Halloween Fright is Good For Your Heart

There's a coffin in our creepy old basement...

And a graveyard.

In past years it served to scare the wits out of children, and even some adults on Halloween. It brought people together in fake blood and macabre theatrics. I have always loved Halloween, and the time when the veil between worlds is thin. I love the art and imagination of this holiday, but we are not able to have our haunted basement this year (we are installing a central heating system down there!). Haunted houses make us resilient. There's nothing quite like spiking the fear response...

As adults we can carry on with boring fears, that are more like a constant low grade stress around responsibilities and providing for our needs. If we are not plagued by constant fear of abuse or war, a dose of visceral fright can actually be a good thing.

From a chemical perspective, the fright response is a surge of norepinephrine, cortisol, and adrenaline. A flood of oxygen-rich blood cells signal your brain to release endorphins, neurochemicals that make you feel relief, free from pain, and actually relax your body. When scared, the body releases oxytocin, a love chemical, that brings people closer together. The spike in adrenaline and cortisol reaching the heart can make your heart skip and contract the arteries. In an extreme case, it could result in sudden cardiac arrest and even death, but in manageable doses, heart rate variability (HRV) builds a more resilient heart.

According to the Harvard Medical School Blog, "If a person’s system is in more of a fight-or-flight mode, the variation between subsequent heartbeats is low. If one is in a more relaxed state, the variation between beats is high. In other words, the healthier the ANS (autonomic nervous system), the faster you are able to switch gears, showing more resilience and flexibility. Over the past few decades, research has shown a relationship between low HRV and worsening depression or anxiety. A low HRV is even associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular disease."

So it's true, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But if you would rather not venture into the fearful unknown, a thoughtfully structured yoga session is not likely to kill you, but it will definitely relax you, and make you stronger!