Fear is a common human emotion that is meant to protect us from danger. However, when fear becomes excessive and uncontrollable, it can start to interfere with our daily lives and hold us back from reaching our full potential. Living in a constant state of fear can be exhausting, and draining, and can have negative impacts on our mental and physical health thus stopping us from living a healthy lifestyle. Fortunately, there are a few easy techniques that you can use to ease fear.
In this article, we will explore how to stop living in fear and 6 easy ways to ease fear in order to start living a more fulfilling, and peaceful life.
1. Using Breathing To Ease Fear
When experiencing fear it is common to feel out of breath. It is vital to slow your breath because if you fuel this sensation it can make your feelings of fear much worse, but luckily for us there are two main techniques to help deal with quickness of breath:
- The Box Method: Box breathing is a great technique for regulating the breath, it can be achieved by inhaling for a count of 4, holding for 4, exhaling for 4, and then again holding for 4. Repeat this technique until you feel comfortable and calm.
- Belly Breathing: The belly breathing technique is more simple than the box method as all you need to do is hold a palmed hand on the stomach, breathe in and then slowly breathe out. It is key while doing this exercise that you concentrate especially on the rising and falling motion of the stomach.
It is wise to try each and see which of these two breathing techniques works best for you if you pick the right one you will definitely learn how to stop living in fear.
2. Stop Living In Fear By Facing Your Fears
I know that it may sound weird that, in order to ease fear you must first face more of them. This is because if you keep avoiding fears they just grow and grow and grow until you get so fearful of them that you can't even leave your home. So, I think in the long term it's probably best to face them, but how?
You must first identify your fear, if you don't know what you fear then it will be virtually impossible to fix. It could be anything from a fear of public speaking to a fear of spiders. Next, take small steps for example, if it's public speaking that you're afraid of then start by talking and practicing in front of family, then friends, then a small group of people. These small steps teach you how to stop living in fear in the long term.
3. How to Stop Living In Fear Using Visualization
Visualization is a technique that teaches you how to stop living in fear in the short term, for example, you should use visualization before an interview or speech to calm your nerves.
Visualization is probably the simplest technique in this list and is still very effective, it is basically imagining yourself doing well, being calm, and breathing slowly.
Your imagination is more powerful than you think. It actually tricks your brain into thinking that you are facing your fear calmly and fearlessly. If you do this before facing your fear, for example, public speaking then it significantly raises your chances of it going successfully.
*This technique is most effective when paired with facing your fears.
4. You Can't Be Perfect, Use Your Fear
Sometimes it is best just to accept that your fear isn't your strong point and carry on, obsessing over it can just make it worse, (If you struggle with overthinking and obsessing over situations then it might be best for you to read our article on how to stop overthinking here) it is important to remember that nobody is perfect and even the best of us have our flaws. But if you can, harnessing fears can be a great motivator to achieve great feats.
For example, Kobe Bryant was one of the greatest athletes to ever live and is famous for his incredible 'mamba mentality' work ethic, but he had one flaw. The fear of failure. But what did Kobe do with his fear? He turned his fear into his strength, propelling him to become one of the best basketball players of all time, and if you figure out how you can do the same.
5. More Visualization (Happy Places)
This is another visualization technique but is slightly different than before, instead of visualizing yourself as calm and fearless you will visualize a 'happy place' such as your bed or a sunny beach.
This technique is best used just before or while involved in your fear as it tricks the body into feeling calm and relaxed as if you were actually in your happy place. This technique does require a lot of mental focus but if you can get it right it is very powerful at quickly calming you down thus easing your fear significantly.
6. Look At The Evidence
Humans like to think A LOT, we are all the same, overthinking the smallest of situations until they become disproportionately over-significant. We love to create evidence that isn't there and get wrapped up in the spiral of negative thoughts that it creates. For example, a key factor to stage fright is thinking that people care much, much more than they actually do when in reality they are also trapped in their head by a constant spiral of thoughts.
So simply look at the evidence, because for the majority of the time it just isn't there. If you find yourself caught up in thoughts just take a deep breath and think, 'Where is the evidence to back up this thought?' and you'll find that for the majority of the time you can't find it. This is a great tip to stop living in fear especially if you are a regular overthinker.
Conclusion
Now you have learned how to stop living in fear and 6 easy techniques which you can apply to ease fear in both the short and long term, but let's just have a quick recap:
Breathing Techniques: The box method and belly breathing
Face Your Fears: Actively look to face your fears, in the long term it makes it easier.
Visualization: Visualise being calm and fearless.
Utilize Your Fear: Harness your fear and let it propel you in other areas of life.
Happy Place Visualisation: Visualise a place of comfort.
Look At The Evidence: Most of the time your fears are based on fake circumstances.
If you can remember as little as 2 of these techniques and execute them regularly your fears will be gone in a matter of weeks, but that's your choice. Thanks for reading! And if you want more self-improvement content please click here.