The Anxious Brain: Chapter 2

Ready yourself for change.

Ok, here we go! This is part two of a four part anxiety series. Last week I talked about anxiety and three methods to positively affect your mental health; management, tolerance, and change. This week we are going to go head-to-head with anxiety. But first...

So, how are you doing? I mean right now, in this moment. How are you? Take a moment, close your eyes, and let yourself look inward. Take a deep breath in through your nose, holding, and exhaling through your mouth. And again. Notice that.

With all of the chaos in our world, it’s hard not to feel a bit anxious about at least one thing. Between the pandemic, political landscape, financial stress, relationships, and personal issues, it has to be incredibly difficult to unwind. If you are like me, sleep is the first thing to go, whether by choice or not. Do you need some more time, how about less sleep? Important things to do but the day got away from you? Even if you are tired, forget about sleep because the wheels in the mind are turning. 

Then, with little to no sleep, who feels like exercising? Besides, I’ll just do it tomorrow. Diet, there’s no time for that. I’ll just grab something from a fast food chain. And so it goes. What I just described is a cycle many of us can relate to. Lack of sleep, no exercise, and poor eating habits can create a lot of problems. 

If we are going to impact anxiety in any way, we need adequate rest. By that, I mean a legit 7-8 hours of sleep. What this will do is allow our brain to hit REM sleep, which sort of helps us reboot. Imagine your computer or phone when it hasn’t been turned off for over a month. It starts to slow down, act a bit odd, and become extremely frustrating. Powering it down and restarting it shuts down unnecessary processes and allows it run smoother and faster. 

The same happens to the brain, specifically the amygdala. We need to hit REM sleep to really reset the amygdala from all of the anxieties of the previous day(s). When we do this, we are less likely to be reactive to incidents and more likely to make healthier decisions. 

I’m not sure that I can say much more about yoga/exercise that hasn’t already been said. Exercise is tremendously important to brain/body health. If you are not limited by physical impairments, aerobic exercise seems to be the one to prioritize.

This one was a bit wordier than I would have liked but I hope that it starts to shine a light in the tunnel. Keep a lookout for part 3, coming soon!