Meditation and Dealing with Fear and Phobia

Every person has a phobia of certain things, be it of
heights or speaking in front of people. While most people
overcome their fears, some are crippled by it. This
therefore prevents them from doing things that they would
otherwise find enjoyable.

Meditation is one way for people trapped by their phobias
to finally get out of their shell and start living the full
life.

A definition of fear is that it is the anxiety caused by a
perceived danger. It is the state of mind by which a person
foresees something wrong happening either to him/her or the
people around him/her.

Meditation helps in overcoming a person’s fear by altering
his/her state of mind. There are several ways by which this
practice can help people achieve this.

One such way is called mindfulness meditation. By training
the person to live in the now, his/her attention is veered
away from the future where that person perceives the
danger. Besides, it is only a mere perception and such
event may or may not actually happen.

Visualization can also help a person cope with fear by
making the person imagine what he/she will do in case the
perceived danger comes. By being mentally prepared for such
an event, the person will be able to deal with the future
situation better.

Again, fear is a mere state of mind. Facing it, therefore,
needs some alteration in the person’s perception of what
may or may not happen. It can be achieved by the practice
of meditation.