Fear
A rapid response to a perceived immediate, identifiable threat.
How it shows up
Fear tends to appear when a threat feels close and identifiable: a car swerving, a sharp drop, a dog lunging. Attention narrows, the heart speeds up, and urges to freeze, flee, or protect take over quickly. It appears to prepare the body to deal with danger right now. Fear is usually brief and tied to a specific trigger, which helps separate it from the more spread-out, future-leaning quality of anxiety.
How it differs from Anxiety
Fear is focused on a present, identifiable threat; anxiety lingers around possibilities that have not happened and may never happen.
Notice
When something startles or frightens you, notice how quickly your attention narrows, and what it narrows onto.
Where it is felt
Felt most in the chest, stomach and head.
Based on Nummenmaa et al. (2014), bodily maps of emotions, and related research. The map shows where people report bodily sensation, on average; individual experience varies.