Recently, I received some pretty alarming news that immediately put my body and brain into the fight or flight stress response. My nervous system dumped a whole load of adrenaline and cortisol into my bloodstream as a result. I could feel my heart racing, my body got super chilled, muscles tensed, voice quavering, and my vision narrowed and felt laser sharp. As you probably already know, this was my body’s way of prepping and priming me to fight or flee my way out of a situation that felt threatening. In this case, it was more of a psychological threat that amped up my anxiety, but my body responded in much the same way it would to physical danger.
The express purpose of the stress response is to enhance a person’s ability to get out of the threatening situation. In the immediacy of threat, it is a helpful boost to our brain and body, but can also be super taxing if it goes on for too long. Additionally, what happens if your automatic fight or flight response is activated by a faulty perception of threat, e.g. phobia, misperception, or the aftermath of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? Too much adrenaline surging through the system on a chronic basis can wreak havoc on your body including making you more susceptible to things like weight gain, high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. But even if we’re not talking about a chronic false alarm situation, it can feel incredibly unsettling and destabilizing when the threat passes and you are coming down from that intense level of nervous system engagement.
Fortunately, there are some very simple methods for finding some emotional grounding and initiating the relaxation response - the counter to the acute stress response. I’ll caution, however, that it’s not quite so comprehensive as a simple “off” switch, would that it were, but following are a couple of simple exercises you can do to bring your nervous system back into regulation.
First, a word on origins.
In my early years of therapy practice, I learned about Dr. Herbert Benson, a cardiologist and founder of the Mind/Body Medical Institute at Mass General Hospital in Boston, who published a “ground-breaking” book called, "The Relaxation Response." In it, he discussed his discovery of what he called The Relaxation Response, defined in Mosby's Medical Dictionary as "a protective mechanism against stress that brings about decreased heart rate, lower metabolism, and decreased respiratory rate. It is the physiologic opposite of the fight or flight, or stress, response.” His methods primarily center around deep breathing, guided imagery, mantra, and focus on breath.
I placed the words “ground-breaking” in quotes, because, though he published his book in 1975, his methods borrow from ancient lineages (5th and 6th centuries BCE/BC) that hail from Hinduism, Taoist China, Buddhist India, and spread through much of Asia and the Middle East. While Dr. Benson’s research is important and perhaps was necessary for Western cultures to digest, appreciate, and utilize these methods, it’s also vital to acknowledge and respect the well-established roots of practices such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, and mantras. It is out of the scope of this particular blog post, but I encourage you to do your own research into the origins of meditation and reflect on how Western concepts of improved productivity and efficiency change and perhaps dilute the process.
(I can’t help but also comment on how capitalism has impacted this medium through the proliferation of apps, though also I’ll admit that I suggest apps to clients given how they can ease the method of entry for many folks.)
So, back to it. Imagine you’ve just started crossing the street and out of nowhere a truck barrels down the road! You manage to jump back to the sidewalk just in time, barely escaping injury. Or, alternatively, imagine you’ve just opened a letter from the IRS saying that you filed your taxes incorrectly and are now on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars, due at the end of the month or penalties will accrue. You frantically call your accountant and your accountant tells you they will look into it and get back to you right away.
In either scenario, your anxiety is amped, heart is pounding, your breath is coming faster, your muscles may be trembling, and you’re either pale or have flushed skin or maybe both! It’s not pleasant to say the least. In any case, you have to move on to the next thing you have to do that day and need to come down off of this adrenaline high.
I would suggest that you employ the simple 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique. I’m not clear on the origins of this technique but I can say its efficacy comes from bringing about mindfulness of your present moment.
Take a few deep breaths just to start to regain some control of your breathing and set the stage for grounding. When you’re ready, take a look around you and identify (take your time with this, feel free to move around in order to complete the exercise)
5 - things you can see
4 - things you can hear
3 - things you can touch
2 - things you can smell
1 - thing you can taste
The order of senses isn’t important though I would probably end on taste because it may be a bit difficult to identify five different tastes. When you’ve completed the exercise, take a few more deep breaths and then take note of your physiological state. Hopefully, at this point, you’re feeling a bit calmer, your heartrate has slowed down and your muscles are losing their tension. From here, you may feel sufficiently relaxed enough to go about the rest of your day. If you have the time, you may want to move into a simple meditation exercise to really bring about that relaxation response. It also doesn’t have to be on the heels of a distressing experience, in fact, meditation is a great practice to pursue even when you’re feeling pretty zen about things because the more familiar and adept you are with it, the more effective it can be when you’re in crisis.
For those of you who would like to practice this exercise but don’t want to have to keep referencing this blog post, I’ve created a little mp3 of myself guiding you through the steps. Click on the play button below and follow along, you’re also welcome to download the mp3 to bring along with you and access whenever you need.
In my next blog post, you’ll read a bit about a very simple meditation script that you can practice on your own so stay tuned for that!
In the meantime, if you think you may benefit from additional support and therapy on the use of grounding and meditation techniques as a tool to reduce your stress, make sure to read more about how our practice can help you deal with anxiety and trauma. Our anxiety therapists are experienced and eager to help you.
Feel free to contact us to schedule an appointment with one of our therapists if you’re ready to take the leap towards greater self-regulation and inner well-being. We look forward to connecting!