This post first appeared on Medium. Read the original here.

“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.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune

If you read the news or any social media outlet, it’s filled with stories of doom and gloom: the crazy things governments are trying to pass, disasters, fighting, threats.

It’s horrifying, honestly.

I don’t usually listen to or read the news, because I know it’ll put me in a tailspin of fear. However, sometimes it sneaks in through other avenues, and I get a big dose of the darkness that tries to swallow the planet.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I watched a show that usually has lighthearted views on what’s happening or they talk about other more esoteric things like astrology. But yesterday it was much more serious and much darker, as they talked about a lot of recent events that had occurred and proposals our government is trying to pass, among other things.

And it freaked me out.

Where attention goes energy flows

If you’ve read about or explored manifestation, you may be familiar with the idea that where attention goes, energy flows. It’s the idea that by focusing on and worry about a particularly negative outcome, I actually give it more energy and bring it into being (manifest it). Of course, the reverse is also true, that if I focus on the positive outcome and what I want to see happen, then I give that outcome energy and bring it into being.

Learning about that, I’ve become much more aware of where I put my focus lately. And I hate getting stuck in these moments of fear where I start worrying about what will happen and how it will impact me and my family (even though with 99% of it, I have zero control over it). I definitely don’t want to manifest those shenanigans into my timeline!

What to do?

Five ways to get out of fear’s downward spiral

1. Don’t try to ignore the fear

Ignoring it actually doesn’t help. Our minds are smart like that. Unless you can distract yourself with something, like gardening or working out or playing a tricky game that requires you to focus, the mind will keep circling back to whatever you’re afraid of or trying not to think about.

It’s like now that you’re thinking about it, it’s everywhere. Kind of like when you want to buy that new car and even though you’ve rarely seen it on the road before, suddenly it’s everywhere. It’s a function of the Reticular Activating System that filters out what isn’t important.

(Here is an interesting article on Medium that goes into a lot more detail about the RAS, if you want to learn more.)

Anyway, now that this fear is “important” to you, your brain decides it’s something that needs to show up in your awareness more often and will find and focus on information that affirms this “value.”

Ugh.

So try one of the other things below instead of trying to ignore it.

2. Write about it

One thing I like to do is write about it (shocker, I know). This allows me to put all my fears and thoughts onto paper and get them out of my head.

I find that if I don’t write about it, then I keep thinking about it over and over, like a dark merry-go-round that I can’t get off of. I think my brain is afraid I’ll forget it (yes, brain, I would like to forget, please)…

But there’s something about putting it on paper that allows my brain to stop. Maybe my brain decides that it no longer has to remember it and so it lets it go.

Think about when you add an idea or errand to your to-do list or notes app. You can stop thinking about it because it’s written down (and if you’re using an app, it might even remind you about it later if you want).

For me, that’s powerful.

3. Meditate

Again, I’m sure you’re shocked by this one. 😂 This one is a little tricky though.

If I’m afraid and try to meditate, the thoughts just keep swirling around in my head, and my meditation turns into a worry session. So, there are a couple of options that I’ve found that work:

• Do a guided meditation where you’re listening to someone direct your thinking. Insight Timer is my favorite app for these.
• Do a guided affirmation meditation where you’re listening to someone and repeating the affirmations they’re articulating. Steven Nobel is my go-to for guided affirmations.
• Do something like To Be Magnetic’s DIs where you’re guided to release the fear or recover your sense of safety. These are based on the EMDR technique and are super effective. I HIGHLY recommend this program. I’m not an affiliate or anything, but this has been incredibly helpful in unblocking my shadows and healing my trauma.

4. Look around at all the positive things

Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in how the world seems to be going to hell in a hand-basket that we miss the positive and beautiful things around us. One thing I like to do is to stop and look around my room or my house and mentally list off the things that are good, or that I’m grateful for. Then I move to my garden, my work, my health, etc. There are a lot of good things in my life and sometimes refocusing on those things helps to get my mind to stop focusing on the scary stuff.

5. Focus on this present now moment

This is a big one for me. I don’t know if you’re mind is like this, but I can run a worst-case scenario like a champ! I start ruminating on the scary thing and then start projecting into the future about how bad it could be and what I should do to prepare or try to ward it off. The next thing I know, I’m on Amazon with $500 of disaster supplies in my cart.

But the future isn’t here, isn’t now.

And while I could do things to prepare (like maybe stock up on some water or a few emergency supplies), I can’t really do anything about the possible future I’m imagining.

In fact, there are a million different outcomes that could take place, each shifting my timeline towards a completely different (and better) outcome.

So, I find it’s helpful to stop and consider this present now moment and ask:

Am I safe?

Am I fed?

Am I rested?

Am I sheltered?

Can I go stand in the dirt or the grass and get more grounded?

I’m incredibly blessed that these are all “yes” answers for me. And I realize that’s not the case for everyone, unfortunately. I work really hard at multiple jobs to make these things possible, and I’m so grateful for where I am now (I’ve come a loooooong way from where I started).

These realizations recenter me on the things I am able to do, and the things I am blessed to have, which chases that scary stuff, the fear, a little farther away.

A few final thoughts about fear

Frank Herbert’s quote about fear is one of my favorites:

“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.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune

To allow fear to pass through me rather than holding onto it. God knows, I don’t want to carry all my fears with me all the time. I’d get crushed!

Yoda also has a powerful insight into fear:

Fear is insidious and worm its way into our souls, casting shadows and pulling us down into its dark depths…

I don’t know where you are with fear, but maybe post Frank’s quote or Yoda’s insight somewhere to remind you that fear doesn’t have to get stuck in your body or your mind.

Let it pass through you, transforming into nothing, and leaving you more powerful than before.

Blessings!

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