Have you ever found yourself feeling anxious without a clear reason or been overwhelmed by racing thoughts? You’re not alone—many people experience this. Normally, our brains keep fear and anxiety in check, ensuring they don’t interfere with daily life. When a threat is present, different parts of the brain work together to either heighten or ease our anxiety.
But what happens when these anxious thoughts linger longer than they should, leading to persistent anxiety? If you’re struggling with this, knowing there are ways to rewire your anxious brain and regain control is important to remember.
Do You Have An Anxious Brain? Here Are Some Things To Look Out For
If you’re wondering whether your brain tends to be more anxious, there are some common signs to watch for. Recognizing these patterns can help you better learn about your feelings of anxiety and take steps to manage it:
- Constant Worrying: If you often find yourself stuck in a loop of “what if” scenarios, overthinking minor issues, or fixating on worst-case outcomes, it could be a sign that your brain is wired to stay on high alert.
- Physical Symptoms: Diagnosed anxiety can show up physically, too. Common signs include headaches, muscle tension, upset stomach, or dizziness. These physical symptoms often come out of nowhere and are hard to shake.
- Difficulty Relaxing: If it’s hard for you to unwind or feel guilty when you’re not being productive, this could indicate an overactive brain struggling to slow down.
- Trouble Sleeping: A racing mind that keeps you awake at night or causes restless sleep is a key sign. You may find yourself replaying events from the day or worrying about the future.
- Avoidance Behavior: You may notice you avoid certain situations or people because they trigger stress or fear, even when those fears aren’t based on actual danger. This can reinforce anxious thinking patterns.
- Easily Overwhelmed: Small tasks or changes in routine might feel overwhelming. Even minor setbacks can make you feel like things are spiraling out of control, leading to panic or frustration.
- Hypervigilance: If you constantly scan for threats or feel on edge even in calm environments, your brain could stay in “fight-or-flight” mode longer than necessary.
If you identify with some or all of these signs, your brain might be anxious.
The Science Behind Rewiring Your Anxious Brain
One way to explain how this works is by looking at the brain as having two main parts: the thinking brain and the feeling brain. The thinking brain is in the frontal lobe, where our thoughts and sensations combine into a single experience. The feeling brain, which includes the amygdala deep inside, handles our emotions.
This idea suggests that we feel anxious when the emotional brain sends stronger signals than the thinking brain. How does stress affect the brain and body? For example, if you’re hiking and logically remind yourself that snakes are rare (using the thinking brain), it helps calm the emotional fear response.
The Role Of Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and rewire itself, which can help manage anxiety by forming new, healthier thought patterns. Your brain constantly learns and adapts, but sometimes it overreacts, making you feel anxious when there’s no real danger.
So, if you’re wondering “how to rewire your brain to get rid of anxiety,” the good news is that your brain isn’t stuck in its old ways, and everything you’re experiencing could be reversed in time. It can create new connections between neurons with practice and repetition, allowing you to change how you think and feel. This process helps you break free from anxiety-triggering habits and form new, calmer responses.
Imagine your brain like a network of roads. Some roads are well-traveled because you’ve used them over and over—like when you keep having the same anxious thoughts. But you can build new roads by practicing different thoughts or behaviors. The more you use these new roads, the stronger they become, and the old roads fade away.
For example, if you’ve had a panic attack on a plane, your brain might automatically trigger anxiety the next time you fly. This is your brain’s “fire alarm,” the amygdala, trying to protect you even though the situation isn’t dangerous. With neuroplasticity exercises, you can train your brain to respond more calmly by creating a new mental pathway that weakens the old anxious response.
Over time, with enough repetition, these new pathways become your brain’s default setting, making it easier to stay calm in situations that used to make you anxious. It’s not an overnight process, but with patience, you can rewire your brain to feel more in control.
For more information on Neuroplasticity and how it can change the brain, check out our previous blog titled What is Neuroplasticity? Understanding the Brain’s Remarkable Ability to Change.
Strategies For Rewiring Your Brain
Below are some tips on how to rewire your brain to control anxiety:
- Train Your Brain with Neurofeedback
Think of neurofeedback as a way to see your brainwaves and train them to help you feel calmer. It’s a method that allows you to retrain your brain’s electrical activity, either by working with a professional or using home-based tools like Muse or Neuroptimal.
How to Begin: Start by committing to sessions twice a week. You can use devices like Muse to practice regularly and keep up the routine. Consistency is key, so aim for those two sessions each week to get the best results.
What the Research Says: Studies published in Science Direct show that regular neurofeedback can significantly reduce anxiety. It helps the brain learn better self-control, leading to more stable emotions.
Why It Helps: Neurofeedback gives you more control over your brain.
- Practice Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation, especially Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), can help change the way you deal with anxiety. By setting aside 10–20 minutes each day for mindfulness, you can reshape how your brain responds to stress.
How to Begin: Start small with 10 minutes of meditation each day. You can use apps like Headspace or Calm to guide you. Try to incorporate mindfulness into your daily activities, like eating or walking.
What the Research Says: Harvard Medical School research shows that mindfulness can physically change your brain, helping reduce anxiety. An 8-week MBSR program can increase gray matter, improving self-awareness and emotional control.
Why It Helps: Mindfulness lowers the amygdala’s reactivity, helping manage anxiety by promoting changes in brain areas that control attention and emotions.
- Use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a helpful method for managing anxiety by changing how you think. It focuses on recognizing negative thought patterns and reframing them to change how you react to stress.
How to Begin: Keep a journal to spot negative thoughts. Challenge these thoughts by looking at the facts. Slowly work on facing situations that make you anxious.
What the Research Says: Studies published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information confirm CBT is highly effective at reducing anxiety. With consistent practice, it can lead to lasting changes in brain function.
Why It Helps: CBT rewires negative thinking patterns, helping you stay calm when facing stress.
- Reality Testing
Reality testing helps you evaluate anxious thoughts by checking if they are based on actual facts or just your feelings. This shift in perspective can ease anxiety.
How to Begin: When an anxious thought comes up, ask yourself, “Is this thought based on reality or just my feelings about it?” Remind yourself that thoughts are just thoughts—they aren’t inherently true or false.
Why It Helps: Reality testing brings you back to the facts, helping you calm irrational fears and respond more rationally to anxiety-inducing situations.
- Start a Gratitude Practice
Practicing gratitude can lower anxiety by creating more positive mental states. Keeping a gratitude journal helps shift your focus from worries to appreciation.
How to Begin: Write down three things you’re grateful for each day. Occasionally write a letter to someone who has impacted your life. Take a few moments each day to reflect on what you appreciate.
Why It Helps: Focusing on gratitude fosters a positive mindset, which helps with managing emotions and anxiety.
- Try Biofeedback
Biofeedback, especially Heart Rate Variability (HRV) training, can help you manage anxiety by balancing your nervous system.
How to Begin: Use devices like HeartMath to monitor and train your HRV. Practice slow, deep breathing exercises. Set aside time each day for biofeedback sessions.
What the Research Says: Studies in the National Library of Medicine show that HRV training helps reduce anxiety. It improves your ability to control stress responses.
Why It Helps: Biofeedback helps you regulate physical responses to stress, creating a calmer state of mind.
- Change the Scripts
Your brain can get stuck repeating anxious thoughts, making them automatic. But neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change, can help you create new mental scripts that make you feel safer and more in control.
How to Begin: Start by developing new internal scripts. For example, if you’re afraid of spiders, instead of telling yourself, “I can’t deal with this,” try saying, “I’m scared of the spider, but I can handle it, and here’s my plan.” Over time, your brain will begin to prune those old anxious scripts as you practice the new ones.
Why It Helps: By creating new stories in your mind, you teach your brain a healthier way to respond, making anxious reactions less automatic over time.
- Practice Challenges
Facing your fears directly can train your brain to build new, more confident responses. Small, manageable doses of exposure help your brain learn that it can handle stress better than expected.
How to Begin: Start with small challenges. For example, if you have social anxiety, begin by making a friendly comment to someone in line at the coffee shop. Gradually take on bigger challenges as your confidence grows.
Why It Helps: Leaning into discomfort boosts your confidence and teaches your brain to stop overreacting to stress, building long-term resilience.
How Long Does It Take To Rewire Your Brain Anxiety?
Rewiring your brain takes time—it’s not something that happens overnight. However, knowing that you’re on the path to reshaping your brain can offer some relief. Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections, plays a crucial role here. This process involves creating new brain cells and pathways, but repetition and habit are necessary to strengthen those connections.
For some, it may take just a few weeks to notice changes, while for others, it could take months. There’s some truth to the idea that it takes 21 days to form a habit, as it takes time for new behaviors to stick.
Various additional diagnoses could affect the timeframe that your brain takes. For instance, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can make this process even longer, as PTSD alters key brain areas like the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. This can make the brain more sensitive to fear and stress, disrupting the ability to form healthy habits and manage anxiety.
But, how does post traumatic stress affect the brain? When someone experiences PTSD, their brain’s fear and stress centers stay hyperactive, making it harder to manage emotions and thoughts. The brain becomes locked in a cycle where fear, anxiety, and hypervigilance are the norm. This can also affect the body, leading to tension, chronic pain, and other physical symptoms, highlighting how stress affects both the brain and body.
To rewire your brain and reduce both anxiety and post-traumatic stress, staying mindful of small, manageable adjustments is essential.
Long-term Brain Retraining With Primal Trust™
If you are searching for sustainable, long-term solutions to retrain your brain and manage anxiety, we offer a structured approach to help you achieve lasting change.
Here’s how our curated program from Primal Trust™ supports ongoing brain and nervous system regulation with a focus on neuroplasticity:
Level 1: Regulate™
Start with the Regulate™ course, a foundational program designed to help you master brain retraining and nervous system regulation. Over 2-3 months, you’ll take a deeper dive into:
- Brain retraining techniques
- Body-based somatic practices
- Vagus nerve toning
- Polyvagal theory
- Trauma processing
This course provides a comprehensive understanding of how to manage chronic illness, pain, and anxiety through a blend of brain-body practices and trauma-informed methods. With weekly releases and live support classes, you’ll gain valuable tools to start your healing journey.
Level 2: Integrate with The Mentorship
Once you’ve established a foundation, you can move on to the Mentorship, which focuses on emotional healing. This course helps you address the following:
- Emotional triggers
- Core wounds
In The Mentorship, you’ll receive guidance and support to deepen your understanding and resolve underlying emotional issues.
Level 3: Liberate
For advanced practices, the Liberate course offers in-depth strategies for:
- Setting boundaries
- Improving relationships
- Navigating work issues
Our Liberate program includes a video library and live support to help you tackle complex areas of your life and achieve greater freedom and self-understanding.
We combine tested techniques with a supportive community to help you effectively rewire your brain, manage anxiety, and promote long-term well-being.
Resources
- Gadye, L. (2018, June 29). What part of the brain deals with anxiety? What can brains affected by anxiety tell us? BrainFacts/SfN. https://www.brainfacts.org/Diseases-and-Disorders/Mental-Health/2018/What-part-of-the-brain-deals-with-anxiety-What-can-brains-affected-by-anxiety-tell-us-062918
Lebow, H. I. (2021, November 3). 6 neuroplasticity exercises for anxiety relief. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/how-to-train-your-brain-to-alleviate-anxiety