3 Wellness Neurohacks for Women to Manage Stress

By johanna hagarty

Have you ever walked into a grocery store to grab a few things and confidently sauntered past the shopping carts because you know you’ll stick to your small, carefully curated list? Yet, like clockwork, as you start to shop, you remember the guest bathroom is out of toilet paper, or the bird feeder is running low. Before you know it, your hands are full, and there are still things you need! 

Now imagine those items aren’t groceries but life stressors.

As women, we have been conditioned to believe that we have a greater capacity to manage stress or multi-task, which may feel true when we are managing normal life stressors like finances, children, relationships, work, or house responsibilities. Yet, major stressors that require additional capacity and support are inevitable. Meaning, at some point, regardless of your amazing capacity to hold it all, you may find you need additional support to manage your stressors. 

If life’s stressors are piling up, then making sure you have the right support, or what some people call neurohacks, becomes vital to maintaining wellness. 

A neurohack can be used to treat psychological disorders and stress as well as improve overall human performance. These tools span many disciplines but focus on any technology or activities that affect the brain, nervous system, or body in a way that affects cognitive capacity or psyche. Neurohack tools have been used throughout time to manage many life stressors that women experience, including things like postpartum, anxiety, self-worth, depression, grief/loss, and more. 

Below are a few neurohack tools that you may have tried, or been curious to try, and maybe even one you hadn’t thought of. The point of neurohacking is to be curious about potential tools that may work best for your body chemistry, preferences, or current situations and to not compare your experience to others. What tools work best for your body may not be the same for some else. 

Mindfulness // Meditation

The idea of mindfulness and meditation has been a human practice for over 3,500 years, and for good reason. The more science can study and measure its impacts, the more it confirms the empirical evidence of why these practices have continued since 1500 BCE. Yet, depending on the day (like the one when your child needed you 6 times throughout the night) your capacity can feel more difficult to come by. After all, when the world is throwing so much at you, and telling you as a woman that you should be able to handle it, how can you possibly clear your mind enough to be mindful? Andy Puddicombe, a Buddhist monk and best selling author and co-founder of Headspace meditation app, breaks down his mindfulness explanation using the sky and clouds. He explains that the point of mindfulness is not about clearing the sky of all clouds forever, but it is to allow clouds of all different sizes, shapes, and density to move across the sky in their own organic way and time while you observe as a bystander, instead of an active participant. 

Another simple tip to getting started with mindfulness or any new neurohack tool is by habit stacking, which is leveraging an existing habit to build a new one. You could add a simple 30 second - 2 minute mindfulness practice before or after a habit you do each day to help ingrain the habit quicker. So the next time you’re in that 5-minute show you give yourself before the world wakes up, do a few intentional breaths, say a few positive affirmations, or get mindful about the thought clouds rolling by. 

Learning

Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) educating your brain with something new is a highly effective neurohack. It can help disrupt the current neural pathways we’ve created by challenging our thoughts and behaviors with new information. Knowing what you’re interested in and your specific learning styles are really important here. Knowing if you prefer videos, audio, or a hands-on learning approach can help you stay motivated through all the chapters in that business book you picked up, or that 30-day challenge to better nutrition that has daily videos and exercises for you. 

Medical

It’s also important to note there are many amazing and helpful medical neurohacks that exist and help women at all stages of their life manage their wellness. This can range from medication, to herbal supplements, to therapy, of which there are hundreds of styles and millions of practitioners ready to help.

Most importantly, wellness is a life-long journey that requires an open mind and willingness to be honest with yourself about where you are, and what specific tools may help for the unique situation you find yourself in. No matter what you are facing, there is always a way to expand your capacity if you find yourself overwhelmed. Finding the right neurohack tool is like that feeling you get when you empty the groceries from your overstuffed arms into the shopping cart you went back for because you realize you need a bigger tool for the job at hand! Relieving.