Episode 41: Fear vs. Threat — How to Tell What’s Actually Happening in Your Body — Quick Bite

Fear can feel intense, convincing, and urgent—and when it shows up, most of us assume something is wrong. But what if the problem isn’t fear itself, but that we’re mistaking fear for real threat?

In this Relish Quick Bite, Alyssia Sheikh breaks down the difference between fear and threat in clear, embodied terms. Threat refers to an actual, immediate danger to your safety. Fear is the nervous system’s reaction to a perceived threat—often based on prediction, memory, or imagined future outcomes.

When we confuse fear with threat, we stay stuck in survival mode even when we’re safe. That confusion can keep us reactive, anxious, and disconnected from our ability to respond with clarity.

In this episode, Alyssia explains how the nervous system processes threat cues, why fear can feel like truth even when no danger is present, and how the ability to pause and ask “Is this fear or threat?” is itself a sign that you’re no longer in survival mode.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The difference between fear and real, present-moment threat
• Why fear often feels like certainty, urgency, and catastrophe
• How to tell—somatically—what state you’re actually in
• Why being able to pause is evidence of safety
• Simple grounding tools to come back into presence

💭 Reflection: If I can pause and ask the question, am I actually in danger right now—or am I experiencing fear?

This episode offers a practical distinction you can use anytime fear arises—not to make it go away, but to relate to it with more clarity and choice.

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• The Hoffman Institute (Alyssia is a Hoffman Process teacher; podcast is not affiliated)

Relevant Episodes: 

• Episode 38 — Intuition vs. Anxiety: How to Tell the Difference
• Episode 36 — Shame (Part 2): Separation — Why Shame Feels Like Who You Are

Relevant Links & Resources:

• Medical News Today — How the brain gathers threat cues and turns them into fear https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-the-brain-gathers-threat-cues-and-turns-them-into-fear 
• Scientific American — Joseph LeDoux, Rethinking the Emotional Brain https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3625946/