109 – Herbal Support for the Flight Response

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast with your host, Nicole Rose from the

Solidarity Apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and

liberation.

Let's get started.

Hello. Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

So it is the last week that the Herbalism PTSD and Traumatic Stress course is open.

So I'm going to be releasing a kind of short episode every day this week for from something

I created earlier in the summer called Soothing Survival.

So this was like a kind of email series, like a five part email series that people could

sign up for and you still can if you want to get like a kind of written overview of what

I'm sharing this week.

All about like the different nervous system states in the body.

And yeah, it was kind of,

you know, introducing that nervous system state and then looking at a kind of one hub

for each state basically.

And today I'm going to be kind of reading through what I wrote in those emails, but

sharing it in a bit of a kind of deeper, richer way and talking a little bit more about

the plant that was mentioned.

So if you've signed up for Soothing Survival, I think you'll still find this helpful.

And I know sometimes like listening to things, it goes in better than reading.

And if you haven't signed up for Soothing Survival, you're still like super welcome to

join it.

And then you'll get a nice kind of like bullet

pointed overview of what I'm talking about on this episode.

So but before I dive into the first state that I talk about, I just want to kind of give like

a gentle introduction and maybe some disclaimers and that, yeah, like, basically

our nervous systems are like incredible and they have evolved over thousands of years to

kind of keep us alive.

And this concept of like survival,

like it isn't ******* abstract, right? Like it is a daily reality for so many people

to be on the edge of survival.

You know, whether that's like the unspeakable

horrors being experienced in Sudan or Palestine or like, you know, loads of other

countries in terms of, you know, what people are experiencing in prison and other

environments and people on the move and you know,

like, survival isn't like just like a kind of nervous system state that we have to like

unlearn, if that makes sense.

Like even people who feel very like resourced

in the world and have a lot of,

you know, economic privilege, for example, are still often living with a nervous system where

they're feeling that kind of capitalist scarcity of like not enough and fear of losing

it and,

you know, just Kind of, yeah.

How do we keep afloat in this world?

So yeah, I just want to say that like our nervous system states are like very protective

and I don't want to pathologize them.

Like the sort of, you know, fight or flight

response, for example, isn't a ******* bad thing.

Like it's a life saving thing.

But I think some of the challenges come in when these nervous system states get sort of

stuck.

So instead of serving us,

you know, they can kind of begin to take away our joy.

Like a sense of safety or just like a capacity to feel alive because we're being sort of

dominated by that stress response.

And yeah, in this series I'm going to be, you know, talking about these different states but

like they're not ******* binary and it's not as simple as fight or flight is bad and rest

and digest is good, which is, you know, the parasympathetic nervous system.

Like we don't want to be in a parasympathetic state like all day, every day.

Like we would get nothing done.

Like we wouldn't also feel that aliveness that

can come with being sort of like activated.

And you'll sort of learn like there are nervous system states that aren't that involve

the sympathetic nervous system that involve this kind of activation, but aren't

necessarily like quote unquote bad.

Like you know, like the play state for example, or sexual intimacy often involves

like a mix of like activation and kind of you know, like adrenaline and a sympathetic

nervous system response as well as like a lot of pleasure hopefully.

Okay, so yeah, so I just want to emphasize like they're not a binary and that we also

don't like we can experience many sort of states at once.

But I think the sort of state that is the one that is enabling of us to live a full amazing

life is this sort of safe and social state where we are able to feel like connected to

other people and non humans as well and where kind of like care and like intimacy and

kinship like feel possible.

Because when we are in like an activated state that stuff just goes out the window, right?

Like we don't trust humans, we're full of fear.

And so yeah, like I think I don't want to feel like quote unquote calm, but I want to feel

able to connect with other people and also be like a kind of air quotes, like safe person

for other people.

Like I want people to interact with me and feel warmth and calm and safety and not be,

you know, not feel threatened by me.

So yeah,

and I Think like in this kind of work, like one of the most helpful phrases that I've ever

come across around like polyvagal theory or like nervous system state stuff is like story

follows state.

So if you were in a fight or flight kind of activated sympathetic nervous system state,

the world will feel threatening no matter what's going on for you.

Like the world might be genuinely threatening, you know, you might be like fearing that

you're apartment building is going to get ******* bombed by *******, you know, Israel.

In which case like it makes complete sense to be in that nervous system state.

But for someone who isn't in that kind of life or death situation but still feels activated

like that, like you will perceive the world as threatening.

Like you will see other drivers as taking the **** out of you and threatening you.

You will think, oh, that person looked at me wrong.

You know, like maybe you'll be kind of getting into conflict because you perceive the world

as threaten.

Um, whereas when you're in a more like safe and social state, you will perceive it as,

yeah, like safer.

I remember coming out of a EDMR and trauma

releasing exercise session where you like induce shaking in the body which was like

extremely life changing for me during like a very intense period of like prison related

ptsd.

And yeah, I remember needing to go to the shop after this session and just smiling at the

person at the checkout and I was like,

wow, this is nice.

Like this is actually how people feel when

they feel in safe and social like that,

you know, the world isn't a threat.

Like not everyone is out to get you.

And yeah, so anyway,

I think this story follow state premise is really, really.

Yeah, it's really valuable to kind of hold through these, through these episodes.

But yeah, it is this intimacy of noticing these states and how to work with them that

can change like everything.

So for me, for example,

when I know that I'm activated, I can for example text with a partner and be like, I

don't want to talk about this right now because I feel really activated, like can we

come back to it?

And I will have that insight now to go and self soothe, you know, to go in the garden to

play with my baby or whatever, to then be in a better place to have,

you know, a potentially more like difficult emotional conversation.

Whereas I feel like when you don't have that intimacy of what's going on for you, you're

kind of, you're like a wildfire rather than a blowtorch.

And I remember a therapist saying to me like, we have to make you A blowtorch.

Like not someone that is like ******* angry at everyone and everything,

but someone who can like use that anger and that fire with like, skill and focus.

Okay, so yeah, so anyway,

just, yeah, before we dive in, I just want to kind of ask some questions of like, which of

these states,

as you listen to the episodes,

feel most familiar to you and yeah, what for you helps you move into this like, safe and

social state.

So anyway, I'm gonna dive into the first one and just.

Shameless plug.

The herbalism PTSD and traumatic stress course

If you're listening to this in the future.

So please, please check it out and don't miss it.

It's no one turned away flag funds.

So yeah, please kind of access that resource

if you need it.

All right, let's get stuck in.

All right, so the first nervous system state that we're diving into is the flight response.

And you know, like I emphasized in the introduction, all of these different nervous

system states serve different functions and they aren't a binary.

They're not like bad.

And you know, the flight response is brilliant when you need to escape danger and you need to

flee to kind of seek safety.

And as I mentioned in the introduction, there are like shitloads of examples of real world

trauma where that is really, really, really, really helpful.

But when it gets stuck and starts to kind of affect our lives, like when it doesn't need to

be kind of activated, if that makes sense, that's when we have challenges.

So a kind of stuck flight response can look like anxiety and worry and nervousness,

apprehension,

feelings of dread, panic is a really big one,

you know, like avoidance.

So yeah, I'll talk about that more in a minute.

Procrastination and just like a big sensation of pressure.

And so when we're in this state, the world can feel very overwhelming and unsafe and very

stressful.

And the kind of embodied habits that we might

notice in ourselves in this kind of stuck nervous system state are fidgeting and a kind

of constant feeling of restlessness.

The kind of impulse to leave situations when they feel too much.

Maybe there is behavior around avoiding conflict to protect emotional resources.

You just can't cope hopes so you're just gonna turn off that difficult thing, if that makes

sense.

Bursting into tears is a very common kind of flight response in my experience.

Especially when things feel really overwhelming and when that kind of like,

yeah, sense of overwhelm has kind of hit its limit, we might see kind of like catastrophic

or like worst case scenario thinking and yeah, like, in any kind of fight flight state,

we might sort of read or like, perceive neutral expressions in someone el else as

threatening.

So, yeah, you know, if this sounds familiar, like, you're really not alone.

Like, I think the flight response is.

Is probably like the most common response.

And I think there's a real gender dynamic to it as well, of people kind of socialized as

female are often more in this response.

And, you know, it is, like I said, it's a way of keeping yourself safe, but when it lingers,

it can be really, really exhausting.

So just to build on that a little bit, like, I think,

yeah, like, anxiety is such an interesting thing that lots of people have come to me in

the past seeking herbal support around because,

you know, it's something that really affects your life.

Like, it really limits what you want to do in the world.

It can limit your access to, like, social support.

You know, like, when we're in these states, we're not in this, like,

safe and social state where we feel able to socialize, to connect, to trust other people,

to feel joy.

And I think anxiety is an interesting mix because, you know, for example, having

financial anxiety might mean that,

you know, you take some action, you know, you apply for a credit card, you try and get a new

job, you know, you do something or whatever to get money, and that is going to keep you safe

in the sense of getting money for food or heating or whatever.

And so there is like, a function to anxiety, if that makes sense.

But say, for example, you actually do have your basic needs met.

It might become, like, unnecessary to be, like, put like, you know, kind of aggressively

ruminating about something, for example,

you know, like.

And I think social anxiety is very interesting

as well in terms of that, like, background activation and like, background buildup.

I think the flight response can unfortunately lead to other responses like, freeze, which

I'll talk about in another episode.

But yeah, basically we are trying to protect, like, a very overwhelmed system,

and the flight is like our first approach to safety.

It's like fleeing in danger, you know, like, it's the guy in the screen mask coming at you

and you running away.

You know, that makes much more sense than trying to, like, fight off this.

This guy.

Sorry, that's a really weird example.

I think it's because Halloween is coming up

anyway.

Okay, so, yeah, how the do we shift out of the

flight response?

So, you know, that is like a whole other field of,

you know, work and study and learning about the body and all the things and different

things will work for everyone.

But you know, it might look like breathing

exercises, you know, with longer kind of exile exhales.

It might look like shaking,

like trauma releasing exercises are incredible at inducing this kind of natural shaking in

the body.

It might look like walking or running or you know, or like moving in any way your body

allows.

I'm aware that not everyone can walk or run.

I remember this is, I'm just ad libbing here but like way back in the day there was this

kind of constellation called Reclaim the Fields and maybe it's still going on but at

least in the so called uk like there was like quite a,

you know, a big crew and like different things happening under this banner.

It was like a constellation of kind of like anti capitalist food growers and people that

cared about access to land and things.

And like there was this amazing squatted farm in the Forest of Dean that was like under

threat of eviction and everyone was on such high alert for like weeks slash months and

there was a lot of stress and then there was like a big eviction attempt and, and I

remember a friend,

I won't say his name because he might want to be anonymous.

I don't have his consent to plug him but they ended up once this kind of threat subsided,

having this like big game of like capture the flag where they could just like all run around

and like it just relieved like so much kind of tension and I think,

you know, like if I've had a stressful morning, like if I get the chance to walk the

dog on my own, for example, like it is very therapeutic.

Like I will try and like, I mean I'm not a ******* runner, like I hate running but I will

try and like do some sprinting to just like get out that,

that kind of like activation in my body.

So yeah, so movement, you know, and that's like very natural for people in this state.

Like that's what they want to do, like they want to escape, if that makes sense.

Grounding practices can also be useful.

Connecting with the land, you know, kind of

spending time with someone else who feels safe.

Like we never talk about the importance of like the collectiveness around accessing

states of safety.

Like if you're in fight or flight, like many people just need to voice, note a friend or

have a friend come over and that will help them like shift or you know, even like

listening to music for example.

So yeah, so that's a little introduction to the flight state.

And the herb that I've included in the Soothing Survival series,

which is like a herb for each state is actually Motherworthy.

So motherwort is like part of the mint family.

It's like one of my real kind of go to's for this state.

Like I include it a lot in my.

Well I include it in my panic attack guide which is like a free guide on my website for

herbal support for panic attacks.

But it has a very instantaneous kind of strong

relaxing action.

You know, like it's not, I mean it is a fantastic herb for longer term use sort of.

But it's not like our kind of hawthorns that are,

you know, working slowly over time.

It's like really this instantaneous kind of

like relaxant action.

And it's really fantastic for calming kind of heart, heart palpitations.

And I find when people are experiencing the flight response, like it's often very chest

based, like very.

Yeah, anxiety in the chest, like worry overwhelm, like you know, fast heartbeat, like

that kind of anxiety.

And I think motherwort is like really strongly

indicated for,

for that kind of state.

Yeah. So say for example in a panic attack blend, I'll often take just like 15 drops of

tincture or the glycerite like in that kind of acute moment of distress.

And just a safety note like motherwort isn't,

you know, isn't.

It isn't safe in pregnancy because of its like

a menagogue action which means it kind of helps stimulate menstruation.

And it's also very kind of like cooling herb.

And I think anything where there's like fight, flight, sympathetic activation, it's often

accompanied by kind of heat, heat.

But yeah, mother war is quite kind of like

cooling and you know, and it's a little bit drying.

So it's not like ideal for everyone.

If this like weird energetic stuff is like random and doesn't make sense that it's

something that I talk about in the herbalism PTSD and traumatic stress course.

Like what do these terms mean for example?

Yeah, the other thing with mother war is that,

yeah, it's just really brilliant around people that have this kind of increased flight

response when they're like pre menstrual for example.

It's got a real affinity for people with a uterus who are experiencing premenstrual

tension where there's a lot of agitation and frustration and anger.

It's a real amazing antispasmodic imperial pains.

It's fantastic for people experiencing hot flushes.

It's also useful for people experiencing hyperthyroidism, like a overactive thyroid.

And that's quite interesting because I feel like that as a Health challenge often

correlates to a very activated flight response because of these manifestations of, like,

faster heart rate, anxiety,

like nervousness.

So, yeah, so I think that's kind of interesting,

interesting thing.

It's also motherwort is an amazing kind of

like, gentle bitter to help the digestive system.

So bitters kind of communicate with our body to trigger sort of digestive enzymes that can

help us digest our food properly.

Motherwort's also really interesting because it's been shown to be like, quite a good,

like, antiviral and I think very underestimated in that, in that context.

And I do again, another random side note, but I recently was unwell and my.

I was kind of experiencing like,

much more anxiety than normal.

Like, I think I'm a little bit prone to

anxiety, but then when I meet people who are really suffering with anxiety, it makes me

think like, like, I don't have anxiety at all.

Like, I think I'd probably just like,

on a baseline worrying about things that are, like, practical and necessary and I'm not

having my life limited by,

you know, like, a lot of, like, intrusive thoughts and worry and panic and certain

situations definitely don't trigger that in me,

you know, Like, I think a lot of my panic attacks and stuff are very, very prison

focused.

But yeah, anyway, so mother war is also got

this kind of sneaky antiviral property.

And I think when people are dealing with a virus in their body, there are obviously in

kind of like sympathetic mode as well, like as you're resisting this infection.

And I think viruses have this tendency to also cause like, intense anxiety and more of a,

like, flight response in people.

But that's just like my work in theory.

And I'd love to hear other herbalists and

people's experiences anyway, but that is the herb that I recommended for this nervous

system state.

If you're interested in all of this malarkey, the Herbalism PTSD and Traumatic Stress course

is open for enrollment until Monday, the 13th of October.

And you can also access everything I've been banging on about in this soothing survival

email series.

So, yeah, please check that out with the links

in the show notes.

And thanks for listening.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the

show@solidarityapothecary com.org podcast.