When we find ourselves in a situation where we need to make a quick decision; or we notice someone following us when we are walking down the street; there is something in all of us that kicks in. The fight or flight feeling. It is that moment of all over tingling that has us on edge until we are out of the situation.
“Fight or flight” is actually known as an acute stress response that comes from a situation that is triggering a reaction either mentally or physically. The phrase comes from our ancestors who literally had to either fight something or run away from it. Two hormones are released when we are in these moments; adrenaline and noradrenaline. Both of these get released super quickly leading to increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. After we leave these situations it can take anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes for the symptoms to go away.
What I find so interesting is that we can conjure up imaginary threats in our minds that can cause us to feel like we either need to fight or take flight. This feeling can happen because of our reality and in our subconscious. Crazy right?!
I can tell you that for most of my life I have gone to sleep in my glasses because I have this phobia of not being able to see in an emergency situation. So I just slept in them. Recently, I have been trying to break the habit and let me tell you, the first few nights my heart rate was sky high because I had this thought in my mind that I was in danger. Adrenaline and Noradrenaline were being released because of my own thoughts!!
I’ve been thinking long and hard about all my Science Sundays and this was one of the first ideas I had come up with when I started the blog. So when I was contacted by The Great Escape Room Challenge in Cherry Hill to try out one of their escape rooms I was 1000% in for the challenge!! Little did I know that my fight or flight feelings would be so intense in a one hour period!!
The lovely Amanda reached out to me and gave me four tickets for any of their escape rooms! We had originally agreed to do their scariest room and I figured it wouldn’t be THAT scary. But we ended up booking a Mayan Tomb themed room for Friday the 26th at 6:45 PM! I had already taken a tour of the facility and it is HUGE!! The room themes on the outside are amazing and directly tell you what room they are!! So cool!!!
I invited my mom (hey editor!) and my two best friends Kristen and Christina! They had never done an escape room before so we were stoked!! While waiting for the other 4 participants we got to chatting with one of the girls who worked there!! She told us that the scariest room was closed until Halloween and that there were people who had to leave within ten minutes of being in there. So in a way, I’m very grateful we ended up not getting that room because I definitely would not have made it!!
The awesome girl who worked there knew I was working with Amanda and gave us a mini tour of the kid’s room called The Slime Factory. Holy Cow!!! Can I be a kid again and have my birthday party there? Better yet can I have my 25th birthday there?! She explained that in the first ten to fifteen minutes the kids learn how to make slime! Excuse me,what??? I so want to do this room!! It’s super bright and colorful with bubbles and noises coming out of everywhere!! A little kid’s paradise!!!
When the 4 others arrived we were shown an introductory video of how and why we were locked in the room! We also learned about the rules of no breaking things, no forcing things that aren’t meant to be moved and be aware of your surroundings. We were told that we get three clues if we needed them and they would be given to us upon asking.
We were off in the first room. And it was TOUGH! The room is rated advanced and they are not kidding!! I won’t give away any of the secrets!! You have to go experience it yourself!! However it took us 15 minutes to get to the next room! In the next room we were stuck!! We couldn’t figure out any of the puzzles for the longest time!! We ended up using two clues in that room!!! We finally made it out of that room after 30 minutes!! The last room was tough!! We had less than 15 minutes left to make it out and we were down to the wire!! My “fight or flight” was in high gear and I was getting nervous that we weren’t going to escape! (I will say if you ever need to leave for any reason the first room’s entrance door is always open so you can leave at any moment!) With a minute to spare we unlocked that last door and made it out!!! Holy macaroni!! It felt amazing! We conquered the room!!!
We took our pictures to show we mastered the room!! (see the first picture!)
I highly highly highly recommend The Great Escape Room Challenge in Cherry Hill for parties, date nights, or corporate events!! They are the largest Escape Room on the East Coast!! They were so nice and attentive!! I am so grateful for the opportunity!!
Thank you Great Escape Room Challenge Cherry Hill!! I will be back!!
Xoxo,
Z
