In every email I send, I sign off with ‘Go fearlessly.’

It’s not just a catchy phrase—it’s a call to action, a reminder of the potential we all have to live beyond our fears.

But why focus on fearlessness?

Because we’re living in a modern epidemic of fear and anxiety. We’re all overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, and fearful about the future. It’s as if fear has become our default state, coloring our perceptions and limiting our potential.

I won’t dive into why I believe this is happening right now—that’s a whole other can of worms. In my opinion, it involves the excesses of our materialistic digital age and, arguably, some deliberate fear-mongering by those in power.

But that’s a topic for another day.

Today, I want to equip you with something more powerful than fear itself: understanding.

We’re going to explore how fear is created physiologically in the brain and body, and how you can use this knowledge to cultivate fearlessness in your own life.

Buckle up—we’re about to dive deep into some fascinating neuroscience.

Don’t worry, though.

I promise to make it easy to understand, and the payoff will be worth it.

🧠 The Physiology of Fear: What’s Really Going On in Your Brain?

At its core, fear is a physiological response to threat.

This threat can be real or imagined, internal or external, social or physical.  When your brain perceives something as threatening, it prepares your body for conflict.

It’s not the threat itself that causes problems.

It’s the prolonged activation of the fear response that leads to detrimental effects in our bodies, minds, and lives.

That’s why one of the major goals of spiritual practice and self-development is to overcome and limit this fear response.

Meet the Key Players: The Hippocampus and Amygdala

When it comes to fear, two areas of the brain take center stage: the hippocampus and the amygdala.

🪸 The Hippocampus: Think of this as your brain’s librarian. It’s responsible for modulating memory and meaning. The more emotionally charged an experience is, the more deeply the hippocampus encodes that experience for future recall.

☄️ The Amygdala: This is your brain’s security guard. It’s a small, almond-shaped structure that regulates emotional responses in the body, including both positive and negative emotions. The amygdala works closely with the hippocampus and is the most sensitive part of the brain, using more blood and activating more easily than any other area.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting…

The Left-Right Divide: Brain Lateralization

When people talk about fear and the brain, they often simplify things by saying, “the amygdala causes fear.”

But that’s only part of the story.

In reality, we have two amygdalae and two hippocampi—one on each side of the brain. And they don’t do exactly the same job:

• The right amygdala is predominantly responsible for producing fear.
• The left amygdala is predominantly responsible for positive emotions like happiness and joy.
  
  

Many functions of the brain are performed by the same structure on both sides, but with a slightly different spin on the job.

This phenomenon is called brain lateralization.

For example, the right hippocampus is responsible for the meaning of memories, while the left hippocampus handles the verbal and temporal context of memory.

Think about looking at a tree.

Recognizing it as a structure with a trunk, limbs, and leaves?

That’s your right hippocampus at work.

Labeling it as a “tree” and remembering the tree you saw yesterday?

That’s your left hippocampus doing its thing. 

Understanding this distinction is crucial when trying to grasp how the fear response works—and how we can work with it.

The Evolution of Fear: Why We’re Wired This Way

So why did our brains evolve to process fear this way?

As usual, it all comes down to survival.

Imagine you’re one of our ancient ancestors out hunting.

As you scan the jungle for prey, you spot a tiger in the bush ahead.

In that split second, your brain needs to recognize the threat and prepare your body to respond—fast.

A quick label like “A tiger!” might flash through your mind, but by that time, your fear response is already in full swing.

Labeling the threat linguistically or remembering the last time you felt threatened is less important than responding to the immediate danger.

This is why fear is processed in the right amygdala and right hippocampus first.

We need to assess if we’re under threat NOW, as quickly as possible, so we can respond immediately.

It’s an excellent evolutionary adaptation for survival.

But it also makes fear one of the most easily triggered emotional responses in human beings.

The Crucial Thing to Understand About Fear and Positive Emotions

Here’s where it gets really interesting: positive emotions are actually more difficult to experience than negative ones.

Why?

Because an experience has to be checked and modulated by the right hippocampus and right amygdala before it’s ‘allowed’ to pass over to the left amygdala and create a positive emotional response.

In other words, we’re only able to experience positive emotions when we feel safe and out of danger.

This is also why the amygdala is the most resource-intensive part of the brain.

It’s constantly on guard, checking the environment for our safety, subconsciously assessing memories and stimuli.

And here’s the kicker: the more charged the right amygdala gets through repeated triggering, the more easily it produces fear.

It’s like a sensitive nerve in a tooth—the more you touch it, the more easily it gets triggered again.

But the beautiful thing is the opposite is true as well.

The more we regulate the fear response, the less sensitive the right amygdala becomes.

It’s the same “use it or lose it” principle that applies to the rest of the body.

In essence, we’re evolutionarily programmed for fear to override positive emotions. So, to become fearless, we need to rewire this programming.

The Prefrontal Cortex: Your Brain’s Fear Manager

Now that we understand how fear is processed in the right amygdala and right hippocampus, let’s introduce another crucial player in our brain’s fear response: the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

The prefrontal cortex, located at the very front of the brain, is often called the “CEO” of the brain.

It’s responsible for executive functions like planning, decision-making, and impulse control.

But it also plays a vital role in managing our emotional responses, including fear.

Here’s how the prefrontal cortex interacts with the amygdala and hippocampus in the fear response:

1. Threat Assessment: While the amygdala quickly identifies potential threats, the prefrontal cortex steps in to assess whether the threat is real and how serious it is.
2. Emotional Regulation: The PFC can dampen the amygdala’s fear response, helping us stay calm in stressful situations.
3. Context Integration: The prefrontal cortex works with the hippocampus to provide context to our experiences, helping us differentiate between genuinely threatening situations and those that just remind us of past threats.
4. Behavior Modulation: Based on its assessment, the PFC can either reinforce or inhibit the fear response, influencing our behavior.
   
   

Think of the prefrontal cortex as a wise mentor to the more reactive amygdala.

While the amygdala might jump at every shadow, the PFC can say, “Wait a minute, let’s think this through.”

However, here’s the catch: when we’re under intense stress or fear, the prefrontal cortex can go “offline.”

The amygdala takes over, leading to more instinctive, less reasoned responses.

This is why we might react irrationally when we’re really scared or stressed.

The good news is that we can train our prefrontal cortex to stay online more often, even in stressful situations.

This is where spiritual practice, meditation and the strategies I’m sharing for cultivating fearlessness come into play.

🧿 3 Strategies for Cultivating Fearlessness

Now that we understand how fear works in the brain, let’s explore three powerful strategies for cultivating fearlessness:

1. Desensitization: Facing Your Fears

Remember the documentary Free Solo?

It follows Alex Honnold as he attempts to climb El Capitan—a 3000-foot vertical rock face—without any ropes or safety gear.

For most of us, the mere thought of such a feat induces sweaty palms and a racing heart.

So how did Honnold do it?

After the climb, Honnold underwent fMRI scans to investigate how he faced such intense fear.

As we would expect, when shown fearful and disturbing images, his brain activity revealed much lower activation than average in his right amygdala.

How did this happen?

By facing fearful situations repeatedly throughout his climbing career, Honnold had essentially desensitized himself to fear, shrinking his amygdala’s response over time.

We can apply this principle to our own lives (though I don’t recommend free soloing El Capitan!).

Desensitization is a common therapeutic approach for overcoming phobias.

For instance, someone with arachnophobia might start by looking at pictures of spiders, then progress to being in the same room as a spider in a terrarium, and eventually work up to holding a harmless spider.

We can use the same approach with our own fears:

1. Identify your fear trigger
2. Create a hierarchy of scenarios related to that fear, from least to most anxiety-inducing
3. Start with the least scary scenario and gradually work your way up
4. Stay with each fear-inducing situation until your anxiety begins to subside
   
   

Remember, the key is to take it slow and have patience.

Whether you’re dealing with a painful memory or a triggering environment, the more you slowly introduce yourself to the fearful stimulus, the less power it has over you over time.

2. Nonjudgmental Awareness: Changing Your Relationship with Fear

While desensitization works on specific fears, nonjudgmental awareness—often associated with self-inquiry, mindfulness and mediation—changes our relationship to fear itself.

Instead of trying to eliminate fear, we learn to observe it without getting caught up in it. Here’s how it works:

1. Recognition: First, we learn to recognize when fear arises in our body and mind. You might notice a tightness in your chest, quickened breath, or anxious thoughts racing through your mind.
2. Observation: Instead of immediately reacting to these sensations or trying to push them away, simply observe them. Watch how fear manifests in your body and mind, almost as if you were a scientist studying a natural phenomenon.
3. Non-attachment: As you observe, practice not attaching to the fear. Don’t label it as “bad” or “something to get rid of.” Simply acknowledge its presence, and understand that it will pass in time.
4. Allowing: Allow the fear to be there, understanding that it’s a natural part of the human experience. Don’t try to fight it or make it go away.

Let’s look at an example:

Imagine you’re about to give a presentation at work. As you wait to be called up, you feel your heart racing and your palms getting sweaty. Normally, these sensations might spiral into full-blown panic.

But with nonjudgmental awareness, you approach it differently:

• You recognize: “Ah, I’m experiencing fear right now.”
• You observe: “My heart is beating faster. My hands are sweaty. There are thoughts about messing up.”
• You practice non-attachment: “These are just sensations and thoughts. They don’t define me or control me.”
• You allow: “It’s okay that this fear is here. I can feel afraid and still give my presentation.”
  

Over time, this practice can lead to a profound shift in how you experience fear.

Instead of being overwhelmed by it, you start to see it as just another passing mental state, no more threatening than a cloud passing through the sky.

Neuroscientifically, this practice is believed to work by strengthening the prefrontal cortex’s ability to modulate the right amygdala’s response.

As we practice observing our fear without reacting, we’re essentially training our prefrontal cortex to stay online even when the amygdala is firing.

3. Kriya Yoga Practices: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Neuroscience

Kriya yoga is a specific type of yogic practice that, in my experience, can be incredibly powerful for transforming our relationship with fear and all of our negative emotional reactions.

The yogis of the past were masters of consciousness.

They understood how the brain and mind worked without the technical or scientific knowledge we have today.

They recognized that emotions were brain-body phenomena.

Here’s the key insight to understand how emotions work: since the brain can’t ‘feel’, it projects the energy of an emotional response into the body.

Think about a heart attack.

People don’t actually feel pain in their heart during a heart attack because there aren’t pain nerves located there.

Instead, the heart projects that pain into the chest and surrounding areas.

Our brains work similarly with emotions:

• Love and sadness are often felt in the chest
• Fear and willpower tend to manifest in the stomach
• Insight and awareness are located in the head
  

In the yogic system, these psychic, emotional projections are known as ‘chakras’.

The yogis discovered that by using specific techniques, we could neutralize the negative emotional responses projected into the body by the brain.

For example, by targeting our naval area with certain kriyas (yogic practices) and breathing techniques, we’re actually addressing the source of fear in the right amygdala. Since, it’s this area of the body that the emotional energy of fear is projected into the body from the brain.

It might seem strange to think of the gut as connected to the right amygdala, but modern science is increasingly discovering deep connections between the gut-brain axis and the somatic connections between brain and body.

As research progresses, I believe we’ll uncover even more evidence of the intimate connection between the brain and how it projects emotions into the body.

Regardless of the scientific explanation, we already have ample evidence of the effectiveness of yogic techniques in reducing fear and promoting a sense of peace and wellbeing.

🧘‍♂️ Conclusion: Your Journey to Fearlessness

Understanding the neuroscience of fear is fascinating, but knowledge alone isn’t enough.

The real power comes from putting this understanding into practice.

Remember, the goal isn’t to erase fear completely—some fear is necessary and even beneficial.

Our aim is to reduce the excessive response of the right amygdala and open up pathways to positive emotions in the left amygdala, transforming fear into higher experiences of joy, happiness, and contentment.

Here’s my challenge to you: Choose one of these strategies and commit to practicing it for the next week.

• If you choose desensitization, identify a minor fear and create a plan to gradually expose yourself to it.
• If nonjudgmental awareness appeals to you, set aside 10 minutes each day to practice mindfulness meditation, paying particular attention to any fears that arise.
• If you’re drawn to Kriya yoga, look for a qualified teacher or explore some basic breathing exercises, like Heart Rate Variability Breathing, designed to calm the nervous system.
  
  

As you continue on this path, you’ll likely find that areas of your life that were once limited by fear begin to open up.

You might take more risks, express yourself more authentically, or simply feel more at peace in your day-to-day life.

That’s the power of fearlessness.

It’s not about becoming reckless or ignoring real dangers.

It’s about freeing yourself from the tyranny of excessive, irrational fears that hold you back from living fully and authentically.

I’d love to hear about your experiences as you put these ideas into practice. Feel free to reach out and share your journey.

Go fearlessly!