Maybe you’rekissing a new partneror about to start a newjob.
Suddenly, your stomach is fluttering with fear.
“Oh, they’re just butterflies,” someone might say.
Sometimes those so-called butterflies are also accompanied by nausea, making the situation thoroughly unpleasant.
Why do our bodies react like this when we’re nervous?
Both of them are constantly working in our bodies.
The sympathetic system increases your heart rate, and your parasympathetic system decreases it.
Pretty simple so far, right?
Your heartbeat is controlled by the balance of the two systems.
When things are stable, your heart rate remains steady.
When you get nervous, though, your sympathetic system kicks into overdrive, elevating your heart rate.
While this might not be comfortable, it actually provided anevolutionary advantage.
Imagine being confronted by a wild animal.
Nerves hit you, and your fight-or-flight response kicks in.
In prehistoric times, this bodily reaction undoubtedly saved countless lives.
