Our Lizard Brain

Otherwise known as the amygdala, is the most primitive part of our brain. It is where our fight or flight response lives.

Our amygdala is a small, almond shaped, part of our brain, located in the temporal lobe, which is where we process memories. So what does this mean exactly?

Well, the reason the amygdala is often referred to as the lizard brain, is because it acts on pure emotion and memory, it does not understand logic or rationale. Our amygdala is our instincts, it warns us of us potential danger. The only problem is this; it’s doesn’t think logically.

Our amygdala will start to fire off warning signals to the rest of our brain the moment something feels suspicious to it. The moment our lizard brain is reminded of a negative emotion or experience, it starts to go into fight or flight mode and often times, we’ll react based solely on what it is telling us.

So do we fight it? Do we even want to fight it?

The short answer is yes but, don’t look at it as if you are fighting against it, look at it as if you are trying to retrain it.

There are a few different ways you can retrain your amygdala, and the method I want to touch base on today, and the one that I personally use, is based on listening to your amygdala and trying to reason with it.

For example, because the amygdala is a purely emotional response, whenever I feel it trying to warn me, I make sure to a), find a spot where I can focus on just my breathing, and b), have an internal dialogue with myself to rationalize as well as normalize my emotions, which is easier said than done.

To go one step further, whenever I go into work, it triggers my anxiety.
I won’t go into the specifics, but I begin to have flashbacks and my anxiety shoots through the roof whenever I simply think about going into work. So what I do to combat this is by first controlling and focusing on my breathing (I literally think about my lungs filling and deflating as I breathe). Then I start that internal dialogue with myself (while still also keeping a focus on my breathing). What is happening to me is based on a past experience yet my amygdala is reacting as if it’s still a viable threat to my safety, it’s become over-stimulated, so in that internal dialogue, I’m basically reasoning with myself. Reassuring myself that there is no immediate danger and by reminding myself of the lessons I’ve learned because of the past. In doing this, it helps the amygdala to relax and although it doesn’t get rid of the anxiety and fear entirely, it does put my lizard brain on a lower alert so I can continue to work as if nothing is wrong. Once again, this is a lot easier said than done, but it is possible with practice.

As mentioned earlier, our lizard brain is primitive and doesn’t use logic, so it’s up to us to introduce logic and rationale into our thought process to help the amygdala calm down. Once you are able to rationalize with your amygdala, you can then start working on another method for retaining your amygdala, which is unlearning the fear response, which is something we’ll explore in greater detail down the line.

So the next time you feel like you’re going into a fight or flight reaction, try to focus on your breathing and think logically about why you’re reacting in the way you are. Our lizard brain is trained to run away from fear because it wants to survive, so tell it that there’s nothing to be afraid of.