Your best antidote to stress

New research reveals that you can tap into one of four specific parts of the brain to instantly combat different types of stress. Here, easy ways to outwit worry and usher in more joy

Over the past year, we’ve had to manage everything from seismic shifts in our daily routine to roller-coaster emotions, which have thrown both the rational and emotional parts of our brain into overdrive, resulting in heightened feelings of anxiety, doubt and uncertainty. Thankfully, new research from leading neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., author of Whole Brain Living, found that we can intentionally tap into targeted areas of our brain and use them to allay specific types of stress, while restoring hope and boosting resilience.

To appreciate the role our gray matter plays in our response to stress, it’s helpful to rethink how we see the brain itself, says Bolte Taylor.

“It’s a myth that the left brain is purely rational and the right brain is purely emotional,” she reveals. “Both hemispheres have emotional and logical tissues.” In fact, the brain contains four distinct groupings of cells, what Bolte Taylor describes as “Four Characters”: Left Thinking (organized, overdoing); Left Emotion (protecting, fearful); Right Emotion (creative, unstructured); and Right Thinking (experiential).

“The goal is to know each of your regions and how they work so anytime a stressful situation arises, you can consciously tap into one and choose how you want to feel,” says Bolte Taylor. Read on to discover the simple mind-resets that boost confidence, calm and peace of mind.