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Have you ever considered that fear is a positive emotion? After all, its function is to alert us to possible danger so we can take action to keep safe. 
In fact, the fear response involves some of the same chemical reactions as happiness and excitement. Our response to those chemical reactions, however, is complex and personal. It depends in large part on how we perceive our body’s physical reactions to fear-inducing situations. 
Some people enjoy the fear response. That’s why some of us like horror movies or roller coasters. And, it’s why there are adrenaline junkies, people who seek out thrilling experiences. Others don’t enjoy the fear reaction, and still others would do anything to avoid feeling fearful. And, this is where anxiety comes from. It’s a fear of feeling fear. Those who are anxious routinely cast their minds into the future searching for, worrying about, and avoiding things that might cause fear. 
In this two-part series, I want to explore two ways to calm the fear of fear. The first is to employ curiosity. That’s on deck today. The second is to use appreciative joy. That’s up next week. Both these tools have roots in mindfulness. Curiosity teaches you to turn toward your fear reaction and explore it in a mindful way, and appreciative joy teaches you to turn toward the present moment and amplify positive feelings that are incompatible with fear. 
And, to be clear, I’m not talking about the fear that arises when you’re under immediate threat. If you smell smoke, your fear is not something to be calmed. It’s something to be acted on immediately. I’m talking about the fear that keeps you stuck in negative thought patterns and interferes with your ability to enjoy life. 
Curiosity calms fear because it helps you see more clearly. As a teenager, I earned spending money by babysitting. One of the couples I sat for lived in an old house that was always creaking and groaning. I’d be fine until I put the kids to bed. Then, it would be dark out and I would be all alone freaking out every time the house made a noise. I didn’t feel any fear during the day, though, because I could easily see that there was nothing there to immediately threaten me. 
Employing curiosity is a little bit like shining light on a situation. It shows you where the fear response is coming from and illuminates the fact that there’s nothing imminently threatening going on. It also shows you how your reactions to the fear sustain and maybe even amplify the fear. 
When you notice the fear response bubbling up, you can take some time to sit with it and explore it mindfully. Conjure up an attitude of curiosity. I say “conjure up,” because in the beginning your fear may keep you from feeling a genuine sense of curiosity. With practice, though, curiosity overtakes anxiety and becomes a more authentic response. 
Taking an attitude of exploration, pay deep attention to what’s going on in your mind and body. Notice the thoughts that bubble up. Get curious about the feelings and emotions that arise. Attend to the various sensations in the body. Notice, what comes first, the thought, or the feeling, or the body sensation? What triggered the fear reaction in the first place? How do the subsequent thoughts feed the fear? If you can breathe deeply and let go of the thoughts, does the fear recede? Does it recede naturally all on its own? 
This practice is one of noticing, not one of analyzing. You are taking the time to clearly attend to what’s going on in your body and mind, and you can play a little to see how breathing and thinking affect what you’re feeling, but you’re not going deep into thought to try to examine your personal psychology, your upbringing, previous traumas, etc.