Fear is everywhere. We are terrified of Covid; the wars all over the world are causing sadness and disturbance in our lives. Forest fires have caused terrible damage and there is flooding in different countries. The biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate. It is essential for us to face these fears.

I have been writing about ridding ourselves of fear, however it is not easy. I have experienced agitation and fear. In my country there has been a decapitation of an innocent person by a terrorist group. I was speaking about prana, the vital breath and I narrated the story of why Hanuman is regarded as the God of Prana. While I was telling the story I thought what if someone misunderstood what I had said. I had said nothing which would upset anyone but seeing what happened to this individual, made me think.

If I can feel like this when I have the blessings of my Guru, how do people who have no connection to divinity and are not practitioners of Yogic Sadhana react? In the Vedas, it is written that the last prayer which was offered was to be free of fear. So it has always played a large part in our lives.

“A newborn baby has no fear of tigers.” A Korean Proverb

Swami Sivananda was described as an innocent newborn by Swami Satyananda. Swami Sivananda was fearless and when disciples were in his presence they forgot their fears.

“When life knocks you down, roll over and look at the stars.” Snoopy.

The practice against fear

There is only one way to overcome our fears, and that is breath awareness. Become conscious of the breath, breathe to the count of five, pause to the count of five, exhale to the count of five, and pause to the count of five. Use a mantra like So Ham or Aum.

Aim Hrim Klim

Photo by Chris Gallagher on Unsplash