When stress is at a positive level, it can help us to focus, and motivates us to get things done, like learning, problem solving, working etc. However, when stress goes beyond manageable, it overwhelms our abilities to learn, problem solve, and remember. Each day, our bodies and minds are designed to go through periods of activation, and periods of rest in order to maintain healthy balance. Activation is associated with mild, ‘gas pedal’ sympathetic nervous system increases, followed by ‘braking,’ or parasympathetic activity, meaning resting and digesting. We can activate our rest and digest response by taking deep breaths, with our out-breath being slower and longer than our in-breath. This is a signal to our minds that we can now ‘breathe a sigh of relief’, and that our environment is safe enough to rest a moment.  This allows us to come back to a manageable level of stress that allows us to learn in a focused way. Too much stress in the short term can make us appear irritable, angry and oppositional. Over time too much stress can cause our minds to shut down, with difficulty concentration, low energy and low motivation.