"Our brains are literally hardwired to worry about things, but in this digital and modern age, it can be hard for our brains to pick and choose the things it needs to focus on."
Deborah L. Davis Ph.D.
Laugh, Cry, Live
10 Easy Steps for Breathing Calm Into Your Anxious Brain
How meditative breathing soothes your hyper-alert brain and restores calm.
Posted Mar 28, 2016
Source: Deborah L. Davis
Your brain is brilliantly wired to react to life-threatening danger.
When it perceives a threat, your core brain instantly shifts into “survival mode,” sending a cascade of stress hormones like adrenaline into your blood stream.
This flash stress response enables you to deftly dodge wild beasts, harsh weather, and famine. And when your life isn’t threatened, which is likely the vast majority of the time, you’re brilliantly wired for calm.
In fact, “calm” is your brain’s normal default setting. It allows your physiology to run smoothly in a state of “rest and digest.”
This relaxed calm gives you a sense of internal composure and emotional balance.
When you’re humming along in calm, you are serene, focused, and content.
And after any "survival mode" stress reaction, your brain is also wired to automatically recover this calm state.
But what if you’re feeling moderately stressed-- perhaps on edge, high strung, excitable, irritable-- with no recovery in sight?
You may even harbor a chronic feeling of anxiety.
Maybe you can’t exactly put your finger on it, but you just feel in danger all the time, as if an axe is about to fall.
How can this be?
After all, you may not even recall a time when your life was truly endangered.
Source: Deborah L. Davis
That's because even though you’re not running from the occasional wild beast, you have daily responsibilities and obligations to meet, accompanied by deadlines, due dates, and gridlock.
Even though you’re not struggling with harsh weather, you’re separated from the rhythms of nature and exposed to electric lights that keep you awake too much of the time.
And even though you’re not concerned with averting famine, you create long to-do lists, endure longer commutes, and experience the longest lines whether you’re at the store, in airport security, or “on hold” with the health insurance company.
Technology itself gives us all the impression that the more balls we can juggle in the air and the faster we can juggle them, the more accomplished, successful, rich, and popular we will be.
Unfortunately, when moderate stress is perpetual, a moderate amount of stress hormones are coursing through our veins, and we aren't equipped with an automatic reset button that shifts us from hyper-alert back to calm.
As a result, your brain can get stuck there, resulting in that feeling of chronic stress and anxiety.
And while it can help to simplify your life and resist hyper -extending yourself, if your default setting is “hyper-alert” what you really need is a way to get your brain's default setting back to "calm."
But how can you accomplish that?
In a word, mindfulness.
Research shows that practicing mindfulness can actually change your brain, strengthening structures and connections that boost your resilience in the face of stress.
Source: Deborah L. Davis
Benefits include:
- increasing your tolerance of stress, so you’re less easily thrust into hyper-alert mode;
- improving your ability to regulate the anxiety rising from your core brain and restore calm;
- improving your ability to regulate your behavior, such as directing your attention, being flexible, and
- responding appropriately, so you generally feel more calm and civilized;
- improving your ability to plan, solve problems, and make sound decisions, so you feel like you can function better.
In short, practicing mindfulness calms your brain’s reactivity and recovers your brain’s strengths.
If you are new to mindfulness, you may feel skeptical. After all, how can you become mindful when you feel like you’re out of your mind?
But your first move is simple: try this meditative breathing exercise, which you can learn even when you feel like you have very little brain space to spare.
To do this, here are 10 easy steps:
Get into a comfortable position, where you can relax fully supported and aligned, such as lying down or sitting up, with legs uncrossed
Close your eyes, or turn your gaze to the floor in front of you or the ceiling above you.
Scan your body, noting its sensations of pressure and touch, wherever there is contact with the surface you’re resting on. Spend a couple of minutes on this.
Then move your attention to your breathing, just as it is.
Notice how each inhale invites air into your lungs and each exhale empties your lungs.
Notice the still moments between inhaling and exhaling, exhaling and inhaling.
Become aware of how your abdomen rises and falls, resting a hand there if it helps your attention.
Naturally, your mind will wander. That’s what minds do.
Become aware of your mind wandering away into thought.
Escort your attention back to your body and breath.
Each time you become aware that your mind has wandered away into thought, escort your attention back to your body and breath.
Be kind and patient, viewing your mind wandering as an opportunity to practice awareness and redirecting your attention.
Notice the infusion of calm, in the moment.article continues after advertisement
Set aside ten minutes (or more) for this exercise.
Practice this meditative breathing at least once daily, and over time, you may notice a perpetual calm replacing your perpetual distress.
Source: Deborah L. Davis
Particularly if you’re feeling “stuck,” you may need to pursue this kind of therapy first, before you can summon the energy to learn mindfulness skills.
Or you may simply need to add to your mindfulness toolbox.
This post looks at more simple practices you can do to soothe your brain back into calm.
Adopt habits of daily living that support the way you're wired, so you can thrive.
Slow down, get outside, and move your body.
Communication: Make eye contact and lean into each other.
Convenience: Revel in your chores and eat nutrient-dense foods you gather and prepare yourself.
Use energy and resources mindfully and practice gratitude for the comforts you enjoy.
Try to integrate as many of these habits as you can. By being consistent and mindful, you can make a real difference in the quality of your life. Your brain, your body, and your spirit will thank you.
By Deborah L. Davis, Ph.D. is a developmental psychologist
Suggested Reading:
The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself From Chronic Unhappiness, by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat -Zinn
A Calm Brain: How to Relax into a Stress-Free, High-Powered Life, by Gayatri Devi
The Mindful Way Through Stress: The Proven 8-week Path to Health, Happiness, and Well-Being, by Shamash Alidina
Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping, by Robert M. Sapolsky
Link: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/laugh-cry-live/201604/mindful-habits-offset-the-stresses-modern-living
Deborah L. Davis Ph.D.
PerinatalHospice.org
@PerinatalHospic
Resources for continuing a pregnancy with a life-limiting prenatal diagnosis. A Gift of Time (Johns Hopkins University Press). All tweets by @AmyKuebelbeck
Saint Paul, Minnesota USA
No comments:
Post a Comment