There is a lot to be anxious and worried about these days and it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Indeed, these are normal human reactions to adverse events, but the good news is that we don’t have to be controlled by these feelings.

We thought it would be great to check in with an expert in the field of neuroscience and focus in on the latest research to proactively manage anxiety. Check out Dr. Caroline Leaf’s 5 practical strategies… 

“We can’t always control the circumstances of life, but we can learn to edit what has happened to us.

We have the power to determine how these emotions impact us.  

In fact, everyone experiences a level of anxiety from time to time; this is completely normal. Often, there are times in our life where “stuff” accumulates, and it is okay to be anxious when this happens. However, if left unmanaged, this “stuff” can progress to a point where we feel so overwhelmed with anxiety that our ability to go about daily life is obstructed, especi...

We thought it would be a perfect way to start our week by looking at a few practical ways to find peace when chaos is running high and how to cultivate hope (even now!)

Science has proven time and time again that stress is the biggest strain on our ability to cope with the challenges and changes we face. Panic can often bring with it uncontrollable fear and anxiety which narrows our thinking, and makes us an island of one at a time when we need each other more than ever.

Our takeaway today is to focus on the things we can control instead of the main circumstances outside of our ability to change. It’s a perfect time to slow down and be more aware of God’s presence in our lives, even when our focus is being diverted away.

When it comes down to key insights of how to soak in more of God’s presence, we have loved the insights from John Eldredge in his book, “Get Your Life Back”. He highlights a few wonderfully simple practices, or what John calls “graces”- to choose peace over pani...

 We thought it would be a great way to start the week by featuring a few insights from Dr. Caroline Leaf on boosting your mental energy when you need it most! Dr. Leaf is a brilliant cognitive neuroscientist and found her 3 top tips super practical and easy to integrate, especially when stress is high and your energy is running low. Here’s a little background...

“Why do we get tired? Our nonconscious mind never stops. It’s always trying to make us aware of issues that are damaging our resilience and causing neurophysiological disruptions in our brain and body. However, the conscious mind and brain do get tired because they work on energy, like our phones. This is kind of like when we have a whole lot of apps open, the brightness is on full and we are constantly using our phone—very soon the battery will die. And, like you need to recharge your phone, you also need to recharge your brain and conscious mind. 

It’s best we do this in a regular way, by incorporating periods of rest int...

A question was posed out of Yale University: How long does it take to get a dose of nature high enough to make people say they feel healthy and have a strong sense of wellbeing? Stress and anxiety are common experiences for many of us. Minimizing the chronic stress of daily life as much as possible is important for overall health.

10 WAYS TO ENGAGE WITH NATURE AND REDUCE STRESS

1. Add plants and nature pictures to your space.

Whether you’re at the office or home, adding plants and/or pictures of nature may calm your stress. In one study, people who looked at real plants or posters of plants experienced less stress waiting for medical procedures.

2. Listen to nature sounds.

Listening to the sounds of nature may reduce your stress, whether that is live or a recording. One randomized controlled trial recognized stress-reducing effects from listening to water sounds.

3. Take a walk in the park.

Yes, believe it or not, a simple walk in the local park can take your stress levels down....

Welcome to a new week of freshness and rejuvenation with our thoughts and mind. We thought it would be encouraging to check-in with one of our amazing RISE Expert Faculty… Dr. Amen! Today, we want to share with you a special acronym coined by Dr. Daniel Amen called ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) which can create an ant infestation of the mind, ruin your day and make you feel bad. Become an Anteater and learn how to control the negative thinking and self-talk eliminating one ANT at a time.

“I have a terrible ant infestation in my house, and there’s a terrible ANT infestation in our country that’s driving anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief. ANTs are the automatic negative thoughts that ruin your day, steal your happiness, and prolong grief. These days, ANTs are everywhere.Do any of these thoughts sound familiar?

“Nothing will ever be the same.”

“Everyone’s going to get COVID and die.”

“The economy is ruined. It’ll take years or decades to recover.”

“I’ll never get another jo...

We’ve all heard the term, “take a breather” and we most likely have different thoughts about what it really means. What do you think of? Maybe a breathless athlete taking a much-needed water break from a hot, long grueling practice--or maybe an employee waiting for a long-awaited work break. Regardless of the context, we all know how important it is to take “time out” to recover and replenish the energy and oxygen our bodies need to be at our very best. 

Webster’s definition of “a breather” is “a pause for rest” and for today  we will be focusing on how to literally “take a breather” to bring balance back to your life. We look at it as trained tranquility!

Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain and body to calm down and relax. We look at it as trained tranquility!

So go ahead; take a deep breath right now… inhale through your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth. Ahhh! By taki...

How are you? How are you feeling? 

No question, it’s been a challenging few weeks for all of us and most likely under the weight of this situation you’ve felt its impact in some area of your life-body, mind, heart and spirit. We wanted to share with you some simple strategies over the coming weeks to help you gain strength to overcome obstacles you may be facing. We have discovered one of the best ways to help you do that is to boost your emotion through “motion”.  

According to fitness researcher, Michael Bracko of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the psychological aspect of exercise has been overlooked for some time now. Bracko states, “The psychological benefits of exercise are as important, if not more so, than the physical benefits. The physical needs and outcomes of exercise, whether it’s to lose weight, tone muscle, or address obesity dominates what we hear about, but lots of people who exercise don’t see stark physical benefits,” said Bracko. 

Researchers, lik...