Fear is the mind-killer.

In high school I was a huge Dune fan.  I read every book in the series and then had to see the movie when it came out. I share this quote from the book/movie Dune by Paul: " I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone I will turn and face fear's path, and only I will remain."




Now, I haven't read this quote for quite sometime and perchance happened upon it  when I  was reading an article in Elephant Journal about One spice That Fits All Imbalances.  Now bear with me as I go through my thought process.  But the "spice" thing and the image they posted triggered the Dune thought. Of course I had to find out exactly what the correct verbage was for the quote so I did a google search and came up with an entire slew of DUNE quotes and as I read through them the one about fear struck me as relevant to life.


I grew up with Fear.  Fear of not being liked, fear of the dark, fear of dying, fear of drowning, fear of fear.  It controlled me yet I did nothing to stop it.  "Fear is a mind-killer and it is a little- death that brings total obliteration." The character Paul was right-  There is nothing to fear but FEAR itself.

A few months ago.  I was attempting to do sirsasana (headstand pose) but I held on to the fear of what if I fall... what if.... when I heard the yoga teacher say you have to open to grace and in doing so embrace your fear, look it straight in the eye. In preparation of the pose I took a deep breath, stilled my mind and looked at my fear. (After all what's the worst thing that could happen? Fall over?) With out even realizing it my legs went straight up, in perfect alignment.  I only dropped out of it because all of sudden I was overwhelmed with emotion of giddiness and lost my concentration.  I had to do it again just to see if I had really done it.  I did.  I permitted fear to pass over and through me and came out the other side to find- waa la- I was still there!  It was one of the most freeing realizations that I limit myself when I let fear bind me.   When you open yourself to grace, you allow yourself to see things from a different perspective but if you want change you have to act on them as well. It's not enough to merely think- you have to do. Don't let fear stop you. The words I can't, I'm afraid, I could never or anything like that should never pass your lips or roll around in your mind. Be mindful. FEAR NOT, you will remain.

~Lucy

Comments

  1. First of all you never stated what the spice was and I'm curious now, second I feel like I need to go watch Dune because I never cared to before but now want to. Third- I don't fear much it's usually just lack of time, but hearing about your yoga times encourages me to make time for it. Unfortunately yoga is a fad up here. :/

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  2. Ahh.. I didn't comment on what the cure all spice is because I highlighted it as a link. But the spice is Turmeric- is is the most potent anti-inflammatory agent, anti-cancer, anti-fungal, it's a big player in the game. And you're fortunate you don't fear much- your're one of the few. RE: yoga- just because it's a fad there doesn't mean you still can't benefit from it. If you can't make time to do it away from home go to Yogaglo. They do online classes. I love it! It's a great, informative and allows you to do it at home on your on time.

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  3. What a beautiful blog. I love the big bold colors and your big bold embrace of life. Thank you, Linda!

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  4. Thank you Laura! You are such an inspiration!

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