The snake and the brain
In 2016 my husband, Markus, and I embarked on an epic adventure. To cycle the Munda Biddi trail in Western Australia, all 1075 km of it. It is the longest off-road trail in the world. And we did it!
I have written about this adventure before. You can read more here. But in this article, I want to narrate my snake(s) incident and how my brain alerted me.
We did this adventure in October which is Spring in Australia. We also read that spring is a time for snakes to come out to sun themselves on sunny days. Towards the end of our journey, the weather turned warmer and sunnier and we noticed more snakes on the trail. And as you may know, Australia has some of the most poisonous species. We were aware of the Tiger snake, and we saw them on the trail.
Most times they would slither away, and we would only see their tails. But as the weather got warmer and the sun’s rays were bright and strong, it seemed like the snakes wanted their share of sun-bathing too. One day, we saw them coiled up on the left and right of the trail and they DID NOT MOVE even though we were at arms-length from them. I have never cycled so fast in my life. I kept as close to Markus as possible.
I should give you some context at this point. Markus is fitter and stronger than I am, and I cannot keep up with him. So, on the trail we both kept our own pace and only met up for breaks or when there was a fork on the trail. Which meant, most of the actual cycling was done in solitude. This worked well for both of us as it was the only way to endure the day’s goal. Markus is also less snake averse than I am. I do not have a snake phobia, but I also do not find them endearing.
So, when I cycled, literally, behind Markus, I had to use all my available energy to keep up with him. It was helped by the adrenaline from seeing the snakes.
The day before that was not a sunny day and the trail was particularly laden with tree roots. It was also a narrow trail and meandering and undulating. Lots of turns with uphills, and downhills. When cycling, it is best to look ahead to keep balance. Especially on narrower trails, if you focus on what’s just in front of the front wheel, it is easier to lose balance.
So, as I was looking ahead and peddling over tree roots, my brain alerted me to danger. As I kept peddling, there was an alarm in my brain saying, ‘that’s not a tree root!!, that’s not a tree root!!’. Though I had been looking ahead, I immediately looked down and found a snake, the same colour as the tree root, lying across the trail millimetres away from my front wheel. It was not moving and the only way I knew it was a snake was by spotting a set of eyes. I had the shock of my life. I managed to brake immediately and in a superhuman moment, I balanced myself on the stationary bike whilst the snake slithered underneath my feet and bicycle and moved away.
Unbeknown to me I yelled which alerted Markus. He was ahead by a few metres and out of my sight. But my voice carried through the forest, and he shouted out asking if I was ok. Suffice to say, with adrenaline quickly injected into my bloodstream, I started peddling and kept peddling. Markus did not see the snake. The snake had come out after Markus had passed the spot. I carried on cycling and did my fastest cycling the next day!
As you might have gathered by now, I am all about the brain and its power! The neuroscience of how we function, from the basic necessities of keeping us alive and safe to higher-order thinking, is all done by the brain.
And the brain’s fundamental role is to look for threats in our environment, to keep us safe at all times. Just as my brain alerted me to the snake. It did it with such sophistication that I feel my narration here does not capture the swiftness with which my brain engaged and alerted me. It was surreal.
And I define this as brain 1.0 functionality. It has its purpose but in our daily world, if we function through brain 1.0, we become stressed and ineffective. Reactive not responsive. That’s why we need our brain 2.0 and more importantly brain 3.0. Brain 1.0 and 2.0 have their purpose, needs and wants. But brain 3.0 is where your power lies. You can learn more about all three brains in this video. This video is part of ‘Your influential brain’ series I designed and developed to better discern our needs and wants to adapt for the future.
As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com
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