How fear affects breath, muscles and mind
This is partly because of the way fear paralyses our

breathing. Our diaphragm tightens, our shoulders hunch forwards, and our ribcage tightens up, squeezing and 'suffocating' the thymus. Also, fear stimulates our adrenal glands to release stress hormones, which further suppress our thymus.
Fear triggers other muscles to tighten up - ready to run or fight for our lives. The hip flexor and hamstring muscles shorten, arching our lower back. Our chest, back and neck muscles tighten, pulling our shoulder blades together. Our back extensors contract, compressing our spine. Unless these muscles are stretched out again we shrink into the posture of an old man, as Barry has.
Fear paralyses our mind, impairs our concentration, and clouds our memory. We become distracted, forgetful, irritable, unable to absorb what we read, or to remember it. It undermines our outlook on life, robbing us of our hopes and our dreams. It destroys our faith, our trust, and our ability to find a sense of peace within.
Fear and HIV
Fear drains our hearts of love, joy and happiness, the very emotions that our thymus gland thrives on. Love is literally the 'best healer' and has a profound effect on our CD4 count. Fear sucks this vital passion out of our very soul and prevents us from absorbing love from others. Fear separates and alienates us from those who love us, denying us this ultimate healing potion and source of renewable energy.
Whether we believe that HIV or fear is the major co-factor in acquired immunodeficiency, it is a deadly combination. Recent research at the Aids institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, demonstrated that the most powerful determinant of response to combination therapy was the underlying level of fear in an individual.
So combination therapy alone is just not enough. Identifying and reducing the immunosuppressive impact of fear on our breathing, our posture, our thoughts, and our feelings is fundamental to our

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