Top Smart Rings for Health Tracking: Monitor Wellness on the Go

Discover the best smart rings for health tracking that offer real-time monitoring of heart rate, sleep, activity, and more. These compact wearables are revolutionizing fitness and wellness by combining sleek design with advanced health technology.

Visit Now:- https://maxmag.org/technology/best-smart-rings-health-tracking-2025/

What Is a Lie Detector Test and How Does It Work?
Ever wondered how a lie detector test actually works?
Also known as a polygraph, it measures physiological responses—like heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and sweat—to determine if someone is telling the truth or lying.

The idea? Lies cause stress, and stress triggers physical changes in the body.

But are they 100% accurate? That’s still debated. Learn more about how polygraphs work and why they’re used in investigations and interviews.

https://tracepointindia.in/lie-detector-test-polygraph-services-gurgaon

#tracepointindia #gurgaon #forensicscience #liedetectortestingurgaon #corporatesecurityservices

A #smartwatch is a wearable device that offers advanced features beyond timekeeping, such as fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, notifications, and GPS. It connects to smartphones via Bluetooth, enabling calls, messages, and app integration. Popular brands include Apple, Samsung, and Garmin, catering to fitness enthusiasts and tech-savvy users.
Global Smartwatch Market valued at US USD 28,660 million in 2022, is anticipated to reach a value of US USD 136,130 million in 2033, growing at a CAGR of 21.5%.

Read More: https://wemarketresearch.com/reports/smartwatch-market/152

#WearableTech #FitnessTracker #SmartGadget

#Wearablemedicaldevices are portable instruments intended to measure, manage, and keep an individual's health parameters up to date in real time. With a wide range of products including glucose monitors, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and ECG patches, the market for wearable medical devices is large and serves the purposes of wellness tracking, chronic disease management, and health monitoring. These gadgets use sensors and technology to collect crucial information such as heart rate, blood pressure, activity levels, and more.

Read More: https://wemarketresearch.com/reports/wearable-medical-devices-market/687

Chennai's top cardiologist for leadless pacemaker implantation and care is Dr. Deep Chandh Raja

https://www.drdcr.com/

Advantages of Choosing Dr. Deep Chandh Raja: The Best Cardiologist and Leadless Pacemaker Specialist in Chennai
When it comes to heart health, selecting the right cardiologist is a decision that can significantly impact your well-being. Dr Deep Chandh Raja is the best cardiologist in Chennai, specializing in pacemaker implantation and leadless pacemaker technology. His advanced expertise, patient-centred care, and access to state-of-the-art medical facilities make him ideal for individuals seeking top-tier heart care. Here are the key advantages of choosing Dr Deep Chandh Raja for your cardiac needs:

Expertise in Cardiology and Pacemaker Implantation
Dr. Deep Chandh Raja has extensive training and experience in cardiology, with a particular focus on heart rhythm disorders. His expertise covers a wide range of cardiac conditions, including arrhythmias, heart failure, and bradycardia (slow heart rate). Dr. Deep Chandh Raja's precision and attention to detail ensure optimal outcomes for patients requiring pacemaker implantation.
His proficiency in traditional and leadless pacemaker implantation techniques allows him to offer tailored solutions to meet each patient's unique needs. His deep understanding of pacemaker technology and its evolving advancements has positioned him as a leader in the field.

Specialization in Leadless Pacemaker Technology
Dr Deep Chandh Raja is a pioneer in using best leadless pacemaker specialist in chennai, representing the latest innovation in cardiac care. Unlike traditional pacemakers that require leads (wires) to connect the device to the heart, leadless pacemakers are more miniature, self-contained devices implanted directly into the heart chamber.

Advantages of Leadless Pacemakers:
1. Minimized Risk of Complications: Leadless pacemakers eliminate lead-associated issues, such as infections, dislodgement, or damage.
2. No Visible Scars: The procedure is minimally invasive, leaving no visible scars, which enhances patient confidence.
3. Faster Recovery: Patients experience quicker recovery times, allowing them to return to normal activities sooner.
4. Enhanced Comfort: Patients report greater comfort and ease of movement without external components.
Dr. Deep Chandh Raja's skill in performing this advanced procedure ensures that patients benefit from these advantages, along with long-term reliability and improved quality of life.

State-of-the-Art Medical Facilities
Dr. Deep Chandh Raja practices in leading hospitals and clinics in Chennai that are equipped with advanced diagnostic and surgical technologies. These facilities feature cutting-edge cardiac imaging systems, catheterization labs, and dedicated post-procedure care units. This ensures seamless and comprehensive care for patients undergoing pacemaker implantation.

Patient-Centered Approach
Dr. Deep Chandh Raja's greatest strength is his commitment to patient-centric care. He takes the time to explain each procedure, address concerns, and provide guidance on managing cardiac health post-implantation. His empathetic communication and personalized treatment plans ensure that patients feel confident and supported throughout their journey.

Proven Track Record
With a history of successful procedures and glowing patient testimonials, Dr Deep Chandh Raja's reputation as the best cardiologist and leadless pacemaker specialist in Chennai is well-deserved. His dedication to excellence and continuous learning ensures that his patients receive world-class care.

Conclusion
Choosing Dr. Deep Chandh Raja for pacemaker implantation and advanced cardiac care offers numerous advantages. From his expertise in leadless pacemaker technology to his focus on patient comfort and well-being, he provides unmatched care tailored to each individual's needs. For anyone seeking the best in heart health and innovative treatments, Dr Deep Chandh Raja is the trusted name in Chennai.

ANXIETY-
Panic Attack First Aid.
Tips and tricks to get through an attack.

KEY POINTS-
Panic attacks are common and do not always signal mental illness.
Strategies can help, such as mindfulness, grounding, and allowing yourself to feel.
Acceptance and commitment therapy can benefit people who experience panic attacks.

A panic attack is a dreaded experience. Your heart races, you can't breathe. Often, you can't tell if you are dying.

It's no surprise that several individuals begin to avoid places or other situations that they believe could trigger this, sometimes to the extreme of confining themselves to their home, as in the case of agoraphobia.

Most people will have at least one panic attack in a lifetime, perhaps at a seriously stressful time. Occasional panic attacks are normal. Yet, when panic begins to "call the shots" regarding what you can and cannot do when someone feels they need to avoid things to avoid the panic, it interferes with life. In addition, frequent and severe panic attacks are extremely distressing.

So, how can you get through a panic attack when one shows up? Everyone's methods are different. What follows are survival strategies drawing from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) (Hayes et al., 2012) and other mindfulness-based practices, which I have found helpful as a therapist and in my own life.

1. Allow the Panic to Exist. I know this sounds so counterintuitive. No one wants a panic attack. Yet, in the midst of one, the panic is already present. Invite it in. Notice it.

2. Be Curious. It's hard to be curious when you are anxious. And it's hard to be anxious when you are curious. The goal is not to chase the panic attack away. Notice it. Notice how your body and mind are reacting. Try to observe it as if you were an alien going through this for the first time.

3. Remember That All You Have to Deal with Is Right Now. Panic loves catastrophic future thinking, which only fuels it. Focus on just the next five seconds. Breathe into this. All you have to deal with is these next five seconds.

4. Feel or Watch Your Heartbeat. Even if it seems like you are training for the next marathon, tuning into your pulse can bring you into the moment. You can only focus on your present pulse. Sometimes, I will take my fitness watch and view as my heartbeat speeds up and slows down.

One behavioral strategy—paradoxical intention—rests on asking your body for the opposite of what you want. This lets you know that you are not afraid. I will tell myself, how high can I get my heart rate up this time? It helps.

5. Go Outside. The outdoors release you from the containment of a building and greet you with cool, fresh air. This can be soothing. You may find squirrels playing in the trees or see a flower. These sights can be anchors pulling you back to the present moment.

6. No Matter What, Do Not Let the Panic Become Your Boss. Panic is very good at convincing people to avoid things. That's where it gets its power. Through avoidance, you become painted into a corner while the panic reins over you and your life. As much as you can, try not to make a habit of avoiding panic triggers.

7. Shower. Cool water can activate the mammalian dive reflex, helping you to calm down quickly. Focusing on the feel of the water and the smell of your care products can also help to ground you.

8. Remember That You Have Made it Through Every Panic Attack You've Had. Panic is terrifying. Yet, the reality is that its power is almost entirely our fear of panic. Empower yourself by reminding yourself you will get through this. You always have.

9. Walk or Fidget. Sometimes we need to move. The energy from the panic needs to go somewhere. This is where walking helps. Walking and fidgeting can also serve as grounding strategies to return to the present.

10. Key Into Your Senses. You might be familiar with the five senses grounding technique. Narrowing your attention to any one sense can help you regain your grounding. This might be focusing on vision and the colors around you. It could also be in listening to music. You might seek out soothing senses like the smell of a candle that reminds you of your grandma's home. Or perhaps you choose something intense but steady, like a song with a strong beat.

11. Carry On. Life goes on after panic. Once the storm has passed, give yourself kindness and go on with your day.

In Closing
Panic attacks are common. These strategies may help you to get through one more easily. If you are troubled by repeated, intense panic, psychotherapy such as acceptance and commitment therapy can help.

STRESS-
The Stress Spectrum and Learning to Read the Nervous System.
The Stress Spectrum is described as positive, tolerable, and toxic.
Reviewed by Davia Sills

KEY POINTS-
Toxic stress refers to a stressor that becomes chronic and unbuffered by internal and external resources that may cause dysregulation.
Learning to read one's nervous system can help one pay more attention to the pleasant or neutral sensations connected to well-being.
Shifting from conventional thinking to trauma and resiliency-informed thinking can reduce suffering.

Interoception is critical for a sense of embodiment, motivation, and well-being and is connected to self-regulation, leading to homeostasis.
The Stress Spectrum is described as positive, tolerable, and toxic. It refers to the stress response system's effects on the body, not the actual stressful experiences or events. Understanding the science behind reactions and learning skills like reading the nervous system, also called "tracking" in biological-based models like the Community Resiliency Model and the Trauma Resiliency Model, can help a person learn to become aware of the physical reactions of the stress response. This sensory awareness, also called interoception, can be a portal to self-healing as a person learns to distinguish between sensations of distress and well-being.

Positive Stress
The Stress Spectrum defines positive stress as the body's response to a mild or moderate stressor. A positive stress response includes physiological changes like increased heart rate, blood pressure, and mild elevations in hormone levels. Internal balance returns quickly.

Tolerable Stress
A tolerable stress response is an adaptive response to time-limited stressors. It sets off the body's alert systems, resulting in a greater sense of distress that is more difficult to overcome. Time-limited stress responses result in short-acting physiological reactions. This kind of stress response does not decrease without the help of a support system and other interventions. However, the balance does return after a short period.

Toxic Stress and Allostasis
Toxic stress response refers to ongoing and relentless body responses to intense stressors. When allostasis goes on too long, it causes changes in the way the brain functions. The cumulative toll can impair a person's physical and mental health.

Allostasis is defined as the brain's regulation of the body by anticipating its needs before they arise. These internal reactions to an external stressor include activating the stress-response system. These are normal and adaptive responses to stress, resulting in physiologic stability in the face of an external challenge. These systems revert to normal baseline states after acute external stress or challenge.

However, dysregulation of these systems may occur when the stressor becomes chronic and unbuffered by internal and external resources like social support. This results in pathophysiologic alterations to these responses, such as hyperactivation of the allostatic systems. Over time this dysregulation contributes to an increased risk of disease affecting our immune system. This pathophysiologic response is called "allostatic load."

Adverse Childhood Experiences
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) without social support that can mitigate the impact of such incidents can result in prolonged activation of the stress response systems. ACEs disrupt the development of brain architecture and other organ systems and increase the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment into adulthood. (Fellitti 1998)

Paradigm Shift: Conventional, Trauma-Informed, Resiliency-Informed
As we better understand the Stress Spectrum and ACEs, shifting from conventional thinking to trauma and resiliency-informed thinking can reduce human suffering. Conventional thinking assumes problematic behaviors result from a person being "bad," and they must be punished. The trauma-informed thinking brings awareness to the need to be sensitive to what happened to a person and that challenging behaviors may result from their traumatic experiences. Resiliency-informed thinking is the action of sharing skills of well-being to reduce the physiological and emotional toll of traumatic experiences. Instead of asking what is wrong, we ask what happened to you and then ask questions like, "What or who has helped you get through?" and "What are your strengths?"

Public and mental health strategies must include interventions focusing on the biology of the human nervous system (bottom-up) rather than cognitive approaches (top-down processing). Integrating interoceptive awareness to the positive experiences in life can help a person experiencing stress return to present-moment awareness by experiencing the pleasant or neutral sensations connected to their strengths, for example.

Interoception and Reading Your Nervous System
The tracking skill increases the individual's sensory awareness—or interoception—to develop a greater capacity for emotion regulation and embodied states of well-being. There is a growing body of research about interoception (e.g., Paulus & Stein, 2006). Interoception is defined as observing body sensations concerning how we think, feel, and move. The insula is a part of the brain that helps the body and mind communicate with one another. It reads physical states of the body (sensations) like pain, an itch, and temperature. Based on that information, it communicates to the cortex to take action to keep the body in a state of internal balance.

Farb et al. (2015) describe interoception as the sense of signals originating within the body. Interoception is critical for our sense of embodiment, motivation, and well-being. Interoception is related to well-being as it is connected to self-regulation, helping humans maintain homeostasis. Farb (2015) further states that emotionally balanced body signals are also thought to contribute to broader mood states that support emotional balance.

Tracking Your Resources Exercise
1. For a few moments (about 12 seconds), think about something or someone that uplifts you, gives you strength, or brings you peace.

2. As you think about a personal resource, describe the details to yourself—the colors, sounds, smells, and images of your resource. Next, bring awareness to the pleasant or neutral sensations connected to your resource.

3. If unpleasant sensations arise, you can draw attention to a place in the body that feels more pleasant. You can also draw your attention outside your body by looking around your space and noticing what catches your eye.

4. Continue to notice the pleasant or neutral sensations.

ANGER-
An Antidote to Anger.
Ice, ice baby.
Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

KEY POINTS-
A 3-step process can help us to somatically, cognitively, and creatively navigate anger and intense emotions.
Anger can be mindfully held, named, explored, and expressed so that it does not become debilitating or damaging to others.
Affect labeling assists with emotional regulation by acknowledging and validating our experience.

When our physical body is injured and inflamed, rest and ice are part of the standard healing protocol. When our emotions are inflamed and fiery, often, we are told to “cool it.” These words may be more useful than we think.

If feelings of anger and frustration become highly activated and we are not skilled in emotional regulation, we can become like molten lava that either erupts or oozes. Unaddressed emotional stockpiling can become explosive and, often, another person unintentionally gets burned. Other times, unprocessed emotions slowly suffocate joy, opportunity, and anything on a positive, peaceful path. Both of these scenarios can cause fissures in our mental health and our relationships.

So how do we regulate emotions before they reach a boiling point?

According to Dan Segal (1999), author of The Developing Mind, we all have a “window of tolerance” representing the range of emotional arousal that is tolerable. When we are within our individual window, our nervous systems are operating optimally. When we are outside our window of tolerance for stress and overwhelm, we may become either hyper- or hypo-aroused as evidenced by fight, flight, or freeze behavioral responses.

The next time you feel yourself climbing beyond your “window of tolerance,” I suggest you follow these three steps to quite literally, “cool off.” To further melt the heat of all-consuming thoughts and feelings, add intentional breathing with each step. Make each conscious exhale longer than the inhale. With regular practice, we can become more adept at handling all emotions, including anger.

To remember this formula, call in the 1990 Vanilla Ice song, ”Ice Ice Baby.” If you are too young to know this song, it’s worth Googling—it may even make you giggle, which will also mitigate the overload of any difficult experiences.

When anger strikes, head to your nearest freezer and grab some ice (or cold water if you do not have access to ice). While holding the ice in your hand, focus your awareness on the cube(s) as it melts. Ask yourself the following questions: What is the temperature? Texture? Sensation? Color? You may even lick it and see how it feels on your tongue. Engage as many senses as possible. This mindful practice will interrupt the immediate intensity of any situation. TikTok videos are now featuring vagus nerve icing of the face or body as a means for stress relief. Cold temperatures do, in fact, activate the vagus nerve and improve heart rate variability.

If you can identify the place in your body where the emotion seems stuck, place the ice there (gut, throat, etc). The intention with this practice is not to take away the emotion or replace it with something we deem “better.” Instead, the practice is to sit with it mindfully and soften the acute crisis so it is more manageable.

Step 2: “I Can Experience Emotion.”
Often, when we are upset, we judge our feelings and tell ourselves, “I can’t handle this.” But, the truth is, we can.

For this second step, identify, label, and allow your emotions by completing the "ICE" sentence, “I-C-E, I can experience…[fill in the blank]."

Affect labeling assists with emotional regulation by acknowledging and validating our experience. The naming process provides clarity and distance from the internal sensations and the habitual, reactionary responses. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, Matthew Lieberman and his colleagues (2007) found that affect labeling provided a calming effect on the emotional areas of the brain. With this labeling process, we can have the emotion and not become that emotion.

With my ICE protocol, it’s important to suspend judgment about the emotion. Catch your internal dialogue and reframe statements like, “I should not be feeling…” Instead, restate the ICE phrase, “I can experience…” The goal is to honor and allow all feelings, even rage. The ICE process gives you permission to own your feelings and not resist, deny, or suppress them.

Next, challenge yourself to gain access to the root emotions. Connect with the fear, hurt, inadequacy, shame, or sadness beneath the angry or anxious surface. Again, use the ICE statement to acknowledge these emotional states. For example, you may say to yourself, “I can experience shame.” Then, give the emotion a 10-point scale rating. “I can experience shame, and, right now, my shame is at a 7.” Continue tracking its intensity and imagine it melting as you breathe with intention.

Step 3: “I Can Express Emotion.”
After naming your emotional states, you can proceed to the second "ICE" statement in my “Ice, Ice Baby” formula. This I-C-E stands for “I can express emotion.” Explore ways to release the energy of the emotion so that it has a place to land outside of self...but not on someone else.

We all have a variety of tools available to us at any time to express emotion in healthy ways. I encourage individuals to find what works best for them. Once your ice has melted and you name your state of mind, you can practice expressing your feelings verbally, physically, or creatively. It is best to gather your toolbox and have it ready before emotions become overwhelming.

Here are a few things to have on hand:
Paper for journaling
Running shoes for a walk or run
Punching bag, jump rope
Paper to shred
Musical instruments to play
Open space and music to dance or shake
Lightweight balls to throw
Art supplies to paint, sculpt, or draw
A private place to let out a primal scream
A trusted friend or counselor to call
All emotions are energy in motion and, just like ice cubes outside of the freezer, they will dissolve with the right conditions. Emotional energy is not static; it wants to move. So, the next time you notice the heat rising beyond your window of tolerance, reach for "ICE, ICE Baby" and follow my steps to connect, allow, identify, and appropriately express your feelings.

STRESS-
On the Joy and Wonder of Connecting With Nature.
Spring is the perfect time to dwell on possibilities.
Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

KEY POINTS-
Nature can build resilience and strengthen cognitive functioning.
Connecting with nature only takes a small "dose" to have large effects.
Share outdoor time with non-human animals. Savor nature experiences for vitality, creativity, compassion, and joy.
"I dwell in Possibility." —Emily Dickinson

Spring is a time of liminality, that in-between time, when nature begins a process of re-awakening. Liminality is being “not quite” but almost. Our senses tune in, waiting for the emergence of newness, and suddenly we hear birds singing, see the bloom of flowers, and smell fresh, fragrant grass. Animal coats begin to shed, and metaphorically, our own layers do, too. Taking lessons from nature, the liminality of spring is the perfect time to dwell on possibilities.

Being outdoors is important given the increasing reliance on technology and screen time, with more and more individuals living sedentary lifestyles. The average American spends six hours and 59 minutes looking at a screen every day. That amounts to 305 feet of mobile content on a standard 6-inch smartphone — the height of the Statue of Liberty! (Feldman, 2022). Taking a break from technology is essential. Being in contact with microbes in the outdoors can “train your immune system" to fend off foreign cells and protect against illness or disease. Similarly, it can “train your brain" to mindfully attend to the beauty of the environment, which produces feelings of awe, gratitude, and wonder. Science has shown that these nuanced experiences of positive emotions enhance health and well-being (Tan, Wachsmuth, & Tugade, 2022).

Nature Fosters Resilience
Engaging with nature promotes resilience from stress. Resilience is characterized as the ability to “bounce back” from adversity (Block & Kremen, 1996; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004). Spending time in nature advances recovery from stress, while increasing positive well-being, lowering mental distress, and minimizing the likelihood of using medication for depression (White et al., 2021). Nature-based retreats promote resilience through activities that develop skills to build self-esteem, competency, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. Natural environments also foster post-adversity growth by promoting self-reflection and feelings of purpose (Marselle et al, 2019).

Nature Sharpens Cognitive Skills
Exposure to natural surroundings helps to improve cognitive functioning across all age groups. For young children (4th to 7th grade), exposure to “green space” (trees, grass, plantings, vegetation) vs. urban space is associated with enhanced cognitive development over time (Dadvand et al., 2015). For middle-aged adults, being in nature improves executive control, cognitive flexibility, and attentional control (Stevenson, Schilhab, & Bentsen, 2018). And for older adults (aged 65 or older), being in nature may protect against the development of certain neurodegenerative disorders. In a large study of over 62 million Medicare beneficiaries, individuals living in green spaces (vs. urban spaces) showed lower rates of hospitalization for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and Parkinson’s disease (Klompmaker, et al. 2020). This could be due, in part, to more opportunities for exercise and social interaction. Simply, enjoying the outdoors can enhance cognitive focus and attention, which builds our cognitive capacities in valuable ways.

Doctors Give Nature Prescriptions: Get Your Healthy Dose
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes nature as “our greatest source of health and well-being” (WHO, 2020). Physicians and health professionals give nature prescriptions as part of their health promotion plans to address issues of chronic disease arising from sedentary lifestyles. There are 75 to 100 nature prescription programs across the United States, and many more worldwide, including Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, Finland, South Korea, China, and Japan (Kondo et al., 2020). These programs show that outdoor time improves anxiety, depression, and general mood — regardless of exercise type or intensity (Shanahan et al., 2019). Connecting with nature helps reduce salivary cortisol, heart rate, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, and triglycerides (Twohig-Bennett and Jones, 2018).

Notwithstanding, accessibility to nature and open space may not be easy for everyone. Public health ordinances should prioritize making green spaces available and accessible to all.

4 Ways to Bring Nature Into Your Daily Life
1. Take an “Awe Walk”: Less Screen-time, More Green-time
Awe is felt in the presence of something vast that cannot be immediately understood (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Even brief experiences of awe can produce generosity to others, increased personal well-being, and greater humility (Shiota et al., 2007). Awe produces physical and emotional benefits, including reductions in anxiety, depression, cortisol, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk (Anderson et al., 2018; Twohig-Bennett, 2018).

Nature may be an under-utilized public health resource for psychological well-being in a high-tech era. Research shows that young children are spending less time outdoors than their predecessors (Kemple et al., 2016). A meta-analysis of 186 studies found that time spent in parks positively affects psychological well-being and academic achievement for students (Oswold et al., 2020). For college students, taking a study break in nature can help alleviate academic stress. An experimental study found that students who walked in nature for 15 minutes had significantly lower cortisol levels and greater positive emotions, compared to students who watched nature indoors on their screens (Olafsdottir et al.2018).

Nature exposure can transform social relationships and strengthen community connections. Feelings of awe fortify social relationships by prioritizing the needs of the collective above an individual’s (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Healthy older adults (ages 60 to 90 years) were instructed to take 15-minute outdoor walks each day for eight weeks. Participants who took awe walks (focusing on vastness and novelty) vs. control walks expressed greater feelings of social connection and being part of something larger in the world.

“Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, ‘Stay awhile.’” —Mary Oliver

2. Go "Forest Bathing": Mindful Attention in Nature
Forest bathing involves full absorption of the five senses as you engage in nature. Derived from the Japanese phrase, shinrin-yoku, meaning “taking in the forest atmosphere,” forest bathing has positive physiological effects, including blood pressure reduction, immune function improvements, depression alleviation, and mental health improvements. In one study, participants who took a three-day forest bathing retreat showed an increase in the number and activity of natural killer (NK) cells, which help fight virus infection. NK activity during forest bathing also attenuated the stress hormone response (adrenaline, noradrenaline). Relatedly, a study showed that taking nature walks at least once per week for three months can decrease reports of stress, depression, and negative affect, while showing improvements in positive affect and mental well-being (Marselle, Warber, & Irvine, 2019).

The “5-4-3-2-1” exercise is an easy way to center one’s attention while in nature. Name and identify: five things you can see (dew drops on leaves, stars in the sky); four things you can hear (the crunch of leaves, the whisper of the breeze); three things you can smell (scent of flowers, earthy aroma of tree bark); two things you can touch (blades of grass afoot, smooth river stones); one thing you can taste (fresh picked berries or herbs). Taking time to intentionally meander and marvel about nature can produce improvements in physical and psychological health.

3. Awaken the Wild: Share Outdoor Time with Animals
Spending time with animals shows respect and gratitude for all living beings, wild and tame. Interacting with animals can increase trust, self-confidence, empathy, and compassion, while reducing anxiety and fear. Petting and grooming them relieves stress by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels (stress hormone). Additional benefits include increased oxytocin (social bonding) and dopamine (motivation, reward), which together play roles in regulating psychological distress (O'Haire, Guerin, & Kirkham, 2015).

Beyond influencing physiological changes to the brain, interactions with animals provide a broad range of emotional and social support that can buffer stress and loneliness, while improving the ability to adapt and recover from adverse circumstances.

The bonds we have with animals come in many forms, including companion animals, emotional support animals, and working animals. Animal-assisted therapy programs help individuals cope with stressors and adversity from trauma or addiction. Researchers recommend these animal-assisted therapies (often with dogs or horses) as complementary techniques alongside clinical treatments (O’Haire et al., 2015).

Animals nurture our hearts and minds in meaningful and profound ways that often go unnoticed, yet have long-lasting effects.

4. Do Less to Feel More: Savor Experiences of Nature
Savor the experience of nature with full absorption and intensification to unleash creativity, joy, and compassion (Edwards, 2019) towards greater well-being (Sato et al., 2017). Scientists have referred to the slowdown of human activity as an anthropause that reciprocally gives wildlife and humans time for renewal. This human stillness allows for "sharing space on this increasingly crowded planet, with benefits for both wildlife and humans." (Rutz et al., 2020)

The next time you go for a walk, remove your headphones, put your phone away, kick off your shoes, walk barefoot through the grass or sand, and listen deeply to the environment around you. Perhaps adopt the persona of a painter, and examine the world with new eyes. Or listen like a musician, hearing notes with new ears. Keep a nature diary, and look forward to the next chapter.

(Now the ears of my ears awake and/ now the eyes of my eyes are opened) —e.e. cummings

ANXIETY-
How Uncertainty Causes Anxiety.
Insights from the neuropsychology of anxiety.
Reviewed by Gary Drevitch

KEY POINTS-
Your brain is a prediction machine, and uncertainty can be quantified in terms of prediction error.
We evolved anxiety as a response to uncertainty.
Mindfulness, gratitude, and routine can help minimize uncertainty and maximize well-being.
Whole or skim milk? Take your normal route home, or an unfamiliar potential shortcut? Flip a hypothetical trolley switch that would kill one person, saving five others?

All of these decisions have two things in common: uncertainty and anxiety.

Whether you consciously feel anxious or not in deciding between two similar options at the grocery store, I mean anxious in the technical sense. Anxiety is your brain’s response to uncertainty, big or small.

The Fantastic Organ
Neuroscientist Karl Friston has called the brain a “fantastic organ.” The brain is not only an organ which is fantastically complex, but one which is constantly generating fantasies. Your brain is a prediction machine—this is the basis for predictive processing theories of consciousness.

Most of what your brain and body does is unconscious: There is high predictability, little uncertainty, and attending to these details would be exhausting. We can choose to take conscious control of our breathing, but can you imagine if we had to do this all the time? How tiring, and perhaps even deadly, would it be to exist in a world where our brain couldn’t take over and regulate our breathing unconsciously?

But when there is uncertainty, prediction becomes much harder. There is no unconscious smooth sailing. The whole reason we have conscious thought is to deliberate between actions when multiple decisions are possible. Our fantastic organ must generate the right fantasy map to navigate us safely to our goals.

Entropy Equals Uncertainty
From a computational perspective, uncertainty increases entropy. You may recognize this term from physics. It is a law of nature that entropy always increases. Entropy is chaos, and disorder. Heat dissipates, the universe expands, and order does not stay ordered. Sandcastles collapse every day, but there is no universe in which sand spontaneously arranges itself into castles.

The caveat, of course, is that it is possible to build sandcastles and to create order in a disordered universe. We cannot create order from nothing; it comes at the cost of energy. Expending energy into work still increases entropy, globally, but we can trade energy from the outside world to maintain order in a narrow context.

This anti-entropic process of consuming energy to maintain order is the whole basis of life. Homeostasis is an organism’s process of expending energy to maintain itself, whether that energy is gathered from photosynthesis, or from eating other organisms.

And at a much higher level, your brain, the prediction machine, is fundamentally in pursuit of minimizing entropy. What does a prediction machine want more than anything else? To be right. What does it need to be right? Certainty. Why does it want certainty? There are two answers to this. From a low-level computational perspective, the less uncertainty there is in a problem, the more straightforward the answer. Your brain saves energy. From a high-level evolutionary perspective, the more uncertain your environment is, the less likely you are to survive. We need certainty.

Of course, if all we wanted was certainty and to minimize brain power, we would be in a constant state of hibernation. This is not a long-term adaptive solution. The best types of prediction machines are those which can handle high amounts of uncertainty, and still come out on top.

Three Types of Brain:
The struggle to navigate uncertainty is the best way to understand the evolution of our large brains, and to understand the neuropsychology of anxiety.

The brain can broadly be divided into three layers:
First there is the brainstem, which governs basic survival processes. This includes largely unconscious processes like breathing, heartbeat, digestion, and reflexive movement. This most ancient brain system is common to all vertebrates and is sometimes referred to as the “reptilian” or “lizard” brain.

Next there is the limbic system. The limbic system controls our emotions, ranging from pain and pleasure, love and fear, and hunger and sex drives. Compared to the basic reptilian brain systems shared across all vertebrates, the limbic system is more developed in social species. Whether predator or prey, parent or child, if your survival depends on receiving care from or avoiding harm from others, it pays to have emotions.
Finally, there is the cortex, or the “rational brain.” (Cortex has the same Latin root as corona, meaning crown; it sits on top of the rest of the brain.) The more intelligent an animal is, the larger its brain (relative to its body), and the more cortex it has. We see the largest cortical brain areas (again, relative to body size) in highly social birds and primates, with humans at the forefront.

Predictive Processing
Looking at this in the context of brains as prediction machines, this makes perfect sense. Think about the primitive lizard brain, or better yet, even more primitive fish vertebrates. Yes, they need to survive and reproduce like the rest of us, but these simple organisms may lay dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of eggs at a time. Their prediction machines are straight and narrow; they live largely by reflex. When prediction fails, they die. But what they lack in cognitive flexibility, they make up for in numbers.

More complex social mammals, like rats, have limbic brain systems (and some cortex) much more similar to us humans. They truly experience anxiety in the face of threat and uncertainty. Their tiny but fantastic organs do have a vested interest in generating fantasies of safety, security, nourishment, and social bonding. We know from decades of animal research that rodents experience anxiety in uncertain environments, and that their anxiety response is very similar to ours. We release the same stress hormone, cortisol, and the same anti-anxiety medications that humans are treated with work on rats. (That is, after all, where they are first tested to make sure they are safe and effective on mammals.)

Anxiety Is Prediction Error
The fact that all ties it together, posed by Friston’s model of predictive processing in the brain, is that anxiety is the felt experience of entropy. Your brain is constantly making predictions about the world, and judging those predictions against what actually happens. The greater the prediction error, the greater the entropy. Prediction error can be as simple as a single neuron firing or misfiring at the wrong time, or as dramatic as an entire belief system falling apart.

This is where humans’ uniquely large prefrontal cortex comes into play for our unique relationship with anxiety. Even for an animal with a sophisticated limbic system, such as a rat, uncertainty is marked by the direct presence or absence of threat. Even for animals with highly developed frontal lobes, such as chimpanzees, uncertainty is marked by uncertainty about the attitudes of others. Where am I in the dominance hierarchy? Is this chimp friend or foe? If I share my food, will the favor be repaid? All of the uncertainty an animal has to keep track of is magnified when living in a social environment. There is uncertainty not only about its own thoughts, feelings, and security, but about everyone else’s as well.

The most socially complex species have had to evolve the most advanced prediction machines in order to keep up with uncertainty. This is the case for humans as well as primates. But where humans excel—and this is arguably our greatest strength and greatest weakness, when thinking about anxiety—is metacognition, or the ability to think about our own thoughts, and to think in terms of abstract symbols.

What other species can have an anxiety attack brought on by existential dread—just thinking about the meaning of life, or what happens after death? Our ancient brain regions respond physiologically to uncertainty with anxiety, just as they evolved to. But we are no longer only dealing with uncertainty about an immediate threat. Uncertainty can mean losing your job, or hearing bad news about stock market futures, or flunking a test. It doesn’t matter; our fantastic brain, the prediction machine, still produces the physiological response of anxiety that is meant to protect us from immediate physical threat: Cortisol levels rise. Your heart rate increases. Your pupils dilate. You begin to sweat. All of these are genuinely adaptive responses when faced with uncertainty, in an evolutionary landscape in which uncertainty means fight or flight.

The problem is that this system is too good at its job. The theory of psychological entropy states that uncertainty is always felt as anxiety, no matter the cause. It does not matter if you are anxious because of prediction error caused by an immediate threat, when you were expecting safety, or because you have begun questioning a worldview that used to give you a sense of security in the world. It does not matter if you are uncertain about something trivial, like whether to buy whole or skim milk. Your brain evolved to deal with uncertainty as a threat, and anxiety is the natural response to that.

Where does this leave us? Are we doomed to become anxious over everything we can’t predict with absolute certainty—which is, literally, everything—like the neurotic philosopher Chidi in The Good Place? Not quite.

Living Out the Fantasy
The optimistic part about the theory of psychological entropy is that it tells us where all emotions are rooted, positive or negative. Fundamentally, it all has to do with prediction error. We inherently experience greater prediction error, greater uncertainty, and greater entropy, as negative. But on the flip side, we inherently experience reduced prediction error as positive. This is why (as mediated by dopamine) it feels so good when you achieve a goal.

This is also why practicing mindfulness and routine improves well-being: It minimizes prediction error, directly or indirectly. Gratitude and humility help rein in your fantasies, leaving less room for disappointment. And journaling and self-reflection help you more clearly map out your thoughts and worldview, leaving less room for error. And healthy habits leave less room for uncertainty. For the fantastic organ, reducing psychological entropy is the key to well-being.