WEBVTT - Lab 038: So Anxious 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:02.520 You know what happened to me this morning? What I 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:04.400 looked at my calendar. This is what I do at 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:06.720 the beginning of each day. I wake up, look at 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:09.039 my calendar and make sure, like I know when all 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.039 of my Zoom meetings are. And I didn't see anything 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.080 until ten thirty. It was something I had with you, 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:16.120 So I was like, Okay, I get to see my friend. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:18.840 So I'm just walking around the house in my pjs 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.799 and then I get an email from somebody saying, here's 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:25.840 the Zoom link, see you soon, and I panicked. I 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.120 was like, what is this for? What am I doing? 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.480 What's going on? This has to be wrong. So I'm 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:32.280 looking up every calendar I had. I look at the 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.320 calendar that I write down in the calendar on my phone, 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:36.280 the calendar on my computer. I'm just trying to figure 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.720 out what's going on. And then I finally figured it out. 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.640 I had forgotten that I had a meeting, and I, well, 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:44.519 did you have time to prepare for it? No, there 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:46.760 was no time. There was no time at all. I 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:50.800 only had time to run upstairs, throw a turtleneck on 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.400 over my pajamas and get in front of the camera. 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.160 And they were like good morning TZ and I was like, 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:59.360 good morning, Hoddy, It's so great to see you. I 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:01.760 didn't even know what I was supposed to be doing. 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:03.480 I was like, I'm just gonna have to wing this. 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:04.680 Do you know how stressful that is? 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.880 Listen, that's stressful for anybody, but I know it's stressful 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.920 for my friend because you like to plan. The only 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:12.479 good part of that story is that you were able 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.640 to throw on a turtleneck right. Yes, we love turtlenecks. 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.720 I have an emergency turtleneck that is right next to 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:18.520 my bed, just in. 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:24.479 Case you just turned writing to Steve Jobs. Man, I 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:26.640 know you were stressed out. That would be tough evil 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:28.759 for me. You know, I'm okay with being last minute, but. 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:29.959 I don't know how you do it. 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.319 You don't know what's going on. You just clicking into 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:33.680 the zoom. You don't know what you're gonna get. 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:35.520 I don't know who's going to be there. I didn't 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.000 know what they're about to ask me. I just knew 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:39.680 that I had to be there and that I had 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:40.880 two minutes to get there. 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:42.120 And I would have had to say I'm sorry, I 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:43.200 thought this was spam. 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:46.120 Link only. 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.120 I thought you were hacked. I saw your link, but 0:01:49.160 --> 0:02:07.120 I also saw an email from you about gift cards. 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.040 Welcome to Doe Labs, a weekly podcast that mixes hardcore science, 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:17.520 pop culture, and a healthy dose of friendship. You know, 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.920 we're basically at the holidays, and for a lot of 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:23.040 people that means a lot of anxiety. Yes, whether you're 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.960 cooking for a big group of folks or reconnecting with 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:28.880 your family members after a very long time, the holidays 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.240 just have a way of feeling so challenging, and they 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.359 can really be filled with all kinds of anxieties from 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.400 day to day. I always think about you when the 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:42.079 holiday season comes around, because you are the hostess with emostess, 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:45.840 and I always felt like it's rare that Zakida is 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:48.320 not going to be cooking something, even if it's something 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.600 small like Okay, we're not doing a whole turkey. I'm 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.280 just gonna do like a turkey breast for me and 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:56.800 a couple of people. But it's always to me a 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.480 lot of stuff, So I know I'm over here feeling 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.600 anxious for you. For you, it's probably not always a 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:10.680 lot of fun. So one man's anxiety is another men's party. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.680 So this week we're talking all about anxiety, and specifically, 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.880 we really wanted to know more about whether or not 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:22.840 we can actually take our everyday anxiety and spin it 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:24.320 into something that can help us. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:30.480 Let's get into the recitation. 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:36.040 What do we know? Well, I think that anxiety is 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.040 something that a lot of people deal with, Like, some 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:41.240 people don't like to use the term anxiety, but I 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:46.400 think everybody at some point in their lives have felt anxious. Yes, 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:48.920 it also feels like it's being talked about way more 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:51.000 than it used to be. I feel like I see 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.160 it everywhere, people talking about it, social media sharing about 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.200 anxiety and tips and tools and tricks. So I do 0:03:57.360 --> 0:03:59.720 like the openness around anxiety. Yeah, there have been a 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.560 lot of people who have said I struggle with anxiety. 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:04.400 These are the things that you know, I don't like. 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:07.360 Do people that you would, I guess assume like the 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.800 type of industry there in, whether they're actors or influencers 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:14.000 or YouTubers, and you're just really surprised that this is 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.000 something that they deal with. But it also, you know, 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.159 makes a lot of people feel seen because it's like, Okay, 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.279 it's not just me, it's also these other people that stereotypically, 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:24.640 I guess people would think wouldn't deal with anxiety. I 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.599 think another thing that we know is that anxiety is 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:30.800 not binary, like you're anxious or you're not. There's a 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.320 spectrum of anxieties that you can feel, and how it 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.719 manifest is different from person to person. 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.560 And I think we also know that manifestation does have 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.720 some biological underpinnings. I don't know what they are, but 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.279 I do know that there is something that can happen 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.640 to your body after a lot of anxiety over and 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:48.560 over and over again. 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:52.560 That's a really good point. So what do we want 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:52.760 to know? 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:54.599 Has anxiety always been around? 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:54.960 Like? 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.200 Is it new? You think the cavemen were anxious? 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:00.640 I mean, I don't know, but it seems like there 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.480 was plenty to be uncertain about during those times. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.159 Yeah. I just think about Fred Flinstone and I'm like, yeah, 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.760 he was definitely had an anxiety problem. Another thing I 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.880 want to know is what parts of our anxiety are healthy? 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.520 Is there a such thing as healthy anxiety? Is there 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.000 like little bits of like anxiousness that might help us? 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:20.559 Or is it just all bad? 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:23.200 Yeah that's a really good point. And then if it 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:26.560 is all bad, what can we do? Yes, help throw 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.520 me a life jacket, a rope something. How do I 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.360 exit this program? That's what I want to do. Let's 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:42.000 jump into the dissection. Our guest for today's lab is 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:43.479 doctor Wendy Suzuki. 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:43.839 Hi. 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:47.760 I'm doctor Wendy Suzuki. I am a professor of neuroscience 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:51.120 and psychology. I've been at New York University for twenty 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:54.719 three years. So I am an author, a teacher, and 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:55.760 a neuroscientist. 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.440 Doctor Suzuki's new book is called Good Anxiety, Harnessing the 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.919 Power of the most Misunderstood Emotion. It's not like a 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.880 lot of other books out there that provide tips for 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.240 managing anxiety. With this book, doctor Suzuki goes back to 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.479 the origins of anxiety, how it's evolved, and why it's 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.240 such a big problem today. With that groundwork as the 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.040 basis for our understanding, she introduces a new way to 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.480 really think about our anxiety, and that way will kind 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:22.640 of help us harness its power so that we can 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:25.520 lead healthy, happy lives. Let me tell y'all, we need 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:29.880 this yet. So I think we're all pretty familiar with anxiety, 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:32.919 what it is and how it feels, especially after the 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:33.960 last few years. 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:38.880 Anxiety is that fear or worry that typically comes with 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:43.360 uncertain situations, And so with that definition, you could understand 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:48.440 why these days, in our uncertain times, anxiety is really. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:49.240 Going through the roof. 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:50.960 And I think now's a good time to kind of 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.320 pause and differentiate between a couple different types of anxiety, because, 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.400 like you said earlier, TT, anxiety really is a spectrum. 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:59.719 So today we're talking about anxiety on the lower end 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.080 of that spectrum, which not the Suzuki calls every day anxiety, 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.400 but that's very different from clinical anxiety, which is at 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.400 the opposite end of the spectrum. Clinical anxiety is a 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:14.440 medical disorder characterized by intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.960 Clinical anxiety is debilitating. It gets in the way of 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.360 your ability to live your life day to day, and 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:23.960 it should be diagnosed and treated by medical professionals. While 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.880 every day anxiety might not be all consuming, is definitely 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.240 annoying and exhausting, and it's way more common than you 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:30.880 might think. 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:32.800 It feels like a weight around your neck, it feels 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.880 like a weight on your chest, and even before the pandemic, 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:39.120 the stat that blew me away is that ninety percent 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:42.840 of Americans before the pandemic raised their hands and said, 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:47.119 I experience anxiety ninety percent, So imagine what that number 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.920 is today. So basically all of us have anxiety, is 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:51.920 the bottom line. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.200 Ninety percent is a really high number, and that's before 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.200 one of the most stressful things that any of us 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.120 have been through in our lifetime, right, so I can 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.040 only imagine what the number is now. 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.880 One hundred percent. You know, this makes me think back 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.800 to LAP thirty two with an Helen Peterson where we 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.200 talked about burnout and all these other things that can 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:14.360 kind of trigger or layer multiple different types of anxieties 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:18.240 and manifest in different ways. Absolutely, and what this also. 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.480 Says to me is that if you're feeling anxious, you 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.800 are not alone. Look to left and to the right. 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:23.640 It's all of us. 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:29.480 Turn to your neighbor alone and say, neighbor, do you 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.320 have any kind of types of low grade or everyday anxiety? 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:34.480 Like how does it show up for you? 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.760 Yeah? I think for me, I've always thought of myself 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.640 as just the overall anxious person, Like I try and 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.480 not expose people to my anxieties and just try and 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:49.120 counterbalance it with like just extreme like positivity as often 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.920 as I can, but that also makes me even more 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.920 anxious because it doesn't address the real problem. Like I think, 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.240 I'm always worrying about every little thing, like, oh my gosh, 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:00.760 is this the right decision? Is this the right next step? 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.079 Is just the right thing for me to do? And 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.080 I think that usually it manifests me getting at some 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.680 point really really exhausted and tired from just like my 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.400 brain doing all of these calculations and trying to predict 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:16.120 the future. Yeah, what about you. 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.840 I think you know, over the past couple of years, 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:24.160 I've either developed more anxiousness or anxiety or just become 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:28.280 more aware of it. Right. I think now the things 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:32.400 that kind of trigger anxiety for me are big uncertainties. 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:34.920 I mean, you know me, I'm generally like, huh, we'll 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.400 figure it out. Oh this will happen. 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:36.920 You know. 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.720 My friend is cool as a cucumber, But big level 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.079 stuff that could have major rippling effects. I like to 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:45.560 kind of know. I like to have those general, large 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.320 what do you call those like place markets. I like 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.520 to have those things set in stone, and when I'm 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:53.480 not sure, it feels like the scientific mind gone haywire, right, 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:58.400 it's just a lot of hypotheses, no conclusions, no conclusions. 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:06.840 I feel that. I feel that. So we all have 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.880 everyday anxiety, and we've all got our own ways of 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:12.480 dealing with it. Then why are we talking about it today? 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:14.959 Well, doctor Suzuki says that even if you and your 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.720 anxiety have quote unquote an understanding with each other and 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:21.520 it's something you've just learned to live with over time, 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.000 it can still have very real and potentially serious effects 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:26.319 on your overall health. 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:33.120 Because anxiety and the underlined stress response, if left unchocked, 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.960 leads to high levels of chronic stress, high levels of 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.599 chronic cortisol, that stress hormone. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.679 Cortisol is like your body's built in alarm system, and 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.840 it does all kinds of important stuff like regulating blood pressure. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.440 It can increase blood sugar, keep your inflammation in check. 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.000 It even can control the sleep wake cycle. So you 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:54.800 can imagine if the cortisol levels in your blood are 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:56.400 out of whack, it can do a lot of scary 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:57.160 things in the body. 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.880 I have not heard of cortisol, but I've heard of cortizone. 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:03.160 Are they related closely related? Like if you get a 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.640 cortizone shot or a hydrocortisone shot. It's converted in the 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.400 body by an enzyme into cortisol, Okay, And so it 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.560 can also be used like when you say treating inflammation. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.200 If you know somebody got a courtizone shot in their 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.400 knee or something like that. Yeah, there you have it. 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.480 That makes sense. That makes a lot of sense. 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.880 And so you can imagine that abnormal levels lead to 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.960 all kinds of health issues, not just in the digestive system, 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.720 the heart, or the reproductive system. You can also affect 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:26.120 the brain. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:31.120 Finally, in the brain, it leads to first damage and 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:36.360 then death of two key brain areas that I've studied 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.360 for a long time in my career. The hippocampus, critical 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:43.560 for memory, and the prefuntal cortex are executive control function 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:48.000 of the brain, helping you make good decisions. Imagine brain 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.120 cells in those areas being damaged, and particularly in the 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:55.679 hippa campus, dying because of high levels of long term 0:11:55.720 --> 0:12:00.760 stress and anxiety. That is why we want to talk anxiety, 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:02.840 find a different way to channel it so that you 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:04.079 don't go down that route. 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:08.000 That's scary. But doctor Suzuki's book isn't all doom and gloom. 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:12.160 She argues that by really understanding our anxiety, it can 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:13.640 actually be a really good thing. 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:18.720 Anxiety is one of our core emotions. It serves something 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.080 really important. Once we find that thing and we understand 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.319 that thing that it serves, we can kind of try 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:29.360 and focus the energy and the level of that emotion 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:31.360 so that it could help us. We're still going to 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:34.280 feel those uncomfortable emotions, but we're going to make it 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.600 work for us in a brand new way. 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:39.559 That's exactly what I'm looking for. Help me figure out 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:43.560 how to make anxiety work work for me. Yes, put 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.960 these nerves to work right. And so I think the 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.959 starting place is for us to understand why we're having 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:51.960 anxiety at all. What's the point. 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:57.040 Anxiety at its core is protective for us. It's actually 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:01.480 essential for our survival. And the best way to understand 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.720 this is to kind of travel back in your mind 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:06.640 two point five million years ago and imagine there's a 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:08.920 woman two point five million years ago. She just has 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:11.839 a little baby, and she's gathering berries at the edge 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:14.559 of a lake, and suddenly she hears a twig crack, 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.960 and that could be danger. That could be a lion, 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.360 that could be a tiger, that could be something that 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.320 could kill her and her baby. And so that is 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:27.320 when anxiety is immediately deployed and the stress response. 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:29.160 And the stress response is what many of us know 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:33.000 as fight or flight mechanism. Through a series of really 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:35.760 complex interactions in our brain and body, it enables us 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.520 to respond almost instantly to a perceived threat of danger. 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:43.040 And what I illustrate in the book is that in fact, 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:47.160 we use that same exact system in a similar way. 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:49.760 If there is a noise by the window, then you 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.520 have that stress response, that anxiety response what is is 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.600 it a robber and works in the same way. But 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.800 the problem is that in this day and age, it's 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:04.200 the equivalent of hearing those twigs crack five times a second. 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.839 So what doctor Suzuki is saying is that we're all 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:11.640 in the forest picking berries and we're constantly surrounded by lions. 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.040 Everything that's happening is making this think is that a lion? 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:15.400 Is that a lion? Is that a lion? Over and 0:14:15.440 --> 0:14:16.240 over and over again. 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:17.360 What kind of life is this? 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.320 Okay, I might be exaggering a little bit, so maybe 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.320 it's not as immediately threatening as a lion, But that's 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.160 what so many things that are. 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.640 Stressing us out. Do youar At the very beginning of 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.360 the pandemic, That's what it felt like. I felt like 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:32.720 every single person was a lion with coronavirus and they 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:36.120 were just ah in my face, and I was going 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.920 to get sick or pass it on to somebody else. 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:42.600 Everything felt that anxious. Going to the grocery store, Oh, 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:44.640 that was the most I would be in the grocery store, 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.640 sweating through my clothes because I was so nervous about everything, 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.560 and then disinfecting all the groceries. Everything was a lion, 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:53.840 including that bag of chips. 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:56.680 And so when you think about something like that collectively 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:58.960 that we're all going through. But then people can have 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.240 their own personal issue, so like the everyday stress of 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.880 their job or relationships, and then there's the bigger global 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.280 issues like climate change or political insurrection. That's a lot 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:10.760 of twigs. Those are some of those are branches. So 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.240 those are trees falling tree a tree. 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.720 Okay, it ain't no branch, it's a tree falling on 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:17.720 your neck. Yeah. 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.720 And then even if you're in your home insulated from 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.920 all those things, it's coming right through your cell phone, 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:26.800 it's coming right up on your TV alerts. At the bottom. 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.200 You know, information about what's happening in the world is 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.480 constantly going right to your eyeballs no matter where you look. 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:36.680 I have never thought about that, how the information age 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:41.760 has introduced levels of stress into our lives that weren't 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:45.080 there previously. Yeah, that's such a good point, Zee, but 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.960 I don't want to live in this professional anxious state 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.200 that's not actually helping protect against any of the threats, 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.800 and as doctor Suzuki explained earlier, it can actually be 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.680 really unhealthy in the long term. It's not making us 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.640 feel protected at all. System it feels like it's kind 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:02.040 of broken. 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.440 And my answer is it's not broken. The volume is 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.200 just turned way too high and we've lost that protective 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.160 aspect of this emotion. 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:13.720 First things first, I never thought of anxiety as an 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.440 emotion before. I don't think I really have either. I've 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:18.800 just looked at it as a deficiency. Yeah, I mean, 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:20.600 it makes total sense, and it actually helps put it 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:24.640 in perspective because emotions pass. Anxiety is not forever. And 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:26.880 if we think of it, like she said, as something 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:29.240 that's turned up too high, maybe we can be aware 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:30.520 of these things when we just need to turn the 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:31.120 volume down. 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:32.000 A little bit more. 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.920 The first step of that is turning the volume down 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:39.560 so that we don't have so many twigs cracking all 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:43.240 the time and just launching us into this stress and 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:47.400 anxiety cycle. The best first way is my favorite way, 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.200 because it is deep breathing. You might say, oh, I've 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.400 heard that before, but did you know that deep breathing 0:16:53.680 --> 0:17:00.320 is actually activating a natural stress reduction center of our 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:01.040 nervous system. 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.159 Okay, so we gotta pause right there. I did not 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:09.240 know that we had a stress reduction center in our 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:10.160 nervous system. 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:11.239 Nobody taught me that. 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.280 I thought I had to purchase that on Amazon sage. 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:17.240 What is it? Lavender? They put lavender at everything to 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.800 tell you relax. I didn't know that I had built 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:20.639 in lavender. 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:24.080 How come everybody knows about fight or flight and nobody 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:25.680 knows about rest and digest? 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.360 Rest and digests? We need that on the T shirt. 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:29.400 Ste preach. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:33.960 Yes, the neuroscientists among us also know this as the 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:35.720 parasympathetic nervous system. 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:36.760 That sounds very fond. 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.760 See, I like rest and digest better, and. 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.800 So the best way we have conscious control of kind 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:46.359 of getting that process going is deep breathing. I can't 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:50.119 consciously decrease my heart rate, but I can slow my 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:51.320 breathing down. 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.720 And another way to turn down the volume on our 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:58.119 anxiety is through exercise, even just ten minutes of walking. Oh, 0:17:58.240 --> 0:17:59.719 I know, I know you don't like it. 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:04.280 I know you don't like it. Can we give this part? 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:05.880 But tit? 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.520 I'm telling you. Doctor Suzuki talks about doing this experiment 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.119 and having people just walk at the end, and people 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.240 report it, you know, feeling less stress. Now, whether it's 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.520 just in the mind or not. I want to feel 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.320 less stressed, and so I will be taking a ten 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.439 minute walk because I need that positive effect. 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:24.040 My friend b bike in thirty miles. A ten minute 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.879 walk ain't nothing, but for me, that is a hike. 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:29.000 Listen, I need it. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:32.360 Every single time you move your body, you are stimulating 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.280 a whole wide range of neurochemicals to be released in 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:39.080 your brain. I like to give the image of a 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.639 neurochemical bubble back that you're giving yourself every time you 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.479 move your body. And what is in this bubble bass 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:49.560 things that you have heard of, dopamine, serotonin, neu adrenaline, 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.720 and growth factors. It is clear that long term exercise 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:57.840 can help protect the brain from aging and neurodegeneral disease states. 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.439 Once we turn the volume down on our anxiety, we 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.159 can then take the next important step, which is to 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.879 interpret it. Focus in on those uncomfortable feelings of anxiety 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.640 and ask ourselves, what's making me so anxious and why 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:14.000 am I feeling so anxious? This introspection can tell you 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.480 a lot about yourself and what's important to you. 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:18.960 I know, for me, my dad used to always say, 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:20.840 if you're not nervous, it just means you're not taking 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.879 it serious enough. I don't know if I still agree 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:29.840 with this, it means you care school thought. But I 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.720 think wanting to do well, wanting to show up, those 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:35.720 are the things that can make me anxious because I 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:38.520 don't want to not do those things. Yeah. 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.159 Yeah, I think that there are lots of groups of 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:43.520 people that feel like they have to do that all 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.800 the time and that can be exhausted. Show up and 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:47.920 be perfect. 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:49.880