Lisa’s Note of the Day: Hormones, Neurotransmitters, and Brains Oh MY!

A single brown egg, symbolizing the complexity of neurotransmitters, is centered against a dark black background.

As we know our brains and emotions are intimately linked in a dance facilitated by hormones, neurotransmitters, and a myriad other stimuli.  So it stands to reason that if women experience a radical hormonal flux each month, that their brains might respond accordingly.  Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz, author of The New Feminine Brain notes that “before ovulation, […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day: Inner Navigation

A white lantern with a heart-shaped window reveals a glowing candle inside against a dark background, like Lisa's Note guiding the way. The warm light of the flame contrasts with the cooler tones of the lantern's metal exterior.

We spend lots of time learning how to navigate people, things, situations, environments and any other external influence we can think of.  But it is the inner navigation, called interoception, that can be pivotal in our ability to heal and be compassionate in the world.  The quiet information and stories our nervous systems tell us […]

Lisa’s Note of the day: Mindfulness

A mindful day unfolds as a person with red hair in a loose bun stands facing a misty landscape, wearing a blue and white tie-dye shawl. The air is foggy, their hair subtly blowing in the wind like Lisa's note to the earth.

Loneliness and social isolation can be a major contributor to some common neuro-degenerative diseases like alzheimers. A new study led by Carnegie Mellon University’s J. David Creswell offers the first evidence that mindfulness meditation reduces loneliness in older adults. If meditation has such amazing preventative health benefits, then which five minutes are you setting aside today […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day: Insidious Stress

Close-up of a light grey chicken against a dark background. The curious expression, enhanced by Lisa's Note of textured plumage, prominent red comb and wattle, is captivating. The lighting highlights its feather details, subtly echoing an insidious stress within nature's simplicity.

Your thoughts and perception create the environment of the brain and vice versa.  It’s the chicken and egg conundrum–is the thought the signal for the strss response, or is the brain chemistry the signal for the thought?  No matter which comes first, stress is insidious.  Dr. Mona Lisa Schulz does an amazing job of succinctly […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day: To See

Gorilla sitting against a rocky background, looking slightly to the side as if pondering Lisa's Note. The gorilla has a calm expression with small, visible marks on its face.

Neurosculpting Note of the Day: Are you in unconscious blindness? David Eagleman, Neuroscientist, notes in “Incognito” that “to see something you must attend to it.” Here’s a neat experiment I do with my law enforcement workshops. I show a video of a basketball game. In it, a man in a gorilla suit walks onto the […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day: Change

A close-up of a silver hood ornament resembling a winged figure captures the eye, reminiscent of Lisa's Note on embracing change, set against a blurred background of a building with windows.

Change. Change, whether positive or negative, often brings up levels of uncertainty which wire into our brains to trigger a threat response. But we can rewire that response and navigate our changing world differently. By noticing each small accomplishment or win during any changing event, we can spike a little dopamine and give our brain […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day: Beautiful, Ugly or Disgusting

A single tree stands beautifully in a green field under a vibrant sunset sky. The clouds are dramatic, with shades of purple, pink, and orange, creating a picturesque and serene landscape—a perfect note of the day.

In studies done in fMRI machines on the brain’s of individuals looking at art that they labeled either “beautiful, ugly, or disgusting” one area of the brain consistently got active while observing beauty: the medial orbitofrontal cortex (in the front of the brain). (Ishizu, Zeki, London). If we continue to feed our fear centers and […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day – Experience

A hand holds a heart-shaped piece of crumpled foil, set against a colorful, abstract backdrop of swirling patterns in purple, blue, and pink—like an artistic message from Lisa's Note.

Experiences create the “repeated neural firing that can lead to gene expression, protein production, and changes in the regulation and structural connections in the brain.” (Dr. Daniel Siegel, 2010) BUT the brain is not just housed in the skull. We have these neural networks that deliver complex input from other areas of the body up […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day – Which Brain Are You Ruled By?

A dreamy, long-exposure shot of the ocean at sunset. Vibrant colors blend across the sky, reflecting on the water. A line of posts with a rope creates a pathway into the misty sea, as if each step takes you deeper into a ruled world of tranquility and surreal wonder.

Which brain are you ruled by? Is your life defined by survival struggle and emotionally difficult relationships — those attributes map to your limbic brain. Does your intellect get in the way of your joy so that you can’t experience life without analyzing it– those map to your neocortex. Are you flighty with your head […]

Lisa’s Note of the Day – It’s Written All Over Your Face

A person's face is mostly in shadow with a narrow beam of light illuminating one eye and part of the nose, as if a secret message is written all over your face. The stark light creates a dramatic contrast against the dark background.

It’s written all over your face! In 2001 neurologist Patrik Vuilleumeir found that a person’s amygdala responds in threat mode to the appearance of fearful expressions of others EVEN IF that person is paying attention to something else. So even those in close proximity to us will feel our fear and brace against it, putting […]

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