You’re reading a magazine or an online article. Chances are you’re relaxed. What if that changed? Imagine the class bully is heading your way on the playground. Imagine you are running late to an important meeting and the traffic is backed up, or the pilot has just broadcast a message that the plane is experiencing engine trouble and he is going to have to make an emergency landing. How do you feel now? If these were real life experiences, you would actively be in your fight-or-flight mode.
Every single time you feel acutely stressed, your fight-or-flight system kicks in and begins a chemical reaction designed to protect you and preserve your life. When we are actually in a life-threatening moment, this function is genius and extremely relevant. However, when we are simply experiencing a high level of stress, our fight-or-flight response is not only in overdrive – over a lifetime, it could literally kill you. The amygdala (in the midbrain region) initiates your fight-or-flight response regardless of whether the trigger is real or perceived. So, every time you experience fear or emotional stress, your body mobilizes to protect you by releasing adrenaline to activate and fuel your survival mechanism.
The pace, pressures, and intensity of modern life create havoc in our autonomic nervous system and midbrain, thus compromising our sleep, emotional stability, health, and happiness.
We all know stress is a problem. The stressful part of it is what can we do about it. Meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises are all proven mindfulness methods for relieving stress and establishing equilibrium. You can achieve amazing results if you can develop the right practice and regular commitment. Unfortunately, it’s not easy, and the sad irony of our busy lifestyle is that it often does not afford us the time we need to take better care of ourselves.
It is the struggle to de-stress in a stressful world that led us to create NuCalm, a neuroscience technology proven to lower stress and improve sleep quality without drugs. This is accomplished by utilizing your body’s own systems to naturally interrupt the midbrain stress response and transition to deep relaxation.
Our hope is that we can return to a place where our flight-or-flight instincts primarily benefit rather than harm us. Stress-related conditions such as depression, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and possibly Alzheimer’s are disturbingly common. The accessibility of stress-management tools are key to improving our health and our lives.
David Poole is the Vice President of Solace Lifesciences, creator of NuCalm. To learn more, visit nucalm.com.
