Next Door Neuro

Mar Soraparu has spent nearly a decade thinking about a deceptively difficult problem: how do you make wellness actually work in real life?

In this episode of Next Door Neuro, I sit down with Mar, co-founder and Chief Wellness Officer of BIÂN, Chicago’s private wellness and social club.

Mar’s path to wellness entrepreneurship was anything but linear. She began her career in finance before realizing that, despite succeeding professionally, the life she was building didn’t quite fit. That realization led her into yoga, coaching, and ultimately the creation of BIÂN - a 35,000-square-foot ecosystem bringing fitness, medicine, nutrition, mental health, recovery, community, and social connection all under one roof.

But this conversation goes well beyond BIÂN.

Mar and I talk about why retreats and perfect routines rarely prepare us for the messiness of everyday life, why the basics of health still matter more than the latest wellness trend, and how our definition of “wellness” needs to evolve as our lives become fuller.

We also dig into parenthood, ambition, entrepreneurship, and Mar’s rejection of the idea of “work-life balance.” Her alternative: relentless presence - learning to fully drop into whatever part of your life you’ve chosen to be in at that moment.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Mar’s unlikely transition from finance to wellness entrepreneurship
- Why succeeding at something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for you
- The problem with treating wellness as an escape from everyday life
- How BIÂN was designed to bring traditionally siloed parts of health together
- Why community and environment can make healthy behavior easier
- The value of doing the basic things exceptionally well
- Why wellness shouldn’t become another rigid standard you have to meet
- Fitting meditation, movement, and self-care into the life you actually have
- Wellness as a tool for living a meaningful life,rather than the goal itself
- Why Mar doesn’t believe in “balance”
- Parenting, entrepreneurship, and the practice of relentless presence
- Simple environmental cues that can help you transition from work to home

ABOUT MAR

Mar Soraparu is the co-founder and Chief Wellness Officer of BIÂN in Chicago. A board-certified coach and entrepreneur, she has built her career around helping people integrate health and wellness into demanding, ambitious lives. She is also a mother of three and brings that same practical, flexible approach to her own pursuit of health, work, and family.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marsoraparu/
https://livebian.com/

ABOUT NEXT DOOR NEURO

Next Door Neuro explores ideas for living better in the modern world, the brain science behind them, and how to actually use them in your life. Hosted by neuroscientist and Clario founder Dr. Jamey Maniscalco.

Next Door Neuro explores approaches to living better in the modern world - the brain science behind them, and how to put them into practice in your everyday life. Hosted by neuroscientist and founder of Clario, Dr. Jamey Maniscalco.

One of the most common misconceptions in health and wellness is that lasting change requires more willpower. But the research shows that sustainable change is less about trying harder, and more about understanding how behavior change actually works.

In this episode, I’m joined by National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach Jason Gootman to explore how we can make healthy change feel less overwhelming - and ultimately make it inevitable.

Jason and I discuss why relying on motivation and willpower so often fails, and how small, sustainable steps can gradually become permanent habits. We discuss the psychology and neuroscience of behavior change, designing your environment to make healthier choices easier, finding forms of exercise and nutrition you genuinely enjoy, and approaching personal growth with curiosity rather than self-criticism.

Jason also takes me through a live wellness-coaching demonstration, helping me turn a broad goal - eating more whole foods - into a practical plan that works with my life and human nature.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:
• Why trying harder isn’t always the answer
• How small wins build momentum and reshape identity
• Why enjoyment is essential to lasting behavior change
• How your environment can reduce the need for willpower
• What motivational interviewing and wellness coaching look like
• How to conduct a simple 30-minute self-coaching session
• Why gradual change is often the fastest path to permanent change

Connect with Jason and learn more about his work here:
Website: https://puvema.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasongootman/
How to Form Self-Care Habits That Truly Stick: https://puvema.com/report/how-to-form-self-care-habits-that-truly-stick/ 

If you enjoyed this conversation, please like the video, subscribe, and share it with someone working toward a healthier, more sustainable life.

What if the future of wellness isn’t about optimizing ourselves, but simply remembering how to be human?

In this conversation, I’m joined by Jennifer Walsh, a biophilic designer and founder of the Lost Art of Being Human, to explore how nature, beauty, neuroscience, and the spaces around us shape our health and happiness.

Jennifer and I explore biophilia - our natural connection to living things and natural environments - and why natural light, birdsong, fresh air, organic textures, and time outdoors aren’t luxuries. They’re fundamental human needs.

We also discuss the downside of hyper-optimization: tracking every step, analyzing every hour of sleep, and outsourcing our intuition to devices and influencers. As Jennifer puts it, perhaps we need to stop “biohacking” and start “bio-remembering.”

In this episode, we explore:

• How modern indoor life affects the human brain and body
• The principles of biophilia and biophilic design
• Why birdsong, water, daylight, and natural textures make us feel safe
• How our environments can either feed us or deplete us
• The role of nature in health, recovery, and longevity
• Why wellness technology can disconnect us from our intuition
• Simple, inexpensive ways to reconnect with your senses
• How small moments in nature can create meaningful change over time

You don’t need to completely overhaul your life. 

Open the blinds. 
Listen for the birds. 
Take a short walk without your earbuds. 
Look out the window between meetings. 

Small moments of nature, repeated consistently, can have an extraordinary impact.

CONNECT WITH JENNIFER

Website: https://www.lostartofbeinghuman.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejenniferwalsh
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejenniferwalsh

If this conversation resonated with you, please like the episode, subscribe to the channel, and share it with someone who could use a little more nature in their life.

For most of my life, I assumed summer felt special because of the weather.

Longer days and warmer nights. 

But the more I study the brain, the more I believe something deeper is happening.

Summer feels different because, for a few months each year, we accidentally reconnect with some of the conditions our brains evolved within:

We spend more time outside.
We move more.
We explore more.
We experience more awe.
We connect with other people.
We pay attention.

And when that happens, millions of us describe the experience in almost exactly the same way:

"I feel more alive."

In this episode of Next Door Neuro, I explore how summer may feel so meaningful because it gives our brains more of what they've been missing.

I discuss:

• How experiences of awe can change the way we think
• Why novelty and exploration are so powerful for the brain
• The connection between attention and memory
• How to carry a little bit of summer with you long after the season ends

Because the things that make us feel fully alive don't belong to summer.
They belong to us.

#NextDoorNeuro #Neuroscience #BrainHealth #MentalHealth #Summer #Awe #WellBeing #Nature #Mindfulness #HealthyHabits

We often think of health as something we build by ourselves.
We exercise. We eat well. We prioritize sleep. We meditate.

But neuroscience suggests we may be overlooking one of the most important ingredients for a healthy brain:
Other people.

In this episode of Next Door Neuro, I explore why social connection isn’t simply a nice addition to life, it’s one of the conditions the human brain evolved within.

You’ll learn:

• Why simply being with someone you trust can make your brain feel safer
• How conversations help us think more clearly and solve problems
• What the 85-year Harvard Study of Adult Development teaches us about health, resilience, and happiness
• Why summer naturally creates opportunities to reconnect, and why we should take advantage of them

Your brain doesn’t just need movement.
It doesn’t just need nature.
It needs people.

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If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing to Next Door Neuro for practical neuroscience that helps explain everyday life.

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Connect with me

📧 Newsletter: https://nextdoorneuro.substack.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jameymaniscalco
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/nextdoorneuro

One of the best things you can do for your brain… is absolutely nothing.

We’ve become incredibly good at filling every spare moment.

Podcasts.
Music.
Scrolling.
Email.
Productivity.

But our brains actually need periods of quiet, every day. 

In this episode of Next Door Neuro, I explore why simply sitting outside (without an agenda, to dos, or your phone) may be one of the most restorative things you can do for your attention, creativity, and mental clarity.

Drawing on research from environmental psychology and neuroscience, we’ll explore how nature helps restore directed attention, why the brain’s Default Mode Network is essential for reflection, and how moments of boredom and mind wandering can actually fuel creativity and better problem-solving.

This episode is part of my ongoing summer series exploring a simple idea:

The healthiest habits aren’t always the hardest. Sometimes they’re the ones the season, the weather, and your environment make easiest.

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Studies & Concepts Mentioned

* Attention Restoration Theory (Stephen & Rachel Kaplan)
* Berman, Jonides & Kaplan (2008): The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature
* Default Mode Network (Raichle et al., 2001)
* Mind wandering, boredom, and creativity research

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If you enjoy practical neuroscience that helps us thrive in everyday life, I’d love to have you join the conversation.

Most of us think about morning sunlight as something that helps us wake up.

But it does so much more than that.

Morning light helps set your brain’s internal clock, shaping everything from your mood and energy to your sleep, metabolism, and hormone rhythms later that day.

And what I love about this habit is that it isn’t complicated:

No cold plunge.
No elaborate morning routine.
No expensive gadget.

Just stepping outside and letting your brain know the day has begun.

In this episode of Next Door Neuro, I explore:
- Why morning light may be one of the most underrated habits for brain health
- How your brain’s “master clock” coordinates sleep, mood, energy, and metabolism
- Why getting sunlight in the morning actually helps you sleep better that night
- The surprising connection between morning light, mood, and healthy cortisol rhythms
- Why summer is the perfect time to build this simple habit

Because health isn’t always about adding more or perfecting a routine.
It’s about restoring the conditions our brains evolved within.

Summer makes some things easier.

Last week, we talked about the opportunities that longer days provide. This week, I wanted to dive deeper into one of the simplest (and most human) forms of movement: walking.

Walking isn’t just exercise.

It’s how we evolved.

And modern neuroscience is revealing just how profoundly something as simple as walking can influence our metabolism, creativity, stress, mood, and even long-term brain health.

In this episode, I explore:

• Why humans were born to walk
• Why a 10-20 minute walk after meals can improve blood sugar regulation
• How walking changes creativity and problem-solving
• Why walking in nature helps break stressful thought loops
• The connection between walking and long-term brain health
• Why summer might be the perfect time to build this habit

Because this summer, your goal shouldn’t be to “become a walker.”

It should be to remember that you already are one.

Your brain knows it’s summer. The question is: are you working with the season, or ignoring it?

As we approach the summer solstice and the longest days of the year, I’ve found myself wrestling with a simple question:

What am I supposed to do with all this extra daylight?

Modern life makes it possible to live almost exactly the same way in June that we do in January. But our brains evolved in a world of changing seasons, and health isn’t just about maintaining the same routines year-round... it’s also about learning to work with the conditions around us.

In this episode, I explore:
☀️ How longer days influence our brains and circadian rhythms
🚶 Why small changes like morning light and evening walks can have outsized benefits
🧠 The tension between consistency and responsiveness
🌿 Why health may be less about optimization and more about restoring conditions our brains evolved to expect

The goal isn’t to overhaul your life because it’s summer.
It’s simply to leverage what summer is already giving you.

#NextDoorNeuro #Neuroscience #BrainHealth #CircadianRhythm #SummerSolstice #MentalHealth #Wellbeing #Walking #Nature #HealthyHabits

Over the last few months, I’ve had conversations with neuroscientists, addiction specialists, leadership coaches, outdoor educators, adventurers, and podcasters. On the surface, they were all talking about different things.

But the more I reflected on those conversations, the more I realized they were all pointing toward the same idea:

The quality of our lives is shaped less by our intentions than by our defaults.

Why do we instinctively reach for our phones? Why do we fall into habits we know aren’t serving us? And why do so many of us feel drawn to the novelty of nature, adventure, and deeper human connection?

In this season recap episode of Next Door Neuro, I explore the common thread running through this year’s conversations: the importance of intentionality in a world increasingly designed to run us on autopilot.

Drawing on insights from guests including outdoor educator Sarah Nielsen, Erica Mallery - coach and mentor for those looking to improve their relationship with alcohol, leadership coach Marcy Stoudt, adventurer Richard Campbell, and podcaster Dawn Wecker, I unpack what it means to pay attention, build better defaults, and create a life that reflects who we actually want to be.

Because the most important question we should be asking isn’t “How can I optimize my life?”

It’s simply:

“Is this the way I want to live?”

If you enjoy conversations about neuroscience, behavior change, mental health, human connection, and what it means to thrive in the modern world, I’d love to have you along for the journey.