ABSTRACT
The response to a threatening stimulus that produces fear is not enough to ensure survival. We also need to feel comfortable, so that we can laugh, eat leisurely, mate, and not experience a sense of urgency from chronic vigilance. Thus, there needs to be stimuli that indicate safety, that we are not the current object of someone’s appetite. Perception of safety decreases processing of information about the world around us; vigilance is diminished. All psychosensory therapies rely on this fact; the extrasensory response must make us feel that the world is a safe haven. This is experienced and observed in herding animals, as discussed earlier. This feeling allowed mammal mothers to care for their young and produce a bond that allowed for exploration. Are there stimuli that can do this naturally without learning? The answer is yes. Breathing quietly while sitting in the posture of cupped hands in your lap, dropped shoulders, and slack jaw helps soothe anger and alleviate anxiety (see Figure 9.1 and give it a try). The smell of lavender makes us less anxious. Order makes us feel more secure. Havening, touch in a therapeutic setting, makes us feel calm. These feelings arise from intrinsic pathways, hardwired at birth, that make us feel safe.
