How to overcome your phobias with meditation

What is a Phobia and What is Meditation?

Meditation is the act of training your body to concentrate on things while tuning out everything else. Many describe meditation as practicing mindfulness and attentiveness. It can be difficult to find time to meditate with a busy lifestyle, but there are many benefits to meditation, including overcoming anxiety, stress, and phobias!

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A phobia is an unrestrained reaction to fear. Those that experience a phobia may have mild symptoms to severe symptoms. It could be an inkling of dread, or it may lead to a debilitating panic attack. Not only is there a wide range of symptoms, but there is also a wide range of phobias! A phobia can be anything; it is often caused by genetics, past traumas, or random events. However, not everyone will have the same fear or reasoning. 

If you want additional information about different phobias and how to overcome them, you can learn more with medically-reviewed articles from BetterHelp.

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 Implementing Meditation Techniques to Combat Fear

Practice Guided Meditation  

For those just entering into the world of meditation, the idea of sitting still with your thoughts can be overwhelming. Thankfully, you can find many guided meditations online or through apps. With the help of well-versed leaders, you can get the extra support you need. Guided meditation can be as little as two minutes or up to an hour! Many meditations are specifically created for those overcoming fear and phobias. Guided meditation is a good option for those who need a little instruction and enlightenment. 

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Embrace Your Emotions and Thoughts

When you are meditating, you are actively leaning into the way you feel. Meditation can assist you in embracing your fear. By embracing your emotions or thoughts, you can begin to understand them with a sense of curiosity and wonder. Instead of distracting yourself from your thoughts of fear, embrace them and try to understand them. You can learn more about yourself and the root of your emotion if you take the time to sit with them. Our phobias often want us to embrace irrationality and worry, but meditation teaches us that embracing our emotions can help us overcome them.  

Practice Visualizing Your Fears 

One of the hardest things to do when you are afraid is to think about your fear. For example, someone who lives with cleithrophobia (the fear of being trapped) will not want to think about elevators or being trapped in a car. When you visualize your fears in meditation, you experience the fear without the immediate threat of the fear. If this person with cleithrophobia is meditating, they may first imagine entering an elevator. Then they will visualize pushing the floor button and riding the elevator all the way to the top. The next vital part of visualizing your fears is thinking of what comes next. What happens after they exit the elevator? How will they feel when the ride is over? Visualizing your phobia can help you rationalize the fear and understand that good things can happen once the fear has passed.  

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It is always best to talk to your doctor or therapist about which course of action is for you!