How To Calm Your Anxiety， From A Neuroscientist

You know when you get that ambiguous email from your boss and you start to feel sweaty palms and that empty， freaked out sensation in your stomach？ Welcome back， anxiety.

Most of us think of anxiety as a bad thing， something to be avoided at all costs. But what if it weren’t？ What if you could take all of that energy racing around your brain and your body and transform it into something helpful？

Global anxiety levels， both the clinical kind and what I call the everyday kind， have increased tremendously in recent years. And many of us are noticing this at work.

We might think of anxiety as something that we’d rather just leave on the side of the road if we could. But anxiety is an important tool that arose during our evolution that we use to avoid danger. It’s essential for our survival.

So how come we don’t even feel vaguely protected by it？ It’s because the volume of our individual and collective anxiety levels has been turned way up too high， and too much of even a potentially good thing like anxiety is bad.

So I would like to share two powerful， science-based tools for turning down the volume on our anxiety and helping us get anxiety back to its helpful， protective state. And both of these tools begin by connecting with our bodies.

Tool number one is breath work. It’s just simple， deep breathing. Slowly inhale and exhale. This can be one of the most immediate ways to calm anxiety， because deep breath directly activates the natural de-stressing part of our nervous systems called the parasympathetic nervous system.

I recommend a boxed breathing approach， which is： inhale deeply on four counts， hold at the top for four counts， exhale deeply on four counts and hold at the bottom for four counts. You can even do this in the middle of any anxiety-provoking conversation， and no one will even know. Lots of people， from ancient monks to modern meditators， have figured this tool out and use it all the time.

Tool number two： moving your body. This one also has immediate positive effects on your mood state， but for a different reason. Every time you move your body， you’re releasing a whole bunch of beneficial neurochemicals in your brain.

These neurochemicals include dopamine， serotonin， noradrenaline and endorphins， mood and reward-boosting neurochemicals that work to both increase positive mood states and decrease negative ones. I like to say that every single time you move your body， it’s like giving yourself a wonderful bubble bath of neurochemicals for your brain.

So when your boss’s email comes in and your heart starts to race， what exactly can you do？ If you’re in an office， try taking a short walk around the block or even to the supply closet for some sticky notes. If you’re working from home， put on two of your favorite songs and dance around the living room like no one is watching.

Studies have shown that all it takes is ten minutes of walking to get those mood-boosting effects. But be creative with your movement session. Whether that’s a quick session of power vacuuming a la Mrs. Doubtfire when you’re stressed about a deadline or doing a set of jumping jacks or getting off the elevator one floor early to do a power walk up that last flight of stairs before an important meeting. All of these possibilities will all help your anxiety levels come down.

In fact， I tested this effect on my own NYU students. First， I had them take an anxiety assessment before leading them in a movement session that included movements from kickbox and dance and yoga and martial arts together with positive spoken affirmations.

Then I had them retake that same anxiety assessment again. What happened？ After our movement session， their anxiety scores had decreased to normal levels.

Now that’s powerful， real-world example that you can use in your life today. So make sure to incorporate these bursts of activity in your day， and try one out next time you’re feeling stress.

It can really make your anxiety feel less all-consuming. Once you connect with your body and turn the volume down on your anxiety， two important things will happen.

First， when that email comes in， you’ll be in a better position to evaluate what about it makes you anxious.

Is it that you’ve taken on too much or that you feel insecure about a particular skill set？ In other words， you’ll be able to use this emotion， anxiety， for exactly what it was evolved to do： warn you about potential dangers so you can become aware of them and find ways to effectively and creatively address them in your everyday life.

Second， once you find the warning signals in your anxiety， you’ll be able to communicate with others.

You might seek out advice from a trusted colleague when that difficult issue arises. Or you might even have a conversation with your boss about how to prioritize projects. Because you’re no longer in fight-or-flight mode， asking for that support won’t feel nearly as threatening.

And one of the best gifts of approaching your anxiety in this way is that you will be able to notice those telltale signs of anxiety in everyone else around you， especially those forms of anxiety you’re most familiar with. And what will that do？ That will allow you to give that person a smile or a kind word to help them through that moment.

In other words， your own form of anxiety can boost your personal super power of empathy. And I can’t think of anything we need in this world today more than higher levels of empathy for one another.

Your take-home in all of this？ If you breathe， move and take note of what your anxiety is signaling， you’ll feel more fulfilled， more creative， more connected and less stressed overall. And that’s my wish for every one of us.

你知道那種感覺嗎，就是收到老板一封模棱兩可的郵件，就開始掌心冒汗，心里發(fā)虛、害怕？沒錯，這是焦慮又找上門了。

絕大多數(shù)人認為焦慮是個壞東西，要不惜一切代價避免。但如果它不壞呢？如果可以把馳騁于你腦海和身體里的這些能量變成有用的東西，怎么樣？

全球的焦慮水平，無論是臨床診斷的那種還是我稱之為“日?！钡哪欠N，近年來都在暴漲。很多人在工作中都注意到了這一點。

我們可能會把焦慮看作只要可以就棄如敝履的東西。但是，焦慮是我們在進化過程中產(chǎn)生的重要工具，可用以避免危險。它對我們的生存至關(guān)重要。

那我們?yōu)槭裁唇z毫沒有感覺到它在保護我們呢？這是因為我們個人和集體的焦慮水平被抬得太高了，高到像焦慮這樣可能有益的東西都有害了。

今天，我想分享兩個基于科學(xué)的強大工具，可以減少我們的焦慮，幫助我們把焦慮調(diào)整到起到保護作用的有益狀態(tài)。這兩個工具都始于我們的身體功能。

第一個工具：呼吸。很簡單，就是深呼吸。緩緩吸氣和呼氣。這可能是緩解焦慮最立竿見影的方法之一，因為深呼吸會直接激活我們神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)中自帶的解壓部位，即“副交感神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)”。

我想推薦一種組合呼吸法：深吸一口氣，從一數(shù)到四，屏住氣，再數(shù)四個數(shù)；然后深呼一口氣，從一數(shù)到四，屏住氣，再數(shù)四個數(shù)。你甚至可以在任何引發(fā)焦慮的談話中這么做，沒人會發(fā)現(xiàn)。很多人，從古代的僧侶到現(xiàn)代的冥想者，都發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個工具且一直在用。

第二個工具：動起來。這也會對你的心情產(chǎn)生立竿見影的積極效果，但原因不同。你每次運動，你的大腦都會釋放大量有益的神經(jīng)化學(xué)物質(zhì)。

這些神經(jīng)化學(xué)物質(zhì)包括多巴胺、血清素、去甲腎上腺素和內(nèi)啡肽——都是增強情緒和回報的神經(jīng)物質(zhì)，既能提升積極的情緒，又可降低消極的情緒?？梢赃@么說，你的每一次運動都像讓你的大腦享受一次美妙的神經(jīng)化學(xué)物質(zhì)泡泡浴。

那么，當你收到老板的郵件，心跳開始加速時，到底該做些什么呢？如果在辦公室，試著在工區(qū)里踱上幾步，或去文具柜拿點便利貼。如果在家辦公，可以放兩首最喜歡的歌，在客廳里旁若無人地跳跳舞。

研究表明，只需要步行十分鐘就能產(chǎn)生那些改善情緒的效果。不過，選擇什么運動方式，請發(fā)揮創(chuàng)意。被截止日搞得焦頭爛額時，可以像窈窕奶爸那樣用吸塵器猛吸一通；在重要會議前，可以做一組開合跳，或者提前一層下電梯，快速爬完最后一段樓梯。這些操作都能降低你的焦慮水平。

其實，我在紐約大學(xué)我教的學(xué)生中測試過這個效果。首先，我讓他們接受了一次焦慮測試，然后帶他們進行了一場運動，包括自由搏擊、跳舞、瑜伽和武術(shù)，再加上積極的肯定話語。

然后我讓他們再次接受同樣的焦慮測試。結(jié)果如何？在運動之后，他們的焦慮得分降到了正常水平。

這可是個強有力的真實案例，你可以用在目前的生活中。所以，一定要把時不時運動一下融入日常生活，下次感到壓力山大的時候試試吧。

這真的會極大減輕你的焦慮感。一旦你與身體溝通好，焦慮減輕，就會發(fā)生兩件重要的事。

第一，收到郵件的時候，你就能更清晰地評估焦慮的原因。

是你承擔的工作太多了，還是對某項技能缺少信心？換句話說，你就能利用這種情緒——即焦慮——來達成它在進化過程中本該肩負的使命：警示你可能會遇到的危險，這樣你就能注意并在日常生活中尋找高效、有創(chuàng)意的解決方式。

第二，一旦在焦慮中發(fā)現(xiàn)警示信號，你就能與他人交流了。

遇到這樣的困難時，你可以向信任的同事尋求建議?；蛘?，你可以和老板談?wù)?，如何為項目的?yōu)先級排序。由于你不再處于“或戰(zhàn)或逃”的糾結(jié)狀態(tài)，尋求這樣的支持不會讓你感覺有威脅。

以這樣的方式應(yīng)對焦慮的一個好處是，你會注意到身邊人的焦慮跡象，尤其是你最熟悉的那幾種焦慮表現(xiàn)。這又有什么作用呢？這樣你就可以給予焦慮的朋友一個微笑或一句友善之辭，幫他們度過那個時刻。

換句話說，了解自己的焦慮表現(xiàn)能增強你個人超強的共情能力。當今世界，我想不出除了更高層次的共情，人們彼此間還需要什么。

你都學(xué)會了嗎？如果學(xué)會了，你呼吸、運動且注意到自己的焦慮在傳達什么信號時，就會更滿足、更有創(chuàng)意、更容易產(chǎn)生共鳴，整個人也會更放松。這就是我對每個人的祝愿。