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by Lavinia Plonka
The ordinary manner in which we carry ourselves physically, our automatic gestures,
and the accustomed comforts of our bodily habits inadvertently reinforce fear's
hold on our lives. What Are You Afraid Of? explores how our fears often arise
from physical and mental triggers that have been learned over the course of our
early lives-and can be un-learned. Fear, explains award-winning movement teacher
Lavinia Plonka, is not the product of intractable psychological demons; instead,
it often revolves around repetitive body/mind cues. By teaching the body new habits
through a series of exercises and postures, the cycle of fear can be broken.
From Publishers Weekly: According to the author, a seasoned workshop
leader in movement therapies, "fear is often the process of taking a past negative
experience and posing it as a potential future negative experience." Children
who are raised by overprotective parents, for example, can turn into adults who
are so frightened that they will not even drive a car. Their fearful disposition,
Plonka says, may be expressed by rigid posture or shallow breathing. She offers
a series of physical and mental exercises designed to uncover the layers of anxiety
that mask the cause of current fears, such as fear of starvation, illness or death.
For example, she recommends dealing with fear of injury by doing breathing exercises,
"discovering your options" through body movement and writing down new ways to
handle fearful emotions. Many of Plonka’s strategies for living bravely are drawn
from the work of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, a pioneer in the field of how the nervous
system is impacted by "movement, repetition and rest in a safe environment." While
the author doesn’t delve deeply into the psychology of fear, her sensible and
clearly explained program should help provide relief for many beset by debilitating
anxiety. (Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.)
Paperback book, 192 pages
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