http://luthar.com/ahimsa-the-antidote-to-fear/

All advanced meditation and yoga practices finally come to the point where one becomes extraordinarily aware of the root instinct to survive not just as a physical human entity but as an identity. If we meditate deeply on our being, we will see that our actions and behaviours are guided at gross and subtle levels by this root survival nature embedded in our psyche. So the first principle of yoga, which is Ahimsa (non-violence), seems very strange in this context. If our root instinct is to survive, it goes against our nature to embrace a philosophy that states that the highest principle of life is non-violence or harmlessness to others.