Brain-Body Resilience

In today's episode, we're diving deep into the "why" behind learning and practicing emotional regulation and nervous system care. These tools are more than quick fixes—they're about long-term growth and building new neural pathways that allow you to navigate stress, anxiety, and overwhelm with resilience.

We’ll explore:

• Why it’s not enough to just learn how to use these tools, but also understand why they work.
• How small, consistent practices can lead to profound changes in how you feel, think, and show up in the world.
• The science behind stress responses, and how repetition and patience are key to teaching your brain and body new ways to react.
• Why knowing your "why"—your personal goals for practicing these skills—will keep you motivated when things get tough.

This episode is a reminder that the journey isn’t a straightforward path but each step gets you closer to the lasting balance you're looking for. If you've wondered if these tools can truly change your life, this one's for you. 

Get in there and give it a listen! 

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
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In this episode, I dive deep into one of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal: breathwork. 

It's been a while since we've discussed the tools we use, and I want to revisit the one that I consider my anchor, both personally and in my work with clients. 

Breathwork is the most direct line of communication we have with our autonomic nervous system, and it's one of the most effective neurohacks available for managing stress, improving concentration, and enhancing overall health—and it's completely free.

Key Takeaways:

• The Power of Breath: How controlling your breath can help balance your internal state, activate your vagus nerve, and signal your body to shift into rest-and-digest mode.
• Internal Solutions: Breathing techniques allow us to turn inward for solutions, using our natural resources rather than relying on external means like medications or numbing behaviors.
• Training Your Nervous System: By focusing on the breath and diaphragm movements, you can influence your autonomic nervous system, helping it respond better to stress.
• Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic: Understanding the balance between the fight-or-flight response and the rest-and-digest system, and how engaging the parasympathetic pathway can calm your mind and body.
• Breathing Patterns as Communication: How your breathing patterns, mood, and mobility communicate the safety your body feels, especially first thing in the morning.
• Education on Breath: Despite its importance, breath is often overlooked due to a lack of education. Yet, it’s fundamental to managing stress and taking conscious control over our state of being.
• Historical Context: Controlled breathing techniques, such as Pranayama in yoga, have been used for centuries to influence health and well-being.
• Breathing and Emotions: How the cycle of stress and breathing can trap us in a loop, and how proper techniques can break that cycle.
• Immediate and Long-Term Benefits: Breathwork isn't just for immediate relief; it’s also beneficial for chronic issues like depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and helps rewire the brain’s stress response.
• Breathing Facts: Over-breathing can decrease brain blood flow by 40%, affecting areas responsible for memory, self-awareness, and time perception.
• Dysfunctional Breathing: Recognizing the signs of stressed breathing and understanding how it impacts cognitive function and stress levels.

Actionable Steps:

1. Start paying attention to your breath throughout the day. Notice when you hold your breath, breathe fast and shallow, or sigh and yawn frequently.
2. Focus on breathing through your nose instead of your mouth.
3. Practice intentional breathing exercises to help regulate your nervous system and manage stress more effectively.

Join me in exploring how something as simple as breathing can transform your life and empower you to take control of your mind, body, and overall well-being.

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:

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Episode Description: In this episode, I reflect on recent visits with my family and how they've brought up deep feelings of inadequacy and the desire to prove myself. I’ve realized how much I’ve tried to show that I’m smart, successful, and have my life together—even though I know that no one really has it all figured out.

I talk about the pressure I’ve felt to meet my family’s expectations and how it’s clashed with my own priorities, things that bring me joy but aren’t always understood or accepted by those closest to me. I also share the story behind a special tattoo I got in memory of my brother and how losing him has influenced my journey of self-discovery.

This episode is about more than just family dynamics. It’s about the internal work of learning to be enough for ourselves, even when we feel judged or misunderstood. I discuss the importance of self-respect, emotional regulation, and living a life that feels true to who we are, rather than trying to fit into someone else’s idea of what our life should look like.

Get in there and give it a listen! 

Key Topics:

• The challenges of seeking approval from family
• The significance of personal choices
• The impact of my brother’s death on my journey of self-discovery
• The ongoing work of self-acceptance and emotional regulation
• The importance of valuing our own opinions over others’ judgments

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

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Welcome back to another episode of the Brain Body Resilience Podcast! I'm your host, JPB, and today we're revisiting a topic that continues to resonate deeply. After recently speaking with an organization whose staff deals with community mental health, I was reminded of how critical it is to take care of ourselves, especially when we're overwhelmed and understaffed.

In this throwback episode, we dive into the reality that many of us face—knowing what we should be doing to care for ourselves but feeling unable to do so due to time, energy, and resource constraints. We explore the importance of having a skill set to help you break free from a constant state of stress, worry, and overwhelm, and the necessity of choosing something different if you want different results.

We'll discuss the responsibility we have to care for ourselves, even when the world around us seems like a dumpster fire, and how small, consistent actions can lead to significant change. I'll also share a recent experience that reinforced my mission—to help you realize that you don't have to keep living in stress and anxiety. There are simple tools and changes you can implement to make a difference in your life.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognizing the importance of self-care, even in the midst of overwhelming circumstances.
• Understanding that knowing what to do isn’t enough; action is required to create change.
• The power of perspective in managing stress and how it affects your physiological response.
• Small, consistent steps are more effective than big leaps in making lasting change.
• You don’t have to live a life dominated by stress and anxiety—there is a choice.

Call to Action: If you found this episode helpful, please share it with your friends, give it a like, and leave a review. Share it on social media, tag me so I can see it, and let’s continue to spread this message. Join me next week for another episode as we continue to explore how to create a life that feels good.

Get in there and give it a listen!

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

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In this episode I explore how our families shape us, contributing to both our traumas and our sense of self. We talk about the hidden scars of childhood neglect and the ways they shape our adult lives. 

Sharing my journey from feeling disconnected and alone to understanding and healing from abandonment trauma, I discuss the impact of growing up in a family where emotions were unacknowledged and dismissed. 

Understand how hyper-independence acts as a shield, a trauma response, and how breaking down these walls can lead to genuine healing and self-acceptance. 

Through years of self-work, therapy, and learning to regulate my emotions, I've begun to rewrite my relationship with myself and the world around me. Join me as I delve into the importance of emotional awareness, the challenges of hyper-independence, and the power of our brain's ability to change and heal. 

By the end of this episode, you'll have valuable insights into how the brain works, giving you the power to make more informed decisions for your mental health. 

Whether you've experienced similar struggles or are just curious about the ways family dynamics affect us, this episode offers insights, hope, and a reminder that you are not alone.

Get in there and give it a listen for more! 

Support the show

Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:

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In this episode, we dive into the tricky but essential process of building self-trust and its deep connection to how we experience anxiety and stress. 

Anxiety often stems from an overestimation of threats and an underestimation of our abilities to handle them. Naming your emotions and sensations in your body is one of the best ways to manage them effectively. 

Awareness allows us to bring control and understanding to our feelings, empowering us rather than leaving us feeling powerless. 

When we have a strong sense of self-trust, when we believe that we will be able to figure it out or handle the outcome, we are less likely to have so much fear come up. 

Building self-trust involves acknowledging and honoring our feelings and needs. When we dismiss or shame ourselves, we create an internal environment of threat, leading to unnecessary anxiety and stress. 

I talk about some of my personal struggles and insights with fear and anxiety and offer practical tools to help build self-trust so you can face your days without anxiety taking over. 

Get in there and give it a listen for more! 

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:

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In this episode I'm talking about how stress and anxiety serve us. It may feel like these emotions are out of your control, simply burdens to bear, but over time, I’ve come to understand that these feelings are actually signaling unmet needs. 

We'll explore how our behaviors—like worry, anxiety, and hypervigilance—are often attempts to meet these needs, drawing on the theories of Abraham Maslow and William Glasser's basic needs (survival, belonging, power, freedom, and fun) 

By reframing our understanding of stress and anxiety, we can learn to manage them more effectively, This episode breaks down how unmet needs drive our behaviors and emotional responses, offering practical insights to shift our perspectives and build resilience.

Understanding this can help us shift our perspective and develop skills to better manage these emotions. We’ll discuss how unmet needs can trigger stress responses and how recognizing these patterns can lead to healthier coping strategies. 

We discuss how this cycle can become a part of our identity, acting as a barrier to joy and pleasure. By identifying which of our basic needs are going unmet, we can break free from this cycle and transform our relationship with stress and anxiety. 

By the end of this episode, you’ll have a new perspective on your stress and anxiety and tools to address them more effectively. 

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

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Today we're revisiting a conversation with Eilie Reid, a yoga and meditation coach who integrates Ayurveda into her practices, on aligning with natural rhythms to transform your well-being. 

In this episode, we’ll explore how seasonality and spirality influence our energy and focus throughout the year and our lives. Learn how to embrace a slower pace during certain seasons, prioritize self-care, and adapt your productivity to the natural ebb and flow of your energy levels.

We explore the challenges of maintaining consistent productivity, especially in areas with strong seasonal changes. Find out why what we often see as disorders could actually be a misalignment with our natural rhythms, and how traditional activities like gardening and connecting with local farmers can offer profound insights into these cycles. 

We offer practical advice on setting personalized self-care routines that respect your individual needs and rhythms, and how "nervous system hygiene" is a pathway to better balance and well-being.

Finally, we delve into the deeper ideas of continuously learning to be oneself and embracing the cyclical nature of life and memory. 

Get in there and give it a listen for more! 

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Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:

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In this episode, I share candid anecdotes on adapting daily routines to carve out moments for self-care and stress reduction. Recently, I had to pause my usual routine to prioritize someone else, which highlighted the importance of recognizing and adjusting our priorities as they change. 

I discuss how trying to do everything at once doesn’t work and emphasize focusing on one priority at a time. Whether it's growth, rest, career, or personal connections, different times call for different priorities.

I also highlight the importance of choosing yourself as a priority and provide actionable advice on aligning your actions with your priorities. This includes practical steps like auditing your time to ensure you’re directing your energy with intention. 

Embrace adaptability and discover how small, intentional changes can lead to a more balanced life. Tune in to learn how to manage your time and energy effectively, allowing you to navigate life's demands with greater ease and fulfillment.

Get in there and give it a listen! 

Support the show

Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:

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In this episode, we explore how resisting our reality and fighting against what has already happened can lead to stress and unhappiness. When our expectations don’t match reality, we often waste energy wishing things were different, which only increases our dissatisfaction.

Inspired by Carl Jung’s idea that "what we resist persists," we discuss how focusing on what we don’t want can make those things stick around even more. By resisting, we direct our energy and attention to these unwanted experiences, perpetuating a cycle of negative emotions.

We also examine the protective patterns we develop to avoid pain and how these can trap us in feelings of sadness, anger, and anxiety. By viewing these emotions objectively and learning from them, we can break free from their grip.

Listeners are encouraged to take responsibility for their thoughts, actions, and the meanings they attach to their experiences. By practicing acceptance—not as resignation but as acknowledgment of reality—we can begin to align our actions with our true intentions and desires.

To wrap up, I challenge you to notice where you are attaching to thoughts or feelings and the meanings you assign to them. With this awareness, you can start taking actions that lead to a more peaceful and intentional life. 

Get in there and give it a listen for more! 

Support the show

Resources:

Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call

You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:

On the BBR Website
On Instagram
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Sign up for the BBR newsletter