There are more people in every interaction than the ones physically present.
Every moment, our mind-brain-body system is taking in information.. from the world around us, and the world within us.
From the people we're interacting with now,
.. and from the embedded, remembered patterns of people from our past.
All of this information influences..
- what we notice,
- how we interpret our experiences, and
- What range of possible responses we can access
Nervous system regulation is a foundation to everything we want to be, do and have.
Because learning, and striving towards our desires requires us to reach and expand beyond what is known to us now.
It requires us to move into neural valleys of uncertainty, mistakes, awkwardness, unfamiliarity.
To experiment with new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Our nervous system affects how we navigate those experiences.
When we build a wider range of physiological responses, we can create more choice points and pathways for exploring our world, attempting new ideas, and adapting to what comes up.
This is one of the reasons I believe nervous system literacy is such an essential part of the work we do as coaches, educators, leaders, and helping professionals.
We're helping people develop the biological capacity to engage with new possibilities.
A bit about me (part 1)
A bit about me (part 1)
My Journey Into Neuroscience: The Signals We Send
One of my earliest fascinations with the human nervous system occurred during my work in intelligence, where I was learning about frequencies, signals, and the information we're constantly transmitting and detecting.
During a lie detection test, I remember feeling really confident that I had ‘passed’ the test (meaning, I had successfully kept my cool as I told a baseline lie - a requirement for analyzing the data).
Then I saw my physiological measurements on the various monitors.
My nervous system told a different story. Every measurement was off the charts (literally) in terms of distress signals. I realized there was a disconnect between how much I thought I knew about what i was experiencing inside, and what was actually being transmitted.
That experience sparked a question that has stayed with me throughout my career:
How much information are we transmitting into the world without even realizing it?
It was the beginning of a journey that would take me from intelligence work into neuroscience, neuroplasticity, and the biology of human transformation.
Next week: How working with young people opened my eyes to the power of purpose and the brain's capacity to change.
Explore more of my work in applied neuroscience here →
