11/12/2020
Our brain takes the path of least resistance
What do I mean by that exactly? โฃโฃ
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Well, in short, it means our brain as learned responses and will default to those if we donโt purposefully change them. โฃโฃ
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However we have responded to a situation or stressor (physically, emotionally, hormonally) in the past will quickly become the default way we continue to respond in the future unless we interrupt that pattern and press reset! โฃโฃ
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๐ Letโs take a classic example of sitting in traffic...since, be honest, it raises everyoneโs BP a little. โฃโฃ
- you take the same main road to work every morning and most of us have it timed down to the minute of typical commute time, but sometimes thereโs more traffic than usual. You need to be to work like ๐๐๐ช and youโre barely moving... What happens then? โฃโฃ
โผ๏ธ Our blood pressure starts to increase โฃโฃ
โผ๏ธ Our brain triggers cortisol (stress hormone) release to deal with the flight or fight mode our emotions are putting us inโฃโฃ
โผ๏ธ We start to worry, have anxiety, feel rushed or other similar feelings โฃโฃ
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- ๐๐๐ we take that SAME road on our day off, maybe on a grocery run, and there is traffic. You donโt have a time constraint per say, but youโre still stuck in traffic... what happens this time? โฃโฃ
โฃ๐ง๐ผโโ๏ธ ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ, not a big deal, we can stay calm right?! โฃโฃ
โฃโ Wrong! The response on this road to traffic is the response your brain knows. The path of least resistance. โฃโฃ
- So now youโre stressed, anxious, possibly angry and flooded with cortisol when it really isnโt necessary. โฃโฃ
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We were never meant to stay in a continuous loop of stress! Your body doesnโt like being flooded with stress hormones constantly... ๐ฑ๐ด๐ด๐ต: ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ผ โฃโฃ
โฃSo what can we do? โฃโฃ
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Letโs go back to the traffic example... I can promise you your heated glares, possible cuss words, and heightened anxiety is NOT going to make the cars move any faster! ๐ค โฃโฃ
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So, one idea that is a better use of your efforts in this situation or any other stress inducing scenario, is to practice deep breathing techniques. These slow down your breath and help calm the bodyโs hormonal stress response activated by your emotions.
