Low Adrenaline, High Learning

(This blog was originally posted on July 18, 2014)

Me with Monty Robert at Equine Affaire, Pomona in 2008

Photo courtesy of Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht.

One of my favorite expressions is something that horseman Monty Roberts reminds his human and equine students: “Low adrenaline, high learning.” What he means is, when you are calm and relaxed, it is easier (possible) to complete tasks, learn and retain more information. This philosophy also applies to your horse. However, if something happens during the training session and you respond by panicking or becoming frustrated and/or angry, the body releases adrenaline to help you cope with the situation by facilitating the fight/flight behavior. This adrenaline dump is a subconscious response, not a conscious decision: the only thing that matters is protecting the body surviving the encounter to live another day. However, once you are mentally, emotionally and physically functioning (behaving) in fight/flight perspective, your horse—which as a prey animal already, naturally responds to stress in fight/flight mode—quickly perceives your panic and becomes afraid. At that point, whatever you were working on or teaching him before is over-ridden by the survival response until your adrenaline level returns to normal and you can reassure your horse that it’s safe to keep working and learning. When we can override this initial fear response we can literally save ourselves.

I frequently remind myself of Mr. Roberts’s philosophy, and not only when I am working with horses. It is also a terrific mantra to repeat when I am stuck in heavy freeway traffic and start to feel impatient and frustrated. I know that I’m not going anywhere fast, but if I can remain calm and relaxed I will be more likely to notice a break in the traffic so I can change lanes and go on my way. I also remind myself of this philosophy when my computer freezes or I experience some other technological disaster. Following are some other instances in which Mr. Roberts’s “Low adrenaline, high learning” philosophy would apply:

•          In the feature film Gravity, Sandra Bullock’s character, Ryan Stone, is ultimately and only able to rescue herself when she starts to take deep breaths and focuses on what she needs to do to operate the computer systems in the capsule. When Stone is initially separated from the space shuttle and her colleagues, hurtling through space, she panics. She starts to hyperventilate and continues to spin out of control (literally and emotionally) until she is able to regulate her breathing and can follow her commander’s instructions that guide her to the safety of a capsule that brings her back to Earth. Once Stone is able to slow down her breathing and heart-rate to control the adrenaline coursing through her body, she can access the information and technological skills stored in her subconscious mind and focus on what she needed to do to get home.
•          Firefighters, paramedics and police seem unflappable during an emergency. The first thing these first responders do after assessing a crisis is to reassure the victim(s) that they are safe and being taken care of. They are trained to control the adrenaline surging through their own bodies so they can do their job efficiently and effectively. In turn, their calm demeanor provides comfort and increases the victim’s confidence to regulate his or her heart- and respiratory-rates to slow down or prevent shock, etc., which could cause further damage to the brain and body.
•          When athletes prepare to compete, they take slow, deep breaths and even stretch or do light exercise to help relax their body and focus on what they must accomplish on the field, golf links, ice-skating arena, etc. They know and understand that the calmer and more relaxed they feel, the less likely they are to react to or be distracted by background “noise” in the environment and focus on accomplishing their athletic goal.

What can—what do—you learn and accomplish when your adrenaline-level is low?

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2015