A wonderful dog behaviorist we've worked with demonstrates a method of settling an excited puppy. It looks like magic. The trainer explains that on the contrary, it's nature at work. When the human's nervous system is calm and regulated, that 'message' will be...
Holidays have come and gone, and perhaps with them the experience of the mixed blessing of family. These are the most important connections for most of us, and if we are honest, often the most triggering of our stress response. How is it that these two things go...
Our days are full of encounters that our nervous system 'reads' as perilous...even if our thinking minds do not see it that way. Replay your last trip into the supermarket for a moment. You put your mask on as you entered, and once inside you were surrounded by masked...
Our chronically stressed nervous system is like a stray hungry dog who's been badly treated. He wants food, he wants affection, but he is fearful and can't trust a friendly outstretched hand. He might even bite it! The action of our nervous system activated into its...
"I would argue," says Dr. Michael Sharp of Plum Spring Clinic, "that the studies on the health impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are the most important epidemiological studies ever done." The research he refers to—known as the ACEs studies—began with...
The stress reaction, with its 'soup' of hormones, prepares the body for action. It activates quickly, bringing a burst of adrenaline for a fast response to stressor. The startle response happens in 100 milliseconds! If this quick surge doesn't resolve the stress,...