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
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 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.
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 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
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
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!
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