Defense Physiology: Have You Ever BeenTwo Places at the SameTime?

Post by:Dr. Dan Fedeli

Take a moment to imagine you are spending a peaceful moment in the sun on a park bench. You are open to the gentle breeze and the birds chirping. Life is good. Suddenly, a police car turns on its piercing siren! But that's just life in the city. We become immune--or so it seems. How long did it take for your heart to slow down after being startled? What if, unknown to you, that response lasted days, months, or years, without you even knowing it? Defense Physiology is the body's response to an emergency or a consistent demand (the ongoing stresses of daily life) that becomes accepted as normal and necessary. In other words: we are not truly immune to city life. We seem to have built up a tolerance, but inability to relax, asthma, digestive problems, pain, and tensions are a few of the effects of "daily life." This seeming tolerance is actually abnormal programming in the central nervous system.

For me, my imbalances show up as tension and anxiety. These imbalances are like red flags that signal that my body needs some kind of support. "Support" can be compared to rebooting the computer. Sometimes it just needs to be turned off, and restarted. My internal computer (nervous system) can override the defense systems (fight or flight stressors), when properly supported.

How do you override the main frame nervous system? You do nothing more than make yourself available. When you come in for an appointment, we will notice the pattern in your body and "reboot" your system.

In the meantime, you can use some easy tools yourself. For example, your automatic nervous system can be aided using your breath. Holding your breath and contracting your muscles for several moments sends an emergency signal to the body to focus on immediate life support. You have turned your "computer" off. When you begin breathing again, enjoy some high quality breaths--deep inhales and relaxing exhales. This takes only a minute and can be done anywhere.

You can also control stress by using breathing techniques that lengthen your inhalation and exhalation. They should be proportional--the same length as each other. While breathing, imagine positive outcomes. This overrides the physiological defense patterning that seems to cause stress. These techniques work well with organized movement, like the tensegrity we teach at the BC, mediation, and yoga, to maximize your experience of health and vitality. In the present, you are safe and supported. Why let your body carry around traumas from the past? Here's to being in one place at a time.