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Letting
Go of Fear
by Aeeshah
Ababio-Clottey
and Kokomon Clottey
Inner Peace
and True Health
 Most of the time when
we think of health, we think of our physical body.
However, our focus in this book is about our mind and
our great need for inner peace, which leads to racial
healing. Mother Teresa, who worked so devotedly during
her lifetime to uplift the poor and diseased, said that
the most serious problem facing us in this century is
spiritual deprivation.
We are inclined to
resonate with this belief, and for this reason we have
defined racism as a life-threatening illness, a
deprivation of the spirit. We have learned that racial
harmony cannot be legislated. It is not a legal issue.
It is a heart issue. Today more than ever we are torn
emotionally over the issue of race.
From the perspective
of attitudinal healing, health is not about our physical
condition; instead, health is seen as a state of being
free of fear -- a mental state. Health is a state of
being free of conflict, free of emotional pain, free of
guilt. Health is a harmonious state -- alive, energetic,
loving, and kind. In this state, we can experience a
personal transformation. This is what true health is.
You may be asking yourself right now: How can I
experience this? Our belief is that you experience
health by letting go of fear and setting a single goal
of experiencing inner peace. You learn to let go of fear
every time you intentionally keep your heart open at the
very moment that you most feel like contracting. By
breathing into the area in your chest that starts to
constrict when you are afraid, you are choosing health
and healing over fear and separation.
Putting the
Principle into Practice
"Health
is inner peace,
and healing is letting go of fear.
1. We have been
working with the principles of attitudinal healing for
some time, and we still find that we struggle with them,
especially when we are challenged with an opportunity to
let go of our fears about the "other". None of
us wants to admit that we may be feeling guilty or
victimized, or that we may be acting as an oppressor
when confronted with racial, cultural, class, or gender
issues. And, let's face it, when we are experiencing
fear, we cannot feel peaceful; we cannot experience true
health.
The key factor when
we are faced with a fearful belief is to make the choice
not to resist the feeling. We can admit to ourselves
that we are not peaceful and ask for help and express
our fears and prejudices honestly. We have learned that
it is often difficult to resolve these kinds of issues
alone. The quickest way to let go of fear is to reach
out to another human being. Many times we are
experiencing so much embarrassment with issues related
to racism that we are unable to ask for help. We bury
our feelings. Simply reaching out to a friend or family
member we trust can help us begin to change this
dynamic.
2. However, if you
find yourself experiencing the constriction of fear
around the issue of race and you are not able to reach
out to another, sit down quietly and do the following:
- Take a pen and
paper and begin to list all your fearful thoughts
about race. These might include your fears of the
"other", as well as your fears about your
own prejudice.
- Take several long,
deep breaths as you list your fears, imagining
yourself breathing the fears out as you list them.
- Then, make a
contrasting list of loving images and breathe
deeply. As you take these deep breaths, imagine
yourself breathing in all the love from your
positive images.
3. Remember, letting
your breath flow and keeping your chest open allows you
to let go of fear, and letting go of fear will bring you
the true health of inner peace.
 This article was
excerpted from "Beyond Fear: Twelve Spiritual Keys to Racial Healing" by Aeeshah Abadio-Clottey
& Kokomon Clottey. ©1999. Excerpted with
permission from the publishers, H J Kramer, PO Box 1082,
Tiburon, California. All rights reserved.
Info/Order
this book.
About The
Authors
Recipients
of the Jampolsky Award for Exemplary Work in Attitudinal Healing for the
Racial Healing Project and the Ghana Project, Aeeshah Abadio-Clottey
and Kokomon Clottey are internationally recognized for their
workshops on racial healing. Together they founded the Attitudinal Healing
Connection in Oakland, California, and Ghana, West Africa. The Attitudinal Healing Connection's
website is www.ancestralhealing.com.
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