Katherine Soule

Let’s explore how mindfulness practices can help us move through fear conditioning to improve the outcomes of our work.

Understanding fear and its role

Fear plays a vital role in keeping us safe. The freeze, flight, and fight responses are essential for our survival. These responses enable us to react swiftly to real threats such as natural disasters, predatory animals, or physical violence. For individuals with marginalized identities, fear can also be a response to very real threats to physical, psychological, or financial safety — unfortunately, encountering such threats are often a reality encountered in equity work.

While fear’s protective role is crucial, today we’ll focus on how fear conditioning can keep us stuck, hindering our ability to deeply engage in equity work. By addressing our relationship with fear, we can enhance our capacity to speak up and create positive change.

Fear in equity work

In academia, community organizations, and government agencies, I’ve heard many express fear about engaging in equity work although they feel called to create change. I’ve experienced this fear myself. Recognizing and addressing how fear impacts us can help us move forward.

This post won’t cover every challenge, such as securing funding or navigating difficult stakeholder conversations. Instead, we’ll focus on identifying when fear keeps us stuck and how to move beyond it.

Forbes (2024) research found that “fear of saying or doing the wrong thing” was the top reason the majority of organizational equity initiatives are unsuccessful. Fear can manifest as avoidance of difficult conversations, hesitation to name injustices, or reluctance to teach or research transformative topics. When fear manifests as avoidance, in order to address systemic injustice, we must start by addressing ourselves.

The neuroscience of fear

Fear is an innate or learned response to real or perceived threats. It is encoded in a neural network involving the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. While fear can be learned quickly—sometimes in a single event—extinguishing it requires time and intentional effort. Mindfulness has been shown to:

• Increase activity in the prefrontal cortex — improving decision-making and emotional regulation.
• Reduce the size of the amygdala — decreasing stress reactivity.
• Enhance cortical thickness — strengthening positive stress responses.

These neural changes support the process diminishing conditioned fear responses through repeated exposure to fear-inducing contexts without negative consequences (aka “fear extinction”).

A 5-step mindfulness approach

Practicing these steps several days in a row can help you learn and internalize the approach, making it easier to implement during a fear response. If you experience a fear response in the presence of others, you can give yourself a few moments to implement the steps by taking a drink of water or excusing yourself to the restroom.

Step 1: Notice

The first step in addressing fear is awareness. Recognize changes in your body: a racing heart, tense muscles, or slowed thinking.

Step 2: Name

Then, name the experience:

• “I feel stuck; I’m in freeze.”
• “I’m overwhelmed and want to leave; I’m in flight.”
• “I am saying appeasing things I don’t mean; I’m fawning.”

Step 3: Breathe

Controlled breathing can interrupt the fear response and promote regulation. Try this extended exhale practice:

1. Inhale for three counts.
2. Exhale for six counts.
3. Repeat for one minute, gradually calming your mind and body.

This practice helps slow the neural fear response, allowing us to move toward regulation. Experiment with various breath techniques to find what works best for you.

Step 3: Reflect

Once regulated, reflect on the situation:

• What am I afraid of?
• What support or skills do I need?
• What is my long-term goal?

Step 4: Act

Take action, even in the presence of fear. Remember, fear is a sign you’re stepping into change. As my mentor Justin Michael Williams explains: Fear is actually an ally and a cue that we are leaning into change, to creating for the better.

Guided practice

Call to mind a work situation where fear is holding you back. Notice your mind and body: Are there places of tension? What emotions arise? Without judgment, name your experience. If you have time, journal a couple pages about this experience and really lean into the emotions that arise for you when you think about this situation.

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Turn your attention to your breath and repeat the phrase: “I may be scared, but I am doing it anyway.” Notice if any words, images, and thoughts arise as you repeat this phrase. Once the timer is complete, make some notes about any insights that arose for you during the practice.

Final thoughts

Fear is a natural part of creating change, especially in equity work. By noticing, naming, breathing, reflecting, and acting, we can transform fear into a tool for growth. This work is challenging, but it is essential. With mindfulness, we can navigate our fears and continue the vital journey toward equity and justice.