To understand stress, we must first understand our wiring. Here's an example. Do you remember the positives or the negatives of the day when you fall asleep at night and reflect on the day?
According to Laura Carstensen, a psychology professor at Stanford University, people are more likely to remember their negative experiences than their positive ones. In fact, studies show "bad news outweighs good news by as much as seventeen negative news reports for every one good news report" because the brain is more predisposed to recalling the "bad stuff" rather than the "good stuff."
But why is that?
Because negative news exploits the oldest part of our brain.
This brain region, called the "old brain," includes the brain stem, medulla, pons, reticular formation, thalamus, cerebellum, amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus, and these areas regulate essential survival functions such as breathing, moving, resting, feeding, emotions, and memory.
Basically, the "old brain" helps us stay alert in case of danger and it keeps the autonomic nervous system running smoothly.
As hunter-gatherers, our forefathers were constantly on the move in order to survive. Nature's elements have the potential to change at any time, and because the amygdala is hardwired to constantly alert the mind to threats, it is linked to the body's fear and stress responses. This makes sense, given that early humans' lives were short and difficult, with an average life expectancy of only 25 years.
In essence, the amygdala is very good at what it does: it regulates emotions and behaviors while using an estimated two-thirds of its neurons to detect negativity in the environment and quickly encode it into long-term memory. Simply put, the amygdala is constantly on the lookout for real or imagined threats to our motivations.
This vigilance explains why the brain can become like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones, and why encoding positive experiences into long-term memory takes more time and attention.
What a great lesson in the end. We can't control what happens, but we can control how we react. I like the challenged presented here.
Ha, I take the hottest showers it feels like that would be torture to me to get in there and take a cold shower I might do some slight screaming. But overall just thinking about this article and what I read I do feel that I tend to be more of a positive person and reflect on the positives and be very forgiving. I like to stay in touch with people and reach out to them and text them or just send them words of encouragement throughout the week and make sure that I keep that bond with friends and family. Especially now more than ever it’s important to check on those that you haven’t heard from in a while and just be encouraging to them because you don’t know what they’re going through and that might just make their whole week.
I feel like since I began focusing on positivity in my life it has really helped how I cope with stressors. The concept of introducing "positive stress" is very intriguing to me, a friend of mine takes cold showers as a sort of meditative practice and I find it interesting that was mentioned here. I have always been curious about starting that and the concept of seeing if you can take the cold water for 2-3 mins at a time seems like a gradual way to build yourself up to that. I have been practicing intermittent fasting and I do get a greater sense of gratitude for my nutrition now than I ever have before.
I haven't tried the cold shower trick. But, it makes sense so I should give it a go sometime
Loving the positive vibes. Lately I have been doing a lot of yoga and meditation and then with some Journaling and I feel like this has really been helpful. I’ve encouraged my younger son to start doing it as well on a daily journal and draw pictures to go with what he was writing. It’s fun to share our thoughts from the day and talk about our experiences I feel like this has also been a connecting experience for us to talk about some things that might have upset us and how we can work through them. Maybe something in our personal life or maybe even some thing we saw on the news. hope this helps somebody as well.
Super inspiring! ready to change my amygdala! I've gone through phases of cold showers and have always felt better for it!
Yes to the journaling! I’ve learned in past classes like acting, where psychology was incorporated, positive affirmations are great for your mental, emotional, and physical health. I agree with doing it before bed. I also think a good time would be first thing in the morning, so you start your day on a positive note.
I love all of this. I've been journaling for years but taking a cold shower is new to me. It's something that I am willing to try. It's 2-3 minutes. I may be jumping ahead of myself but I think I can handle it and if it makes me feel better, BONUS! Thank for sharing.
I LOVE THIS!!!!
I think we can all tend to a bit more positive, especially these days. 2 simple things like taking a quick cold shower is definitely one of them! I am also going to start writing things down that I am grateful for each night before bed. Thanks so much for sharing this
All right so would not be into taking the cold shower because actually taking a nice hot shower really helps me to calm down and relaxes me so that’s the opposite. At the end of the day I’ve never known that it was scientifically proven to help you to be more positive but I do like to write down all the things that I’m thankful for and that does help me to feel a lot better. Especially with all the stuff that’s going on the news it’s easier to fill weighed down or feel negative so that does help me to remember everything that I have to be thankful for. I didn’t realize that negative experiences had such a bigger impact on people.I do try to be more positive for those around me and a shoulder to lean on and an ear if they need it for someone to listen. Finding a calming hobby is also very beneficial!
True. 👍🏼 A negative event can take over our minds in a way that can adversely affect our work, our relationships, our health, and our happiness.
Fantastic article 👍. Cold shower and ice-baths have transformed my life and are the number 1 thing I would recommend to anyone looking to become more resilient towards stress.
For me, the best time for cold showers is usually around 2-3 am. Or anytime I wake up at night.
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