Fight or Flight: Sympathetic Nervous System
Frequently referred to as the “fight or flight response”, the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for alertness and wakefulness, as well as the ability to respond to stress.
In response to stimulus (mental or physical), hormones including noradrenaline and adrenaline are released by the adrenal glands. While it is technically very difficult to measure these hormones in individuals, simple signs of sympathetic activation can be seen in individuals including: increased pupil dilation, sweating, increased heart rate and blood pressure (frequently used in lie detection testing).
Heart rate and blood pressure are probably the easiest and most reliable of these signs to clinically measure and are most frequently used by medical researchers to study human response to stress, as well as recovery from stress.
Recovery & Regeneration: The parasympathetic nervous system
If the sympathetic system is the accelerator of our internal stress response system or what makes us turn ON, the parasympathetic system is considered to be ‘the brake’ or the OFF button. The parasympathetic system’s main role is to conserve energy. One way of doing this is to slow heart rate and energy needs, particularly when we are resting or sleeping. Parasympathetic activation is dominant when we are truly resting or sleeping (provided we are getting uninterrupted, quality sleep).
The parasympathetic is the part of your nervous system that slows you down, it’s responsible for telling your muscles to relax, improving your digestion and assimilation, boosting immunity, and helping you sleep better.The parasympathetic nervous system counteracts many stress-related symptoms and the negative by products of life in this world. Hatha Yoga increases the flow of prana, or life force, in your body.
Scientists have declared that today’s modern life style; the junked up, wired up caffeine fuelled society, frequently experiences an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic balance. This has a tendency to make us prone to mental and physical burn out, periods of decreased mental concentration, immune imbalance and many stress related diseases including cardiovascular disease. The true long term effects of the modern wired up society we live in today will probably not be fully known for decades to come.
