Since then, I have stumbled upon numerous websites and articles on the subject that I will share with you at the end of this series but, in short, I discovered that humans are hard wired for fight or flight response. That was a term I had heard but I don't think I ever fully understood its meaning. Simply put, when we sense things in our daily life, our brain (specifically the Amygdala) is constantly scanning for danger. When we are faced with a potentially scary or dangerous experience, the Amygdala hijacks the body, preparing us to either fight or flee(in primitive terms).

On the challenge course, when participants start to push themselves outside of their comfort zone, the Amygdala is on watch. If the situation escalates beyond a challenge into something more emotionally volatile in the mind of the participant, they get hijacked. I would guess that on the challenge course it does not happen all at once but incrementally in small little battles of the mind that build over time. If the participant and facilitator ignore the signs, the end result could be someone frozen in fear atop of a zip platform or pamper pole.

After reading hundreds of pages of material I began to formulate a bit of a hypothesis. Nothing earth shattering but I felt like I was stumbling upon actual scientific proof that proper sequencing and program design was essential to the success of our challenge course participants. If we expose participants to an ideal program design and guide them through a process where their team and facilitator supports them fully, we could have them climb to that point of challenge, to stand in the face of fear and succeed, whatever success means for that individual participant. This ultimately is what has gotten me interested in learning about the psychological and physiological underpinnings of fear. This is what has born this three part series on fear as it relates to adventure education through my eyes.

In Part 2: Hijacking the Amygdala, I will attempt to help you understand fear. How our minds and bodies process fear. I have read a lot about this subject and I don't pretend to understand it all. I am not a neurologist or a psychologist, nor do I have a science-based degree (though my diploma does read Bachelors of Science) but I hope my recreation degree can translate this information in a way that is understandable and entertaining to a degree. At the very least, I hope I can help you understand its relevance as an adventure educator.

In Part 3:Taming the Amygdala, I will talk about how we can begin to recognize the signs of fear in our participants and how we can be better equipped to react based upon a deeper understanding of what is happening to participants as they step out of there comfort zones and tread that fine line between challenge and panic.

I want to leave you with this quote from Dr. Relly Nadler of True North Leadership, Inc. "The power of emotions overwhelms rationality. That is why when we are emotionally upset or stressed we can't think straight." When we are scared, we can't access parts of our brain or memory. Think about that next time you have someone shaking on the end of your belay rope.