62
VOLUME 38 NUMBER 2 | SUMMER 2020
Kathlyn with husband Gay Hendricks. Founders of the Ojai based Hendricks Institute and co-authors of 12 books on body intelligence and personal transformation.
bullying, exclusion, shunning. Fear is the engine of war. Fear puts us on the adrenaline roller coaster of big rush, big slump, more fear, more adrenaline, bigger ups and downs. What does fear do to your body? Fear is different from anger or sadness. It doesn’t go away like sadness after you cry. Fear continues to swirl and build unless you face it fully and befriend the sensations. Your muscles tense. Blood moves away from nurturing your organs. Your adrenal system secretes more stress hormones like cortisol, so you feed fear rather than vitality. You stop breathing deeply. Your brain functioning suffers, as does your immune system. You stop digesting food effectively. You get separate from your deep body intelligence. What Are The Expressions of Fear? Most people don’t realize that there are four expressions of fear, and that you can shift fear to flow with easy movements. The fight-fear reaction often gets mistaken for anger. Imagine making fists, jutting your chin out, and barking “Oh yeah, oh yeah!!” as you thrust your body forward like a boxer. Flee-fear looks and feels as if some of your awareness stays put in your body and some of you starts to leave. Imagine a shoulder moving away or your head backing up, or your foot edging toward the door. Freeze-fear may be the easiest to recognize. Just tighten your whole body while holding your breath.