Most of us have heard of the fight or flight reflex, a natural survival response of the sympathetic nervous system. It triggers internal changes in physiology in response to stimulus from external sources in our environment. If I see, smell, taste, touch, hear anything that could threaten my existence, I have been created to fight the tiger, the threat, or run from it. In a matter of seconds the tiger eats me, I kill it, or I’m up a tree to live another day. Conflict over.
The physiology of sympathetic excess is too expansive for this discussion, so let’s take a look at only a few examples: tight muscles, panting breath, shoulders shrugged up to protect the neck, increased heart rate and hormone production, decreased digestion, and immune system changes. The fear of the tiger produces neurological, biochemical, and hormonal responses. All of this is controlled by the subconscious mind, not the conscious.
The story of the tiger is a simple illustration of the effects of external stimulus on the conscious and unconscious mind of mankind. The catch to the whole scenario is that science tells us (Pavlovian/Skinnerian conditioning; Guyton’s textbook physiology) that the mind of man does not distinguish between the sight and fear of seeing a tiger and the fear of failure, embarrassment, shame, etc; when I perceive fear my body responds in the same way. Chemicals are automatically produced, the mind and body changing to physically defend its life – defense physiology.
In modern society this defense physiology is constantly being triggered by various fears, lacks and outdated beliefs/perspectives. The effect on the body is exhaustion of one or many systems which will eventually be expressed as an illness or disease.
B.E.S.T. (Bio-Energetic Synchronization Technique) is a technology to update old memory patterns of stuck, tiger defense physiology. Homework assignments are used to re-establish a new way of seeing, perceiving one’s world, which allows the body to heal and recover.
In Health & Service,
Dr. Roland Phillips BA, BS, D.C.