That heart thumping out of your chest, the clammy hands, jelly legs, shortness of breath, pale face, sickness in your gut, racing thoughts, swirling head, dry mouth, the intense urge to turn away, fight, avoid, run.
Every single one of these feelings is generated in the face of what your nervous system perceives as a threat….
…part of your bodies’ attempt to prepare you to get away, to survive what it thinks is about to happen.
Yet if you’re feeling it regularly, it’s likely that the response is out of proportion to the threat you’re actually facing? Maybe the threat here is a memory or thought… a hook back to a time when you were in danger. Perhaps you don’t even know the trigger.
Those intense symptoms of an activated nervous system can all too easily create a sense of frustration. Maybe you feel like your body is letting you down, working against you by reacting this way repeatedly when you don’t want it.
But your body is never the enemy.
It’s doing exactly what it THINKS you need in that moment. It’s stepping in to to mobilise you to fight or run for your survival.
Getting cross with it will only increase your activation and cause the intensity to last longer.
As an alternative, can you offer something like this as a silent message:
“Thank you, body
I know you’re standing up for me and working hard to protect me.
I’m so grateful for that.
But this time it’s ok.
I’m safe and I don’t need protecting.
We can be alongside each other.
We can breathe together,
we’re safe”
Please do come back and share how it feels 🙏🏻