This Experience Quieted My Stressed, Anxious Brain

Описание: If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or disconnected, this video is about finding healthy, science-backed ways to cope, reconnect, and feel alive again. When stress and anxiety take over, our nervous system can get stuck in fight-or-flight mode. In this video, I take you along on a calming nighttime adventure with close friends through the enchanted Descanso Gardens and gently explore the neuroscience behind why experiences like this can quiet a stressed and anxious brain.
As we walk through warm holiday lights, nature, music, and shared moments, I explain how beauty, connection, and novelty affect the brain, helping regulate the nervous system, lower the stress response, and shift us into a calmer “rest and digest” state. We’ll talk about dopamine, serotonin, nostalgia, and why experiencing something meaningful together can help us feel more grounded, safe, and present.

✨ If you’d like a quieter, meditative experience, I’ve also created a special holiday light montage designed to help calm your nervous system. You’ll find it linked on screen and in this description below.

#StressRelief
#CalmingTheNervousSystem
#ScienceBackedWellness
#Descanso Gardens


   • Silent Night Christmas montage.......3 min...  

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Studies mentioned in this video:

-Exposure to bright light is associated with positive social interaction and good mood over short time periods: A naturalistic study in mildly seasonal people
Published in Journal of Psychiatric Research in 2008
Summary of findings:
In this naturalistic study healthy adults wore light meters and tracked their behaviors, mood, and social interactions over 20 days. Independent of season or time of day, participants reported better mood and more agreeable social interactions when they were exposed to higher levels of bright light. This suggests that bright light exposure is linked with elevated mood and more positive social behavior, which supports the idea that light can influence emotional states during shared experiences.

-Exploring the Impact of Daytime and Nighttime Campus Lighting on Emotional Responses and Perceived Restorativeness
Published in Buildings in 2025
Summary of findings:
This research examined how different lighting environments, including well-designed nighttime landscape lighting, influenced emotional responses and perceived restoration. Participants showed greater emotional calm, decreased arousal, and more positive emotional states after exposure to scenic nighttime lighting compared with basic street lighting. The findings support the idea that thoughtfully designed light environments, like holiday or landscape lights, can enhance restorative and calming emotional experiences.

-Dance Improves Mental Health Through Movement, Music, and Social Contact
Published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 78, Article 102823 in 2025
Summary of findings:
This narrative review integrates psychological, physiological, and neurobiological evidence showing that dance uniquely combines music listening, social contact, and physical movement , all of which have stress-regulatory effects. The authors discuss how dance can enhance coping, resilience, and emotional regulation via neurochemical pathways involving dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins.