Halting the Fight Flight Freeze Response
Ever felt so overcome with stress that you don’t feel able to control your way back to a calm state?
All our brains are hard wired to trigger a physiological response to danger (real or imagined).
Typical symptoms include muscle tension, dilated pupils, sweating, breathing fast from upper chest, fear/rage and a limited ability to engage with others or problem solve until your body re calibrates. Pretty scary huh?
Not surprisingly the more often it gets activated; the easier it is to trigger a response.
The best way to manage this situation is to learn strategies that help settle your nervous system back to feeling calm again.
Parenting children can be an emotionally charged environment where you are moving from one challenging situation to the next. Factor in sleep deprivation, competing demands, self-critical thinking and a generalised sense of worry and your body is well on the to activating this response.
Shifting your breath to a slower, deeper, paced breath is the most effective way to slam the brakes on. It sends a reassuring message back to the brain that you are safe. Place a hand on your stomach to encourage a deeper breath, breath in through the nose for a count of 4, hold for 1 and breathe out for 6 through pursed lips. Repeat the cycle 10 times and don’t worry if you need to take shorter breaths at first.
Notice your thoughts and tell yourself they just thoughts not facts. Remind yourself that the moment will pass. Thoughts always seems more heightened in the moment. As your breathing returns to normal your frontal lobe will kick in and make it easier to discern what is true and fear based.
Get moving. It’s impossible to exercise and maintain a stress response. It may be the last thing you want to do but it’s the only natural way to release the build-up of stress hormones and calm the nervous system. Heavy cleaning will also do the trick.
Finally seek out support, nothing feels as bad once shared with someone who can listen and validate your situation.
