Stress reduction

Summary

The goal of all exercises to reduce stress, is to avoid activation of the Limbic system, also known as the Emotional Brain, which forms the brain's stress center.
A certain part of the brain weakens if it's not activated for a long time, in the same way as a muscle weakens if it is deactivated for a long time due to a plaster cast.
It's critical to try to weaken the Emotional Brain to reduce the likelihood of future stress, since the brain prioritizes reactivating parts that are reinforced. Exercises for stress reduction therefore involve activating the newer part of the brain, the cerebral cortex, to strengthen these parts. The cerebral cortex, are the parts that are activated in connection with e.g. focus, creativity and joy. Activation of the Emotional Brain generally occurs when there is concern about what may happen in the future. I.e., through thoughts that are not connected to the present moment. The cerebral cortex is activated during activities with a focus on the present, which can be consciously perceived with any of the five senses or during activities where time and space seem to disappear in an experience of so-called flow.

What is stress reduction?

We have all experienced moments when insights or answers have just come to us, as from nowhere. It hasn't been something we've tried to force or in the moment actively whish for to happen, but still this information comes to us, which makes us happy or relieved to receive.
You might have gotten this information while you were in the shower, took a walk or sat in the restroom. You might have gotten it after taking a few conscious, deep breaths. What does these situations have in common? Well, you have given yourself a temporary shield from thoughts about how you will manage to meet all your goals of today, or from the huge flow of information, that we normally are more or less constantly exposed to.
This experience gives us faith that there is a state of mind where we can think clearly, even though we otherwise are inhibited by the stress that seem to have taken a steady grip on us.
This state of mind is also the birthplace of true happiness, creativity, love and empathy, which means that these qualities cannot be experienced during stress, and it also means that stress bring a subdued life energy.

Why does my stress increased over time?

Your brain's 40,000-year-old software is programmed to keep you alive, and one of its ways to achieve that, is to make you extra alert at the slightest sign of danger. This extra alertness is what we know as stress. Stress is often a positive thing, when we need to take some action for example, but harmful if it activated for a long time. Due to life of today (with deadlines at work, time with family, lack of time to spend in nature, taking in an extremely large flow of information, etc.), is so different from life on the savannah 40,000 years ago, the habittual patterns in the brain's stress centers become extra strong. The brain perceives the risk of being criticized when a deadline is not met, similar to being rejected from the tribe on the savannah, and thus being exposed to a life threatening situation.

The brain prioritizes to reactivate old habittual patterns rather than create new ones, due to energy saving reasons. That's why strong habittual patterns generate a visious circle, when the brain "out of old habit" turns on the stress response, even when you try to relax in your spare time.
Increased activation = stronger habitual patterns = higher likelihood for reactivation = even stronger habittual patterns....

What you need to decrease your stress, is to find methods which weakens the habittual patterns in the brain's stress center, in order to reduce the brain's attraction to reactivate this area.

How can exercises reduce my stress?
Some parts of the brain are naturally active when you are in a relaxed state. Through exercise, you can teach your brain to prioritize these areas, by building strong habittual patterns, through conscious activation of these areas. The goal is to acheive a solid competitor, agains the habittual patterns in the stress center. Parts outside the stress center will become reinforced through consious activations, while the stress center will become weakened due to reduced activation.
It's like plastering one of your legs. The muscles in the plastered leg will become weaker due to lack of activity, while the muscles in the other leg are strengthened through an increased load.
Reduced activation = weakened habittual patterns.

The reason why the brain rather reactivate the reinforced parts, is that the neural pathways actually becomes physically thicker through each activation, and a thick neural pathway is less energy consuming to reactivate than thin ones.
The brain consumes 20% of your entire energy consumption, and that's why evolution has found it important to keep that consumption down.

What type of exercise will reduce my stress?
The purpose of stress reducing exercises, is to lower the brain's aptitude to reactivate the stress center. This is done by consciously activate other parts of the brain, which will increase the brain's aptitude to reactivate those parts.
The stress center is activated by thoughts about the future, whie other parts is activated by real things which are happening right now, in the present moment. That's why the phrase: stay in the present moment, is used so frequently during these exercises. We are (of course) always physically preent in the now, regardless if we are stressed or not, but the phrase refers to that we should be mentally present in the now, without any thoughts about the past or the future.
Fear is often the dominant component in our thoughts about the future, and fear is the component that activates the stress center. It might be good to point out that judgemental thoughts about what is experienced, or to valuate an experience in good or bad, are thoughts connected to the past. These are predjudiced thoughts that are characterized by the fear of not be enough or doing something wrong, that will lead to criticism.

"There is no stress during focusing on something real in the present moment. Stress originates from the worry of what might happen in the future."

These exercises must therefore consist of concious focusing on something real in the now. A focus that can be perceived with the 5 senses. Examples of exercises might be:

Under construction........