Stepping into the fear bubble

Our brain is wired to look for danger for survival reasons. When encountering danger, the fight-or-flight response comes into play. This helped us to survive during the early stages of human development, but the problem is that our brain can still trigger the stress response, even when there is no real threat and we are merely thinking about a threat. 

How do you relieve yourself from anxiety and fear? I first discovered the superhuman that is Ant Middleton whilst watching series 5 of “SAS: Who Dares Wins”. I was mesmerised by the brutality of challenges, physically pushing people to their limits, alongside mental torture. Recruits were ordered to jump backwards off a cliff into a gorge,, One task is called “The Sickener” it usually starts with contestants on their hands and knees, tasked with crawling across a riverbank in repetitive circuits they are pushed to physical limits without knowing when it will end. Stage 2 of “The Sickener” recruits have to run across the jagged slopes of a disused quarry, with harsh physical instructions shouted at them every few minutes. This included chucking boulders over their shoulders, crawling backwards up steep slopes, carrying sandbags over long distances and completing press-ups and burpees.

In order to complete any of the tasks you had to control that negative chattering in your head that either tells you that you cannot do it, or you must stop as it’s too hard/ too difficult/ too scary or too painful.  The brain is constantly telling you that it is too much to cope with. The negativity bias means that we focus on threat and risk. The world we live in is ultra cautious and with parents teachers and employers going overboard with health and safety creating a cautious culture.

I’ve always been fascinated by the connection between mind and body. I know sports people say 80% of success is getting my head into a positive mindset and 20% is training the body.

For most people the default mindset is that the world is a threatening or dangerous place. SAS:Who Dares Wins hammers home the importance of getting your head in the game. So many of the contestants used past traumas to either haunt them, wobble them or undermine their ability. It was only a strong few they could use hurts from the past to propel them forward with fiery momentum.

Ant Middleton, a former British soldier with the parachute Squadron, Royal Marines and special boat service, devised a technique that help him control fear so that it did not become so overwhelming for long periods of time training him of all his energy.

He visualisesd  a fear bubble, right at the point his life was in danger. Not when he was standing 10 metres away from it, but when the actual threat was present. Fear was no longer a vague, fuzzy concept with the power to utterly overwhelmed. Fear was an exact place and time. When he chose to step into the fear bubble he steadied himself with deep breathing. When in the bubble he had to act to do what needed to be done. Then within a short space of time the bubble burst, he was out.

Being able to break the surge of adrenaline and cortisol down into bite-size chunks that sometimes lasted just a few seconds, making his relationship with her rational and manageable. Middleton said it’s impossible not to feel fear but it is possible to contain it.

Today I did something that’s been on my bucket list for quite a while – paddle boarding. I’d always thought how serene it had looked. I decided to go for it, I chose to go early in the day to minimise the disruption from jet skis and boats. I was excited but nervous. I was worried about falling into the freezing cold water, I was worried about capsizing and losing my paddle, I was worried that my six-year-old daughter who was perched on the front of my board would wobble and destabilise us.

After assuming the position, legs wide, knees slightly bent, I familiarise myself with the buoyancy of the board. There are a few things to think about at the same time my posture, which side to paddle the oar and where to look. If I was facing out to sea and heard a jet ski in the distance I immediately started wobbling side to side. Just looking into the expanse of the sea unnerved me. If I was facing the shore, I became more reassured.

Having just read The Fear Bubble, I put the technique to practice and didn’t allow myself to freak out about the sharks below the water waiting to bite my legs off or me losing my paddle and becoming lost at sea. The elation that I felt afterwards was second to none. To think that my nervousness may have prevented me from experiencing such a wonderful thing. Going forward rather than letting fear overwhelm me I shall shrink it down to bite-size chunks manageable, digestible and surmountable.

Nicola Strudley