We have all more or less been locked up … ah sorry, we have been in “lockdown".

Last time we talked about how this goes on our nerves, causes big time stress and dislocation. Now that many states have begun to open up, how can we stay safe? When we are stressed we can’t make good decisions. Brain science tells us that. Therefore …
 
Do everything in your power to keep your stress down and your sanity up. Here is a partial list:

• Exercise, both aerobic such as walking, jogging, biking and resistance like doing weights.
• Nature, just being out has an important stress reduction effect, gardening, get out into the woods or park. This includes playing and being with your pets.

• Meditation, yoga, mindfulness, and other classical tools can do wonders for you.
• Connection to your family, friends through phone calls, social media, video chats.
• Eating healthy and keeping your weight low. There are lots of good suggestions available on websites. You may want to explore intermittent fasting. This may sound strange but in reality our psychophysiology has been built for that. Three meals a day is a recent invention, and it is not always healthy. Also, our body was never built for sugar, which is addictive and can be toxic to the liver.
• Laughter is a powerful antidote to stress, and it is fun too. The positive effects can last for up to four hours. And …
• StopStress tapping works fast and powerfully. Use it three times a day, especially before sleeping to get a good night’s deep rest.

 
These are some ways to keep our spirits up and our immunity strong. Our judgment will be clear. Now we can take careful steps to open to some normalcy while staying safe and guarding our health.

Join us Weekly Free Stress Reduction for You and Yours. You will practice this process together. We will answer your questions. You will feel better and more in control.

Let’s tap the tension down.
Let’s practice the fastest and most effective stress release we know.
Let’s work together and stay sane and safe.

Michigan: 
Security guard shot, killed over face mask dispute
 
California: 
Target employee breaks arm in fight with shoppers who wouldn't wear mask

Being locked up in solitary confinement, the tension is building! There is an urge to get out. There is an urge to break the rules!
 
Unbelievable! Yes, here in Michigan the incredible happened. About a week ago the security guard requested that the customer put a mask on before entering the discount store. The customer pulled out a gun and shot the guard dead. A few days later the store clerk tried to stop a man entering the store without a mask. The man broke her arm.
 
Sadly, there are some fringe individuals who totally lose their minds and turn violent. Even in peace. Even in peace for Sweden, a mass shooting took place.

We all feel the tension which has been building in this completely unprecedented situation. How do we deal with it?
 
We may feel the urge to get out. We may feel the urge to break the rules. No one likes restrictions like we have to live with now. No one has lived with them for such a long time. No one knows for sure when it will end.

Part 1 of a Series
Survival Brain: Emotion, Mind and Behavior
Elements of a New Psychology

​My Successful Journey to Effective Stress Management
 
Welcome to the first step in exploring the human survival brain and how it makes stress management more effective. This is the beginning of a series of blog articles with the goal to create a better understanding of the human mind and the resulting behavior. Let me briefly explain why I am writing these articles.
 
Childhood trauma 
As a young child I grew up in a war zone. With that came a fair amount of early childhood trauma. As a result, my life wasn’t always easy. I kept searching for ways to ease the inner blocks and irritation which I really didn’t understand. Yet I succeeded in getting a wide-ranging engineering education which included ergonomics and process optimization. I built a career around improving business processes. My passion was to find the root cause of the situation and with that foundation find improvements which made a real difference.
 
After my retirement from this, my first career, I looked for ways to work on improving health and well-being, in part to continue searching for solutions for myself. Then in 2005 some friends convinced me to take a look at some new natural techniques, which they told me could work miracles. The techniques were called EFT for emotional freedom techniques. My rational engineering mind screamed “nonsense”. But I had to support my friends and watch a video demonstration together with them. What I saw seemed incredible and implausible. The simple rhythmic tapping on some acupressure points helped Vietnam veterans heal their PTSD within a few hours. These veterans had been hospitalized due to the severity of their PTSD for ten or more years.
 
Unbelievable but real 
I couldn’t quite believe what I saw but the people in the video seemed real and sincere. What else could I do now? I had to learn and try out the techniques myself. And despite my deep skepticism, the techniques really worked. My whole adult life I had looked for ways to get rid of this deep stress I was living with. Many of the things I had learned helped me better deal with the stress and the problems it created. But none of these earlier methods seemed to get to the core. But these techniques did! After five or six weeks of using them every day I felt like a new person.
 
Ever since then I’ve worked with the techniques myself and taught them to many individuals and groups. I improved the basic techniques and made them more usable in daily life. But one thing kept bothering me.

​Why did this deceptively simple set of techniques have such a profound effect on virtually all problems a human being could experience, both emotional and physical?

​Neuroscience to the rescue 
The official explanation by the founders of the techniques and the leading experts (footnote or reference) kept me in doubt. That explanation of acupressure energy meridians and the idea of an “energy psychology”, though innovative, somehow didn’t completely satisfy me. Based on suggestions from my mentor, Dawson Church, I looked into the three-brain theory of the early neuroscientist Paul MacLean. His discoveries set me on a path which seemed promising. Could neuroscience provide the root cause and explanation why these techniques had such profound and wide-ranging effects?
 
The four other neuroscientists who helped me the most in this exploration were Robert Sapolsky, Hans Selye, Joseph Ledoux and Neil Shubin.

• Robert Sapolsky’s work with stress and primates was an eye-opener. I learned about stress and how much we share with our primate ancestors.
• Hans Selye defined stress as the direct response to a threat of survival. That could explain why stress reduction has a profound impact.
• Joseph Ledoux introduced me to the “emotional brain”. The interaction with the other two brain regions strengthened the case for the three-brain theory of Paul MacLean.
• Neil Shubin provided the root causes for human brain architecture. His work showed how much human physiology is based on early evolution of animal life.

 
Now I had a strong theoretical understanding how the human neurophysiology came about. I gained a deep appreciation of why survival is the primary and most powerful driver of our behavior and existence. I knew now that stress is a direct result of our brain’s survival response and signals that it “thinks” our survival is in some way endangered. Using this scientific understanding together with my practical work experience, I finally discovered how the tapping techniques work and why they have such universally profound impact.
 
Future blogs about these discoveries 
This series of blog articles will be written with the help of my wife, a professor of mental health psychiatric nursing, who is my scientific advisor. Together we will address:

1. The Ancient Brain, how Homo sapiens obtained it, how it functions as a survival computer and what this means for our understanding of survival, stress and behavior.
2. The case for a New Psychology based on the root cause of the functioning of the three evolutionary components of the brain, the instinctive or reptilian brain, the emotional or limbic brain, and the thinking brain or neocortex.
3. The Rhythmic Tapping Technology provides important tools in two areas. First as a powerful research tool, to demonstrate the precise mechanism of the survival stress response. The second function is as a healing tool. It reduces unwanted stress directly and can be used to reprogram traumatic stress memories in the archaic brain.

 
These new concepts may sound a bit theoretical. But we will make these scientific explanations easy and fun to read. We’ll strive to relate them to personal wellbeing, reducing unwanted stress to feel better and be healthier than ever before.
 
Warm regards,                    Fred & Judy
 
Fred George Sauer, MS, MS Eng., Chief Stress Coach, Performance & Productivity Specialist
Judith Lynch-Sauer, PhD, RN, Scientific Advisor, Clinical Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing
 
PS: If you or someone you love has a deep stress issue to resolve, we would be happy to help. Our coaching has been highly effective for many people reducing stress in most situations. Check out our free initial consultation. As part of the coaching we train clients in the techniques. Then they are empowered to help themselves anytime and anyplace. You may also want to recommend our self-help book, which explains the brain science in easy terms and teaches the complete techniques.

How can SciStress help a youngster with school? How can it help a busy professional mom with her daughter? How can it support good communication between mother and child?
 
Challenges for moms have increased. Raising a child is a challenge all by itself. Keeping the family’s home life organized usually falls to the woman. There are many challenges even for a stay-at-home mom. But today there are very few stay-at-home moms. Most women today work, many in demanding professional jobs. Therefore, caring successfully for a growing child is not an easy task. All these challenges create tremendous stress not just for mom but also for the child.
 
How can SciStress help? SciStress techniques are simple natural techniques, which are easy to use yet highly effective. Even young children can learn them. Now here’s a story a professional mom told me. Her daughter started first grade recently. She is busy with various projects in web development and marketing. Her husband is a researcher who spends long hours at the lab six days a week. You can easily see, lots of challenges for this mom.
 
Her young daughter, let’s call her Regina, had developed a nervous tick at her right eye. She also didn’t always sleep well. That got mom concerned. Mom talked to her about what was going on in school, but Regina wouldn’t tell her anything. That’s when mom thought of the SciStress techniques, could they really help? Mom taught her daughter and practiced with her many times over the weekend and the next few days before and after school.
 
After a few days Regina's tick had disappeared, and she began sleeping through the night. Mom would use the technique with her especially before bedtime so she was relaxed and could go to sleep easily. Now the amazing thing which happened was this. When mom sat with her at her bed practicing the techniques, Regina would start spontaneously to talk about what happened at school. Mom could praise her for good things that happened. She could also help her with stress at school. These regular mom and daughter evening talks led to a much closer and more intimate level of communication for the two!
 
Want to experience similar results?
We have taught a simplified version of SciStress technique to children as young as four years. And Judy has worked with young mothers and their babies when they were just weeks old.
 
If you or someone you love have issues to resolve, we would be happy to help. Our coaching may not “fix” all problems, but we have helped many people reduce stress in many different situations. Check out our free initial consultation. Clients will learn the techniques in a way to help themselves any time and any place. You may recommend our book, which explains the brain science in easy to understand terms and teaches the techniques thoroughly.
 
With warm regards,                    Fred & Judy
 
Fred George Sauer, MS, MS Eng., Chief Stress Coach, Performance & Productivity Specialist
Judith Lynch-Sauer, PhD, RN, Scientific Advisor, Clinical Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing
 
PS: Create a daily routine of managing stress. Check Appendix 2 of the book for quick help with stress

​What could a ladder, a horse and a hiking path in the Pennsylvania Hill country have in common? Well, it is a fear of heights. In our last blog article, we talked about the fear of flying and how to effectively deal with it. There is a lot you can do for yourself about most fear with the techniques described in our book. The coming holidays may also be stressful for some people. You could consider the book as a gift. Amazon is selling it now at a great discount, half-off.
 
What could lie behind the fear of heights in those three situations, on a ladder, on a horse, and on a hiking path in the hills? What could make one individual fear common everyday situations, which do not bother most of us? This case will reveal the layers of fear, how our brain creates them, and what is at the root of your fears. It sounds all a little complicated but in truth it’s quite natural. You will be able to follow this exploration easily. Quite likely you’ll learn something about how our human mind functions. Now, will you go with us on this expedition exploring the mind of fear?
 
The ladder
The story starts with the therapist we are training in the SciStress methodology. This social worker is delighted using the techniques and reports many successes. Recently she worked with Bethany, a lady who had a strong fear of heights. Bethany couldn’t climb a ladder out of fear. Our therapist was able to reduce that fear with Bethany in a very short time. Her client was ecstatic being able to climb a ladder and do some work around the house without that fear which had plagued her for decades.
 
A horse of course
Bethany and her husband live out in the country and have two horses. Her husband is an expert horseman and loves to ride sometimes for hours through the neighboring fields and forests. He loves to have his wife come along for these rides. But Bethany was still somewhat uncomfortable on the horse even after her fear of a ladder had been relieved. Since I happened to be in town at the time, the social worker decided to refer Bethany to him. For the next part of this blog it will be I, Fred, speaking.
 
Unraveling layers of fear
When I met with Bethany, I had to first explain a little about how our brain works. She had not yet read my book. The SciStress approach can be so effective because it explains how our brain creates the problems we have to deal with. Therefore, with a little bit of neuroscience, Bethany could much more easily find the root cause of her fears of heights.
 
She told me that it was now easier for her to get on her horse and ride with her husband. Eliminating her fear of climbing the ladder had transferred to some degree to riding her horse. But still she was somewhat uncomfortable and didn’t like to plan ahead for a ride. She wanted to know what caused that discomfort.

A quick excursion into the brain
Do you really want to understand what is going on? Then we will need to take a quick trip into the SciStress understanding of how the brain works. Most fears and feelings of discomfort have something to do with the basic survival function. If our ancient survival brain spots anything which it thinks might threaten us it will send a signal in form of a stress feeling, discomfort, or even fear and panic to our conscious awareness.
 
At the same time, our survival brain switches our autonomic nervous system within split seconds from relaxation to stress mode, in the language of neuroscience from parasympathetic to sympathetic mode. This response may be mild or extreme depending on the level of the survival threat perceived. Correspondingly our feelings may be slight irritation or discomfort for example, going all the way to full panic or rage. If you want to learn more about the typical stress reactions, get our free report on the "10 Top Dangers of Stress”.
 
Memories of past survival threats
The root cause of most stress reactions are memories of past experiences which our subconscious survival brain judged as being a danger to us. These memories are tucked away in a part of our survival brain, called the hippocampus. The hippocampus manages all our long-term memories. This means our long-term memories are stored in the subconscious emotional part of our brain. Talking with friends or family may trigger some of those subconscious memories one after another for a “walk down memory lane”. Also a drink or two may loosen access causing a typical talk about “the good old days”.
 
Bethany’s layers of fear
Her case is an illustrative example of how layers of fear are being built and how they can be stepwise neutralized. Bethany is very aware of her feelings and it was easy with a few questions for her to find those memories. The general fear of climbing up the ladder had already been reduced with our social worker. That had also improved her fear of sitting on a horse. Still some discomfort riding remained when Bethany met with me.
 
A dangerous Alpine trail
Now she remembered a fateful hike in the Rockies. She was a young woman with her husband and one of his friends ascending a peak on a steep ridge trail. The path was narrow with steep slopes on each side for many hundreds of feet. Falling down would mean certain death. Halfway up to the summit, they had to carefully pass a group of hikers coming the opposite direction. At that point feelings of panic seized Bethany. She sat down on a rock and could not move forward or back. After some talking and resting, she was able to be guided down the trail holding on to her husband’s friend.
 
With SciStress, levels of stress are judged subjectively just like pain in the doctor’s office on a scale from 0 = no stress, to 10 = intense stress, nearly unbearable. On that scale, she rated the stress level of that memory initially as 8. But getting fully into the past feelings it quickly climbed to 10. Using the SciStress technique several times she was able to reduce that stress to a much more comfortable level of 2. I could see relief in her face.
 
Holding a little girl out a third-floor window
The stressful memory of the mountain path had been neutralized. I asked her whether she had any other fearful memories maybe at an earlier age. Now the old survival brain was ready to permit access to another traumatizing memory. Yes, there was one. When she was about six years old a somewhat “crazy” uncle had played with her and at the spur of the moment took her and held her outside a third-floor window. Although it probably was just for a few seconds, it seemed an eternity to her. She didn’t scream or struggle for fear of being dropped. We now used the SciStress technique again a few times. She was able to reduce her stress level of that experience to zero.
 
Bethany felt great. She had managed to gain control of her stress level for two scary memories relating to fear of heights. She felt confident that now the root cause of her fears had been eliminated.
 
Sliding down an avalanche chute
There was still one more issue lurking in the depths of her survival brain. A couple of days later I received an email from Bethany. She was still delighted with her work from our session and reported that she found an additional trigger memory. Many years ago, hiking again in the mountains, she had slipped crossing the path of a previous avalanche. She remembered sliding down that chute at increasing speed and getting buried in the deep snow where the avalanche had come to a rest. Now that she was familiar with the procedure, she told me that she was able to quickly defuse the fear of that memory too. She was especially excited that she could now find and deal with such a significant high stress memory completely on her own.

Results: Comfortable on horse and path
For me the great achievement was, that her training had empowered Bethany to identify and resolve a significant stress problem quickly by herself. She was happy and relieved that now she could sit on a horse free of fear and look around, behind her and down to the ground without any anxiety. This was something she could never do before.
 
Next, she sent me a picture from the beginning of the path she was hiking with her girlfriend. In the past she had been afraid to walk up that path. The path wasn’t dangerous, but the hillside appeared steep to her. It had triggered the old memories of fear in the mountains. She sent the picture because she discovered that now all fear of that path had disappeared.

Want to experience similar results?
If you or someone you love have issues to resolve, we would be happy to help. Our coaching may not “fix” all problems, but we have helped many people reduce stress in most situations. Check out our free initial consultation. They also will learn the techniques to help themselves any time and any place. You may recommend our book, which explains the brain science in easy to understand terms and teaches the techniques thoroughly.
 
With warm regards,                    Fred & Judy
 
Fred George Sauer, MS, MS Eng., Chief Stress Coach, Performance & Productivity Specialist
Judith Lynch-Sauer, PhD, RN, Scientific Advisor, Clinical Professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing
 
PS: Create a daily routine of managing stress. Check Appendix 2 of the book for quick help with stress