What Are You Afraid Of? A Body/Mind Guide to Courageous Living

According to the author, a seasoned workshop leader in movement therapies, "fear is often the process of taking a past negative experience and posing it as a potential future negative experience." Children who are raised by overprotective parents, for example, can turn into adults who are so frightened that they will not even drive a car. Their fearful disposition, Plonka says, may be expressed by rigid posture or shallow breathing. She offers a series of physical and mental exercises designed to uncover the layers of anxiety that mask the cause of current fears, such as fear of starvation, illness or death. For example, she recommends dealing with fear of injury by doing breathing exercises, "discovering your options" through body movement and writing down new ways to handle fearful emotions. Many of Plonka's strategies for living bravely are drawn from the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, a pioneer in the field of how the nervous system is impacted by "movement, repetition and rest in a safe environment." While the author doesn't delve deeply into the psychology of fear, her sensible and clearly explained program should help provide relief for many beset by debilitating anxiety. 
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Lavinia Plonka is an Emmy-nominated choreographer and former artist-in-residence at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. She is a longtime student and teacher of the Feldenkrais Method and other movement practices.