1 hour - 90 mins online workshop event: Managing Fear Naturally
Wednesday 2nd June 2021
7-8:30PM (UK time)
£15
1 hour - 90 mins online workshop event: Managing Fear Naturally
Wednesday 9th June 2021
3-4:30PM (UK time)
£15
email debhardingnhp@gmail.com
to book your place and receive your event Zoom code
Below is a blog about what led to offering this workshop; examples of different types of fear the homeopathic remedies and flower essences can help with and two case study examples of managing physical effects of fear
What led to offering this workshop now:
When the government announced their roadmap dates for emerging from lockdown, I consciously decided not to get excited about them or start planning events. Partly because disappointment would be more debilitating than trundling along but also partly because the mix of emotions about even coming out of lockdown meant treading a bit carefully.
This past year has been many things from overwhelming, confusing, divisive to isolating, tragic and fearful.
I’ve also found it has been an opportunity to slow down, reflect, go inward, find stillness and connect in new ways with people and with nature on my doorstep. Never before have I enjoyed returning to the same place day in and day out and finding joy in the subtle seasonal changes: learning the names of trees and birds and being entertained while watching squirrels pilfer food, left for the birds, with their Mission Impossible style antics! Before, joy and adventure were always looked for in the new, the different and anything that meant going abroad…and yet this last year has provided moments of deeply subtle but profoundly rewarding joy just round the corner from my flat in a little burial site of all places!?
To re-emerge into public life seems a taller order than perhaps it might have been if the lockdown had been shorter and the future more certain.
It hasn’t been so jarring for me to return to public life, mainly because I’ve still had to go teach in person each time schools opened. The thing about school is that after even just a day back in you often feel like you’d never left! Albeit, not the school we once recognised pre-lockdown - but even those changes were quickly adjusted to in order to help the students adjust too.
This meant travelling on buses and walking through the city, things I appreciate some people haven’t done for over a year while others haven’t left their houses at all! Returning to public life is potentially going to be with mixed emotions…
Even though it’s been less jarring for me, there have still been intense moments of fear and anxiety in response to events, changes and decisions affecting me in ways that have been triggering. Even when I’ve felt relatively calm about things there has still been a sense of collective fear around me that is difficult to stay immune to. The positive is that, in some ways, I have been thankful for the opportunity to work through old fear responses and some early life traumas - but only because I feel like I’ve been able to close some very long and very old chapters in my life. And that’s not to suggest in any way that that was an easy process!? (The blog post ‘Letting Go’ goes a bit more into that.)
I’ve had a long relationship with fear and anxiety in various forms and looking back over pre-pandemic blogs and Facebook posts I realise this has been an area of therapy work I’ve been interested in, beyond current events, because it means so much to me personally.
From a childhood allergy phobia to panic attacks as a young adult; from hypochondria pre-40 to post-40 thinking ‘these health worries could actually happen!?!’ - I’ve had to find ways to overcome my fears and want to share what I’ve learnt with others.
What has been interesting is how, on deciding to run a workshop about fear, some resistance and procrastination came up which I’m guessing is from a bit of fear (oh the irony!) of putting myself out there!? But from researching the topic and talking to people about how they’re feeling, it’s become really clear that there is a need for as many coping techniques as possible: there are people out there who are just as worried about coming out of lockdown as they were about going into one!
Whether the lockdown has triggered old fear responses or created new ones it’s something that needs addressing, learning from and moving past. If I can help anyone in anyway to feel less stuck and more empowered then that’s motivation enough! (Plus all that upskilling from online teaching and Zoom calling needs putting to good use too!)
Types of fear the remedies can help with:
Homeopathic and flower essence remedies can respond to a whole range of fears (see the examples below) so if you feel any resonate with you then either contact me to discuss how we could put together a treatment programme and/or join me for the workshop to learn useful remedies for you to self-treat at home:
Fear of the unknown - that sense of impending doom or the ‘bogeyman in the cupboard’ feeling for children or the ‘hand under the bed’ feeling (for me!)
Fear of known things - spiders, snakes, animals, heights, clowns (shudder!) and other phobias…
Fear of failure - it’s unbelievable, sometimes, the extent to which our own lack of confidence can hold us back!? Impostor syndrome is very real…but so is fear of success and actually allowing your dreams to come true - there can be a lot of fear of change go with that too and so we hold ourselves back.
Fear of dying, disease and germs - this has been prevalent this year with increased hygiene encouraged but compulsive behaviour has grown out of germ phobia
Fear of life and living - just as some fear success as much as failure, some people fear life and all the messiness that comes with it just as much as they might fear death and disease. The inevitable process of getting older can lead to a fear of ageing and that can lead to extreme measures or giving up.
Fear of fear - often when someone has had a panic attack the fear they experience afterward is fearing another panic attack.
Anticipatory fear - exams, driving tests, performance anxiety, stage fright…
Fear of losing control - to what extent are we ever really in control? But the illusion of it has been taken away and so compulsive behaviours can emerge out of a need to control our immediate surroundings. We may also fear losing our minds or our tempers and control over ourselves. Fear of letting go is also part of that: what might it mean to move on?
Fear for loved ones - again, prevalent this year in a time where we are separated from them out of fear of causing harm to them by doing very human things like hugging. Fear for others can make us brave but is still a fearful state to function in and for some it becomes overwhelming and can even damage relationships.
Fear of being alone or of being in crowds - many of us have been forced into isolation which can be an uncomfortable place to be but equally, we’re now heading toward being around others again and that may also trigger some anxieties.
Fear of poverty - a very real possibility under the current circumstances and for some the fear of that is unbearable! This taps into a primal instinct for safety, security and a fear of lack - which is perhaps what led to ‘stockpiling' entering our language like never before…!
Fear of conflict - we’re living in divided times with households feeling the fissures of divided opinion! This can lead people to silencing themselves for the sake of keeping the peace but that suppressed voice needs expressing somewhere or it turns in on itself. Some may have felt fear of reprimand as well with there being so many new ways to break rules for doing things that before seemed perfectly natural.
Fear of rejection - we all want to feel accepted; it’s part of being social animals living in communities but again if we silence ourselves in favour of popularity or dim our light for fear people might resent our talent and achievements then we are living a life half lived - but finding ways to live harmoniously and honouring ourselves can be tricky when we may be fearing criticism.
Case studies: physical effects of fear - cystitis
Recently, I treated a couple of separate cases of cystitis but in very different ways and both stemming from fear.
The first was a return of a very old symptom which was great because it meant, according to Hering’s Law of Cure, that the patient was healing.
The patient had originally come to see me about stomach problems but as part of the holistic treatment plan had been given a kidney energy combination remedy early on and had now moved on to remedies more connected with the primary causes of their symptoms dating back to childhood and early adulthood fears. When cystitis developed for the first time in years, the patient didn’t want to turn to antibiotics and, trusting the process, reached instead for the kidney combo remedy still left over - within one or two doses the cystitis symptoms cleared and there was no more chance of antibiotics. This was fantastic for both us!
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, kidney energy is linked to and undermined by the emotion of fear. The adrenals sit just on top of the kidneys and act as our fear response too which takes up a lot of energy and can really drain us when stuck in a chronic state of stress and fear. Bladder irritations have been linked to processing difficult emotions - so literally and metaphorically being ‘pissed off’. The ear is the exit/entry point connected to the kidney energy so it was interesting when the patient talked about an ear complaint which had been improving too. Fascinating for both of us to see the connections in action and great for them to have natural ways of dealing with the cystitis as antibiotics would have only set back all the progress we had been making with the stomach - the original complaint which had brought them to see me!
Around the same time another cystitis case presented itself so I tried a similar combination remedy as the kidney energy support but by the end of the first day there had been no improvement and day 2 started off with slight changes but just as uncomfortable.
So back to the books and the principles I had been taught by CPH (The College of Practical Homeopathy):
find the cause - establish the effect - remove any obstacles to cure
There were no obstacles and the cystitis was the effect but what was the cause?
Prior to the cystitis there had been a few days of intense anticipatory fear and even though that fearful situation had been resolved it was like the body was now clearing out these intense emotions but got stuck.
This pointed to remedies for ailments from anticipatory fear . One stands out beyond the rest and was very appropriate: Argentum nitricum (Arg nit). As this was such a clear mental and emotional cause I prescribed accordingly and hourly. The symptoms started to shift and improve very quickly and by the end of the day had almost completely disappeared. To follow up and support the bladder, Uva ursi in tincture form was taken. Due to another bout of anticipatory fear the following week, there was a slight return of the symptoms but the Arg nit and uva ursi cleared the symptoms again with no return since. For a patient with a history of UTIs leading to antibiotics this was a revelation and one that really highlighted the importance of establishing the cause.
I’m sharing these examples to show how fear can manifest physically and compromise our health as well as the very real effect it can have on our emotional lives.
Our bodies are trying to communicate with us all the time but we don’t always know how to, or want to, listen. It can feel like learning to understand the cries of a baby which can be scary but once we crack the code it can be so empowering to know how to heal ourselves before conditions get beyond us.
If any of the above resonates with you for yourself or a loved one looking for coping strategies or if you’re studying complementary therapies and would like to spend some time focusing in on this particular group of remedies then do join me for the workshop or feel free to contact me about a consultation to see how we can work together to manage your fear naturally.
Debbie x