From Brain Stress Ball to Creature Comfort: Calming the Fear Response

Alan Gordon (author of The Way Out) once mentioned carrying around with him a brain-shaped stress ball and looking at it kindly, thinking, ‘This poor little primitive brain,’ to help calm the fear response behind his chronic pain. He’s also described the primitive brain as a scared kitten that just needs reassurance. I recently came across a similar idea from Martha Beck, who writes about treating our anxious, reactive mind as a frightened creature that can be soothed rather than controlled — and thought others here might like to read these two relatively short, connected pieces exploring the process of her approach:

https://marthabeck.com/2023/02/meet-your-creature/ (Meet Your Creature - Martha Beck)

https://marthabeck.com/2023/03/calming-your-creature/ (Calming Your Creature - Martha Beck)