Psychology has been studying our stress response since the early part of the previous century. It is our physiological response to a possible life threatening event, also called the fight or flight response.
Pretend that you are driving and a car swerves towards you. Even imagining it will create a slight increase in your heart rate, blood pressure, tension in your muscles and a higher degree of alertness.
Underlying these larger changes is a flood of unbelievably fast physiological responses. The information that a car swerved is shunted to an emotional processing area in the brain (the amygdale) which interprets the images and sounds, then triggers the command centre between the body and brain (the hypothalamus). It signals the adrenal glands, which pump adrenaline into the blood stream to prepare you for fight or flight.
Your heart pumps faster and you breathe more rapidly through dilated bronchial tubes in the lungs so that more oxygen pours through you to enable you to respond more rapidly and to increase alertness. Your sight, hearing and other senses sharpen and become more focused. More sugar and fats are released into the blood stream so you have readier access to energy.
Then the second part of the response begins and your blood stream is flooded with cortisol. This hormone keeps the body on high alert until the stressful situation passes or is resolved. All of this happens before you are consciously aware of the threat and can evaluate it.
Once the stress passes, the cortisol level falls, the muscles relax, the heart rate decreases and everything again slows down to its normal pace.
The stress response is one of the reasons why our species exists. Without it, we would have been eaten by sabre tooth tigers. However, problems arise because, in our complex world, our stress response is triggered many times in the day. And those of us with chronic stress have systems that are always in high alert states.
Both frequent and persistent stress lead to many health problems, from increased blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes to weight gain and the accumulation of plaques in the blood vessels, and to brain changes that lead to anxiety and depression. Immune system function also decreases which results in more frequent illness.
So what can we do?
We can evoke the relaxation response, identified and studied by Dr. Herbert Benson since the late 60s. It is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress.
We evoke it through different forms of meditation including mindfulness, deep abdominal breathing, focus on a soothing word or mantra, visualizing tranquil scenes, centering prayer, tai chi, yoga or qi gong.
Rhythmic aerobic exercise, particularly done in green space, also helps.
Spending time with friends and family, accessing emotional support and laughter will also evoke relaxation.
So enjoy the lovely August sunshine, breathe deeply and relax. You are benefiting yourself all the way down to the cells in your toes.
