Fight or Flight-- Our Stress Response

You feel like your heart is going to beat through your chest, you feel a pit in your stomach; the hair on the back of your neck stands up.

You feel like your heart is going to beat through your chest, you feel a pit in your stomach; the hair on the back of your neck stands up. What is that and why do we feel that? That is our stress response, which is a normal and healthy response when our body feels like we’re in a state of danger.

When our body senses we are in danger our heart rate speeds up, our pupils dilate, all the blood from our organs gets rerouted to our muscles so that we can fight or get the heck out of dodge! Our body just knows exactly what to do at exactly the right time, it’s amazing!

We’ve all experienced it--- the stress response. Our nervous system is designed to be in fight or flight 20% of the time and 80% in rest and digest. Due to the high stress and demands of our society and life, those numbers are often flipped. Chronic states of stress have been linked to chronic diseases like:

1.) Autoimmune diseases

2.) IBS

3.) Allergies and asthma

4.) High blood pressure

5.) Heart diseases

6.) Infertility

7.) Weakened immune system

How can we get out of this stressed out state? The most effective solution is identifying the stressful triggers and removing them from your life. However, that isn’t always an option (ie: work, mother in laws, children etc). Other ways to down regulate the nervous system include: Chiropractic care, deep breathing, meditation and movement.

So next time you feel that racing heart rate and pit in your stomach know that is your body adapting to the stress around you! Take a few deep breaths, get adjusted along with some gentle movement or exercise and take note of how your physiology changes when the stress has been removed.

#anxiety #ADHD #stress #stressresponse #fightorflight #fightflightorfreeze #sympathetic #parasympathetic #restanddigest