Conquer Everyday Anxiety: How to Understand and Manage Your Stress
Oct 3, 2023
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Neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki shares practical tools to leverage everyday anxiety, highlighting its evolutionary purpose. She discusses managing intrusive thoughts, deep breaths, and tea meditation. The positive effects of exercise on mental health, including decreased anxiety and improved mood, are explored. Personal experiences with anxiety and self-experimentation are discussed, along with the connection between anxiety, grief, and our values.
Anxiety can be reframed as a gift and leveraged as a tool for empowerment.
Practical tools such as deep breathing, movement, and social connection can help manage and reduce anxiety.
Deep dives
Anxiety as a Gift
In this podcast episode, Dr. Wendy Suzuki discusses her book 'Good Anxiety' and how everyday anxieties can be seen as a gift. She differentiates between everyday anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder, emphasizing that anxiety is a normal human emotion. Dr. Suzuki explores how anxiety evolved as a protective mechanism and argues that reframing anxiety can lead to empowerment. She shares stories, including one of a lawyer who attributes her success to her ability to act on her worries. Dr. Suzuki suggests practical tools such as deep breathing, movement, and social connection to harness the positive aspects of anxiety.
The Power of Deep Breathing
Dr. Suzuki explains that taking multiple deep breaths consciously activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which can help calm anxiety. This simple tool can provide immediate relief and activate the body's relaxation response. She encourages listeners to practice deep breathing for a few minutes before engaging in activities that require focus or concentration to experience its benefits.
The Impact of Movement
The podcast highlights Dr. Suzuki's research on the effects of physical movement on the brain and its ability to improve mood and reduce anxiety and depression. She emphasizes that even just 10 minutes of walking can significantly decrease these negative feelings. Movement releases neurochemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins, which contribute to improved mood, focus, and reaction time. Dr. Suzuki suggests incorporating movement into daily routines to experience the immediate and long-term benefits.
Social Connection and Compassion
Dr. Suzuki emphasizes the importance of social connection and compassion in managing anxiety. She encourages reaching out to friends and loved ones, as connecting with others releases dopamine in the brain, contributing to a sense of well-being. Dr. Suzuki shares her personal experience and highlights the power of acts of kindness and empathy. She suggests calling five friends, one each day, for at least five minutes to strengthen social connections and boost mood.
Step into the world of neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki, the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at NYU and author of Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion. She sits down with Leah Smart to help us understand the impact of what she calls, everyday anxiety, on our lives. Dr. Suzuki emphasizes that we can leverage this often misunderstood emotion to our advantage with practical tools. Her emphasis on the evolutionary purpose of anxiety will clarify how it actually guides you to see what you truly value.