Who among us is not afraid? Who among us does not experience moments of panic? It's not necessary to be attacked at night; fear is part of our daily life, and panic can manifest even in the seemingly mundane act of receiving a message on our mobile phones.
My experience as a mediator and Aikidoka has allowed me to thoroughly study fear and work on its management. Today, we talk about the panic reflexes —fight, flee, and freeze—and how they manifest in our lives. We discuss how fear is an integral part of our days and influences us in many ways. I will teach you what servile and masterful automatisms are and how to use them to your advantage. We'll also see the Color Code of Mental Awareness, the military code used to identify our level of preparation and awareness in unexpected situations (just crossing the street can present an unexpected situation)!
In the second part of the episode, I will illustrate five super effective exercises to control our fears. And just to share everything, I will tell you about my tragic experience with mushrooms... yes, what can I do... it's not guaranteed that some fears make sense!
But we'll see that part in the next episode.
Enjoy this episode, which is very complex for me because it's full of personal references. The editing is also less precise than usual, but I wanted my reactions to be as natural as possible.
Comment with your experience on the episode post on Instagram and send me a DM with suggestions for the next episodes: https://www.instagram.com/ritsu_aikido/
And if you're in Rome, we look forward to teaching you how to manage fear on the tatami! All the information is here: https://kohakuaikidoroma.com/
Join the Ritsu's Community! Train hard, live soft!
For further exploration:
Zanshintech: the first digital martial art. All information here: https://zanshintech.it/
Color Code of Mental Awareness: In military training and the teaching of some martial arts, reference is made to the Colour Code of Mental Awareness, theorized by Colonel John Cooper (1920-2006). It is a system to identify each stage of attention with a color and to learn to maintain a high level of alertness in everyday life.
Panic Reflexes: Fight, flee, or freeze manifest in situations of strong emotional and psychological stress.
(0:08) What's up cuties, this is the Ritsu's Vibes Podcast and if you're looking for that moment of (0:14) inspiration that comes when you least expect it, then you are in the right place. (0:19) In this space, we talked about what happens to us every day through a special lens, the (0:24) martial way of the samurai, which that genius, Ueshiba Morihei, transformed into the art (0:30) of Aikido. (0:31) What? (0:32) You don't know what I'm talking about? (0:33) Then stay with me.
(0:40) Haha, fear, but who among us doesn't feel fear? (0:45) How many things do we give up because we are afraid? (0:48) How many people do we not talk to because we cannot handle them? (0:52) How many situations do we say, uh, no thanks? (0:57) Because often, fear is simply stepping out of the comfort zone. (1:01) It's not that we have to be attacked at night to be afraid. (1:04) I have a lot of fear, a lot, always.
(1:07) It seems weird to say it, but there are many, many things I am afraid of. (1:12) Fear of serious illnesses, fear that my children will get hurt, fear of conflict, fear of (1:19) traveling to certain places. (1:21) It's not that I don't live.
(1:23) I live quite well because we add sidesteps to our lives to avoid situations that scare (1:28) us. (1:29) But if we knew how to manage our fear, if we knew how it manifests and how we react, (1:35) in many situations, we would act completely differently. (1:39) I'm talking about panic reflexes because they are the detectors of our fear.
(1:44) How do we react to a situation? (1:47) What panic reflex do we activate in a situation that scares us? (1:51) And as I mentioned before, it doesn't have to be an attack. (1:54) Panic creeps into our lives even if we don't realize it. (1:59) So today, I wanted to talk to you about this.
(2:02) How do we react to something that scares us? (2:05) Whether it's something sudden, something that triggers panic, or whether it's that latent (2:10) panic that is part of our everyday life. (2:13) Let's go. (2:20)
And you want to know the typical situation where the panic reflexes manifests? (2:25) Online. (2:26) Welcome to the real world. (2:28) The problem, here, is not that someone is trying to attack us at night, no, it's sending a (2:33) message on social media, interacting with someone we have never seen, writing on social (2:38) media and receiving a fantastic shitstorm, for instance, interacting with someone we (2:43) only know online, and suddenly, they ghost us, and we say, what did I do? (2:48) What happened? (2:50) And finding out that our classmates have a fantastic chat, only we are not in it, for (2:55) sure, because we are the object of the chat. (2:57) They are all happily making fun of us, they even share photos and videos of us in class (3:03) doing things that are perfectly normal for us, apparently, though, others find them hilarious.
(3:08) As you know, I teach in this fantastic project that uses martial arts to protect against (3:13) bullying and cyberbullying, so, digital aggression. (3:16) Together with other wonderful teachers, we apply this method called Zanshin Tech. (3:21) Send me a DM on Instagram if you want to know more, because guys, it's something extraordinary (3:26) and so necessary. (3:28) And since the dojo is also digital, it can be followed from anywhere, not just in Rome.
(3:32) Anyway, I was saying, teaching in schools to defend against bullying and cyberbullying, (3:37) I have seen how unprepared we are for digital aggression because we think, well, it's on (3:43) the other side of the computer, what's the problem? (3:46) Instead, digital is real. (3:49) Of course it's real.
(3:50) Its effects are real. (3:52) And the internet is therefore a fantastic place to study panic, panic reflexes, and how we (3:58) react to what scares us. (4:00) So, when we think about fear, let's not just think about something extreme.
(4:05) Let's think that it is something very present in our daily life, and therefore, recognizing (4:11) panic reflexes should be the foundation. (4:13) So let's start with something we study as the first thing to become a teacher in Zanshin (4:19) Tech. (4:20) In military training and in some martial arts teaching, it was theorized by Colonel John (4:26) Cooper, and therefore, it's a military strategy, a system to identify each stage of attention (4:32) with a color and to learn to maintain a high level of alertness in everyday life. (4:38) Without delving too much into the details of the color code of mental awareness, partly (4:43) because we would need more than one lesson just for that, and also because it's enough (4:48) to follow the Zanshin Tech method to delve into it, we must think as if in every situation (4:54) we have a color in our mind.
(4:56) If it's white, we are disconnected. (4:59) Not only are we not vigilant, but we are also unable to react to warning signals. (5:05) For instance, if I am talking on the phone completely absorbed in my conversation while (5:10) crossing the street without looking and not realizing that a car is coming towards me, (5:15) that it's a white level, in the sense that I am not aware of the risk because I am totally (5:19) distracted by the action I am taking. (5:21) I am not vigilant because I am on the phone. (5:24)
Then, there is the conscious level. (5:27) Be vigilant and attentive, and at the same time enjoy life. (5:31) That's the yellow level. (5:32) We live our life peacefully, we are ready, prepared, we know the techniques to stay focused, (5:38) our body is trained, and we know the rules to manage dangerous situations. (5:42) The yellow level is the level that we teach in Zanshin Tech, the one that everyone should (5:47) have always. (5:48) Awareness is a lifelong study. (5:50) Of course, to cross the street, you just need to look if cars are coming, but awareness (5:55) in every situation of our daily life, awareness of ourselves, our emotion, our body, and the (6:02) rules we need to know to manage ourselves, is not a trivial thing.
(6:06) Beyond the yellow level, there is the focus level, orange level. (6:11) It's when we realize there is a truth, and we try to understand how to handle it. (6:17)
If the level turns red, the truth is active, and we must react.
(6:22) After that, there are two other levels, gray and black. (6:27) Gray is autopilot. (6:29) We act without thinking, act against the truth without reasoning.
(6:33) The black level is panic. (6:35) Panic reflexes come into play, and we are no longer able to reflect on anything. (6:41) Obviously, these last two levels are to be avoided, because reacting on autopilots leads (6:47) us into the magical world of automatism.
(6:50) And as my Aikido sensei always said, automatism can be servile or masterful. (6:56) The masterful automatism is the automatism that saves our life, the so-called instinctive (7:03) reflex that protects us when needed. (7:05) The servile automatism, on the other hand, is still a reflex, but it is the reflex that (7:10) we should not apply in a given situation, which we often unconsciously apply, though.
(7:16) If we find ourselves in the gray, on autopilot, we risk activating servile reflexes instead (7:23) of masterful ones, and thus seriously harming ourselves. (7:28) If, on the other hand, we are in the black, we are directly in panic, and therefore we (7:33) do not even react, but indeed apply panic reflexes. (7:36) To give you an example of servile or masterful automatism, so that you can understand exactly (7:42) what I'm talking about, always using the example of the street, let's imagine we are crossing (7:47) the street and we don't see a car, and the car is coming at us. (7:51) A moment before the impact, we can have two types of reactions. (7:55) We curl up and the car hits us head on, a panic reflex and a servile automatism, or (8:01) we sidestep, like making a lateral jump, avoiding the car, masterful automatism, which saves (8:08) our lives. (8:09) But imagine a car suddenly coming at you, how many of you think that will have the masterful (8:16) automatism? (8:17) When something like this happens, you will curl up, I mean, it's foolish, a bus is coming (8:23) at you and you curl up, but this is the reaction we normally have.
(8:26) The other automatism, the masterful one, is more difficult to achieve, mainly because (8:30) it usually results from specific training. (8:34)
So what we do today? (8:35) Well, we define panic reflexes so that each of you can recognize which panic reflex tends (8:41) to take precedence in a dangerous situation. (8:45) And beyond this, I will also define the automatisms and I will give you a full understanding of (8:51) them. (8:51) And I will tell you about some super effective exercises that you need to control your panic (8:57) related reactions. (8:58) Like this, step by step, you can work on your panic reflexes and your reaction and (9:04) try to be always in the yellow alert state, the conscious state, which is basically essentially (9:10) what we do here with every episode, talking about how martial arts and Aikido can influence (9:15) our daily life and help us to be more aware of ourselves. (9:20)
So let's go with the definition of panic reflexes.
(9:22) First panic reflex, fight. (9:25) It occurs when someone reacts aggressively to an attack, but does so driven by anger (9:31) and without reasoning, showing hostility, shouting, becoming violent, attacking the aggressor or (9:37) in general, losing composure and no longer thinking clearly. (9:41) Example can be anger outburst, physical violence, verbal abuse. (9:46) And today I will try to give you online examples of those reflexes. (9:51) Let's say we write a message on social media. (9:54) We get attacked, a real shitstorm. (9:57) People write all sorts of things. (9:59) Like we said something stupid, something nonsense and we panic. (10:04) We are like, why everyone is suddenly attacking me? (10:08) I was just writing something.(10:10) What's happening there? (10:11) Panic reflex, fight. (10:13) I start writing, insulting left and right everyone, saying, how dare you? (10:20) What do you want? (10:21) Everyone has the right to express themselves. (10:23) Who the hell are you? (10:25) And I write, and since I write, I feel the shitstorm creating an escalation that will (10:33) harm me and only me.
(10:36) Panic reflex, flee. (10:39) This happens when someone reacts to an attack by running away, completely rejecting that (10:45) attack and desperately trying to disappear. (10:48) Still talking about online examples, we turn off the phone, refuse to acknowledge the aggression (10:54) and what is happening and losing the ability to think clearly. (10:59) Faced with a shitstorm, we are like, damn, everyone is insulting me. (11:03) Instead of explaining ourself or seeking a solution, we turn everything off. (11:08) But just because I turn off the computer, that doesn't make my interlocutor disappear. (11:13) They still exist. (11:15) When I turn the computer back on, I will find them, but I don't know how to react. (11:21) And I react by running away. (11:22) But the big problem is that we can't escape from ourselves. (11:26) So no matter how much we want to escape, sooner or later, we have to stop. (11:33) This is a very dangerous reflex, because usually when we realize we have no place to run, we (11:40) start considering very dangerous thoughts.
(11:44) The third reflex, freeze. (11:47) It appears when someone reacts to an attack by freezing. (11:50) I don't know what to do. (11:53) I can't make any decisions. (11:55) I become paralyzed and unable to react. (11:57) It's the famous reflex I mentioned earlier, the severe automatism of freezing in front (12:03) of the car coming at me. (12:05) It's often accompanied by very high anxiety. (12:11) And in extreme cases, the ability to think clearly is lost. (12:17) The freeze state can last several hours. (12:19) So, for instance, for a sanctioned tech operator, for those who, like us, teach how to handle (12:27) situations of danger or high anxiety, we must be prepared to forcibly calm down our interlocutor, (12:34) waiting the necessary time for composer to return.
(12:40) So what do you think? (12:41) Which panic reflex do you identify with the most? (12:45) Have you ever experienced it? (12:47) Let me know in a DM on Instagram and let me know by commenting the post of this episode (12:54) on Instagram. (12:55) And if you like, share your experience. (12:56) Once we understand what panic reflexes are and which panic reflex we might be more sensitive (13:06) to, let's move on to the second part of the episode, which is what we can actually do. (13:13) I suffered from panic attacks for years following a significant loss in my life. (13:19) Even now, I can't say that they have completely disappeared, but the passage of time on one (13:24) side and the practice of Aikido on the other have significantly reduced my reactions. (13:29) One thing that those who have never experienced panic don't know is that when it happens, (13:35) you literally feel like you're dying, making it extremely difficult to calm down. (13:42) Furthermore, it's essential to be clear that it might take a long time to regain our composer. (13:51) As I mentioned earlier regarding the freeze reflex and some exercises can certainly help us, (13:59) but we need to practice them a lot. (14:01) Nothing happens with just a couple of tries. (14:05) For instance, my father suffers from chronic sinusitis and sometimes has nocturnal apneas (14:11) that cause him significant anxiety attacks. (14:14) He asked me to teach him some meditation exercises, but after five minutes he was like, (14:19) well, it's not working. (14:22) And I was like, I mean, of course it doesn't work. (14:27) I mean, are those people who do it for a lifetime just crazy? (14:30) Nothing happens in five minutes. (14:32) You have to invest some time to learn to know how to control yourself.
(14:38) But practically, what we can do? (14:40) Well, the exercises I'm going to teach you are five and they are extremely effective. (14:47) Let's talk about them in the next episode. (14:51) So please stay tuned. (14:53) Also because I will share my personal experience with my number one fear, mushrooms. (15:01) Yes, I know there are some fears that make no sense. (15:05) So please be supportive and listen to the next part of the episode. (15:09) Thank you for staying with me and I will see you in the next episode.