As we move along the terra-firma beneathe us, the anxieties that plague our minds and bodies exist in tandem with our day to day activities. Although disadvantageous to our happiness and our health, we humans have evolved to function in spite of our internal dialouge and psycho-emotional discomforts. Despite our evolved brains, many of us bear the weight of a cluttered and busy mind. On a normal scale, our anxiety and unhappiness doesn't keep us from living our lives, but, it can pester us, reducing the quality of our time here on the top side of our blue planet. Sometimes, it can feel like there is no escape, like our anxieties will follow us no matter what. It can seem as though "mindfulness" and "Nirvana" are reserved for only those with the right personality, religious belief or determination to pursue such things. The rest of us are simply destined to endure. What if I told you that I have learned that anyone can seek such noble causes? What if I said, we need only to ask our body to help us find inner-peace?
Life hasn't always been sentient, nor has it always lived atop the continental plates. Life began in the oceans eons ago. Our home, our origins and our birthplace as organic lifeforms lay deep below the ocean's surface. Inside of each one of us are the primordial limbic systems and plasmic solutions of an ancient truth. Inside every human, there is a personal sea, wrapped in a thick cellular fortress that is designed to resist the harshness of this world-above-the-water.
When in utero, without our defenses fully formed, we develop safely inside the aquarium of the human womb. When ready to attempt our first breathe of air, we emerge with our guards up. Our first breath is often snapped into us with an almost forceful, rude awakening. It's as if we would prefer to stay in the peaceful comfort of our aquatic home rather than face the harsh environment of a dry world. It's as if, from the beginning of our lives, we feel we belong in the water more than anywhere. How easy it is, to forget that our true home is still carried within us.
The Mammalian Dive Response: Returning Home.
From the surface, the depth of the ocean can feel alien and mysterious. But, as we begin our decent, we find we are built to embrace it. When we start to submerge our body, we are overcome with release from our land locked minds. Our cheeks contain nerve receptors that signal our body to begin a dramatic change when we submerge our face in cold water. Almost immediately, our heart rate begins to plummet in an effort to conserve oxygen. In this state of intense physiological response, it is impossible for us to speed up our heart rate. No amount of exercise or anxiety can kick our body out of its hardwired desire to preserve our life. Short of introducing drugs into our system, or engaging our fear response, our body is determined to prevent any unnecessary expense. In this moment, we begin our decent into ourselves and our biological heritage.
As our heart rate slows, our body begins to shut down the systems that are not essential to our survival. Our trivial anxieties are replaced with an extreme focus on our vital systems and immediate surroundings. On land, we can hold all of our thoughts and worries inside of our mind as our body subconsciously carries us through our task. Underwater, however, the mind must shed it's shackles and disabilities in favor of a more mindful state. The brain cannot behave in any manner other than one that is beneficial to us. It's as if a switch is flipped inside our mind, and we are forced to let go of everything but what matters most.
As we go deeper, it is not just the psycho-emotional non-essentials we cast away, but the physical as well. Blood rushes from our outer extremities towards our vital organs to provide enough oxygen to keep them functional. The blood pressure inside our organ tissue increases dramatically in order to counteract the increasing pressure from the water above. In fact, our body can withstand pressures below water that would cause lung and organ collapse at surface level. It would seem that the pressures above us hold no weight when we are submerged in water. We become equalised with our stressors, able to cope with an almost super-human capacity.
As our oxygen depletes further, the brain sends signals to the spleen to start contracting, releasing a store of oxygenated blood. The spleen then floods our body with the nourishing nectar of an evolutionary plan, devised long before our present form. Our focus deepens inwards, and the awareness of our own self magnifies. In this state, we become expansive and concentrated at the same time. As we flip the deeply rooted switch of our aquatic heritage, we shed our outer layers and revert back to the self-aware and physically divine animals we once were. It is here we are shown our true selves, without distraction.
When the time comes to return to the surface, the air feels like a gift from mother nature herself. Our systems begin to kick-start back into gear and the world comes rushing back in one swift moment. Just as our bodies have not forgotten the experiences of our ancient past, we too can hold onto the moments of inner-peace that we find below. Although our evolved bodies are more functional here, on the surface, the essence of our being still lives inside of us, submerged in the home of our aqueous self.
To know that there exists a switch embedded inside of our bodies capable of accessing the vitality of life is freeing beyond words. This knowledge alone can be enough to cast the grey shadows out of our surface-dwelling days. With the experiences of an ancient truth safely tucked away in the back of our minds, our time on the surface seems much easier. Knowing that our aquatic salvation is always there, waiting, as an ancient trust between being and body, can give inner-peace to us all. When we embrace this respite, we need do anything but allow our body to carry us toward inner peace, it's as if the totality of time itself is saying to us:
Welcome home.
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