Tools for Defeating Fear: Breathe In, Breathe Out

I realize I talk about not giving into fear a lot. Some of you may have been wondering, but how?

When we encourage people to not give in to fear, we are talking about what some people refer to as “spiritual warfare.” This is not an earthly war that can be fought with conventional weapons such as guns and bombs. This is a great spiritual conflict which has been ongoing throughout time and as such our “weapons” must be spiritual ones.

So how do we “fight” fear without being overcome by it? There are very practical, specific tools we can use to put fear in it’s place and walk in the light of God.

Let’s begin with the breath. Bringing conscious awareness to the breath is one way to help the mind and body calm down. I know to some of you this may seem just too simplistic. Have you every tried reminding yourself to breathe when upset, fearful or angry?

There are a variety of breathing techniques available, but let’s begin with simply noticing the breath.

Breathe in slowly through your nose, feeling your belly rise as you inhale. Exhale, feeling your belly slowly fall. You may place your hands on your belly to feel it rise and fall if this is helpful for you. Continue breathing, paying attention to your breath as it goes in and out of your body. If you are upset and breathing rapidly or heavily it may take some time to slow things down.

This is something I have used while waiting for Bob to come out of doctor appointments or surgery. I am slowly getting to the point that if I feel myself becoming stressed, or my breathing starts speeding up and becoming shallow, I can simply say to myself “breathe” and watch everything start to slow down. This is one of those “simple disciplines” that is worth developing so it will be available when you need it. Paying attention to the breath is the beginning of meditation which we will discuss at another time, but just a few minutes of taking the time to stop and intentionally notice the breath will help calm things down when you are upset or fearful.

5 thoughts on “Tools for Defeating Fear: Breathe In, Breathe Out”

Thank you for the timely reminder. 💜

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Espirational says:

July 15, 2016 at 7:38 am

Thank you Laura. I have more coming. They will be sprinkled in here and there.

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1. Laura (Createarteveryday) says:
  
  July 15, 2016 at 7:55 am
  
  Good. We can all use more of this 💜
  
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Thanks for a great post. I think fear is something we all have to fight at some time, some more than others.
In addition to the points you covered so well, I suspect there is something spiritual to breath in addition to the practical applications. It says God “breathed into him the breath of life”, as if focusing on breath is almost like remembering our creation resulting in a very calming effect.

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