To Calm Down, Try ‘Calming Up’ Instead
The only way to de-stress is more stress
I was halfway through my overpriced airplane chardonnay when, two rows in front of me, someone began screaming for help: “We need a flight attendant! This woman is unconscious!”
The next few moments were terrifying, as the passengers around the unresponsive woman sprung into action. Thankfully, she woke up on her own by the time we landed — but for weeks after I got off the plane, my body felt like it was still stuck in panic mode. To calm down, I tried yoga, deep breathing, hot baths, more chardonnay. Nothing helped. Something acutely stressful had turned chronic, and I had no idea how to make it go away.
The fight-or-flight response, a cascade of physiological reactions to danger, is the body’s way of helping us survive in times of stress. As our senses perceive a threat, the amygdala, the brain’s “alarm center,” sends distress signals to the hypothalamus, the “command center,” which activates the autonomic nervous system to prime us for danger. Increased heart rate and quickened breathing fill the body with oxygen to increase alertness, blood mobilizes in the muscles to make us faster, and sweaty palms cool the body — all ideal conditions for fighting or fleeing.
