are you in fight, flight or freeze?
When we have stress, or are even just thinking about something stressful, our nervous system reacts as if we are still from ancient times. (Damn amygdala!) It sends out chemical messengers (adrenaline and cortisol for example) to get your body to respond as if a real physical threat is present. (Think a saber tooth tiger). The brain believes it has to protect you from the threat and RUN LIKE HELL to get away. Or maybe you can’t run and you need to fight it off! So, the body gets all the chemistry/signals to pump blood to the muscles and be alert for even more danger in the environment. When this is happening other body functions take a back burner. Do you think you are going to lay down to have sex when you are running like hell? Heck no! So, sex hormones are shut down (ever skip a period when you are stressed out? Now you know why!) Are you going to sit down and eat a delicious meal when you are running like hell? Nope! So, the gastric juices and digestive enzymes are put on hold. Are you going to sleep like a baby when you are running like hell? Also a big fat no! You have to be alert to watch for danger. No wonder you aren’t getting any sleep when you have stress. And the lack of sleep just builds on the stress…ugh.
You’re not breathing again…
You may be holding your breath when you don’t even know it! It is a natural reaction. Think about it…when we see something startling we gasp! Ahh! Oh my! And we hold our breath… You may be doing this on a subconscious level all day long as a stress reaction to sub acute levels of stress. I realized I was doing it when I was listening to a patients trauma story. I suddenly exhaled and felt winded. It was a horrible story and I felt so engrained in it as if it was actually happening at that moment. I was also having physical symptoms, a pounding in my ears, as if I could hear my pulse. I had been chasing this symptom for-EVER! I had even seen a neurologist and had an MRA to rule out an aneurysm. And there it was, I finally put it together…it’s my body’s way of telling me to breathe! Now, instead of fretting about the pounding in my ears, I know I need to take a friggin’ deep breath!
What’s your sign?
What signals are you getting from your body to try to get you to breathe? Maybe you feel pain. Pain in your shoulders or neck (muscles are tightening up to fight that saber tooth tiger!). Pain in your stomach (digestive tract shutting down…don’t eat now, gotta fight the tiger!). Pain in your feet (time to get up and run like hell). It could show up anywhere really. Even the immune system shuts down during stress so you may get sick more often.
Coping is easier than you think!
So what’s a body to do? BREATHE!! It sounds too easy but this one part of our autonomic nervous system, our breath, is a way we can override fight/flight/freeze and push our chemistry into the rest/digest/repair state. So do it!! Do it often and consciously.
Put a timer on your phone to remind you. One phone app that I like is “Mindfulness Bell.” (It’s free!!) I have it set for every hour and now even hubby knows what it means and I hear him breathing too! Set it more often if you need to. When it goes off, stop what you are doing, (it’s only a few seconds, really, stop what you are doing!!) take the time to do this for yourself. Maybe close your eyes, not if your driving (HaHa) and breathe into your belly. Your belly should go out like a toddler belly. When you think you have taken as deep a breath as you can, make it go just a little deeper. Hold it for 3, 4, maybe 5 seconds-whatever feels good to you. Then let it out. Don’t over think it! In a perfect world it would be in through the nose, out through the mouth.
(OH MY GOSH! My timer just went off and I really did stop typing and I did it!!! LOL!! I love synchronicity!!)
Most of the time we are walking around breathing high in our chest, not deeply AT ALL. Get that diaphragm moving with a toddler belly breath and you will really tell your body you are safe and relaxed and your body chemistry will shift. If you can also mentally tell yourself, “I am warm and safe and dry.” Or something to that nature, whatever resonates with you, the effect will be even better. You will be creating new neural pathways that support a calm brain and less stress.
You got this!
With Love,
Laura