Your 2025 Mental Reset: How to Conquer Stress and Burnout With Dr. Aditi Nerurkar
Jan 7, 2025
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Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, a Harvard physician and expert in stress and burnout, shares insights from her book, The Five Resets. She explores the difference between stress and anxiety, revealing how they impact the brain. Listeners learn five powerful strategies to reset their stress levels and cultivate resilience. Aditi discusses the challenge of forming new habits and offers tips for creating effective boundaries, especially with technology. Her approach empowers individuals to reshape their mental well-being and tackle burnout head-on.
Dr. Aditi Nerurkar outlines five resets to effectively manage stress, emphasizing the need to calm the amygdala and engage the prefrontal cortex.
Practicing self-compassion is critical for reducing stress and promoting healthier relationships, as it acknowledges the universal nature of stress.
Deep dives
Understanding Stress and Its Effects
The discussion highlights that a life devoid of stress is biologically unattainable, as a little stress is necessary for functioning. Short bursts of stress are manageable and can prompt individuals to return to their baseline state. However, when stress becomes chronic, it can lead to unhealthy consequences such as mental and physical health issues. This situation is further exacerbated in today’s world, where around 50 to 70 percent of adults in the U.S. report struggling with stress, largely due to ongoing societal pressures and global crises.
The Role of the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex
The brain's response to stress involves the amygdala, which triggers the fight-or-flight response, and the prefrontal cortex, which manages complex thinking and planning. When individuals are in a state of heightened stress, the amygdala overshadows the prefrontal cortex, impairing decision-making and problem-solving capabilities. This biological reaction makes it challenging to focus on long-term goals or perceived future threats. Strategies aimed at calming the amygdala and re-engaging the prefrontal cortex are essential for effective stress management and overall well-being.
Implementing the Five Resets
The five resets proposed include getting clear on personal priorities, finding quiet within a noisy world, improving mind-body connections, creating time for mental health breaks, and utilizing expressive writing. These resets focus on establishing small achievable goals, setting digital boundaries to reduce device reliance, and practicing techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing to enhance stress management. Each approach serves to facilitate a transition from heightened stress responses back to a more balanced and productive mental state. The resets not only aim for immediate relief but also foster long-lasting changes to mental health awareness and resilience.
The Importance of Self-Compassion
A key takeaway is the necessity of self-compassion, which directly influences the body's stress response. Practicing kindness towards oneself can help lower stress levels and foster a healthier mindset. Individuals are encouraged to acknowledge their limits and understand that experiencing stress is a universal issue, not a personal failing. Emphasizing self-compassion not only benefits individuals but can also improve their interactions with others, leading to healthier relationships and greater overall well-being.
Happy New Year! To kick off 2025, Everyday Better is bringing you a month’s worth of conversations designed to help you reset for the year ahead. Each week, you’ll learn about research-backed techniques to improve your mental, physical, work and relational well-being. No matter what your goals are this year, our 2025 Reset Series will equip you with the tools you need to make measurable, lasting change in your life.
In this conversation, Dr. Nerurkar walks through five powerful strategies for resetting your baseline stress level and preventing burnout. She explains the difference between stress and anxiety, as well as what happens in the brain and body when we experience stress. She also addresses why it’s so hard to build new habits and shares tips for creating boundaries with your phone.