Feel the Fear and ... then what?

This photo shows me doing wheel poses in the hills east of Berkeley. I had to overcome fear in order to learn wheel pose. I also had to overcome fear in order to move across the country from Charlottesville to Berkeley a few years ago.

Fear.

It often stops us from acting.

Is that useful?

Well, sometimes, yes it is. If it keeps us from hurting ourselves, the fear serves a good purpose. On a deeper level, if it stops us from doing something that isn’t true to our Nature, then it serves a great purpose. It is a healthy caution.

But what if it stops us from doing something that could be life-giving? Sometimes we are fearful of making a change, trying something new, giving up familiar habits. They are comfortable. But this comfort may keep us stuck. Our egos are holding the reins. We may miss out on the flow of Life. In that case, if we pause, listen deeply, we will probably hear a voice inside encouraging us to move past the fear.

Yoga poses help us practice making this distinction. Consider a room of thirty yoga students, a mix of beginning and advanced students, some healing from injuries. Imagine that I ask them to try bridge pose, or, for more challenge, wheel pose. Some will probably feel fear. One might be afraid of re-injuring her shoulder. Another might be afraid she can’t stay in the pose as long as other students. One of these fears is born of caution. The other is born of ego. When I teach a room full of yoga students, I say, “Listen to your inner wisdom. Let it tell you whether your fear is serving you.”

In life, similarly, when we slow down enough to notice that fear is holding us back, or making us act impetuously, we can ask ourselves the same question. Is this fear helping to preserve my well-being? Or is it getting in the way?

In yogic theory, fear is one of the forms of avidya. Recently, Chase Bossart, a teacher at the Healing Yoga Foundation, reminded me that vid is the root of this word, and can be translated as to know. So, avidya means not knowing. Fear is one form of not knowing.

Yoga postures, breathing, and meditation helps us be quiet enough to hear the small voice inside, so we can know what will be choice will be life-giving. May it be so!