Forward movement like walking tends to suppress the response of the amygdala. As best as we can tell, the amygdala "knows" we're moving forward based on the lateral (side-to-side) eye movement patterns that occur through the optic nerve when walking forward. There are 3 types of reactions to adversity - **Freeze** overwhelmed - **Flight** run away and avoid the big scary thing - **Fight** face it and move forward Facing our challenges and moving forward is met with a [[dopamine]] reward and reduces our levels of stress and anxiety. The somatosensory feedback loop of walking forward is tied into this mechanism. --- Reference: https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/ Type: #to-tidy Created: [[2021-01-12]] Updated: [[2021-01-12]] Topics: [[Psychology]] [[Stress]] [[Dopamine]]