Several months back I was teaching an evening yoga class when a man walked into the studio to inquire about massage therapy. After he left a student asked if I was afraid to see male clients in the evening here when I was alone. Although I was touched by her concern- it had really never occurred to me to  be afraid of a client at any time, male or female. It has always seemed to me that the client, laying undressed on a massage table with my elbow inches away from their tender kidneys seemed to be in a more vulnerable position than me. But the conversation got me thinking about how often times our fears govern our lives. How much of what we do, or don't do is decided upon what we fear? Someone once told me that if you are feeling "stuck" or depressed or anxious in your life that your should simply do one thing every day that you afraid to do. Sometimes that means just speaking your truth, sometimes it means getting on an airplane, and it usually means something different for everyone. It has always worked for me. Feel the fear and do it anyway. It creates internal change quickly and often will create dramatic external changes in your life to create joy and freedom. the best part is that in time your fears will begin to diminish. In time you can live with "Abhaya" which means freedom from fear. Abhaya is a yogic "branch off" or side effect of practicing Pantanjali's eight limbs of yoga. Iyengar says in his classic text Light on Yoga, that "freedom from fear comes only to those who lead a pure life. The yogi fears none and none need fear him, because he is purified by the study of the Self"

Now this does not mean you should live recklessly. If your inner "knowing" is warning you not to do something, it is best to pay attention. But as we learn more about our inner landscape through the practice of yoga and meditation (study of the Self) we should be able to discern inner knowing from fear. For example, years back I injured my neck doing a headstand. For a long time afterward i "knew" that I should not practice headstands. As time passed, my injury fully healed, my strength was regained, and I realized that I had become afraid of doing headstands. Deep down (inner knowing) I felt that it would now be okay to include headstands in my practice, but fear of re-injuring myself prevented me from trying for some time. When I finally realized it was only fear that was stopping me, I knew it was time to "just do it". And no injuries since!

Yoga gives us plenty of opportunities to discover our hidden fears. Once we dig them up, we can rationally examine tham, and toss them out so they no longer rule our lives. New students are always brave to step into their first yoga class; most of us have a strong fear of the unknown. I know many years back I was terrified to go to a yoga studio, just because I didn't know what to expect. I was hesitant to put myself into what could have been (in my imagination at least) a hellish situation for over an hour, and fearful of looking stupid, or being embarrassed. Moving through that fear, and doing what I had intended to do (take my first yoga class) changed my life.

The next time you feel fear, don't avoid the feeling. Embrace it, feel it, observe it, and study it. What are you really afraid of? and why? Remember that at your core you have the inner strength to handle whatever the universe sends your way.

Also, do not obsess about your fears. Remember we attract what we thing about. If we are thinking about all the terrible things that could happen to us, guess what we attract?

I used to be terrified of spiders. I found it difficult to stay in the same room as a spider, but was also afraid to get close enough to one to kill it. And they showed up everywhere! In my home, in my car, hotel rooms, restaurants. It was as if they were following me around. When I was a guest at someone's house often a big, fat, hairy spider would suddenly appear on the carpet.  The host or hostess would always say "how unusual, we never see spiders in this house" Yup, I  was certainly able to attract what I feared. In time I came to grips with the fear, studied spiders, learned about their significance in myth, stories and folklore. I learned that Native Americans had great respect for spiders, as a symbol of feminine creativity and as teachers of weaving. My fear of them lessened. They stopped appearing.

And finally remember that you are divinely protected. If you weren't you wouldn't be here-- surviving childhood and those reckless younger years is a miracle in itself. That same evening that my students were inquiring about being afraid to work alone at night, a casual conversation led to a meaningful story. In the beautiful quirkiness of life, a woman told me a story for no apparent reason which was deeply relevant to the subject of fear.

Some years back this woman had been left in charge of caring for her daughter's two pet bunny rabbits. It was a beautiful day so she put the bunny cage on the front porch so they could enjoy the fresh air. The rabbits were safe and secure in their cage, and she went out to run some errands. When she returned home later that day both bunnies were dead in their cage. The cage was exactly like she had left it, and bunnies did not appear to be damaged in anyway. They were simple dead, frozen in position with eyes wide open in terror. Horrified she took them to the vet and told him what had happened. He said the rabbits must have died of fright. Probably a predator animal of some sort must have approached the cage, and the bunnies were unable to understand that they were perfectly safe and protected, and simply died of fear. Their little hearts just could not handle the stress. Unfortunately the bunnies had never taken yoga, so they did not know how to have faith, close their eyes and breathe deeply!! But the point of the story I thought was profound~how often do we create harmful stress and problems for ourselves because we feel unsafe, unprotected, vulnerable and afraid? And aren't we sometimes just like the bunnies, unable to see that in reality we are divinely loved and protected?

Peace and Blessings