Source: Image of Beach, Public Domain,http://mrg.bz/85aPZg
Hi I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution, Putting the Pieces Together. Today, our topic for discussion is going to be quelling the adrenaline response. So we're going to start off with our key terms. Reaction-- behavior which is not consciously chosen, but is automatic or reflexive in a given context that is consciously chosen. Response-- behavior towards a given stimulus or in a given context that is consciously chosen.
Relaxation-- elimination of unnecessary tension or activity in body or mind. Fight-or-flight reaction-- a condition in the body caused by the release of adrenaline, preparing the body to flee from or combat a stimulus perceived as a threat by the amygdala. Amygdala-- a structure in the brain which interprets stimuli as threat or non-threat and initiates fight-or-flight reaction. Threat-- a stimulus interpreted by the amygdala as harmful to an organism.
When we find ourselves in a fight-or-flight situation, it's important that we try and find ways to remain calm and to be present. And we want to do this because we want to initiate a response, which is a conscious, well-thought-out collection of thoughts and a presentation that is basically articulate and well put together, versus a reaction which is a not conscious thought. And it's kind of our quick response, our go-to automatic response. And in certain situations, especially in fight or flight, we want to avoid these quick reaction behaviors, because it could, in the end, escalate the conflict.
And how do we do this? We do this through relaxation. No, it's not quite as sitting on the beach with a cocktail in the warm sun or however you find enjoyment on vacation. It's more like releasing the tension. So we're not fully being nonchalant in the process. We are present, but our body and our minds are relaxed and removed from tension. And this allows us to have more effective actions.
And some ways that we can make ourselves calm in situations is take a break. Actually physically removing ourselves from the situations to take time to think about how we are going to respond rather than react is a great way to go about this. Also, we could slow down our breathing.
When we are having a fight-or-flight response situation, our adrenaline is moving, and our body physically reacts to this. And so we may find that our breathing is more heavy, our heart rate has increased. We are sweating, we're nervous. So if we take time to slow down our breathing, this could be a way to relax us and make us more calm to approach the situation.
We also could do techniques such as counting to 10 in our head, rather than again, having that automatic reaction versus the response that we want to give in the situation. Or we could do some stretching, maybe not like yoga stretching, but maybe just rolling our shoulders back or releasing our arms. Something to relieve the tension that is possibly building up around our shoulders, and our neck, and our upper back. So doing these things can help us gain the response that we want in the situation versus the automatic reaction that we are trying to avoid.
So now that we've gone over quelling the adrenaline response, let's go over our key points. When we find or recognize that we are in a flight-or-fight situation, we need to find ways where we can have some relaxation and calming. And these techniques will help us be more effective in our actions. And it will have us more likely to have a response versus a reaction. And the response is a more consciously chosen action versus a reaction, which is more automatic and reflexive.
Thank you for taking the time out to view this tutorial. I really hope that you've gained something on calming techniques and how to approach a fight-or-flight situation. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.