Good Anxiety

Anxiety is a natural physical response. Two hundred thousand years ago, for example, women who went out to gather berries while the men hunted mammoths had to be alert, even a little anxious. Today, the snap of a twig while we garden just means we broke a twig. In prehistoric times it might be caused by a sabre-tooth tiger about to pounce.

Unfortunately, we modern people are subject to repeated stress and chronic anxiety as we try to cope with “breaking news,” traffic jams, and social media slights that are not life-threatening but do over-activate our nervous systems. Our anxiety levels go up and stay up, leading to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems, and—yes—brain damage. Our prefrontal cortex—decision maker and emotion regulator—loses dendrites that connect its neurons. Our hippocampus, the brain’s long-term memory center, shrinks as its cells atrophy and disappear.  

So, the first step toward good anxiety is to reduce the excessive, bad anxiety that is so prevalent in our society. Dr. Wendy Suzuki, professor of Neuroscience at New York University, suggests three methods to tame run-away anxiety: meditation/breathwork, mindset, and exercise.

Meditation frequently involves slowing down our breathing. How does this reduce anxiety? Well, part of our nervous system is the so-called autonomic system, consisting of two opposing components—the sympathetic and parasympathetic networks. The sympathetic system is activated when we sense a threat—real, imagined, or exaggerated. It speeds up our heart, diverts blood from the digestive system to our muscles, and increases respiration so that more oxygen gets to the blood. Thus, we can more effectively “fight or flee.”

The parasympathetic system does just the reverse, slowing the heart rate, sending blood to the GI tract, and bringing respiration back to normal. In fact, by consciously controlling and slowing our breathing in meditation, we activate the whole parasympathetic system, thereby counteracting the sympathetic system and decreasing fear/anxiety. Particularly effective is “box breathing”: inhale for four counts, hold the breath for four counts, exhale for four counts, hold for another four counts before inhaling again. Box breathing can easily be used right in the middle of a traffic jam or as the boss yells about your poor work habits—and the boss doesn’t even know you’re using the technique.

Besides meditation/breathing, Dr. Suzuki advocates changing your mind set—your belief system. For example, before giving a speech, you feel a surge of anxiety that threatens to leave you tongue-tied. Rename that anxiety, reframe that anxiety as excitement. Instead of being fearful, you embrace the belief that your super-active sympathetic nervous system is really elated at the prospect of giving a great speech. Let your anxiety/excitement drive you into forgetfulness of self and “flow.” You may well give the best speech of your life.

Physical activity can also tame harmful anxiety. Exercise—even just ten minutes of walking—causes an increase of the brain’s neurotransmitters: dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, and endorphins, for example. Physical exertion also increases the level of BDNF—Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor, a chemical that promotes the growth of the brain’s dendrite connections. Of course, exercise also pours cortisol into your body as part of its stress response, and cortisol potentially damages the brain. However, it appears that exercise also releases other chemical factors that neutralize cortisol’s harmful effects. 

With this flood of chemicals, your mood, focus, and reaction time all improve. So, I guess the best way to defuse excess anxiety is to walk or run ten minutes while reframing your anxiety as excitement, perhaps repeating short, positive affirmations. After stopping the exercise, use the Box breathing technique, and your stress should have come down to a normal level. Any remaining anxiety is just a sign that you are alive and alert. This kind of anxiety may push you to be more productive and may lead to more “flow” experiences where you’re forgetful of self. And your personal experience of anxiety may help you to empathize with others who are undergoing the same experience.

Empathy should be a Quaker trait. With the energy from good anxiety and the empathy that it may foster, we may be able to change the world for the better.

(For a YouTube video of Dr. Suzuki talking about good anxiety, click HERE.)

~ Richard Russell