Saturday, February 11, 2012

Fight or flight. Rest and renew.


Some days, on the yoga mat, in a humid 110-degree room, with 70 other sweat-drenched folks, I am acutely aware of what exactly is meant by “fight or flight”. I feel like…
I need…. to get out… of… here… NOW!

In Emotional Intelligence training a study was described which, in one part, had military personnel in a classroom, working together under a time limit, tasked to decide what to do under extremely threatening scenarios. A second part of the study had military personnel out in the field in a highly realistic exercise, working together under fire, to decide what to do. The team in the classroom selected the best decision from a number of options to handle their situation, while the team in the field made immediate decisions considering limited, if any, other options.

This captures the difference between decision making in “fight or flight” and decision making in “rest and renew”. The former reflects emotional and instinctive “gut” reactions made in the amygdala (limbic system of the brain) while the latter reflects rational decisions made in the frontal lobes of the brain. At work (and in life) this tells us that we, generally, make wiser decisions when we, and our teams, are not charged by emotions but are calm and able to rationally brainstorm options, discuss them, and make decisions considering multiple factors. This doesn’t mean that emotions should be suppressed.  Like other factors they should, ideally, be discussed openly and rationally to better inform our decisions. A “wise” decision that is emotional incompatible with one or more parties is unlikely to hold up over time. And if “letting off steam” is needed, then decision making should be postponed and emotions should be encouraged to be expressed in a safe and respectful manner. Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own emotions and those of others, in the moment, and to use that information to manage ourselves and manage our relationship. To recognize when our own emotions are ruling our thoughts (self-awareness), to empathize when other’s emotions are ruling them (social awareness), to exercise emotional self control (self-management), and to manage our own and team relationships (social skills).

Yoga recognizes our tendency to spend much more time in fight or flight than is healthy for us. The fight or flight response is our body's primitive, automatic, inborn response that prepares the body to fight or flee from perceived attack, harm or threat to our survival. But too much of this acute stress response can make us physically ill, lose sleep, and cause us to make less wise choices in our lives. One of the essential wisdoms of yoga is that by being aware of the unskillful mental states in our being, we are able to take the initiative with them, give them up, and cultivate skillful ones. In the practice of yoga we use asana (postures/physical practice), breathing, and/or meditation, to still the patterning of consciousness (citta-vritti) so pure awareness (parusa) can abide in its very nature (Yoga-Sutra I-2 to I-3). This allows us to recognize our unskillful mental states as they occur, to acknowledge them, and to see them clearly for what they really are (i.e. as unskillful mental states and not "the way things/we are or have to be").

… and so with the sweat streaming in my eyes… I focus on slowing down my breathing, moving from thinking into feeling each part of my body's alignment in the pose, again-and-again, as I shift into “rest and renew”. Whatever the circumstances I find myself in. On the mat and off.

Keys references:
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation with Commentary by Chip Hartranft