Finding Wholeness in the Face of Fear
Fear and anxiety are running rampant. Many of us are deeply concerned about our nation’s slide into fascism at the hands of the Republican Party. We’re troubled by cruelty toward immigrants, transgender people, and others, and worry if we might be next. And that’s on top of personal conflicts, illnesses, economic worries, climate change, and the plethora of other challenges we face every day. While fear is a useful emotion because it warns us of danger, we can easily be paralyzed by fear and anxiety if we’re not careful. In fact, that’s exactly what Trump and his cronies want. They want us so scared we won’t oppose their corruption and cruelty.
However, when we’re alway afraid and anxious, we prevent ourselves from living a full and abundantly joyful life. We still have to deal with the issues that make us fearful, but we don’t have to dwell in fear and anxiety. How do we control our fear so it doesn’t cripple us? My trust that God is always walking with me helps immensely, but is it possible to just stop worrying? Actually, it wouldn’t be in our best interest to never fear anything. Fear only becomes a problem when it controls us. Perhaps the solution is already built into our anatomy, a part of the way we are created.
I recently read an insightful book called “Whole Brain Living” by the neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.1 She explains that our brains are divided into four physical quadrants and each performs a different function.
Our left thinking brain is the organizer, the logical, rational, let’s get it done part of our brain.
Our left emotional brain is the worrier that works overtime to keep us safe.
Our right emotional brain is what we might call our inner child that wants to play and be joyful.
Finally, our right thinking brain is the healer that sees our connections with each other, the universe, and God. It’s the source of our feelings of unity and expansiveness. If you’ve ever sat on a beach looking out at the water and felt at one with the world, that’s your inner healer.
These parts of our brain take turns running our lives but problems occur if one part takes over permanently. For example, if our worrier is constantly in charge, we’ll be caught in a never-ending loop of fear and anxiety. To live a full, abundant, and happy life we need to get all of these parts of our brain working together the way they are designed to do. We need to become our God-created, whole, and authentic selves. Dr. Bolte Taylor has developed a practice she calls a Brain Huddle that we can use to get the four parts of our brain, which she also refers to as our four characters, working together. She turns the word “brain” into an acronym to explain.
B is for breathe. When fear kicks in, it floods our system and then dissipates after a minute or so. But it can also start to loop, continually turning back on. Taking a deep breath and turning our attention inward to focus on what is happening in our body breaks that loop and lets us calm down.
R is for recognize. Notice what each character is doing in the present moment. Which character is in charge? Your organizer, your worrier, your inner child, or your healer? Which is most active and what are they saying to you right now?
A is for appreciate. Be grateful for whichever character is running things in the moment and hear them. But also acknowledge that the other three characters have important things to say too. All aspects of our inner self are important.
I is for invite. Let all four characters participate in resolving the challenge that you face. What does your rational organizer think should be done? What does your worrier anticipate as possible problems? What does your inner child think? How does your healer see it from the perspective of universal love? Consciously let the four characters come to a joint resolution.
N is for navigate. Take actions based on what the four characters have agreed on.
We don’t have to let fear and anxiety run our lives. When we invite our whole selves into the problem, we can break that cycle. I think getting in touch with our inner healer is especially important. It’s the part of us that is connected to God and understands that we are all interdependent and that love is our best hope for survival. When we learn to listen to our inner healer and treat each other and Creation with respect and compassion, we enter into what I as a follower of Christ would call the Kin-dom of God2 or God’s Way of Love.
The Kin-dom is not actually a place, but a state of being, an attitude, a wholeness in life. In the Kin-dom we can recognize our fears without letting them control us. Exercises such as Dr. Bolte Taylor’s Brain Huddle, like prayer and meditation, can help us find God’s Kin-dom and live whole lives centered in love, where we no longer need to fear standing up for justice in the world as a peaceful presence and can witness truth to political power while putting our trust in God and the power of love.
What helps you keep from being overwhelmed by fear and anxiety in this current world? I’d love to hear more about your own practices.
1. I also found this article to be interesting and borrowed some of its terminology: https://sequencewiz.org/2023/02/15/how-to-do-the-brain-huddle-to-find-inner-peace/
2. I use the term Kin-dom because it’s not about hierarchy and the top-down power of a king and their kingdom. It’s about interdependent, supportive relationship. It’s about being loving family to each other. Thus, a domain of kin or Kin-dom.