A way out of stress
Stress is both a physiological and psychological/emotional response exhibited by living creatures in reaction to a short or prolonged state of dis-harmony, whether caused by a real or perceived threat or trauma. Stress is generally seen as a subjective response, and clinically related to the “terrain” in which the person lives in. What this means is that the same event can elicit different reactions (physical and emotional) and copying mechanisms within different length of time (chronic versus temporary) depending on how the person is or has been experiencing life.
This is very much observable in clinical practice: patients have different recovering times and different physiological and psychological responses depending on their inner state and the relationship with their own environment. In my own osteopathic practice I have witnessed over and over the years the inner relationship between stress and the capability of a person to live a fully present life not determined by the trauma of the past. This presence of the stressful past - or stress that has become chronic - has a deep impact on cerebrospinal fluid fluctuations, autonomic state, musculoskeletal freedom, fascial tensegrity and overall prognosis in treatment. It looks like people who can better cope or have developed resilience to stressful events because their psychophysiological terrain is healthy, recover faster and - I have found - in a more wholistic integrity than people who cannot free themselves - yet - from the extensive expenditure of both physical and mental/emotional energy caused by stress.
In the medical literature, stress is interpreted physiologically through the activation of the HPA axis, a physiological pathway involving the release of specific hormones in response to a perceived or real threat. The hypothalamus releases CRH, which in turn causes the pituitary gland to release ACTH which will stimulate the adrenal to release cortisol. Deep limbic structures such as the amygdala are also involved in a response that prepares the body to fight, flight (sympathetic response) or to freeze (sympathetic and parasympathetic response). In the ideal terrain, once the perceived threat has subsided, the physiology comes back to a state of naturally occurring homeostasis (or homeodynamics) that is the base for a joyful and fulfilled life.
When the terrain is already in a state of incoherence, however, the autonomic “switch” does not re set to get back to that kind of somewhat peaceful and open neutrality toward life that is the substrate for authentic Health.
The hyperaroused brain and facilitated nervous system keep believing that the threat is not only present, but that it will never cease to be an integrative part of one’s life. Regardless whether this may be true or not, the body, the psyche, the mind they all now believe that existence is nothing but a never ending threat. The world becomes nothing but the reflection of that inner state and so does the inner environment of the person. This is where the compromise that we often call “coping” begins. All the major functional systems of the body are now fighting, fleeing or freezing in a deep dissociation from the present and from the true self. The cardiovascular system is overloaded with unnecessary demands as blood sugar becomes slowly chronically dysregulated and muscles tense up waiting for the long gone tiger to maul them.
In this subliminal emotional storm, the brain and nervous system are now in a feedback loop that generally ends with the depletion of different organs (adrenals, heart, brain…) and functions (insulin regulation, sleep patterns, attention patterns….) that are essential to life.
What to do then, to keep the body and the mind in a state of natural neutrality and coherence while avoiding forms of taxing adaptations that condition one’s life impeding the abundance that comes with the peaceful realization of the Self?
Many studies have come forward in the past decades demonstrating that it is possible to reverse chronic stress and escape the uncertainties of maladaptations in different ways such us mindfulness, exercise or meditation, reminding us that the central nervous system is very plastic and that no stress can really be set in stone.
Embriology teaches us that the heart and the brain are very close to begin with and we now know that over 80 per cent of afferent information between the brain and the heart comes from the latter one via vagal pathways. Also, changing heart rate variability (something that can be done simply by properly breathing) offers the brain the opportunity of rethinking and rewiring itself.
That does not mean that stress will disappear from our lives magically, but rather that we have the intrinsic natural capability to cope with it both in physical (breathing, heart rate coherence exercise), psychological (counselling, meditation…) and emotional ways.
Resilience can be built and integrity preserved even in stressful times once we realize that we can tap into our inner resources and access the natural pharmacy in our bodies. We are born and designed to be an expression of consciousness to whatever degree we choose to. Health is literally in our hands to be given and to be received.
by Alberto Lunati
