These few minute exercises will help you combat stress and anxiety

Por Tara Swart – CNBC

During stressful situations, our brain can feel like our own worst enemy: it causes us to have anxious thoughts or palpitations.

Intense anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves that triggers the “fight or flight” response to the perception of danger. But instead of protecting us, sometimes it’s an inconvenience: for example, if you’re at a job interview trying to impress a potential future employer.

Breathing is a key element in stress control. Getty Images

Fortunately, you have more power over this situation than you realize. As a neuroscientist, I use three exercises that take me just a few minutes to reset my nervous system and feel calm again:

1) The conscious sigh

For this you must be sitting comfortably. I do it at my desk when I notice key stress symptoms like shallow breathing, tense shoulders, or increased heart rate.

1. Take a deep, long breath in through your nose for five seconds and hold your breath.
2. Breathe in again quickly for one second and hold your breath for three seconds.
3. Take a long, slow breath out through your mouth for six seconds.
4. Repeat the cycle three times.

That second quick inhale causes the air sacs in the lung, which collapse when we finish inhaling, to reinflate with air. As a result, the surface area of ​​the lungs increases and releases carbon dioxide from the body more efficiently. This helps to relax the body.

Long exhalations cause a slight increase in pressure on the receptors in the heart, signaling the brain to slow the heart rate.

2) The half salamander

It is called a half salamander because its eyes move while its head is still, similar to the behavior of a salamander.

1. Sit or stand in a comfortable position, with your head facing forward.
2. Move your eyes to the right without turning your head.
3. Tilt your head toward your right shoulder and hold for 30 to 60 seconds.
4. Let the head return to its normal position and move the eyes to look forward again.
5. Repeat the same steps to the other side.

The half salamander stimulates the vagus nerves – the system that controls the heart rate – and triggers a relaxation response in our body.

3) The complete salamander

This one is harder to do if you’re at your desk or in the office, so it’s a great long-term exercise to try at home.

1. Kneel on all fours, head down.
2. Look left if you turn your head
3. Tilt your head to the left
4. Let the left side of your spine rotate with your head tilted to the left.
5. Hold the position for 30 to 60 seconds.
6. Bring your head and spine to the center to straighten up.
7. Repeat the same steps to the other side.

Although anxiety can be scary, understanding how our bodies and brains react during those times can take some of the pressure off and help us take control of our nervous system.

Dr. Tara Swart Bieber is a neuroscientist, MD, and MIT Sloan Professor. She is the author of “The Source: Secrets of the Universe, The Science of the Brain,” and hosts the Reinvent Yourself with Dr. Tara podcast. You can follow her on Twitter e Instagram.