by Leah Guy, author of The Fearless Path

“We fear violence less than our own feelings. Personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict.” —Jim Morrison

We all know fear; what it looks like, feels like, and even what it smells like when it approaches. We believe that fear controls us, but we are the masters of fear. Long before there is valid reason to experience fear, we manufacture it. Beyond the fear of change or of death, many people fear their own feelings, so they try to squelch them. The unsuccessful attempts to suffocate difficult emotions cause distress in all areas of our lives.

Beginning in childhood, we encounter the gnarly tentacles of fear such as abandonment, fear of hunger, of not being loved, of not being good enough, or even fear of the boogey-man. We learn early on what doesn’t feel good and then try to avoid experiences that make us feel “not good” again. We then create an invisible cloak of protection to use as an emotional hiding place.

Fear can affect more than your mind. It can dampen your happiness and block the potential of deeper, more authentic living. Its crippling power can stop you in your tracks and convince you to abandon your hopes and dreams. Fear keeps us addicted, isolated, and defeated. It straps us to bad relationships, or keeps us from relationships altogether. It smothers our capacity to love and blocks our true feelings.

People who attend my workshops are often afflicted with common symptoms of emotional dis-ease such as anxiety, loneliness, remorse and grief, phobias, skin conditions, stress, and sleeplessness. Their feelings of being trapped, unhappy, and scared affect every organ in their body.

If you seek a life filled with peace, you must first address the fundamental fear of change. Fear bullies its way in front of most kinds of positive self-transformation. It sees self-growth as an opponent to its brash demands that we stay small and stuck, leading shallow lives. If there’s one lesson to be learned it is that fear will battle love at most critical junctures of your life.

Use fear as a guide to healing. Fear is the warning bell that change is needed. And change requires action. It is the messenger of a deeper problem that lurks behind its cloak. There is always an unresolved emotion behind anxiety and fear. It’s our job to discover what it is.

If you doubt how fear is present in your life, consider these possible characteristics.

• Self-doubt = Negative self-talk
• Anxiety = Feeling trapped
• Shyness = Disappointment
• Avoidance = Jealousy
• Eating disorders = Perfectionism
• Addictions = Excuses
• Control issues = Feeling stuck
• OCD = Isolation
• Lack of willpower = Dissatisfaction
• Complaining = Panic

Emotional distress presents itself in many forms. If you regularly display any of these symptoms, you may be experiencing latent fear or possibly hiding behind fear as an excuse. There’s no judgment; we all do it. The point is to recognize that fear is present and can either stop you in your tracks or propel you forward.

The Root Chakra

The Root Chakra is the 1st Chakra of the energy system and it is located near your pubic bone with a vortex of energy that travels down between your legs, toward the Earth. It is the foundation of all the other chakras, and the proper functioning of this energy field is vital to good health and mental stability. It is important to get the body balanced and grounded.

Energetically, this applies to opening and balancing your Root Chakra. Fear is the emotion that blocks or imbalances the 1st Chakra.

Our universe is based on connectivity, from the principles of gravity, to the sun, stratosphere, and the moist soil under our feet. There is not one system or particle that isn’t kept in our universe without some connection to another system or particle. In electrical terms, we speak of connectivity as grounding. To ground is to connect electrical equipment to the Earth by a wire or a conductor. In this way, the Earth serves as a conductor, as a protector, and as a ground—an infinite source that can absorb an unlimited amount of current without changing its potential.

What does it mean to be grounded in your physical body and why is this concept so important to your wellbeing? For the same reason as electricity. You are energy and the Earth grounds you as it does for electricity. Your body needs proper grounding to Earth so you can absorb the constant current (life) that comes at you on a regular basis without it changing your potential or harming you.

When you aren’t grounded, you may feel uneasy, unstable, or overreactive. It may feel like you don’t belong. This is because you are not tapped into the stabilizing energy of the Earth and it makes you feel disconnected. If you think of the Earth as a source of denser physical energy and the sky or Heavens as a source of lighter spiritual energy, you can see that staying balanced would require being equally connected to both.

This earthly connection is often underrated because so many people try desperately to alleviate their human suffering by means of spiritual elevation, through enlightenment and meditation.

But getting fully rooted into your physical being is just as important on the quest to awakening and self-realization.

Being grounded is not the same as being stuck. The essence of the Root energy steadies one’s emotions, elicits confidence, creates balance, and in general gives you the anchor to help you to feel stable. With a strong foundation, you can reach higher and meet your full potential. This is where Soul meets world. Where nature meets emotion.