Fight or Flight?

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is known to be responsible for all bodily functions that do not require conscious thought. Homeostasis depends on a proper functioning ANS. Thanks to this system, your heart beats, you maintain a constant body temperature and you digest your food, all without you having to think about it.

When the ANS becomes overstressed, our body is quickly thrust into the “Fight or Flight” state. This survival mode status can play an important role in our life. For example, if you are out in the woods and you come across a grizzly bear, you will need to be able to fight that bear or run like the wind (flight). The ANS instantly puts your body through a number of physiological changes in order to prepare you to escape this dangerous situation to the best of your ability.

Using the above grizzly bear example, let’s look at these changes in more detail. Have you ever witnessed a scared dog curl its tail between its legs? Humans do something quite similar. The instant you spot the bear, a little bundle of nerves at the very bottom of the tailbone, known as the Ganglion of Impar, curls forward. Simultaneously, the sternum (chest bone) lifts up slightly towards the head. Adrenaline, Cortisol and other stress hormones are then released into the system causing an increased heart rate and blood pressure. Digestion slows or stops due to the blood flow being directed away from the internal organs and toward the arms, legs and brain to allow for greater strength, speed and quicker decision making. Breathing then becomes fast and shallow. And finally, your muscles tense up and you are now “On Guard” and ready to fight this bear or run from her at your highest efficiency levels.

These lightning fast changes work great for us in the short term as we are only designed to deal with excess stress for a relatively short period of time. Ideally, the bear leaves or you get away from her quickly and you are able to return to your natural at ease state, which is where we find optimal health. Unfortunately, as discussed earlier, in today’s day and age stress is constant or repetitive over a long period of time. Thus, we get into the Fight or Flight state and we get stuck there.

Getting trapped in this “On Guard” state for an extended amount of time causes a wide range of negative physical, emotional and chemical changes to us. A general state of dis-ease (lack of ease) and tension sets in making you susceptible to a wide range of ailments effecting everything from digestion to the muscular skeletal system creating emotional stress and hypertension just to name a few. A body under this kind of long-term stress does not use energy efficiently, thus causing a drain on the batteries or a decreased vigor. In addition, there is a constant hormonal imbalance throughout the body and instead of feeling the adrenaline rush that you would feel in the bear episode, anyone stuck in a chronic Fight or Flight state will feel low on energy.

In what may be the most important aspect of this kind of tension is the way someone in the Fight of Flight state will react to his/her surroundings in daily life. Case in point, living in Southern California has incredible upside, however, everyone that lives here has had to deal with traffic to some extent. Now, lets take a person who is quite tense and in a general state of dis-ease. Put this person on a busy SoCal freeway and watch how they respond. If another vehicle cuts them off, are they more apt to have an outburst toward the other driver or will they simply let it go? What about when this person gets home? Will they be more apt to be happy and nice to their family or ill tempered and grumpy?

Now, lets put a relaxed person who is completely at ease in the exact same situation as the above scenario. Is this person more apt to have an outburst toward the other driver or will they simply let it go? When this calm and at ease person gets home will they be more apt to be happy and nice to their family or ill tempered and grumpy?

The Fight or Flight mechanism has a much broader effect on a person than just physical tension and malfunction. Addressing and easing this issue is an important aspect of The Intention Method of Natural Healing.