When we feed into fear, we can eventually starve our health. What does this look like?
We often find ourselves in either one of two mindsets. These modes of thinking are under the umbrella of either “Protection” or “Growth.”
When we focus more on protection, we harbor emotions cloaked in fear, resentment, rejection and isolation. These emotions engage a part of our Nerve System called the Sympathetic System. It is also called the “fight or flight” nerve reaction.
When we engage the Sympathetic System, our body shifts the majority of its energy to the muscles of our extremities. This shift pushes blood and other important nutrients into the skeletal muscles of our arms and legs.
We also release more “protective” hormones. These hormones include adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine.
This cascade of shifting energy and hormones makes up what is called the Sympathetic Stress Response. It is designed to help us “fight or flight” an external threat as best we can.
The Sympathetic Stress Response should not be our default setting. It is designed for acute situations only. It is a short-term solution to a short-term problem.
Here’s the rub: modern civilization has exploited our normal physiology and created a society that constantly feeds into this stress response. From dawn till dusk, our external culture is bombarding us with emotions cloaked in fear, resentment, rejection and isolation.
Whether it is the 24/7 “doom and gloom” news cycle or the American Dream that rewards “dog eat dog” ethics, fear and its counterparts are found at the core of chronic exposure to a protective mindset.
This mindset puts us in a mode of survival. When we focus more on just surviving, we can deplete our health reserves more easily.
This is because important nutrients, blood, and hormones are localized in the extremities and not in our internal organs. This makes our internal organs, such as our brain, heart, lungs and G.I. system more susceptible to a wide array of sickness and diseases.
What we need more of is a mindset steeped in growth.
Growth harbors emotions of love, gratitude, empowerment and friendship. These emotions engage more of the Parasympathetic Nerve System. The Parasympathetic System is often called the “meal and heal” nerve action.
When directed by the Parasympathetic System, energy is shifted to our internal organs. Blood and nutrients are sent more to our major organs such as our brain, heart, lungs and G.I. system.
We also release more “growth” hormones. Some of the major hormones that promote growth are oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin.
With our energy and hormones primed for growth, we improve our immune response to internal threats. Our Immune System can heal better from pathogens such as viruses and bacteria when in a Parasympathetic state.
While both Sympathetic and Parasympathetic work in concert and in tandem, our “default setting” should be Parasympathetically driven.
A “growth” mindset allows us to thrive more. When we attract a mindset that focuses on thriving, we are more receptive to overall development, adaptation, health and well-being.
When we feed into fear, we protect who we are now at the expense of who we can tomorrow.
Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.
