The Anxious Achiever
Connecting Mind, Body, and Work Performance in a Stressful Season
Nov 20, 2024
Christine Runyon, a professor at UMass Medical School and co-founder of Tend Health, dives into the intricate relationship between anxiety and our nervous system. She explains how perceived threats can trigger physiological responses, impacting our mental state. Listeners learn effective self-care techniques, like practical breathing methods, to regulate stress and enhance well-being. Runyon also discusses the role of scent and rituals in managing stress, offering insights on how to connect mind and body for better performance, especially in challenging times.
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Quick takeaways
- Uncertainty triggers heightened anxiety by activating our threat appraisal system, leading to chronic stress and unhealthy response patterns.
- Effective self-care techniques, such as focused breathing and sensory associations, can help regulate the nervous system and reduce anxiety.
Deep dives
The Impact of Uncertainty on the Nervous System
Uncertainty significantly disrupts the nervous system, causing heightened anxiety and stress responses. The inability to predict future outcomes can activate the threat appraisal system, which prepares the body for potential danger, whether real or imagined. As technology advances for predictive analytics, there remains a disconnect between these advancements and our basic biological responses. This gap is exacerbated by events such as the pandemic, revealing how unprepared our systems are to cope with continuous uncertainty, leading to chronic stress and anxiety.
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