What Can We Do About Accidental Stress?

Art therapy works by utilising the image storing part of our brain.

Our emotions are connected to us . And the activator for these emotions (the thing that sets of our nervous system - some call them 'triggers') can be either physical or mental.

And the less connected we are with our bodies, the more complicated the 'coming down from' the emotional activation.

Let me explain.

When I was young, my best friend and I would often play over the fence of her back yard, in the gardens of a rather formidable looking church – Mount St Canis, in Sandy Bay, Hobart. It was an absolutely divine place to play (boom ching!).

But as the sun went down, the shadows would lengthen and the imagination could run riot. And what an imagination I had as a child!

One day her little sister followed us over to play. We thought it would be funny to scare her (poor little mite).

As the sun was going down and the shadows were lengthening, my bestie and I started telling her all about how scary the church was and how it was actually haunted, and how after dark a bunch of ghost monks could be seen wandering the halls and grounds, forever tormented in their earthly bind.

She got more and more scared but tried to be brave. The backlash to that was that … we got more and more scared, even thought we were the ones telling the story! Right when the story was at it’s climax and the sun had shone it’s last, I kid you not, the nuns started singing in the church – you know, the way nuns do in beautiful, haunting unison?

Well. My words, my thoughts, had created images in my imagination. Those images had reminded my poor hypothalamus of other images – perhaps a scary movie I had watched or perhaps a shadow had lept out at me one day in the dark and given me a fright. Either way, the images my words were now conjuring in my head had given my hypothalamus premis to activate my nervous system.

My nervous system (which controls the heart rate, breath rate etc), was getting me ready to run or fight. Heart pounding, hands tingling, voice screaming out to my community for help! And run I did, right behind my besty, behind her little sister, and up and over the fence to the relative safety of their house.

This was a great example of my mind creating emotions and my body responding.

But what of the body creating the nervous system activation?

Once upon a time I was a runner. I know, I know, you wouldn’t think it if you knew me now. But a casual 10k was a joy for me.

On a chilly winter morning, I would pull on my running gear, tie up my shoes and head out the door. I would walk for a bit. My heart rate would start rising (hello nervous system). Then I would start jogging. Finally I would be running like a gazelle in the grasslands, leaping over potholes, avoiding small children and the elderly. By then my heart rate was well up - in a fun way! I could run and run and run and I would definitely be able to give someone the old ‘one two’ if I needed to with all that energy coursing through my body!

This is a good example of the body being the activator of the nervous system.

But sometimes it can get all muddled up. Especially if we are not used to noticing the physical manifestations of our nervous system.

Let me explain.

When I was about 30 years old and I had three young children and anaemia and undiagnosed Hashimoto’s disease, I understandably was a bit stressed (stress is what happens when your nervous system stays activated for prolonged periods). Panic attacks were pretty common which made everything worse of course.

One day when my anaemia was downrated to ‘low iron’ and my Hashimotos was ‘being managed’, and various other stressors had been 'removed', I decided I would start running again.

I pulled on my running clothes and put on my shoes. I started walking. I started a slow jog. I increased to running. Before I knew it I was sitting in the gutter, gasping for air, trying not to scream in a panic.

My helpful hypothalamus had recognised the high heart rate and found images to match. But instead of grabbing the running images, it had grabbed the panic images.

The non-safety.

Images of not being listened to. Images of power imbalances. I notice my tingly hands and heart rate rising just now, as I bring those images to mind with my words.

So what can we do about all this?

Stress is normal and common. We are physically built for the odd panic attack.

And we need to exercise in order for our bodies and minds to stay healthy.

The answer is … notice.

Squeeze all your muscles at once. Notice what ‘tight’ feels like.

Relax them all at once. Notice what ‘relaxed’ feels like.

Begin noticing your ‘heightendness’ when you are excited or recalling a sad/scary story – you know, that feeling that almost feels like it sits around you like an energy field, rather than in you.

Begin noticing how it feels when you release your muscles on an out breath.

When do you clench your jaw? Tighten your shoulders? You can accidentally be giving your nervous system signals that you’re about to fight off a bear while you’re simply typing an email!

Label the different heightenednesses (I made that word up … I’m keeping it).

Above all else, practice, practice, practice being the person who decides when it comes back down to regulated.

How do we do this with art therapy? Jump over to the newsletter for an activity that combines visualisation, physical movement and image making to do just that, and have a go.

And as always - notice, notice, notice. Tweak, tweak, tweak.