Real Simple - Real Simple Mental Well-Being

Mental Well-Being

Contents

Tips for getting back to a calm, happy place

Simple ways to cope with the unknown

Train yourself to be resilient and youll be ready for anything

A better way to go from crazed to Zen

Mental strategies for easing anxiety.

Our guide to help you navigate the mental health maze

We all have our quirky ways to escape modern life

Use our cheat sheet to find insight and inspiration

TED Talk tips to feel calm and inspired.

Sometimes leaning into tough emotions can lead to joy

Simple strategies to help kids cope with stress

Why forgiveness can make you happier and healthier

If life is a book, learn to be your own narrator

In facing her phobia, one writer finds roadside wisdom

Every meal is a new chance to fuel your body and mind

What and when to eat to boost your mood.

Six routines you can tweak to curb your crankiness

Exercise may be a miracle drug for feeling good

How intuitive eating can repair our relationship with food

Vice President, Editor in Chief Liz Vaccariello

Creative Director Emily Kehe

Executive Editor Rory Evans

Executive Managing Editor Lavinel Savu

Photo Director Muzam Agha

Deputy Photo Editor Lawrence J. Whritenour Jr.

Mental Well-Being

Editorial Director Kostya Kennedy

Creative Director Gary Stewart

Editor Lisa Lombardi

Designer Ronnie Brandwein-Keats

Assistant Photo Editor Steph Durante

Writers Juli Fraga, Leslie Goldman, Ginny Graves, Sharon Holbrook, Marjorie Ingall, Hallie Levine, Sara Gaynes Levy, Jennifer King Lindley, Lisa Lombardi,
Melanie Mannarino, Andrea Petersen, Holly Robinson, Laura Schocker,
Maggie Seaver, Cassie Shortsleeve, Janet Siroto, Virginia Sole-Smith, Kimberly Truong

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Researcher Gillian Aldrich

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Special thanks Brad Beatson, Samantha Lebofsky, Kate Roncinske, Joel Van Liew, Laura Villano

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e-ISBN: 978-1-54785-517-9

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CHAPTER 1

Emotional Wellness

CULTIVATE CALM. FACE UNCERTAINTY. BUILD RESILIENCE.

Rewire Your Anxious Brain

WORRIED ABOUT EVERYTHING? AFRAID OF HEIGHTS OR CROWDS? HERES THE SCIENCE OF TRAINING YOUR BRAIN TO GET YOU BACK TO A CALM, HAPPY PLACE.

By Ginny Graves

OUR MINDS ARE CAPABLE of magnificent feats of cognitionsending rocket ships into space, inventing drugs to kill deadly pathogens, remembering to buy everything at the grocery store without a list. So why do these same minds also get fixated on fretful thoughts, like worrying that a temporary pay cut will lead to financial ruin or that a partner who is working late is probably having an affair?

Blame evolution. Deep inside your brain lies the limbic system, a roughly 150-million-year-old cluster of structures that developed in the very first mammals to help them recognize and avoid danger. When this system senses a threat, it triggers your bodys fight-or-flight responsereleasing adrenaline, elevating your heart ratewithin a fifth of a second, before your conscious brain is even aware theres a problem. Every time you reflectively dodge an oncoming bus, a snarling dog, or a volatile colleague, this ancient risk-detection network is doing its job.

Trouble is, it doesnt always analyze threats. And these days, since four-legged predators are rare, it often interprets mere discomfort or annoyances as danger. The limbic system can be triggered by things like public speaking or crowded elevators or scowls from neighbors, says Robert Leahy, PhD, a clinical professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. Those of us who are temperamentally or genetically vulnerable to anxiety (some 40 million people in the U.S.) are more likely to view those benign threats as real and obsessively worry about them.