This guided meditation, by Dr. Kristina Seymour, a clincical psychologist and USAF Veteran, adapted from Dr. Andrew Huberman's Time-Space Bridging exercise, is tailored for service members and veterans to foster calm, safety, and agency over perceptions of time and space. It strengthens focus-shifting skills by anchoring participants in the present through deep breathing (e.g., 7-second inhales and 8-second exhales), scanning nearby and distant objects to illustrate how proximity influences time perception (close things feel faster, far ones slower), and reflecting on past and future (everyday) moments while returning to breath for grounding. The practice also promotes healing via nature's vastness, gently redirects wandering thoughts, and ends with a return to embodied presence, empowering everyday focus shifts.

DrKristinaSeymour.com

In high-stress environments, such as military or civilian life, individuals face challenges that demand resilient, proactive responses. Dr. Kristina Seymour, a clinical psychologist and U.S. Air Force veteran, developed the Optimal Response Initiative (ORI) to empower individuals to thrive rather than merely survive (Seymour, n.d.-a). ORI promotes a shift from reactive behaviors to optimal responses along a continuum, using tools to enhance resilience across all health domains (The Optimal Response Initiative, n.d.). This episode examines the role of balance and boundaries within ORI, focusing on Chapter 8, "The Power of Balance and Boundaries" (Seymour, 2025). Integrating ORI’s programs, workbooks, and health tanks, it draws on Seymour’s lecture transcript to connect prior chapters and provide practical applications. Peer-reviewed research supports ORI’s principles, emphasizing their relevance to holistic health and resilience (Kruk et al., 2015; Stoewen, 2017).

Unlock the power of balance and boundaries! Discover how to set and maintain optimal boundaries for enhanced health and quality of life. Learn to prioritize self-care and thrive in all areas. #boundaries #selfcare #balance #healthylifestyle #thrive #wellbeing

Optimal Response Initiative (ORI) Dr. Kristina Seymour Creatively THRIVING! In this episode, I empower you in that you have the ability to creatively problem solve and THRIVE. I discuss how convergent and divergent thinking are key to being able to generate creative ideas and provide three types of meditation tools that I learned about from Dr. Andrew Huberman from his Huberman Lab Podcast: open monitoring meditation; space time bridging (focused attention); non-sleep deep rest (NSDR). NSDR can improve one’s ability to engage in these creative thinking patterns in specific and powerful ways with a 65% increase in Dopamine in the Substantial Nigral Pathway in the brain. I also discuss how Dopamine and mood contribute to the creative process and describe behavioral approaches for increasing Dopamine to engage in creative thought and implementation. I also discuss how movement, physically and figuratively via storytelling (movement throughout the narration of a story/self-transformation within one’s own ORI journey), can increase neuroplasticity and improve creative problem-solving skills. Theta Brain activity occurs during the creative process - when one is creating a novel useful thing or when one is experiencing the benefits of that new useful thing. I also remind you about a previous ORI sleep podcast that Theta Brain waves are occurring in REM Sleep. REM sleep is needed to be able to transfer the information from our short-term memory/thumb drive (Hippocampus) to our long-term memory/hard-drive - especially when we have learned a new narrative to our story – one that is more about THRIVING vs only surviving…..I invite you to join me and find out how valuable creating can be! Creativity represents flexibility – an ability to move beyond the confounds of what we know, facilitating an opportunity to capital letter KNOW something (maybe) we’ve always known of or about to some degree such as: Survival skills, Emotes, Colors, Movement, Breathing, and Sleeping, however, now we can KNOW them and experience the combination of them in new and useful ways for thriving! In the same way that one trains in the military, creating (creatively approaching SITs in optimal ways) is a skill that can be cultivated. Simultaneously, neuropathways of creativity can be honed, toned, and strengthened! As the Rangers say: “Adapt and overcome”; as my husband says, “There’s always a way.”; as Hebrews 4:13 reads, “Nothing in all creation is hidden.” Hebrews: 4:13. To all the ORI Thriving Warriors out there - Be courageous and curious about using your creative problem solving skills in the midst of opportunity meeting moments in your day to day life to THRIVE! Unlock creativity! Learn to creatively problem-solve and thrive using convergent and divergent thinking. Discover meditation tools and behavioral approaches for boosting dopamine and neuroplasticity. Harness movement and storytelling for optimal living! #creativity #problemsolving #neuroplasticity #dopamine #meditation

Unlock your potential: harness worst-case scenarios to achieve your goals! Learn how to turn fears into fuel for success. Discover the power of catastrophizing for good. #GoalSetting #MentalHealth #Resilience #ThrivingTraining

Unlock motivation! Discover how dopamine, ORI tools, and daily actions fuel optimal health. Learn to move from pain to gain, isolation to connection. Prioritize thriving over mere survival. #MentalHealth #Dopamine #Motivation #MentalHealth #Resilience #OptimalResponse #ThriveTraining

Unlock optimal living! Dr. Seymour reveals how to escape knee-jerk reactions using the ORI Continuum Response Line. Learn to deliberately choose growth and freedom, moving from worst to BETTER. Discover the power of dopamine and practical steps to reclaim your drive! #OptimalResponse #DopamineHacks #MentalWellness #SelfImprovement #Motivation #ViktorFrankl

Dr. Seymour discusses Chapter 1 of ORI - Embrace Beyond The Suck (to THRIVING). She also shares a personal reading of the ORI Creed & A Call to Recover. If you feel like you are barely hanging on - HOLD ON TO HOPE - you are not alone. Together we are stronger. Together we THRIVE. The beginning of your ORI Journey is about learning how to take care of YOU vs. everyone else, all the time - 24/7. You need a tight seal on your mask, or you can't help anyone else. Let's go - it's time to THRIVE. 

Welcome to the Optimal Response Initiative ORI Thriving Training with Dr. Seymour - stay alert - stay alive - AND THRIVE! If you sign up for the online training at ORI.DrKristinaSeymour.com

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you can join the community and OPTIMALLY challenge one another - peer to peer. Together we are stronger, together we THRIVE. Dr. Seymour has created the online academy so that you, along with Dr. Seymour and other likeminded ORI Peers can be OPTIMALLY challenged as you train to THRIVE and be reminded that you are not alone.

Dr. Seymour will be hosting live 1x a month "Inside the Perimeter Checks" for and with anyone who is signed up for the on-line ORI course at ORI.DrKristinaSeymour.com.

See you on the inside. And if not, no pressure, Dr. Seymour will continue to publish ORI Podcasts each week with talks and tools full of common sense, insight, and practical application.