The autonomic nervous system helps in regulating some processes which are without a person’s conscious effort. Some of these processes are breathing rate, blood pressure. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts- sympathetic and parasympathetic. In general, the sympathetic part prepares the body for an emergency situations such as sight or flight, whereas, the parasympathetic controls body process during normal situations.
Sympathetic part is at work in these situations:
- Ross feels nervous because he misplaced his important work documents.
- Dory sees a bear while hiking in the woods, and her heart rate increases.
- Rodrigo’s breathing increases when he hears a scary sound.
Parasympathetic part is at work in these situations:
- Maya feels her heart rate slow down after strenuous exercising.
- Sofia’s muscles relax when she finds her missing cell phone.
- Lisa feels calm after yoga class.