Primal Anxiety

Primal Anxiety

There you are. You are alone, barely clothed, in the dark forest. The snow is freezing on your bare feet as you search for some sort of nourishment to keep your family alive. You hear the crunch of a branch in the distance. You stop. Your pupils dilate. Your heart rate increases. You can feel your veins constrict as they work to push blood into every area of your body. Your breaths are short and shallow. You are hyper focused.

A rabbit jumps out in front of you. Your heart rate returns to normal. Pupils contract. Breath slows. 

This is stress. Your body was physiologically prepared to fight. To survive.

Today we feel this exact feeling at the thought of making a phone call, speaking in front of people, talking to someone of the opposite sex, asking your boss a question, saying what you actually believe, or starting something new. Physiologically, the same things happen within our body.

The question is why? Why does this happen when we are not actually facing a life or death situation?

Our species has survived because we have trained our bodies to react this way when there is any potential threat. Anything that could result in a negative outcome. We have been programmed to be on the lookout for threats. We have been trained to be mindful of predators no matter where we are.

This is how we have survived.

Now that time has passed, here we are with all the same survival instincts. However, we no longer are without shelter, fighting for food, or spend days without a glimpse of hope. We are clothed, warm, comfortable and have access to nearly everything we could possibly need. Yet we still feel the stress of our earliest species.

We continue to chase comfort, because why wouldn’t we. Our species has adapted to make things easier. Our technology has grown to create more and more comfort. Our stressors are no longer what helps us survive. Our stressors have evolved into anything that makes us uncomfortable.

Discomfort gives the perceived feeling that we are in danger. Our bodies react the same way. More and more stressors are added to our lives as things get easier. You always hear the older generations talk about how much harder it was “back in my day,” and the truth is, it was.

Simplified technology made it so those generations most likely felt physiological stressors more often. No wonder today’s generations have such a hard time making a simple phone call. We have grown with our technology. The text message has simplified what used to be a phone conversation, and that is what we have grown accustomed to. There is no longer as much of a need to make a phone call, because it’s not the only way. There are other, easier forms of communication.

We have created our own anxiety

Because of all of these technological advances, we have set a new high water mark for where discomfort begins. What used to be easy is now hard. Technology that once made our lives so much easier has become outdated and obsolete. 

Now, in order to counter this newly created anxiety, we have to revert back to old ways. A cultural movement has begun of people using hormesis, a way of reintroducing moderate amounts of stress into your life, to combat what we have done to ourselves over time.

Notorious B.I.G. said it best “mo money, mo problems” and we are seeing essentially the same thing happen with advancing technology, just new problems. 

Cold plunges, ice baths, breathing exercises, HIIT workouts, media fasts, grounding, meditation. All are ways of attempting to return to life before this manufactured anxiety.

These physical activities are all used to enhance your mental strength. Your ability to feel peace within your mind again. Your ability to overcome what used to be simple challenges in life. 

But can we solve the anxious mind without partaking in these activities? It’s a million dollar question and it’s worth examining.

As I dive more into this subject, I realize there is a lot more to the way we feel than just advancing technology. It comes down to the way we were raised, the things we were taught, where we grew up, and many other factors. 

Through the remainder of this book, I will guide you through the process of recognizing your thoughts, finding their origins, and reframing them. It will take work. You will not read this book and suddenly have the ability to cure your anxiety. My goal is to supply you with the tools and the knowledge to dive deep into your mind and attack your cynicism, your pessimism, and your anxiety at its roots.

It may not be your fault you are this way, but it is your problem. It’s up to you to fix it.