Stressed? New Research on How to Retrain Your Brain

“The way we live our lives now is like running marathons. … In some ways, that’s great, but you can’t run marathons all the time.” – Dr. Leslie Sherlin, neuroscientist and chief science officer of Neurotopia.
  

I’m sure you would agree with the statement above. Life is increasingly stressful. That stress leads to a weakened immune system with an increased risk for serious health problems. How can this problem be combated? Brain retraining. To learn how this is being done, take note of athletes and soldiers. 
  

Sports psychologists are using brain mapping and neurofeedback when working with athletes to help train for peak athletic performance. Once they find out an athlete’s optimal brain wave pattern, they then teach them to techniques to control their thinking especially when under stress or as recovery. 

Virtual reality is being used to help soldiers prepare for the stress for combat. Some of these therapies are done before the fact, but others focus on after, taking the soldier back to the scenario, helping them to deal with what happened. (Read CNN.com Training the Brain to Stress Less)
  

These stress “tools” are not available for the public, but hopefully will be in the future. Even though they are not now, the core principles are there. Work now to train your brain to deal with stress. There are many methods that are being used with the help of a trained mental health care professional. Seek out their assistance today to learn how to cope with stress! 
 

Visit Managing Stress for more information.