How to Turn Off Defense and Turn On Problem-Solving in an Argument by Danielle Rachlin, CNSF
How can knowing how our brains work help us during an argument? What are some things we can do based on neuroscience that can help us get through a disagreement? One of the biggest suggestions? Take a break! Parts of the brain you want off/on during an argument The limbic brain is your fight/flight/freeze […]
When Gratitude Doesn’t Feel Genuine by Mariah Ehlert, CNSF
How does this word sit with you: “Gratitude”? To be completely honest, this go-to, get-back-to-happy word has actually triggered me at times; as in ‘toss something across the room’ annoyed. Why am I defaming one of the top most trendy and go-to healing words? There have been times when I’ve been so limbic (aka in […]
What does it mean to be the Warrior?
Where in your life are YOU the Warrior? Many of us feel like Warriors in our own way. For some of the amazing people I work with it’s because they have been Warriors in the literal battlefield or out on patrol as only soldiers and officers can relate to. Some of those I work with […]
What a Difference a Verb can Make!
I AM vs I FEEL Did you know that when the fight-or-flight center of the brain is engaged (the limbic system) saying things like I AM so angry keeps the blood flowing in that direction, feeding that center. But when you switch to I FEEL so angry there is a measurable shift in blood flow […]
Which Come First, Thought or Emotion?
Which comes first, thought or emotion? Because sensory information streams through our cortices with many connection points into the limbic brain by the time the information reaches our cerebral cortex for logic processing we have already placed a “feeling” on that information. It’s already encoded as either pain or pleasure, sadness or joy, etc. Dr. […]
Can Multi-tasking Impair You?
This is a controversial subject with some science noting that multi-tasking improves cognitive abilities, and other science saying it impairs it. Mindfulness practices note that by paying focused attention and being in the present moment, we can be at peace and be our best. From the mindfulness model I equate a focus on multi-tasking as […]
Where the Gray Matters
Recent neuroscience is showing that the more we move into fear and threat response, the more we exercise and strengthen the neural pathways around the limbic brain which is our fight -or-flight center. We also end up shrinking or pruning back the neural pathways in our prefrontal cortex which then inhibit our abilities to see […]
I am Better than Me!
Reward and status are hardwired into the brain to trigger the limbic system (fight or flight) in exactly the same way survival threat does. It’s no wonder media uses these two concepts to market everything. Here’s a tip–if you redefine status to be measured against yourself and your own actions rather than others you can […]
Words have the Power to Heal!
According to Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, author of Mindsight, using words to describe and label your internal world can actually be useful for right-left brain integration and balance. The right hemisphere tends to be associated to the emotion-generting areas and because of this it makes sense that “linking the right and left modes through the […]
