These are just some basic understandings and ideas. It is very important to understand ourselves, how we work, what is stress and is it really necessary, why do we respond that way, is it natural or is it artificially induced? This article covers the topic of stress, the adaptation mechanism of stress, stress and pain as protective mechanisms, twisting these mechanisms, real and imagined threats.
Is stress necessary in our lives?
Or is just all this drama game play created for us on purpose to invoke constantly the stress mechanism?
I trust it is the latter.
Stress kills. That is a fact.
We are constantly bombarded with information and events that trigger the stress response inside our bodies. Just turn on the news and you immediately get bombarded on conscious and/ or subconscious level with stress and fear. Stress and fear of course are interconnected. Stress has several definitions and is interpreted differently by different researchers. However, commonly stress is understood negatively, defined in the field of holistic medicine as: stress is the inability to cope with a PERCEIVED ( real or imagined) threat to one’s mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing, which results in a series of physiological responses and adaptations.
The threat can be REAL or IMAGINED. In the imagined category I place: completely made by your head OR created for you by others. Whatever the case, your mind- body response would be the same. The fight or flight mechanism which is a mind- body response to stress would be activated. An example of a threat made by your mind could be and this is a personal example- a noise made by an animal in the other room at night and you believing it is a thief. This actually happened to me. I got 2 kitties last year. In the first week or so they were very noisy especially in the night. One night I could have sworn it was a person that was raiding my house. My mind and body went into fight or flight mode, which is the stress response. The threat was NOT REAL. My cats were making the noise. So in sum, it was based in a lie, created in my mind. Also another example would be perceiving other people as threats until you befriend them, social anxiety arising.
Situations created by our social engineers which trigger the fight or flight mechanism are for example the school/ college/ occupational stress. Another type would be social media stress especially present in adolescents and teenagers. A modern stressor is whether one would have a thousand likes on a picture and positive comments or not. All of these modern stressors ARE NOT NECESSARY. They exist in our mind. They are not really important. They exist because we give value and worthiness to them, we validate their existence and they become real. And they are created for us for a reason. Why? Stress is the destroyer of the human mind, heart and body and soul, it puts us into lower states of consciousness. We lack energy to think clearly with our own head and to see what is really going on. We are so distracted and so distressed that we are incapable of any reasoning and understanding, nor living in peace. Our minds, bodies, hearts and souls are being destroyed.
A real threat would be a lion showing in front of your door. Or a natural disaster, for example a flood occurring. Then the stress response is invoked so that we take an action- fight or flee( in both of these cases I would not recommend fighting, a human can hardly fight a flood or a lion and actually win).
On top of this are the bioecological stressors that influence our whole beings many times even outside our awareness. These are external influences which could be natural such as sunlight, gravitational pull, solar flares, electromagnetic fields OR they can be artificially made and act as silent killers of our consciousness, our body, minds and souls. Electrical pollution, environmental toxins, solar radiation, the poisons in our foods, chemtrails, fluoride in the water- all of them have a negative impact on our bodies. IT IS NOT A COINCIDENCE THAT ALLERGIES, CANCER AND DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS are on the rise, actually skyrocketting. Our bodies are very stressed by all those influences and cannot tolerate it no more. Our immune systems are too weakened to actually cope with any more stress. The body is designed perfectly to cope with external influences and toxins and bring itself back to homeostasis. However it is chronically so stressed out by all of these external toxins that it is incapable of getting back to balance point. WE ARE ALL chronically stressed out by these toxins.
So what happens when the fight or flight mechanism is activated, triggered by a stressor?
What is the body mechanism for recovery?
How does stress become chronic? The general adaptation syndrome.
The following section covers these questions on basic level.
There are three stages to the GAS ( general adaptation syndrome
1. The first stage is ALARM, the fight or flight response. Once the cause of the stress is being removed, the body goes back to normal. What happens in this stage?
The mind has perceived a threat and when this happens our whole consciousness snaps into the reptilian brain, which is the part of the brain which is designed to help us survive in this world. Because the mind perceives that we must take physical action, the mind prepares/ signals the body for two of the following actions: to fight or to run away/ flight. The body responds by creating an internal working environment designed for physical activity to fight up or to flee. In this situation we don’t need higher order thinking, what we really need is energy in our extremities and the muscles there that will help us to fight off the threat or to run.
That is why physiologically in our body, the sympathetic nervous system is activated and the following changes take place: heart rate increases to pump oxygenated blood to working muscles, blood pressure increases to deliver blood to working muscles, ventilation( breathing) increases to supply working muscles with oxygen, vasodilation of arteries to the body’s periphery with the greatest muscle mass- all is designed to direct the blood and energy flow to the muscles that are needed to work for the activity that follows. The blood and energy flow are diverted away from the head and torso, decreasing the functions of the organs found there- the brain and the vital organs, decreasing higher order processing, digestive and sexual activities. The pupils dilate so that you can see well. Adrenaline is released, which mobilizes the body’s stores of glucose and fat and backs up the nervous system. The body resources are mobilized to act now. There are two directions from which this story can go on:
I – threat and stress are removed, the adrenaline function fades away. The liver takes the adrenaline out of the bloodstream and metabolizes it into excretable and inactive form. The parasympathetic system is responsible for the recovery part and it does very good job if the stress is over and so the stress story is finished.
II- the cause of stress is not removed, so the body goes into a second stage, RESISTANCE or ADAPTATION, which is the second stage of the GAS
2. RESISTANCE or ADAPTATION stage. This is the body trying to provide longer term protection by releasing cortisol into the blood. Cortisol basically metabolizes the stored energy in the body to provide increased blood sugar ( energy) for all the anticipated activity, running or fighting. As an extra effect, cortisol is anti- inflammatory; it suppresses the inflammatory response that is part of how the body heals from damage. The cortisol represses this response so that you can carry on. If this phase carries on without periods of relaxation and rest, the result is fatigue, concentration lapses, irritability, lethargy and so on.
From here on there are again two directions in which the story can continue:
I– the body can reach RESOLUTION in which case the sympathetic system is turned off in favor of the parasympathetic because the stress is over.
II– In the other scenario when stress is continuing the body can enter the third stage of the GAS- EXHAUSTION.
3. EXHAUSTION stage. The body has run out of its reserves of body energy and immunity. Mental, physical and emotional resources are empty. The body experiences adrenal exhaustion. The blood sugar level decreases as the adrenals become depleted, leading to decreased stress tolerance, progressive mental and physical exhaustion, illness and collapse.
This mechanism was perfectly designed as an advantageous adaptive tool, but it does not serve us good in today’s era. The social engineers know perfectly well how this mechanism works and use it to control us and keep us down in consciousness and energy. The mechanism as a tool is perfect; but it is manipulated and twisted. As it was mentioned, there are so many scenarios as it was mentioned where the stress mechanism is triggered because of artificially created situations that induce stress OR because of imaginary threats.
This tool does not serve us good because when we are stressed all the time we live in the reptile brain most of the time. Life becomes traumatic, a constant struggle and we are in survival mode most of the time. It is NOT our natural state. The brain becomes imbalanced and our bodies get damaged. We are programmed to believe that it has to be that way.
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are” – Ancient Chinese Proverb
What’s more, in modern times what the body is prepared to do with the fight or flight response physiologically does damage to the body because it is not channeled through physical activity- fighting or running away, rather it is stuffed down in our body.
What can we do?
Align ourselves with truth. With what is going on within and without you. Discern what is real and what is not. Where we are the ones that is causing harm and stress to our own selves and change it or change our perception to it. Meaning if cleaning the house causes stress and anxiety to you, you should change your perception and attitude towards it. Because guess what! You have to keep your house clean and there is no running away.
Other situation could be if the causation of stress is external for example and the whole situation should be changed- for example a partner you cannot live with and it is causing you stress. Maybe the stress is signaling you that you don’t belong with that person and an actual change should take place, not just a change in perception.
Other situation would be the external artificial creation of stress, to realise the brain washing behind it and change one’s perception. For example a source of stress for a 13 y old girl could be not having enough likes on facebook or not looking thin enough. This is an artificially created situation by the social engineers to destroy the human consciousness, install fear and lack of worthiness in people, especially young minds who are in the phase of development. If the girl realizes and is taught that it does not freaking matter whether she is thin enough or not have enough likes, her sense of self, her worthiness would be skyrocketing, her body and brain would be in balance and her real true authentic self would be uncovered in the light.
So in sum- we can remove ourselves from the situation that causes us stress if the stress is completely unnecessary OR change our perception towards the stressor and develop coping skills.
In social anxiety the fight or flight mechanism arises because the other person and/ or situation is perceived as a threat.
STRESS RESPONSE AND PAIN RESPONSE ANALOGY
I cannot help not make the connection that the fight or flight response to stress is very similar to the pain production response to a pain causer as well. Let’s define that.
A STRESSOR causes STRESS to a human being, triggering the STRESS RESPONSE MECHANISM- FIGHT OR FLIGHT.
A PAIN CAUSER ( shall we call it PAINER 🙂 ? )causes PAIN to a human being, triggering the PAIN MECHANISM.
BOTH mechanisms are triggered because of perception of threat. The threat can be internal or external and real and imagined. BOTH mechanisms are designed for PROTECTION.
There are 4 unfoldings of these mechanisms( similar but not the same as the GAS stages; rather this is from a perspective of what they are meant for which is PROTECTION):
Stage 1– ( stress) Stimuli from one or more of the five senses are sent to the brain ( e.g a scream, smell of fire, a taste of poison). ( pain ) Stimuli, perceived from the external ( falling and hitting one’s hip) or internal (pelvic instability or repressed emotion) environment are sent to the brain.
Stage 2-( stress) The brain deciphers the stimulus as either a threat or a nonthreat. If the stimulus is not regarded as a threat, this is the end of the response (eg scream came from the TV). If however, the response is decoded as a real threat, the brain then activates the nervous and endocrine systems to quickly prepare for defense or escape. ( pain) The brain deciphers the stimulus as either a threat or non-threat and whether it is over or not. The falling down and hitting one’s hip is momentarily a threat, but after one has fallen if nothing is broken or injured the pain goes away after few days. However if one has broken the hip bone the pain continues on to inform and signal the person that something is wrong and to tell him/ her to not move but rest so that healing can take place. In the case of the internal perception of a threat, the pelvic instability is viewed as a threat because it can cause further damage to the spine, which is why pain occurs in some other place. In the case of the repressed emotion- we store emotions in our body and fascia. The conscious mind perceives the dealing with the emotion and it surfacing up as a threat. ( much more research on my end is needed here, great books to check out are The divided mind; The body keeps the score; Your body speaks your mind; youtube channel and site: mobility mastery)
Stage 3– (stress)The body stays activated or aroused until the threat is over. (pain) In the case of the falling down and hitting one’s hip the pain goes away if a bone is not broken. However if the hip bone is broken, the pain will persist until complete healing has occurred. In the case of the pelvic instability until the pelvic instability as the root cause is taken care of, the pain will persist.
Stage 4- (stress)The body returns to homeostasis, a state of physiological calmness, once the threat is gone. If the threat doesn’t leave or get resolved then homeostasis is never really achieved, thus setting the stage for illness or disease. (pain) In the cases of pains, this is why chronic pains occur; same way if the mind perceives a constant threat in the stress response, chronic stress occurs.
(these stages are explained in the book “Essentials of managing stress” by Brian Luke Seaward). In red color I add that the same applies to the pain response.
ARE THESE THREATS VALID OR NOT ( real or imaginary)?
In the case of the stress internal can mean a painful thought or something that had happened. It is the perception of it that is causing us stress. It could be unresolved and/or not dealt with( which we could classify as real) OR it could be self- induced over and over again by one’s mind ( imaginary).
In the case of pain- internal can mean an internal perception of a threat, whether it is real ( for example physical- pelvic instability or emotional- repressed emotion) OR it can be imaginary ( having thoughts and belief system, patterns which actually produce the pain).
So in both cases it could be a real issue OR it can be self- induced and created by oneself. It is our job to discern and learn.
In the case of stress external for example in traffic another car crosses your path unexpectedly, the stress response is induced. Once the danger is over the stress response subsides. This is a real threat. However non real would be imagining that the cats are the thieves in the house. This is where the social engineers take great advantage of us in hundred different ways. They create all false flag events which certainly distress the population- artificially creating them and all illusory things that we are made to perceive as a threat and stress when in fact it does not have to be that way.
In the case of pain, external for example falling down is a real threat that can cause damage to the body. That is why in that case both the stress mechanism and pain mechanism are activated. Non valid or imaginary threat is when the body and brain have adjusted to the pain so much, therefore got wired ( they think, feel) that there is a threat and therefore produce pain, even after the threat has long gone.
Both the stress response and the pain response are rudimentary mechanisms of protection and survival, but are abused, misunderstood and twisted.
Thoughts and ideas to think on:
A healer called Serge Kahili King has defined stress as any change experienced by the individual. On this adds the Yerkes Dosdon principle.
The word stress originally was a term used in physics, primarly to describe enough tension or force placed on an object to bend or break it.
It becomes imperative to intercept the stress response in the mind before it cascades down as a rush of stress hormones into the body.
This article was created with research and combining information from various sources and my own experience, inspiration and understanding. Some of the most important resources are:
-book- The divided mind by John Sarno
– youtube channel, courses and site- mobility mastery
– book- Essentials of managing stress by Brian Luke Seaward)
– podcast- What on Earth is Happening
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