Blinking, PTSD & Hatha Yoga
Includes case studies linked below.
Emotions and the body are inseparable.
The brain takes in sensory input looking for recognizable patterns based on past experience. The mind calculates how to behave in the present anticipating a future result from prior data input. Calculations left up only to mind interpretation without awareness of thought mechanics and their behavior in relation to emotional state can be devastating for people suffering from an erratic mind and painful memories.
The eyes are directly linked to the amygdala, a major processing centre for emotions. Every blink is a reset of sensory input into the brain.
In the yoga we speak about: “Everyday we want to shed our past like a snake sheds its skin.” This doesn’t mean we shove our past under the rug! We’re reaching for awareness into the body. Shifting gears from regurgitation of our past into the freedom of inner peace in the present. Into our bodies.
You’ll notice we talk about the eyes in yoga class and on occasion make emphasis not to blink. This is intentional.
As we challenge the body coming into centre with the spine we are presented with an opportunity to override the fear stress response from the amygdala that causes over blinking. This is the moment we generate neural pathways from the mind into the body and out of mental static, centering into home base.
Practicing yoga you are programing a safety response of being in the body at the pinnacle of physical effort. In Half Moon Posture the neurological connection of going to a stressor point and not blinking in that moment induces a trip of physiological stress response. Reseting an over active thought pathway that has embedded an emotional state into ones psyche. We train our nervous system to deeply relax.
The brains seeks out patterns! When someone is triggered, it means there is no immediate threat. The brain is making a connection of association to a past data entry! A perceived threat response from the amygdala triggers an activation of the sympathetic nervous system leading to physiological changes. This stress response left unaddressed over time makes fear response connections more hard wired and can over ride the pre-frontal cortex that manages planning, decision making and social behavior.
This is where our yoga shines!
To be able tolerate stillness we need to have the skill of observation. The past cannot change, through yoga technique the yoga practitioner brings presence of mind into their body cultivating inner peace breath to breath, blink to blink.
The answer is yoga practice. Emphasis on practicing the relationship of our mind and body. The mind craves solution, perfect anticipation of the future. We train relaxation within the nature of reality which remains unpredictable. The unpredictability of everything except death and taxes :-)
Trust the yogi age old intelligence that the body functions as a whole inseparable ONE and stand in your power to navigate mental and emotional narrative.