Today’s environment is stressful. The pace of life is fast, multiple options compete for our precious time, our attention span seems to be shortened as we age, and instant gratification is expected. We are even told how to manage our sleep – dark, quiet room with no electronic distractions.
Often we feel as though someone has set us down in the middle of a raging tornado and said: “Now function at your peak, have a positive outlook and soothe your inner beast.” We are expected to not respond to the tornado but we must acknowledge its presence. We must understand that the power of the whirlwind could easily destroy us but we pretend that the raging surge isn’t literally dancing at our doorstep.
It’s understood that eventually we will be part of the tornado but somehow the destructive force of the beast won’t affect us – because everyone will eventually be part of the beast. The stress of today’s society causes constant adrenaline releases. This hormone surging through our body sets our internal rotations moving at warp speed. Much like the driver of a car rotating the tires at a high speed without forward movement of the vehicle. We are psyched-up with no where to go.
Every organ in our body responds as though we are cave men in the Neanderthal period of civilization trying to defend our cave from the attacking bear. We must instantly kill the animal or turn and run or we will be killed, ourselves. Every tissue in our being, every organ in our body in geared toward our survival and we must answer that call.
However, there is no bear and we are no longer in our Neanderthal period of civilization. So, we still have our survival response. Thankfully, we can use that process. We use it to motivate and move our body. We develop a routine of regular exercise that is compatible with our life style. We use our brain to compile information to regulate our waking and sleeping routines. These routines monitor our bodily systems and provide us with appropriate feedback to the incoming stimulus of the outside world.
When we encounter the approaching tornado, and we will, the coping mechanisms that we employ will help us to survive when we are sucked into the whirling cycle – staying calm in a stressful world.
