Let’s talk about stress, BABY!

stress – a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension…

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

When put in perspective, anything that causes a strain or changes to a neutral state of being can be defined as stress. Today’s world is definitely chaotic and stressful – and I would guess that many of you feel the same. We are battling the conflicting feelings of wanting a “return to normal” and trying to find a balance of keeping ourselves and families healthy. So, I hope this finds you well and I hope you are taking care of yourselves!

But today, I want to shed a bit more of a positive light on stress! So, back to this idea that anything that brings us out of baseline or neutral is considered stress. And the brain does not differentiate between good stress or bad stress, only the degree of stress.

So you may be thinking “this is a little off base for this platform” but keep with me as we dig into what our (AND OUR KID’S) brains do with STRESS.

Get ready for another brief neurology lesson: how does the brain respond to stress? Maybe you have heard of the “fight of flight” response. At the neurological level, the main function of this response to create a cascade of physiological response to either fight for our lives or flee from danger. The amygdala is the “panic button”of the brain. It sends signals to the adrenal glad of the brain – the part responsible for sending adrenaline to the muscles and prepare the body for a physical reaction. But also *HERE IT IS* signals are forwarded to the hippocampus [responsible for memory] and the pre-frontal cortex [responsible for LEARNING]!! It would be pretty important to remember where that lion’s den was.

In a quick summary – the amygdala alerts the brain and body that there is a shift from neutral. It then decides to what intensity this new stress should be registered and alerts the hippocampus to be ready to record this memory and the pre-frontal cortex to process this information and make decisions.

So what does this have to do with our little guys and their learning process? Little kids (and big kids… and many adults…) learn best when we are given the opportunity to move. Any degree of movement is processed as stress by the brain! When the “fight or flight” system is activated, the pathways in the brain are primed and strengthened to process new information into memory. So our Busy Bodied Babies, Tornado Toddlers, and Kamikaze Kids are priming their engines and fueling their abilities to learn with all of their chaos-inducing antics!

***Here is where I step up on my Soap Box***

PLAY IS ESSENTIAL FOR LEARNING!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s say it a little louder for those in the back. Now, Hubs is a teacher (a phenomenal middle school math teacher, in fact) and many of my very good friends are educators. Our teachers work long hours and bust their butts to support and feed the brains of our children. The following statements are directed more at our education system, not the teachers themselves:

Time to play and run and move their bodies gives kids the neurological support to form lasting and stronger pathways required for retaining newly taught concepts. The current American education system expects that more time in the classroom drilling more times tables and reading another novel will make our children more competitive with the rest of the world. While time to teach is crucial, as our kids can’t create knowledge out of nothing, children are being robbed of time on the playground, in PE, and participating in the arts. These are the exact areas that can provide a functional stress to our kids’ growing brains. A daily dose of exercise and play is like giving our kids a natural dose of Ritalin and Prozac. The balance of neurotransmitters helps both calm our kids and ready them to learn but also give them a boost in attention needed to sit and participate in their classrooms – giving kids the opportunity to run and exercise their bodies creates a positive physical change in their brains.

***Steps down off of soap box***

Research shows that an increase in physical or novel activity supports the availability of new pathways in the brain to open up and support improved memory retention of new information. I know many of you are homeschooling your kids and it probably is not ideal. First, give yourself some grace – our teachers educate themselves on HOW to teach, parents were not given the same opportunity (that’s why we need our teachers!!). Second, if your little one (or big one) just isn’t grasping the concept and has already watched the Zoom lesson 14 times, encourage them to get outside, go for a run, lift some weights, blow some bubbles, somersault across the living room, or do something different to challenge their brains. Use the “fight or flight” response to their benefit instead of allowing them to sit in a “frozen” state and unable to process the concept.

And this applies to my adult friends and readers, too! I challenge you to take 10 minutes to do something positive for yourself. Move your body, balance your brain, and feel whole. ❤

Cheers, Heather