October 9, 2025
You Don’t Have to Think Your Way Out of Fear
Although it may be more acute for some, fear is a universal emotion and everyday part of life. An instinct that protects us from harm, it’s not only natural but necessary for survival.
But as meditation teachers Josh Korda and Kathy Cherry point out, fear is often based on a story from the past or anxiety about the future. When it’s within reason to observe that fear might be unfounded or at least not useful, its toll eases up.
The problem is that we can’t always talk or think our way out of fear. Whether observably valid, like an immediate threat to one’s physical safety, or the result of years, or lifetimes, of conditioned thinking, fear might be deeply rooted. What we can do is tap into embodied wisdom, like finding safety cues in the body and the physical world. We can also tap into compassion.
Drawing from three traditions, this week’s Three Teachings offers three approaches to managing fear, each rooted in compassion for ourselves and each other. | 
