Of the many kinds of fear, there are more than 50, the one that has always intrigued me is Coulrophobia, or fear of clowns. Not that I suffer from it but I’ve always found it very interesting. If you like to know a simple mind trick to overcoming fear keep reading, it’s well worth the effort.

Clowns, why do they scare you? From what I know the main reason for suffering from fear of clowns is that someone has been scared when young and even in adulthood keeps being uncomfortable with clowns, even on tv. That’s probably true, as well as the fact that some clowns really are not that friendly with all that make-up and their enormous red lips.

I’m not affected by Coulrophobia but nevertheless anytime I see a clown I’m always reminded of IT and his shark teeth, the main character of the book by Stephen King. Anyway overcoming fear can be pretty easy using the simple mind trick I’m going to explain. Clearly it’s a quick response tool and won’t solve the cause of your fear of clowns or other things but at least you’ll be able to run and won’t be frozen by fear anymore. If you get paralyzed by something scaring you’ll be able to move and act, no more blocked by fear of something, be it due to a mouse, snakes, cockroaches or whatever.

Note: I’ve used as an example Coulrophobia but this mind trick can be applied to almost every kind of fear.

Overcoming fear of clowns, today.

Have you ever thought why soldiers used to sing while going to fight a battle?

Yes, it was to raise their mood but actually it was to melt fear away. Singing, that’s the simple mind trick that you can use for overcoming fear anytime it hits you. No, I’m not crazy, it’s that singing a song out loud, or murmuring it if you are not alone, affects the same area of the brain responsible for feeling fear. Because if you don’t already know every emotion is felt in the brain so controlling the mind you can control your emotions.

We can’t sing and be scared or paralyzed by fear at the same time, it’s impossible. Clearly if your fear of clowns blocks your vocal cords that’s a bit of a problem, but those two things can’t happen at the same time. That’s the simple mind trick to overcoming fear, sing a song. Possibly a song that makes you feel good, and it doesn’t really matter if you know every word, just sing it.

Some time ago I had to go to the dentist and while I don’t have fear of the dentist I really hate the noise of the dental milling cutter, I hate it and also the vibrations are very disturbing. Anyway I was a bit tense so I felt every single vibration and noise so to feel better I tried singing a song just in my mind. It worked. Shifting my attention from the dentist’s job to the song made me to relax and be less rigid. Believe me, singing works magically.

Here you are, now you can forget your fear of clowns and next time you see one just begin singing and go away, or change the channel. I know it seems too simple to work with Coulrophobia but to avoid being frozen this is a wonderful technique useful for overcoming fear whenever you need it. And with time it’s possible that you get so used to melt fear away that you don’t suffer from it anymore. Whatever the cause. While singing you’ll be able to look at clowns and feel, well, cool about them.

And now it’s your turn, what do you think? Do you use any other tool for overcoming fear?

Picture courtesy of SXC.