Have you ever experienced that terrible feeling of being frozen in the moment, unable to move? You know the one where your muscles go tight, your eyes are wide open , your heart rate rises and breathing becomes more rapid? Or your suddenly feel an overwhelming need to hot foot it out of where you are even if you don’t know where you are going to?

What you are experiencing is one of the body’s most primitive responses to a real or perceived threat to our survival, the fight or flight response.

The Fight Or Flight Response

The fight or flight response is an essential survival mechanism which keeps us alert and able to respond to the best of our physical ability when threatened. Without it we would be physically vulnerable.

Our bodies will evoke this primitive physiological response regardless of whether the danger is real or perceived. So, the body will trigger the same fight or flight response whether you are face to face with an axe wielding maniac, nearly get hit by a bus or someone at work is bullying you.

Because our bodies favour a physical response to stress, when the fight of flight response is triggered the brain seeks a significant physical response, preferably a short intense burst of physical exertion (fight or flight) to signal that the threat has been dealt with; that we are physically safe. But when it comes to modern day sensory stresses, it is often inappropriate or impossible to physically respond. So how does the body know if the threat has passed?

How do we “switch off” our primitive survival response and allow the body to rest and recover or trigger the relaxation response?

Let’s look a bit closer at what is actually happening within our incredible bodies when we are faced with a threat to our safety.

THe Autonomic Nervous System & The Amygdala

The autonomic nervous system, thought to be automatic and completely outside of conscious control, hence the name, maintains and governs the vital functions of the body, such as breathing, circulation, digestion, and heart rate.

There are two complementary parts to it, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems which work together to maintain homeostasis (a stable, relatively constant internal environment). These two parts of the nervous system work in partnership and provide opposing functions.

The sympathetic nervous system stimulates activity and provides the fight or flight response.
The parasympathetic nervous system sedates and triggers the rest response.

The amygdala, a pair of almond shape neurons located deep in the brain’s medial temporal lobe within the Limbic Brain, are an integral part of the autonomic nervous system.

Previously, it was thought that the amygdala’s main role was in processing fear but we now understand that it also plays an integral role in the storage and processing of memories as well emotional evaluation and recognition of sensory information and the analysis of potential threats.

The amygdala is super quick - it only takes two hundred milliseconds for it to compute, based on past memories and sensory feedback, whether to trigger the flight or fight response as opposed to three to five seconds for the cortex to make a more rational decision as to what is happening.

Therefore, it is our past experiences and the memories and sensory feedback associated with them that influence a knee jerk reaction well before we even get a chance to think about it.

To break it down further, when the amygdala perceives a threat, it sends a message to the hypothalamus, which then releases stress hormones; adrenaline and cortisol, triggering rapid breathing, a quickened heart rate, clammy hands, and so on. In other words, the typical stress response. The hypothalamus also works in conjunction with the pituitary gland and the adrenals.

This fight or flight response is an essential survival mechanism which keeps us alert and able to respond to the best of our physical ability when threatened. Without it we would be physically vulnerable, and once the fight or flight response has been triggered, the amygdala stays on high alert to assess what it is coming next.

The Relaxation Reponse

When the event perceived as stress is over, the physical reactions in the body will fade. Oxytocin is released and it begins to calm down the amygdala.

When both the hippocampus, amygdala and the prefrontal cortex agree that it is appropriate to relax , they relay the message to the hypothalamus, which connects the brain to the endocrine system.

This releases a flood of calming neurotransmitters and hormones , which soothe the entire body. The immune system then secretes its own molecules of information (some of which return to the brain) helping to complete this circuitry to healing. Your bodies shifts into relaxation response and starts to rest, relax and rebuild its reserves.

When this stress response is prolonged and the nervous system is operating on an extended high alert fundamentally “stuck” in the fight and flight response it results in a multitude of issues including anxiety and panic disorders, inflammation, depression and sleep disturbances just to name a few.

We could call this adrenal burnout, adrenal alert or alarm, regardless of what it’s called, left ignored or untreated it can result in full blown exhaustion. But the good news is that the human brain is constantly evolving and changing which gives us the power to affect the way we experience our lives. There are many techniques that you could employ yourself such as practising meditation, affirmations or different breathing techniques.

There is also a myriad of healing modalities that can support you in calming your nervous system and returning the body back to homeostasis. Holistic counselling, meditation and kinesiology are great options for supporting the adrenals and bringing them back into balance.

Maintaining a healthy and balanced nervous system is the key to health. Because our external health is mirrored internally an unhealthy external environment will trigger an unhealthy internal environment. So, any positive changes made to our external environment, such as addressing stress and trauma, removing yourself from toxic environments and finding peace and happiness will have a flow on positive effect to the health of our cell internally.

We all have within us the power to influence our environment and create a life of abundant health and happiness.

Learn more

Keep Reading