What this does is that it really limits our creativity in finding solutions to the problem.
Often, because we are functioning from the reptilian brain, we are thinking of just making
it; we are not thinking of making it better, we are not thinking that our perception might
be narrow. For instance, if someone were to tell you there are snakes around here, you
are going to look for snakes everywhere, and miss out the flowers. It is not the best
brain to come up with solutions, as human beings. As animals, it is true, most often the
threat is to life. But as human beings, most often the threat is to our sense of self, to our
ego; very rarely is it a threat to our lives, our existence. Often, it is a perceived threat –
sometimes you think somebody is being attacking, and they are not. And sometimes it
can be internal, when we are being critical of ourselves, when we think we are doing a
bad job of managing the house and the work – that is internal threat. And the sad thing is
that after the incident has passed, we are still thinking about it; we can’t just leave it there
and walk on – and that is all because the reptilian brain is in charge in that moment and
you don’t have access to the rest of you. So, how do we get out of that?
Usually in the nervous system, when
something happens, it activates… you need
to concentrate more, more blood is sent
to the brain and to the muscles, you have
more oxygen for action. And when it is
done, you say okay it is done, your nervous
system settles down, your metabolism
slows down, your breathing slows down –
and this is sustainable, we can do it all our
lives; we won’t get stressed, because what is
generated in our body through arousal, is
dissipated through relaxation. So whatever
adrenal, cortisone, is present in our body,
gets metabolised. The liver and the kidney
do what they need to do to bring us back to a state of feeling good. But what happens,
often the sympathetic arousal goes way off the chart, it is way off the curve. For example,
why do people have panic attacks? Panic attacks are usually because someone is wanting
to flee a situation and they can’t. The body is producing everything to flee a situation,
but they are right where they are. So, it is an incomplete flight response. If they were
able to flee, they won’t have a panic attack. Repetitive anger, constantly, disproportionate
anger – that is an incomplete fight response, where you didn’t get to growl fully and make
the threat go away, and feel you survived. And depression is when you feel ‘I have tried
everything, I can’t get out of it’ or ‘I love this man and I can’t leave, I love myself and I
can’t stay’ – that kind of a situation leads to depression.
So, this increase in heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, shifting of muscles from the
digestive muscles to limb muscles – all this is okay if it is for a short period of time, but if
it is on a sustained basis, you have much higher levels of adrenal, thyroxin, cortisone in
your body – which are meant to be in your body to give you a burst of energy to respond
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