by Bret Lyon
dfay.com
January 14, 2012
(Drawn from Steven Porges and Peter Levine)
In order to sustain life, the body has two complementary nervous systems: a Sympathetic (arousing) and a Parasympathetic (calming). Both are needed not only for psychological balance, but for survival. Without a Parasympathetic modification, the heart would beat too quickly to sustain life.
Ideally there is a smooth balance between the two, a gentle collaboration. The Sympathetic is dominant in exertion, exercise, athletics, emotional and sexual arousal as well as stressful situations.
The Parasympathetic takes over in relaxation, sleep, meditation, massage, gentle touch, connecting deeply with another person, nurturing – both nurturer and nurtured.
When stress is very great, the Sympathetic system automatically goes to a fight or flight response. This is built in to the system. It can happen in response to external threat or the perception of threat.
Either fighting or fleeing can resolve the stress.
If neither is possible or successful, the sympathetic arousal can get so extreme that it is too much for the body to handle.
At this point, we have a failsafe survival mechanism. The Parasympathetic system spikes. It comes in so strongly that it overwhelms the Sympathic arousal and sends the person into a state of Freeze. This can be full collapse, dissociation, or a more partial freeze such as inability to think clearly or access words or emotions, or move parts of the body.
This can be momentary, short term – such as a possum freezing and becoming reanimated after the predator leaves, or, in humans, continue indefinitely.
Stephen Porges has focused his attention on the Vagus Nerve, one of the largest nerves in the body and a major part of the Parasympathetic system.
The Vagus has two branches: dorsal (back) and ventral (front). The Dorsal Vagus is a large, primitive nerve, which is common to all animals, including fish. I goes down the spine and has a role in controlling our lungs, hearts (moderating heartbeats so they don’t get too rapid) and stomach (where it actually aids digestion).
It is prominent in sleep and relaxation – i.e. when we lie on the beach in the sun. It is very active in the “diving reflex” that allows marine mammals to hold their breaths for long periods of time.
A cultivation of the reflex has allowed humans to set records of over 6 minutes under water.
Normally, the Dorsal Vagus serves a very positive function. It helps the body gently pendulate between arousal and relaxation. However, when the Sympathetic is too aroused, the Dorsal Vagas nerve can shut down the entire system and we go into freeze. This is most common in trauma and shame, which is developmental trauma.
The Ventral or front Vagus Nerve is a much more recent addition. It is common to mammals, who raise live young, not reptiles, birds or fish. It goes directly to the muscles of the face and helps determine expression and is active in social engagement.
When the Ventral Vagal is active we seek and initiate social contact.
Social engagement for mammals is a way of activating the Parasympathetic system. Ventral Vagal social engagement – or attachment behavior – is a way to prevent and come out of Dorsal Vagal Shutdown.
Wall Street Journal/In the Lab
Jan 17, 2012
What you think is going on in your head may be caused in part by what’s happening in your gut.
Mark McGinnis - New research indicates problems in the gut may cause problems in the brain, just as a mental ailment, such as anxiety, can upset the stomach.
A growing body of research shows the gut affects bodily functions far beyond digestion. Studies have shown intriguing links from the gut’s health to bone formation, learning and memory and even conditions including Parkinson’s disease. Recent research found disruptions to the stomach or intestinal bacteria can prompt depression and anxiety—at least in lab rats.
Better understanding the communication between the gut and the brain could help reveal the causes of and treatments for a range of ailments, and provide diagnostic clues for doctors.
”The gut is important in medical research, not just for problems pertaining to the digestive system but also problems pertaining to the rest of the body,” says Pankaj J. Pasricha, chief of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at Stanford University School of Medicine.
The gut—considered as a single digestive organ that includes the esophagus, stomach and intestines—has its own nervous system that allows it to operate independently from the brain.
This enteric nervous system is known among researchers as the “gut brain.” It controls organs including the pancreas and gall bladder via nerve connections. Hormones and neurotransmitters generated in the gut interact with organs such as the lungs and heart.
Like the brain and spinal cord, the gut is filled with nerve cells. The small intestine alone has 100 million neurons, roughly equal to the amount found in the spinal cord, says Michael Gershon, a professor at Columbia University.
The vagus nerve, which stretches down from the brainstem, is the main conduit between the brain and gut. But the gut doesn’t just take orders from the brain.
“The brain is a CEO that doesn’t like to micromanage,” says Dr. Gershon. The brain receives much more information from the gut than it sends down, he adds.
Many people with psychiatric and brain conditions also report gastrointestinal issues. New research indicates problems in the gut may cause problems in the brain, just as a mental ailment, such as anxiety, can upset the stomach.
Stanford’s Dr. Pasricha and colleagues examined this question in the lab by irritating the stomachs of newborn rats. By the time the animals were eight to 10 weeks old, the physical disturbance had healed, but these animals displayed more depressed and anxious behaviors, such as giving up more quickly in a swimming task, than rats whose stomachs weren’t irritated.
Compared to controls, the rats also showed increased sensitivity to stress and produced more of a stress hormone, in a study published in May in a Public Library of Science journal, PLoS One.
Other work, such as that of researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, demonstrated that bacteria in the gut—known as gut flora—play a role in how the body responds to stress. The exact mechanism is unknown, but certain bacteria are thought to facilitate important interactions between the gut and the brain.
Electrically stimulating the vagus nerve has been shown to reduce the symptoms of epilepsy and depression. (One treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration, made by Cyberonics Inc., is already on the market.)
Exactly why such stimulation works isn’t known, experts say, but a similar procedure has been shown in animal studies to help improve learning and memory.
Earlier this month, researchers made a small step toward understanding a gastrointestinal ailment that typically affects children with autism.
In a study of 23 autistic children and nine typically developing kids, a bacterium unique to the intestines of those with autism called Sutterella was discovered.
The results, published online in the journal mBio by researchers at Columbia’s school of public health, need to be studied further, but suggest Sutterella may be important in understanding the link between autism and digestive ailments, the authors wrote.
Dr. Gershon, professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia, has been studying how the gut controls its behavior and that of other organs by investigating the neurotransmitter serotonin.
Low serotonin levels in the brain are known to affect mood and sleep. Several common antidepressants work by raising levels of serotonin in the brain.
Yet about 95% of the serotonin in the body is made in the gut, not in the brain, says Dr. Gershon. Serotonin and other neurotransmitters produced by gut neurons help the digestive track push food through the gut.
Work by Dr. Gershon and others has shown that serotonin is necessary for the repair of cells in the liver and lungs, and plays a role in normal heart development and bone-mass accumulation.
Studying the neurons in the gut also may also help shed light on Parkinson’s disease. Some of the damage the disease causes to brain neurons that make the neurotransmitter dopamine also occur in the gut neurons, researchers say.
Researchers are now studying whether gut neurons, which can be sampled through a routine colonoscopy, may help clinicians diagnose and track the disease without invasive brain biopsies, says Pascal Derkinderen, a professor of neurology at Inserm, France’s national institute of health.
by David R. Hamilton PHD
Patterns of Experience:Body Therapies and Healing Trauma
September 23, 2010
The Philosopher’s Stone Has Been Found…It’s Inside You
For centuries learned people have searched for the mystical philosopher’s stone, believed to be the elixir of life and give immortality to he or she who owns it.
But could it be that the philosopher’s stone is not so much a stone but an attitude?
A groundbreaking piece of research by Kevin Tracey, director of the Feinstein Institute and Professor and President of the Elmezzi graduate school of molecular medicine in Manhasset, New York, has revealed how the nervous system (the vagus nerve) controls inflammation in the body, now known as ‘The Inflammatory Reflex’. Inflammation is one of the major contributors to aging of the body and plays a key role in illness and disease.
Most people think of inflammation as the swelling and redness after a cut. This inflammation is a vital part of healing and helps to ensure that nutrient-rich blood is drawn to the site of injury to help facilitate healing. But it turns out that if it wasn’t for the vagus nerve – the longest nerve in the body that runs from the top of the brainstream, through the face, throat, chest, heart, the GI tract, all major organs, and even over certain immune cells – inflammation from a small cut would typically spill out into the bloodstream and lead to septic shock and multiple organ failure.
The vagus nerve is the brake on inflammation throughout the body. Once the vagus nerve senses that there are enough inflammatory substances (the chemicals of inflammation) following an injury it sends a signal to the immune cells that make those chemicals and tells them to turn off production.
The vagus nerve puts the brakes on inflammation in much the same way that you might apply the brake in your car when you’re travelling a little over the speed limit.
The vagus nerve is highly important because inflammation doesn’t only arise in response to injury; it is also a side effect of unhealthy lifestyle factors – like poor diet, drinking, stress, etc. It plays a key role in heart disease, some cancers, and in fact it is involved in just about every serious disease we know of in western medicine.
Indeed, it is one the ‘Major Agers’, which are phenomena that most cause aging. So much so, in fact, that many gerontologists believe that if science could develop a powerful body-wide anti-inflammatory drug then the average person would live until they were around 150 years old.
But we now know that the vagus nerve is our natural anti-inflammatory nerve. Maybe the wonder drug that pharmaceutical companies are currently searching for isn’t necessary. Maybe all we need to do is train our vagus nerves in much the same way that we train at a gym. Is this possible?
It seems that people have different vagus nerve activity, or what is sometimes called, ‘vagal tone’. Think of it like muscle tone. A person who exercises regularly might enjoy good muscle tone and similarly a person who exercises or does meditation, yoga or tai chi, might enjoy good vascular tone. Vagal tone is used in a similar capacity to indicate power, activity, health etc of the vagus nerve.
Some people’s nervous systems, then, are more efficient at keeping inflammation at bay, just as different people have different immune system robustness. Some are good at keeping them free of illness and some aren’t quite so good.
Recently, a link has been identified between the vagus nerve and compassion. In some studies people who are most compassionate were found to have the highest vagal tone, and similarly the reverse is also true. People who have the highest vagal tone tend to be the most compassionate. In some of this research Dacher Keltner, psychology professor at Berkley, calls these people ‘vagal superstars’. According to much of his research, the association between the vagus nerve and compassion is very strong.
So could training ourselves to be more compassionate actually train the vagus nerve and reduce inflammation in the body? Scientists have indeed recently studied the link between compassion and inflammation.
In a 2009 study, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine, trained 33 people in a compassion meditation, which involved the structured generation of feelings of compassion on a daily basis, and compared them with a group of 28 people who didn’t do the meditation. After 6 weeks those who did the compassion meditation had much lower levels of inflammation in their bodies than those who didn’t.
Since the vagus nerve is the primary brake on inflammation and compassion is correlated with the vagus nerve, it makes sense that compassion actually reduces inflammation in the body.
Could it be that the philosopher’s stone that many have searched long and hard for has always been right in front of our eyes? In fact, it is not so much in front of our eyes but in our hearts? Could it be that simple? History has taught us that things usually are that simple. Maybe it’s called the philosopher’s stone because it takes a philosopher to consider compassion to be the elixir of life. Perhaps humanity has only just reached a point of spiritual maturity to even contemplate such a thing.
So why is it that compassionate people everywhere aren’t living until they’re over a hundred? Well, we counter the effects of it with other lifestyle choices we make – the unhealthy foods we eat, the toxins and stimulants we take into our bodies, our unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking (too much), not exercising regularly, and also our mental emotional stresses of life. Many of us are so stressed that we neutralise the effects of most of our healthy habits. Perhaps, the journey now is to learn to treat our bodies and minds well.
The new healthy formula:
Eat well, sleep well, exercise well, think well, and show people that you care!
Perhaps this formula is the mystical philosopher’s stone. Maybe the stone is not a stone, but a Way, the philosopher’s Way.
And that way is compassion.
References:
For Kevin Tracey’s discovery of the inflammatory reflex, see K. J. Tracey, ‘The inflammatory reflex’, Nature 420, 2002, 853–9; also H. Wang, et al., ‘Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha7 subunit is an essential regulator of inflammation’, Nature 421, 2003, 384–8
For the link between the vagus nerve and compassion, see Dacher Keltner, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, Norton, New York, 2009
For the study of compassion meditation and inflammation, see: T. W. W. Pace, L. T. Negi, D. D. Adame, S. P. Cole, T. I. Sivillia, T. D. Brown, M. J. Issa and C. L. Raison, ‘Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioural responses to psychosocial stress’, Psychoneuroendocrinology 34, 2009, 87–98
For a good summary of the compassion-vagus nerve-inflammation link, see David R Hamilton PhD, Why Kindness is Good for You, Hay House, London, 2010.
by Michael Cornwall PhD LLC
Emotional Intelligence Theory
January 5, 2012
eitheory.com
Five days a week, 9 – 5, I sit in a chair at a desk by the window. I mostly talk to people; and write. Sometimes I talk to people while I write. At the end of the day, after I am finished with all this talking and writing, sitting and listening, I walk, briskly; at least four miles. I look forward to walking. Exercise helps to maintain my emotional and physical health – especially on days when I make myself emotionally unwell.
Like most of you, on occasion, I provoke myself into some measure of the stress response. Criticism, the ill-mannered, unfair treatment and disrespect are the perceptions I personally find most challenging. Of course, there is no such thing as criticism, the ill-mannered, unfair treatment or disrespect. These are my perceptions. Emotional events unto themselves are meaningless without my active interpretation of them.
If I can change my interpretation of events, I can change my response to events. Instead of perceiving my experiences as threats, I can perceive them as bothersome inconveniences, incommode, unfortunate events.
I know this.
Intellectual insight is not often enough. Combining knowledge with new behaviors, however, is essential to changing any habit – including how we emote. Simply knowing the right thing to do is not sufficient to make any kind of real change in how we perceive adversity. I often fail to make this connection. My sympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, never fails. My sympathetic nervous system does an excellent job of rapidly preparing me to deal with whatever I perceive as threatening.
I am sometimes my own worst enemy.
Within nanoseconds of nut-headed thinking, a corresponding metabolic process is begun, allowing us to cope with our perception of danger. Our adrenal glands release adrenaline (epinephrine); our breathing increases along with our heart rate and blood pressure, moving more oxygen-rich blood faster to our brains and the muscles – the fuel needed for fighting or fleeing. From a distance, while all of this is going on inside of me, I am just a guy sitting by the window in his chair behind his desk. In reality I am a time bomb of neuro-chemicals and hormones, fully prepared to lead a Spartan army into battle.
The Muzak overhead has no effect on me.
While in this stressed state, our unnecessary bodily functions shut down. Growth, reproduction and our ability to fight off disease (the immune system) are all temporarily put on hold for the sake of safety. Blood-flow to the skin is reduced. Over time, chronic stress can lead to obesity, heart disease, sexual dysfunction and various skin ailments. Mental illness (particularly depression and anxiety) can also result. Medical conditions that are influenced by a nervous system response such as chronic pain, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), digestive disorders or headaches are likely to become exacerbated by stress.
At some point, we have to make a commitment to take an active role in how we process our unhealthy, self-defeating and irrational thoughts. I have made a commitment to manage my automatic bio-psycho response. And I try to keep that pledge.
So I walk, briskly and stay focused on my physical and emotional health.
I cannot expect that the way I perceive events in my environment and how I think about them can change overnight. On the contrary, thinking differently is a demanding task, likely to last the rest of my life. I can, however, begin every day by reminding myself of my pledge. I have committed to being an active player in my emotional life – an aspect of my life that can never again be viewed as a passive process.
I have found two important, yet simple, steps I can take immediately to help interfere with my stress response. These steps work wonders for me. These steps motivate me to change my nutty thinking and help return my body and mind to balance.
I walk.
I breathe.
I pardon myself and others.
Especially, I pardon myself.
Moderate exercise and deep breathing can be emotionally and physically cleansing. Those harmful stress hormones that linger in the bloodstream can be processed and eliminated through exercise and breathing deeply. Breathing deeply, into the lower abdomen, stimulates the vagus nerves, the longest of the cranial nerves. The vagus nerves pass through the neck and thorax into the abdomen. We know that vagal nerve endings act as the heart’s pacemaker by promoting the release of the transmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine helps reduce blood pressure and counterbalances the effects of stress. Deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerves and promotes a return to balance.
Finally, while walking and breathing, I process the day’s stressful perceptions. Instead of looking for blame and damning others for their poor choices, I pardon myself for thinking so foolishly. I remind myself that everyone has a perfect right to behave as foolishly as they choose to behave. I forgive myself for thinking people have to behave according to my rules and I pardon others for making the choices they make.
I couldn’t possibly believe that my own mistakes are more pardonable than those made by others.
So, I walk, briskly.
I breathe, deeply.
And I pardon, broadly.
It takes the force of will to do this.
Private MD News
3 Jan 2012
Following a positive lab test for breast cancer, a woman may feel overwhelmed and stressed. This reaction is common among breast cancer survivors and is a primary cause of depression. However, new research indicates that simple meditative practices may help prevent depression among breast cancer survivors.
For the study, a team of researchers from the University of Missouri recruited a group of breast cancer survivors to participate in a meditation class lasting between eight and 10 weeks. The class explained the basics of meditation and how to deal with stress that may arise during the course of recovery.
The results showed that participants were able to lower their blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate through meditation. Additionally, meditation helped many individuals improve their moods.
Given the fact that up to 50 percent of breast cancer survivors develop depression, the findings could have important implications. Jane Armer, one of the principle researchers on the study, said that meditation may serve as an effective complement to standard cancer therapies. This may help individuals regain a sense of control in their lives, thereby reducing their diabetes risk.
by Kevin Fagan
Paul Chinn / The Chronicle - Graduate student Craig Anderson (left) and psychology professor Dacher Keltner conducts research on happiness in Keltner's UC Berkeley lab on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011
It turns out you don’t have to be miserable during the holidays.That’s now scientifically proven by studies, say UC Berkeley scientists who do those studies.
These wise men and women have come up with quantifiable, tested data showing that with little more than an attitude boost, anyone can get through the toughest of holiday times with not just smiles on their faces, but real warmth in their hearts.
That goes for all those encounters with father-in-laws who could never stand your face, nephews who smash your favorite platter just to hear it shatter and sisters who think you’re a loser. Or even cousins fresh out of prison for the New Year.
It’s all about concentrating on the things in our lives that work well and being thankful for them, then tossing in a heaping helping of compassion, say the goodness-minded folks at the Greater Good Science Center.
Carrying on nice family rituals, religious or not, that are comforting and foster pleasant togetherness also goes a long way, they say.
Grind out the Grinch
The center has a set of reports, self-administered online tests – the “Altruism Quiz” is one – and graphics with good-attitude hints to reinforce all this advice. Paying close attention can help grind the Grinch right out of anyone, the center’s researchers say.
“The gist of it isn’t any more complicated than the fact that consumption and materialism will not make us happy,” said Christine Carter, a sociologist whose title at the center is the Santa-worthy one of “Happiness Expert.”
“We confuse those things with happiness,” Carter said. “But we have found that there are three main things that make you happier over the holidays, and they have nothing to do with materialism.”
Those three things consist of feeling grateful for the good things in your life, taking time with your family and using every opportunity you can to help others.
“The need for feeling grateful starts with Thanksgiving, but it doesn’t have to end,” Carter said. “It’s important all year round to be grateful for the things that a lot of people take for granted. It can be your kids, your close friends, even just the fact that you have hot water for a shower.
“When you train your attention on what you feel grateful for, you are highly likely to miss the hassles,” Carter said. “Our brains act as giant filters. We are either going to notice what we appreciate, or things that tick us off.”
Helping helps
As for helping others, Carter said, studies of emotional stimulation prove that the old saying about it being “better to give than to receive” is not just folklore.
“When you help someone else, whether it’s at a soup kitchen or just among your friends, it just makes you happier,” she said. “For one, when we’re focused on other people, we can’t focus on ourselves as much. You can’t be brooding on that nasty e-mail you got from the stepmother who doesn’t want you to cook turkey, or whatever.
“A lot of us just need to be distracted from ourselves sometimes,” Carter said.
Dacher Keltner, founder of the center and a UC Berkeley psychology professor, said his research on the vagus nerve in the brain is reinforcing the importance of compassion.
The vagus nerve extends from the brain down to the abdomen, and it reflects and stimulates feelings of happiness. Dacher’s research with doctoral candidate Craig Anderson indicates that showing compassion, maintaining eye contact and taking time to relax with techniques such as taking a deep breath all result in a healthily stimulated vagus – which in turn makes you happier.
“We know that December is one of the most violent months on the calendar, and there is stress this time of year with travel and getting together with family,” Keltner said. “But there is rock-solid science that shows that, instead of moving toward stress, you can move toward appreciating other people and feeling calmer at this time of year.”
Connect to others
He said his center has found that people are less connected to their neighbors and have fewer friends than 20 years ago, and that counteracting that trend is useful for Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year bliss.
“If you volunteer, look more closely to people who support you, allow yourself to touch people you care about with hugs or even just a neck massage – it all helps,” Keltner said. “Also, watch how you breathe – taking deep breaths when you need to, really do help calm you down.”
Carter is well aware that the reaction to feel-good advice can at times be more a rolling of the eyes rather than a nod of the head. That’s understandable, she said.
Letting yourself enjoy the holidays, let alone your entire life, can take a bit of concentration and work, she said. But it’s worth it.
“I think of happiness as a skill,” said Carter, whose seemingly perpetual incandescent smile would indicate that she takes her own advice. “It’s all about what you practice and think about.”
Dear Éiriú Eolas family,
Dear Éiriú Eolas family,
It’s the time for another solstice; the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the summer solstice for those “down under”. Solstices mark earth’s celestial movements, defining the change of seasons. Winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year. From then onwards, the sun grows stronger and people welcome the longer, brighter, warmer days that the sun brings. This heralds the coming of spring, with the blooming of the earth and abundance of food for earth’s creatures. It is no wonder that so many ancient and current festivities in this time are celebrating the birth of sun gods that will cast away the darkness and bring light into the world.
For the year 2011, the winter solstice date is December 22nd. We thought that it might be a good time for reflection, and το consider how the Éiriú Eolas program assists us in creating our lives in a healthy and more natural way. Even in an age where we’re in constant contact via our mobile phones and social networking, it’s not hard to see how disconnected we really are… from each other, mother nature, our own deepest desires, good health, and a way of life in which we can be truly happy. We’re sickly, unhappy, overstressed, overworked… Ηow did this happen? And what can we do to make our solstice celebrations bring back that sense of wonder and connectedness we felt as children?
For tens of thousands of years, humanity lived in harmony with nature and each other. We lived long, fulfilling lives, free of disease. We ate natural foods, enjoyed plentiful downtime to socialize, engaged in creative activities, and pondered life and all our relationships. But in the busy-ness of modern culture, we seem to have forgotten all of this. We’ve become disconnected from the knowledge of our own bodies, minds, and emotions, which our Paleolithic ancestors knew so well. Thankfully, this knowledge didn’t totally disappear. It’s there for anyone to find, buried in our history, science, religions, and most importantly, within ourselves. This knowledge is our birthright. It is universal and accessible still. We just need to know how to find it and nurture it to grow. Just as a seed, when given sunlight, water, and manure in which to grow, can become a rose, we have the ability to nurture the seed of our own soul, our essential self, to transform the suffering that has become normal in our everyday lives into something meaningful and full of life.
Éiriú Eolas, Irish-Gaelic for growth of knowledge, taps into this great tradition. After the end of the last ice age, the worldview and practices of the Western European Paleolithic tribes passed on through the tribes of the Celts and the Druids of Britain, Ireland, and Gaul. Éiriú Eolas represents a renewal of the way they saw and interacted with the world. Fortunately, it doesn’t end there. These traditions are universal because they crop up in all parts of the globe. While the symbols and frameworks differ from place to place, the root principles of their dietary, shamanistic, and social knowledge remain consistent. And Christmas and solstice celebrations have traditionally tapped into that way of life. So how can we use the principles of Éiriú Eolas this holiday season?
First of all, remember to breathe. As humans, we are one of the few species with the ability to consciously control our own breathing rate, changing thus our psychological state. Secondly, get out of the office and spend some time with your family. Read stories, sing songs, cook a plentiful and healthy meal, laugh together, and give plenty of hugs! All of these things have something in common: they stimulate your vagus nerve. That’s one of the most important things our vagus nerve does: helps us to establish that close connection and bond with the people we love. It’s what makes us truly human, because without it there would be no nurturing of children, no song, no compassion, no deep relationship with another human being. It really is that important.
When stress is overabundant in our lives, in work, relationships, and family, our fight-or-flight systems are working overtime. And that takes its toll on our bodies and our emotions. Luckily, we can turn it off whenever we want. The passage from our fight-or-flight response to calm social engagement with others is intimately linked with the activities of our mouth and throat: they’re what put the emotion in our voices, in our songs, and they’re what brings a baby to its mother’s breast. So when you spend time close to your loved ones, eating, talking, laughing, and singing, you’re actually doing all the things Eiriu Eolas helps you accomplish.
Happy Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!
The Eiriu Eolas Team
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