It seems every day I feel more stress. I often wish for the job I had 10 years ago-- same position, same location, just a saner level of expectations. There are times when the demands crowd and pressure my brain making it difficult to process, to problem solve, to respond appropriately. There's this urge to close the door, turn off the light, and hide in my office. My fight or flight response.
Connecting emotional and mental stress to "fight or flight" isn't an exaggeration. Here's what we know about this response which is triggered in the amygdala of your brain. "The stress response starts with the amygdala, which acts as a sensor at the base of the brain by vetting every input for possible threats. When it senses danger, it shuts down the entire brain operation (now is not the time for, say, creative thinking) and prepares the body to pool all of its resources for survival." (link to source) Maybe it's good that I want to hide and turn off the lights!
Fortunately the research doesn't end here. Practicing mindfulness helps. This from a study published in Scientific American: "MRI scans show that after an eight-week course of mindfulness practice, the brain’s “fight or flight” center, the amygdala, appears to shrink. This primal region of the brain, associated with fear and emotion, is involved in the initiation of the body’s response to stress. As the amygdala shrinks, the pre-frontal cortex – associated with higher order brain functions such as awareness, concentration and decision-making – becomes thicker. The “functional connectivity” between these regions – i.e. how often they are activated together – also changes. The connection between the amygdala and the rest of the brain gets weaker, while the connections between areas associated with attention and concentration get stronger."
Simply stated: "mindfulness practice increases one’s ability to recruit higher order, pre-frontal cortex regions in order to down-regulate lower-order brain activity-- our more primal responses to stress seem to be superseded by more thoughtful ones."
Changing the demands of my job isn't likely, but I may be able to alter my brain's response to this "attack" of new initiatives, never ending data collection, changes in direction, 24 hour a day connection. Just 10 minutes of mindfulness added to a regular daily routine... like brushing your teeth, taking a vitamin, eating leafy vegetables... I gotta try it.
Connecting emotional and mental stress to "fight or flight" isn't an exaggeration. Here's what we know about this response which is triggered in the amygdala of your brain. "The stress response starts with the amygdala, which acts as a sensor at the base of the brain by vetting every input for possible threats. When it senses danger, it shuts down the entire brain operation (now is not the time for, say, creative thinking) and prepares the body to pool all of its resources for survival." (link to source) Maybe it's good that I want to hide and turn off the lights!
Fortunately the research doesn't end here. Practicing mindfulness helps. This from a study published in Scientific American: "MRI scans show that after an eight-week course of mindfulness practice, the brain’s “fight or flight” center, the amygdala, appears to shrink. This primal region of the brain, associated with fear and emotion, is involved in the initiation of the body’s response to stress. As the amygdala shrinks, the pre-frontal cortex – associated with higher order brain functions such as awareness, concentration and decision-making – becomes thicker. The “functional connectivity” between these regions – i.e. how often they are activated together – also changes. The connection between the amygdala and the rest of the brain gets weaker, while the connections between areas associated with attention and concentration get stronger."
Simply stated: "mindfulness practice increases one’s ability to recruit higher order, pre-frontal cortex regions in order to down-regulate lower-order brain activity-- our more primal responses to stress seem to be superseded by more thoughtful ones."
Changing the demands of my job isn't likely, but I may be able to alter my brain's response to this "attack" of new initiatives, never ending data collection, changes in direction, 24 hour a day connection. Just 10 minutes of mindfulness added to a regular daily routine... like brushing your teeth, taking a vitamin, eating leafy vegetables... I gotta try it.
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