Fight Flight Fright - or Yoga

Fight Flight Fright - or Yoga
by Monica Batiste
When danger approaches, the stress response can save your life. Your heart rate will quicken, adrenaline will rise, and your muscles will pump. You will be ready to fight in one second!
Each of us learns how to respond to danger in our own way. For some, the stress response might be to fight, for others it’s to run away, and some people freeze in fear.
This is your survival strategy when facing danger, but what if there is no real danger, you just ‘think’ there is.
In false danger, you will respond the same as when facing authentic danger - but there will be no release. You aren’t going to fight your boss, run away from a client, or stop and hide, even if you want to.
When we learn to feel stress without release, we develop coping strategies. Eventually this stress can damage your body, and erode your joy for life.
This is not what the stress response was created for. So what to do? You can’t change other people, but you can change yourself.
First step is to find out what your stress response is. It’s important to know which is your habitual response to stress is so you will recognise it when it happens.

Recognising and releasing the stress response
When you notice your breath is shorter and your heart rate higher – your stress response is being triggered. You may notice your sense of awareness changes too – you might have a heightened sense of what is going around you if you switch on fight or flight, but if you switch on freeze – you may feel a dulling of your senses.
As soon as you notice the stress response– focus on deep breathing. Lowering your diaphragm to give more room to your breath, is your bodies signal that you are safe. Breathe deeply no matter what is going on around you. Relax your tummy and hips. Let go through the hip-flexors. Continue to breathe and become present by connecting to the earth, noticing the sky (even if it’s in your imagination) and visualising something peaceful. Clients won’t notice. The traffic won’t change. Your partner will keep talking, but you will be clearer.
For a simple guide to breathing; breathe in for six seconds, and breathe out for six seconds. During meditation breathe in for up to ten seconds, breathe out for up to ten seconds, and  focus on letting go of each muscle and joint.
This technique is perfect for ‘regular’ stressors, but what if you have *Post Traumatic Stress? If you have PTS to any degree, you will need more tools. If you find this breath and becoming present doesn’t work for you, you may want to explore underlying issues. *EFT, NLP, ACT and other tools are easy to learn and can be used anytime, anywhere (go to the bathroom), Some counseling might help too. We live in the perfect time for healing options for all kinds of stress.

I have PTS, and have used all of the above options plus more. I find that this simple breathing technique always helps.

Yoga and meditation
Deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness, are all designed to switch off the stress response and open the brain, body, and heart to clarity and peace.
Yoga is the perfect place to practice your breath, for each posture requires deep breathing and mindfulness. Yoga includes various breathing techniques and includes a meditation.
Yoga also teaches you about yourself. You will discover what your stressors are, and how you are contributing. During postures you will notice when you switch on stress by what you say to yourself. For whatever you say on the mat – is what you say to yourself in life. ‘I can’t do this’ is an indication of your belief that ‘you can’t achieve.’ Change it to ‘I’m doing okay, I’m doing the best I can. I believe in me.’ This will help you let go of expectations and criticism. Letting go of expectations relaxes the muscles that are holding onto stress. Letting go of holding on lets go of the short breath. In yoga this means moving into the posture. In life this means moving into life.
When the posture is difficult, do you say to yourself ‘I’m no good at this?’ What about when people look? Do you decide what they are thinking? Is it criticism? Or do you self-criticise? What about judgment? Are you bagging anyone for who they are?
All these actions will indicate how you contribute to your stress.
In yoga you are encouraged to let go of expectations, of blame, of shame or comparisons. You are encouraged to love, honour and accept yourself, just as you are, right now. As you learn to accept the tightness here and the holding on there, you naturally let it go. When you let it go, you relax and move forward. Just like life.
Yoga also stretches tight muscles which stretches tight minds. It releases long held tension in the mind and body.
Going with the flow will support your breath, your body, your brain and your circumstances.
You don’t have to be a yogi, you don’t have to twist into knots. When you practice yoga if you can breathe and let go of expectations, then you are doing it. That’s all you need to do. Let go. You’ve got this. You can do this. You’re doing it now. accept. Breathe. Be mindful. Be here. It is okay. It’s going to be okay.
Breathe in……
Breathe out……
Ahhhhh. You’re doing it.
Well done.
 
About Monica
About Yoga

*PTS
Post-traumatic stress. There is usually a D at the end to indicate ‘disorder,’ but I have dropped the D because I don’t want to think of myself as having a disorder. Just stress post the traumatic event. I can handle that.
For more information on PTS here is a good page
EFT
Emotional Freedom Technique. A wonderful technique that helps release stressors no matter how long they’ve been there.
ACT
Acceptance therapy. Here's a good website which offers some downloads and tools.
NLP
Neuro linguistic programming. Helping the brain find positive solutions.

I have recently begun using the Ajna light to retrain the brains sequences towards peace and having positive results. There is also a Neuro-light which I am yet to use – but know people using it and going ‘wow’ for the positive changes in their brain.


Thank you for taking the time to learn how to release stress. Every time you help you, you help the world. When the world sees you, the world moves forward. You’re doing a valuable thing. Never forget that. I see you.
​
 
 

Emotional Freedom Tecnhique (EFT) for Children eBook

A$7.00

View Details