Welcome to Part 1 of our 2 part series on the stress responses. These responses are sometimes referred to as trauma responses. They are the body's natural biochemical reactions to stress, real or perceived, internal or external.

The fight-flight response developed as a primitive response to danger - it's purpose is to help us survive. In modern life, many of us experience a fight-flight response in reaction to relatively minor stressors like traffic, meetings, challenging conversations, which tend not to be life-threatening. Yet our body's autonomic nervous system doesn't know the difference between being chased by a predator, and stressing over a meeting with an asshole boss. Many of us become "stuck" in fight-flight mode, living from one stress response to the next, full of adrenaline, cortisol, tense muscles in the neck and shoulders, rational mind on auto-pilot, as we prepare to either defend ourselves physically or flee. Over time, living in such a heightened state can wreak havoc on all kinds of internal systems, causing lots of health problems, not to mention poor mental health.

In our usual way, the Instigator and the Yogi talk about our own experiences with fight-flight, and share some of the tips and tools that we've found helpful in managing stress. Karen shares some yoga-inspired practices that serve her well, and Tim talks about Kevin Tracey's book The Great Nerve, the vagus nerve, which plays a critical role in the autonomic nervous system. Next week we tackle the other 2 manifestations of the stress response - freeze/fawn.

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