Bring Your ‘Alert’ Level Down

By the time you leave the house on a morning your brain has already been bombarded with so much information that you are almost definitely in a state of ‘high alert’. It’s modern technology that’s mostly to blame, with mobile phones and 24-hour news putting us in a constant state of worry. And even worse, this is addictive.

It wasn’t a coincidence that I first experienced excruciating pain at a time when I was really stressed – even though I didn’t realise it then. But when I specifically focused on the idea of being permanently on ‘high alert’, I realised how much lowering my ‘alert’ levels would help with the pain.

Fight or flight response

In our cave man era as hunter gatherers, we needed to be alert to danger. Our ‘fight or flight’ response kept us alive when threatened by a hungry animal.

But today the brain’s perceived dangers are not life-threatening. Yet our bodies react in the same way putting us in a perpetual state of stress. Operating at this level of high alert is unsustainable and research has shown that it contributes to chronic pain.

Meditation

We’ve all heard how meditation can help reduce stress levels. But there have been so many times when I tried to sit still and just could not switch off – felt ‘out of control’. But the truth was I couldn’t relax because I felt like I couldn’t let go; I needed to hold everything together. I felt like if I came down from this level of ‘alertness’ I wouldn’t get anything done and things would go wrong.

What I hadn’t realised is that I needed to address my ‘high alert’ status before trying to relax and meditate. This was far easier once I was on a lower alert level.

How did I know I was on high alert?

I love reading but I was reading everything. I would read the newspaper every day, magazines, and scroll on Facebook. These were all full of two things which keep us on high alert: 1. Events in the world which I couldn’t do anything about and 2. Adverts and promotions telling me what I needed/was missing out on to get the perfect life.

Thanks to algorithms, all sorts popped up on my phone about pain and what condition I might have and what I should do about it. My body responded in exactly the same way as thousands of years ago: with a constant hefty dose of cortisol and adrenaline, but all the time leading to a state of ‘high alert’ (never Google symptoms… it really isn’t worth it).

Steps to reducing your alert level

You could have a look at what you could reduce your exposure to. Even if it means coming off social media apps, not listening to/reading the news constantly, or keeping away from people who put you in a state of ‘high alert’. It doesn’t need to be forever, just try it.

Once you’ve lowered your alert levels, try meditation: Book in Meditation.