If we find ourselves in a situation where we feel threatened or where something disturbs, limits, or obstructs us, the sympathetic state of the autonomic nervous system is activated. Its role is to shift the body into a fight-or-flight mode. The purpose of fight or flight is to convert the potential energy in the body into kinetic energy for the purpose of fighting or fleeing. Fighting means influencing the environment, while fleeing means changing the environment. Both fighting and fleeing aim to prevent powerlessness or to remove oneself from an environment where one feels powerless. Acute powerlessness can be turned into a fight and thereby gain power, or it can be turned into flight, moving away from where things are not right. In both cases, acute powerlessness becomes former acute powerlessness.
If this happens, we can shift from the sympathetic into the parasympathetic state of the autonomic nervous system and continue with life. However, if it doesn’t happen, life in such an environment that disturbs, threatens, or limits us becomes increasingly unbearable. Each following day becomes more uncertain, ineffective, and ultimately harmful.
If a child is in a state of fight or flight, they generate a huge amount of energy that needs to be transformed into movement and expression. If they cannot fight, they begin to flee. And what better method to flee from powerlessness than sports?
If we take running as an example, a common issue is that through running we give the body a sense of fleeing from a place where we’re not okay, where we feel powerless—but we keep coming back. We run away, but always return to the same environment. The body tolerates this for a time, but only up to a certain point.
Imagine being chased by a bear and running away—would you feel muscle pain or fatigue while fleeing? Probably not. The body gives us every chance to get as far away as possible from where things weren’t good. But if we keep deceiving it and returning to the same place, after years of such behavior the body realizes that nothing will change and starts increasing pain. We must realize that we cannot remain in a toxic and threatening environment without consequences. The body might superficially adapt to abuse, but the consequences will eventually surface, because abuse always carries a penalty. Getting used to punishment doesn’t mean one isn’t being punished. Many people who run regularly realize only after years that no matter how much they run and how far, they keep returning to the same state, which tends to worsen with time.
This tactic of abusing running to create the illusion of fleeing from an environment where we feel unwell often leads to a punishment for the misuse of running—an allergy to running. This manifests as running-related injuries like tendon wear, stress fractures, and the like. It may also, due to extreme fatigue, result in psychological distress such as anxiety or panic attacks.
People often ask me in programs: what is the healthiest relationship with recreational and sports activities according to the AEQ method?
The healthiest use of recreation and sports according to the AEQ method is to invest time and attention into solving problems in a way that reduces their number. Once things are at least moderately well organized and more previously chronic problems become former chronic problems, then it is appropriate to reward oneself with the enjoyment and satisfaction that recreation and sports can offer. In cases where problems in everyday life are often caused by inadequate physical readiness or other abilities that can be improved through exercise and training, recreation and sport should be used to make the achieved changes improve and ease life.
It’s crucial to have a well-developed sense of whether movement is being used or abused—which requires lowering SMA and increasing emotional maturity.
In AEQ programs, we also learn to increase the integration of aggressive behavior into one’s personality structure, which is an extremely effective antidote to anxiety and panic attacks, as these are typical for people who are powerless. Proper use of aggression gives us strength and is the opposite of powerlessness. However, this is a learning process that takes time, as such skills cannot be acquired overnight. A child must learn the effective use of strength and emotions first from the mother and later from the father.
It is also important to understand that female power is used differently than male power. A woman has power in different areas and is extremely strong—one could even say that female power is much stronger than male power—but not in a direct and forceful way, rather in a more indirect, moderate, and subtle manner. A woman has greater long-term influence and can therefore be much more powerful. If a woman knows how to use her power, she will not be anxious, panicked, or chronically afraid, which means she can have a relaxed abdomen and be parasympathetic often enough. Such a woman can function normally with a man because she knows how to guide him well enough so that he doesn’t use his impulsive and forceful energy against her, but to solve the problems they both share. That way, life is better for both.
