Meditation can be extremely beneficial to help us diminish or even conquer our fears because it focuses on quieting the mind and making it peaceful and still.

Two Fear Busting Methods

Let's use a common phobia--a fear of snakes--to illustrate how to overcome our fears. 

Technique 1: Direct Your Attention to Your Breath

Imagine walking into a room with the image of snakes slithering on a TV set. You're terrified of snakes and your body reacts with sweaty palms and an increased heart rate. With the first technique, the key is to acknowledge the fear, but then focus on something else. Pause for a moment when the fear of snakes arises. Breathe in as deeply as you can. When you inhale, hold it for as long and as tightly as you can. Then exhale slowly. As long as the fear persists, continue focusing on breathing in and out. The objective is to take your thoughts off the snakes and tranfer them onto your breath.

Technique 2: Inviting Your Fears Into Your Meditative Practice 

In your sitting practice, you can continue to work on your fear of snakes. With consistent focus your phobia may disappear entirely. But this technique requires a little set-up before you think about your fears.

First, just like in the first technique, you'll follow your breath. The difference is that you won't hold your breath in. Instead, you'll breathe in-and-out slowly but naturally. You can then add a mantra on the inhale and exhale. For example, you can think, "I am" on the in breath, and "peaceful" on the out breath.

Now that you're relaxed and in a meditative state, you'll focus on your fear of snakes. Allow your attention to move towards the slithery reptiles. As you do this, your body may react by tensing. Maintain the slow breath pattern. The fear may well up again. As the anxiety builds, take your mind off the snake and redirect your focus back to your breath. Your body will relax. Next, imagine yourself being in the same room with your fear. As you feel the anxiety build up, go back to your breath and repeat your mantra.

Continue this pattern of visualizing snakes and then returning to your breath. Over time, you'll experience that the fear will dissipate. Your fears about snakes may not disappear entirely. But with daily practice, or at least several times a week, it will recede to a manageable level. 

Ridding yourself of phobias will greatly decrease the stress in your life. Some fears have a tighter grip on us than others, and these strong fears will take longer to eliminate than their weaker counterparts. But even if your anxieties seem larger than life, don't give up. When anxiety arises, bring yourself back to your breathing. Eventually, you'll experience sweet relief.