National Anxiety and Stress Awareness Day sounded faintly absurd to me when I was asked to write this. Most of us are already very aware of our stress.
We are encouraged to “manage our stress” while living through rising sea levels, global political instability, a cost of living crisis, and an endless stream of outrage engineered by algorithms that profit from our attention. A cheery start, admittedly, but bear with me.
Social media and technology have created a world where the human nervous system is exposed to more information, comparison, and emotional provocation than at any other point in history. Much of this content is designed to trigger anger, fear, urgency, or insecurity because those emotions keep us engaged.
So perhaps the real question is not, “Why am I anxious?” but “Why wouldn’t I be?”
Importantly, much of this stress is external to us. Philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers argued in their “Extended Mind Thesis” that the mind does not stop at the boundaries of the skull. Our environments, routines, technology, and social structures all shape how we think and feel. This could sound fatalistic. If the world is stressful, and the world partly lives inside the mind, are we doomed to permanent anxiety?
Fortunately, there is evidence to suggest otherwise.
Neuroplasticity is hardly a new concept for healthcare professionals, but for many people entering support for the first time, the idea that the brain is not fixed can feel revolutionary. It allows people to loosen their identification with how they currently feel. Change then starts to feel more approachable.
The brain changes through repetition, attention, and experience. Behavioural and Recovery Coaching can help people engage with this in practical ways. That might mean companionship, structure, or simply support in making and sticking to a plan.
The famous studies of London black cab drivers found structural brain differences associated with years of spatial navigation training. Likewise, resilience, mindfulness, emotional regulation, and compassion are not simply traits people either have or do not have. They are capacities that can be strengthened with practice.
This is where Behavioural and Recovery Coaching kicks into gear. Part of the work involves shaping the environments we live in. That may include building a healthier relationship with technology, creating routines that support stability, or finding communities that reflect our values.
Coaching often uses motivational interviewing to help people identify those values more clearly. From there, the focus becomes practical. What changes would bring someone closer to living in line with those values, what gets in the way, and what small steps are realistic now?
We get to craft our own society, the people and habits we choose to engage with. This is where the agency lies, and we get into the driving seat.
Some of this work also involves practices that strengthen attention, self-awareness, and emotional regulation. Not because mindfulness removes hardship, but because it can change our relationship to hardship.
Research into mindfulness and resilience offers an interesting example of this. Studies examining survivors of political violence and imprisonment found that many individuals understandably showed markers of PTSD on fMRI scans. Researchers also studied Tibetan Buddhist monks who had been imprisoned and tortured, yet showed remarkably few physical markers associated with PTSD.
The monks often described focusing on concern and compassion for their captors, aware of the psychological damage likely being done to them as well.
Now, I am not suggesting people should endure abuse with saint-like compassion. Nor am I expecting people to suddenly transcend suffering through mindfulness. It could be something to aim for, even knowing we will fall short, and it does illustrate something important about where our agency can still exist.
One explanation comes from the Buddhist teaching of the “Two Arrows.” The first arrow is the painful event itself: loss, fear, violence, uncertainty. The second arrow is the mind’s reaction to the event. The spiralling fear, hatred, and suffering layered on top.
The first arrow is often unavoidable. The second can sometimes be softened through training and awareness. Or, put more simply: pain may be inevitable, but suffering is not.
Neuroscientific research supports aspects of this idea. Consistent mindfulness practice has been linked to measurable differences in emotional regulation, including reduced amygdala reactivity and stronger prefrontal regulation during distress. Researchers such as Richard Davidson have explored how contemplative practice may alter the brain through neuroplasticity.
Importantly, meditation does not have to happen on a cushion in the chamber of a mountain. It can happen on the sofa, during a walk, or while eating lunch.
None of this is a call to ignore the world’s problems or detach from suffering. Anxiety is not irrational in irrational times. Stress is often a very understandable response to genuine uncertainty.
The challenge is not to become numb, blind, or indifferent. It is to move through difficult periods in a way that still feels meaningful and aligned with our values. To build habits, relationships, and environments that help us remain human in systems that often encourage the opposite.
Perhaps resilience is not the absence of fear or stress, but the ability to remain connected to purpose, compassion, and dignity despite them. The bounce back as Dr Ute Liersch puts it.
Our hope is that Behavioural and Recovery Coaching can help people build a framework they can utilise during difficult moments. Not to eliminate distress entirely, but to help them meet it with greater stability, awareness, and resilience.
