Ahhhhh the 21st century madness!
Deadlines. Workout. Flights. Drinking. Late nights. Early mornings. Caffeine overload. Rammed schedule. Podcasts. Goals. Side hustle. Climbing the ladder. Saving for retirement. Buying a house. Raising kids. College funds. College debt. Meeting after meeting after meeting.
Can you relate?
The way that the society (note, NOT the world) is asking us to behave in order to be ‘successful’ these days is consistently driving our nervous system out of whack resulting in us feeling depleted, stressed, overwhelmed and feeling out of control.
Our Nervous System
When we evolved as humans, saber tooth lions roamed the earth, so it was really important for us to be on the constant lookout for danger! We needed that Fight or Flight response to survive! To survive, we needed to be able to physically fight danger, or run from it. Now, we live in a world where saber tooth lions no longer exist, presenting an immediate threat to our physical safety and need for us to be in constant state of awareness of danger, however, our fight and flight responses that were developed to protect us during that period on earth have continued, and are on the constant lookout for threats to our safety.
When we talk about ‘Fight and Flight’, we are talking about a part of our nervous system. Our full autonomic nervous system regulates a variety of body processes that take place without conscious effort. Our autonomic Nervous System is made up for two main parts : the Sympathetic Nervous System, and the Parasympathetic Nervous system.
The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for the “Fight or Flight” response during any potential danger. You can think of it like a gas pedal on a car. The parasympathetic nervous system inhibits the body from overworking and restores the body to a calm and composed state, otherwise known as ‘Rest and Digest”. It’s like a brake pedal.
Both systems are integral to our survival, but they cannot be active at the same time. We should spend the most time in a Brake Pedal state (80%) and less time in the Gas Pedal state (20%).
Different stresses that we encounter in our life (constant worrying, skipping meals, not getting enough sleep, rushing, etc.) tend to send our systems into sympathetic overdrive/always stepping on the gas pedal, leaving us feeling overwhelmed.
This sympathetic shift occurs anytime our body perceives a threat and needs to enter protection mode (fight or flight). Sometimes we can get caught in sympathetic and need help activating the parasympathetic nervous system
How can I get into Rest and Digest?
When we are really caught up in “Fight or Flight” just telling ourselves to relax will rarely work. Our entire nervous system is on overdrive at that point and on hyper lookout for danger, and is keeping your body in a heightened state of awareness. Great when there is real danger (e.g. if you are being physically threatened), but not so great if you’re just sitting at your desk trying to get some work done, and staring down the barrel of a 12hr day.
For us to step out of our “Fight and Flight” and into our “Rest and Digest” we have to proactively decide to interrupt what is happening in our body, specifically within our nervous system at that time.
Here are three very easy and accessible ways to activate your parasympathetic nervous system:
- Deep slow belly breathing
Taking longer out breaths than in breaths activates the Rest and Digest part of your nervous system.
When we are nervous and in Fight and Flight our breathing is usually quite short and in our chest. As babies we used to breathe deep into our belly and overtime we have forgotten how to. By choosing to breathe deep into our belly we are also able to activate our parasympathetic nervous system.
Set a timer for 2 minutes and carry out these steps :
Step 1: On a piece of paper write one word to describe how you feel.
Step 2 For 2 minutes follow this breathing routine :
- Breathe in for 4 seconds
- Hold for 4 seconds
- Breathe out for 6 seconds
- Hold for 4 seconds
Step 3: Write one word to describe how you feel post exercise on the same sheet of paper.
I guarantee you there is a big difference in the words you are using 🙂
2. Go for a walk
Stop whatever you are doing.
Get outside.
And walk for 10 minutes.
Focus on finding something new in your environment that you haven’t noticed before. It can be anything; flowers on a tree, a light shining from someone’s house, a new shop, the colour of the sky, the way your feet feel on the ground etc.
By choosing to focus on things in your present you will be bringing yourself into the here and now and out of the anxiety of the future.
3. Take a 10 minute hot bath
The warm water activates the Rest and Digest part of your nervous system.
Even if you are busy, and don’t have time, I guarantee you will gain more by taking 10 minutes than trying to be productive while in Fight and Flight.
