Facing my fears

How do you push past fear when you are afraid?

I was afraid to try acro yoga. To hang upside down in yoga positions was crazy for me, like jumping off a cliff might be.

After attending my regular yoga class, the yoga teacher introduced a visiting yoga teacher, Whaka David Luke, who introduced himself as an Acro Yoga teacher traveling around the world with his wife, Sarah, teaching AcroYoga classes.

He invited the class to try ‘flying’. Simply put, this meant he would be the base on the floor supporting us as we did yoga in the air. After a few younger students tried it, he invited me to try it.

“Oh no, I’m too old for that,” I heard myself saying.  His response: “It’s all in your head.”  Wait, wasn’t that my line? So here was a limiting belief that I needed to challenge. Lo and behold, I wasn’t too old. Our limiting beliefs speak out of one side of our mouths, and truth gets choked out on the other side.

I wanted to be brave and that meant leaving my comfort zone behind.

A few simple steps to push past fear: Make, Take and Accept.

1. Make some change in order to have a new perception.
2. Take some action, even if it’s a teeny one. You begin to feel the stagnation lift away.
3. Accept the uncomfortable feeling. If it’s not going away, just take it along with you because at least you will realize that you are moving in the right direction.
4. Change your limiting beliefs. Question them, dissolve them and create a new perspective on life–the sweet life.

Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the
whole staircase, just take the first step.
~ Martin Luther King

Learn more about traveling to Italy on Lenora’s Italy Retreats For Women
Find out more about Lenora’s Sweet Life Workshops and Sweet Life Happiness Coaching.

You are welcome to reprint, copy, or distribute Lenora Boyle’s article, provided author credit is included.