Three Steps To Get Off The Adrenaline Roller Coaster
I have a confession to make.
MY NAME IS LISA, AND I AM AN ADRENALINE JUNKY. I DON'T GET MY HIT THROUGH EXTREME SPORTS. I GET IT THROUGH DRAMA.
Adrenaline is a brain chemical that is intended to save your life. When the fight or flight response kids in a rush of adrenaline hits your system. It makes you faster, stronger, and for a very short period it makes it easier to assess danger.
Bottom line, adrenaline gives you a turbo-charged burst of energy, and whether we know it or not, that burst of energy feels good, for a minute or two. However, if we're not actually going to run from a bear, our bodies don't know what to do with that shot of adrenaline, and that burst of energy transmutes into anxiety.
I am a junky. It's not a very flattering thing to have to admit, but it's true. I like that pop of intensity. I can fuel half a day on being highly indignant alone. However, when an adrenaline fire goes out, it's like a sugar/caffeine crash on crack. The crash is hard to handle. Too many of those crashes will make a girl sick in any number of ways.
So, like any addict when the crash happens, I'm not above wrangling for my next fix.
RIGHT NOW, THE FIX IS NOT HARD TO FIND. THAT DOESN'T MAKE THE DRUG ANY LESS DANGEROUS.
A brain jacked up on adrenaline functions at a very high level for a couple of minutes. Then it starts to degrade. An adrenaline jolt that goes on for ninety seconds or more starts to really screw with your ability to think clearly. It alters your brain chemistry. It messes with just about every important system in your body. Most of us interpret this as anxiety or overwhelm.
So, no matter how I feel about what's going on around me, I know if I want to actually process it or deal with it, I have to get off the adrenaline roller coaster. If I want to make smart choices or consider real solutions I have to right my brain chemistry before even trying.
Adrenaline Born Thoughts Breed More Adrenaline Birthed Experiences.
What I want right now and always is to be in a headspace, literally and figuratively that allows for the kind of clarity that adrenaline will never produce.
Do not make decisions when you know you're in an adrenaline run-up. No matter how important making decisions might seem just don't go there. Do not decide what to do about anything. Do allow yourself to form opinions or come to conclusions about anything.
You have to step yourself back to your smarter self before any solid decision making can be done. A brain on adrenaline is just not sophisticated enough to run complex tasks
Three Steps To Getting Off The Adrenaline Rollercoaster Right Now:
It was scientifically designed to be the most relaxing piece of music ever produced. It does not disappoint.
Marconi Union - Weightless (Official Video)
According to Shortlist, this song is “even more relaxing than a massage, walk, or cup of tea”. The engineering behind the song was drawn from scientific theory to slow breathing and reduce mental activity. Its strategic bass-lines, rhythms, and harmonies work to induce a biting sleepiness. Enough sleepiness, in fact, for motorists to be warned not to listen to the song while driving. As reported in The Telegraph:
“Studies found Weightless was 11 percent more relaxing than any other song and even made many of the women ‘drowsy’ in the lab … It induced a 65 percent reduction in overall anxiety and brought them to a level 35 percent lower than their usual resting rates.”
2. CLOSE YOUR EYES AND BREATHE - REGULARLY.
Set a timer if you need to. Anxiety is a cumulative experience. Anxious feelings stack on top of each other, and the weight of them adds up. Because anxiety is a disorder of accumulation, it can very often be reset back to zero without a lot of effort.
Telepopmusik Breathe Lyrics
Regular deep breathing is a solid antidote. However, breathing deeply with your eyes closed uses your conscious mind to override your reptilian brain. Let's face it, if a bear really were chasing you, you would not be able to stop, close your eyes, and breathe.
By doing just that, you are signalling to your subconscious that you are in charge and you are safe.
Just close your eyes for 30 seconds and follow your breath, breathing just slightly deeper than you normally do. That resets your energy levels to normal and turns back the cumulative effects of situational anxiety.
3. GET YOUR ASS OFF THE COUCH, AWAY FROM THE TV AND FACEBOOK, AND GET OUT IN NATURE.
"Green therapy," also known as ecotherapy, is gaining the attention of researchers, nature enthusiasts, and people in search of alleviating symptoms of depression. Being in nature is has long been associated with being mindful and meditative, but only recently has the scientific community researched the mental health benefits of outdoor immersion.
A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Essex and published by the mental health organization Mind found that taking a walk in nature reduced depression scores in 71 percent of participants. Researchers compared the effect with a control group who also took walk, but in a shopping centre. Only 45 percent of the shopping center walkers had reduced depression scores, while 22 percent of them actually felt more depressed.
In a Stanford study, two groups of participants walked for 90 minutes, one in a grassland area scattered with oak trees and shrubs, the other along a traffic-heavy four-lane roadway. Before and after, the researchers measured heart and respiration rates, performed brain scans and had participants fill out questionnaires.
The researchers found little difference in physiological conditions, but marked changes in the brain. Neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, a brain region active during rumination – repetitive thought focused on negative emotions – decreased among participants who walked in nature versus those who walked in an urban environment.
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Lisa Hayes, The Love Whisperer, is an LOA Relationship Coach. She helps clients leverage Law of Attraction to get the relationships they dream about and build the lives they want. Lisa is the author of the newly released hit book, Score Your Soulmate and How to Escape from Relationship Hell and The Passion Plan.
