The Fear Cure: Cultivating Courage as Medicine for the Body, Mind, and Soul

by Lissa Rankin M.D.

Overview

     Not many people in the medical world are talking about how being afraid can make us sick—but the truth is that fear, left untreated, becomes a serious risk factor for conditions from heart disease to diabetes to cancer. Now Lissa Rankin, M.D., explains why we need to heal ourselves from the fear that puts our health at risk and robs our lives of joy—and shows us how fear can ultimately cure us by opening our eyes to all that needs healing in our lives.
     Drawing on peer-reviewed studies and powerful true stories, The Fear Cure presents a breakthrough understanding of fear’s effects and charts a path back to wellness and wholeness on every level. We learn:

• How a fearful thought translates into physiological changes that predispose us to illness

• How to tell true fear (the kind that arises from a genuine threat) from false fear (which triggers stress responses that undermine health)
• How to tune in to the voice of courage inside—our “Inner Pilot Light”
• How to reshape our relationship to uncertainty so that it’s no longer something to dread, but a doorway to new possibilities

• What our fears can teach us about who we really are

     At the intersection of science and spirituality, The Fear Cure identifies the Four Fearful Assumptions that lie at the root of all fears—from the sense that we’re alone in the universe to the belief that we can’t handle losing what we love—and shifts them into Four Courage-Cultivating Truths that pave our way to not only physical well-being, but profound awakening. Using exercises from a wide range of mind-body practices and spiritual traditions, Dr. Rankin teaches us how to map our own courage-cultivating journey, write a personalized Prescription for Courage, and step into a more authentic life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401944261
Publisher:	Hay House, Inc.
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Lissa Rankin, M.D., author of the New York Times bestseller Mind Over Medicine, is a mind-body medicine physician, author, speaker, and founder of the Whole Health Medicine Institute Physician Training program. Passionate about what makes people healthy and what predisposes them to illness, she studies how doctors might better care for patients and how patients might better care for themselves. She is on a mission to heal health care, help patients play a more active role in healing themselves, and encourage the health-care industry to embrace and facilitate, rather than resist, such miracles. She trains physicians and other healing professionals, and she empowers others at I Can Do It events, TEDx conferences, health conferences, hospitals, and on her popular blog.
Website: lissarankin.com
 

Table of Contents

Foreword Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. xi

Introduction xv

Part 1 How Fear Makes You Sick

Chapter 1 The Physiology of Fear 3

Chapter 2 Scientific Proof Fear Can Make You Sick 15

Part 2 The Truth about Fear

Chapter 3 Discerning Fear 47

Chapter 4 Uncertainty Is the Gateway to Possibility 83

Chapter 5 Loss Is Natural and Can Lead to Growth 101

Chapter 6 It's a Purposeful Universe 121

Chapter 7 We Are All One 157

Part 3 The Prescription for Courage

Chapter 8 Free Yourself 185

Chapter 9 Six Steps to Cultivating Courage 201

Appendix A 13 Techniques for Shifting Beliefs 269

Appendix B 20 Ideas for Cultivating Courage 273

Appendix C 7 Steps for Creating Your Tribe 275

Appendix D Lissa's Personal Prescription for Courage 279

Resources 283

Endnotes 285

Acknowledgments 291

About the Author 297

Interviews

California

Editorial Reviews

If we understand our fears better, we can make them lose their power over us. And make no mistake: That power is very real. As Dr. Lissa Rankin explains in this therapeutic book, banishing our fears can actually enhance longevity and elevate the quality of our lives. Her book The Fear Cure draws on scientific studies and personal accounts of its power, but it also offers sound remedies, most memorably the Four Fearful Assumptions that lie at the venomous root of our destructive anxieties. A cathartic book that deserves to win a wide readership. Editor's recommendation.

“Finally, a brilliant teacher from the medical community takes a hard look at the omnipresence of fear in our culture as a major cause of illness in our contemporary world, while simultaneously offering a plethora of highly specific suggestions for eradicating this ‘disease producing mindset.’ I love the exceptionally honest and personal approach that Dr. Rankin provides throughout the pages of this powerful book. Fear is much more than the scary feeling you experience inside when you get too close to the edge of the cliff, it is a way of living in which your subconscious mind is being programmed from your earliest years to avoid any and all risks. This programming invites sickness not only of the body, but the mind, and especially the soul. My friend Lissa Rankin has created a book that will show you how to cultivate the courage to live life fearlessly. It is medicine for the soul as well as the body. I love love love this book.”
— Dr.Wayne W. Dyer,New York Times best-selling author of I Can See Clearly Now and The Power of Intention

“If you’re haunted by fear or anxiety and want an energetic, vigilant, and encouraging friend to calm you down, carry around a copy of The Fear Cure. Dr. Lissa Rankin has been to the dark places where your fear may take you, and emerged not only unscathed, but filled with advice and prescriptions to bring others into peace. Part reporter, part scientist, part mystic, and always full of compassion, Lissa will help you find the part of your own being that is never afraid. The Fear Cure can teach you how to release the fears that may limit your joy, and give control of your life to your calmest, wisest self.”
— Martha Beck, Ph.D.,New York Times best-selling author of Finding Your Way in a Wild New World

“Just as hunger will lead you to find nourishment, fear can lead you to nourish your life. We are all capable of doing this, but without guidance and someone who believes in us, it is hard to do. Lissa Rankin’s book can make the difference. Read it and incorporate its wisdom into your life.”
— Bernie Siegel, M.D.,New York Times best-selling author of Love, Medicine & Miracles, Faith, Hope & Healing, and The Art of Healing

“Nature has endowed us with healthy fears—the lion in the bush—but most fears in modern life are destructive and prevent us from achieving our greatest potential. In The Fear Cure, Dr. Lissa Rankin analyzes the fears that hold us back and how to rise above them. She reveals how most fears are of our own making, and how to unmake them. This book is wonderfully up close and personal, because Rankin’s advice has been put to the test in the crucible of her own life.”
— Larry Dossey, M.D.,New York Times best-selling author of One Mind

“The lives of a vast majority of humans are stressed with a panoply of psychological fears: fear of loneliness, fear of failure, fear of disease, and fear of judgment, among others. These chronic fears, which result in stress that undermines health and leads to disease and death, are responsible for up to 90 percent of all doctor visits. A valuable palliative to combat debilitating stress is provided in Dr. Lissa Rankin’s new book, The Fear Cure. This empowering compendium on the psychobiological impacts of fear offers highly effective personal management techniques to shift consciousness and transform chronic fear into health-enhancing behavior. For the health of civilization, I highly recommend Dr. Rankin’s prescription for a positive drug-free healing experience that enhances intuition, integrity, and joy in life.”
— Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., cell biologist, best-selling author of The Biology of Belief and The Honeymoon Effect and co-author of Spontaneous Evolution

“An important book. It will change your life, as it changes the definitions of fear and courage. Learn to live. Learn to trust. Read this book.”
— Sophy Burnham,New York Times best-selling author of A Book of Angels

“In a world fraught with risk and uncertainty, we could all use more courage. Dr. Lissa Rankin is the ideal guide—and this book is your anti-fear field manual.”
— Chris Guillebeau, New York Times best-selling author of The $100 Startup and The Happiness of Pursuit

“Dr. Lissa Rankin’s book The Fear Cure is just that, and more. This superb book shows you how to shift and transform your beliefs about your fears into new beliefs about your abilities to really feel your courage. You can then significantly expand and multiply your experiences of well BE-ing, grace, and goodness in every area of your life.”
— SARK (aka Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy), artist and author of Glad No Matter What

“From the first page of The Fear Cure I was drawn in, captivated by a subject matter that is so appropriate today. It seems that at every turn some aspect of our inner or outer world cries: ‘Fear, fear, fear!’ It is like the boy who cried wolf. Is there really a wolf? Or is it an illusion?? In The Fear Cure, Dr. Lissa Rankin teaches us how to face our fear and shows us how to get to courage. Can you take the worst things that have ever happened to you and transform them into the best things that have ever happened to you? Dr. Lissa Rankin says ‘Yes!!’ and then beautifully illuminates the path.”
— David Wolfe, author of Longevity Now, Superfoods, and The Color Cure and founder of the nonprofit www.ftpf.org

From the Publisher