Welcome to "How To Be...", guiding you through life's tricky topics and skills by reading through the best books out there. A stressful situation — whether something environmental, such as a looming work deadline, or psychological, such as persistent worry about losing a job — can trigger a cascade of stress hormones that produce well-orchestrated physiological changes. A stressful incident can make the heart pound and breathing quicken. Muscles tense and beads of sweat appear. Over the years, researchers have learned not only how and why these reactions occur, but have also gained insight into the long-term effects chronic stress has on physical and psychological health. Over time, repeated activation of the stress response takes a toll on the body. So what affect does stress have on our nervous system, and what can we do about it? Hence, I spoke to Finding Inner Safety author Dr Nerina Ramlakhan on how stress affects our nervous system, as well as other experts' books to see if their advice can help all of us. Please hit subscribe to hear the whole series on life skills and social change! It should be short and sweet. I look forward to journeying with you through this maze of hacks.