Does your brain go into the deer in headlights mode when under pressure or stuck in a crisis moment? Here is a simple but profound way you can overcome the brain freeze and function optimally in the middle of stress.
It’s when you are in the middle of something stressful or a pressure situation or deadline that the mind often wants to shut down, writer’s block sets in, or your lesser emotions want to take over and peace calm and the right words fail to come out of your mouth.
Too often, when peace and common sense disappear and the right words can’t quite make it out of your mouth, the wrong ones take over and make matters worse. Can anyone relate? There is something you can do to intervene in your moment of crisis.
When we become highly stressed to the point of being unable to think clearly, manage emotions or complete the work at hand, we have just gone into the brain wave state of high beta. Vitamin C is stored on our adrenal glands. So, in that state the adrenaline depletes our supply of Vitamin C in 5 to 10 minutes. Cortisol also releases and courses through our bodies doing damage as well which shows over time. And yes in case you were wondering, all this damaging activity plays a big role in accelerating the aging process.
Now I don’t know about you but my vanity does not want to make the aging process go any faster than it has to! That right there is motivation enough for me to get my manner of handling stress and negative emotions under control and into a healthy style of functioning.
But add to that is the obvious benefits of handling stress and emotions when in chaotic situations, crisis or danger. The first and most important thing you can do in difficult situations is of course deep breathing. Your deep diaphragmatic breathwork is what will get you into a lower safer brain wave state, alpha.
The reason you want to do this is that in alpha, your brain functions better. You slow things down, set the area of the thalamus and hypothalamus in the center of your brain to vibrating which energizes and connects the right and left hemisphere of your brain, your senses, your nervous system, regulates emotions and thus your cognitive responses. This naturally and immediately helps your ability to think, function and have potentially better responses to stressful situations. So, with clearer thinking you will find that solutions and better communication come to you naturally, crisis or no crisis. Handling stress like this is also a great way to help protect your heart!
Also worth noting, when you get calm your surroundings respond, perhaps slowly but your calmer demeanor will indeed have a positive effect on those around you. That includes your children and your pets who are like little sponges!
Please understand I am not a scientist although these things were taught to me long ago by a research scientist. So, this is my laymen’s explanation of what is going on but is the easiest way I can find to describe simply what is happening and that there is something you can do to take control of your life and stress even in the middle of chaotic situations.
I have done this for years myself as a dancer every time just before I walked out on a stage. And my training still serves me well years later in difficult situations. It is also the first thing you do when you sit down to meditate. More on that in another blog post.
So, meditation for stress relief is a real and extraordinarily effective way to combat unhealthy emotions, brain freeze and/or crisis situations. However, begin with the immediate results you will receive with deep alpha breathwork!
The key here is to train yourself to go into that space instantly. It’s not hard but may take some time. Think of it like this; singers know exactly how to hit any given note. How? Because they have trained themselves to find it over and over. Basketball players know exactly the route that ball must take to make the basket. How? Because they have trained their bodies and eyes to make it happen over and over. It is familiar to the mind and muscles.
It is really no different with the training of your brain to think of going into the alpha state immediately and on command no matter what else is taking your attention. How do you do it? Practice over and over when the pressure is not on until it becomes as second nature as walking. You don’t tell yourself everytime you walk across the floor, “Okay right then left, then right then left.” You did the work as a baby. Same exact thing! Train yourself to breathe correctly with deep diaphragmatic breathing until your brain calms down and your hands show a deep blotchy reddish hue from the circulation and your voice dips into a lower register. That is alpha. Make it your home plate! Practice it every day throughout the day. You are not weaker there. You are actually more focused, clearer thinking, more powerful.
Chances are, you don’t need Xanax or weed. You need to learn how to breathe!
Try it!
Happy breathing everyone!