By Steven D. Farmer, Ph.D.

Even though in the recent tsunami there was a tremendous loss of human life, many beings survived, both human and animal whether by fortune, circumstances, or innate intelligence. We savor such stories, such as the man that was adrift for days in the ocean, clinging to a floating tree. What also caught my eye were the stories about the animals. Amongst the countless bodies of humans, not one dead animal was found. Most if not all of the animals that were near the coast had somehow been alerted to the danger and took for the higher ground.

In an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article, “What Did the Animals Know and When Did They Know It?” a fascinating phenomenon was observed:

Just minutes before the tsunami crashed into a southern Indian wildlife sanctuary, a lighthouse lookout reported an unusual sight: a herd of antelope stampeding from the shoreline toward the safety of a nearby hilltop. "The man said he saw the animals on the seafront running away from the coast towards the forests," said A. D. Baruah, a wildlife warden in the state of Tamil Nadu, recounting the story of the desperate flight of the animals as told to him by the startled lookout. "Ten minutes later the waves hit. The animals had run to safety."

. . . at Yala National Park, just up the coast from where the destruction was most severe, all the elephants, leopards, deer and other wild animals managed to survive the mighty waves, said H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the country's wildlife department. "I haven't seen any effects on the animals," he said. "They all escaped." Asked to explain the survival of the animals, he said: "They had a feeling. Maybe it was the sound waves."

Other stories told of elephants situated in various locations along the coast of the Indian Ocean, where some of the most severe damage to life and property had occurred. Out of Khao Lak, Thailand, came this tale:

Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves. ''I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before,'' mahout Dang Salangam said yesterday on Khao Lak beach at the eight-elephant business offering rides to tourists. The elephants started trumpeting in a way which Dang, 36, and his wife Kulada, 24, said could only be described as crying at first light, about the time a massive earthquake cracked open the sea bed off Indonesia's Sumatra island.
The elephants soon calmed, but began wailing again an hour later, and this time they could not be comforted. ''They just kept running for the hill,'' said Wit Aniwat, 24, who helps tourists mount the elephants. Those with tourists aboard headed for the jungle-clad hill behind the resort beach where at least 3,800 people, more than half of them foreigners, would soon die. ''Then we saw the big wave coming and we started running,'' Mr Wit said.

So how did the animals know? What signals alerted them? And what can we learn from the animals and their life-saving behavior?

A few theories have been proposed, particularly ideas that the animals were responding to a “sixth sense.” Yet this sixth sense could more accurately be called a “first” or “primary” sense, something that closely guides and determines much of the behavior of all animals. This primary sense is instinct, a product of the reptilian brain, that primitive part of the brain that’s in every species of animal (including the human animal), bird, or reptile.

This reptilian or “lower” brain is what governs our basic survival functions, such as breathing, heart rate, reproductive drive, and so forth. It’s also responsible for alerting us to potentially life-threatening danger. When you have a gut feeling, this is instinct operating. Sensations in your body are warning you of some sort of danger, and it’s quite natural to either fight or flee, yet most of us have learned to largely ignore these signals from the body that are warning us of danger.

Much of this ignore-ance of instinct is due to a number of factors. First, we’re conditioned to disregard these signals, starting with our childhood upbringing. You can’t very well fight or run when you’re little and you’re threatened by the very adult caregivers you depend on for your survival. Instead you learn to freeze in reaction to a tormenting adult, and this can become a generalized and habitual response to other potential dangers. While this may have been adaptive in childhood, it doesn’t necessarily serve us when carried over into adulthood. In addition, we learn to shut down our senses and become somewhat numb, disregarding bodily cues to possible threats.

Another reason is that we fear losing control. It doesn’t look very dignified to be running for the hills when there’s no obvious danger, even though your gut may be telling you otherwise. The rational mind learns to override these instinctual urgings, attempting to provide a false sense of safety. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, we have to one degree or another become removed from the natural world, shielded from the earth’s rhythms and seasons by the trappings of civilization.

Yet there are stories of some groups of people who were more attuned to the natural world and, much like the animals, listened to their instincts and the environmental cues of the impending disaster. Some tribal peoples in India and Thailand managed to escape the tidal waves completely. All 250 members of the Jarawa tribe in India, a tribe that spans back 70,000 years and still retains its indigenous roots, fled into the jungle and remained there for several days. Government officials and anthropologists believe that ancient knowledge of the movement of the wind, sea, and birds may have saved them and other tribal peoples from the tsunami.

In another instance, a group of Thai fishermen known as the Morgan sea gypsies saved an entire village of 181 people because of their knowledge of the ocean and its currents that had been passed down from generation to generation. The village chief was quoted as saying, "The elders told us that if the water recedes fast it will reappear in the same quantity in which it disappeared.” Unlike some of the Thais who headed to the beach to pick up flapping fish left on the sand when the sea drained out of the beaches, the sea gypsies headed for a temple in the mountains.

The vast majority of the people in these regions were apparently not attuned to the environmental and internal physical cues that foretold of the coming tsunami. Even with the veneer of contemporary conditioning we respond quickly to those dangers that are immediate and apparent to our senses. However, the signs of the looming catastrophe were less obvious, so in spite of the massive earthquake, for most there was no reason to expect the killer waves. And there’s no way to know the realities of those who were living there, what their thoughts, feelings, or behavior were prior to the calamity.

The point is not to denigrate the immense tragedy, but to draw some lessons not only from the indigenous peoples but also from the animals, who had no doubts about trusting their instincts, no hesitation responding to these barely perceptible cues and heading for the safety of the higher ground. Perhaps we can draw some lessons from all of this and learn to slow down, breathe, be still, and listen more closely to the various sensations in our bodies, both pleasant and unpleasant ones. Perhaps we can learn to respect and respond to those physical cues in spite of attempts by our rational mind to disregard these often subtle signals. It’s not always an easy thing to do, such as when you have a gut feeling that tells you to be cautious with a new acquaintance, in spite of the fact that everyone in your circle approves of him.

So how do you increase your sensitivity to your instinct? Following are five steps to take to do so:

Breathe— Every so often during your day, take a few moments to pause and consciously take 3-4 slower, deeper breaths. You’ll be surprised at how this can help you be more aware of your physical sensations and also help with the next step, which is . . .

Relax— Not just on a vacation for two weeks out of the year, but daily. Conscious breathing periodically throughout the day will consistently help. It will be a pleasant distraction. When you’re uptight and tense, your muscles are contracted in a false state of alertness and your body thinks it’s preparing to run or fight. Doing so also helps lower your stress level.

Get Outdoors— Every day, no matter the whether, spend at least a few minutes outside. This helps keep you connected to the natural world.

Observe Animals— Make it a point to get acquainted with the animals near your home, even if it’s only the pigeons or squirrels in the nearby park, or the birds that are in the trees close by. Simply observe their habits and behavior through the seasons, and they will teach you.

Connect with an Animal Spirit Guide— Even those of us in more urban settings who don’t have regular exposure to animals in the wild can learn about animals and instinct from animal spirit guides, such as a power animal. Finding and developing such a relationship is the topic of my latest book, Power Animals. I’ll guarantee that your power animal will teach you about instinct and how to be more in harmony with the natural world.

One of our greatest challenges is not only to find as many ways as possible to pay attention to our instincts, but also to reconnect with the natural world. Doing so helps bring us into greater balance with our rational minds, which has for centuries tended to dominate our world and way of life. Restoring the balance in ourselves will quite naturally lead us to appreciate with greater depth and understanding how we can work in harmony with our Earth Mother and all of her children, to give back to her in gratitude for all that she gives to us.