Learn some new stress management techniques you can take anywhere you go: Breathwork!

Ultimately, it is necessary to learn how to manage stress. The bottom line is that chronic, unmanaged stress will make us sick, tired, wired and worse. We will become less and less resilient to the normal challenges of day to day life with the long-term effects of stress.

Neuroplasticity is a relatively new understanding of how the brain works and how we learn. The basic idea behind neuroplasticity is that the more we perform a task, practice an instrument, learn a language, or practice a new skill the neuropathways that remember these activities get stronger and more effective. The phrase “neurons that fire together wire together,” based on the work of Donald Hebb and paraphrased by Carla Shatz, helps us to understand this occurrence.

The good news is that the brain can change itself if we are willing to set new habits into motion. As we consciously change our thinking and behavior, we can lessen the impact of stress and our reaction to it. Over time we can help our brain to change, to adapt to new responses, to replace old ingrained patterns of thinking and behaviors that were previously unconscious reflexes to life. Through self-awareness and dedicated stress management practices we have a chance to engage with the neuroplastic qualities of the brain to our best advantage.