The Kaiju and You Part 1: Soothing your reptile brain against modern day alarms.
The loveable Godzilla is a byproduct of modern fears. Born in 1954, the threat of radioactive residue was looming in the minds of the Japanese. This mutant reptile was its expression on the big screen. With its heavy breaths of fire, it trampled cities into pancakes and ate it for breakfast. Today, we are still plagued by the backlash of our technological progress. If left unchecked, it could devour us all. One of these fears is the impact of technology on our minds. This fear is brought about by the mysterious nature of our brains. Like Godzilla, the brain is a kaiju (as translated above “mysterious beast”) trying to catch up to city life.
First, it is a black box of mystery. It can be ethically difficult to naturally experiment and observe a large group of people to test their capacity for resilience and joy. This is the puzzling piece that keeps me up at night. It is the nature of why some people thrive in trials and others sink to their deaths. You can’t admonish one for being weak. There must be specific factors that bring about triumph.
Second, the brain’s stem is a wrinkly dink of a dinosaur. It is the oldest part of our evolution at 500,000,000 years old. As such, it is called the reptile brain because it is a piece that we share with geckos and the whole zoo at Jurassic park. It is the cause of our instant response to physical danger as it manages our fight, flight,or flee system (FFF)through our eyes and ears. This is done by controlling our breathing and heart rate to make us huff and puff like a T-Rex when harm comes our way. We are either pumped up to roar or runaway.
Third, as a prehistoric creature, our worry is that our reptilian selves cannot handle the sights and sounds of urban development. In the past, our FFF was triggered and preoccupied with irregular threats such as lions and the buzzing of bees. It could get a day’s rest easily. Today, the brain stem is bombarded by many triggers such as cellphones ringing and car horns honking at the height of traffic. On top of that, we play games such as Pokemon Go or the classic Farmville that create imaginary and unnecessary alarms around us. It is perpetually is on duty like a 24/7 security guard.
This is why our inner Kaiju can tend to have hidden desire to topple down its nearest 7–11. It can’t catch a break. We thankfully know now though that it governs our breathing and heart rate. With this knowledge, we understand its weakness. We can soothe this inner beast through gentle breathing or steady rapid breaths called the breath of fire. By this attack, our kaiju has no time to think about false alarms as it is clouded within its own system. Thus, it gives space for the higher parts of our brain to control our reactions to threats. As such, by managing our breathe with a 10 second countdown, we can will Godzilla into our own personal pet by throwing it a stick that it can chew on until its next meltdown.
Next week: Further tips on soothing your inner kaijus
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Jan Vincent S. Ong is a mental health advisor and advocate from the Philippines. His focus is on Flow Theory and Resilience through Art and Play.
