After flooding my consciousness with visuals from horror movies like The Blair Witch Project, Friday the 13th and scenes from movies with demonic, possessed creatures, hair all fucked up, climbing up walls backward, head twisting around and shit… yeah, being alone at night, in nature can get a bit intense.

But moving into that fear, facing it head-on, is the best way to handle it.

Build self-trust by taking a walk at night — ideally in a forest or park, on a beach, or somewhere in, or surrounded by nature. Leave your phone at home. This is about trusting your gut and knowing that nature’s intention revolves around healing, not hurting you. We’ve been programmed to believe that there’s an ax-murderer or bear or snake or whatever waiting for us to be outside when the sun goes down and BAM! hit us with a death-shot.

I’ll be the first to admit, I was scared shitless the first time I walked through a neighborhood nature trail alone at night. And sometimes that fear, which is now a predictable and distinct feeling, still creeps up but I go into it. I push harder. Walk forward, chest poking, a smile on my face.

The need for self-trust.

We’re wired from an early age to rely heavily on forces outside of ourselves to provide for us. Until we reach a certain age, we need the care of our parents to survive, but I’m not talking about that. I’m speaking on the systemic breeding out of individuality which is inherently a part of self-trust. We are taught to fit into society’s mold and drop what makes us who we really are. We rely heavily on external securities to stay in the “safe zone” of life: not taking any real risks, always looking for the easy way out.

Look, I’m guilty of it just like you. And if you’re on the other side then salute.

Signs of a lack of self-trust are indecisiveness, stagnancy, feelings of unworthiness, self-doubt, and worry. I catch myself constantly flip-flopping between whether I made the “right” decision or not. We need to trust ourselves more and in that self-trust comes power. Trusting yourself fully allows one to tap into that dynamic, unstoppable aspect of self. When you tell your fear to fuck off, those are the moments you reclaim your power and live life on your own terms.

How walking at night builds self-trust.

I’ve asked people what they think about walking alone at night, especially on a nature trail and the general consensus is fear. Fear of some crazy Stranger Things type shit happening. Although there are some who get an adventurous spark in their eye and that inner G, full of self-trust, comes out to play.

The reality of walking alone at night is in how you perceive your environment. Fear is generally prevalent and can take the form of anything from thinking about spiders, snakes or animals, to being the next homicide case, to even supernatural phenomena such as demons, extraterrestrials, etc.

So, if the fear is there, telling you to stay home and fuck this guy and his weird ideas — push through it. Face it. Face those thoughts, face your mind! For me, it’s generally spiders or demonic shit, and the fear can get so bad that I even start hallucinating a bit. BUT, I meet my demons, my mind, my fear head-on, and power through it because I know that ultimately I am in control. And through that confrontation, you build self-trust.

Self-trust accumulates, too. Walking at night is wonderful and awe-inspiring once you start shedding those limiting beliefs, doubts, and worries and this bleeds into all aspects of life. When you face whatever fear may arise but keep walking, then you start seeing how magical and novel each walk, each step, each moment can be. We become resilient to fear and stay grounded within who we are and our power.

Take a walk tonight, face your fears and build self-trust.

We need more trust as a culture but it starts on an individual level. An inherent lack of trust is an anchor that weighs us down and limits us from achieving our full potential.

One way to build that trust in yourself is something as simple as going for a walk at night, alone, ideally in nature. In this, we face whatever fear may arise, shedding light on how our fears are generally irrelevant and only serve to limit us. We begin to get a glimpse of what it’s like living fearlessly, with a deeply rooted sense of self-trust and with this, you take back your life, into your own hands.

Get out tonight, build more self-trust and enjoy the magic of the night.