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You have been driving fine all of your life then an incident occurs; perhaps someone cuts you off on the highway or someone unexpectedly slams on the brakes causing you to gasp and swerve. Your legs may begin to shake and your hands sweat with a death grip on the wheel.
Now, the drama is over, traffic moves and you are free to continue your journey… But will you let yourself?
That gasp, where you hold your breath: If you then take a deep breath and release it with an internal or audible "Whew!" and perhaps thank your guardian angels and continue onward, you forget or let go of the near miss and enjoy your day.
But, and this is a big but, if you hold on to that gasp and continue to breathe shallow, you become stuck in the drama. Your brain goes on overdrive, thoughts running so fast they're a jumble, you can't focus, your body is trembling, you feel nauseous. You continue to drive but now every car on the road is a threat. You become hyper vigilant. The incident haunts you the rest of the day, for some, every time you have to drive.
Anxiety now begins way before even getting into the car, a dread and fear takes hold in your mind. You may become hyper sensitive to the swaying of an overpass or the biggest issue for many, red traffic lights. You feel stuck, unable to move, boxed in and panic sets in.
So, why? Because you are breathing fear.
What is breathing fear? It is shallow rapid breathing. Not taking full deep breathes. When you breathe shallow the heart rate increases, often you sweat, you may feel like throwing up, have issues with your vision and thoughts bouncing around in your head making it hard to focus or concentrate. It is called the fight/flight/freeze response, your hardwired survival mechanism.
The fight/flight/freeze response engages your body to respond to a threat before you can even consciously think about it. Adrenaline rushes through your body shutting down your digestion, engaging your heart to speed up and breathing in case you need to run or you may freeze, such as your hands gripping the steering wheel so tight it feels as though you can't let go.
This mechanism engages to deal with the threat then shuts down, with that deep sigh or deep breath. Think of it as shifting gears. But if you continue thinking about what just happened and all the 'what if's', you keep the fight/flight/freeze response engaged.
For some people, when a threatening situation occurs they deal with in and go on their way. Some people continue to think about and relive it, staying in the fear. This can become a very debilitating habit. You will have to retrain yourself in order to change how you deal with threats, both real and imagined.
Did you know that the subconscious mind does not distinguish the difference between a real or imagined event?
So, what to do? You relax your jaw, roll your shoulders up and slowly back down and relax your belly, breathe in through the nose slowly or to the count of seven, hold to the count of four and slowly exhale through your mouth to the count of seven. You do this for ten breathes.
This will allow you to slow your heart rate, shut the adrenaline off and allow you to focus again. Disengage your thinking of the incident, and remind yourself you are safe. The threat is gone.
For more information call 480-695-1936 or visit www.thehealingquest.com
