Dragon and Eagle are inside us

A dragon lives inside each of us. This is a reptilian brain that can react quickly, very quickly to a stress factor. For us to survive. Because when a leopard jumps on your back, you need to act, not think.

The trouble is that today we no longer have leopards jumping on our backs, and more often we need to think before we act. And there are more stressors than ever before. So it turns out that the reptilian brain reacts to a bitchy boss, to a whimpering baby, to a cat getting underfoot or to a driver signaling in a traffic jam the same way it does to a leopard: it turns on the "Run or fight" reaction. Hence - increased anxiety and inadequate aggression.

However, the dragon has an antipode. If the brain itself is compared to the World Tree, then the reptilian brain will become Nidhogg, and the prefrontal cortex of the neocortex will become an eagle sitting at the top of the Tree. This part of the brain is able to inhibit the "run or fight" reaction and launches its own version: stop and think.

There are different ways to trigger a stop and think reaction. In the "Hunter" method, I offer my own version, which I called motor psychoregulation. A few minutes of this practice in the morning and evening begin to actualize the prefrontal cortex, encouraging the "eagle" to flap its wings more often.

What does this give us? In a stressful situation (for example, when you really want to have a fight with someone), you do not experience the overwhelming tension that previously required an explosion and storm of emotions from you. You are able to relax, stop and think. What previously required titanic volitional efforts becomes simple and easy. There are practices that change the body, and there are those that change the character.