Best Self Family Post
The Body’s Alarm System
1/6/22
Ever wonder why it feels like you have “butterflies” in your stomach? Or a “lump” in your throat? This is your body’s built-in alarm system. It goes off when danger is near or when you sense that something is just not right. It’s important to get acquainted, and learn to distinguish between your legitimate and false alarms.
Sometimes, our bodies may send out a false alarm because of past trauma and related triggers. These triggers can be people, places, or things that remind us of painful memories/experiences from the past. When this alarm system is activated, we enter into survival mode: fight, flight, or freeze. If we are not in a mindful state when this occurs, we may be more susceptible to reacting impulsively. To be in a mindful state, we must be present focused and attune with our thoughts, emotions and senses. By tapping into our five senses and grounding ourselves to where we are in this moment, we can become more aware of our thoughts and feelings. We can become conscious of where we experience our feelings in different parts of our bodies.
Listening to our body signals can provide clarity on what the issue is and how we can best handle it. It can be helpful to utilize a “body scan” exercise if you enjoy an auditory guide or utilize a “body map” on paper if you are more visual (which is essentially a cut out of the human body where you can illustrate where you experience which emotion). Body maps apply to all ages, are unique to each individual and can aid in processing and regulating emotions, i.e. you may mark the stomach area for fear and the neck area for worry.
The signals our bodies give us can be physical, emotional, mental or all of the above. Some people experience more of the physical signals and have to work to connect the dots to their emotions. These may include, but are not limited to: heart racing, rapid breathing, body aches (stomach, head are common) and muscle tension. Not to mention the racing thoughts that we can experience when in distress. If you feel overwhelmed by worry, fear, anger or frustration with thoughts that seem out of control, you may benefit greatly from increasing your body awareness and building mindfulness skills. Detecting what we are feeling and where we are feeling it can really expedite the problem solving process.
Now you may be wondering, what exactly do my body signals mean for me? At the core, you are exploring the question - what is my body telling me? Once you find that answer (and build up your ability to do so), you will be better equipped to cope with any situation that causes distress.