“The answers you’re searching for

are already inside you

just waiting for the noise to quiet down.”

Glenn S. Cohen

@CenterForNI

One of my favorite daily rituals is walking the same loop around a serene lake and winding path overlooking the low-country wetlands. These mindful nature walks became sacred time for me, a shedding of old protective layers, especially during the last 6 months, guided by my CNI-Spiritual Soulful Healing Playlist I created on Spotify.

Now here's where it gets interesting. My favorite part of the walk? When the toaster oven dings. Let me explain. I often speak in metaphors because the unconscious mind speaks that language fluently. You ever notice how sometimes, after wrestling with a question or problem, the answer comes not in the moment of thinking, but later, while you’re in the shower, driving, or drifting off to sleep? That’s your metaphorical toaster dinging.

Your unconscious mind is like a supercomputer, quietly listening, processing, and waiting. It’s constantly tuned in to the narrative upstairs, eavesdropping on your thoughts, beliefs, and internal language. Like ChatGPT, it responds best when your internal directive is clear and focused except it’s faster and already inside you.

Here’s the magic formula:

1. Speak with intention. Your thinking mind gives the orders, so be mindful of your language and the stories you repeat.

2. Get quiet. When you silence the chatter, you create space to hear the guidance rising from below.

3. Trust your body. Sensations are messengers. Tune in. They often know the truth before your mind does.

During my own healing and reflection this past season, I can’t count how many times during my lifetime I ignored my body’s signals or unplugged the toaster just as it was about to ding. I wasn’t ready to step into the light of my higher self. But now I see all of it, every challenge, every person, every dark night of the soul as sacred steps toward fulfilling my purpose.

I no longer need external validation. Whether one person or a thousand engage with my work, I know I've done my part. The rest is in the universe’s hands.

The real message I want to leave you with is this: You are the mindful manager of your meaning machine. What you choose to believe, you will receive. So be mindful. Be intentional. Be kind. And when your toaster dings, listen.

Your unconscious mind is a toaster oven preheating in silence, working behind the scenes. When it finally dings, it’s not just bread that’s ready, it’s the truth you’ve been waiting for. So, what’s one “toaster ding” moment you’ve had that changed everything once you finally listened?

If this resonates with you, feel free to DM me. I’d love to hear from you. If you are interested in working together, send me an email from the Request Initial Interview page on my website. I also invite you to subscribe to my Apple Podcast or Spotify Podcast and sign up for my Substack blog on my website (scroll to the bottom of the home page.) Thank you for letting me share a little slice of my world with you.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,

Sending Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

“Healing begins the moment we stop

avoiding the rooms within us that hold our truth.”

Glenn S. Cohen

If you're reading this, chances are you've already begun the journey. You’ve started turning on the lights in rooms that were once dark parts of your inner world that operated on autopilot, running old survival patterns. And if you’ve worked through NI Volume 1, you've laid a powerful foundation by honestly looking at how your attachment style, neurological needs, adapted roles, and disempowered patterns were formed.

I’ve been there too, realizing I built rooms in my unconscious mind that I never revisited because they were too painful, too confusing, or just too much. But here’s what I’ve learned: healing only happens when we stop tiptoeing around our inner mansion and start turning the doorknobs.

NI Volume 2 is an invitation to go deeper. It's where exploration becomes transformation. It’s not always comfortable, sometimes the discomfort is the doorway. In fact, one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is this: if I’m not uncomfortable, I’m probably not growing. Resistance often shows me where something unresolved still lives in my body.

The work here isn’t about perfection, it’s about presence. It’s about choosing to get curious when something gets triggered instead of shutting down. It's using your time, energy and attention as fuel to grow beyond what once kept you small.

The tools, strategies, and exercises in the NI book series were designed to help you listen deeply, feel fully, and reclaim the parts of you that have been waiting for your attention. You don’t have to do it all at once. But I encourage you to show up with honesty, vulnerability, and courage. Because those are the keys that unlock every door inside you.

Yes, it might feel messy at times. That’s okay. That mess is movement. That discomfort is a signal, not a stop sign. So… if a room in your inner mansion feels scary, maybe it’s because there’s something powerful behind that door. Something ready to be seen, healed, and freed.

Your inner world is like a mansion filled with locked doors. Behind each one is a part of you waiting to be seen, not to shame or blame, but to be freed. Each time you open a door; you reclaim a room in the house of your wholeness. So, what’s one “door” inside you that’s been waiting to be opened and are you ready to take the first step toward it?

If this resonates with you, feel free to DM me. I’d love to hear from you. If you are interested in working together, send me an email from the Request Initial Interview page on my website. I also invite you to subscribe to my Apple or Spotify Podcast and sign up for my Substack blog on my website (scroll to the bottom of the home page.) Thank you for letting me share some of my lessons of life and love.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,

Sending Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

“The journey of healing and growth

always begins within

and the choice of your

path is always yours!”

– Glenn S. Cohen

Have you ever felt as though you’ve been welcomed to the bottom, that moment when you fall into the proverbial abyss and hit rock bottom? If you’ve experienced this, you know exactly what it feels like. My personal moment happened on a cold January night in 2003, and that memory remains etched in my mind. It was a profound turning point, one that fueled the drive, inspiration, and motivation to embark on my own journey of healing and growth and eventually write my three books.

This “welcome” can arrive in various forms: small, medium, large, or even extra-large challenges. No matter the size, a bottom is still a bottom. The real question is: What do you ask yourself when you realize you’re there, and how do you choose to use your time, energy, and attention?

Often, we initially ask, “How did I get here?” or “Why me?” At this crossroad, we face two choices:

1. Remain in Disempowerment – Ask why and cling to old, limiting, disempowered beliefs and stories that keep us stuck in self-defeating protective patterns.

2. Shift to Empowerment – Ask insightful questions that spark non-judgmental curiosity for healing and growth. In doing so, we assign a new and empowering meaning to our experiences, activate our Neurological Intelligence (NI), and tap into our most important values, building resilience for future challenges.

Once we acknowledge we’re at the bottom, the next critical step is deciding how to spend our time, energy, and attention. Will we invest these precious resources in learning, stretching, healing, and growing into our next highest version? Or will we reinforce the same disempowering beliefs and stories, trapping ourselves in a cycle of suffering?

Imagine a seed buried deep underground. In the darkness, it may seem isolated, but that very soil provides the nourishing environment it needs to root. Over time, the seed breaks through the surface, reaching for the sunlight, stronger and ready to thrive. In the same way, hitting bottom can be the fertile ground for your transformation, paving the way for renewed hope, resilience, and growth.

Your journey of healing and growth begins the moment you recognize you have the power to choose. Embrace the darkness as fertile ground, and decide to invest your time, energy, and attention in ways that elevate you. By focusing on empowered questions, uncovering your core values, and taking purposeful action, you can turn any rock-bottom experience into a launching pad for lasting self-discovery and transformation. After all, the path you choose is always yours.

If this resonates with you, feel free to DM me. I’d love to hear from you. If you are interested in working together, send me an email from the Request Initial Interview page on my website. I also invite you to subscribe to my Apple or Spotify Podcast and sign up for my Substack blog on my website (scroll to the bottom of the home page.) Thank you for letting me share some of my lessons of life and love.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,

Sending Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Glenn

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

"Empowered Love is a Sanctuary Where Our Souls

Feel Safe Enough to be Fully Seen, Heard, and Held."

Glenn S. Cohen

@CenterForNI

There’s a sacred place I’ve found, not in a location, but in a connection. It’s a felt sense. A deep resonance that tells every cell in my being: You are safe. You are seen. You are home.

When I’m in an empowered loving relationship, I feel met in ways that go beyond words. There’s an unspoken knowing that my weirdness is welcome, my needs matter, and my healing is held with care. It’s not about perfection, it’s about presence. When shift happens, and triggers rise, we don’t turn away. We lean in.

We hold space for each other. We listen with our whole being. We validate, empathize, and connect, curious about each other’s inner world.

It’s a sanctuary where authenticity is celebrated, and vulnerability is strength. Where love is not a performance, but a practice. A practice of being real, of owning our imperfections, and showing up anyway with patience, perseverance, and heart.

I’ve come to see love as a living laboratory, a space where I’m invited to stretch into the discomfort, soften into growth, and become the highest version of “I”, “U” and “WE”.

And the magic? It’s not in the grand gestures. It’s in the everyday moments: The shared glance. The laughter. The safety to fall apart and be held anyway.

We become each other’s best friend during the day, lover at night, and partner for life. This is the sacred dance of empowered love. This is what happens when two people commit to conscious connection, not just compatibility.

It’s like coming home after a storm that’s warm, alive, and waiting for you with open arms and steady light. So, have you ever felt truly safe, seen, and supported in love and what shifted when you did?

If this resonates with you, feel free to DM me. I’d love to hear from you. If you are interested in working together, send me an email from the Request Initial Interview page on my website. I also invite you to subscribe to my Apple Podcast or Spotify Podcast and sign up for my Substack blog on my website (scroll to the bottom of the home page.) Thank you for letting me share some of my lessons of life and love.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,

Sending Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

"Transformation isn’t

a destination you reach.

It’s the courage to

face your fears,

love yourself through them,

and grow beyond the walls

you once thought

would protect you."

Glenn S. Cohen

@CenterForNI

When you scroll through social media, you’ll find endless ads and posts promising "magic potions" and "miracle processes" that guarantee radical transformation. Seeing the word "transformation" so often and experiencing this process for myself these past few years and especially the last 6 months, inspired me to dive deeper into what this concept really means.

I started where most journeys begin these days: I Googled it. Definition of transformation: "A complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone, especially so that the person or thing is improved." I found this definition interesting, but I’ll be honest , I don't believe in the idea of a "complete" change. In my experience, inner work is never truly complete. It's an ongoing journey, not a destination.

Transformation, as I see it, isn’t about checking a box or reaching some final form. It's an evolving process, one that unfolds over time. It isn’t measured by anyone else's standards, and can only be truly assessed by you.

True transformation usually starts when someone close to you triggers something unresolved inside you, a hidden wound that causes just enough pain to force a choice: stay the same, or go within to heal and grow. If you choose to follow the path of healing and growth, you shift something you intuitively knew needed attention but weren’t yet ready to own and mindfully, with intention do your inner work.

In Neurological Intelligence, we regard our nervous system as an amazing sensory data supercomputer carrying energy and information between neurons. One of our foundational principles is this: many of the limiting beliefs embodied in our unconscious mind were adopted early in life. They served as survival mechanisms, designed to protect us from perceived danger (real or imagined). But as adults, these unconscious, limiting beliefs keep us trapped, stuck behind invisible walls, holding us back from our true potential.

Most of us are “walking wounded" humans clinging to our comfort zones and guarding them with thick layers of protective patterns. These protections are often wrapped in the stories we tell ourselves, backed by judgments we place on ourselves and others. This autopilot programming shields the unresolved wounds containing the painful emotions and limiting beliefs we never realized were running the show.

And here’s the kicker: Your comfort zone, that "safe" place, is actually the worst, most toxic place to stay. Because you can't grow there. There’s a boundary, a line in the sand, and the only way to expand your life is to have the courage to cross it. Nature teaches us a simple law: you're either expanding or contracting. There’s no standing still.

Real transformation happens when you face your fears with non-judgmental compassion and loving kindness.

· You lean into love, not fear.

· You use mindful breathing and intentional strategies to release the embedded painful emotions stuck in the tissues with patience, forgiveness and loving kindness

· You expand your comfort zone, using techniques with repetition to transform your limiting beliefs into limitless possibilities.

· You mindfully choose the language of certainty that absolutely nothing is beyond your capacity to achieve when you align with the gift you were born to share.

Here’s a simple roadmap when you feel triggered, reactive, or stuck inside your protective patterns:

1. Pause: Breathe and then notice the activation and sensations you are feeling in your body.

2. Say to yourself: “Hmmm, this is really interesting. I’m so grateful for this moment.”

3. Ask: “What new empowered meaning can I choose to assign to reframe my perception?”

4. Reflect: “What lesson or gift is this trigger trying to reveal and teach me?”

5. Choose: “What conscious, empowered choice can I make right now to stay present, non-judgmental while being open and flexible?”

6. Action: “What can I give to myself and others that honors me and my new path.”

The true mystery of transformation is that it’s not some complex, mystical secret. It’s found in the simple practices of Neurological Intelligence: becoming aware of your humanity, healing your nervous system, and choosing to grow into the next, best version of yourself, with loving kindness for yourself and the people you love.

Transformation is like stepping barefoot onto soft earth after years of walking on a concrete path, every step feels uncertain, but it's exactly where real growth and life can finally take root. So, When you feel the edges of your comfort zone pressing in, what helps you take that first courageous step beyond it?

If this resonates with you, feel free to DM me. I’d love to hear from you. If you are interested in working together, send me an email from the Request Initial Interview page on my website. I also invite you to subscribe to my Apple or Spotify Podcast and sign up for my Substack blog on my website (scroll to the bottom of the home page.) Thank you for letting me share some of my lessons of life and love.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,

Sending Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

"Healing the Inner World of I

Becomes the Heartbeat of a Thriving WE."

Glenn S. Cohen

@CenterForNI

There’s no “perfect time” to start working on your relationship. Whether you're deeply in love, hanging on by a thread, or currently flying solo and wondering if lasting love is even possible for you, the truth is, there’s no wrong place to begin.

The path to empowered love starts with one brave step: turning inward.

Neurological Intelligence Volume 3: A Guide for Empowered Loving Relationships offers three paths forward:

1. If you're in a relationship and you're the only one ready to grow, don't wait.

2. If you're both in, get ready for transformation.

3. If you're single, do the work now so you don’t repeat old patterns later.

I’ve seen firsthand what happens when people stop blaming, start healing, and learn to show up from the highest version of themself. It's not magic, it's intentional practice. It’s learning to feel what you’re afraid of, ask questions with compassion, and sit in the discomfort of growth.

And yes, sometimes you do the work alone. You turn the pages, revisit the painful past, and uncover truths you’ve long buried. And as you heal, everything changes. Your presence shifts. Your heart softens. Your standards rise.

Eventually, those around you feel it. Some lean in. Some fall away. But no matter what, you're not where you started. You're no longer confused by disconnection. You’ve got the tools to choose love, not fear.

Doing this work is like tending a lighthouse. Whether you’re guiding another ship or waiting for one to arrive, the light has to shine from within. So, wherever you are in your journey, start there. Go slow. Revisit the exercises. Let Neurological Intelligence Volume 3 be your mirror, your compass, and your invitation back to wholeness. So, what’s one pattern in your relationships you’re ready to transform so you can show up as your highest self in love?

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

Every year, Mother’s Day came and went. Cards signed with loving words, beautiful flowers arraigned in vases and delicious brunches enjoyed. But this year is different. This year I am different.

Over the last six months, I've been through a surprisingly intense process of shedding protective layers I didn’t even realize I was still wearing. For years, I used these protective layers to shield my heart, inhibiting myself from fully and freely expressing love and from receiving it. But now, something real has shifted inside of me. I have mindfully chosen to show up, my heart wide open. I definitely feel it and I know others do also. Especially my mom, Phyllis Passink Cohen.

Growing up, I kept my inner world hidden from her and everyone else. I became a master at pretending to be fine, faking it behind a wall of independence, arrogance and self-protection. But over the past few years and especially through the challenges I faced over the last 6 months, that resistant shame-based veil has slowly melted away. The relationship between my mom and I has become deeply connected, rooted in love, being honest, authentic, vulnerable, open and real with each other.

Throughout my life, my amazing mom was always there for me, when I allowed her to be. Her heart was open, if I allowed myself to receive it. She was willing to listen, if I had been willing to share. Even in my darkest seasons, I knew she was there… just waiting. And when I hit my rock bottom, it was her that became the rock at my bottom.

My mom’s life hasn’t been easy. She’s carries deep wounds from her childhood. With grace and grit, she has survived the tragic loss of her young son, the passing of her husband from cancer, and lately watching her oldest son struggle through pulmonary fibrosis and a lung transplant. Yet she has always been the pillar of our family. Her strength shows up with open arms, wise wisdom, and a fierce love reflected in how she puts others first and only wants the best for her children, grandchildren, and her many great-grands.

Life has its own rhythm, and the storms I sailed through recently, became the bridge for me to cross. For the first time, I really let her in. I finally let myself be seen by her. I shared what was happening inside me, raw, honest, unfiltered. And there she was, just like always, listening with empathy, compassion… and yes, a little loving lecture. That’s just how she rolls. Love you, Mom.

Today, I want to honor my mom. To acknowledge her giving spirit, her kind heart, her unwavering strength, and her grace. When you visit her, she greets you with a smile, a warm hug and when you leave she will wish you to “have a pretty day.” While you are in her home, she’ll make sure you’re fed and send you home with a bag of leftovers. Even with two hip replacements and a few other health hurdles along the way, she’s still reading he beloved books, working on her treasured puzzles, and keeping her mind sharp with online card games.

Mom, thank you for being there without judgment, for loving me through the dark times in my life, and for always showing me how to live with determination, kindness and courage.

I am so proud to be your son.

I love you!

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

“The moment you challenge the belief,

the healing begins.”– Glenn S. Cohen

#CenterForNI

I had an incredible session with a wonderful client recently that I feel called to share.

We were exploring the deep roots of her core beliefs, many of which were planted in her childhood and early teen years. What stood out was how strongly she was clinging to present-day stories, tightly woven with judgment, about herself, and about her husband. These weren’t just thoughts; they were her reality.

As we dropped in deeper, her inner child revealed something tender and raw: she didn’t believe she was smart enough or good enough. That unresolved little one, still living in implicit memory, was holding on to the same pain, emotions, beliefs, and body sensations from over thirty years ago.

That’s the thing about unresolved wounds; they don’t stay in the past. They show up in the now, outside of our awareness, disguised as present-moment truths. But they’re echoes.

So many of us carry some version of the core belief: “I’m not enough.”

It’s rooted in shame, the false idea that something’s fundamentally wrong with us, that we’re broken, unworthy, or defective. Over time, shame-based beliefs metastasize, like neurological cancer, spreading throughout our mind, infecting how we see ourselves and relate to the world.

So how do we begin to un-believe the beliefs?

The first step is simply noticing them without engaging or defending them. These beliefs became internal shields, protecting us from pain, rejection, abandonment, or worse. But now, they’re the very thing keeping us stuck.

The beginning often feels uncomfortable. There’s resistance. There’s grief. There’s a letting go of the familiar in order to make space for something new. And that can feel like a loss, even if what you’re letting go of is limiting you.

The irony is this: We often have to hurt enough to see the harm those beliefs are causing, before we finally get uncomfortable enough to stop arguing for our own limitations.

I’ve been there. It can be deeply painful, but also deeply liberating.

And when you do something you once believed you couldn’t do, your entire world shifts. New beliefs take root. New possibilities unfold.

Disempowered beliefs are like old roots tangled around your nervous system, unseen, but still shaping your every step. When you begin to pull them out, the pain is real… but so is the space to grow something new. Have you ever noticed an old belief showing up in your present-day relationships or choices? What did it take for you to see it and are you ready to challenge it?

If this resonates with you, feel free to DM me. I’d love to hear from you. If you are interested in working together, send me an email from the Request Initial Interview page on my website. I also invite you to subscribe to my Apple Podcast or Spotify Podcast and sign up for my Substack blog on my website (scroll to the bottom of the home page.) Thank you for letting me share a little slice of my world with you.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,

Sending Big Hugs and Lots of Love,

Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

"Healing happens when your inner leader

chooses connection over protection, even when it hurts."

– Glenn S. Cohen

#CenterForNI

Ever wonder how love can shift from bliss to battlefield? You’re not alone. One minute you’re wrapped in warmth and shared dreams, and the next you’re locked in a painful loop asking, How did we get here? The answer may not lie in what’s happening between you, but in what’s happening within you.

When conflict erupts, it’s rarely about the surface-level stuff, the dishes, the text that went unanswered, the tone that felt off. More often, it’s your tender, unhealed places being activated. And in a split second, your protective personalities kick in. Your nervous system gets hijacked, and the person you once turned to, becomes the person you brace against.

This isn’t a relationship flaw; it’s a human one. And if both of you are triggered at the same time, you’re not just in an argument, you’re in a full-blown inner mutiny. The blame, the shutdown, the spirals... they make sense when you realize what's underneath.

So, the deeper question becomes: Where is the mindful empowered part of you that chooses to pause, breathe, and lead from love instead of pain?

Without this awareness, couples end up protecting their wounds instead of healing them. But when you begin your I work alongside your WE work, the battlefield softens. The emotional wildfires settle. What once felt like falling apart begins to feel like falling into something sacred.

It’s like standing barefoot on a cracked, smoky road, behind you, the ruins of what was. But ahead? A winding path bathed in golden light, lined with wildflowers and new possibility. Not built in spite of what you’ve endured, but because of it. You don’t need to be perfect. Just present. Aware. Willing.

Does your relationship feel stuck in protection mode more than connection mode? What might shift if you met each other from your healed, empowered selves?

If this speaks to your heart, feel free to DM me. You can also visit my website to request an initial interview, subscribe to my Apple or Spotify podcast, and sign up for my Substack newsletter at the bottom of my homepage.

Wishing you a peaceful path forward. Big hugs and lots of love,

Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe

“When love turns to war, it’s not your partner you’re battling,

it’s the parts of you; you haven’t met yet.”

– Glenn S. Cohen

#CenterForNI

When you begin your journey with Neurological Intelligence, you might not realize how deep and transformational this work truly is. It’s not just a method; it’s a way of being. A way of loving. A way of relating.

Volume 1 helps you understand the blueprint of your inner world, your nervous system, your patterns, your past. It’s like going to med school for your human operating system. You finally start to see why you do what you do… and more importantly, where it comes from.

Volume 2 invites you to roll up your sleeves and get to work. It becomes your personal residency in inner healing. You learn how to use Neurological Instruments to do “inner-world surgery,” unwinding the beliefs, triggers, and autopilot patterns that have kept you stuck. You start to re-claim your power.

Volume 3 brings it all together and takes you deeper. It asks you to bring your healed self into your most intimate, triggering, and growth-filled space: your committed love relationship.

This isn’t a book you just read or listen to. It’s a map, a mirror, and a method, a step-by-step guide to becoming more honest, authentic, vulnerable, open, and real in the WE space. Because real love isn’t just about connection, it’s about healing and growing together.

Here’s the truth: your relationships reflect what’s unresolved within you. And when you learn to meet conflict with curiosity instead of criticism, you grow. You become more regulated, connected, and whole. That’s the sacred space where “I and U” becomes WE, not by avoiding wounds, but by consciously healing them, together.

It’s like tending to a shared garden. First, you till your own soil (Volume 1), then plant the seeds and pull the weeds (Volume 2), and finally, co-create a thriving ecosystem (Volume 3) where love blooms through every season. So, what’s one pattern or wound you’re ready to meet with curiosity?

If this resonates, DM me. I’d love to hear from you. To work together, visit the Request Initial Interview page on my site. Subscribe to my Apple Podcast, Spotify Podcast, or join my Substack (bottom of the homepage). Thank you for letting me share my world with you.

Wishing You a Safe and Peaceful Journey,Big Hugs and Lots of Love,Glenn 🙏🌻

Get full access to Lessons in LIfe, Love and Healing at centerforni.substack.com/subscribe