Articles
Two kinds of uncomfortable: what the brain can’t tell apart
The brain is an energy-conserving system. When something requires effort and doesn’t come with a guaranteed return, it gets tagged as be cautious. That tag often shows up as… yuck. I don’t like it. Sometimes that signal is protecting us from…
new podcast! Your nervous system isn’t just yours
There is a signal underneath words. Beneath the identities we try to project. Your nervous system is transmitting constantly: micro-movements, frequencies and rhythms other brains detect before conscious thought catches up. And what neuroscience keeps showing us is this: People…
the ‘neuro-words’ that bring people back into their bodies
Yesterday I wrote about how parts and theory vocabulary can pull a person up and out of their body. Today I want to go into the flip side. What it actually looks like to explain nervous system regulation in…
How popular ‘neuro words’ lead us astray
There’s a pattern I keep noticing. People come into the coaching, learning, personal growth space for real reasons (as learners and leaders). They want to feel more agency over their desired states and experiences. Part of this…
Intelligence older than opinion
Do your words match what you really want to say, and what you want others to hear? There is a layer under belief. Under culture. Where every nervous system already carries its own intelligence. Think back…
Your Nervous System Isn’t Just Yours.. What Are You Contributing to the Field?
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Human nervous systems are constantly teaching each other what to expect from the world. Safety or vigilance. Openness or defensiveness. Curiosity or contraction. And most of that communication happens long before conscious thought catches up. Maybe the deeper question isn’t:…
Nervous system science: 3 things I don’t do to reach people who resist ‘self-help’
“The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.” — William James, Principles of Psychology (1890) For more than twenty years, I’ve worked with people who would never call themselves…
A question from a 4th grader I keep thinking about: The eye-brain link that shifts your nervous system in seconds.
This week I presented to several groups of 4th graders (part of career week presentations I was honored to share with my family) and I got to spend the morning talking about brains. Kids ask the best questions 🙂 …
The neuroscience of why change is so hard: metabolic math for the brain
The brain is an energy-conserving system. Something to understand and reflect on – for ourselves and those we interact with, is that.. Before willpower. Before motivation. Before any conversation about discipline or commitment… The brain is always…
Vibrational Beings: your nervous system as a bio-collective contribution
We are vibrational beings. At every moment, we are transmitting frequencies and vibrations that reflect our internal state, whether we realize it or not. You’ve felt this. The teacher who walks into a classroom and the room settles. The leader…
Mixed, Messy Feelings: Your brain isn’t confused. It’s computing.
“Feelings can annoy or delight us, but that is not what they are for […]. Feelings are for life regulation, providers of information concerning basic homeostasis or the social condition of our lives.” -Antonio Damasio, The Strange Order of Things…
How one nervous system shifts an entire room
A lot of self-help and nervous system advice is designed for conditions that don’t exist in real life. A quiet room. Time you don’t actually have. Space to step away, reset, come back. But regulation isn’t tested there. It’s tested…