Stress and Your Brain Circuitry

“You become better at handling stress because you can use specialised stress reducing maintenance tools based on your unique brain wiring and responses.”

Contributing to our individuality and uniqueness is the specific way of neuro-chemical wiring in your brain. The unique wiring in your brain is a culmination of your experiences and your genetics and because of this has creating genetically dominant pathways in your brain. In short, because of this unique wiring you have a unique way of responding to stress. Armed with this knowledge we are able to respond better in a time of stress.

99FM’s MYD Smart sat down with Rika Grove, a Mind Moves instructor here in Namibia. Mind Moves have created a Mind Dynamix Profile which is a method of identifying your initial response in a time of stress. Why this is interesting is that if you can understanding your responses, you’ll know why you can in stressful times, do things like lose your sunglasses until you find them on your head, where they were all along.

“We use the whole brain, not just one part” says Rika “People talk about left or right brain but we all use both sides of our brain, we do however have a dominant side for certain inputs, processing and outputs.”

“Developing your Mind Dynamix Profile, you get to understand what you are naturally good at. This tells you which areas you need extra development in. It determines what mode you tend to autopilot back to and provides insight into your leadership style.”

When asked how this works, Rika explains, “Our eyes help us to either see big picture or the smaller detail. It is the same with our ears, one hears everything around as well as hears emotion and the other ear listens to detail.” Rika goes on “Much like the hemispheres of the brain have different functionality for processing, so to do our modes of receiving and relaying information.”

“If you understand that you unique way of responding to stress, you know how best to take in instructions, notice details and much more.” Rika explains that “our hands can determine how we communicate, our legs how we take actions. All based on which side we are more dominant. However you can’t know simply by looking at someone where there dominance is.”

Using an example, Rika explains, “You can have a left dominant leg, which means you like freedom and flow but also have a right dominant brain, which means you like structure. We are all so different and unique.”

Now how this all relates to stress according to Rika, “your dominance profile determines how you handle stress. So for example, you can be left brain dominate but also left eye or left ear dominant. In this case, if you are under stress your visual ability and audio ability will inhibit. That means you will be standing with something in your hand and be looking for it but not find it.” Using another example Rika explains, “If you’re left brain and right eye and right ear, then you will experience a free flow of information. What you see and hear will come directly to the brain and you’re more likely to be sharper at observing.”

The more we know about ourselves the better equipped we are to handle stress, “In the work place, if you need somebody for a position that has to receive only auditory instructions, then it’s better if you have left brain and right ear for example, so that the information can flow.”

Rika notes that through knowing oneself, “You become better at handling stress because you can use specialised stress reducing maintenance tools based on your unique brain wiring and responses.”

If you want to get in touch with Rika and the team of Mind Moves instructors here in Namibia take a look at the list of available instructors here :  Mind Moves Instructors Namibia

Or if you want more information, have a look at the Mind Moves Institute website here : Mind Moves Institute

Or for more information on how your brain reacts to stress, read these articles to be better equipped :
What Stress Does To Your Brain
The Science of Stress : How Neuroscience Can Help
Scientists Say Chronic Stress Can Actually Change Your Brain