The Diving Reflex
How To Change Your Mental State – In Seconds
Anxiety can impact any one of us at any point whether you have experienced it or not. In its extreme form anxiety can present itself as a panic attack. In brief, we experience some form of anxiety when our brains are unable to process information and we feel uneasy, worried or afraid. 
Signs of anxiety can include:
- being irritable
- feeling tension in your body
- feeling on edge
- experiencing sleep issues – too much or not enough
- unable to control worrying
- unable to concentrate or process information
- fast breathing
- increased heart rate
In you are experiencing anxiety and need a quick hack to help you, The Diving Reflex could be your key to help give that all-important speech, confront someone or deal with a challenging situation.
What it is? 
In its simplest form it is a splash of water to your face – or holding your face under water for a period of time.
How does it work?
When our face comes into contact with water, receptors that are in the nasal cavities are activated resulting in a complete closure of the airways.
And what does that do?
Closure of the airways triggers a number of physiological changes in the body to conserve oxygen. These changes include an immediate slowing down of your heart rate. Over a longer period, submersion into water can significantly reduce your heart rate as seen here in this clip.
The Dive Reflex – Heart Rate
Please let us know how you get on!
