emotional freedom techniques 

When we experience excessive stress, whether from internal emotional issues or external circumstances, a bodily reaction is triggered called the stress response which was first discribed by Harvard professor Dr. Walter Cannon. Science has established this stress response also known as the fight or flight response beginning in the Amygdala. The Amygdala is a component found in the midbrain or the Limbic System. The midbrain is the source of emotions, long term memory and where negative experiences are encoded.  This fight or flight response is designed to signal the brain that something is threatening our safety.  In ancient times this response was activated by true threats on our survival, like being chased by a wild animal.  When this response is activated patterns of nerve cell firing occur and stress hormones such as Cortisol and Epinephrine are released into your blood stream. An increase in your blood pressure, blood sugar and respiration also occur to prepare you to fight or flee.  This response is designed to help you protect yourself and should disappear once the threat is no longer present. It is important to know that the human brain cannot differentiate one stressor  from another. Today's stressors obviously do not include fearing an encounter with a wild animal, but do include threats on our health, financial stability, relationships and our happiness. These stressors trigger the same "fight or flight" response, but the difference is today's stressors last longer. This means those harmful stress hormones continuously flood our bloodstream deactivating our body's natural self-repair mechanisms resulting not only in illness and injury, but a significant delay in the extent and recovery time.

          Just as our body initiates the fight or flight response as a survival mechanism, the body  also has a relaxation response named by cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson. The relaxation response is triggered from the same region of the brain and is designed to counter balance the effects of the fight or flight response. Dr. Benson in collaboration with a researcher from the University of California, named Robert Keith Wallace, proved that it was possible to elicit the relaxation response through activities of the mind and manipulate mechanisms in the body.  Through this research Dr. Benson formed a list of conditions that responded positively when the relaxation response was triggered. Cardiac arrhythmias, allergic skin reactions, anxiety, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, post-operative swelling and all forms of pain are just a few from his list.  Benson's continued research proved that elicitation of the relaxation response could not only treat disease and dysfunction but prevent it.