Editor’s note: Season 10 of the Chasing Life With Dr. podcast. Sanjay Gupta explores the science of happiness. You can listen to episodes here.
(CNN) – Oscillations in the early hours. A low but constant buzzing in the brain that prevents concentration. A feeling of tense restlessness.
Most have experienced this type of anxiety—not clinical anxiety, which can result in a full-blown panic attack, but the uncomfortable kind that leaves you feeling uncomfortable.
“Anxiety is this simple definition: that feeling of fear or worry that comes in situations of uncertainty,” recently told neuroscientist Dr. Wendy Suzuki, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, on his Chasing Life podcast. “This is my simplified definition of everyday anxiety.”
This experience is not pleasant. “The general feeling is, ‘I just want to get rid of it,'” said Suzuki, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at New York University and dean of the school’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is also the author of Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion.
“The misconception is that it’s valuable,” Suzuki said. “It’s a warning system we all need. It is a tool that helps us understand what we love. If we don’t have that, I think something important will be removed from our lives.”
You can hear more about how anxiety can be good here.
Suzuki explained how anxiety evolved to protect us. “It’s hard to imagine that nowadays,” she said. But 2.5 million years ago, “an ancestor with a small child (was) walking around trying to find food, and there’s a crack in a branch and that could be either … a big animal coming for them eat it or it can be the crack of a twig. She better be ready, or we’ll have no predecessor after her.”
The crack of the branch left him anxious but alert to danger. “And then her body is (in) the fight-or-flight response,” she said.
“The same response, including the whole fight-or-flight response, is activated when we look at the news, when we look at social media, what’s happening today,” she said. “Our heart rates are going up, our breathing rates are going up – that’s not good for us physiologically. And so… that’s your reason no. 1 to learn how to modulate that stress response.”
The first step toward achieving “good” anxiety, Suzuki said, is learning how to lower your daily anxiety level.
So what can you do to reduce it? Here are Suzuki’s top five tips:
Practice breathing meditation.
“Breath meditation is the oldest form of meditation, and it can be so effective at really calming yourself down — and instantly,” Suzuki said. “That’s my favorite number for people who say, ‘I just need something right now.’
A calming pattern is box breathing. To do this, inhale deeply for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold again for four counts. “Repeat to calm your mind and body,” she said.
Go for a short walk, Suzuki recommended.
“Did you know that just 10 minutes of walking can significantly reduce anxiety and depression levels in people? You don’t even have to change clothes to get it,” she said.
“What it’s doing is stimulating the release of neurotransmitters that don’t necessarily decrease your anxiety, but they increase your feelings of reward and happiness,” she said. “These neurotransmitters that increase include dopamine and serotonin, noradrenaline and endorphin. Every time you move your body, it’s like giving your brain a wonderful neurochemical bubble bath, and it works immediately.”
Turn anxiety-inducing situations into personal challenges to foster growth and resilience—and enjoy the novelty of uncertain circumstances.
Paraphrasing Deepak Chopra, Suzuki recommended embracing uncertainty because it can make life interesting to live.
“In my life, uncertainty can be something that brings excitement, it can bring joy. Not all the time, but maybe you can participate and embrace it as something useful,” she said.
For example, she said, “If the same thing happened every time I went on vacation, it wouldn’t be a fun vacation. I like the novelty; I love learning new things and being exposed to new things. And I can’t control that by definition.”
Turn your concern into action.
To increase productivity and reduce worry, transform your anxious what-if list into a productive to-do list, Suzuki advised.
“I like to say that there are gifts that come with your anxiety,” she said, citing what often happens to her before she sleeps.
“I have this list of worries that hit me right before I go to sleep. And so what do I do? I turn that what-if list into a to-do list,” she said.
I just say, ‘OK, I’ll remember these things, so Wendy, you can go to sleep now.’ But the next morning I go and take all those things that kept me up the night before and go do something about them. … In this way, I make myself more productive. And I use my anxiety as the tool that he should (be).”
Support others, Suzuki said, letting them know they are not alone.
“A kind word to someone who experiences similar anxiety,” she said, noting that some people feel embarrassed by anxiety about a particular situation. “This simple act can release dopamine and improve your mood.”
We hope these five tips help you turn your anxiety into something more productive. Listen in full episode here. And join us next week IN the Chasing Life podcast when we delve into therapy and learn what it can and can’t do to increase your happiness.
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