Meeting Fear with Curiosity

Fear is just the messenger. Take a breath.

If you’ve been following along, you probably know that we’re working our way through Suleika Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy this summer here in the Substack chat feature (with our journals in hand!).

Still catching up on the reading? No worries – just look for the chat icon (it looks like a speech balloon), click that, find Anima Sola Yoga in the sidebar - click that, too - and feel free to comment in the “Bookclub” chapter threads when you get there. It’s free to participate!

We’ve been exploring Chapter 3 over the past week. Chapter 3 is about fear, that prickly guest that sometimes shows up on our mat when we’re just trying to find an unmoving point of focus. Fear might show up in our practice as the dread of falling out of High Lunge, the worry of reactivating an old injury, or even the subtle shame shakedown of not being "good enough" compared to that bendy person next to you. (Keep your eyes on your own paper, my friends!) It's a natural human response, but oh, how it loves to tighten things up: our muscles, our breath, and our minds.

When that familiar flutter of fear arises, whether it's a tremor in your Tree or aversion to Half Moon, our first instinct is often to judge that fear, to push it away, or just plain bail. But what if, just for a moment, we paused and met our fear? What if we showed it some interest? "Hey, Fear. I see you. What are you trying to tell me today?"

Fear usually comes to us bearing a message. Getting curious about the message transforms fear from a perceived enemy into a fascinating (albeit sometimes annoying) informant. This isn't about analyzing it to death; it's just a gentle inquiry, an open-hearted observation. Is the fear about a genuine physical limitation, or perhaps a limiting belief? By meeting fear with this soft, inquisitive gaze, we create a little space around it. We learn that fear isn't necessarily a stop sign. Sometimes it's a signal blaring from an outdated operating system. Sometimes, it’s legitimately a message to dial things back just a bit. When fear turns up, consider it an opportunity to engage in a bit of friendly investigation.

Of course, this practice of inquiry doesn’t end at the yoga mat. The mat is simply one of our many laboratories for life. If we can lean into the fear of a new pose with a whisper of hmm, interesting, if we can allow ourselves to explore versus approaching our practice through the lens of perfection, imagine how we can meet our fears off the mat: a challenging conversation, asking a new friend to meet for coffee, or performing onstage in your first full play since the pandemic (I might know something about that last one). When fear turns up with a message, take a breath. That pause - that liminal space - is where we get to choose how to respond to our fear versus reacting in habit-driven ways. May your curiosity open the door to your fear, and meet it as a compassionate guide.

If you live in northern Manhattan, Suleika Jaouad’s The Book of Alchemy is currently on the shelves at The Fountain Bookshop and you should be able to order from Word Up Books. Support your local booksellers! Also check your friend and mine, The New York Public Library.

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In case you missed it…

For those of you who like theatre, I am in a new play this month! Come see us July 9-20 at The Tank NYC.

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AL