Fear of the dark

[Niky]

When I think about my fears, the first one that comes up is fear of the dark, fear of the spirits. When it's dark, my mind plays out these images I've seen in movies, like levitation or something. I don't want to feel them touch me, or push me, or even see them next to me. That's terrifying. I haven't heard AJ talk about fear of the dark. Any advice would be appreciated. Maybe I just want someone to tell me those things won't happen before I actually put myself in the dark, which is an addiction or something right. Even reading what I wrote doesn't sound so scary, but in the moment when it happens, it is scary.

I used to sleep in the dark until my dad thought it would be nice to give me a night light, which I thought was funny. Now I have to sleep with a nightlight, not so funny.

[LisaQ]

Hi Niky,

I've been starting to confront some of my fears, which isn't pleasant or easy for me. But what I've found is that if I allow myself to breathe as deeply into my belly as I can, while still doing that thing which I fear, I usually start to let myself experience the fear emotionally. My body will often shake. I want to clench and lock down, but I try to continually remind myself to keep breathing. It's a terrifying / scary process at times, just to allow the fear to be felt, but I've found that it's the only way to truly release the fear.

One personal example: I always had this fear of being attacked by a mountain lion or a man when I would be out in the wilderness hiking by myself. One time, I was feeling so squeamish, but I just kept walking forward instead of turning back towards 'safety'. Instead of following the impulse my fear dictated, I took action and kept hiking forward with the intention of trying my best to allow the fear to be felt physically/emotionally. At one moment, I completely stood still. I intentionally breathed, which caused my body to shake. My mind kept trying to scream "Danger! Turn back. Stopping to feel your fear means that the mountain lion will come attack you." I kept doing my best to have breath enter my body/belly, and I kept shaking. Then, a great thing happened: my fear began to reduce. After a minute, I began crying. I felt like I was 4 years old again, left largely unprotected by my own parents. As soon as we go through feeling the emotion to the causal level, we'll know exactly what the fear is about.

I still have some fear in this regard, but it was reduced by that moment of truly allowing myself to feel and confront it.

I hope this may be of help to you!

Also, another thought is to watch triggering movies with spirits and darkness, then you can practice feeling through the fear in a simulated environment. I did this recently, and my fear of spirits has reduced.

Jesus' talks on fear are also wonderful help. In case you haven't seen them, here's a link to one: https://youtu.be/zEoRUJr60oc


Lisa