The best way to understand the human response is to look at animals in the wild. Sounds a bit far-fetched, perhaps, our nervous system has a lot more in common with our four-hoofed brethren than we might think. A group of deer grazing in a meadow, for example, may appear happy-go-lucky, but they are continually on the lookout for predators lurking in the forest nearby. The very first thing the deer do when they perceive danger is to stop, stay very still, and listen. This hyper-vigilant stage of arrest activates the sympathetic nervous system (in charge of the fight-or-flight response to danger) and serves two purposes. One, it allows them to figure out what the threat might be and where it’s coming from (a smell in the air or a rustle in the bushes), and two, it helps them be more invisible to a predator.
The moment the deer feel a predator’s presence, they take flight, running to safety as fast as they can. If one falters and the coyote catches up to her, her first instinct is to rise up and fight back. If that fails, and she gets caught, she freezes, her muscles stiffening against the assault, and then folds, going limp and numb—helpless to protect herself. The fold or collapse state of hypo-arousal activates the parasympathetic nervous system, shutting down the body’s defenses, allowing her to dissociate from the event, and preventing her from feeling too much pain. If she’s able to fool her predator and race to safety, she’ll tremble, literally shaking off the event, and return to the meadow in time for the next meal. While her brain registers the event and files away a “do not go near those bushes on the right” message, her ordeal is over and done with.
The human nervous system works much the same way. When we perceive danger, the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis mobilize the body’s fight-or-flight resources. Stress hormones pour into the bloodstream so we can react appropriately. They increase our heart rate, divert blood into our large muscle groups (arms and legs), and speed up reaction time. An increase in cortisol releases sugar as fuel into the bloodstream so we can think and move faster. In the meantime, the HPA axis communicates with the rest of the body, instructing the digestive, reproductive, and immune systems to slow down and wait out the danger.
All this activity creates a state of hyper-arousal and fuels the emotions and actions we need to first gain sensory information and then either fight an aggressor (anger) or, if need be, flee the scene to safety (anxiety and fear). Just like our animal friends, humans can also experience complete collapse, or hypo-arousal—when the parasympathetic nervous system activates to help us survive horrific acts of violence. Both the alert and the fold states are designed to be short-lived, functioning to keep us alive and safe from harm.
ZEN Yoga Trauma-stages mitigates the fight-or-flight response through a combination of active asanas, pranayama, and deep relaxation.
As we can see, our autonomic nervous system was designed to be on the lookout for danger and keep us safe. Problems arise when the pain and traumatic residue, or samskara, remains in the body long after the event is over and the brain cannot discriminate between what is in the past and what is a real, present threat. The body’s posture (rigid or collapsed) continues to signal danger, so the nervous system goes in search of the perpetrator, assigning blame wherever it can. Levine says, “If frightening sensations are not given the time and attention they need to move through the body and resolve or dissolve, the individual will continue to be gripped by fear.”
people who have experienced chronic or repeated trauma “find themselves alternating between being highly sensitised and easily triggered, and feeling numb or disconnected from themselves and other people.”
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