these times is typical, but moving beyond the confusion is important. Real and possible disasters cause people to function tentatively, but tentative functioning is off-wards. Tentative functioning moves towards impaired decision making and time spent incorrectly. From Oneself—Living:

“In life, there are many things to fear! Accidents can happen, animals can attack, people can go crazy. Things can fall or break or burn or tear. Bridges can collapse, boats can capsize, cars can collide. Germs spread, viruses multiply, bacteria proliferate, fungi grow. Schedules change, priorities shift, deadlines get pushed forward. Friends need help, coworkers need support, pets need tending. Mirrors break, windows break, dishes break. Food (which is normally nutritious and good for consumption) causes choking, water (which is usually life-sustaining) carries water-borne diseases. War, pestilence, famine, and death. Many things to fear, many things to cause anxiety, many things to trigger unhappiness.

Being fearful is a result of experiencing, or anticipation of experiencing, events that cause pain or difficulty. Being fearful is a result of internal and external pressure. Being fearful is unique to each individual….”

What to do

  1. Breathe deeply, consider the positive aspects of life, and continue.
  2. Eat nutritious foods so that your mind is nourished properly, and continue.
  3. Sing, play an instrument, paint, move (dance, run, etc.), build something, and let yourself be focused on your creative endeavors.

Continue doing what?

Continue to function, make music, create, move, and connect. Continue to feel. Continue to bond with family and others and continue to care for the future.

If you can participate in disaster relief or prevention, then participate. Participate in living. Participate in participation!

Category:

Healing

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Aging is manageable when breathing is free, post #6

 

Sequoia

Many people live long, but their lives are plagued by ill health and/or ill mental health. What can we do to live more “not ill” and to live less worriedly about difficult aging? The last five blog posts have explained the importance of breathing for quality health.

Being in nature naturally opens our bodies to healing breathing when two conditions are met: 1) we want to be there and 2) we consciously connect with the flora surrounding us.

Two conditions neutralize the healthful aspects of being in nature: 1) we focus on other stimuli such as headphone-delivered music or words and 2) we consciously ignoring the flora that surround us.

Two conditions cause detrimental consequences when we are in nature: 1) fear and 2) worry.

Here is a personal example of the various conditions. Two years ago (before I was knowingly connected to Spiritual Presence), I went to Sequoia National Park with my husband and children. The weather was hot (August), but we were dressed appropriately and had plenty of water with us.  As we entered the park, I was overwhelmed by the beauty and the majesty of the trees, and I was keen to start our hike. Off to a good start for healing breathing.

We went to the visitor’s center to buy a map and learn whatever the park workers had to tell us. The excitement to get walking was building. As we were buying the map, the worker who was helping us warned us about the presence of bears in the park. I, who grew up fearful, immediately became fearful. I tried to pretend that I was not, but inside I felt frightened. On the hike, my family wanted to stray from the populated paths and walk in the more interesting areas. At first I agreed, but the fear nagged at me. I did enjoy the magnificent trees and I did feel SO grateful to be there, but the fear kept encroaching on my happiness. After we met up with other hikers who had spotted a bear in the distance, I urged my family to go back to a less secluded path. I kept my fear to myself because they were having such a wonderful time, but it remained my constant companion until we were back on the way with the masses. From that point on, I relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful green world around me.

My fearful existence during that hike did not contribute to my good health. The fear was too strong for the circumstances. The others in my family experienced the healing breathing that accompanies connection to nature.

Being in nature should be nourishing, not the opposite. Nature is here as our healing space, if only we can see that. We receive much, much more than we realize when we connect to all that nature has to offer. (I wish I had known that at Sequoia before I let myself give way to old fears. These days, I am more accepting of the uncertainty that comes with walking in the woods.)

 

That’s it for now. We’ll continue to explore breathing in one more post.

Category:

Aging, Breathing

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