Why You Need to Care about Stress
Your body is wired for protection first, your survival instinct. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is your built in surveillance system. It is always operating and scanning for safety for the sake of your survival.
Consider the trauma in your life, and by trauma, I mean wounds. Every creature on earth is impacted by trauma, and the body remembers and holds all of your wounds. Your nervous system adapts to trauma by remaining vigilant for the sake of your protection. Now consider the everyday stresses in life. They are also held by the body and further shape the function of your nervous system. If you continuously experience stress without releasing it, your ANS remains in a heightened state of protection. Between the cumulative effects of trauma and stress, you can understand how a lot of people end up living in a state of “fight or flight”. It feels like:
Tightness/restriction in the chest
Shallow breathing
A need to always be busy
A tendency to overreact
Insecurity about how you feel toward yourself and how others feel about you
Fear and mistrust
Physical agitation (fidgety, knee bobbing, pacing, excitability, etc.)
Road rage
Feeling out of control, on the brink of yelling or crying
Racing thoughts
Inability to turn off your mind
Insomnia
When you live in a state of “fight or flight”, your sympathetic nervous system is in charge. Your pulse, blood pressure, breath, and sensory awareness are activated and looking for trouble. The part of your brain that exercises judgement and critical thinking is hijacked. Because the body prioritizes protection over connection, your higher level brain won’t get on board until it’s safe to do so. Therefore, it’s critically important to acknowledge the role stress plays in your life AND to intentionally practice releasing it from your body. You already know how much better you feel when you do this (i.e. exercise, laughter, play). When you commit to this process, you reshape patterns in your nervous system and invite your higher level brain to take charge. You make better decisions and feel better because your surveillance system doesn’t have to work so hard. It opens the door to addressing and healing trauma as well.
Don’t be surprised if you feel strongly repelled by this idea, roll your eyes, or think you’re above it. Your body loves habits and routine. Any challenge to the status quo is perceived as a threat. If you’re living in “fight or flight”, you may not even believe this idea. You’ve probably been told a million times to “calm down” and “take a deep breath”, and you have already experienced that these things do NOT work! It’s not a switch you can flip on and off, shifting from agitated to relaxed. It’s more of a dimmer. You need to meet your state and match it, then bring yourself down gradually. Movement is a powerful way to dim the “fight or flight” response. Once you’ve expelled some of the stress from your body, a sense of calm and deepening of breath naturally follows. The body knows what to do, and you can build a practice of allowing its wisdom to guide you.
If you want some support with this, please connect with me. My intention is to help you develop a practice that resonates with you so deeply that you will own it. You are the only one who can do the work, but you don’t have to do it alone.
