Free with fear

I've had periods of my life where fear has been more prevalent - as if loitering in my peripheral vision, creating a tendency for hypervigilance.

At its peak, in an experience of postnatal anxiety, when sleep was accessible it was often punctuated by nocturnal panic attacks.

Those familiar with this state of being will intimately understand the frenetic thought loops and heightened unease. This creates a lens that sees danger lurking around the next corner (and in the next thought sequence).

When gripped by fear it also seems to permeate the body.

It could be viscerally felt in the pit of my churning stomach and in the tightness of my jaw.

And in these instances, peace is understood as the elimination of fear. To be free from fear looks like the destination.

So we embark on all kinds of pursuits to manage our experiences in a bid to control the outcomes.

It is both exhausting and impossible. For holding fear in opposition is the very thing that perpetuates its vice-like grip.

What we resist persists.

It took quite an unravelling and an unlearning for me to realise that freedom is the integration of all experiences and not the exclusion of certain states.

My relationship with fear shifted when I no longer saw it as the enemy, but as a nudge to meet each experience in the moment.

I saw that peace was readily available when I became 'free with fear'.

To access my 'Free with Fear' 1-1 coaching programme, drop me a line at natalienuttallpr@gmail.com for more details.