Skip to content
Home » Brain » Page 2

Brain

Rewiring the Anxious Brain: Tools, Techniques and Strategies

Rewiring the brain from anxiety is an achievable goal that focuses on a change in the relationship with anxious thoughts and feelings. It requires a holistic approach, combining self-help strategies with professional support where needed. Key to this is accepting anxiety as a normal part of life and focusing on building skills and confidence to manage its effects, whilst taking action towards meaningful goals. By understanding the brain’s role in anxiety and using neuroplasticity to your advantage, it is possible to build a life where anxiety has less of an impact.

Anxiety and the Brain: Understanding and Treating Anxiety with Havening

Anxiety involves the amygdala’s stress response to perceived threats, which can become heightened by encoded trauma. Havening is a powerful method that uses touch, attention, and visualisation to directly target the encoded memories in the amygdala, promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety. It is a gentle and rapid method that can be used as self-havening or facilitated by a therapist. Havening is considered more effective than some traditional approaches because it addresses the root cause of anxiety and trauma, is quick and effective, does not require the details of the trauma to be discussed and can be used to increase the effectiveness of traditional approaches to support well-being.

How does mindfulness affect the link between thoughts and emotions?

mindfulness helps to create a different relationship with thoughts and emotions by increasing awareness, promoting acceptance, and reducing reactivity. By observing your internal experiences with non-judgmental awareness, mindfulness can help you gain control over the link between thoughts and emotions, making you less controlled by them and more able to respond thoughtfully.

Havening Techniques for Anxiety Relief

Havening is a psychosensory technique that combines touch, attention and positive visualisation to alleviate anxiety and other emotional and physical difficulties. Havening is able to interrupt neural pathways in the brain and form new, positive ones. Through gentle touch and focussed attention, it helps to release emotional memories and associated negative emotions and can reduce physical pain and increase a sense of wellbeing. Havening can address root causes of anxiety by depotentiating the encoding of past traumatic experiences, and can be used for self-care and professional settings as it is safe, quick, empowering and effective. Havening does not retraumatise clients, and allows them to experience actual change in their quality of life.

Understanding Your “Nervous Mind”: what helps calm your mind

When you feel like your mind is “nervous,” it often means that certain parts of your brain are overactive or misinterpreting signals. It’s helpful to understand the roles of these key areas: The Amygdala: This is like your brain’s alarm system. It’s designed to respond to threats and can trigger a fight, flight, or freeze… Read More »Understanding Your “Nervous Mind”: what helps calm your mind

How to retrain your anxious brain

To retrain an anxious brain, it’s important to understand that anxiety is a complex response involving different parts of the brain, especially the amygdala and the cortex. The amygdala is responsible for the fight, flight, or freeze response, while the cortex handles thoughts, logic, and planning. Retraining your brain involves using the principle of neuroplasticity,… Read More »How to retrain your anxious brain

The amygdala and trauma: understanding what your brain is doing leading to roots for your recovery.

The amygdala plays a central role in the experience of psychological trauma. It is a part of the limbic system, which is responsible for survival-based responses to threat. The amygdala is primarily involved in processing emotions, especially fear and anxiety, and it is critical for generating emotional and physiological responses to stimuli. Here is a… Read More »The amygdala and trauma: understanding what your brain is doing leading to roots for your recovery.

What is self havening touch and what it can do for you.

Self-havening touch is a simple, yet powerful technique that uses gentle, soothing touch to specific areas of the body to help reduce anxiety and promote emotional well-being. It’s a key component of Havening Techniques®, a psychosensory treatment grounded in neuroscience. Here’s how it works and how it can be helpful for self-help in managing anxiety:… Read More »What is self havening touch and what it can do for you.

Sleep and Anxiety: Reducing your anxiety by improving sleep

There is a strong link between sleep and anxiety. Lack of sleep can increase anxiety symptoms, while good sleep can help reduce anxiety. Inadequate sleep increases cortisol levels, the hormone responsible for the “fight or flight” response. High cortisol levels keep the body in a state of heightened alertness, making a person feel “on edge”… Read More »Sleep and Anxiety: Reducing your anxiety by improving sleep

The Amygdala: A Key Player in Anxiety Responses

The amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure located deep within the brain, is often referred to as the brain’s “smoke detector” or “survival alarm”. It is responsible for quickly identifying potential threats and triggering a response, even before conscious awareness. Here’s a breakdown of the amygdala’s functions in relation to anxiety: Threat Detection and Rapid Response:… Read More »The Amygdala: A Key Player in Anxiety Responses

Brain Changes Due to Anxiety

Your brain changes in response to how you think and what you think about. Prolonged periods of anxiety bring about brain changes. Changes that are reversible. As your brain changes how and what you think about also changes. Understanding a little of the science behind what is going on between your ears will give you… Read More »Brain Changes Due to Anxiety

Two Barriers To Good Communication – You Might Not Realise You’re Doing!

There are two well-established problems that people can face in their communication with others; their mind wandering and their preconceived ideas. How many times have you found yourself having a conversation, when you realise you’ve drifted off and have to bring your attention back? You know the conversation is important, but you can’t work out… Read More »Two Barriers To Good Communication – You Might Not Realise You’re Doing!

Becoming Optimistic

When people are assessed on a scale of pessimistic to optimistic, those reporting as optimistic also report higher levels of happiness, satisfaction with life, better jobs, better relationships and even better luck. You may have been told to be more optimistic. If you knew how, then you probably would have done it by now. Perhaps… Read More »Becoming Optimistic