BITESIZE | Simple Daily Habits to Reduce Stress and Anxiety | Dr Mithu Storoni #192
Neuroscientist Dr. Mithu Storoni discusses common stress causes and effects on health. She offers practical tips to buffer stress through daily habit changes, emphasizing the brain's need for predictability and the impact of modern life on natural stress buffers.
Deep Dive Analysis
6 Topic Outline
Modern World's Contribution to Stress
Brain as a Prediction Machine and Uncertainty
Disruption of Natural Light Cues and Melatonin
Impact of Sedentary Lifestyles and Exercise Timing
Dr. Storoni's Personal Stress Buffering Strategies
Yoga's Role in Cultivating Self-Control
4 Key Concepts
Brain as a Prediction Machine
The brain constantly creates a model of the world using sensory cues to reduce uncertainty and mask potential danger. By making the world predictable, the brain feels it can control its environment, which reduces stress.
Melanopsin-Containing Ganglion Cells
These are special receptors at the back of the eye that detect the fall in blue light, signaling to the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain that the day has ended. Modern blue-light emitting devices disrupt this signal, leading the brain to perceive continuous daylight and increasing uncertainty.
Melatonin as a Natural Anxiolytic
Melatonin, often called the darkness hormone, is produced overnight and has been shown to have significant efficacy against anxiety, comparable to anti-anxiety medications. Modern technology and blue light exposure can cut short its production, removing this natural stress-reducing 'pill'.
Low to Moderate Intensity Exercise as a Stress Buffer
Historically, humans engaged in intermittent low to moderate intensity movement throughout the day, which helped lower cortisol levels and buffer the effects of small stress blips. The absence of these natural movements in modern sedentary lifestyles allows cortisol to accumulate, increasing overall stress.
5 Questions Answered
Modern life has led to the loss of natural habits that once buffered the consequences of stress and has introduced new stress triggers, resulting in increased uncertainty and a reduced ability to return to a baseline calm state.
Blue light from devices like smartphones and Kindles prevents the melanopsin-containing ganglion cells in the eye from detecting the fall in blue light, making the brain perceive continuous daylight. This disruption creates uncertainty and cuts short the production of melatonin, a natural anti-anxiety hormone.
Unlike past generations who moved intermittently, modern sedentary jobs mean we lack the natural low to moderate intensity exercise throughout the day that used to lower cortisol and buffer stress. This leads to an accumulation of cortisol and stress by the end of the day.
Yoga helps individuals discover and learn to 'push' internal buttons to gain control over their own bodies and minds, even amidst external chaos. This self-control translates to a perception of enhanced control over uncertain situations, thereby reducing the stress response.
Engaging in super high-intensity exercise in the evening, after a day of accumulated stress, can further raise cortisol levels, adding to the overall stress load rather than alleviating it.
7 Actionable Insights
1. Establish Daily Routines
Implement and adhere to daily routines to help your brain predict upcoming events, as this predictability reduces uncertainty and makes the brain feel safer, thereby lowering stress levels.
2. Reduce Evening Blue Light Exposure
Minimize exposure to blue light from screens like smartphones, Kindles, and Netflix in the evenings to support the natural production of melatonin, which the brain uses as a natural anti-anxiety agent.
3. Intermittent Low-Intensity Movement
Integrate low to moderate intensity movement intervals throughout your day, such as short walks, because this type of exercise helps buffer the effects of stress and lowers cortisol levels, preventing stress accumulation.
4. Practice Yoga for Self-Control
Engage in yoga practice to learn how to control your internal state and responses, thereby gaining a sense of command and self-control over yourself even amidst external uncertainty and chaos.
5. Morning High-Intensity Exercise
If engaging in a significant dose of exercise, perform it in the morning to align with the body’s natural stress buffering mechanisms, rather than raising cortisol further in the evening.
6. Use Blue Blocking Glasses
Wear blue-blocking glasses from around 8 PM until bedtime and ensure all evening light is both dim and non-blue, as bright light (even white) and blue light can stimulate melanopsin-containing cells, disrupting natural sleep signals.
7. Take a Hot Bath for Mood
When feeling low, consider taking a hot bath to raise your core body temperature, as this has been shown in one study to potentially protect against depressive symptoms for several weeks.
4 Key Quotes
The brain is a prediction machine.
Dr. Mithu Storoni
Melatonin is now being shown in head to head studies with anti-anxiety medications to have really significant efficacy against anxiety.
Dr. Mithu Storoni
Every time we get a little stressor, the movement we do for the next hour or so buffers the effects of that stress away.
Dr. Mithu Storoni
When everything else is full of uncertainty around you, controlling yourself gives you the perception of enhanced control.
Dr. Mithu Storoni
1 Protocols
Dr. Storoni's Personal Stress Buffering Habits
Dr. Mithu Storoni- Focus on moving throughout the day, aiming to feel physically exhausted by the time your head hits the pillow every single day.
- If a large dose of exercise is necessary, perform it in the morning.
- Wear blue-blocking glasses around 8 PM until going to sleep, and ensure evening light is both dim and not blue.
- Have a hot bath whenever possible to raise your core body temperature.