5장
Breaking Free: Conquering Worry, Fear, and Nervousness
Worry, fear, and nervousness are mental poisons that paralyze our divine potential. By practicing mental fasting from worry, cultivating fearlessness through divine connection, and restoring nervous balance through practical techniques, we can reclaim our innate power.
The mind must manifest calmness like water that retains no impression of waves. Through regular silence, positive visualization, and refusing to magnify our troubles, we overcome these destructive forces. Fear actually draws to itself the objects of fear, yet by shifting consciousness to courage and peace, we access our limitless divine nature.
Yogananda prescribes specific "worry fasts" at designated times-7-8am, noon to 1pm, and 6-9pm-during which you refuse to indulge in mental worry poisons. Gradually extend these fasts to weeks at a time. When solving problems, maintain cheerfulness while putting forth your greatest effort. Leave results to God, saying "I've done my best; therefore, I am happy."
This negative approach (avoiding worry) should be complemented with the positive practice of regularly associating with "joy-infected minds whose laughter nothing can still." After a month of this laughter diet, your mind will naturally fill with sunshine, making worry increasingly difficult to maintain.
Fear magnifies pain and suffering hundredfold while destroying mental initiative, courage, judgment and willpower. Use fear only as a goad to find practical solutions, not as a paralyzing force. When threatened, act calmly with full power of will and judgment. Fear of failure or sickness grows from constantly dwelling on dire possibilities until they root in the subconscious. If haunting fears persist, divert your mind with absorbing books or harmless amusements.
For those who experience stage fright, Yogananda offers practical advice: replace anxiety with deep attention, concentration and calmness before performing. Practice deep breathing while concentrating between the eyebrows, mentally rehearse masterful performance, release nervousness through tension-relaxation exercises, take a refreshing bath, maintain humble confidence that God works through you, master your technique through daily practice, and eat sparingly before performances. Remember that humbleness magnetically draws audience sympathy while pride creates apathy.
Regarding the universal fear of death, Yogananda suggests viewing it as a universal experience, a change everyone undergoes-not something to dread. While alive, focus on living well; when dead, there's nothing to worry about. Death comes to saint and sinner alike, suggesting it must be a holiday from life's troubles rather than a punishment.
Nervousness disrupts physical, mental and spiritual functioning. It stems from excessive stimulation, poor living conditions, or association with nervous people. Like running excessive voltage through a light bulb, too much stimulation damages the nervous system. Emotions like anger burn brain cells, worry paralyzes nerves, and fear burns heart-energizing nerves.
The psychological symptoms of nervousness include impatience, indiscretion in action, susceptibility to others' temperaments, fear, anger, jealousy, overactive imagination, mental overstimulation from excessive entertainment, purposeless living, reason enslaved by nerves, and disturbing dreams. Physical manifestations include shaking, twitching, restless movements, fits, heart trouble, hallucinations, hasty actions, excessive talking, and insomnia.
For relief, Yogananda prescribes cold showers, partial fasting, maintaining a good diet (avoiding irritating foods and stimulants while enjoying calming foods like celery and almond juice), seeking calm company, and practicing energy control through meditation. Addressing digestive issues, reducing nervous habits and overwork, taking frequent baths with full-body rubbing, establishing healthy sleep patterns, practicing sexual moderation, and using tension-release breathing exercises with daily fresh-air walks all contribute to nervous system healing.
The company we keep profoundly affects our nervous condition. Rather than seeking flattery, we should value truthful companions who help us improve. A wise master once wept at the death of his critic, calling him "my teacher." Seek the company of calm, strong, and spiritually-minded people who elevate your consciousness.
The deepest form of nervousness comes from the soul's identification with the body, forgetting its infinite nature. This "soul nervousness" can only be cured through meditation-shifting attention from bodily sensations to the perception of Infinite Happiness within. True satisfaction and freedom from nervousness come only when we realize our oneness with God.
