brain responses

You know how you get that fight or flight reaction and the addrenalin starts pumping? I was sound asleep and woke to a cat fight. Fat cat beating up my 17 year old cat. I Jumped out of bed and ran in one movement and now I can't calm myself. My body is just doing it's old ptsd thing! I have been reading a lot about how ptsd brains get wired differently so there is a need to rewire. I guess. Geez, a CAT fight and Im like this!'

When I completely stress out, I actually can kick off an asthma attack...it's a bummer, especially if dodo here doesn't have an inhaler with her! So, I've found that various meditative breathing techniques (Pranayama) really help. This is from www.babyzone.com, but the url pops up so many ads, I'm just copying in the text:

"Ujjayi, or "ocean breathing," is another valuable breathing practice. It calms the mind and promotes concentration........ To practice, sit comfortably with your spine straight (or lie down on your back). Begin drawing in deep, long, slow breaths through your nose. Gently contract the back of your throat, creating a steady hissing sound as you breath in and out (think of Darth Vadar -- this is similar to the sound you are trying to emulate). Slowly lengthen your inhalation and exhalation as much as possible while concentrating on dispelling any tension within your body. Your breath should be constant and smooth."

I find this Ocean Breathing helps me to relax. The first few times you do it, you can get pretty light headed, so be careful not to pass out!! Then you'd have a whole nudder set of problems! :-) Take care.

Emmy

Let's see........for me it could be a car backfiring, really angry loud yelling, witnessing violence, hearing loud illegal fireworks nearby, the smell of the ocean at certain beaches nearby, the loud closing of a door.........and it goes on.

I still can't predict what will set off my heart racing and hypervigilance freak outs.

Please try to be extra gentle with yourself about this. There isn't anything wrong with how you react. You were 'programmed to' at one point in your life so to learn to undo that takes enormous time, courage and practice.

I'm proud of you for writing about it. You're not alone. Almost anything that wakes me suddenly had my heart racing and my mouth tasing funny from fear. It ain't fun.

<font color=purple> --zh </font color=purple>

Thanks guys. Seems like I have more then my share of stressors lately. Thanks for the support.