We Are Wired to Worry, But We Can Calm Down

Our brains run a background program of regrets, worries, and dreams, but we can turn it off

Learning to meditate can still the churn of background thinking that feeds our worries. Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock

A new year brings both hopes and anxieties. We want things to be better for ourselves and the people we love, but worry that they won’t be, and imagine some of the things that might stand in the way.

Humans are wired to worry. Our brains are continually imagining futures that will meet our needs and things that could stand in the way of them.