Breaking Through Stress:
Feeling Safe in the Midst of Chaos
I just returned from a walk with my husband. It was just what I needed. I had so many things to do and was feeling stuck in accomplishing a number of tasks. After returning, I felt relaxed, rejuvenated and ready to focus on the tasks at hand. How could such a simple action change my day so quickly?
Let’s look at how walking helps us when we are going through difficult times.
• First of all, it brings cortisol levels down. Cortisol is one of the major stress hormones that contribute to lowered immune function.
• Second, the alternate use of the right and left sides while walking helps the brain to integrate. We begin to think and express more clearly.
• Third, the use of muscles gets lymph, blood and energy flowing in the body.
• Fourth, the muscles themselves relax and come out of the tendon guard reflex, a stress-related tension pattern.
Walking is a wonderful thing to do when you feel stressed. And walking
With someone else is especially wonderful. We’ll look at this social aspect as we learn more about the stress response.
Stress is common in the present economy. National unemployment reached a record 7.6 percent. Local and national businesses are closing. People are budgeting and changing lifestyles. One local woman noted the upside of difficult times by stating that ìt means friends and neighbors can relate to and help each other with the challenges. This woman is acknowledging the resource of social connection in times of stress.
Let’s look at the work of Dr. Stephen Porges, a researcher from the University of Illinois in Chicago, who has developed a new theoretical model of how the autonomic nervous system functions. His theory has been called many names, including Polyvagal, Triune Autonomic and Social Engagement.
To put it simply, we have three basic responses in the mammalian nervous system - immobilization, mobilization and social communication or social engagement. The key that determines which response predominates in any situation is the perception of safety.
When we perceive the environment as safe, the brain is wired to encourage the
Social Engagement System, which promotes communication and social behavior.
When we perceive the environment as dangerous, the Social Engagement function is overridden by more primitive defensive responses. Sympathetic fight or flight or parasympathetic freeze behaviors take priority over communication. In other words, we do what we need to survive.
Diseases that come from chronic stress relate to fight, flight and freeze responses. When we feel safe and the social engagement system becomes our primary response, it changes our body physiology. Stress levels go down and sense of well-being and overall health go up.
When we feel safe, we stay more connected and make decisions from cortical involvement rather than primitive brain response. Dr. Porges calls the neural process of how we distinguish situations and people as safe or life threatening neuroception.
It is interesting to note here that on a television program about the Obama campaign, a staff member shared they had a policy of “no drama.” This is an amazing gift to a country of people who have lived in high drama for the last few years. This is a socially engaged approach that encourages a sense of safety and honoring. It allows people to come out of a sympathetic nervous system arousal and relax into a sense of safety and possibility.
Dr. Porges’ theory names five cranial nerves that regulate behaviors contributing to richness of social experience and the establishment of safety. These nerves regulate:
- Muscles that open our eyelids and have to do with looking.
- Facial muscles used to express a myriad of emotions- from love and joy to threat and rage.
- Middle ear muscles that help to extract the human voice from background noise.
- Muscles involved in chewing that help us nourish ourselves.
- Pharyngeal and laryngeal muscles involved in vocalizing, using language and swallowing.
- Muscles that turn the head and give us the ability to orient and gesture socially.
- The sinoatrial node, which is the pacemaker of the heart.
- Breathing rate.
The importance of understanding these structures and functions is significant in that it opens insights into possible therapeutic interventions to affect social behavior and physical health. Dr. Porges himself has used his theory to create a research project successful in helping autistic children through working with the muscles involved with listening.
Some simple self-help actions you can use to encourage social engagement function and increase your sense of well-being include:
- Change your life to create more sense of safety. Choose people and activities that feel safe and nourishing to you.
- Whistle. Play wind instruments. Sing. Smile.
- Create a sense of safety for other people. Honor their boundaries. Offer support.
- Do gentle yoga movements that rotate the head.
- Tap, stroke or cradle your face.
- Play face-making games. Roar like a lion.
- Play music that is in the range of a mother’s voice.
- Do breathing exercises that lengthen your exhale.
- Find an inner connection that lets you know you are safe in a time of chaos!
During his inaugural address President Obama reflected a similar idea when he said, “We have chosen hope over fear.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt had said “We have nothing to fear save fear itself.” When we move beyond fear and find our safety and our hope, we begin to make clear choices and move forward.
Mary Louise Muller is a holistic health practitioner and course director of LifeShapes programs in Murrieta, California.