Topic #1: Stress Management:

● Stress isn’t always a bad thing.

● It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus. (ex. When playing a sport
or doing public speaking)
● When stress is continuous, it begins to change your brain.
● May filter into our DNA.

Chronic Stress:
● Being overworked or having arguments at home can affect brain size, structure,
and how it functions.
● Increase the number of neural connections in the amygdala.
● Amygdala - Brain’s fear center.

Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal Axis

● Interactions between endocrine glands in the brain and on the kidney (controls
your body’s reaction stress)
● When our brain detects a stressful situation, our HPA axis is instantly activated.
● Releases a hormone called cortisol.

Cortisol:
● Primes our body for instant action.
● High levels of cortisol for a long period of time wreak havoc on your brain.
● As level of cortisol rise electric signals in your hippocampus
● Can cause your brain to shrink in size.
- Too much loss on synaptic connections between neurons.
- Shrinking of your prefrontal cortex, which helps you in behaviors, decision
making, judgement, and social interaction.
- Can result in fewer new brains being made in the hippocampus.
- Make it harder for you to learn and remember things.
- Can also result in depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Hippocampus - the part of the brain associated with learning, memories, and stress
control, deteriorates.
● inhibits the activity of the HPA axis.
● When it weakens, so does your ability to control stress.

To reverse the effects of cortisol in our brain we can exercise or meditate.

● It can decrease your stress
● Increase the size of hippocampus
● Can improve your memory
“Get in control of your stress before it takes control of you.”

Topic #2: Health Risk Factors for Major Non-Communicable Diseases.

● Stress makes you sick

● Can cause common cold to cardiovascular disease.
● 30,000 adults for 8 years survey
● People who experience stress have a 43% risk of dying.
● People who view stress as not harmful have less risk of dying.
● From the 182,000 deaths Americans died from the belief stress is bad for you.
● When you change your mind about stress it can change your body’s response to
stress.
● If we view our stress in a different way, it is helping us prepare to meet a
challenge.
● The study social stress test conducted at Harvard University they are taught to
rethink their stress response as helpful.
- They were less stressed out, less anxious, and more confident.
● Chronic stress is sometimes associated with cardiovascular disease.
- When they view stress as helpful, their blood cells stay relaxed.
● How you think about stress matters.
● Stress make you social
● Oxytocin or known as a cuddle hormone.
- Neuro-hormone, it fine-tunes your brain’s social instinct.
- It primes us to strengthen social relationships.
● Oxytocin is a stress hormone.
● Oxytocin not only acts on your brain but also in your body.
- It protects our cardiovascular system.
- It helps to stay relaxed.
● Our heart has receptors for oxytocin. It helps the heart regenerate and
strengthen your heart.
● Our stress has a built-in mechanism for stress resilience, and that mechanism is
human connection.
● 1,000 adults in the United States ranging from 38-43.
● For every major life experience (family crisis & financial difficulties.)
- Increase the dying 30%
● How we think and act can transform our experience of stress.

Topic #3 Health Behaviors:

● We build the life we want and then time saves itself.

● 1,001 days of busy women were conducted.
- Seven hours of her week.
● Time is highly elastic
● We cannot make more time, but time will stretch to accommodate what we
choose to put into it.
● The key to time management is treating our priorities as the equivalent of the
broken water heater.
● Everything I do, every minute I spend, is my choice.
● I don’t have time = it's not a priority.
● Time is a choice.
● Three category list: career, relationships, and self.
- Making this makes us remember there should be something in these list.
● 168 hours for 1 week.
● We can find time that matters to us.
● If we are busy, there is time.