Podcast appearances and mentions of mark robert waldman

Kinder zu erziehen, ist herausfordernd und lohnend. Du hilfst, dauerhafte neuronale Bahnen zu schaffen, die sein moralisches und spirituelles Wachstum beeinflussen, indem du sein inneres Glaubenssystem formst. Die Neurowissenschaftler Andrew Newberg und Mark Robert Waldman, Autoren von ‘Geboren, um zu glauben', sagen, dass zwischen sieben und zehn Jahren dein Kind am ehesten das Konzept eines Gottes verstehen wird, den es nicht sehen, spüren oder hören kann. Die Autoren empfehlen hier das Erzählen von Geschichten als wirksamstes Werkzeug für die Entwicklung des Glaubens. Geschichten, die göttliche Prinzipien, moralisches Verhalten, Mut, Glauben, Liebe und Vergebung beinhalten, sind gute, leicht verdauliche Zutaten für die Bildung eines christlichen Charakters. Gott wies die Israeliten an, ihren Kindern seine Wege und sein Wort durch Erzählen zu lehren. Geschichten u.a. von Adam und Eva, Noah, Daniel und David; von Geburt, Leben, Tod und Auferstehung Jesu – sie bewegen das Herz, regen das Interesse und die Fantasie von Kindern an, vermitteln dauerhafte, lebensverändernde Prinzipien. Studien zeigen, dass die Glaubenssysteme von Erwachsenen sogar stark beeinflusst werden von Geschichten, die sie als Kinder gehört haben. Präge deine Kinder mit Geschichten, die zur Untermauerung ihres Charakters und zur Grundlage eines Lebens im Glauben werden. Als Elternteil ist es deine Aufgabe, das sich entwickelnde Gehirn deines Kindes zu ermutigen und es zu Überzeugungen, Entscheidungen und Lebensweisen anzuregen, die Gott wohlgefällig sind!

MAR. 11, 2025Born to believe (1)"Train up a child in the way he should go." Pr 22:6Training your child is both challenging and rewarding. By shaping their underlying belief system, you help their developing brain establish permanent neural pathways that will guide their moral and spiritual growth.Neuroscientists Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, authors of Born to Believe, tell us the most crucial years are from age seven to ten. That's when your child has the greatest propensity to understand the concept of a God they can't see, feel, or hear.What an ideal opportunity! Newberg and Waldman also suggest that our most effective tool for belief building at this stage is storytelling, not preaching or moralizing. Stories that incorporate godly principles, moral behaviors, courage, faith, love, compassion, and forgiveness are welcomed, easily digested ingredients for building Christian character. Storytelling was how God instructed the Israelites to teach their children His ways and Word. Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Daniel, Esther, Samson, Ruth, and David; of Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection; of Jesus walking on the sea, raising the dead, and feeding the five thousand, stir the hearts, interest, and imagination of young children and impart enduring, life-changing principles! In fact, studies show that the belief systems of adults are powerfully influenced by stories they heard growing up. Implant stories that will become the underpinning for their character and the basis for a lifetime of faith. As a parent, it's your job to encourage and stimulate their developing brain toward godly beliefs, decisions, and lifestyle!Born to believe Ingredients for building Christian character.Share This DevotionalSend us a textSupport the showChanging Lives | Building Strong Family | Impacting Our Community For Jesus Christ!

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Welcome back to Season 11 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity, and results using practical neuroscience. In today's episode, number 336, we continue our 18-week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches to self-leadership. We delve into Chapter 10, exploring the neural science of persuasion and influence. This topic emerged as a key focus area for 2024, providing insights into why understanding persuasion and influence is essential for long-term success. We revisit past episodes and notable works like Jack Carew's You'll Never Get No for an Answer and Mark Waldman's Words Can Change Your Brain. Learn about the three modes of persuasion—logos, pathos, and ethos—as well as practical strategies for improving your persuasive approach. Discover how to apply six scientifically validated principles of persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini, focusing on reciprocity, scarcity, and authority. These principles can help you build lasting influence and effectively communicate your ideas. Join us as we explore the difference between persuasion and influence and how to use these skills to achieve your goals while helping others. This episode is dedicated to Monica Gilfillan, a highly influential figure in education, whose support and inspiration remind us of the power of helping others first. Don't miss out on these valuable insights to enhance your self-leadership journey. Subscribe, review, and rate our podcast to stay updated with new episodes! On today's EPISODE #336 we will cover: ✔ The difference between persuasion and influence. ✔ Strategies to improve our persuasion muscles and ways to become more influential for longer lasting relationships and impact. ✔ 3 Tips to Put the Science of Persuasion and Influence into Practice in our Daily Lives. ✔ Dedicated to Monica Gilliflan, a highly influential figure in education, whose support and inspiration remind us of the power of helping others first. On today's episode #336 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick's “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January.  The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant's book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024. For Today, EPISODE #336, we are moving on to Chapter 10, covering “The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence” which came as a surprise to me that Pathway Two, showed up as my highest area of focus for 2024. When I looked at the topics that are listed in this pathway, I can see why this area is a work in progress for me, and this self-assessment picked up that I need to make these 3 areas listed in this pathway, a priority in 2024. I'm paying attention to what neuroscience says about persuade and influence, in addition to inspiration, motivation that we covered on EP 324[ii] and presence, that's the last chapter in this book, and I think the most important. (at least for me). If you've taken the leadership self-assessment[iii], look to see if Persuade and Influence is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year. Thinking back on past episodes, I know we have not yet covered this topic entirely, except for the time I was asked to review Jack Carew's classic book from 1987 called You'll Never Get No For an Answer that was covered on EP176.[iv] We explored “Why Our Brains Don't Like the Word No” and revisited Mark Waldman's book from 2013 Words Can Change Your Brain where we were reminded that  “Words can heal, or hurt—if you were in an fMRI scanner (that can take a video of the neural changes happening in your brain) (and you were told a firm NO! for something) we could record, in less than a second, a substantial increase of activity in your amygdala and the release of dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters…that immediately interrupt the normal functioning of your brain, especially those that are involved with logic, reason, language processing, and communication. And the more you stay focused on negative words and thoughts, the more you can damage key structures that regulate your memory, feelings, and emotions. This may disrupt your sleep, your appetite, and the way your brain regulates happiness, longevity and health.”[v] In this episode, we looked at 5/10 of Jack Carew's unique strategies that American Author and Salesman Og Mandino encouraged us all to read to improve our communication and influence with others and I noticed that Strategy 2 was to stop looking out for number one and always look for how you can help others first. So, after noticing this, I went straight to Chapter 10 of Grant Bosnick's book, on “Persuade and Influence” to see what he had to say on this topic. Right off the bat, in the opening of this chapter, Bosnick asks us to think about how we would persuade someone else to do something, like give you a pen you would like to have, for example, or ask for a promotion, or ask someone to buy something you are selling. Then he differentiates the word persuade that he says “we can think of as quick, more direct, more for short-term or immediate gain” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) while influence he says “is softer, more subtle, much more for longer term and lasting gain.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) Persuasion Bosnick says is “more tactical, whereas influence is strategic.”  He gives us the history of persuasion, explaining its origin from the early Greek Philosophers, and that Aristotle wrote about three modes of persuasion: logos (that's about logic and reason), pathos (that's about emotion and inspiration) and ethos (that's about the speaker's own character and credibility). Thinking of Jack Carew's second tip in his book to improve our influence with others (by putting other people first) I think is a good example of a strategy that builds this concept for long-lasting gain (influence) versus persuading someone to give me something that I need for short-term, or immediate gain (like, to pass me their pen, so I can write down something important that I'll need to remember). Bosnick provides a list of strategies to improve our persuasive approach, that includes giving people a sense of ownership, or automony to persuade them to take action with something, or by praising them, and making them feel good for taking action. He offers an exercise to further build our persuasive skills by asking us to complete a sentence: I would like to persuade x to do the following. Then he brings in Jack Carew's strategy for becoming more influential and asks us to think about “what's important to them: their goals, concerns, passions and values.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership, Page 109). Bosnick goes on to explain how to build influence and his exercise reminded me of a networking event I attended in 2014 called Ceospace.[vi] This was an organization where many leaders came up with an idea, and took their idea out into the world, with the help of a larger, more influential network. Author Adam Markel wrote that “it was one of the most magnificent places for entrepreneurs and business owners to come together to seek guidance, insights, inspiration, collaboration, and support.” It's where Jack Canfield[vii] came up with the idea for his Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, where Lisa Nichols[viii] first began public speaking, and where countless thousands of others launched their ideas into the world. The CEO of this organization passed away in 2020, and from what I can see, this organization didn't thrive without his presence. This CEO, Berny Dohrman, had quite a life story. I felt a connection to Berny because of his passion to make an impact on our educational system. He wrote a book called Super Change[ix]  that was about the tools and strategies needed to survive and thrive in an uncertain future. What I think Berny Dohrmann had that was special, was that he used his influence, to create long lasting change in others. He did not persuade anyone to come to his events for short term results, but was able to influence others easily, with a vision for a better future. It all stemmed around his networking event, where participants would do speed rounds, to meet as many people as possible, asking the other person “What are you working on, and how can I help you.” At the end of the event, participants would have access to high level connections, all who were willing to share the strategies for success that worked for them. It was a brilliant idea, and I know this event took many leaders to new heights. The Science of Persuasion and Influence What was so special about how Berny Dohrmann influenced others? Why was Jack Carew's book from the 1980s still being taught in sales training classes today? I had to look up the Science of Persuasion and Influence and found “6 Scientifically Validated Principles of Persuasion and Influence” that came from Dr. Robert Cialdini.[x] (Chald-ini) I picked the first three to highlight here. Reciprocity. We are obliged to give if we have been given something. This was the whole idea behind Berny's networking events. Participants didn't ask for what they wanted FIRST, they offered to help someone else first, and after you had helped them, they would be more open to helping you. This was also Jack Carew's second strategy. Stop looking out for number one. Always think of how you can help others first, and you will naturally draw them to want to help you back. Scarcity. If it's scarce, we want it more. Use this by highlighting the Benefits, Uniqueness and Possible Loss. Berny did this with his networking events by holding them twice a year. If you missed the event, you missed the chance to network with these brilliant minds. Jack Carew picked this as his 10th strategy for becoming more influential. He called his last chapter in the book “Become the Only Choice.” What if you missed the event that would change your future? Carew explains this concept like “the fear of loss.” No one want to miss an opportunity. There is a science to persuading and influencing others and it's all about showing others how you (or what you offer) is unique and something that no one else (other than you) can offer. Authority. We are more likely to comply with a request if it is coming from a perceived authority/expert. Dr. Cialdini explains this one on the home page of his website, Influence at Work: Proven Science for Business Success. He says that “it's important to signal to others what makes you credible before you attempt to influence them.”[xi] It's better if you don't do this yourself, and have someone else introduce you, with your credentials, first. This is what made Berny Dohrmann's networking events successful as each participant was introduced to another person with their credentials and experience, that gave that person instant authority to help, or influence others. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION To review and conclude this week's episode #336 on Chapter 10 on “The Neuroscience of Persuading and Influencing” DID YOU KNOW: “There are 6 short cuts to increase the chances that someone will be persuaded?” (Robert Cialdini) We covered the first three: Reciprocity. We are obliged to give if we have been given something. Use the neuroscience of influence and persuasion, and think of ways to help others first, (just like Berny Dohrmann's networking events), instead of thinking what you can gain from other people, think of what you can give to them. Always be the first to give and take the time to make sure what you are giving is personalized and useful to that person. This way, what you will give will have more meaning to that person. Scarcity. If it's scarce, we want it more. Use this by highlighting the Benefits, Uniqueness and Possible Loss. Take the time to find out how what you are offering to someone else, will help them. You will need to find out what they are looking for to do this, by asking questions, and listening. Then you can “frame what you are saying/offering, so others will find it to be valuable.”[xii] Authority. We are more likely to comply with a request if it is coming from a perceived authority/expert. Being introduced by others is a fast way to have others learn about your expertise, making you instantly more influential and persuasive. We looked at Chapter 10 from Grant Bosnick's Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership where Bosnick explained the difference between the word persuade that he says “we can think of as quick, more direct, more for short-term or immediate gain” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership) while influence he says “is softer, more subtle, much more for longer term and lasting gain.” (Chapter 10, Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership). We looked at a past episode on this topic, taking us back to Mark Waldman's book from 2013 Words Can Change Your Brain reminding us to be careful of the words we choose to speak to others. My take-away from this chapter: If I want to improve my influence, it begins with understanding the wants and needs of my audience first (how can I help them) and then being able to say what I mean, and mean what I say. The words I speak do matter when I'm working on gaining influence.  If I'm speaking with someone, and not being completely honest, or not meaning what I say, I know that this can be felt by the other person, and it will hurt my ability to gain trust, rapport and influence. Our brains can detect “benefits and threats”[xiii] and I want to be sure that I'm drawing those I want to interact with towards me, not away from me. Once I have gained influence with someone I am speaking with, then I can take my persuasion skills to the next level, and we can begin to work together on our common goals. For example, if someone is asking me in a sales situation if I can offer them a discount. When I've build rapport and trust with this person, I can say “yes, I can give you 5% off this order, if you would be able to guarantee the order will come in by the end of this month.” We can begin to use our persuasion and influencing skills to not only give others what they need, but also negotiate with them, for what we need. I hope this episode has helped to give you some ideas on ways to practice the neuroscience of persuading and influencing, to help others with their goals first, and then in turn, allow you to move yourself forward in this process, with these skills. I also want to end this episode, with a mention to someone I ran into recently, who I had not seen about 10 years. I ran into Monica Gilfillan[xiv] an avid listener of this podcast, and I had no idea, until we spoke recently and she shared how these episodes were helping her with new ideas. This made me feel proud and grateful (coming from a peer) and did infuse me with some extra energy to keep going with these episodes. If there is someone I would list as highly influential, who knows how to persuade others, it's Monica Gilfillan. Over the years, I noticed as I connected with a new person in the field of education, they were always connected to her. After she shared how the podcast was helping her, she went straight to ask me how she could help, and what I needed. We all need people in our network who are wired to help others, and I highly suggest connecting with Monica, especially if you are in the field of education. She is an influencer who everyone can benefit from knowing. I thought it was fitting to dedicate The Neuroscience of Persuasion and Influence to Monica Gilfillan and to thank her (and all of you who tune in) for listening. CONNECT with Monica Gilfillan https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicagilfillan/ And with that, we will close out this episode. We'll see you next with Chapter 11 on Time Management. REVIEW In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant's book after our interview the end of January) we are covering: ✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick's award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives. ✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter. ✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system. ✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals. ✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course. REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat' Bosnick  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/   [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #324 on “The Neuroscience of Inspiration and Motivation”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/a-self-leadership-series/   [iii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick's book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/   [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #176 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-communication-why-our-brain-doesn-t-like-the-word-no/   [v] Words Can Change Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Published July 30, 2013 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=words+can+change+your+brain&gclid=CjwKCAjwoP6LBhBlEiwAvCcthCiCJCWZ-n3nMbmllmxcYj7pY9p3EGBjIT1liFGTzVVBlYWdxCBg6hoC3DMQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241598338504&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030091&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2910883915011355196&hvtargid=kwd-36327312367&hydadcr=15527_10340956&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_2ixec66yv3_e   [vi] https://ceospacemembers.com/   [vii] https://jackcanfield.com/   [viii] https://motivatingthemasses.com/   [ix] Super Change by Berny Dohrmann October 31, 2019  https://www.amazon.com/Super-Change-Survive-Thrive-Uncertain/dp/1949003906   [x] https://www.influenceatwork.com/7-principles-of-persuasion/   [xi] The Science of Persuasion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw   [xii] The Neuroscience of Influence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-5CZ2AXT1o   [xiii] The Neuroscience of Influence Leadership Coaching by Dean Newlund https://mfileadership.com/2021/01/27/the-neuroscience-of-influence/   [xiv] Monica Gilfillan https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicagilfillan/    

The Word is Our New DNA (audio) David Eells – 4/14/24 Is God your Father? If so you have His DNA. Jesus is the Word made flesh as we must be. His Word manifested in you to the extent you are ruled by it is His DNA. Scientists say, “DNA contains the instructions necessary for life.” Sound familiar? Our Fathers Word is His spiritual DNA. Below are Notes by Deb Horton of an article which reports that science has finally acknowledged that words have physical power. After removing all the New Age gobbledygook, the article acknowledges that Russian scientists have discovered that spoken words alone can and do reprogram DNA. So, the tongue conquers the curse or the tongue can bring the curse. Key points quoted from the article, which is translated from German, so the terminology will sound a little strange in English (Deborah's comments in parentheses) (David's in red): DNA can be influenced and reprogrammed by words and frequencies WITHOUT cutting out and replacing single genes. (Father didn't use this method of man.) The Russian linguists found that the genetic code, especially in the apparently useless 90% (which has been (falsely) called "junk DNA"), follows the same rules as all our human languages...(and that) human languages ... are a reflection of our inherent DNA. (So changing our Words changes our DNA. At Babel languages were confused which separated people by DNA.) One can simply use words and sentences of the human language ... to influence genetic information! This, too, was experimentally proven! Living DNA substance (in living tissue, not in vitro) will always react to language-modulated laser rays and even to radio waves, if the proper frequencies are being used. This finally and scientifically explains why affirmations ... (can) repair genetic defects. (Changing our affirmations to agree with the Word changes our DNA.) ...our body is programmable by language, words and thought. This has now been scientifically proven and explained....The individual person must work on the inner processes (i.e., casting down every thought and imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God) and maturity in order to establish a conscious communication with the DNA. The Russian scientists also found out that our (fallen Adamic) DNA can cause disturbing patterns ....Stress, worries or a hyperactive intellect prevent (or) distort the communication (and) make it useless. (Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.) An ordered group consciousness creates order in its whole surroundings! When a great number of people get together very closely, potentials of violence also dissolve. (Who can be closer than the true church? We are a “chosen generation”) Researchers think that if humans with full individuality would regain group consciousness (We are one in Christ if we abide in Him.), they would have a god-like power to create, alter and shape things on Earth! (That would be when two or more of you agree on the Words of Christ it shall be done by our Father. One will chase a thousand and two ten thousand.) AND humanity is collectively moving toward such a group consciousness of the new kind. (This part is new age nonsense. Little do they know that the beginning of such a movement in our time will be the corporate Man-child Body of believers and then the corporate Bride body who follows them.) They said that when "healers" were photographed during healing sessions, they appeared as fields of light. (The Word said, He was the Light that lighteth every man.) The Neuroscience Behind Our Words OPINION Posted August 8th, 2019 | Category: BRM Capability, Business Relationship Management Research, Professional Development | Contributed by Lindsey Horton     Sticks and Stones “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” This phrase is reminiscent of childhood recess when we didn't want others to know how hurtful their words truly were. However, the belief that physical injury is more painful than psychological or emotional injury is not necessarily true. Scientific studies actually show that positive and negative words not only affect us on a deep psychological level, but they have a significant impact on the outcome of our lives.     Words Can Hurt Me In their neuroscience experiment, “Do Words Hurt?”, Maria Richter and collaborating scientists monitored subjects' brain responses to auditory and imagined negative words. During this process, they discovered painful or negative words increase Implicit Processing (IMP) within the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC). Put frankly, their study proved that negative words release stress and anxiety-inducing hormones in subjects. Additionally, a study found increased levels of anxiety in children associated with higher rates of negative self-talk. According to the study's abstract. (Speak the promises to your children to put faith in them.) “These results suggest negative self-talk plays a role in the generation or maintenance of anxiety in normal children.” Ultimately, negative words, whether spoken, heard, or thought, not only cause situational stress, but also contribute to long-term anxiety. (And health problems.) Naturally, the recognition that holding negative thoughts in our mind is enough to induce stress and anxiety hormones begs the question, “What effect do positive thoughts have?” In their jointly written book, Words Can Change Your Brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, and Mark Robert Waldman, a communications expert state, “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.” Furthermore, according to these two experts in their field, exercising positive thoughts can quite literally change one's reality. “By holding a positive and optimistic [word] in your mind, you stimulate frontal lobe activity. This area includes specific language centers that connect directly to the motor cortex responsible for moving you into action. And as our research has shown, the longer you concentrate on positive words, the more you begin to affect other areas of the brain.”     ~Newburg, Waldman Over time, given sustained positive thought, functions in the parietal lobe start to change. Consequently, this changes our perception of the self and those around us. (For instance Rejection is passed on to spouses and children when one is critical and judgmental of them.) Essentially, holding a positive view of ourselves helps train our brain to see the good in others. Thus, by exercising consistent positive thoughts and speech, we not only change our self-perception, but how we perceive the world around us. Ultimately, this grants us the ability to shape our reality and change the world for the better. Evidently, as humans, our thought patterns directly shape our perception of the world and those around us. Our thoughts become our words, and therefore our language. This holds true for humans individually, as well as organizationally. A strong company culture is one derived from a shared positive language based on organizational core values. As BRMs, we know that relationships lie at the core of our role, and that language shapes our human interactions. So, how can we make a shift in the language we use in our daily work lives to reduce the negative associations with traditional “corporate lingo”? (This is true of a business or Church or individuals.)     David's Teaching When we concentrate on the Good News of the promises our DNA is changed. This happens when we think those words, hear them, or speak them. Rom 1:16-17  For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  17  For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith. Faith has a positive effect in turning our DNA into His. That puts the power of creation in our minds and mouth. Jesus gave us the inheritance of His DNA. He is called the “Father of Eternity”. Isa. 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Everlasting Father is also translated “Father of Eternity.”) The seed He sows makes us eternal for we receive His DNA. In the parable of the sower in Mat. 13, Jesus sowed the seed of His Word in the hearts of men. In some places in the larger text the word seed is translated from “sperma”. So, we see that it is His life's blood that He is sowing in us and He is our spiritual Father. Since this is true, we have inherited His DNA. We see in that text how many fall short of this regeneration through distractions and polutions of the seed of the Word, Jesus' DNA. Mat 13:19-25  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.  20  And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;  21  yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.  22  And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.  23  And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  24  Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed (Greek: Sperma) in his field:  25  but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. What scientists have discovered is being changed by the man-made plague is the DNA by creating an extra helix. This is creating trans-humans. Part beast and part human are like the mixed multitude who came out of Egypt with the Jews. The people who stay this way are definitely lukewarm members of the Beast body to be spewed out of Christ's body. Those who believe the Gospel will be delivered as their beastly flesh is being crucified. Through faith in God's Word we are delivered from this curse and that is what the positive affirmation in Gal. 3:13 tells us. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. So, in effect, He exchanged our cursed life for His blessed life through us affirming His Word / DNA. This exchange is called reconciliation, translated from the Greek word, “Katallasso”. In context, this means the exchange of Christ's life (DNA) for ours. Col. 1:21-23  And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, 22 yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him (with Jesus' DNA): 23 if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister. This reconciliation is made possible when we like Paul believe and confess the promise that we don't live anymore Christ lives in us. Gal. 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me (Jesus' DNA): and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. So, since it is Christ living in us, we have His DNA.  Paul explains how enlightened saints exchange their DNA for the Lord's through thinking, believing and speaking 2Co. 3:18  But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory (Jesus' DNA), even as from the Lord the Spirit. When we partake of the bread and wine at the Lord's supper, we, by faith, are partaking of His body and blood and we have His life in ourselves, which incorporates His DNA. Since Jesus is the “Word made flesh”, when we spiritually digest His Word, so that it becomes a part of our thinking and speech, we are partaking of His DNA.  Joh. 6:53-57 Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life (Jesus' DNA) in yourselves. 54 He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath (His DNA) eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me. (Notice, eating His flesh and drinking His blood gives us His life, which incorporates His DNA.) The life of the flesh is in the blood of Jesus and His body.  Lev. 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood (Jesus' DNA); and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life (Jesus' DNA). When we were born of the flesh of our fallen parents, our DNA was corrupt and became more so as we grew in sin. When we partake of Christ's DNA through faith we begin to reverse this process. This begins with a born again spirit and continues to take over the soul through our obedience to the truth. We were told that the Lord would return in these last days as the latter rain on this morning of the third day. Hos. 6:1-3 Come, and let us return unto Jehovah; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up (Jesus' DNA) and we shall live (Jesus' DNA) before him. 3 And let us know, let us follow on to know Jehovah: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. (He will on the morning of the third thousand year day from the advent of Jesus. We were promised in these last days, when the former and latter rain of the Spirit of God is poured out, there will be a restoration of all the years of degeneration. Joel 2:23-26 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month.  24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you (Representing the curse which Jesus bore). 26 And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame. We had a wonderful dream that Tiannah shared with us about restored DNA. In the dream she visited us (She is coming now) and said that, “David looked so very young. ...His skin was completely clear, no wrinkles or blemishes and everything was physically perfect…I turned and looked to my other side and I saw Vanessa Weeks …she too, looked so young and ageless, with perfect skin. Her skin was more beautiful than any skin I have ever seen…Eve also looked so young and ageless. There were no wrinkles or anything, and her skin was just pure.”  The angels also told us about our DNA restoration when David asked, “What does the coming restoration involve personally? 30 years younger?” The angel Jeruel said, “Restoration on a DNA cellular level. Faith and power will be imputed to receive healing and restoration. It will be complete restoration not partial. The first fruits are first. They will be the trail blazers. There will be a mighty supernatural outpouring of spiritual restoration; of closeness to God through His Holy Spirit.” When we look in the mirror, and by faith see Jesus' reflection, we are expecting His DNA to be manifested in our bodies.  So, it's ours NOW by faith and we know that there is coming a wonderful manifestation of Christ in us. But we need to believe it now and when we realize this, it can go a long way towards overcoming the temptations to act on the symptoms of sickness that we experience. God is preparing us to be immune to the judgments of this world by filling us with His promises and renewing our minds with His Word (Jesus' DNA). (Rom. 12:2) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  Jesus told us in, (Luk. 21:25) And there shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows. You can see the “roaring of the sea and the billows” as being the anger of the nations against one another, because the Bible tells us in Revelation 17:15 that the “waters” represent peoples, nations, and tongues.  Obviously, the things that nations are exporting around the world, such as terrorism and anarchy and so on, are making a lot of people fearful. (26) Men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.  What is this “expectation”? Depopulation by war, disease, famine, The approach of Planet X/Nibiru will be seen. It's also in general, believing in the curse. It's believing these things are all a threat to you, and seeing in your imagination all the terrible things that could happen to you because of them. That's why we're told to cast down vain imaginations. The devil prepares us to fail through our fallen imaginations.  Again, people aren't dying because of the curse. The Lord bore the curse. Gal 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  They're dying because of unbelief in the sacrifice and fear, which looses the curse. Faith in the promises binds the curse. In every instance where you're put into a position of being threatened, remember that the devil and his army, his angels, see in both the spirit realm and in the physical realm. They coordinate their attacks on you to coincide with the things that you see with your eyes or the things you hear with your ears or, especially, the imaginations in your mind about the things that could happen. They will pounce on you so that you are struck, suddenly, with this temptation to fear.  You know, we think in pictures and the devil will take you over with those pictures. He will put fear in you exactly as this verse is talking about here. You need to stop immediately and make war on him when he attacks you with these things or he will just take you away, and then you will be at the mercy of the judgments that are around you. We've seen from the Scriptures, very plainly, that Jesus bore the whole curse upon Himself when He was upon the Cross (Galatians 3:13). We've also seen in, (Rom.10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  We need to confess Psalm 91 in the midst of the trouble, when there's an opportunity for us to give the devil authority to take us away, the Gospel is the power of God to save the one who believes it (Romans 1:16). In the midst of the trouble, you make your confession because faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Whenever your actions are totally contrary to faith, the devil takes that as his authority. Jesus told us, (Mat.18:18) Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  So, the devil is going to make war on the saints with the judgments that are coming upon the world. And most people don't know that those judgments are coming upon the world, not to hurt the saints, but to deliver the saints, because these judgments are going to separate the wheat from the tares. They will be a Passover of those with the blood, Jesus' DNA, to destroy the wicked as it was with the Egyptians. I want to share with you a revelation from Dimitru Duduman that fits exactly what we're talking about here. This vision was given to Dimitru in May of 1993 when he was living in Oregon. It describes our rights in Christ and how the Blood of Jesus' DNA is applied through casting down fear and doubt and speaking the promise, which is, of course, our Sword of the Spirit.  He said, “It was getting dark. Then, suddenly, it turned pitch black. It's interesting that we can look around us right now and see that it's starting to get dark. People are mentioning to me that they're seeing many things that they've never seen before. They're seeing Christians, lukewarm Christians, turn toward darkness, and governments that have been taken over by the beast. He said, It was as if the whole world had gone dark at that moment. We are on the verge of that darkness coming. It will be great tribulation and we need to be ready for it. We need to not waste our time and dilute or corrupt the Word as Jesus' DNA. We need to have our armor on.  Dumitru went on to say, All the people were in a frenzy. They became disoriented, and some were even screaming. That sounds exactly like the verse we just read in Luke 21. These are the recorded symptoms of the effects on the minds of those experiencing Planet X. He said, After some time, we heard the sound of an army approaching. This is talking about the devil's army, multitudes of demon spirits that make war on the saints and also inhabit men, who physically make war on the saints. We call that body the “beast.”  He said, Soon, we saw them coming out of the black mist. All were dressed in black, except for one. That one seemed to be their leader. He was dressed in a red robe with a thick, black belt over his waist. On his head, he had a sign. As I looked, I saw that in his hand, he held the same kind of sharp spear as everyone else in his army. He exclaimed, “I am Lucifer, I am the king of this world. I've come to make war against the Christians.” This war is about to start. The darkness is covering the earth.  It looked as though all the Christians were huddled together in one big group. Some began to cry when they heard this. Others began to tremble, while some just stood, without saying anything. What is this that's already happening to God's people in this revelation? It's Satan's warfare against them. They're crying, they're trembling, they're fearful because of the threat they can see. What is the devil's army? It's those spirits that attack your mind, spirits such as fear and doubt and grief and condemnation and lust and hatred and unforgiveness and rejection and addictions of different kinds and occultic things and thefts and lying and on and on… Everybody has trials with these spirits making war against them as the spirits seek to bring them under their control to destroy them.  Praise the Lord that we've been delivered of this by Jesus Christ! All the promises that are given to us in the Word of God are what we can use as our Sword to set each other free. Well, when they saw Satan's army coming in great force, many people trembled and were fearful, but some didn't do anything because they weren't moved by what they saw.  Lucifer continued to speak. “All of those that want to fight against my army, and think they can be victorious, go to the right…” Obviously, that's where Jesus put the sheep; on His right. If you're not convinced that you can be victorious against Satan's army, it's because you don't have enough of the Word of God in your mind to really do warfare with him. We have to have on that “helmet of salvation” which protects our mind in the battle (Ephesians 6:17). We have to have the knowledge of the fact that we are protected, we are delivered, it is finished, Jesus has overcome the world, and the only thing left is for us to enter into those works that were finished from the foundation of the world (Hebrews chapters 3 and 4).  How do we do that? We enter into those works by faith. Everything that Jesus did, the body of Christ is going to do. Joh 14:12-13  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.  13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Jesus had victory, He knew he could conquer Satan. Satan trembled before Him, because Jesus knew Who He was. He was a Son of God. He is the only begotten Son of God, in Whom we, too, are sons through rebirth. Jesus said, (Joh. 20:21) … Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. If you know who you are, and you know what God says about you, the devil trembles before you, but he can convince a lot of people who justify themselves and are not really believers of the Word of God.  So the devil said, “All of those that want to fight against my army, and think they can be victorious, go to the right, and those that fear me, go to the left.” Why does God permit this war? He is permitting this war to separate the sheep from the goats. In these end times, the Lord says that He is going to spew the lukewarm out of his mouth (Revelation 3:16). He's not going to have any fence riders; you're going to be in either one camp or the other. This warfare of the devil against the Church is going to bring the separation, and notice what he says next. Only about a quarter of the group stepped to the right. That means three-quarters of what were called “Christians” in this revelation were no threat to the devil, and he was going to conquer them.  All the others went to the left. That was three-quarters of them went to the left because of fear. Those of them who knew they would be victorious over Satan were only a quarter of the Christians, and I don't think that is really a stretch at all. Even today, there are very few people that are actually chasing Satan, and the rest are all being chased by him, which is exactly what the Bible tells us. (Luk. 11:21) When the strong [man] (Satan) fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: (22) but when a stronger than he (Jesus) shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him his whole armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. (23) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. So to those who know the truth Satan is a wimp. To those who don't know it he is their lord. Then, Lucifer ordered his army, “Destroy those on the right.” The army began to advance and quickly surround the Christians on the right. (Remember that's the smaller group, the one-quarter who are not afraid.) And as they began to close in on us, a powerful light appeared, and encircled us. Then, the angel of the Lord spoke, “Take out your Swords and fight! Defend yourselves! Be victorious over the enemy.” “What swords?” a man in the group asked. “The Word of the Lord is your Sword,” the angel answered. Yes, take out your Sword and fight and be victorious over the enemy. The devil can do nothing against it; there is no weapon that he can use to defend against your Sword, which is the Word of God in your heart, the DNA of Jesus. It is the true Word of God. It cannot be denied. It will fulfill the purpose that God sent it for, but we have to use our sword. Luk 1:37  For no word from God shall be void of power. Here is a word just below this one that gives power over the enemy. Luk 1:67-75 ASV  And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,  68  Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people,  69  And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David  70  (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),  71  Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;  72  To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant;  73  The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father,  74  To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear,  75  In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. You may have all the knowledge that you need but you won't be able to even hear it in the midst of this emotion of fear that has come upon you. So stop and make war. The devil can't stand before you if you use your Sword. You don't necessarily have to quote the Word of God to conquer the devil, but you do have to agree with the Word of God to conquer the devil. You have to know what the Word of God says in order to speak in agreement with the Word of God, so if you're not sure about what the Scriptures say, you need to spend more time in the Word.)  Let's continue with Dumitru's revelation. When we understood what the angel meant, we began to quote verses from the Bible. Then, suddenly, as if we were one voice, we began to sing a song. (That's the thing about songs; they bring people into one accord, and there's power in agreement. Jesus promised us, (Mat. 18:19) Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. (20) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.  What happens when there are more than two or three of you in agreement? (Deu. 32:30) How should one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Except their Rock had sold them, And the Lord had delivered them up? One will chase a thousand and two will chase ten thousand; that's multiplied power, so it's a blessing for us to be in agreement with each other and with the Word of God. That's why God has given us His Word. Of course, it does no good if you're in agreement with a lot of apostates because no matter how large a group they might be, you still will have no power.  The devil is going to show us this in Dumitru's revelation. He's going to conquer these people. The devil wants to make war, and he wants to take out the people who are a threat to him. He'd like to take out their physical life and he'd like to take out their spiritual life, because they're doing him damage. He will make war on you but he's not able to do anything that God doesn't permit him to do. You see, God permits the devil to come try us in order to build our faith. Faith is like a muscle. If your faith isn't tried, it's not going to get stronger. We go through things to try our faith, and in the process, we also learn how to quickly pull out our Sword and use it to conquer the enemy.)  Back to Dimitru: So the smaller group began to quote verses from the Bible and they began to sing a song. Our voices thundered so loudly that the dark army began to retreat. (These are the people on the right. These are the sheep with Jesus' DNA.) The enemy did not have the courage to come against us anymore. Lucifer, filled with rage, turned to those on the left. (Those on the left are the three-quarters majority of the Christians.) “You, who all of your life have been trying to please two masters, because you could not stand against me, I have the power to destroy you.” That is true. He's been given that power to destroy people who are in unbelief and, in these end times, we have very little time left to learn to walk in the Kingdom of God.  Satan's going to be cast down. He knows he has a short time left (Revelation 12:9,12). He's going to fight furiously. He and his army and the people whom they inhabit are going to come against us with great fury, but we have a weapon that they can't resist. The problem is that far too many of God's people don't use that weapon; they don't use the promises of the Word of God. The Word is our Sword and the demons cannot stand up to that. We see here that those people who, all their life, tried to serve two masters, had no protection. They tried to serve both self and the Lord; they were double-minded (James 1:7-8). They were found to be lukewarm and there was no protection for these people (Revelation 3:16).  We need to get our armor on, we need to be on fire for God, and we need to learn to fight. (Eph. 6:10) Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places].  (13) Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one]. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Jesus' DNA. In this revelation, when Lucifer said, “I have the power to destroy you,” who gave him that power? The back slidden Church did. They are the ones who have been given authority on earth to bind or to loose, and here they have loosed Satan because of their unbelief, their double-mindedness, and their lukewarmness.) He then ordered his army to attack. It was a total massacre. The ones on the left could not defend themselves. (Could you imagine that three-quarters of Christianity could not defend themselves right now? It seems fairly obvious. “Many are called but few are chosen.”  One by one, they all fell. This killing seemed to go on for a long time (I believe that this killing is not just physical, but spiritual, because many of these people are going to lose their eternal life like the faction who lost both.), and after a while, we could actually smell the stench of the dead. “Why could they not be protected also?” someone asked. The angel answered, “Because all their lives, they have been lukewarm. Because of their hypocrisy, the true church has been blasphemed.” (Speaking, of course, of the quarter who went to the right, the sheep. They have been blasphemed. They have been accused by the world because of the hypocrisy of the false church, the three-quarters of the people who went to the left.) “They have brought disrespect to the Word of God.” (It's true; today we see people just scoff at the Word of God. Even “Christians” scoff at the Word of God.  In the midst of a trial, you may share the Word of God with them but they'll choose to cling to the idol, the stronghold in their mind. They'll choose their idol instead of (2Co. 10:5) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Satan has been able to set-up a stronghold in their mind because they're worshiping false gods. They have a false Jesus, as Paul said. (2Co. 11:4) For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if ye receive a different spirit, which ye did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did not accept, ye do well to bear with [him]. That false Jesus can't save you because he's not the Word of God.  The true Jesus is the Word of God; the true Jesus is our Sword. He can save. He will save all those who respect Him. All through the Old Testament, God warns us about the danger of worshiping idols, like religions and their preachers. It's sad that so many Christians today worship a Jesus that does not exist. Their “Jesus” is nothing more than demons (Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; 1 Corinthians 10:20) that they have set up as their idols and they will not save. Satan does not cast out Satan, as Jesus told the Pharisees. (Mat. 12:26) … Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: (26) and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?  If you are following, worshiping, and putting your faith in a false Jesus, he will not save you. “Anti-Christ” means not only “against Christ,” but also “in the place of Christ.” The devil likes to replace the real Jesus with a false Jesus because that way, when you put your trust in him, he will fail you. And this is what's going to happen in the days to come, according to Dimitru's dream. Three-quarters of the church is going to have their false “Jesus” fail them.  God explained to me that He does not answer when you trust in a false Jesus because then you would be giving credit to your false Jesus, and other people would trust in him too. When that happens, and when their false Jesus fails to save them, people blame God. They complain, “But I believed!” No, they didn't believe because their faith was in a false Jesus who couldn't save. Satan will never cast out Satan.  The angel went on to say of those who were killed by Lucifer's army, “They were not clean.” You have no authority to swing the Sword unless you're “clean,” unless your conscience is not condemning you. (1Jn. 3:21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; (22) and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.  The devil conquers those people who are walking in sin and rebellion and defilement. Even though they intellectually know all about faith and how it works, they're not able to use faith. It takes faith to swing the Sword. If you are unholy, the devil will pick that point of uncleanness to jump on you and condemn you so that you can't have faith. You will have fear instead. This is faith in reverse and an invitation to Satan to take you down. You can give-in to the temptations of fear and doubt that the devil fires at you in the midst of the fiery trial, or you can fight. Be sure to confess your sins so that the devil can't use condemnation against you. 1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Then you can swing your Sword with bold faith and you will win. 1Jn 3:21-22  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God;  22  and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. 2Ti. 1:7 For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.  The word translated as “discipline” comes from the Greek sóphrón meaning “of sound mind; self-controlled; balanced.” Any fear that comes against you is from the devil; it's not from God. Jesus told us that we should fear only God (Matthew 10:28). The fear of the Lord is good, because every child should fear that their father will spank them if they're going in the wrong direction. In that way, we should always fear God, but the Lord isn't going to lead you by fear all the time, and if you feel that way, you're probably being moved by the devil.  Scripture tells us, (Rom.8:15) For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Since God's method of leading His children is not fear, whenever fear comes upon you, you need to make war against it immediately. You need to stop whatever you're doing and cast down the thoughts that the devil is putting in your mind. Cast down those pictures that the devil is putting in your mind, and make war against that spirit, because otherwise he will conquer you.  Back to Dimitru: As we continued to look, we saw the sun coming over the horizon. I think that represents the coming of the Lord. The black clouds began to break up, then they disappeared. Only one was left, the one on which Lucifer and his army stood. Lucifer looked at me, shaking his fist, and said, “I will destroy you, even if I have to throw my spear at you from here.” Then that cloud disappeared. …The first thought that came to my mind as I awoke was that this had been the last fight of the devil against the church. If we remain faithful, we will be victorious. Yes! Amen.  So get ready, saints! Put on your armor, because this battle, the last war against the Church, is coming at us right now. (Rev. 13:1) … And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns, and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy. (7) And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. The “beast” that's warring with the saints here is made up of all the fleshly vessels whom this army from the pit is going to inhabit.  This awesome revelation from Dimitru shows us very clearly that if you don't walk holy before God, your faith is going to fail you. (1Jn. 3:19) Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him (You have to have this assurance in your heart if you're going to do battle with the devil. He knows everything about you.): (20) because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. If you're condemned by what you know about yourself, just think what God knows about you (Psalm 139:1-24). However, if you're walking with the Lord by faith, it's only the things that you know about, but don't do, that He holds against you. It's not the things that you don't know. (Jas. 4:17) To him therefore that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.  Of course, if you're walking in rebellion against the Lord then your sins are not covered. (Heb. 10:26) For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. In that case, you have no assurance in your heart, so the first time you get into trouble and you try to swing your Sword, the devil's going to jump on you like a mad dog. He's going to remind you of all of your sins and then you're not going to have any faith. (1Jn. 3:21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; (22) and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.  You know, we all have people who depend upon us: friends, relatives, people for whom we've prayed, children who are our responsibility. Scripture says, (Rom. 14:7) For none of us liveth to himself, and none dieth to himself. The Lord wants to use us to save others and the day is coming when God is going to need you as a vessel of honor in the midst of many people. He is going to need you to save, to deliver, to bring the Gospel, and so on.  Now, more than ever before in history, we need to repent and be sanctified. We need to walk holy before the Lord. The Bible says, (Rom. 6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. You see, the Lord has already delivered us by faith, and He uses our faith to manifestly deliver us. He uses the Word of God in our mouth (Jesus' DNA), which is our confession, to manifestly deliver us and others from the power of sin.  God is the One (Col. 1:13) who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. It happened at the Cross, and we need to confess it, but we won't be able to confess it in the midst of the fiery trial if we're walking in willful disobedience. We won't have any faith to swing our Swords. (Psa. 91:7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; [But] it shall not come nigh thee.  He's talking about the person who is not afraid, the person who is in the secret place of the Most High because of their faith. He's talking about the person who is confessing that faith, the faith of Psalm 91. When He says, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand,” do you suppose that some of those are Christians? Yes, I guarantee at least some of these people are what we call “Christians,” and it's sad. The Lord cries when this happens, and we do, too. A multitude of people, obviously, are not prepared for what's about to come, but God can use your witness to them. You can share the true Gospel with many people who don't know the true, full Gospel. Other people have rejected the full Gospel and they are not prepared to swing their Sword at all. Pray for them. Remember that someone in the revelation had to ask, “What swords?” Before you go to battle, you ought to know what your Sword is, you ought to know how to swing it, and you ought to be experienced in using it, because (Rom. 1:17) … the righteous shall live by faith. We don't have any choice. The devil's not going to ask us if we want to make war with him; he's already making war with us. The people who are abiding in the secret place of the Most High, which is Jesus Christ, are full of Jesus' DNA and are ready to swing the Sword. They have repented of and confessed their sins, therefore they can be bold in their faith.  I've heard people say, usually from among the non-Spirit-filled groups, that Psalm 91 is for the Millennium or something silly like that, as if it's not true for us right now. Well, if you believe that, you have no Sword. You're going to be in the three-quarters group that goes to the left and is whipped by Satan in the end times. If you don't believe in the full Gospel and the power of the Spirit of God, how can you escape?  If you don't believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the promises of the Word of God, how can you escape? How can you escape “the pestilence that walketh in darkness” or “the destruction that wasteth at noonday”? Do you know enough of the Word of God, having Jesus' DNA, to know that it's your right to escape these things? If you don't, you're not going to escape.  Jesus said, (Mat.9:29) … According to your faith be it done unto you, and (Mat.8:13) … As thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. Jesus saw the faith. (Mat.9:2) And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven. (3) And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. (4) And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? (5) For which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk? (6) But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed, and go up unto thy house. (7) And he arose, and departed to his house. (8) But when the multitudes saw it, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had given such authority unto men.  He had the authority to administer the blessing when He saw the faith. The faith He saw was in actions, it wasn't just words, it wasn't just theology in somebody's head. He saw the actions, (Rom. 10:10) for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Get prepared, saints. The war is coming. It's not going to wait on you. It's not going to wait on me. It's coming. It will be on time.  If, as Joshua and Caleb, you don't believe the bad report but speak in agreement with the Word of God (Numbers 14:6-8), you will be like those people who did not worry about the giants. (Num. 14:9) Only rebel not against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land (This is speaking of the giants in the Promised Land.); for they are bread for us: their defense is removed from over them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. You'll be among those people who make it through the wilderness. You'll be among those people who enter into the Promised Land in your body. That's what they did.  (Num.14:30) Surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. The rest did not; they died out there in that wilderness because of their murmuring, their complaining, and their unbelief (Numbers 14:28-32).  They were constantly being tried by the devil. They constantly heard his horror stories in their head about what would happen to them because they couldn't see any water or other supply around them. The devil was constantly making war in their minds and he was beating them up badly. We're going to the same place. The Lord calls it the “wilderness” but it's also called the “Tribulation.” That's where war is going to be made on the saints, and that's where a separation is going to be made.  That's where a separation of the hot from the lukewarm and the cold, the sheep from the goats, and the wheat from the tares, is going to be made. (Psa.91:7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; [But] it shall not (Let me repeat that in case you missed what it says, it shall not. And here it is again, just to be sure you read it correctly, it shall not come nigh thee.)  What makes the difference between those who are taken out and those who remain? Well, it's something that we shouldn't leave out. (Heb. 4:1) Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. The Lord is telling us to fear that we're not appropriating all the promises of God, all of the Word of God, because God created this DNA to be our defense. (2) For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us… Not just “good tidings” but awesome tidings! There are promises for any problem, and there are even promises that cover everything, such as (Mar. 11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received them, and ye shall have them.  So, if you can't remember one that fits your particular problem, Jesus gave us those “catch-all” promises you can use. (Heb. 4:2) For indeed we have had good tidings (That's the Gospel, the Good News.) preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard.  It does you no good to go to Sunday school; it does you no good to read your Bible unless you're going to exercise faith in what you're reading, and it doesn't matter if your church is in agreement or not. Don't leave out one promise as your promise; take each promise as if it's been made personally to you because any promise you leave out is a Sword you're not using and its part of the DNA. That's “sitting” on your Sword. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.  The works of God have already been finished. Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). As soon as God spoke it, it was so. He spoke the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He ordained a Savior before Adam ever fell. The whole plan was spoken into existence and nothing could stop it. It was so, just because God said it, and everything that we see now that's coming to pass, is coming to pass because God said it. “The works were finished from the foundation of the world.”  Whose works do you want to enter into? You can enter into God's works through faith in His promises. You can be a vessel of honor. You can be a vessel who is in that one-quarter of Christians that knows they can conquer Satan. Or, you can be in the three-quarters of Christians that are lukewarm, that have their idolatrous religion but no Sword. They don't believe in the full Gospel, which you're going to need to make it through what's coming upon the earth. They don't believe in the in-filling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of the gifts (Romans 11:29,12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11,27-29; 1 Corinthians 14:1) so they're not empowered to walk as He walked with His DNA where they need to go.  You know, when we enter into His rest, we enter into a rest from our enemies because they're dead; Jesus gave us total victory over them. Jesus said, (Mat.28:18) … All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. That doesn't leave any authority for the devil. Then He turned to His disciples and He delegated that authority to them. (Mat.18:18) Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (19) Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. (Joh.20:21) Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.  Jesus had authority, and He spoke it, and the devils trembled. That same Jesus lives in you. To the extent that you humble yourself to the Word of God, and you believe the Word, and you're becoming the Word made flesh, to that extent Jesus' DNA lives in you. All you have to do is cooperate with Him. (Amo.3:3) Shall two walk together, except they have agreed? If you want that same Jesus to live in you, to conquer your enemies, to speak out of you, to swing the Sword and to do the works, then you have to come into agreement with Him. When you read the Word of God, repent, change your mind and believe what it says. We have to agree with it so that we don't restrain it from coming out of us.  If you're uncomfortable confessing anything that's in the Word of God, if you're uncomfortable repeating it, this is how you know you've been taken captive by false religion and false doctrine. If some of the Word of God is not comfortable in your mouth, then naturally you're not going to let it flow out of you, for how “shall two walk together, except they have agreed?” God warned His people about bringing forth “strange children” that don't look like their Father (Hosea 5:7).  The problem is with us, it's not with God. Being a Christian is being very peculiar, very contrary, to the world. They're total opposites. If you want to please the world, you can't be a Christian. If you don't want to be sanctified from the ways of the world, you can't be a Christian. You can call yourself a “Christian,” but you can't be one, because “Christian” means “Christ-like” and they crucified Him. We have to be willing to lose our life in order to gain our life (Luke 17:33). We have to be willing to be seen as different, even “peculiar.” (1Pe. 2:9 KJV) But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Jesus said there are just two men in the earth: Christ and anti-Christ (Matthew 24:40-41). There are only two corporate bodies in this earth. There's not going to be anyone left in the middle because God calls that being “lukewarm.” (Rev. 3:16) So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. You have to make up your mind. Are you going to lose your life in order to gain your life? (2Co. 4:16) Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. As you lose ground to the old man of self, you give ground to the spiritual man, (Col. 1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Jesus is not going to have any trouble with this warfare that's coming, and Jesus in you by His DNA is not going to have any trouble, either, but how “Shall two walk together, except they have agreed?” We have to come into agreement with Him. We have to read the Word, and when we read the Word, we have to decide, “I don't care what some man says; I agree with what this says.” Then it becomes comfortable for you to speak all of the Word of God, but there are so many people, so many who can't do that. They may read the Word of God, but instead of coming into agreement, they deliberately jump over anything that makes them uncomfortable. They've been taken captive and they need to repent.  When you read the Word of God, as the Lord told me many years ago, “Don't eat like a hog; eat like a cow.” Cows are ruminants. That means a cow chews its food, then brings it back up and chews it again, brings it back up and chews it again. With a hog, it just goes right in one end and right out the other end. It doesn't even get digested. This Word has to be a part of us. We must meditate on it. (Psa.1:2) But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And on his law doth he meditate day and night. We want to be disciples of Jesus. We want to learn to walk in His steps. When that Word just comes flowing out of you like a river of living water, look out devil! There isn't anything he can do against that.  Jesus told His disciples, (Joh. 14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. And, (Joh. 7:38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive: for the Spirit was not yet [given]; because Jesus was not yet glorified. He also said in (Joh. 6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.  When your words agree with His words, your words are His Spirit. The Lord recreates in us His Spirit by His Words, and we're able to recreate Jesus by speaking His words. We're supposed to sow the same seed that He sowed, that His disciples sowed, that His apostles sowed because He is the Father of eternity. We're supposed to sow the Word of God. Never depart from the Word of God. God's people must learn that religion crumbles in the face of adversity. Religion is no defense against what's coming. Satan laughs at it. The leaders of it in Jesus day were from beneath and of their father the devil. Throughout history, the merely religious have crumbled before the advances of the devil. There is no defense but the Word of God. No helmet, no sword, no shield, but the Word of God. Use Psalm 91 like a Helmet, Sword, and Shield because it's a defense. It's called “The Soldier's Psalm” because so many soldiers have been saved by claiming it. You are a soldier for the Lord, so don't let anybody talk you out of Psalm 91. It's saved many lives and it's for today. It's a part of the blessings of God for the faithful.  The demons administer the curse of sin and death. (Luk. 10:17) And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. (Wouldn't it be great if all Christians learned that lesson?) (18) And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from the heaven. He was talking about exactly what they were doing. He and His disciples were casting Satan down. (19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. (20) Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.  Some people think Jesus used “over all the power of the enemy” a little too loosely but no, He means exactly what He says, and we have to learn to exercise this authority. “Authority” is “the right to use God's power or restrain the devil's power.” I'd rather have that kind of authority than personal fleshly power. In fact, you can even have authority to use the devil's power.  The apostle Paul did that several times (1 Corinthians 5:3-5; 1 Timothy 1:18-20). He turned people over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so that the spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord. He used the devil's power, and the devil couldn't resist him. The devil had to do what Paul told him to do. It's the same today. Jesus said, “All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth … Go ye, therefore…” He delegated that authority to His disciples to go and to use His power. You have the authority to use God's power. That's what the Word is all about.  You can be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), but someone whose mind is not renewed is not trustworthy. If they had power, they would do foolish things. However, when we repent and we accept the Word of God as our Word, our thought, our belief, that puts us in agreement with Jesus. When we're in agreement with Jesus, then we can walk together and Jesus can do works through us. (Mat. 11:29) Take my yoke (That's the Greek word zugos derived from zygós and it's “something that unites or joins two elements to work together as one unit.”) upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. “Take my yoke,”  Jesus said to yoke yourself to Him. And so He says in, (Luk. 10:19) Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. Nothing shall hurt you. Oh, praise God! Believe that! Meditate on that! Rejoice in that!

“A person's right to life means his right to have the free and unrestricted use of all the things which may be necessary to his fullest mental, spiritual and physical unfolding — in other words, his right to be rich.” Wallace D. Wattles On today's episode #314 we will cover: ✔ The hidden meaning behind Wallace D. Wattles' The Science of Getting Rich ✔ What is Prosperity Consciousness vs Poverty Consciousness, and how do YOU think? ✔ Why do Giver's Gain? ✔ How Can We Best Prepare to Learn the Timeless Principles in this book that was published in 1910?    “Wait a minute, are you telling me that we are going to cover the importance of developing a prosperity mindset on this podcast?” you ask? How is this related to neuroscience? I'm going to say “yes, we are” and I'll tie the importance of this to science with Mark Waldman and Chris Manning's Book Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success[i] that focuses on helping people create more “wealth” in their lives.  This book opens up in Chapter 1 by asking us to choose if we would pick happiness or wealth, and they said that 90% of the people they surveyed over the past decade actually picked happiness over wealth (Chapter 1, Neurowisdom) but the book goes on to explain that the newest economic research disagrees with this. They found that it's really the other way around. “Wealth predicts happiness, and the more you make, the happier you actually become.” (Chapter 1, Neurowisdom). This is not the main reason why I finally decided to cover Wallace D. Wattles' The Science of Getting Rich on this podcast, but if the research says that “our wealth predicts our happiness” I thought that there is never a better time than now, to cover the seminar I sold in the late 1990s, that transformed my thinking from poverty consciousness, to prosperity. Now this didn't happen overnight, or immediately. I'm going to share my journey over the past 25 years, along with all of the notes I took studying while this book, watching my own paradigms change slowly, and then watching how other people around me would use what they were learning for improved results in their life.  Here's the important part that I don't want any of us to miss. Once we have learned to successfully use the principles we will be studying in this book ourselves, we can then take the focus off ourselves, and look for ways to give back to others. You will see that there are many messages within the pages of this book, and this one, is what I think to be THE MOST IMPORTANT. I'm hoping that studying these timeless principles in this manner will help you the listener to connect either to my way of thinking, (someone who was raised with one parent who might have instilled poverty consciousness in your mind-or said things to you like “money doesn't grow on trees” over the years, or those people I'll use as examples who grasped prosperity thinking with ease, so that you can take the principles and fine-tune your own way of thinking, and acting, to achieve the results I know are possible for all of us. Once we have applied them in our own life, it will be time to look outside of ourselves and give back. The Shortest Summary of The Science of Getting Rich What's the message behind the Deep Dive we are going to take into Wallace D. Wattle's classic book on thinking, the book that describes how each of us shapes the events around us, creating much of the positive riches in our own lives? The book that Rhonda Byrne, creator of The Secret, said she stumbled across and has "never been the same?"  The book that was behind one of the seminars I sold in the late 1990s when I worked in the motivational speaking industry with Bob Proctor from EP #66[ii]. I did see an article written by John Rogers[iii] that summarized the book and he got it right.  He said “Here's the shortest summary of The Science of Getting Rich you'll ever read: Think and act creatively to add value to others.” I would agree, but might change it a bit to say that this book we will be covering this month is all about how to “think and act creatively in your life first, and then look outwards, and see how you can help others.” It all begins with understanding the syllabus that echoes throughout ALL the chapters in the book about how getting rich is the result of doing things in a certain way. If you look at the scroll in the show notes, of this important syllabus, this was handed out in every seminar Bob Proctor conducted of The Science of Getting Rich and I mentioned it when we covered PART 3[iv] of Dr. Joe Dispenza's work. Until this year, I would say that I had no idea what the syllabus meant.  While I read it over and over again, from 1999 to this year, 2023, I couldn't explain it to anyone, until I understood the Quantum World connecting Dr. Dispenza's work and Dr. Dan Siegel's, to the “thinking space” that Wallace Wattles describes. Isn't it amazing how we acquire wisdom? I can easily look at the syllabus now and connect it to the Quantum World (where all possibility exists), where time and space collapses and you can literally BECOME your dream. But it took me some time to gain this understanding. Stewart Edward White explains how AHA Moments of Learning can change us, in his poem where he shares: “Curious how we acquire wisdom! Over and over again, the same truth is thrust under our very noses. We encounter it in action; we are admonished of it; we read it in the written word. We suffer the experience; we gradually assent to the advice; we approve, intellectually, the written word. But nothing happens inside us. Then, one day, some trivial experience or word or encounter stops us short. A gleam of illumination penetrates the depth of our consciousness. We see! Usually it is but a glimpse; but on rare occasions a brilliant flash reveals truth fully formed. And we marvel that this understanding has escaped us so long.” Do you know what I mean? Have you ever heard something you knew was important, but it just didn't click? (The same truth is thrust under our very noses)…until “one day some trivial experience or word or encounter stops us short.” You've got to know what I'm talking about here. Why do we see something NEW in the words we've heard over and over again, and weren't ready to hear them?  What is it that makes us “finally see…a brilliant flash…revealing truth fully formed?” What is this concept? Why does this happen? Have you ever heard “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear?” Just be OPEN as we cover this book. You might hear something you've heard over and over again in the past, but you've missed its significance somehow. Something that can CHANGE your entire world, and then those around you, once you've grasped and implemented it. I'm going to suggest it's the understanding of this syllabus that holds the “secret” to implementing the principles outlined in The Science of Getting Rich. If we can understand this syllabus, enough that we can LIVE IT in our daily life, then strange and marvelous things will begin to occur in our lives, with constant regularity. It will only be when we are LIVING these words, or “doing things in a certain way” that we will know we've got the meaning of this book. And what's crazy to me is that the meaning of this book has taken me 25 years to understand. I'm hoping that my AHA Moment will help YOU, where ever you are in the world, to “think” and “act” in this certain way, that Wallace D. Wattles wrote about in 1910. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (that's finally being taught in our schools today) and emotional intelligence training (used in our modern workplaces) for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren't taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I'm Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 5 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to uncover the most current research that would back up how the brain. On today's episode #314 we launch into a Deep Dive on Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich. This book was first published in 1910, and while you will notice some examples will date the book (like in Chapter 6 Wattles picks something he thinks we might all want in our lives) when he says “If you really want a sewing machine..” as an example. While I'm sure there is someone out there listening, who would LOVE a sewing machine, if this example from 1910 doesn't resonate with you, then just pick something else that does to go in its place. You can also scan The Table of Contents and pick out some other places his book is not with the times.  Chapter 15 is called “The Advancing Man” and can be changed by thinking of this chapter as “The Advancing Person” to show that in modern times, men and women are equally advancing in their fields of work. While some of the examples Wattles picks will date the book to 1910, the main principles he writes about are timeless. What's interesting to me is that The Science of Getting Rich preceded similar success books such like Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (1937) that we covered in January of 2022[v]. In the 100 years since its publication, The Science of Getting Rich has gone through many editions, and remains in print from more than one publisher. For today's deep dive, I'm not going to cover the book chapter by chapter. You can pick up the book and read it yourself, or you can listen to the entire book on YouTube. I'll connect these tools in the resource section. You can even buy the audio program of the seminar I used to sell, which is Bob Proctor's[vi] version of the book, through his company's website. Or you can Google the book and find the audio online, or some other people's versions and summaries of what the book is about. All of these ideas will get you the main concepts of this book, but for this deep dive, I'm going to cover the book the way Bob Proctor suggested we read it because it matters “how” we read The Science of Getting Rich for the principles to jump out at us in a way that we will NOT miss them. I don't want the ideas in these pages to escape you, as they have tremendous power. Not just for you, but for everyone YOU connect with in your future once you have begun to implement these ideas, and you are operating in “this certain way.” Today I'm not going to just read through the chapters, but I'll share the notes, insights and Aha moments I learned from selling this seminar (the first one was Denver in June 1999) with ideas, thoughts and suggestions to implement the timeless concepts in this book, into ALL OUR daily lives, so that these Success Principles can have the most impact on you and those you'll interact with in your lifetime. Let's Begin Our Journey into the Pages of Wallace D. Wattles: The Science of Getting Rich. I want to begin with the title…because the title alone could deter some of you who might think I'm going to cover a book that's about creating wealth so that we can go out and buy more things that will make us happy. This isn't at all what the book is about, nor what Wattles intended, but without an explanation, I'm sure many people would bypass this book and miss his intention. Let's Go Back to Denver, CO June 5th, 1999 This was the FIRST time I ever took this seminar, and thinking back, it was just 2 months after the Columbine Tragedy that shook our schools in the US to the core. I remember at this time I had just left the classroom, and wanted to find ways to help our next generation of students to “think” and “create” so after I had helped the attendees find their seats, I joined a table, opened up the pages the notebook that I'd carry with me 25 years later, and I began to study this “little green book” called The Science of Getting Rich. What's Your Money Mindset? Prosperity or Poverty? I remember before we even got to chapter 1 of the book, or any of the words Wallace Wattles wrote about, we spent the WHOLE first evening on our Money Mindset, making sure we knew the difference between a Prosperity Consciousness, versus Poverty Consciousness.  If you go to Amazon and type “prosperity consciousness” into the search field, you will see book after book written on the importance of having a money mindset. Now remember that many of our beliefs, biases and prejudices lie underneath the water in the iceberg analogy, so you might “think” you've got a prosperity consciousness, but deep down, under the water there, you've got someone else's programming (like a well-meaning parent who told you hey, money doesn't grow on trees) and it's going to take you some time to change these paradigms before you'll be able to see the results I'm promising are possible with this book. It's here we would cover the power of understanding our paradigms with Joel Barker's famous quote. “To ignore the power of paradigms is to put yourself at risk when exploring the future. Your future will look much the same as the past until you understand the power of your paradigms and what it takes to change them.” Sitting at the table at my FIRST SGR Seminar, in 1999, I knew I had a lot of work to do with my programming and thinking. The most money I had ever earned was my teaching salary, that was great money for someone in their early 20s just starting out, but here I began speaking and networking with others who had begun to put these principles into practice. I met people from all over the world at this seminar, from all different walks of life, and I could tell that we were all at different levels of thinking when it came to our prosperity mindset. I met truck drivers, teachers like me, business owners, inventors, writers, athletes and even some well-known celebrities, and everyone I met spoke about how they had over time, learned to create multiple sources of income with their work. We will cover this more in depth later, but I started to notice my paradigms around earning money, and saw them changing with each person I met.  I talked about some of the lessons I learned from others during these seminars on EP67.[vii] Once you have thought hard about your own money mindset, you will either resonate with me (someone who knew in those early days that I didn't have a prosperity mindset) or you'll connect more to others I'll speak about who very clearly did.  We are ALL at different places, but just recognize where you are, BEFORE we read the chapters of this book. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Easily put, it's because Giver's Gain. Our goal in life is to not be good little “go-getters” but see how we can go out and “give” back to others. We can't give to others if we have nothing to give, so learning these principles for ourselves is the FIRST step towards being about to provide more for others in your life.  I remember one of the first events I attended where we were to meet as many people in the room, and we were to ask everyone we met first “how can I help YOU” before even once thinking about what I needed for myself. It was a powerful concept that Dr. Ivan Misner[viii] talks about in his book Infinite Giving. I wonder, do you have a limit to what you would give someone else? Where is your money mindset when it comes to what you would give freely and openly to someone else? I'm sure we have all been conditioned by now to buy a coffee for someone in line behind you, and might even dish out $20 or $30 to give back to someone else. But would you give someone something really big, like a car? Now I'm not talking to Oprah here, as I'm sure we have all heard that she often gives away big presents to people. What about someone regular, like you and me? Or someone who's not a celebrity as we've already determined that two people can have completely different levels of thinking here. WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE A CAR? Just think about this for a minute. There's someone I know who owns a lot of cars. It's just his thing. He has always loved cars. He loves buying them, fixing them, and just seems to have an eye for this type of thing. One day I said to him “why do you need so many cars? Would you ever consider giving one away to your good friend who I know would love one of these cars?” He didn't say no, but looked at me with a strange look. Almost like he heard me, but didn't know what to say. We talked about it for a bit and he said he would keep his eye open for something his friend might like. I know it sounds strange, hey, would you give someone you know a car? But I asked the question, and that was all I needed to do.  A few months later, he came to me and said “hey, I entered a raffle, and the Grand Prize was a black Camaro Sports car.” I looked at him, and said “Don't you already have a Camaro (in red)?” and he said “yes, it's so weird, I won the exact same car I already own in black” and he showed me a photo of the car, and explained this wasn't a scam, but he had won this car, with a cash value of $90,000. Then he said “When I entered the raffle, I said a prayer that if I won the car, I would give one of my cars that I don't need to my good friend” (the one I had said would LOVE to have one of his cars). So he won the car, and was telling me that he was going to find a way to deliver one of his cars to his friend on Thanksgiving Day as a surprise. He picked a black IROC car that had meaning to his friend, and here's a photo of his friend with his new car over Thanksgiving weekend. When you learn to “think and act” in a certain way, strange and marvelous things will occur in your life, with constant regularity. This is just one example of someone who implemented the principles of The Science of Getting Rich and was able to give back to someone else immediately. Reminding us that: “God's gift to you is more talent and ability than you will ever use in one lifetime. Your gift to God is to develop and utilize as much of that talent and ability as you can, in this lifetime.   Steve Bow” Whether you believe in God or not, I'm going to share the principles Wallace D. Wattles teaches in his book, The Science of Getting Rich to show all of us that there is tremendous value in the pages of this book, and on our next episode, we will dive into Chapters 4, 14 and 7 (in that order) as we begin to implement the concepts in this classic book of “thinking” and “acting” in a certain way, that has the potential to change your life and those around you. REVIEW AND CONCLUSION: To review and conclude Part 1 of Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich, we have not even opened the pages of the book yet. We have started with a thorough review of our mindset. Do we have a prosperity consciousness where we could conceive of giving something (like a car) to someone else, or do we live in a world of lack and limitation where we couldn't possibility see how to do this? My goal with this review of Wattles' SGR book is to show us that we ALL have the same ability, the ability to “think” and “act” in a certain way, and that once we have learned to think and act this way for ourselves, we can then turn our focus onto others and add tremendous value and abundance to someone else's life. This is what I think is the SECRET message held within the pages of this book, and I look forward to unravelling more secrets to “thinking” and “acting” in this certain way as we make our way through this book. REMEMBER: “There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which is its original state, permeates, penetrates and fills the interspaces of the universe. A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imagined by the thought. A person can form things in their thought, and by impressing their thoughts upon the formless substance, can cause the thing they think about to be created.” There was no accident that person won a car, after praying about it, with the goal of giving a gift to his friend. This happened exactly as Wattles describes it would in this book. Remember: Be careful what you think about, speak about, and pray about.  Your thoughts hold more power than you might think. I'll see you next week for PART 2 of this series. RESOURCES: YouTube Version of The Science of Getting Rich Audiobook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBGQERyTPWk The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles https://www.amazon.com/Science-Getting-Rich-Wallace-Wattles/dp/1490471766 REFERENCES: [i]Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success by Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning Published Jan.17, 2017 https://www.amazon.com/NeuroWisdom-Brain-Science-Happiness-Success/dp/1682303055   [ii]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #66 with Bob Proctor  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on/   [iii] https://wealthcreationmastermind.com/blog/summary-the-science-of-getting-rich/   [iv]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #310 PART 3 of our Review of Dr. Joe Dispenza's Work  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/decoding-our-thoughts-how-to-build-a-better-future-with-the-power-of-our-mind-part-3-review-of-dr-joe-dispenza-s-work/   [v] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 Think and Grow Rich DEEP DIVE  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/   [vi] https://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/programs/science-of-getting-rich   [vii]Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE 67 “Expanding our Awareness with a Deep Dive into Bob Proctor's Most Powerful Seminars”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expanding-your-awareness-with-a-deep-dive-into-bob-proctors-most-powerful-seminars/   [viii] https://ivanmisner.com/tag/givers-gain/  

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

“Each emotional system is hierarchically arranged throughout much of the brain, interacting with more evolved cognitive structures in the higher reaches, and specific physiological and motor outputs at lower levels.” Jaak Panksepp Watch our interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/siJ1FUeUD40 On today's Episode #282 we will cover ✔ How Gabrielle Usatynski's NEW book The Power Couple Formula, Applies Jaak Panksepp's 7 Core Emotions to Transform Your Relationships, Family, Career and Life. ✔ What We Should All Know About The Attachment Theory. ✔ A Deep Dive into Each of the 7 Core Emotions and How They Map in the Brain. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind.  I'm Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results using the most current brain research. If there's a tool, strategy or resource that I find, that could be helpful to improve productivity and results, whether we are a teacher in the classroom, a coach or in the modern workplace, I will share it here. On today's episode #282, we will be speaking with an important guest, who reached out to me shortly after we released EPISODE #270 with Lucy Biven[i] who co-authored The Archeology of Mind, with Jaak Panksepp.  She let me know she was a couple's therapist, educator and an author, with a new book coming out next month and was amazed to see our episode with Lucy Biven, as she cites The Archeology of Mind on nearly every page of her new book, The Power Couple Formula: Unlock the Power of Your Instincts and Transform Your Relationship. She even mentioned that a colleague of Dr. Panksepp, Dr. Doug Watt, was currently reviewing her manuscript to offer his guidance on the subject. When this email came through, I was taking a short break from interviews, gathering my bearings with a tight schedule, but when I saw this email, I knew I had to learn more about our next guest, Gabrielle Usatynski, and her new book, the Power Couple Formula. We met briefly to chat, and I've got to say that we could have recorded that conversation. She spoke eloquently about her background as a therapist, and the history of our emotions. I couldn't take notes fast enough, but saw that not only does Gabrielle understand Jaak Panksepp's work (that many find to be difficult) but she could explain it in a way that made sense to me, with examples of how to each of the core emotions. A bit about Gabrielle: BIO: Gabrielle Usatynski, MA LPC is the founder and director of Power Couples Education. An internationally renowned therapist, speaker and educator, she is the author of the forthcoming book, The Power Couple Formula, scheduled for release this year. She is the originator of ground-breaking online programs that help couples build relationships based on safety and trust and offers professional training programs for therapists in the Power Couple Method.  Her work is regularly featured in such publications as CNN, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Parents Magazine, Counseling Today, and Women's Health.  For over a decade, Gabrielle has helped thousands of couples. Her clinical work has earned her numerous awards, including: the USA Prestige Award for Couples Counseling Service of the Year, the Best of Boulder Award for Couple and Marriage Counseling, and the Top 10 Best Marriage Counselors of Boulder, CO Award. Gabrielle is a graduate of McGill University and also specializes in the treatment of traumatized children and their families. So today, we will meet Gabrielle Usatynski, and learn how Jaak Panksepp's work plays out in our most personal relationships, with tools that we can all use and apply right away. Welcome Gabrielle, it's incredible to see you again. Thank you for coming on the podcast to share your knowledge on what many of us would consider a topic that's not the easiest to explain because most of us are still trying to understand this topic of our emotions and how they play out in our lives, specifically with our relationships. Thank you for being here. You know I was thrilled to meet you as I just love learning, and making connections, especially when the topic is challenging, or makes you think a bit. INTRO Q: I wanted to ask you first, before diving into your new book, The Power Couple Formula,  Why did you write this book, and why did you focus on the work of Dr. Panksepp?" Q1: I put an image in the show notes of the 7 CORE emotions. Can you explain this chart I put in the show notes, and what Dr. Panksepp discovered about these emotions, that you found to be so important? Q1B: What did Dr. Panksepp discover about where our emotions reside in the brain? Q2: Can you orient us to what therapists were taught about our emotions, The Attachment Theory, and how important it is to completely deactivate this system in intimate relationships? 2B: Why should we understand Attachment Theory, and where does Affective Neuroscience come into this understanding? Q3: How do we use your book as a map, with tools and resource to help us personally, with our family, career, or even with the work we are doing in the world? When I first saw these 7 core emotions, I actually printed them and put them on my desk to see if I could notice them in my life. In the neuroscience certification course I took, we spent a lot of time on the PLAY system (especially as it relates to learning and our schools) but I wonder if we could take a look at your book, and go through 4 of the 7 action systems? Of course, I'd love to cover them all, but I picked the ones that stuck out to what I would think our listeners would like to dive deeper into. Q4: I know that the PANIC/GRIEF system is important, especially as you've cited Dr. Bruce Perry who we had on the podcast. What are the impacts of early bonding on our physical and mental health? Q5: What are some tools that could help de-activate panic/grief/rage in our relationships to avoid the conflict that goes along with it? Q5B: As I was reading through the book, I saw that you have strategies to help ALL of the attachment styles. Wouldn't it help people to know this BEFORE they marry someone so you can kind of guess how things would pan out during conflict? Q6: To close out, is there anything important that we haven't talked about, knowing that we didn't cover all the core emotions, but to encourage people to read your book, and learn the strategies for ALL of the systems. What have we missed here? Gabrielle, I want to thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing your new book with us. For people who want to learn more about you and your book, is the best place your website? https://powercoupleseducation.com Final Thoughts We opened up this episode with a quote from Dr. Panksepp that said “each emotional system is hierarchically arranged throughout much of the brain, and I think the image I put in the show notes and our YouTube interview clearly shows these 7 core emotions (or our 7 basic needs) that are hard-wired deep within our brain stem, bringing Dr. Panksepp's quote to life in a way that we can now visualize these core emotions within the deepest, oldest part of our brain. When I first began to study Dr. Panksepp's work, I printed these core emotions and put them on my desk, for me to glance at throughout my day, and I wondered how they were showing up for me on a day to day basis. As I'm reflecting on Gabrielle's book, and our interview, I'm doing so from how I think these core emotions have shown up in my daily life, and for you, it will be different, but I'm hoping that at least I've started the ball rolling to have us ALL think about how to take our understanding of ourselves to a deeper level, using Dr. Panksepp's Core Emotions and Gabrielle's book, as a map. Gabrielle was very thorough with her research that you will see within each chapter. I can now see how these 7 core emotions interact with the “more evolved cognitive structures in the higher reaches” of my brain, and this understanding can now help me to see how each emotion I'm feeling, (that's generated way deep down in the oldest part of my brain) and shows up behind the actions I'm taking. You'll get a deeper understanding of why you feel a certain way, and why you do the things you do, with this book. You'll also get to look at why others close to you, do the things they do, as you begin to match Bowlby and Ainsworth's Attachment Theory to your most intimate relationships. What did I notice with each action system? SEEKING, RAGE/Anger, FEAR, LUST, CARE, PANIC/Sadness, and PLAY. Seeking: This core emotion is evident with my need to connect with others around the world and this need is about getting more out of life with continual research and learning. While I can't jump on an airplane and travel to Australia, India, Sweden or South African (at least not this week), and have conversations with curious minds like myself, I can write and release podcast episodes that travel around the world, to you, on my behalf.  This kind of helps with this action system and keeps me working, and researching. I also need to seek others to learn from, and when the research becomes difficult, I can remember what Dr. Zadina[ii] said on our recent episode, where she would find articles that she was interested in first (seeking) and then read them over and over again, gaining more understanding each time. When you read Ch. 5 in Gabrielle's book, you can learn how secure seeking develops in relationships, so that you can support your partner with ways that each of you can continue to expand, learn and grow together. That's what I learned about the how I interact with the seeking system. What about you? Where do you notice this core emotion of SEEKING plays out in your life? Rage/Anger: Some people I've noticed get angry easily, for different things. My oldest daughter doesn't like injustice, I don't like disorder, but the key is to notice what makes this emotion come out in you, and know it's hard-wired deep in our brain stem, so that when this emotion sets you off, that you find a strategy to help create more space between the stimulus (the thing that you didn't like) you're your response to it. I've noticed that meditation has helped me be less reactive here.  Chapter 7 of Gabrielle's book covers the fear system, and Chapter 8 covers the Rage system, and she reminded us in our interview that we want to work towards NOT triggering rage and fear in our relationships. These are both good chapters to review for all of her tools and strategies for de-activating rage. What about you? Where have you noticed rage/anger come up in your life? Do you have a strategy to bring you some understanding that can help you to de-activate this emotion? Fear:  This emotion is a powerful one to look at. Have you ever thought of your deepest, innermost fears? I remember a program I did years ago, that asked us to look at what we were afraid of, and that to “know our fears” would help us to overcome them, or at least help us to move towards the idea of having “no fear.” I know exactly what I'm afraid of, and it's there right in front of me daily, and I side-step around it most days, but I see it, whether it's out of the corner of my eye, or I'm staring directly at it. Now this isn't even going into subconscious fears and traumas like Dr. Bruce Perry's work, this is just looking at what we are consciously aware we are afraid of. What about you? Have you ever looked at this for yourself? Do you “know” your fears? I think once we can identify them, then life just becomes easier. There's no mystery with these fears. I don't talk about what I'm afraid of, giving them more energy, but I know exactly what they are, and just knowing this, makes me feel that I'm more powerful than these fears. I can step around them, sometimes jump over them, when they come up, not letting them ever stop me from doing the things I want to do in life. Who doesn't want to be FEARLESS? Taylor Swift says it nicely. Lust: I'm not going to leave this one out, since everyone wants to talk about sex, and it is an important part of our most intimate relationships. Gabrielle covers this topic in Chapter 9 and 10 of her book, and when I was reading these chapters I was actually dying laughing because she made a comparison with sex, to a sport that will identify her as a Canadian. I'm not going to tell you the sport, but you'll have to read the book to see how she made this comparison. She does say that most problems within relationships are a lack of the care system, they are not sexual. When reading this chapter, I thought about how right she was that we have to have trust first here, and of the importance of repairing our relationships quickly and often so we don't trigger the rage, fear of panic/grief circuit. We've covered The Speed of Trust[iii] on past episodes with Stephen Covey who says that “trust is the glue to life” and “the one thing that affects everything else you're doing.” Gabrielle mentioned that this system requires CARE that she outlines as commitment, availability, relief and empathy. While we all know this core emotion is important, I wonder what Dr. Panksepp would say about other ways we can use this energy? If he were here, I'd ask him about Napoleon Hill's Chapter on Sex Transmutation that we covered on EPISODE 195[iv] where Napoleon Hill, in his famous book, Think and Grow Rich, talks about how this powerful force can be “transmuted or transferred from one form of energy to another” which is a way of using this force to reach higher levels of achievement. Care: Gabrielle covers this core emotion in Chapter 4 of her book, explaining why caring feels so good with the release of oxytocin, the bonding hormone and that “when you administer oxytocin to couples, they make more eye contact, are more self-disclosing, validate each other's feelings more, and show a significant decrease in criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling, Gottman's four behaviors that predict divorce.” (page 81, The Power Couple Formula). Looking at this system makes me think about how care existed in my household growing up. Not that I didn't feel loved, but this system was definitely turned down, as affections weren't openly discussed or shown, so it's interesting to see that I want this system dialed up now that I'm raising my own children, and interacting with my husband, and this one is a work in progress for me.  The key to understanding these core emotions is to think about how they show up in our life, gain a deeper level of self-awareness, and then find tools and strategies to improve how we show up in our relationships. This is exactly what Gabrielle wrote her book to accomplish. How does the core emotion of care show up for you? Are you able to easily show those close to you, who you love, that you care about them? If this doesn't come naturally to you, do you have a strategy in place to dial this emotion up? Panic/grief/response: Gabrielle covered this system thoroughly on our interview, explaining how it goes off when we are separated from those we love, or care about. While she does suggest that in our close relationships we should always work on NOT triggering RAGE, FEAR or PANIC/GRIEF by being mindful of what sets these systems off in others, and working on keeping them in the OFF position. But knowing your attachment style (and your partners') helps here if you ever are faced with PANIC/GRIEF as it will shape the experiences you will have. Gabrielle covers extensively how each attachment style deals with PANIC/GRIEF. Do you know how YOU respond to PANIC/GRIEF in your relationships? If you are securely attached, this system rarely goes off. If you are anxiously attached, “you will worry that someone won't be there for you consistently.” (page 36, The Power Couple). If you are avoidant, you will “have lost touch with unmet needs for connection and security.” (page 36, The Power Couple). Your attachment style will help you to understand yourself better, how quickly you will be able to recover from a breakup or even your ability to be apart from your partner without feeling panic. Play: This is the emotion I spent the most time learning about when I was first introduced to Dr. Panksepp's work. Mark Robert Waldman who I took a neuroscience certification course with would have us thinking daily about how we would incorporate play with our work, to make it more enjoyable. When it comes to making neuroscience fun, this core emotion is vital. Or for students in the classroom in our schools, how can we make learning more fun? My family tells me all the time “you are so serious, lighten up a bit” and I really do try, but I'm also the one who makes sure homework is completed each night, and day to day life stays on track, so I leave this part to others who are better at it than I am. But who doesn't want to have more fun every day? I've been playing around on the podcast, and working on having fun with interviews, but I'm not the type who will suddenly tell you a joke or something, or break out a fancy wrestling move with my kids which is what science would call “rough and tumble play” that Gabrielle says “reflects millions of years of evolution.” I've got some work here to add more fun into my day. What about you? Do you have fun with your work? Do you think that play is only for children? Do you think that animals play? Gabrielle covers this core emotion in Chapter 11 with Five Ways We Can Add Play into Our Relationships. The part I loved the most about this chapter, is that Gabrielle left this core emotion till the end of the book on purpose. Life is full of pressure and stresses and play only works “when its initiated in the absence of acute or chronic stress” (Page 295, The Power Couple Formula). This is good to think about, as it's important to be mindful of the stress levels of those around you. Lucy Biven, co-author of The Archeology of Mind weighs in on the quote I posted at the beginning of this episode.  Before releasing this, I wondered if I had a solid grasp of the quote I chose to open up this episode with, so I emailed Lucy Biven, who we interviewed on EPISODE #270 at the start of this year. Here's as close to Dr. Panksepp as I could get to be sure we've got a handle of his 7 core emotions. She wrote: “As for the quote - The hierarchy that Jaak wrote about was basically from bottom to top of the brain (brainstem to cortex).   The hub of all 7 emotional systems is situated in the upper brainstem and in Jaak's view, emotional arousal always generates affective consciousness (emotional feelings).  The hierarchy lies in the fact that without emotional arousal/affective consciousness, no consciousness is possible.  So the upper brainstem is most important in generating consciousness - it is top of the hierarchy. How do we know that the brainstem is all-important?  Tiny lesions so parts of the upper brainstem, specifically the parabrachial nuclei and the periaqueductal gray obliterate consciousness while quite large cortical lesions obliterate components of consciousness (sight, hearing, memory) but not consciousness itself. If my visual cortex were damaged, I would be blind, but I would know who I am, I would know who you are and I would understand my relationship with my children and grandchildren and I would retain everything that I know about neuroscience.  In short, nothing else would change.  But if I had a bad stroke in my upper brainstem, I would become comatose and vegetative.  Everything would be lost.   The idea about the hierarchy from emotion to cognition is this:  Emotions evolved in order to solve life problems.  Some emotional responses are instinctive - for example, when frightened we freeze and might be overlooked by a predator.  Others we learn, for example we discover from experience where the predator frequents and we avoid those places.  Since emotional arousal is a precondition for cognition, we think about things that arouse our emotions.  For example, if I am smart enough, I might set a trap for the predatory animal, thereby solving my problem for good.  So cognition expands and refines emotional problem solving.    That is the emotion/cognition hierarchy.  Jaak posited that in the emotion/motor hierarchy, emotions are primary because emotions are inherently linked to motor responses.  I am not sure that he expanded on this beyond the observation that electrical (or pharmacological) arousal of emotional systems generates motor responses, like FEAR resulting in freezing or running away (depending on the strength of stimulation.   And with that, I'll close out this episode on “How to Use Jaak Panksepp's 7 Core Emotions to Transform Your Relationships, Family, Career and Life” and hope you found this deep dive into Gabrielle's Power Couple Formula book to be as useful as I have. I hope that if you print the list of the 7 core emotions, and put them in front of you, while you are working, that you can begin to think about how these emotions show up in your life day to day, and how you can use this understanding to develop stronger, more resilient relationships at home, with your family and in the workplace.” Have a Happy Easter Weekend, and I'll see you next week. CONNECT with GABRIELLE Gabrielle Usatynski, MA LPC 303-859-1825 https://powercoupleseducation.com https://powercouplescounseling.com Gabrielle's new book, The Power Couple Formula!  FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/     RESOURCES: Attachment Theory: Bowlby and Ainsworth's Theory Explained By Saul Mcleod, Ph.D. Feb. 8, 2023 https://simplypsychology.org/attachment.html The 4 Attachment Styles in Your Relationships and How to find Yours by Kelly Gonslaves March 10, 2023  https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/attachment-theory-and-the-4-attachment-styles The Gottman Institute https://www.gottman.com/ The Four Horseman that can predict the end of a relationship https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-four-horsemen-recognizing-criticism-contempt-defensiveness-and-stonewalling/   REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #270 with Lucy Biven https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/lucy-biven/ [ii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE  #280n wit Janet Zadina https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/pioneering-neuroscientist-janet-zadina-reflects-on-her-journey-of-bridging-neuroscience-and-education/ [iii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #207 on The Neuroscience of Trust  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-the-neuroscience-of-trust/ [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #195 on “Think and Grow Rich PART 5: The Mystery of Sex Transmutation  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-5-on-the-power-of-the-mastermind-taking-the-mystery-out-of-sex-transmutation-and-linking-all-parts-of-our-mind/  

Speak these 6 Words and Get Exactly What You Want | Law of Attraction

#VN 173 🎙28 ianuarie 2023 cu Dragoș Pătraru Ne naștem cu capacitatea de a vorbi, însă avem mult de lucrat când vine vorba despre comunicare. Există niște strategii pe care le putem învăța ca să încercăm măcar să ne înțelegem mai bine unii PE alții și, în cele din urmă, unii CU alții. Audiție plăcută! -------------------------------------- Cărți menționate: Cuvintele îți modelează creierul - Mark Robert Waldman și Andrew Newberg Mintea Moralistă - Jonathan Haidt Secolul singurătății - Noreena Hertz Regăsirea sensului - Jamie Wheal Legături pierdute - Johann Hari O istorie naturală a exercițiului fizic - Daniel Lieberman Creierul ecranului - Anders Hansen

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

Saya membahas buku Words Can Change Your Brain karya Andrew Newberg dan Mark Robert Waldman. Buku ini membahas kalau kata-kata itu memiliki kekuatan yang luar biasa. Anehnya, terkadang kita merasa kalau semakin banyak kita bicara, kita justru semakin tidak didengar. Mungkin hal ini terjadi karena masing-masing dari kita sibuk berbicara, tapi tidak siap untuk mendengarkan. Alhasil, kita jadi saling tidak memahami satu sama lain. Padahal, jika kita belajar soal komunikasi yang baik, hal ini sangat membantu kita dalam menjalani kehidupan sehari-hari. Entah saat bernegosisasi dengan atasan, berdebat dengan pasangan, atau menghadapi anak kecil yang rewel, kita bisa belajar untuk menciptakan kondisi yang win-win dan mencegah pembicaraan yang sulit menjadi situasi yang tegang dan meledak-ledak.

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast and PART 4, our FINAL part, of our Review of Jose Silva's Mind Control Program. I'm Andrea Samadi an author and an educator, who like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind ANY high-performance strategy proven to increase our results in our schools, sports, or modern workplaces. If there's something NEW that I come across that can help us in any way, I'll investigate it, connect it with the most current research, and then share what I learn with you here. My goal with this 4 PART review of the popular program from the 1980s and 1990s, The Silva Method[i], is to help all of us to learn something new to refine our current meditation practice whether we are working in our schools to improve learning, in our sports environments for improved results towards a specific goal, or in the corporate workplace to generate new ideas. I wouldn't have picked this book to review if it hadn't made such an impact on the world, like Napoleon Hills' Think and Grow Rich book that currently sits as our most downloaded episode of 2022 after we reviewed it last January to kick off our New Year. Before starting this review, that I hoped would give us a running start to 2023, I had no idea the concepts I would learn each week, would be so powerful, deep, and life-changing requiring more thought than usual while writing each episode. I began this 4 PART book review the end of November, around Thanksgiving in the United States, and shortly after releasing the first episode, I began receiving emails from around the world from people who were interested to learn more about The Silva Method. Some were remembering it from the 80s/90s when Jose Silva ran this program globally, and others were asking me where they could find a live seminar. It was Dr. Hasan Ibne Akram, EPISODE #260[ii] who held up an old copy of The Silva Mind Control Method book, sharing how it had impacted his life, jogging my memory of Jose Silva, who I had heard of years ago, while selling seminars in the motivational speaking industry. Then my good friend Hans Ajay from the UK, urged me to sign up for the full program through MindValley[iii], where the course sits today after Vishen Lakhiani (the founder) revised and improved it in this current version. Hans wrote “It'll be transformative” and little did I know just how transformative it would be. As I'm writing this episode now, and the final part of this review, I'm nearing the end of Vishen Lakhiani's Silva UltraMind Course[iv] through the MindValley website. I can now see that this is a program that you never really complete, like I noticed with Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich[v] book, for Hill intended the book to be read more than one time for the concepts to be mastered in one's lifetime.  Jose Silva's book is exactly the same way, and his online UltraMind Course, the experiential side of the program (that consists of the lessons from his book, mixed with meditations) bring the pages of The Silva Method to life in a way I never imagined just by reading the book. I've got to say, this course has really blown my mind, and expanded my thinking in a way I hadn't imagined at the start of this review. REMEMBER: “When a person learns to function mentally at this deeper level, creativity is enhanced. Memory is improved and a person is better able to solve problems.” (Jose Silva). Today I plan finish the review of The Silva Method, and while I won't be going into every chapter, I've picked the ones that I think are relevant to help all of us with “The Basics” of what Jose Silva intended us to learn. Then we will take these basic concepts that Jose Silva found to be transformative, (like my friend Hans Ajay noticed) and APPLY them to our daily life, connecting the science to our creativity and innovation, using Dr. Andrew Huberman's most recent podcast episode on “The Science of Creativity: How to Enhance Creative Innovation.”[vi] Finally, I will provide clear examples of innovation and creativity from three of our past guests; one in each of the sectors we study here, our schools, sports environments and corporate workplaces with the goal to inspire YOU to enhance your own creativity for improved results in 2023, using the Silva Method. I just wish Jose Silva could have seen the mounds of research that prove what he knew to be true with his Meditation Method, and that he wouldn't have to disguise it as “bio-feedback” in the corporate world today. DISCLAIMER: I want to mention that while I'm enjoying the Online UltraMind Course, I am not at all affiliated with Mind Valley, or the CEO Vishen Lakhiani, but I did hear my mentor Bob Proctor talking about his organization over the years, knowing he supported their work, but I had no idea that Jose Silva's program would end up there. While I'm only reviewing the book here, (and not what I'm learning in the online course-I might do this at a later date after implementing the concepts) I do think it's important to include some of the meditations I found online in PART 3 of this review, to show you what they consist of. I've listed them in the resource section below for you to use.  I've also put a snapshot of the topics covered over the 28 day online program, and while I'm currently at DAY 21/28, I can say that mastering the ideas in the book are a good place to start if you would like to improve your current meditation practice and then I will show you how this will enhance your creativity and ability for innovation.  I think this 4 PART review could be used to jumpstart us all on the right foot for 2023. If you would like to go deeper into The Silva Method, I do suggest taking the online Silva UltraMind System, but caution that to get the most out of the program, that daily practice will be required. This is a course that you would want to carve out some time for. PUTTING THE 4 PARTS of THE SILVA METHOD TOGETHER: TO REVIEW PART 1 of THE SILVA METHOD EPISODE #261: We covered: ✔ CH 1- Using More of Our Mind in Special Ways: An Introduction to the Silva Mind Control Method. If you have begun using your mind to create a mental screen for heightened visualization, you could end this book review here and still be miles ahead in 2023. Central to Jose's Silva Method of Mind Control is with the power of visualization, and he says “right from the beginning, from the very moment you reach your meditative level (what he calls accessing the Alpha State), you must learn to practice visualization. The better you learn to visualize, the more powerful will be your experience with Mind Control.” With time and practice, it will be this screen that you will learn how to help yourself and others. You begin with creating simple things, until you are ready to solve small problems in your daily life, from work, to health, and improve learning/creativity. As you progress through this program, you can learn to use the screen of your mind to for more advanced innovative and creative ideas. There is no limit to what you could create here. ✔ What this program has done for others. The late Dr. Wayne Dyer has said that anything with the name Jose Silva as the author has his vote before I open to page one. He said “Read it with a pen for underlining.” Jose Silva himself noted that: ✔A marketing company used it to create 18 new products. ✔14 Chicago White Socks players used it to boost their scores. ✔ Celebrities have used it and credit Jose Silva for improving their focus and creativity. ✔ Colleges and universities have used it to help students study less, but learn more. And during the Silva UltraMind course, (the online program I joined while doing this book review) I had the chance to participate on a training call one evening with all the new students who had recently come on board with MindValley, (that has over 10 million students worldwide, studying over 200 speakers and authors on the site), and the moderator asked what course people were studying, and people started chiming into the chat from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and remote countries around the world…that they were ALL here to study The Silva Method. I was floored! Mostly because I had thought this training call would have just a handful of people coming on board. I didn't expect so many participants globally, and ALL of them were there to study the same course I was there for. It took mind-boggling to a whole new level when I started to put together that this program was something that people are still very interested in learning about. ✔ Ch 2- Meet Jose Silva and learned about his passion for helping others to improve their ability to learn. He was a humble man who worked very hard to develop the ideas within his program, and was very careful about how he presented his ideas as visualization was not something that was widely accepted in the corporate world in the 80s and 90s. In his live events, he was smart to introduce his concepts as bio-feedback (that had more credibility at the time) and were more readily accepted, before introducing business executives to more advanced concepts of the mind (like using visualization) on the second day of the training. ✔ Ch 3- How to Meditate: A review of the brain states (BETA,ALPHA,THETA,DELTA). He learned that we spend most of our waking time at the BETA brain state, where we can feel the stress and anxiousness of daily life, so finding ways to relax (that he calls going to the Alpha State) can be helpful. His online program does cover how to access the Theta level of mind for increased intuition, and offers a strategy for solving problems in your sleep at the Delta level. ✔ We were Introduced to Using A Mental Screen in Your Mind for Heightened Visualization. It Will Be This Screen That We Will Use to Help Yourself and Others in Future Chapters. *** I would say developing the use of this screen is the KEY to the entire program. It's where your goals will begin to form, or where you will work with NEW ideas that come into your mind. I've heard it be called “your workshop” or where you create something new in your mind, and with time and practice, what you put on this screen becomes clearer and clearer. TO REVIEW PART 2 of THE SILVA METHOD EPISODE #262: We covered: ✔ Ch 4- Dynamic Meditation (where we actually DO something while meditating, instead of it being a passive practice). We learn how to be more in control of our life using visualization.  Dr. Andrew Huberman's research does tie in the importance of using meditation to improve our creativity, and I will expand on this at the end of this episode. ✔ The 4 Laws that must be in place BEFORE we visualize a goal. (We must desire the event to take place that we want, we must believe the event we want will take place, we must EXPECT the event to take place, and we must ONLY be working with something that will benefit ourselves and others. ✔ I noticed How these 4 Laws mirror Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich book and wondered if Jose Silva did this intentionally. ✔ 3 STEPS to SOLVE ANY PROBLEM Using the Silva Method on the Screen that We Build in Our Mind. ✔ Ch 5- Improving Memory ✔ Where Silva's Memory Hacks have been seen on previous episodes and in the motivational speaking industry. TO REVIEW PART 3 of THE SILVA METHOD EPISODE #263: We covered: ✔ Chapter 6 on Speed Learning: Using the mental screen paired with the 3-finger technique if you want to learn something quickly, using the Alpha Brain State. Silva also covered recording your voice, or creating what I knew of as the “loop tape” of whatever it is that you want to remember. You would record what you want to remember in the BETA State, and then listen to it in the Alpha state (using the 3 finger technique or counting backwards). ✔ Chapter 7 on Creative Dreams where we covered 4 strategies for remembering our dreams, and taking them seriously like Jose Silva himself did. For PART 4 and today's episode, of the SILVA METHOD, Episode #265 we will finish looking at the book, and will cover: ✔ Ch 8-Your Words Have Power ✔ Ch 9-The Power of Imagination ✔ Ch 10-Using Your Mind to Improve Your Health ✔  We will connect the most current neuroscience research to Jose Silva's program, using Dr. Andrew Huberman's podcast on "The Science of Creativity" ✔  The 3 Parts to Your Creative Brain (Central Executive Network, Default Mode Network, Salience Network). ✔ 2 Types of Thinking Involved with Creativity (Divergent and Convergent) ✔ Putting Creativity to Practice with an example from our schools, sports and modern workplace environments.  with some clear examples and next steps for all of us to APPLY the Silva Method for improved Intuition, Creativity and Focus…right in time for a New Year. Chapter 8: Your Words Have Power I'm sure we've all heard of the importance of thinking and speaking positive words over negative ones, and Jose Silva would agree with this.  In this chapter, he talks about a nurse-anesthetist (and one of his eventual lecturers) from Oklahoma, Mrs. Jean Mabrey, who puts this knowledge of the mind to use to help her patients. As soon as they are “under”—in deep anesthesia—she would whisper in their ears instructions that would speed their recovery, and in some cases save their lives. Jose Silva would say “First, words have special power at deep levels of mind; second, the mind has much firmer command over the body than it is given credit for; and third, as I noted in Chapter 5, we are always conscious.” Here's another one if Silva's principles that I learned from the speaking industry. Bob Proctor used to tell a story on stage, of how he would whisper success secrets into the ears of his children when they were little. While they are grown now, this story stuck with me, as we want the best for our own kids. So when I had children, this is the first thing I did. I would drop into my child's room just before they were about to drift off to sleep and tell them something that would go deep into their subconscious mind. I'd say something like “you'll do whatever it is you want. Whatever you can dream you'll do it!” I did this almost every night with my first…and with my second, not as often. She needed it more…. Now to think about it, I even spoke to my girls before they were born, letting them know how excited we were to meet them and how much fun we would have when they arrived. Be very careful about the words we use and how they trigger our brains. We are always conscious. Since this concept was drilled into my head early on in the speaking industry, I learned early on to be careful of everything I say, and everything I think. If someone says “How are you?” and I'm not feeling 100%, the best way to answer this question is with a positive angle like “Getting better and better every day” to move myself in that direction. An answer like “not bad” would according to Silva, hit the brain in a negative way, as it would only hear “bad” instead of “good.” I can tie the research to this as well, with my mentor Mark Robert Waldman who wrote Words Can Change Your Brain with Andrew Newberg, MD[vii]. In this book, they explain that “the more you stay focused on negative words and thoughts, the more you can actually damage key structures that regulate your memory, feelings, and emotions.You may disrupt your sleep, your appetite, and the way your brain regulates happiness, longevity, and health. That's how powerful a single negative word or phrase can be. And if you vocalize your negativity, even more stress chemicals will be released, not only in your brain, but in the listener's brain as well. You'll both experience increased anxiety and irritability, and it will generate mutual distrust, thereby undermining the ability to build empathy and cooperation. The same thing happens in your brain when you listen to arguments on the radio or see a violent scene in a movie. The brain, it turns out, doesn't distinguish between fantasies and facts when it perceives a negative event. Instead it assumes that a real danger exists in the world.” Words Can Change Your Brain Jose Silva had it right when he said  “Words have special power at deep levels of mind, the mind has a firmer command over the body than it's given credit for, and third, we are always conscious.” Jose Silva Be careful with every word that you think, and speak. Words do have power. Chapter 9: The Power of Your Imagination We dove deep into this concept in part 3 of our review of Think and Grow Rich[viii] earlier this year that I can now see was of high interest to listeners as it had over 1400 downloads. On this episode, we looked at the fact that our lives reflect how well we use our imagination, because when we hit one plateau of success, it will be our imagination that will take us to what's next. Author Earl Nightingale said that “imagination is everything” and as we will see with the Silva Method, all great inventions are created in two separate places: the mind of the inventor, and the physical world when the inventor creates it. There is no doubt in my mind that Silva was influenced by Hill's Think and Grow Rich book. He says it himself in this chapter that “imagination seizes directly on the goal; it gets what it wants” and elaborates by saying this is why he “placed so much emphasis on your learning true-to-life visualization at the deep levels of mind. If you spur your imagination with belief, desire and expectancy, and train to visualize your goals so that you see, feel, hear, taste and touch them, you will get what you want.” (Ch9, The Silva Method). This is why mastering your mental screen for visualization is so important. If there is ONE part of the Silva Method that I think we could all benefit from, it's this one. Learning to use the mental screen on our mind. It's this mental screen where you will solve small and larger problems, and learn to help yourself and others in many different ways. It's the starting block that must be mastered over time, and not rushed. Chapter 10-Using Your Mind to Improve Your Health We've covered this topic in a few places on this podcast, on EPISODE #234[ix] with Ashok Gupta on “Health and Happiness: Getting to the Root of Chronic Pain and Illness” where Ashok Gupta showed us how chronic pain or illness occurs in the brain with a vicious loop of inflammation/irritation that he has successfully been treating with patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Long-Haul Covid, Fibromyalgia, Chemical or Mold Sensitivities, Gut Issues, Anxiety, Lyme Disease and many more, with a meditation program he designed called The Gupta Program that combines brain-training in conjunction with working with a medical doctor for healing. Then physician and neurologist Dr. Phillippe Douyon shared his story of overcoming illness on EPISODE #241[x] with positive thinking at the root of his recovery. Jose Silva was far ahead of his time with his understanding of using mind control for self-healing. This chapter is near the end of the book, and is mastered by students with time and practice, and I have to say that I had heard of using the mind for healing when my Mom was undergoing treatment for Cancer in the late 1990s. I told Dr. Douyon about her strategy for healing, and he said he had heard of many patients of his, successfully overcoming serious health challenges, and that positive thinking and visualizing health were at the very root of their healing, like Silva believed. In this chapter, Silva talks about cancer specialist, O. Carl Simonton, who Simonton who was trained by Silva and his Mind Control techniques was featured in Prevention Magazine in an article called “Mind Over Cancer” where he shared that the patients who recovered all had something in common. He said they were “often positive, optimistic, determined people.” (Ch 10, The Silva Method). In this chapter Silva talks about the idea of self-healing using your mental screen, but he also touches on something that goes a bit beyond our usual level of thinking, in Chapter 12 that Silva called “ESP” or Extra Sensory Perception that he believed we all had. He worked closely with J.B Rhine at Duke University to understand this subject, and bring his experiments into his understanding, but it's important to note that Silva believed this concept could be developed and strengthened over time to help his students improve self-healing, healing of others, improve their intuition, and strengthen their mental screen practice. He touches on this in the book, and his online program goes into great detail of how exactly this is done with activities using the screen of our mind, to psychometry, and is something I've been fascinated with since I first heard about this over 20 years ago. I'll be sure to cover this topic again in the future, as it one I'm still learning and exploring. I'm sure you can see now what Silva meant when he said “Once we learn to use our minds to train it, it will do some astounding things for us, as you will soon see.” This brings me to the end of PART 4 and our REVIEW of The Silva Method: To conclude this 4 PART REVIEW of The Silva Method, I want to look at how we can use what we've learned throughout this review of the Silva Method, to improve our Creativity in 2023 for Innovation in your specific line of work. This is where I'll take the research, and tie it to The Silva Method, showing us that we all have the ability to be creative, and how to improve this area of our life in the New Year. This is a deep topic, requiring some thought, that goes along with just how comprehensive Silva's Method is. To make this applicable for all of us, I'll be using concepts from Dr. Andrew Huberman's most recent podcast on “The Science of Creativity and How to Enhance Creative Innovation” tying in Jose Silva's Method to bring these 4 PARTS of our book review applicable to all of us, whether we are educators working in our classrooms, working in the sports industry, or in our modern workplaces. WE CONNECT DR. HUBERMAN'S RESEARCH TO THIS EPISODE FROM HIS EPISODE ON ENHANCING YOUR CREATIVITY. HOW CAN WE USE THE SILVA METHOD TO ENHANCE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IN 2023? To close out this episode, let go straight to the research. Did you know that according to American neuroscientist and associate professor at Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Andrew Huberman “the ability to be creative resides in everybody? We know that because the neural circuits that underlie creativity have been somewhat defined and the steps and processes in the brain that lead to creativity are well known.” What Makes Something Creative? Jose Silva would have loved this research, especially when Dr. Huberman ties many studies to meditation and the brain/creativity, but let's begin with the idea of defining creativity. What makes something creative? Dr. Huberman spent over 2 hours on his podcast diving thoroughly and deeply into this topic, that I will narrow down for this episode. He explains that “most people don't know how to access creativity” or “they do it in a limited manner” and I'll agree with him here. As you will see, coming up with an idea that's creative, and innovative takes time, effort and years of work, making connections, using your executive functions in your brain to cross off what's not relevant and then testing these connections, to see what's left over that you will keep, hoping they are creative and relevant to others. Dr. Huberman explains that “when we see something that's truly creative, it reveals something to us about the natural world and about how our brains work….It must reveal something that surprises us” for it to be truly creative. Then, “something pops out at us” he says, “we hear something in the words with music, or if we see something, feel, or experience something” “and something pops out to us as exciting….this reveals something about our brain/our auditory system, creating NEW meaning for us.” AND “when we see, hear, feel or experience something that's truly creative, the way our neural circuits function is changed. When our neural circuits are changed simply by what comes into our eyes, ears of the way we experience our feelings, there's a release of chemicals like dopamine that make us feel surprised, delighted or excited in anticipation that we will see it again.” (Dr. Huberman) So when I say that “the ability to be creative resides in everyone” it does, since we ALL have the same structures in our brain, but some people have learned to use certain parts of their brain to foster creativity in ways that others have not.  This is where practicing the Silva Method comes in. THE 3 NETWORKS TO YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN: Dr. Huberman went on to explain that there are 3 networks in the brain that are involved in coming up with a CREATIVE idea, and we've covered these 3 parts of the brain extensively on EPISODE #48[xi] on “Brain Network Theory.” It was here where we covered The Default Mode Network, The Central Executive Network, and the Salience Network that are all involved with coming up a truly creative idea. While I'm not going to dive into each part of the brain and what it's doing (you can review episode 48 where we show how these 3 parts of the brain must work together to improve our imagination and creativity), I just want to point out that coming up with a creative idea takes some brain power. When you are working with the screen of your mind in the Silva Method, you will be using all three of these parts of your brain to come up with new ideas. Your CEN (Central Executive Network) will help you to suppress ideas, actions or choices, your DMN (Default Mode Network) will help you to access your library of previous memories that you will be using to create your NOVEL idea, and your SN (Salience Network) will help you to make choices of what's most relevant to you. You will use your brain to create something NEW and USEFUL by rearranging existing elements (from your memory bank) into new combinations that reveals something fundamental about how we and the world works. 2 TYPES OF THINKING ARE INVOLVED: The final part of creating something CREATIVE and INNOVATIVE is that it's done by going back and forth between two types of thinking: Divergent Thinking: Where we take a known object in the world, and expand upon this idea, the more ideas the better, wandering through your ideas that you already know (from your memory bank) with the hopes that the connections you make reveals something new to others. Convergent Thinking: That's the opposite of divergent thinking, but it's where we use focus and persistence to narrow in on an idea that makes sense in the real world. If you want to dive deeper into Dr. Andrew Huberman's thorough explanation of Creativity and the Brain[xii], he takes things much deeper than I will here, in his recent episode that goes well over 2 hours. He doesn't miss anything and even goes on to show us the parts of the brain that light up when we are involved in divergent vs convergent thinking, and the 2 types of meditation that are proven to improve each of these ways of thinking. He says that “open monitored meditation” (like just closing your eyes and paying attention to your thoughts without judgement) is well documented to improve our divergent thinking capability, and focused attention meditation (like staring at a flame of light) is a way to improve our convergent thinking capabilities. PUTTING CREATIVITY INTO PRACTICE: When thinking about how to close out this 4 PART review, and make it applicable to all of us, I had to spend some time thinking hard about this one. I didn't want to just end this review without some solid research backing up the validity of The Silva Method, with some clear examples of those who have shown innovation and creativity who we've come across on this podcast. It wasn't difficult to find someone in each of the three sectors we cover, and now that I've tied the research to creative thinking, I'm sure you will agree with me that the examples I will share here all show true innovation and creativity, and that coming up with a creative idea like each of these, took years of experience, work and thought. It wasn't like I remember the commercial for the guy who invented peanut butter cups who just tripped and his chocolate bar fell into the jar of peanut butter and bam, he had a new invention. These are 3 examples that I hope will inspire you to put some of your own thought into how you can use the Silva Method, and come up creative and innovative ideas of your own. For Schools: I chose our guests from episode #215[xiii] who have shown innovation in the field of education by launching a podcast to elevate student and teacher voice. Remember, To Show Creativity—It must Reveal something new to us (entertaining, thrilling or useful) and it changes the way we access the world—acting as portals into the world and ourselves. I couldn't have found a clearer example that these two Canadian podcasters who published a book called The Magnificent Microphone[xiv] that when a student connected to it, it opened up a whole new world of confidence, creativity and success. These two leaders in education have discovered true creativity and innovation in the podcasting space, bringing student-led podcasts to the field of education. For Sports: I chose a forward-thinking coach from an early EPISODE #38[xv] who has shown innovation with his sports team when he redesigned their locker room and uniforms with a vision beyond what has typically been done before. Remember, To Show Creativity—It must Reveal something new to us (entertaining, thrilling or useful) and it changes the way we access the world—acting as portals into the world and ourselves. This one you'll see more if you watch the 30 second snapshot of their locker reveal[xvi] that takes the team on a journey from the minute they walk into the new room, where the players are taking in the many visual cues they see, making connections to past players, where they are today, and their future. For the Workplace: I chose our recent EPISODE #264[xvii] where our guest was able to look at ways to create breakthroughs in the workplace, bringing to light something that was left off the table in the past. He looked at EQ and IQ and found that experience was left off, and coined the term “XQ” for Experiential Intelligence. This guest also mentioned his love of “making connections” which is something he noticed I do intentionally on this podcast, and now after hearing Dr. Huberman's explanation, he talks about the fact that true creativity or innovation could not occur without let's say an architect coming up with incredible plans for buildings without a thorough understanding of how buildings are put together in the first place. Remember, To Show Creativity—It must Reveal something new to us (entertaining, thrilling or useful) and it changes the way we access the world—acting as portals into the world and ourselves. Once we know what novelty/creativity and innovation looks in the brain, you can only imagine what's happening at the brain level with each of these examples. Just like the complexity of the reading brain, with 4 parts of the brain working together as a student learns how to read, someone coming up with a creative, innovative idea, has specific (Dr. Huberman lists 3 networks in the brain) working together to create what the rest of the world will come to see as novel, or innovative. This is what makes some things go “viral” online. The NEW experience actually changes the circuits in the brain with whatever it is a person sees, feels, hears or experiences. Dopamine is released (with the surprise and delight) with whatever it is they make connections to, and there's the hope or anticipation that they will experience it again. I hope all 3 of these examples have given you a glance into the world of innovation that's possible for you, as a product of going through the simple steps in the Silva Method. To conclude this episode, and PART 4 of our Review of the Silva Method, we looked at ✔ A Review of all 3 PARTS of The Silva Method Review. ✔ Today, in PART 4, we looked at Ch 8-Your Words Have Power Ch 9-The Power of Imagination Ch 10-Using Your Mind to Improve Your Health ✔ We connected The Silva Method to the Dr. Andrew Huberman's Neuroscience Research on Creativity and Innovation. ✔ We gave an example of innovation from our past guests in the fields of education, sports and the modern workplace. The goal of this 4 PART review of Jose Silva's Program, was to encourage all of us to see if we could learn something new, to take our results to new heights in 2023. I had no idea just how deep the book and program would go, and I know I'll review the online course at a later time, but for now, this review has given me some new ideas for how to improve my visualization/mental screen method to help me with my short term and long term goals. I'd love to hear from you what you have thought of this episode, where we tied in the most current research to Jose Silva's work, reminding me that “once we learn to use our minds to train it, it will do some astounding things for us, as you will soon see.” I do want to add something before we close about the importance of honoring other people's creative and innovative ideas. Now that we've seen what's involved at the brain level with coming up with an idea that's truly novel, I'm sure you'll agree with me that while we all have this ability to create something new, that this comes naturally to some, and is more difficult for others. If you see someone else's creative or innovative idea, please never approach it as your own. PLAGIARISM CAUTION[xviii]: CAN WORDS OR IDEAS REALLY BE STOLEN? When you are the creator of an idea, I can tell you first hand, as someone who worked very hard on something, and then saw it pasted on a reputable company's website the day after I shared my “new ideas” with them. I was very disappointed, mostly as they had taken something I had permission to use from someone else who wasn't referenced, because they stole the quote from me! If you see something from someone else that you like, and want to use it somewhere, always credit the source where it originated from using the proper format with quotation marks. If it's something that's more than a quote, or it's an idea, I would contact the creator first hand, and see what they think about what you would like to do. I wanted to use an assessment based on American Psychologist Howard Gardener's Theory of Multiple Intelligences in my first book, The Secret for Teens Revealed[xix], and emailed him directly at Harvard to ask him. He was shocked I even asked, and said that most people don't. He told me he didn't mind if I used it, but wanted me to be sure I portrayed the Intelligences in a way that showed that we can develop them all with effort, not that we are inclined for some and not others. I never forgot this. If you ask the creator directly, you can find out what they would prefer to keep original, and what they don't mind sharing, with their name attached to it as the originator. With this in mind now, I'd love to hear what you CREATE this year.  I've put the meditations that I found online, that are a good place for all of us to begin this process, in the show notes below, and I'll see you next week with our REVIEW of the TOP 10 EPISODES from 2022, and some surprise interviews that I had to squeeze in before the end of the year. RESOURCES: MEDITATION  1: How to Enter the Alpha Level of Mind, Step by Step Process, The Silva Method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMJWT6EsNs MEDITATION 2: Jose Silva Method Alpha Exercises by Sommer Leigh Published on YouTube June 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SY0kajVITA MEDITATION 3: 20 Minute Silva Centering Exercise with Vishen Lakhiani https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_4GDXWBPCk   REFERENCES: [i] The Silva Mind Control Method https://silvamethod.com/ [ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #260 with Dr. Hasan Ibne Akram on “Breaking Down the Mindset of the Million Dollar Monk” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/serial-entrepreneur-and-computer-scientist-hasan-ibne-akram-pd-d-on-breaking-down-the-mindset-of-the-million-dollar-monk/ [iii] www.mindvalley.com [iv] Mind Valley the Silva UltraMind System https://home.mindvalley.com/quests/en/ultramind [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #190 PART 1 “Making 2022 Your Best Year Ever”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-1-how-to-make-2022-your-best-year-ever/ [vi] Dr. Andrew Huberman, “The Science of Creativity: How to Enhance Creative Innovation.”   https://hubermanlab.com/the-science-of-creativity-and-how-to-enhance-creative-innovation/ [vii] Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman Words Can Change Your Brain Published June 14, 2012 https://www.amazon.com/Words-Can-Change-Your-Brain-ebook/dp/B0074VTHMA/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAiAnZCdBhBmEiwA8nDQxYXGNQeXA7fr8xVxnL3ns3s4ViPL46_aU6zL-rULfnX1cn9mSSD8ARoCENQQAvD_BwE&hvadid=281463219015&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030068&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5072060704672722834&hvtargid=kwd-337464396698&hydadcr=22593_10356183&keywords=words+can+change+your+brain+book&qid=1671724020&sr=8-1 [viii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #193 PART 3 on “Putting Our Goals on Autopilot with Autosuggestion and Our Imagination”    https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/think-and-grow-rich-book-review-part-3-using-autosuggestion-and-your-imagination-to-put-your-goals-on-autopilot/ [ix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #234 with Ashok Gupta on “Health and Happiness: Getting to the Root of Chronic Pain and Illness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/ashok-gupta-on-heath-and-happiness-getting-to-the-root-of-chronic-pain-and-illness-long-covid-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-and-others/ [x]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #241 with Dr. Philippe Douyon on “How to Rewire Our Brain for Health and Happiness”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/physician-and-neurologist-philippe-douyon-md-on-how-to-rewire-our-brain-for-health-and-happiness/ [xi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #48 on Brain Network Theory “Using Neuroscience to Stay Productive During Times of Change and Chaos” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/ [xii] Dr. Andrew Huberman, “The Science of Creativity: How to Enhance Creative Innovation.”   https://hubermanlab.com/the-science-of-creativity-and-how-to-enhance-creative-innovation/ [xiii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #215 on “Chey Cheney and Pav Wander from the Chey and Pav Show” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/chey-cheney-and-pav-wander-from-the-chey-and-pav-show-on-their-vision-to-identify-and-amplify-the-voices-often-left-behind/ [xiv] Chey and Pav Podcast https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FStaffPodcast%2Fstatus%2F1575644124396789760&widget=Tweet [xv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #38 with Todd Woodcroft on “The Daily Grind in the NHL”   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/assistant-coach-to-the-winnipeg-jets-todd-woodcroft-on-the-daily-grind-in-the-nhl/ [xvi] UVM Men's Hockey New Locker Reveal   https://twitter.com/UVMmhockey/status/1564327008775151617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1564327008775151617%7Ctwgr%5E1a6ca076211cde6d14d4567e7c32bc7d54ac2002%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FUVMmhockey2Fstatus2F1564327008775151617widget%3DTweet [xvii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #264 with Soren Kaplan on “Experiential Intelligence: The Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/innovation-author-and-speaker-soren-kaplan-phd-on-experiential-intelligence-the-power-of-experience-for-personal-and-business-breakthroughs/ [xviii] What is Plagarism? https://healthsciences.nova.edu/studentaffairs/success/forms/apa-what-is-plagiarism.pdf [xix] The Secret for Teens Revealed by Andrea Samadi https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Teens-Revealed-Teenagers-Leadership/dp/1604940336  

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast where we bridge the gap between theory and practice, with strategies, tools and ideas we can all use immediately, applied to the most current brain research to heighten productivity in our schools, sports environments and modern workplaces. I'm Andrea Samadi and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results. Like you, I'm interested in learning and applying the research, to our everyday life. On this episode we will cover: How can being “mindfully aware in the present moment” benefit us? An overview of the Levels of Consciousness that take us from coma, unaware, to full wakefulness and awareness. How to expand our level of awareness through effective study (using the most current neuroscience research). Break down this complex idea of consciousness, so we can all improve an area on the map, moving us towards full awareness. Use this understanding to better understand ourselves and others. This week's Brain Fact Friday came to me this week while on a training call with Mark Waldman, in his neurocoaching program, that consists of all of the students he has worked with over the years[i] all over the world. Some students have been certified, and share their knowledge with others, like Michael Kirton, an Australian clinical psychologist and author who specializes in child development, mental health issues and trauma, and he often joins the calls to share how he is making an impact in his community with the understanding of mindfulness based coaching, training or therapy. I tune into these calls as I'm always looking for something new to share on the podcast, that we could all use to improve our results. This week, were talking about what it means to be “mindfully aware in the present moment” that Jon Kabat-Zinn coined in his definition of mindfulness to be the “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally”[ii] which Waldman says is a key secret for experiencing optimal health and wellbeing.  We covered an overview of Brain Network theory on EP #48 and the importance of being able to mindfully shift between our imagination, (DMN) awareness (SN) and thinking (EN) to increase our creativity and results, while reducing stress.  The funny thing I've noticed with writing these episodes, and implementing what I'm writing, I've got to say that when I'm in a high stress situation, the last thing I'm thinking about is being “mindfully aware” in the present moment. But with time, small things like learning to breathe properly while experiencing stress, that we learned from Rohan Dixit, on EP #228[iii] is putting me miles ahead of where I used to be without a mindfulness-based stress reduction strategy. While I wish I had the opportunity to study and learn directly with monks deep in the Himalayas, like Rohan Dixit did before he founded Lief Therapeutics, and invented a wearable device that tracks HRV in real-time to help us to learn how to breathe when we are stressed, interviewing those who've taken the time to do the research, and then sharing this research on the podcast, is my next best option. We've all heard of the research that backs up how important these brief moments of mindfulness can be, whether it's in our everyday life, or even in the classroom, during learning, as Professor Kimberly Shonert-Reichl's research (from The University of British Columbia) shows that these brief moments “promote curiosity, creativity and pro social behavior.”[iv] The key to being mindfully aware is to focus on the present moment, instead of what's happened in the past, or what we think might happen in the future, and learn to breathe, or focus on our breath, which brings our mind into this present moment. While on this training call with Mark Waldman, a new student asked “what about when I'm dreaming” where's my level of awareness here?” and we could go down many rabbit holes for hours, on this topic and while Waldman refocused the new student on this complex question, I glanced at the September issue of National Geographic on my desk,  on “The Brain” that covers “the complex neural networks that make the brain so unique” and Chapter 4 of this series, covers “The Easy Problems of Consciousness” which was obvious from our call, that many of us, including this new student, finds this topic anything BUT easy, as we wonder how our conscious awareness works, what it is, and how an understanding of this awareness can benefit us in some way. Which brings us to this week's Brain Fact Friday. DID YOU KNOW THAT “consciousness is the most astonishing act our big, complex, interconnected brains pull off when working properly and scientists are only just beginning to understand it?”[v] (National Geographic, The Brain). I thought about the new student in our group asking about our awareness level when we are dreaming, and of what we have been covering on this podcast, and it became clear to me that this was a very important question and topic. It didn't take me long to find some research that covered this question with an article called “Are There Levels of Consciousness”[vi] published by Tim Bayne in 2016 that are in line with what I was reading in the most recent National Geographic publication from September 2022. What Are the Different Levels of Consciousness? To bring light to this complex question, (what are the different levels of conscious awareness that our brain experiences) the only way I know how to break it down, is by mapping it out. Drawing something out helps me to see the bigger picture, especially when ideas are complex, or even noted to be “a mystery that some of the greatest minds have been unable to solve.”[vii] This idea of being consciously aware, or thinking in the present moment, is complex, (because consciousness studies are still trying to find answers to the hard problems, like “where does my inner experience come from” (Page 74, National Geographic) but I'm hoping that this visual will give us all a new perspective of the different levels of consciousness we can experience, and provide us all with a frame of reference to “think” about. If you look at the diagram in the show notes, that came from my interpretation of “The Easy Problems of Consciousness” from National Geographic's article on the Brain, you can see how our levels of consciousness can go from low awareness, like when we are in a coma, under general anesthesia, that we have not investigated at all on this podcast. (YET). This is a fascinating area to explore, and I will on a later episode, since I do wonder how on the earth can we stay awake for brain surgery. The next level of consciousness, is that time just before sleep, where we experience drowsiness, called a hypnagogic state of consciousness.[viii] We've covered sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming on the podcast with our interview with Dr. Baland Jalal[ix], bringing us into the next level of consciousness: sleep, that is one of the top 5 health staples we've covered often, beginning with Dr. Shane Creado, from EP #72[x] on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee Us a Competitive Advantage.” We've also quoted English scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology, Matt Walker and his research from his best selling book, Why We Sleep, on a Brain Fact Friday earlier this year on “Science Based Tricks to Improve Productivity.”[xi]   The final stage of consciousness is full wakefulness or awareness, that Chantel Pratt's book, The Neuroscience of You dives into, as well as this whole idea of Mindful Awareness that we opened this episode with. I think you can see from the topics that we cover on this podcast, that besides understanding our sleep, or messages in our dreams, or health tips to improve our productivity, I'm most interested in ways we can all expand our conscious awareness, and become a better version of ourselves, with an understanding of our brain and how it works. How about you? Have you ever wondered, Who am I? Why am I here? What's my purpose? These are all deep questions but Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of mindfulness would say that these questions (like who are you) are “more important than the answer.”[xii] The key here, is that expanding our level of awareness is a crucial component of our work in this thing we call life, so that we can better understand ourselves, and others, and provide the best service we can in our lifetime. It's the message in Chantel Pratt's recent book, The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours[xiii], where she says that even after writing this book, she's still trying to expand her awareness of who she is. Even my mentor, the late Bob Proctor, would say that “awareness is everything” and he could talk for hours about the importance of our conscious awareness or our ability to sit, think and expand our awareness even a dot, saying that this small shift could change the world—or at least your world to start with. He'd often say that our “results are an expression of our awareness” reminding us to open up the keyhole, and expand our level of awareness when we are stuck, or to keep “thinking” to move us forward. Never stop thinking, learning and expanding. Invest the time to develop YOU, (your awareness) and this could take our entire lifetime. So, the question (“Who am I?”)  is more important than the answer. It requires our conscious thought and thinking is the highest function we are capable of, and it's very difficult. Most people think the same thoughts over and over again, which isn't thinking at all, but like a hamster spinning on a wheel, or playing old movies in our head. How to Expand our Awareness and Break Through to New Levels: Have you ever been stuck and you can't seem to find the answer to your problem? I know we all have. The fastest way to expand our thinking, and find new solutions, is to ask someone who has achieved what you want to do, (because it's easy for them to connect the dots looking backwards) as they can give you thousands of ideas, showing you that there's not just one way to get to where you are going. Thinking new thoughts, opens up our awareness (even if it's just a dot) to new ideas, and possibilities, but how do we do this? How Do We Expand Our Level of Awareness? On Today's episode, I have just one strategy, and that's to expand our awareness through study. If you look at the diagram I drew, look and see where your area of interest is.  You can see where mine is from the episodes we are covering. STUDY: Find the podcasts that you connect with (for those listening, thank you for choosing mine), read books, study people who are winning, and glean whatever you can from what you are learning to expand your conscious awareness. What I love seeing is people who break through what seems to be impossible, or where most people would give up.   For a minute, let's review this week's Brain Fact Friday. On today's episode we covered: How being “mindfully aware in the present moment” can benefit us? An overview of the Levels of Consciousness that take us from coma, unaware, to full wakefulness and awareness. How to expand our level of awareness through effective study (using the most current neuroscience research). Break down this complex idea of consciousness, so we can all improve an area on the map, moving us towards full awareness. Use this understanding to better understand ourselves and others. Reminder—for this week's brain fact Friday DID YOU KNOW THAT “consciousness is the most astonishing act our big, complex, interconnected brains pull off and scientists are only just beginning to understand it?”[xiv] (National Geographic, The Brain). After looking into this a bit, I learned that “some scholars reckon the puzzle of consciousness is something the human mind is incapable of solving” but Daniel Dennett, Philospher and Cognitive Scientist from Tufts University (MA) says that this line of thinking is “culpably wrong. It isn't impossible at all. It's just that we have to buckle down and do it.”[xv] Imagine going back to 1973 (I was only 2) but let's go back in time and I'm going to explain to you that there's this thing called the internet, that's in the ether. I send you something, and you get it pretty much at the same time as I sent it to you. You'd think I was crazy. But not now that our level of awareness has been expanded, and we use the internet every day to function in this society. While we might never understand why we have consciousness, we can continue to study, learn and expand our conscious awareness, (on this topic and others)  and like Cognitive Scientist Daniel Dennett suggests, “buckle down” and do whatever it is we are working on. Whether it's something as difficult as breaking down something so complex as our consciousness, or something less complex, it just takes our effort, and continual study to blast through to new levels of awareness, and results. Wishing you success in whatever it is you are working on. Like that new student in our neuroscience course, keep asking questions, and searching for answers, and I'll see you next week. REFERENCES: [i] Certified Neurocoaches with Mark Robert Waldman https://www.markrobertwaldman.com/students-2/ [ii] Jon Kabat-Zinn defining Mindfulness by Mindful Staff Jan 11, 2017 https://www.mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-defining-mindfulness/ [iii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #228 with Rohan Dixit, Founder of Lief Therapeutics on “Meaasuring HRV in Real-Time for Stress Releif From the Inside Out.” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/rohan-dixit-founder-of-lief-therapeutics-on-measuring-hrv-in-real-time-for-stress-relief-from-the-inside-out/ [iv] Enhancing cognitive and social-emotional development through a simple to administer mindfulness-based school program for elementary school children by Kimberly Schonert-Reichl Published 2015 https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-56463-002 [v] Page 74, Chapter 4, The Brain by Julia Sklar, National Geographic https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Brain-Editors/dp/1547859121/ref=asc_df_1547859121/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598244665656&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9016464077537371621&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030091&hvtargid=pla-1672909059785&psc=1 [vi] Are There Levels of Consciousness? Published by Tim Bayne June 2016 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136466131630002X [vii] What is Consciousness Published on YouTube Sept. 10, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8XITVmeY4 [viii] What is Hypnagogia, the State Between Wakefulness and Sleep? By Raj Dasgupta,MD Published Oct. 26, 2020 https://www.healthline.com/health/hypnagogia [ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #224 with Dr. Baland Jalal on “Sleep Paralysis, Lucid Dreaming, and Premonitions: Expanding our Awareness into the Mysteries of the Brain”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/harvard-neuroscientist-drbaland-jalalexplainssleepparalysislucid-dreaming-andpremonitionsexpandingour-awareness-into-the-mysteries-ofourbrainduring-sl/ [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #72 with Dr. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-shane-creado-on-sleep-strategies-that-will-guarantee-a-competitive-advantage/ [xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #217 on “Science-Based Tricks to Improve Productivity and Never Forget Anything” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-science-based-tricks-to-improve-productivity-and-never-forget-anything/ [xii] Jon Kabat-Zinn defining Mindfulness by Mindful Staff Jan 11, 2017 https://www.mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-defining-mindfulness/ [xiii] https://www.amazon.com/Neuroscience-You-Every-Different-Understand/dp/1524746606 [xiv] Page 74, Chapter 4, The Brain by Julia Sklar, National Geographic https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Brain-Editors/dp/1547859121/ref=asc_df_1547859121/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598244665656&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9016464077537371621&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030091&hvtargid=pla-1672909059785&psc=1 [xv] What is Consciousness Published on YouTube Sept. 10, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8XITVmeY4 TIME STAMP 1:31/12:42

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

In celebration of our second anniversary, we're re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year. At its core, spirituality is a connection and a relationship, but a disposition that flows from that. Therapy is spiritual work. In this episode, we proudly welcome our newest member to our podcast and today's host Dr. Erin Elmore. Erin is joined by Daniel Kim, LMFT, who has 12 years of experience working with clients who struggle with trauma, relational problems, and spiritual issues. Dan has also worked with members of the clergy who struggle with deep personal issues. Together, Erin and Dan, discuss integrating faith with therapy practice, viewing therapy as spiritual work, working with pastors in therapy, and advocating for therapists to do their own personal work to become better at helping their clients. When we are helping people in our sessions experience unconditional positive regard, compassion, and love as a therapist, and treat our clients with worth and dignity, we help our clients love themselves with self-compassion and acceptance. That is spirituality.   For more information about Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy by P. Scott Richards, PhD and Allen E. Bergin, PhD, please visit: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4317077 For more information about How God Changes Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/120938/how-god-changes-your-brain-by-andrew-newberg-md-and-mark-robert-waldman/ For more information about Building Moral Intelligence by Michele Borba, Ed.D, please visit: https://www.micheleborba.com/books/building-moral-intelligence/ For more information about Soul Searching by Dr. William Doherty, please visit: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/soul-searching-15 For more information about Daniel Kim and his private practice, please visit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/daniel-c-kim-la-mesa-ca/475310

Metaphysical/Spiritual Podcast: Part 2 of exploring an article from Medium Daily Digest. Its title says it all, “Research Confirms that the Words we Say Can Change the Structure of the Brain.” And, actually, more. The article is based on a recent book by Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Jefferson University, and Mark Robert Waldman, a communication expert, who have published a book called, Words that Can Change Your Brain. This week we include two activities to support changing your brain in “right” direction. And have you heard of fumfering? The post 2022-09: Words Can Change Your Brain-Part 2; Absolute Word-World Peace first appeared on Metaphysical Romp 2 Podcast.

Metaphysical/Spiritual Podcast: cent book by Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Jefferson University, and Mark Robert Waldman, a communication expert, who have published a book called “Words Can Change Your Brain.” The post 2022-08: Words Can Change Your Brain-Part 1; Absolute Word-Inspiration first appeared on Metaphysical Romp 2 Podcast.

Welcome back to the podcast, BIG ideas in small windows. I am your host, Mike Gaskell and am delighted to welcome my next guest, who is a podcaster in the world of learning and the brain. Andrea Samadi, started as a teacher in Toronto, Canada, and has spent 26 years working on social/emotional learning, to help students. Andrea knows first-hand about stress in the classroom as her first job from The University of Toronto's Faculty of Education, was a behavioral class. She felt overwhelmed by the lack of resources to help her manage and teach her students, so she set out on a mission to find ways to support students and educators in the classroom. Andrea is the author of the book Level Up,  which offers dozens of online lessons and resources, and helps students access those big AHA moments!. Now a resident of Arizona,  the state's department of Education provided her with a Character and Leadership Grant. She discovered that educators were in dire need of programs that taught the basics of neuroscience. Andrea consulted Mark Robert Waldman, one of the leading neuroscience researchers, and used her time with Mark to show how the brain impacts learning, achievement, well-being and results. Officially a neuroscience expert, she just finished her Advanced Certification in Mindfulness-based Neuro-coaching, which is a rigorous program showing how brain-based, evidence-based, and mindfulness-based coaching strategies work in education and life. Andrea's podcast has a 4.9 rating, is called “Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning” and provides resources, tools and strategies that can be used by anyone. She has interviewed leaders in educational neuroscience, psychology, and the brain, from Dr. Daniel Siegel, (Brainstorm) Dr. John Medina (Brain Rules) and Dr. Lori Desautels, (Connections Over Compliance) She has reached 150,000 listeners across 155 countries! Andrea is currently working on her third book, packing all of the research she has gathered in one place, to consolidate the best minds sharing on “Stress, Learning and the Brain” “Brain-Aligned Strategies to Skyrocket Literacy Achievement” and “Emotions, Learning and the Brain.” Enjoy this deep dive in how learning and the brain can help children and families, who need this set of strategies, more than ever! ...And don't forget to go back and listen to my interview with Diamond Dallas Page, former wrestler, turned yoga master! Diamond Dallas Page- Part 1 Diamond Dallas Page- Part 2 Learn more about Andrea's podcast here: https://www.achieveit360.com/episodes/ Follow Andrea on Twitter: @andreasamadi Signed copy of my book, Leading Schools Through Trauma 20% off! https://mikegaskell.gumroad.com/l/gqxdz

I know we've all heard of the old saying “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger” but have you ever wondered if science could open our eyes to what exactly this means? I've wondered this, and it led me to this week's Brain Fact Friday where we will explore hormesis or the idea that “short, intermittent bursts of stressors can actually trigger a cascade of cellular processes that enhance overall health, slow aging, and make you more resilient to future stress (both physical and mental).”[i] On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How our cells respond to short, intermittent periods of stress. ✔︎ A look into 2 pathways that are important for longevity (The Sirtuin and mTOR). ✔︎ 4 Ways to boost our health, using hormesis or stress, making us physically and mentally stronger. For those new, or returning guests, welcome back! I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you who tune in, have been fascinated with learning, understanding, and applying the most current brain research to improve productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. The purpose of this podcast is to take the mystery out of this new discipline that backs our learning with simple neuroscience to make it applicable for us all to use right away, for immediate results. I had no idea while initially researching for this episode that neuroscientist and tenured professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Andrew Huberman, would be hosting Dr. David Sinclair[ii] (a Professor in the Department of Genetics from Harvard Medical School) on the Huberman Lab Podcast this week, and covering this very topic on “The Biology of Slowing and Reversing Aging”[iii] where the idea of hormesis was discussed throughout. I do recommend this episode for those who want to take a deeper dive into the science of anti-aging, longevity and the fascinating work that Dr. David Sinclair is doing in this field, in addition to Dr. Peter Attia's Podcast, The Drive, on “Dr. Sinclair, Ph.D. Slowing Aging, sirtuins, NAD, and the epigenetics of aging.”[iv] If you are listening to this, and thinking “What? She's lost me! What is she even talking about? Slowing down the ageing process? What is NAD and what are sirtuins?”  Just remember to keep an open mind--this podcast focuses on looking for the research from the most reputable place (Pubmed.gov), learn what the experts in the field have to say about what they are discovering, and then we break down the research in smaller pieces,  so that we can all make it applicable in our daily life, whether we've taken a neuroscience course, or not. What I've learned from studying closely with neuroscience researcher Mark Robert Waldman the past few years, is that we must be open to what the research says and keep our egos (and judgements) out of whatever it is we want to prove. I'm working hard on an abstract that supports the importance of educational neuroscience as a new discipline in our schools, versus the old model of learning, and although there is research that supports my hypothesis, it's still a new field, and I must remember what Dr. Sinclair tells his students, that “most things we thought were true are not…or will change over time.”[v] I'm now on my third revision of this abstract, because it's not easy to step away from what we want to believe, and leave it up in the air, because we might be wrong about everything, when it comes to looking at life through the lens of a scientist. Just keep an open mind, especially when you hear that Dr. Sinclair, now at the forefront of anti-aging research, after all the criticism he's received over the years, is in the late stages of clinical trials of working on something that mimics exercise in a pill to speed up metabolism. The next few years are going to really blow our minds with what is possible, and I hope that we can all embrace new ideas, with open minds and make the needed change with what we learn from the research, whether it's in the classroom like I'd like to see with new models of learning backed by neuroscience, or in the modern workplace. Moving into Season 7 of this podcast in the New Year, with a focus on Brain-Health and Well-Being, I won't always be looking for speakers and authors who are discovering what we already know. I'm looking for people like Dr. Sinclair, who will stretch us to think in ways we've never thought before, to do what we once thought was impossible, showing us that we have powerful reservoirs of mental and physical strength, that we can tap into when needed.  Now that fascinates me and is what will motivate me to keep learning more to share with you here. With that said, I wanted this week's Brain Fact Friday to tie into last week's episode to improve our mental and physical health, since according to a recent survey from the American Psychiatric Association, “almost 70 million adults resolve to find ways to improve their mental and physical health this coming year”[vi] and while looking for ideas, I saw a graphic I created last year that caught my attention. The graphic was about using “hormesis” as a stressor to make us stronger. I know how important hormesis is for our mental strength, by choosing to stretch ourselves beyond what we think we are capable of and had heard of strategies that use hormesis like exposing our body to extreme cold (with ice baths), or extreme heat (with saunas), with exercise, (and HIIT) and even intermittent fasting, but I didn't know what exactly this stress was doing for me on a cellular level. What does hormesis or this intermittent stress and adversity do to our cells that makes us physically and mentally stronger? This brings us to this week's Brain Fact Friday. DID YOU KNOW THAT: “We have 2 pathways that are important to longevity—the Sirtuin (the pathway we want to activate for health and longevity) and mTOR System (where too much activity causes disease in the body)[vii]  showing us the importance of understanding the key regulators of ageing and age-related diseases?[viii] This episode will focus on the Sirtuin Pathway, giving us hope that even when our cells become damaged, the Sirtuins help unwrap and put back together the unraveled, damaged DNA. To me, it's just like the neuroplastic brain that can also repair itself depending how we live our life, and is refreshing to know that we have tremendous control over our future physical, mental health and well-being, and our resilience to stress. There are ways that we can naturally boost the Sirtuin genes, opening them up, making them more active, giving us more energy, turning on all our bodies' natural defenses, and in essence, slowing down the aging process, bringing our attention inside our body, down to the cellular level, helping us to understand why certain hormetic behaviors are good for us, and others that do not involve this stressor, are not. Dr. David Sinclair, a leading expert in the field of anti-aging reminds us that “our bodies were designed to respond to adversity…and we've removed it from our lives because it feels good (or it's easier)—but we need adversity to be resilient and fight disease.”[ix] So, this year, as we are looking for NEW ways to boost our mental and physical health, I challenge you to start by thinking of the science behind hormesis, adversity and challenge and stretch our minds to try something new, something that challenges us, makes us uncomfortable (for short periods of time) yet has the potential to yield to outstanding health, and wellness benefits to take us to new heights in the New Year. Please do consult with your doctor before trying anything new and remember that “you can change your epigenome (our loops of DNA) by how we live our life more than anything our genes give us. 80% is epigenetic (our behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way our genes work).” (Dr. Sinclair) I want us to look deeper into why these strategies, that involve some sort of intermittent stress (hormesis) can make us physically and mentally stronger. Improving the Sirtuin/Longevity Pathway to Reduce Aging by: Strategy 1: Choosing Workouts That Challenge You If you have ever hired a personal trainer, it's not usually because you don't know what to do, it's usually the how part that we are missing, the need for someone to push us past where we usually would stop on our own so that we push ourselves enough that to damage our muscle fibers, preparing them to rebuild themselves stronger than they were before.  I did mention on episode #114 that “when we put our body under stress, like we do with exercise, that BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor--which is like fertilizer for the brain) upregulates, triggering the growth of cells to meet the increased mental demands of the movement.”[x]    When thinking about how to receive the benefits of exercise for improved cognition and well-being, be sure to pick workouts that challenge you, or push you beyond where you would usually stop on your own. “You can choose HIIT (high intensity interval training) where you go all out for 30 seconds to a minute, followed by 15 seconds of rest to experience hormesis. During these intense bursts, your muscles are briefly starved for oxygen, (hypoxia) which stimulates the production of mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell.)”[xi]  It's this brief period of stress that “improves the capacity of the cells to withstand greater stress.”[xii] Strategy 2: Using Saunas, Cryotherapy or Ice Baths For someone who finds anything below 80 degrees freezing, I've not yet tried extreme cold, with ice baths or cryotherapy[xiii] for pain relief, muscle healing, and improving the sirtuin pathway to reduce aging, but many people I know swear by this practice. Until I'm brave enough to try this, I'll stick to ice-packs, but wonder if you have tried this strategy to speed up healing?  I'll say that sitting in a sauna is a lot like Arizona summers, and not difficult when you do this often enough to get used to those higher temperatures. The only challenge with this one, is that most of us don't have a sauna in our home. I remember a friend of mine from Toronto, from Finland, swore by a sauna in his home, and I thought of him when I first heard of using heat stress to “trigger a thermoregulatory response”[xiv] if used regularly. Since I want to make use of the research I discover, I did investigate how expensive it would be to put a small sauna in your home, and Costco[xv] does carry them for a reasonable price. Might be something for next year's Christmas wish list, or worth saving up for. Strategy 3: The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting Pioneer in anti-aging, Dr. Sinclair noticed that “our clock is ticking faster by always being fed…and it's not important WHAT we eat, but WHEN we eat during the day.”[xvi] I've been practicing this strategy since discovering Jason Whittrock from EPISODE #94[xvii] in 2016 but didn't understand the science behind fasting back then. Remember that Dr. Sinclair reminded us that “our bodies are designed to respond to adversity” and “when we are hungry, we turn on these adversity, hormetic genes that are called longevity genes—and they make the body fight against aging and diseases,”[xviii] even increasing your mental focus. The problem in America is that most of us don't allow ourselves to get to the point of hunger where all the benefits are. There are fast food restaurants on every corner to prevent us from starving to death, but I think, this strategy is freeing, giving you so much more extra time and energy that you will never want to give up again once you become free from “needing” to eat. If you want to start this practice, and don't know where to begin, just skip one meal a day with either breakfast or dinner. No one ever said we “need to eat 3 meals a day” so you'll notice some paradigms shifting as you try this. I noticed a marked difference with my health after incorporating this strategy, but it took some time to get used to it. The key is to get past the first 2-3 weeks or so when you think “I need to eat something” and learn to get past the hunger feeling. It does go away. Everyone is different, and so I'll let you know what works best for me, but that might not work for you. You have to play around these strategies and discover for yourself what will work best for your situation. I started with fasting Sunday through Wednesday with a 16-hour non-eating window from 5:30pm-9:30am and 8-hour eating window from 9:30am-5:30pm back in 2016. I only drank water, tea or coffee in the non-eating window, and ate fairly clean in the 8 hour eating window, and chose only 4 days a week to do this, so that my body wouldn't get used to it and adapt.  With time, I began to trust that my body had stores of energy that it would use up, until it was fed or fueled again. It just became my way of life, and who knew it was a longevity strategy! I had no idea.   I usually exercise early morning with an empty stomach and have never once felt lightheaded or shaky with strenuous exercise on an empty stomach. Just monitor how you feel and adjust this strategy to work for you and your schedule, knowing that over time, your body gets used to whatever you are doing, so you'll need to continue to switch it up. Strategy 4: Taking Dietary Supplements (Resveratrol, NMN and Berberine) with Food Every year I look for what I can add to my health regime to strengthen it and I look for what others are doing in the health and wellness industry. If you've been following this podcast for awhile, you will know that I've been a longtime fan of Dave Asprey and his bulletproof coffee, so after listening to Dr. Huberman's podcast[xix], I decided I would try all 3 supplements they discussed (Resveratrol, NMN and Berberine) since both Dr. Huberman and Dr. Sinclair talked about the benefits of each one on health and longevity.  This strategy I've not tried yet, but I put the link in the resource section for these 3 supplements on AMAZON and suggest that you do some research yourself before buying anything. Aha Moment and Paradigm Shift With This Strategy: Dr. Sinclair mentioned that in the fine print of his study with mice that he gave Resveratrol to, that when they gave this supplement to the mice every day, that the only thing that happened was that the mice were protected against a fatty Western diet. They had no noticeable lifespan extension. But for the mice they gave Resveratrol every OTHER day, they lived over 3 years (which is a long time for lab mice), showing him that there are benefits to NOT taking the same thing every day.  This blew my mind, as I'm a creature of habit, and take the same thing every day. With this research in mind, I'm going to create a new plan of what supplements to take and when. Just like exercise, supplement use needs to be alternated so my body doesn't get used to what I'm taking. Just a bit more about the 3 supplements Dr. Sinclair has studied and noted to be anti-aging that I want to try this year: Resveratrol:  Dr. Sinclair suggests taking 1,000 mg a day that this “must come from a supplement and not from drinking wine, or you would have to drink 200 glasses/day to get the right amount.”  I'm sure we have all heard of the health benefits of resveratrol, that it (may lower blood pressure, has a positive effect on blood fats, lengthens the lifespan of certain animals, protects the brain, may suppress cancer cells)[xx] so I'm going to try it to see what I notice. NMN: 1000 mg/day Nicotinamide Mononucleotide to protect against heart disease, lower risk of obesity, enhance and maintains DNA repair, and slow down the rate of aging[xxi]  by enhancing NAD levels in the body, an important coenzyme found in all living cells that plays a role in promoting health and prolonging lifespan “but these levels decline as we get older, or obese.”[xxii]  Dr. Huberman and Dr. Sinclair suggested taking 1,000 mg of NMN to fuel the NAD molecule that also fuels Resveratrol to work in the body. It seems this one works best with Resveratrol since it increases those important NAD levels in the body that we need to live, and since numerous studies have demonstrated that “boosting NAD+ levels increases insulin sensitivity, reverses mitochondrial dysfunction, and extends lifespan”[xxiii] I'm definitely going to add this supplement to my health care regime in the New Year. Berberine: Dr. Sinclair called this the “poor man's Metformin” Metformin is a drug given to people with diabetes. I used to take metformin for another purpose and had no idea this drug had additional benefits of protecting against heart disease, cancer, frailty and dementia. If you are taking it, then just know there are these additional benefits, and if you don't have access to it, there's always Berberine, a powerful supplement with many benefits at the molecular level like “it's been shown to lower blood sugar, cause weight loss and improve heart health.”[xxiv] Longevity expert, Dr. Sinclair takes these 3 supplements daily, with a bit of olive oil and vinegar, with a basil leaf, and says it tastes like he's drinking a bit of salad dressing, which sounds wonderful, but I'll let you know when I try it out! To review this week's Brain Fact Friday: DID YOU KNOW THAT: “We have 2 pathways that are important to longevity—the Sirtuin (the pathway we want to activate for health and longevity) and mTOR System (where too much activity causes disease in the body) that are key regulators of ageing and age-related diseases[xxv] and we can do things that positively impact the Sirtuin genes, by choosing challenge boosting hormetic activities, opening these Sirtuin genes up, making them more active, giving us more energy, turning on all our bodies' natural defenses, and impacting the rate of aging. Whatever strategy we choose (workouts that challenge us, heat/cold exposure, intermittent fasting, or supplements that target anti-aging, my hope is that we now have a different picture of why we are using hormesis to build a better, stronger, more resilient version of ourselves that embraces adversity head on, and full force. Just like when we have peered inside our neuroplatic brain and learned something new on other episodes, we have now looked deep into the longevity of our cells, and understand why hormesis doesn't kill them, but only makes them stronger! Have a safe, happy and healthy New Year and I'll see you next year for the start of Season 7! FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/    RESOURCES: NMN (Nicotinamide mononucleotide as an anti-aging health product) August 11, 2011 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123221001491 NMN Supplement on AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/Nicotinamide-Mononucleotide-Supplement-Metabolism-Capsules/dp/B079S3XF4H The Science Behind NMN: A Stable, Reliable NAD+ Activator and Ant-Aging Molecule by Christopher Shade Feb. 2020 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238909/#sec1-2title The mTOR Pathway August 31, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSx9ryXzCFE REFERENCES: [i] Hormesis: Meet the Stress That Makes You Physically and Mentally Stronger Feb. 28, 2021 by Stephanie Eckelkamp https://amp.mindbodygreen.com/articles/hormesis [ii] https://sinclair.hms.harvard.edu/people/david-sinclair [iii] Huberman Lab Podcast with Dr. David Sinclair EPISODE #52 https://hubermanlab.com/dr-david-sinclair-the-biology-of-slowing-and-reversing-aging/ [iv] Peter Attia, MD “The Drive” EPISODE #27 with Dr. Sinclair, Ph.D. on “Slowing Aging, sirtuins, NAD, and the epigenetics of aging” Published on YouTube Jan. 6th, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edrIEC0kJv8 [v] The Backlash David Sinclair Faced by the Scientific Community Published on YouTube January 29, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDdAI-X3y1o [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #188 on “Putting Mental and Physical Health First” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-putting-our-mental-and-physical-health-first/ [vii] The mTOR Pathway August 31, 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSx9ryXzCFE [viii] Antioxidant Modulation of mTOR and Sirtuin Pathways in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases by Asmaa Abdullah, Nuraqila Mohd Murshid and Suzana Makpol Published August 31, 2020 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12035-020-02083-1#:~:text=mTOR%20and%20sirtuin%20are%20key,3). [ix] Joe Rogan Podcast with Dr. David Sinclair on “How Fasting Can Fight Aging” Published on YouTube June 18, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwd-D94pzE [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #114 on “Building a Faster, Stronger, Resilient Brain by Understanding BDNF” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-fact-friday-on-building-a-faster-stronger-resilient-brain-by-understanding-brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor-bdnf/ [xi] Hormesis: Meet the Stress That Makes You Physically and Mentally Stronger Feb. 28, 2021 by Stephanie Eckelkamp https://amp.mindbodygreen.com/articles/hormesis [xii] Modulating Exercise-Induced Stress: Does Less Equal More? August 1, 2015 by Jonathan M Peake, James F. Markworth https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.01055.2014?rss=1 [xiii] What are the benefits of cryotherapy https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319740 [xiv] Saunas for Personal Health and Longevity Strategy by Steve Hill July 22, 2021 https://www.lifespan.io/news/saunas-health-and-longevity/ [xv] 1-2 Person Infrared Sauna from Costco https://www.costco.com/dynamic-gracia-1-2-person-low-emf-infrared-sauna.product.100675807.html [xvi] Huberman Lab Podcast with Dr. David Sinclair EPISODE #52 https://hubermanlab.com/dr-david-sinclair-the-biology-of-slowing-and-reversing-aging/ [xvii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #94 with Jason Wittrock on “Nutrition, Intermittent Fasting, and the Ketogenic Diet”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/personal-trainer-and-fitness-model-jason-wittrock-on-health-nutrition-intermittent-fasting-and-the-ketogenic-diet/ [xviii] Joe Rogan Podcast with Dr. David Sinclair on “How Fasting Can Fight Aging” Published on YouTube June 18, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUwd-D94pzE [xix] Huberman Lab Podcast with Dr. David Sinclair EPISODE #52 https://hubermanlab.com/dr-david-sinclair-the-biology-of-slowing-and-reversing-aging/ [xx] 7 Health Benefits of Resveratrol by Kerri-Ann Jennings March 3, 2017 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/resveratrol#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2 [xxi] NMN (Nicotinamide mononucleotide as an anti-aging health product) August 11, 2011 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123221001491 [xxii] Huberman Lab Podcast with Dr. David Sinclair EPISODE #52 https://hubermanlab.com/dr-david-sinclair-the-biology-of-slowing-and-reversing-aging/ 59:25 [xxiii] The Science Behind NMN: A Stable, Reliable NAD+ Activator and Ant-Aging Molecule by Christopher Shade Feb. 2020 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7238909/#sec1-2title [xxiv] Berberine: A Powerful Supplement with Many Benefits by Kris Gunners January, 2017 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/berberine-powerful-supplement [xxv] Antioxidant Modulation of mTOR and Sirtuin Pathways in Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases by Asmaa Abdullah, Nuraqila Mohd Murshid and Suzana Makpol Published August 31, 2020 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12035-020-02083-1#:~:text=mTOR%20and%20sirtuin%20are%20key,3).

Our words have the power to change mindsets which in turn affect behavior. "A single word has power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress." That is from the book, Words Can Change Your Brain, by Dr. Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman. We want to help students change the way they think so that they can do their best in school and be their best always. It starts with positive words!   GET YOUR FREE PRINTABLE RESOURCE! 6 Evidence Based Strategies     https://bit.ly/6forfree If you found today's episode valuable, please take time to subscribe and leave me a review in Apple Podcasts.. I would love to hear from you! You are appreciated! Here's the link for the Pinterest Masterclass for FREE marketing! http://bit.ly/behaviorpin4u Here's the link for Podcast Pro University. Have some more influence of your own! http://bit.ly/behaviorPPU4u   “EVERY KID IS ONE CARING ADULT AWAY FROM BEING A SUCCESS STORY!” Josh Shipp

Mark Robert Waldman is one of the world's leading experts on communication, spirituality, and the brain. He is on the faculty at Loyola Marymount University's College of Business and the Holmes Institute. Mark has authored 14 books, including the national bestseller, How God Changes Your Brain, an Oprah pick for 2012.  Listen for yourself, Mark is a remarkable human with wisdom for us all. Video version available

Today I speak to my friend Nancy Rose as she tells us about her personal journey of creating a purpose-filled business and lifestyle after retirement. Nancy Rose, the founder of Ultimate U Mindset Solutions, believes that mental and emotional health is the foundation to living a truly empowered life. Nancy has been fascinated about the mind/body/soul connection ever since her road to recovery from a debilitating back injury and mental/emotional burnout over a decade ago. She is passionate about helping other teachers, parents, students, healthcare professionals, and coaches to overcome overwhelm, gain clarity, increase their energy, and live with passion and purpose once more. After 31 years in the healthcare and education sectors, Nancy is now a full-time coach and trainer. She offers group programs and private sessions. Nancy is certified in Satori Qigong: Flow Form (Level Two), NeuroCoaching (trained by Mark Robert Waldman), Neuro Linguistic Programing, Hypnotherapy, TimeLine Therapy, and Magnified Healing. Ultimate U Mindset --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wisedivinewomen/message

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast for Brain Fact Friday and EPISODE #176 on “The Neuroscience of Communication: Why Our Brain Doesn't Like the Word No!” I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind high performance strategies that we can use to improve our own productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. We can achieve outstanding and predictable outcomes with whatever it is we are working towards, when we act intentionally, with our brain in mind. This week's Brain Fact Friday hit me this weekend when I was handed a book and asked what I thought of it. It was Jack Carew's You'll Never Get No for an Answer[i] with a copyright date of 1987! I looked at the cover of the book, and it was clearly written in the 1980s. The author was on the cover, dressed in a suit and pointing at you, the reader with the intention of making a connection. My gut reaction was far from what the author intended. I thought, “oh no, I can't see how there's anything relevant in this book, for today's workplace” feeling that sense of neural dissonance or conflict at the brain level, but if this book wasn't exceptional, I don't think large sales organizations would still be using it, around the world, over 3 decades after it was written. I usually read books through Kindle on my iPhone, so when I have a physical copy, I love to flip through and see what I notice from the pages. We all have our styles of what we are looking for, and I noticed the interior looked “old” and I thought old-school, when I saw that the print wasn't crisp or modern looking. And there weren't many testimonials, just a couple, but the one on the front cover stood out. It was by Og Mandino, American author of the best-selling book, The Greatest Salesman in the World.[ii] Og is the most widely read inspirational and self-help author in the world. He was the former president of Success Unlimited magazine, the first recipient of the Napoleon Hill Gold Medal for literary achievement, a member of the International Speakers Hall of Fame and honored with the Masters of Influence by the National Speakers Association. Og Mandino sadly passed away in 1996 but his books continue to inspire thousands of people all over the world. So if a pro like Og Mandino said this book was “one of the most powerful and helpful books on salesmanship” that he had ever read, my brain went directly to Confirmation Bias, and I thought I had better not judge a book by its cover, and read it right away! I was shocked to see how Jack's 10 strategies, written over 34 years ago, were timeless and relevant for anyone who wants to get their point across to someone else, not just those who are in sales. We all need to be able to persuade others whether it's coming to a consensus in your personal life, or in the workplace, there is a power behind being able to naturally influence someone, without the use of force, which we all know negates. As I was reading his book, I wondered how his strategies could be connected to simple neuroscience, just like The Neuroscience of Personal Change, EPISODE #68[iii] where we took Stephen Covey's 7 Habits book and connected each habit to brain science. I thought about the 10 unique strategies that Jack used to show us how to position ourselves to never receive that dreaded “no, I'm not interested” in whatever it is you are selling, or whatever idea you are trying to convey, and this thought inspired this week's brain fact Friday on “The Neuroscience of Communication: Why Our Brain Doesn't Like the Word No!” and with this I mean not just with the word no,  but looking at how the words you choose, and how exactly you say them can influence someone, or not.  I know Chris Gargano mentioned this in episode #166 when he was taking about leadership in the workplace. In a world where time is money, and most of us never have enough time, what we say really matters. In personal relationships, poor listening and speaking skills are major causes of disagreements and in the business world, can ruin an entire corporation. So for this week's Brain Fact Friday, we will look at Jack Carew's book through a neuroscientific lens, and I hope to prove that he was years ahead of his time with this book, that was written 24 years BEFORE the first fMRI scan machine was introduced, changing the world forever as we began to learn the power held within our brain[iv] with the words we say, and with how we say them. For this week's Brain Fact Friday: DID YOU KNOW: that “Words can heal, or hurt—if you were in an fMRI scanner (that can take a video of the neural changes happening in your brain) (and you were told a firm NO! for something) we could record, in less than a second, a substantial increase of activity in your amygdala and the release of dozens of stress-producing hormones and neurotransmitters…that immediately interrupt the normal functioning of your brain, especially those that are involved with logic, reason, language processing, and communication. And the more you stay focused on negative words and thoughts, the more you can damage key structures that regulate your memory, feelings, and emotions. You may disrupt your sleep, your appetite, and the way your brain regulates happiness, longevity and health.”[v] If I were leading a sales training, using Jack Carew's book in 2021, I would open up the session with a section that shows how important it is that we understand how our words impact our brain—for our health, well-being and productivity as well as the importance of keeping communication quick and to the point for the sake of workplace effectiveness.  Twitter really does have it right when it has you limit your characters (spaces included) to 280 characters or less. If you have something to say, see if you can say it, in 10 words or less. This is an interesting activity to try, especially if you are the type that thinks you have to explain your point (like I've been guilty of).  Before saying anything, use your fingers and count out 10 words, and then stop. Can you convey your ideas in 10 words or less? It takes practice, but is a good practice to learn, when communicating with the brain in mind. “Extreme brevity keeps the emotional centers of the brain from sabotaging a conversation. Anger is averted before it begins…Neuroscience supports this premise…the moment a person expresses even the slightest degree of negativity, it increases negativity in both the speaker's and listener's brains. Instead of getting rid of the anger, we increase it, and this can, over time, cause irreparable damage, not only to the relationship, but to the brain as well…so any strategy that can teach a person to speak with clarity, brevity, calmness, kindness and sincerity will increase interpersonal stability in the workplace and at home.”[vi] I'm sure you are well aware that negative words can hurt our effectiveness and health as well as the flipside where positive words and images can “decrease depression and anxiety” (Words Can Change Your Brain, page 391) but I'm not suggesting to avoid difficult situations, or shrink during adversity, as they can build mental strength, and resilience, but they can also stop you in your tracks. Do you know how your brain responds to the word “no”, or anything negative at all? When difficult situations come up, do you lean towards them, looking for a solution, or back away? Or do you just completely zone out? Try this experiential activity to find out. You'll  actually have to do this activity to see what you notice, and each person, with a brain that's wired differently, will have a completely different experience. I remember doing this activity a few years ago, but it was one of those things you'll never forget. If you do try it, please do let me know the results of what was learned. Experiential Activity: Testing Your Mental Toughness You can try this with your class, or sales team, or in your workplace, but split everyone up into groups of 3. One person is the participant and the other 2 are either the negative chatter that surrounds them daily or the positive feedback. INSTRUCTIONS: Participant: listens and notices what they hear, while the negative person shouts out negative comments into their ear,(on one side)  and the positive person's job is to combat the negative feedback with positive feedback (in the other ear). Once everyone understands their role, you say go…and the positive and negative feedback people need to go right next to the participants ear and speak loudly with either negative things like “you're worthless, a total failure, you're not good at anything” over and over again, while the other person combats these phrases in the other ear with positives like “you're a Rockstar, everything you do turns to gold” something like that…and keep going giving enough time for the participant to notice what they hear.  Let this activity run for a good 2-3 minutes and then debrief. DEBRIEF THE ACTIVITY: ASK THE PARTICIPANT: What was more noticeable (louder, or easier to hear)—the positive or negative feedback? Could the participant get to the point where they didn't hear the negativity at all, showing their ability to block out the noise? Could they remember the negative phrases? Could they remember the positive phrases? What did the participant notice the most? Psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson, Ph.D. reminds us of the Negativity Bias where “the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones”[vii] so it will take practice to build our brain to be wired to hear the positives, and block out the negatives, improving our mental toughness. Each person is different and will have a different experience with this activity because our brains are all wired differently but the purpose is to see how our brain deals with negativity. Can we see past it, overcome it, or does it shut you down?  This is a really good experiential activity for self-awareness. It was at least 20 years ago when I did this for the first time, but I'll never forget my experience. In the beginning, I could hear the negative comments, and wasn't aware of the positives at all, until I shifted, and thought of what I was working on, and something in my brain blocked out all the negative comments, and although they were shouting in my ear, I could only hear the positive person, shouting encouragement for what I was working on. It's a good lesson for the mental strength needed to rewire our brain to pay attention to whatever it is we are working on and ignore everything else that doesn't support this goal. This understanding can take our focus to a new level. REVIEW and CONCLUSION: To close out this week's Brain Fact Friday, on “The Neuroscience of Communication” we are reminded of the importance of speaking with brevity, calmness and kindness, being mindful with the words we choose, and staying focused on our goals, by blocking out all the negative chatter and noise around us. Before writing this conclusion, I took a quick break on Instagram and saw a post from Assistant Professor at Butler University, Dr. Lori Desautels[viii], from EPISODE #16[ix] and EPISODE #56[x] and she had posted the image of her book How May I Serve You [xi] that was published 10 years ago. The cover caught my attention, as I was thinking of how our words impact our brain and what could I possibly say that would be impactful and memorable for us all to think about at the end of this episode. When I saw the image of  her book cover, I thought, this is it! A picture says a million words. I had no idea that her book cover, and original image, was created by Lena Reifinger at Indiana University and 10 years later, we are still looking and thinking about solutions to better serve our students or those we work for by improving our communication skills and being mindful that words really can change our brain. Leading me back to Jack Carew's 10 unique strategies that Og Mandino encouraged us all to read to improve our communication and influence with others. I've picked the first five, with some thoughts that tie back to past episodes on the podcast, and I'm sure you will agree with me, just how important these strategies are for us to think about whether we are in the classroom, or workplace. Og Mandino was right. These principles are timeless and relevant, 34 years later. Strategy 1: Take the Lead  It's your job to please those you serve and how you see yourself is critical. You decide how successful you will be. If you think self-defeating thoughts about yourself, your product/what you are selling, or how you are trying to influence others, it will come through. We covered Self-Awareness[xii] in one of our very first episodes, and it's important enough to have made it to one of Jack's TOP STRATEGIES. REMEMBER: With self-image (what you think about yourself and what you are selling) can be felt. When we connect with someone, it's called neural resonance in the brain, and when something conflicts, it's called cognitive dissonance. Take the lead with confidence and it will be noticed. Everyone loves a confident leader. Strategy 2: Stop Looking Out for Number One  Of course, it's natural for us to be self-interested, but to experience long term success, we must put others ahead of our own wants and needs.   You've got to know your customer or who you are serving, what's important to them, and what they want.  In the business world, we create avatars for our customers and it's important that everything we do is for them. It should be in the back of our head all of the time.  REMEMBER: What they (or those we serve) want is more important than anything, so we must align our solutions (or what we offer) to their needs (whatever they might be). Setting our own thoughts aside, we must uncover what it is that  those we serve want and need, and then solve it. Strategy 3: Invest in the Relationship  We covered “Building Relationships” with Greg Wolcott on EPISODE #7[xiii] and again on EPISODE #9[xiv]  and it's important to note that when we have taken the time to invest in relationships with those we serve, we can easily overcome those difficult challenges that will come our way. REMEMBER: Jack wrote “invest” in the relationship, as that investment is what it will take to overcome times of challenge or difficulty. A solid foundation must be built first and then anything is possible. Strategy 4: Bring Your Energy to the Customer  This is my favorite one of Jack's strategies because when you've got this one, anything is possible. I know you've seen it and felt it—that electric energy that shows up when you connect to someone at the brain level.  It's what will make you memorable and why I think you'll never get a no when you've got this level of connection with another person. I covered the valuable lesson I learned from the Legendary Bob Proctor on episode #66[xv] where Bob taught me about the importance of generating energy from within and reminded me to never show, or say that I'm tired, even when I was. This lesson stuck with me to this day and it's impossible to miss when you see it. REMEMBER: This strategy takes some work on your part. Through diet, exercise, and plenty of sleep, that we talk about on the Bonus Episode “A Deep Dive into the Top 5 Health Staples”[xvi] we will be able to operate at a higher level to make this connection with those we serve. When it's there, you'll notice a magic that makes work more enjoyable, less stressful and fun. Strategy 5: Get Organized  Organization shows up, whether it's in your home, how you keep your car, to your desk, and computer. It's something that can be noticed right away. I love Q4 or year end, as I have always joined my good friend Jim Bunch on his yearly calls where he walks us through a way to clean up our year and prepare to move into the next year. Listen to episode #103[xvii] for some ideas to close out this year, prepare for a new year, and get organized, with your brain in mind. REMEMBER: Getting organized sets you ahead of the game and creates order and space for the New Year for whatever it is that you want to create. Getting organized translates to getting ahead, and can transform your workplace, with significant advantages in sales, like knowing and planning where your sales will come from, having a solid pipeline, and setting the tone for the rest of the year, much like the sports team who gets that first point early in the game, there's a competitive advantage to this sense of organization that builds momentum. I'll let you read Jack's book for the other 5 strategies, but sure you can see how an understanding of our brain can improve our communication and influence, taking our results to greater heights. This closes out this week's Brain Fact Friday! Will see you next week with our first Panel Interview with Dr. Howard Rankin, Dr. Jon Lieff, Horacio Sanchez and Tom Beakbane  as well as with Dr. Brian Stenzler on the importance of mental health for our next generation. We also have a fascinating interview coming up with the CEO of Rewire, a human performance company that provides evidence-based solutions for tracking athlete readiness, building mental resilience, and improving mind/body recovery.  Wishing you a productive weekend, and see you next week. FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/  REFERENCES: [i] You'll Never Get No for an Answer by Jack Carew Published in 1987 https://www.amazon.com/Youll-Never-Get-No-Answer/dp/0671736493 [ii] The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino Published  https://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Salesman-World-Og-Mandino-ebook/dp/B004G8PIQ8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2J4RPTOZXEU0I&dchild=1&keywords=the+greatest+salesman+in+the+world+og+mandino&qid=1635795564&s=books&sprefix=the+greatest+sal%2Cstripbooks%2C137&sr=1-1 [iii]  Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #68 “The Neuroscience of Personal Change with Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-personal-change/ [iv] A History of fMRI https://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/history-fMRI [v] Words Can Change Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Published July 30, 2013 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=words+can+change+your+brain&gclid=CjwKCAjwoP6LBhBlEiwAvCcthCiCJCWZ-n3nMbmllmxcYj7pY9p3EGBjIT1liFGTzVVBlYWdxCBg6hoC3DMQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241598338504&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030091&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2910883915011355196&hvtargid=kwd-36327312367&hydadcr=15527_10340956&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_2ixec66yv3_e [vi] Words Can Change Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman, Published July 30, 2013 https://www.amazon.com/s?k=words+can+change+your+brain&gclid=CjwKCAjwoP6LBhBlEiwAvCcthCiCJCWZ-n3nMbmllmxcYj7pY9p3EGBjIT1liFGTzVVBlYWdxCBg6hoC3DMQAvD_BwE&hvadid=241598338504&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030091&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2910883915011355196&hvtargid=kwd-36327312367&hydadcr=15527_10340956&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_2ixec66yv3_e [vii] Take in the Good by Dr. Rick Hanson https://www.rickhanson.net/take-in-the-good/ [viii] www.Revelationsineducation.com   [ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #16 with Dr. Lori Desautels and Michael McKnight on “The Future of Educational Neuroscience in Our Schools”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/lori-desautels-and-michael-mcknight-on-the-future-of-educational-neuroscience-in-our-schools-and-communities/ [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #56 with Dr. Lori Desautels on “Connections Over Compliance” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/educational-neuroscience-pioneer-dr-lori-desautels-on-her-new-book-about-connections-over-compliance-rewiring-our-perceptions-of-discipline/ [xi] How May I Serve You by Dr. Lori Desautels Published Feb. 7, 2012  https://www.amazon.com/How-May-Serve-Revelations-Education/dp/146995818X [xii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #2 on “Self-Awareness: Know Thyself” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/self-awareness-know-thyself/ [xiii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #7 “Building Relationships in Today's Classrooms” with Greg Wolcott  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/greg-wolcott-on-building-relationships-in-todays-classrooms/ [xiv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #9 “Using Your Brain to Build and Sustain Effective Relationships” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-to-build-and-sustain-effective-relationships/ [xv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #66 “The Legendary Bob Proctor” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on/   [xvi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE on “ A Deep Dive into the Top 5 Health Staples” and Review of Seasons 1-4  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/ Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #103 on “The Neuroscience of Leadership: 3 Ways to Reset, Recharge and Refuel Your Brain for Your Best Year Ever.[xvii] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-leadership-3-ways-to-reset-recharge-and-refuel-your-brain-for-your-best-year-ever/

At its core, spirituality is a connection and a relationship, but a disposition that flows from that. Therapy is spiritual work. In this episode, we proudly welcome our newest member to our podcast and today's host Dr. Erin Elmore. Erin is joined by Daniel Kim, LMFT, who has 12 years of experience working with clients who struggle with trauma, relational problems, and spiritual issues. Dan has also worked with members of the clergy who struggle with deep personal issues. Together, Erin and Dan, discuss integrating faith with therapy practice, viewing therapy as spiritual work, working with pastors in therapy, and advocating for therapists to do their own personal work to become better at helping their clients. When we are helping people in our sessions experience unconditional positive regard, compassion, and love as a therapist, and treat our clients with worth and dignity, we help our clients love themselves with self-compassion and acceptance. That is spirituality.   For more information about Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy by P. Scott Richards, PhD and Allen E. Bergin, PhD, please visit: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4317077 For more information about How God Changes Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/120938/how-god-changes-your-brain-by-andrew-newberg-md-and-mark-robert-waldman/ For more information about Building Moral Intelligence by Michele Borba, Ed.D, please visit: https://www.micheleborba.com/books/building-moral-intelligence/ For more information about Soul Searching by Dr. William Doherty, please visit: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/soul-searching-15 For more information about Daniel Kim and his private practice, please visit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/daniel-c-kim-la-mesa-ca/475310

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast for Brain Fact Friday and EPISODE #173 on “The Neuroscience of our Beliefs” where we will take a deeper dive into what are beliefs are, how they impact our day-to-day life, habits, successes, and failures, and how we must pay attention to them “because they can make the difference between life and death, health and illness” (Larry Dossey, MD)[i] and increased clarity in our life. In Today's Brain Fact Friday, You Will Learn: ✔︎ What are beliefs from the perspective of neuroscience? ✔︎ What's the problem with what we believe? ✔︎ Understanding our Cognitive Biases. ✔︎ Becoming a Better Believer in 3 Steps. For those who are new here, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind high performance strategies that we can use to improve our own productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. The purpose of this podcast is to take the fear out of this new discipline that backs our learning with simple neuroscience to make it applicable for us all to use right away, for immediate results. This week's Brain Fact Friday comes to you as I am in the final stages of writing a research paper, or an abstract to complete a year-long neuroscience certification course I have been taking with Mark Robert Waldman, who began teaching me how to understand the impacts of neuroscience on the brain and learning, back in 2014. I know that I was one of his very first students who began working with him years before he launched his training program that is rigorous, and not everyone who joins, completes it. Learning anything new requires consistent focus and effort, and my hopes are to continue to translate the most current and accurate neuroscience research, to be useful in your daily life through this podcast. Once this abstract is graded, I will share it with you for a more in depth look at the future of educational neuroscience, with a look back at where it began, some of the criticism it's faced, while sharing the impact I see it having on our future generations of teachers and learners. Stay tuned for this, and for more interviews coming next week, but until then, for this week's Brain Fact Friday, we will examine how beliefs show up in our brain and what we should all know about what we believe and how to sharpen and even challenge our beliefs, for improved results. If I asked you right now to define what a belief is, I am sure we would all come up with a different definition. But did you know that from the perspective of neuroscience that all beliefs (factual beliefs, self-beliefs, social beliefs, monetary beliefs, health beliefs) just to name a few- are “incomplete predictions, formed in the Default Mode Network (Imagination Network—the yellow and orange areas in the brain in the image below). These predictions (whatever it is that we believe) combine subjective feelings (that are mostly imaginary and a product of the DMN-our Imagination Center) with factual observations, forming an emotional cognitive bias which is embedded into our long-term memory.   IMAGE SOURCE: Mark Waldman “Beliefs and the Brain” showing what our beliefs look like in our brain in the Default Mode (Imagination) Network. Remember that “all beliefs have limitations, and every one of them contains assumptions and inaccuracies concerning the true nature of the world.”   (Born to Believe, Mark Waldman and Dr. Andrew Newberg)[ii] SUMMARY: “Our beliefs are incomplete predictions about the future, formed as a part of our imagination network, combining current feelings with factual observations, with bits and pieces of old memories, forming a cognitive bias (whether you are right or wrong—this is how your brain sees the world). Your brain doesn't care if it's true or false, right, or wrong.  It will create what you need to help you to go after the rewards that are important to you in your life.” (Waldman) Wait a minute, I'm thinking, and I know YOU are thinking, stop for a minute! You mean our deepest beliefs, or what we strongly believe, are false, or imaginary, or have inaccuracies? Simon Sinek launched his career with his first book, Starts with Why that's all about how great leaders inspire action[iii] by saying what they believe, and I know that when I worked for Pearson Education in the publishing field, I believed in their mission statement of “Doing the Right Thing Every Day” that was behind the high level of work ethic that governed what I did from the minute I woke up, until I went to sleep at night.  So how on the earth can what we believe be inaccurate? Tom Beakbane got us started on this train of thought on EPISODE #144[iv] with his topic “Consilience: A New Way to Look at the World” and expert in psychology, Dr. Howard Rankin kept our thinking going on episode #146[v] with “How Not to Think” when he reminded us that “our thinking is illogical.” Then this week, I joined a discussion with my neuroscience class where we looked at how our beliefs can be irrational, and how important it is to recognize that “the memories and beliefs we have about ourselves are the most untrustworthy of all.” (p127, Born to Believe).  I know that these past episodes resonated with you, the listener, as they remain in the top performing list of this podcast the past couple of months, so I think that you, like me, are willing to challenge some of our beliefs, and in turn, increase our self-awareness. John Harmon reminded us of the importance of believing in our students, or the self-belief we must have while doing math on episode #170 and I know that my Mom's personal story of how she thinks she beat uterine cancer in the late 1990s, stemmed from her belief in her wellness, so I'm not ready to cross all beliefs off our list yet, but am open-minded enough to take a closer look at what I believe and why. ANDREW NEWBERG, MD, AND MARK ROBERT WALDMAN remind us in their book Born to Believe that “The human brain is really a believing machine, and every experience we have affects the depth and quality of those beliefs. The beliefs may hold only a glimmer of truth, but they always guide us toward our ideals. Without them, we cannot live, let alone change the world. They are our creed, they give us faith, and they make us who we are. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” But viewed through the lens of neuroscience, it might be better stated as “I believe, therefore I am.” Cognitive Bias: So what is the problem with our beliefs when it comes to looking at them through the lens of neuroscience? There is no such thing as “truth” from a neuroscientific perspective. Just look at the list of cognitive biases, reminding us that our beliefs are an illusion. We have beliefs that help us to avoid mistakes, beliefs for staying focused and beliefs for confirming our existing beliefs. Looking at this list, can you pick out what you believe, and then look at the cognitive biases associated with your belief?   What Exactly Are Beliefs? We listed a few of them at the start of this episode, like factual beliefs, or self-beliefs, and we've talked about beliefs on other episodes, specifically #66 where I did a deep dive into the lessons learned when I worked with Bob Proctor in the motivational speaking industry. Proctor's work was centered around changing people's self-limiting beliefs (that we should know never to trust) specifically with regards to someone's ability to earn money. If you go back and listen to episode #66 you'll see where I had an AHA moment around my original belief of earning money, changing the belief that we have to trade our time to earn income, when I saw how many people earned money through multiple sources. Some sold products and services online, others earned commission through sales, but this changed my belief and opened up the keyhole and level of awareness. Changing our beliefs can be known as changing our paradigms which are a multitude of habits that guide every move we make. I learned so much from those early days working with self-limiting beliefs when Proctor said to me “Andrea, what do you really want?” and I remember quietly answering him, not at all believing what I was saying, stating something about wanting to make an impact with the education and youth. I knew I had a lot to learn before I experienced what he called praxis, which is when we integrate our beliefs with our behaviors. What I believed and the actions I was taking hadn't yet lined up. With time and experience, I began to integrate my beliefs with my behavior and actions. The stronger our belief, the more steadfast you will be with your actions, changing your thoughts and feelings, and eventually your conditions, circumstances, and environment. This is when the true magic associated with belief occurs. This is the magic that Waldman and Newberg talked about when they said that our belief “gave us our faith and made us who we are.”   IMAGE SOURCE: Mark Waldman “Beliefs and the Brain” showing what our beliefs look like in our brain in the Default Mode (Imagination) Network. How Do We Become Better Believers in 3 STEPS? BELIEVE WITH YOUR BRAIN IN MIND: The belief system that you have that feels the most true or important to you “is a combination of the salience network that puts a value on what you think is the most important and meaningful in your life, from your DMN or Imagination Center.” (Waldman). Think about what you value. What is true to you? This will help you to get closer to seeing how you believe with your brain in mind. For example—have you ever changed an old belief based on something new you have learned? How did this happen? It happened when you changed what you valued, and your brain (your Salience Network) was involved in this process. I think about the fact I would NEVER grab a stick of butter, and even consider eating it, let alone put in my coffee, when I was in my late 20s. Butter was full of fat, and something I believed we should avoid. Fast forward to 2016 when I found Jason Whittrock from EPSIODE #94[vi] on YouTube and along with the Availability Heuristic Bias (since I saw it on YouTube, and this trainer was in good shape, so I believed him) and changed my belief that eating fats won't make me fat and this belief changed the way that I eat. Think about the beliefs that you used to hold that might have changed, and then look at the list of cognitive biases to see why they might have changed, based on the value that your brain put on this belief. INTEGRATE YOUR BELIEFS WITH YOUR BEHAVIOR WITH PRAXIS: by Celebrating Small Wins with Your Goals. Brendon Burchard, the author of High Performance Habits[vii], talks about the importance of “celebrating small wins into your weekly schedule so that you integrate these wins into your identity.”[viii] He often coaches people who forget to do this, as they are so focused in pursuit of a large goal, that in the process of being laser focused on the end result, they forget to integrate or even feel the small wins along the way. This is much like what Proctor was talking about with the concept of Praxis where someone never does integrate their beliefs with their behavior. Without Praxis, or integrating/feeling small wins, you never gain the belief needed for the realization of the end goal. To do this, make sure you carve out time in your schedule to look at, and celebrate your small wins. CHALLENGE YOUR BELIEFS: If our beliefs really are inaccurate, why not be open to the fact that “We think, therefore we are wrong?” and look at the world with a scientific lens where we see our beliefs as cognitive biases and challenge them. The more we can challenge what we believe, think about how our thinking is flawed, the happier we can be, the less conflict we will have in our personal and professional lives, and we will in turn become better believers. I hope these ideas have added clarity to your perception of beliefs, not confusion, and of course, this is because I operate with the need to please everyone bias! Would love to hear your thoughts on this episode, as it still has me thinking. In the meantime, I will see you next week with an interview with Dr. Lee Stevens on his new book that's coming out this fall, Affective Neuroscience in Psychotherapy that will take us deeper into understanding our emotions at the brain level, and their influence on our behavior, memory, and judgements. Have a good weekend! FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/    REFERENCES: [i] Larry Dossey, MD testimonial on the book “Born to Believe” [ii] Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs  by Andrew Newberg, MD and Mark Robert Waldman Published October 2, 2007  https://www.amazon.com/Born-Believe-Science-Ordinary-Extraordinary/dp/0743274989 [iii] Simon Sinek “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” TEDx Puget Sound   https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action/up-next?language=en [iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #144 with Tom Beakbane on “How to Understand Everything”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/author-and-marketer-tom-beakbane-on-how-to-understand-everything-consilience-a-new-way-to-look-at-the-world/ [v] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #146 with Dr. Howard Rankin on “How Not to Think” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/expert-in-psychology-cognitive-neuroscience-and-neurotechnology-howard-rankin-phd-on-how-not-to-think/ [vi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #94 with Jason Wittrock on “Health, Nutrition, Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/personal-trainer-and-fitness-model-jason-wittrock-on-health-nutrition-intermittent-fasting-and-the-ketogenic-diet/ [vii] High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard Published Sept. 19, 2017  https://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Habits-Extraordinary-People/dp/1401952852 [viii] Celebrate the Small Wins with Brendon Burchard https://brendon.com/blog/celebrate-wins/

SHOW NOTES: On this show...it's all in the eye of the beholder. From your line of vision, are you on the ground staring at what can only be described as an unsurmountable mess of chaos, stress, and todos OR are you feeling the fresh air of victory as you look down and survey all you've accomplished and what might be your next move? Transportation from one visual to the next is within your power and your perspective. You might have heard it before “the day starts and ends with you”. This mantra isn't announcing your logistical whereabouts but instead describing your power over perception. The start and particularly your positive or negative acceptance are up to you. And at the end of the day, it's YOU who describes the sentiment of the day. Was it a good day or a bad day….only you know. You have the power to move mountains with what you expect, what you project, and what you accept.  I have been talking about Encouragementology - the practice of instilling hope, for over 5 years. It started with the revelation of encouragement and how that affects all creatures. Investing one's time, empathy, and positive energy can have a profound impact on the universe. Encouragement shouldn't be watered down to a “go gettum” mantra or a slogan like “just do it”. It's important to understand what appropriate encouragement looks like and the power one produces when delivering authentic encouragement.  I produced a couple of talks recently and it dawned on me; an overarching theme for everything I've ever talked about is Power & Perspective. I'm on a mission to help people understand the power they possess to rule over their lives. The golden combination includes one's perspective. With just a slight shift in perspective, your mental location can go from base camp to scaling the summit. And back….and back again.  Words Can Change Your Brain -according to Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, words can literally change your brain. Written by  Therese J. Borchard  and found at pschcentral.com Stacy Weibe gives us WAYS TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS found at thelife.com Patrick Buggy shines more light on this idea in The Power of Perception: Change Your Narrative, Change Your Life found at mindfulambition.com I found some interesting ideas at Mental Health America, mhanational.org - Getting Out of Thinking Traps Giving us solutions instead of problems is Elizabeth Burke with: How to Take Back Your Power & Regain Control Over Your Life found at empoweredtherapy.org    KEY HIGHLIGHTS -Moving Mountains, Power & Perspective You have the power to move mountains with what you expect, what you project, and what you accept. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can change your brain. A positive view of yourself will bias you toward seeing the good in others, whereas a negative self-image will include you toward suspicion and doubt.  It doesn't have to be a premeditated act of kindness to be encouraging. The sheer fact that you have a choice is another way to demonstrate your power. since life's events aren't imbued with universal meaning, you get to choose how you feel about things. You are in control of your life's narrative! your energy is not dictated by the randomness of life's happening When you understand that life's events don't carry universal meaning, your enthusiasm and energy are not held captive by the randomness of life's events. Investing time in another human being can pay the most rewarding dividends.   You have resources around you, a mouth to ask for help, a mind that can deliver patience, and the ability to soothe your stress. You are not powerless.   CHALLENGE: Recognize your power to choose perception, affect change, ignite positivity, and spread encouragement. Going from base camp to summit is all within your reach.   I Know YOU Can Do It!

If you've ever wanted to know what enlightenment really is, and if there's a way to get there, then do we have the How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain show for you!   Today I'll be talking with best-selling author, Dr. Andrew Newberg from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences known as neurotheology, and co-author of a phenomenal new book, along with Mark Robert Waldman, How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain.   That's just what I want to talk with him about today, about the new science of transformation, and what it means for all of us.   That plus we'll talk about automatic writing, sufis and brain scans, mediums and parietal lobes, why you might not want to study demons, what to do when being chased by dinosaurs, what in the world a sea of infinite doubt has to do with anything, and the spiritual significance of unpopped popcorn on the stove!   Topics Include:  What was the fundamental question about humanity that bothered Dr. Newberg? What is enlightenment? What is a little e experience and a big E experience How can we learn about spirituality and enlightenment through the fmri What's the importance of “stop trying” What does the big E have to do with a person's purpose or sense of meaning? What's the importance of an empty cup? What can we learn from an online survey on enlightenment and the brain What does the frontal and parietal lobes have to do with anything? What happens in the brain of meditators during meditation? What can we learn from people who speak in tongues? What can we learn from Brazilian mediums? What happens to the brain during channeling or mediumship? What happens to the brain during automatic writing? What are different levels of human awareness? What can we learn about automatic writing? What are the benefits of a daily practice? What can we learn from the LovingKindness Meditation? What's the power of forgiveness and what does it do to the brain? What are the key steps to prepare the brain for enlightenment What's the power of OM? What's the power of drumming? What's the importance of mantras or repeating words?   To find out more visit: http://www.andrewnewberg.com https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's new book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got NEW Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow 

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast for Brain Fact Friday and episode #156 that takes us back to the Top 5 health staples that we introduced at the end of 2020[i] when I was asked to speak at Podbean's Wellness Week[ii]  with Dr. Carolyn Leaf. I've listed a reminder to these 5 health staples in the show notes and think it's important to revisit them using the principle of “spaced repetition” since “where our attention goes, energy flows” (James Redfield) with the idea that as we move in the direction of our goals this next year, that we do so with our physical and mental health in mind. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of our listeners, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind high performance strategies in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments with ideas that we can all use, understand and implement immediately. Medical Disclaimer: Just a reminder—I would consider myself a researcher, sharing preventative and supplemental ideas and strategies related to the most current research on the brain, health and wellness education. In addition to studying directly with Mark Robert Waldman, a leading neuroscience researcher and expert on communication learning and the brain, I spend my evenings, weekends and spare time making connections with our past speakers, so that I can share these ideas to help bring more awareness to the advancements made in this fast moving field.  Always seek the advice of your physician or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have about your health and remember that you should never disregard medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you learn through this podcast. Back to our episode—You may have noticed the shift towards health and wellbeing at the end of 2020 as we were a good year into the Pandemic, and who wasn't looking for ways to improve their mental and physical health to improve cognition, productivity, and results. When I look at the top 5 health staples, I know that some of them I can put a check next to, and say “making progress here” and some areas I know I have completely forgotten about, and if these 5 health staples are important for future brain health, mental health and Alzheimer's prevention, I know it's important to keep learning as much as possible to further optimize these areas. As I am researching and learning, I will share anything important and relevant on our future Brain Fact Friday episodes. This week I wanted to focus on Health Staple #4 “Optimizing our Microbiome” because I still have questions myself about best practices in this area and making a stronger case for the gut-brain connection as we figure out the best ways to fix, repair and rebuild our body so that we can be the best possible versions of ourselves. To do this, I wanted to share some key findings from Jonathan Otto's recent documentary Autoimmune Answers[iii] with some ideas that he brings to light to help everyone understand that strengthening our immune system is the key to disease prevention and health, and how understanding Autoimmune Diseases (like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis or Type 1 Diabetes) all begins with an understanding of the gut-brain connection. We all know the toll that the Pandemic took on our mental health, and I was reminded today with a post on Instagram from Amen Clinics[iv] that “suicide hotlines have seen a significant increase in calls due to (the) Coronavirus” and that “we must continue navigating the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.” I think back to my interview with Dr. Carolyn Leaf[v] who I hosted Podbean's Wellness week with last December, and her most recent book that we covered on a bonus episode this past March reminds us that we must “Clean Up Our Mental Mess” since “unmanaged toxic stress puts our body into low-grade inflammation which can accelerate the aging process”[vi] among other things we will take a closer look at on this episode. Dr. Jon Lieff on episode #143[vii] reminded me that “inflammation is the precursor for chronic disease.” Which brings me to this week's Brain Fact Friday. I mentioned I wanted to focus on health staple #4 this week (optimizing the microbiome) and this week, I came across a documentary created by Jonathan Otto called Autoimmune Answers[viii]  that caught my attention because someone I know has been struggling with health issues for some time now, and every time he visits the doctor, he is told—your blood work looks fine, so it's got to be an auto immune disease.  I started hearing about automated immune diseases from Ari Whitten from his Energy Blueprint: New Science of Energy Class[ix] where he went deeper into the causes behind common illnesses that he would say showed brain-related symptoms like chronic fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, and loss of resilience that he attributed to “neuroinflammation” or chronic inflammation in the brain. He said that some of these illness were caused by a leaky blood-brain barrier (that should let in glucose, amino acids, and hormones, but keep out toxins and pathogens) and this is similar to a leaky gut.  His course explains how the powerhouse of the cells, the mitochondria go into defense-mode when stressed (lack of sleep, poor inflammatory diet, toxin exposure) which is at the root of inflammation. I will put the link to his course in the show notes, as I have learned so much from Ari, but it was here that I decided I had better watch Jonathan Otto's documentary if I wanted to get a better understanding of Autoimmune Disease and the gut-brain connection. REVIEW OF THE TOP 5 HEALTH STAPLES THAT ARE ALZHEIMER'S PREVENTION STRATEGIES I wasn't even 5 minutes into episode 1 of Jonathan's Autoimmune Answers and guess who appears as a doctor giving advice? Dr. David Perlmutter who taught me the top 5 health staples with his Alzheimer's Science of Prevention Documentary[x]. I know that we all know that when we feel “off” we can usually look at the top 5 health staples and see if there's a starting point to make improvements.  We have covered these staples extensively, but here's a quick review. How is your aerobic exercise? John Ratey on EPISODE #116[xi] made a clear case for the connection with aerobic exercise and improved brain structure and function along with fitness expert Luke DePron on EPISODE #90.[xii] How is your sleep? If you need help here, visit EPISODE #72[xiii] with Dr. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage” or EPISODE #120[xiv] where I share how the Fisher Wallace Medical Device Improve My Sleep. What about eating a healthy diet? We all can sway towards eating a certain diet, but Dr. Daniel Stickler took diet, nutrition, and our future to a whole new level on EPISODE #96[xv] and Dr. Perlmutter says it loud and clear in EPISODE 1 of Autoimmune Answers that “making good food choices will help us to make better decisions”[xvi] in our everyday lives. Are you optimizing your microbiome? We will dive into this one today, but Dr. Vuyisich was the first to talk with me about the importance of optimizing our microbiome for reversing chronic disease on EPISODE #93.[xvii] Have you tried Intermittent Fasting? Ketogenic Diet and Intermittent Fasting Expert Jason Wittrock covers this topic on EPISODE #94.[xviii] Other than taking probiotics at night, or making sure I'm eating a healthy diet, I don't pay much attention to optimizing my gut microbiome. Do you? Let me know if there are other ideas that you know of, that can help others. This brings me to this week's Brain Fact Friday: DID YOU KNOW THAT “70-80% of your immune system is found in your gut tissues?” (Dr. Gerenger and Dr. Kan from Autoimmune Answers, explain this in detail saying that many people who feel “off” visit their doctor only to be told that their labs are normal because “the inflammation that began in the gut, has not attacked the glands yet” (Autoimmune Answers, EPISODE 1)[xix] Dr. Daniel Amen (America's leading psychiatrist and brain health experts) calls our gastrointestinal tract our “second brain”[xx]  that is “lined with about 100 million neurons—more neurons than you have in your spinal cord” and he believes that “when you have problems with your gut, you're more likely to have mental health issues.”[xxi] We have also heard before that there does appear to be a hidden relationship between Alzheimer's disease and the microbiome in our gut and that “an imbalanced gut microbiome (dysbiosis) could lead to Alzheimer's disease and wider neuroinflammation through the gut-brain-axis. Promoting ‘good bacteria' relative to ‘bad bacteria' in the gut may be important in maintaining good digestive, immune and neurological health.”[xxii] This is still a developing field but taking prebiotics and probiotics[xxiii] are the best way to promote a healthy gut/brain balance. If 70-80% of my immune system is found in my gut tissues, I think it makes sense that I learn as much as I can about optimizing my gut microbiome. I do recommend watching the Autoimmune Answers documentary by Jonathan Otto, but in the meantime, here are my main take-aways from this documentary. 3 Tips for Optimizing the Gut Microbiome to Improve Your Immune System Know what helps your gut microbiome: Did you know that our gut is made up of trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes? This microbiome plays an important role in our health by helping to control digestion and benefitting our immune system. Taking a probiotic daily, remaining active, eating a healthy diet and avoiding foods that disrupt our microbiome[xxiv] (processed fried foods, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners), are important for our gut/brain health. This makes sense to me, but I still sometimes forget to take my probiotic at night.  I did learn that taking digestive enzymes were a good idea to help break down your food so that the nutrients could be better absorbed. I've been taking digestive enzymes for over 20 years after a trainer said it would be a good idea, but now they have a new purpose. I did learn about the importance of taking fulvic acid to fight inflammation and improve my body's ability to be resistant to disease, but I haven't started this one yet. Know what hurts your gut microbiome: Antibiotics were designed to kill bacteria but they also “kill good bacteria in the gut” (Autoimmune Answers EPISODE 1) but so do oral contraceptives, NSAIDS, stress, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and toxins”[xxv] I always think really hard before taking something that I know will have a damaging effect on the health of my body, even if I think it will help me in the short term. I'm not perfect in this area, probably because I can't see the damage I'm doing so it's not always easy to make the best decisions here. Even though we sometimes know better, we still do things that we know are not good for us. What I learned from Autoimmune Answers that changed my thought process here a bit was that the stomach lining is “one-cell thick” from Dr. Vincent Pedre from EPSIODE 4[xxvi] so it's not difficult to damage the lining of our stomach, making it permeable to pathogens that come in and create what is called “leaky gut.” Add Aerobic Exercise: It Fixes Everything. Dr. Perlmutter reminded us that “aerobic exercise increases gut bacterial diversity”[xxvii] Researchers say “they noticed changes in the gut microbiome after six weeks of exercise. The gut makeup returned to normal after the exercise was dropped.”[xxviii] There are so many cases for adding aerobic exercise to your daily routine and now we can add gut health to our list.  FINAL THOUGHTS TO CLOSE OUT THIS WEEK'S BRAIN FACT FRIDAY When our podcast took the turn towards Health and Wellness at the end of 2020, in addition to the focusing on the science behind social and emotional learning, I decided to launch Brain Fact Fridays—with a goal to provide a brain tip that ties back to how our brain works. If I can also tie this Brain Fact to one of the Top 5 health staples, I think this reinforced, spaced repetition of ideas will be helpful, for all of us. Let me know what you think of this episode. Send me an email to andrea@achieveit360.com or connect with me through social media. At the end of last year, we learned how important the top 5 health staples were from Dr. Perlmutter's Alzheimer's Science of Prevention Documentary[xxix] but what about Autoimmune Disease? Have you or someone you know just felt “off' for some reason, and you've gone to the doctor, taken some blood tests, and they all come back fine, yet you intuitively know something wasn't right? This has got to be the most frustrating situation. If you've ever had this happen, you will know what I mean, and if you want to watch Jonathan Otto's Autoimmune Answers, be sure to click the link in the show notes.  https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/ I am not affiliated to Jonathan Otto in any way, nor is this an affiliate link, I just think his documentary could help someone who is struggling with their health to find some answers. I'm sure you can see that the implementation of these ideas is important, and what I love about hosting these podcasts (in addition to how much I am learning personally) is hearing that some of these high-level performers, like Dr. Carolyn Leaf, mentions she doesn't have it all together, all of the time either, and often uses the principles she teaches to help calm her brain and mind down during her work day. When I see these ideas being implemented in this way, I think it makes them more relatable for others who can see that no one is immune from life's challenges. We will all face challenges, but the key will be—to think—do you have the tools that you need to suffer the inevitable adversity and challenge less, and get back on track so that you get to where you are going in one piece with your physical and mental health intact? As we are interviewing high-level speakers, working on ways to improve productivity and results in our life, whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or someone looking to take their results to the next level in their workplace, I want to make sure that we all get to where we are going that we have exceptional health when we get there. When I'm sitting at my desk, and look up on my wall, I see a list of values that drive me on a day-to-day basis, and Health is at the top of this list. What would be the point of doing these podcasts, getting excited about the new strategies we are learning and implementing from all these powerful speakers, and hearing about how people around the world are implementing these ideas in their schools, classrooms and workplaces, without addressing the importance of our physical and mental health along the way of this journey. And with that, I wish you a wonderful weekend! See you next week. FOLLOW ANDREA SAMADI:  YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AndreaSamadi   Website https://www.achieveit360.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samadi/  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Achieveit360com   Neuroscience Meets SEL Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2975814899101697   Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreasamadi   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasamadi/  RESOURCES: Therapeutic Potential of Fulvic Acid in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases and Diabetes by John Winkler and Sanjay Ghosh Published Sept.10, 2018 Dr. Peter Kan, DC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6151376/https://askdrkan.com/about-drkan-in-gilbert-az/ Dr. Cathleen Gerenger, DC https://www.healthgrades.com/providers/cathleen-gerenger-2vgrd  REFERENCES: [i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE December 2020 with Andrea Samadi on “The Top 5 Health Staples”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/bonus-episode-a-deep-dive-into-the-top-5-health-staples-and-review-of-seasons-1-4/ [ii] Podbean's Wellness Week https://www.podbean.com/podcastwellnessweek [iii] https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/ [iv] https://www.amenclinics.com/ [v] BONUS EPISODE with Dr. Carolyn Leaf on “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/worldrenownedneuroscientistdr-caroline-leaf-oncleaningup-your-mentalmess5-simplescientifically-proven-stepsto-reduceanxiety-and-toxic-thinking/ [vi] https://neurocycle.app/ (Day 10) [vii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #143 on “The Secret Language of Cells”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/jon-lieff-md-on-the-secret-language-of-cells-what-biological-conversations-tell-us-about-the-brain-body-connection/ [viii] https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/ [ix]  https://theenergyblueprint.com/new-science-of-energy1/ [x] https://www.drperlmutter.com/alzheimers-the-science-of-prevention-2020-air-dates/ [xi]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #116 on “The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/best-selling-author-john-j-ratey-md-on-the-revolutionary-new-science-of-exercise-and-the-brain/ [xii]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #90 with Luke DePron on “Neuroscience, Fitness and Growth”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/host-of-the-live-great-lifestyle-podcast-luke-depron-on-neuroscience-health-fitness-and-growth/ [xiii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast BONUS EPISODE #72 with Dr. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-shane-creado-on-sleep-strategies-that-will-guarantee-a-competitive-advantage/ [xiv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #120 with Andrea Samadi on a “Personal Review of the Fisher Wallace Wearable Medical Device” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/personal-review-of-the-fisher-wallace-wearable-medical-device-for-anxiety-depression-and-sleepstress-management/ Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast  EPISODE #96 with Dr. Daniel Stickler on “Expanding Awareness for Limitless Potential” [xv]https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-daniel-stickler-on-expanding-awareness-for-limitless-peak-performance-health-longevity-and-intelligence/ [xvi] https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/ (EPISODE 1 Dr. Perlmutter) [xvii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #93 with Dr. Vuyisich on “Improving the Health of Your Microbiome: Reversing Chronic Disease” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-momo-vuyisich-on-improving-the-health-of-your-microbiome-preventing-and-reversing-chronic-disease/ Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #94 with Jason Wittrock on “Health, Nutrition, Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet[xviii] https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/personal-trainer-and-fitness-model-jason-wittrock-on-health-nutrition-intermittent-fasting-and-the-ketogenic-diet/ [xix] https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/ (EPISODE 1 with Dr. Cathleen Gerenger, DC and Dr. Peter Kan). [xx] Does My Gut Affect My Mental Stability? Dr. Daniel Amen October 1, 2019 https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/does-my-gut-health-affect-my-mental-stability/ [xxi] ibid [xxii] Alzheimer's Disease and the Microbiome by Oman Shabir  https://www.news-medical.net/health/Alzheimers-Disease-and-the-Microbiome.aspx [xxiii] What is the Difference Between a Prebiotic and a Probiotic https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323490 [xxiv] 11 Ways Your Life Can Disrupt the Gut Microbiome https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/11-ways-your-life-can-disrupt-the-gut-microbiome/ [xxv] Does My Gut Affect My Mental Stability? Dr. Daniel Amen October 1, 2019 https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/does-my-gut-health-affect-my-mental-stability/ [xxvi] https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/lifetime-access-2021/ Autoimmune Answers EPISODE 4 Dr. Vincent Pedre [xxvii] https://theautoimmuneanswers.com/lifetime-access-2021/ Autoimmune Answers EPISODE 4 Dr/ Perlmutter [xxviii] Researchers Say Exercise Also Improves Your Gut Bacteria Written by Elizabeth Pratt, September 24, 2018 https://www.healthline.com/health-news/exercise-improves-your-gut-bacteria#:~:text=Research%20Says%20Exercise%20Also%20Improves%20Your%20Gut%20Bacteria&text=Researchers%20say%20they%20noticed%20changes,reason%20to%20exercise%2C%20try%20this. [xxix] https://www.drperlmutter.com/alzheimers-the-science-of-prevention-2020-air-dates/

Andrea Samadi  had been a teacher for many years when she consulted with Mark Robert Waldman, one of the leading neuroscience researchers in the country, to help her make the connection between how the brain impacts learning, achievement, well-being and results. She wrote Level Up: A Brain-Based Strategy to Skyrocket Student Success and Achievement using the latest research to help others increase their learning potential and how to access those “aha” moments of learning. Her programs offer practical strategies that will help a person achieve realistic goals and to handle times when difficult emotions knock us off course. Andrea presents on the impacts of “Stress, Learning and the Brain” as well as topics including “Brain-Aligned Strategies to Skyrocket Literacy Achievement” and “Emotions, Learning and the Brain.”She has created many educational programs backed up by neuroscience  and is the host of the popular Neuroscience meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast. She can be found at https://www.achieveit360.com/ where she offers programs for schools and workplaces.Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hownottothink)

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for Brain Fact Friday and episode #127 on Using Brain Network Theory to Understand How Emotions Impact Learning, Memory, and the Brain. To see the images for this episode, click on this link, if you are listening on iTunes. In this episode, you will learn: ✔︎ The how our emotions drive learning. ✔︎ How our memories form, and how to erase unwanted memories. ✔︎ The old way of looking at our brain (The Three Brains) vs (Brain Network Theory). ✔︎ Strategies to create balance in our brain in our classrooms and workplaces. Welcome back, I'm Andrea Samadi, a former educator who has been fascinated with understanding the science behind high performance strategies in schools, sports and the workplace for the past 20 years. If you have been listening to our podcast for some time, you will know that we’ve uncovered that if we want to improve our social and emotional skills, and experience success in our work and personal lives, it all begins with an understanding of our brain. We started Brain Fact Fridays last month to dive a bit deeper into some of top brain strategies we uncover in our interviews, or weekly episodes and from the feedback I have heard, these short episodes are helpful for learning about the brain in quick, easy to digest lessons, so we will continue with Brain Fact Fridays and I do appreciate the feedback! This past weekend, I was asked to be interviewed by Ti-Fen Pan, the host of the Compass Teachers Podcast,[i] from Taiwan. She interviews people around the globe on the most current educational topics, tactics, and resources, and she sent me a list of incredible questions that really made me think.  I love taking a break from being the person doing the interviews, and tune into other people’s shows, since I always want to learn something new, that I can share, and Ti-Fen really got me thinking with her podcast questions. How Do Our Emotions Drive Learning? Her first question to me was “what has neuroscience discovered about the relationship with our emotions and learning” and I had to think back to episode #100[ii] with Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, who is a Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Southern California and Director of the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE Center).[iii]  Mary Helen is an expert on learning and the brain, especially when it comes to emotions and learning. She wrote the book Emotions, Learning and the Brain,[iv] where she talks about how “We feel, therefore we learn”[v] in Part 1 of her book and this topic is one of her most powerful YouTube publications.  She is someone who I know I could spend the rest of my life following and I would learn something new from her every day. She studies the psychological and neurobiological development of emotion and self-awareness, and connections to social, cognitive, and moral development in educational settings. I opened up her book, and if you have come from the field of education, you will recognize Howard Gardner, an American psychologist best known for his theory of multiple intelligences who wrote her foreword reminding us that “30 years ago, we had no idea that one could study human emotions that emerge slowly over time—such as admiration and awe—and compare them psychologically and neurobiologically with emotions that emerge more quickly like surprise or fear.” (page 80. Emotions, Learning and the Brain) This is a whole other topic, and I will be interviewing Mike Rousell[vi] on what the element of surprise does to our brain this summer when his book The Power of Surprise comes out, but Gardner explains that even if we are not scientists ourselves, most of us are intrigued to learn these new scientific findings.  I couldn’t agree more, and with the interest that these episodes are creating, I think you would agree with me also. This thought from Howard Gardner, along with Ti- Fen’s podcast questions, made me want to put some serious thought into what exactly it is that motivates us to learn something new, and what is it that helps us to remember what we’ve learned. For this week’s Brain Fact Friday BRAIN FACT 1: Did you know that emotions help memories form and stick? I could spend the next year diving deep into this brain fact, and we can learn from Jaak Panksepp[vii]  a neuroscientist who concluded that humans have seven networks of emotion in the brain that begin with seeking—we are always looking for something new, the brain releases dopamine when it finds it, which awakens our perception of strong positive and negative emotions. “Emotions form a critical piece of how, what, when, and why people think, remember and learn Mary Helen reminds us (page 146 Emotions, Learning and the Brain) she says “it is literally neurobiologically impossible to build memories, engage complex thoughts, or make meaningful decision without emotion.” We know that humans are emotional and social beings, (hence the name of this podcast, Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning) and these skills are finally being recognized as crucial in our schools and workplaces, in addition to academic and cognitive development, or the core skills your brain uses to think, read, remember, reason, and pay attention. Research shows that “emotion has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans including perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning and problem solving.”[viii] This happens because our amygdala “is activated by emotional events. The amygdala boosts memory encoding by enhancing attention and perception and can help memory retention by triggering the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, to boost arousal.”[ix] A New Way of Looking at Our Brain vs The Old Way When I think about the first few years I began to learn how the brain learns, from my first few sessions with my mentor, Mark Waldman, everyone was talking about the 3 parts of the brain, and how they interact with each other. I still think it’s important to understand these 3 parts of the brain, (especially the Limbic System, the emotional part of our brain where our amygdala sits) but it’s important to change how we think about our brain from this old way, where we would maybe draw the amygdala in the limbic area of the brain, and point to it in our presentations, saying, this is the part of our brain that activated while we are under stress and we experience “fight, flight or freeze.” You might have heard that when under stress, our executive functions (in the neocortex of our brain) begin to shut down, and students cannot learn and it’s difficult to complete meaningful work. You might have even heard this being called the amygdala hi-jack or that the amygdala was responsible for the “fight or flight” response, but there’s much more involved with this part of the brain than to just keep us safe and alive. Brain Network Theory: Creating Balance in Our Brain Instead of thinking about just one part of our brain, or our amygdala and how it responds to stress and impacts our learning, or memory, or ability to work, I want to use Brain Network Theory to explore this a bit deeper. I did cover Brain Network Theory on episode #48[x] but here’s a review. When looking at the brain, some people use fMRI scans, others use SPECT image scans, but I am sure you have seen these images that show how different parts of our brain light up when we are doing different things. You will no longer see studies that talk only about the individual parts of the brain—like the amygdala, or hippocampus, you will now see images that describe brain networks, nodes and connectivity. This is a fascinating discovery that comes to life with these images. When thinking about our brain, learning, and memory, think about how our networks are all working together. You can see an image in the show notes created by Mark Waldman that shows the key networks in our brain.   Our Default Mode Network is the largest network in our brain--remember this image is just a map or metaphor to simplify the explanation of our brain networks to give you something to picture as you image your brain—not just the 3 parts of the brain in the first image, but how these networks interact with each other.  How these networks are all connected to our awareness with the star in the middle of the image and how these networks overlap each other. The DMN (or the I in the diagram for imagination)  contains our imagination processes like daydreaming, creative problem solving, and mind wandering and involves those thought processes that can include worry, doubts and fears that can stimulate our amygdala by sending a message to other parts of our brain that something important is going on that we should pay attention to. Our emotional state is governed by our amygdala which is “responsible for processing positive emotions like happiness, and negative ones like fear and anxiety”[xi]  and it’s important to find the equilibrium between our Amygdala, our Default Mode (Imagination) Network, and Salience (Stabilizing)  Network that is like the balancing part of our brain that thinks, weighs what’s important, and helps us to create the balance that we need. Balancing Our Emotional Brain: To Help Memories Stick Using Brain Network Theory as a tool to bring balance back to our brain, let’s imagine that our amygdala, Default Mode Network and Salience Network are playing a game of basketball. They all need to work together to create balance, to get the ball in the basket (a metaphor for whatever we are working on in our daily life).  When the amygdala suddenly trips,(like it would if it was telling you there’s something you need to pay attention to—good or bad) and the ball goes out of bounds, it can be like our amygdala processing our emotions and the rest of our brain needs to step in to bring the balance back. We’ve got to learn how to interrupt the emotion (it can be good or bad emotion) so you can bring the balance and focus back to your brain to continue learning. The more rapidly we can change between these 3 networks in our day, (imagine the amygdala, Default Mode Network and Salience Network passing a basketball back and forth to each other smoothly, and quickly that you can hear the ball snapping on each networks fingers) creating more well-being and productivity with this balancing act. This is exactly what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy does, but there are some simple ways to quickly bring balance back to your brain so you can gain control of your Central Execute Network and continue learning and make those memories stick. The Brain in the Classroom If emotions help memories form and stick, and the amygdala is the part of the brain that tells you to pay attention to something, and remember it, whether it’s good or bad, we want to do what we can to bring balance to our student’s brains in the classroom, or our brains in the workplace. Mindfulness in the Classroom: We have covered mindfulness on a few different episodes, starting with episode #25[xii] but this strategy is the most effective way to stimulate the insula and anterior cingulate in the brain (where our awareness lies) and brings back balance and well-being that have been documented in over 4,000 research studies. Mindfulness can be taught through breath work like box breathing[xiii] that’s a technique that’s a powerful tool for anyone to use to reduce stress. It’s used from “athletes to U.S. Navy Seals, police officers and nurses” and is simple for students to learn in the classroom, and hopefully take with them as a lifelong coping strategy. Taking Brain Breaks for Improved Creativity: when we are asking our students to give their focused attention, think about Brain Network Theory. Focus will cause brain fatigue, and too much of it depletes your brain of glucose and depletes you. Be sure to allow your students the time to shift between their Default Mode/ Imagination network, Central Executive (Thinking) Network and Salience (Stabilizing) Network so they can gain insights that are impossible during focused only times.  Allow them time to get up, rest their brain, walk around, go outside (if possible) and take short breaks every hour to keep students as productive as they can be.   The Amygdala First Aid Station[xiv]: I first saw this idea with Dr. Lori Desautels[xv], who suggested an area for students to go in the classroom when they feel overwhelmed. Instead of causing a fight in the classroom, students get up and go to a designated area that has calming lotion or something like that to allow students to reset their brain. I’ve put a link to some ideas in the show notes like cups to have students share their mood for the day, stress balls, popsicle stick coping strategies and many other creative ideas to calm a stressed student.[xvi] I noticed when my children were home from school during the pandemic that my youngest daughter enjoyed getting up from her desk, to go and pet the cat, before going back to do her work. These short breaks gave her a brain break and reset her focus for her next work session. I know we can’t have cats in our classrooms, but I have seen fluffy pillows work just as well for students like my daughter who can tend to get overwhelmed with her work. Dr. Lori Desautels, an Assistant Professor at Butler University (whose been on our podcast a few times) mentioned that students enjoy learning about their brain and how they can use this knowledge to improve their behavior and focus. She said “when we teach students about the amygdala, the hippocampus, neuroplasticity, and prefrontal cortex, it gives the brain science. It objectifies their behavior.” Many of her undergraduate students said “they wish they would’ve known neuroscience in middle school because students think something is wrong with them when they exhibit negative behavior. When students understand the science behind it, it intrigues them and they’re challenged to change those hard-wired circuits.” If you really want to capture a student’s attention in the classroom, teaching them the basics of how their brain works, especially to help them to achieve their goals, this information will fascinate them. Using the Brain in the Workplace for Improved Results Find Your Balance and Allow Creativity to Flow: The way to experience optimal health and well-being, that’s crucial for success in the workplace, is to create balance with your Default Mode (Imagination) Network, Central Executive (Thinking) Network and Salience (Stabilizing) Network. Notice when you are out of balance, or overly anxious--your Default Mode Network may be overly active, with worry, so learn to switch to a different brain network (since spending too much time with imagination can lead to ruminating thoughts) so switch to your Central Executive (thinking) Network, (get to work on something and notice there’s no time to worry). Work as long as you can, and then switch to your (stabilizing/values/social awareness) Network to bring back the give yourself a break. When we can give our brain breaks, it will allow for creative insights to flow during our imagination/resting states where we can have breakthroughs like the “20% time policy at Google, where the company’s engineers get a day a week to work on whatever they want”[xvii] to keep their creativity flowing.  See how you can replicate this process with your work. Tap into Your Motivation Network: Your motivation network is what gets you out of bed in the morning and pushes you to seek out anything that has a pleasurable reward. This circuit is located in the nucleus accumbens[xviii] of the brain and is driven by your instinct and curiosity that’s one of Jaak Panksepp’s Core Emotions (Panksepp was an Estonian neuroscientist who mapped out 7 emotional circuits in the mammalian brain (the hindbrain) with play being one of them. We went deep into the importance of having fun with our work on episode #27 with Friederike Fabritius[xix] on Achieving Peak Performance where she spoke about the importance of having fun with our work, bringing us to those higher levels of peak performance. Panksepp identified another emotion called SEEKING that keeps us moving forward, engaged in new and interesting activities and work throughout our lifetime. If you have lost motivation for your work, it’s time to look or like Panksepp would say, SEEK something that your brain will find new, and interesting, that will bring you JOY. This will engage you at the brain level. Listen to Your Second Brain: Your Gut Instinct Have you ever made a decision based upon your gut instinct? Neuroscience tells us “that this mind-gut connection is not just metaphorical. Our brain and gut are connected by an extensive network of neurons and a highway of chemicals and hormones that constantly provide feedback about how hungry we are, whether or not we’re experiencing stress” [xx] and many other important signals. You can strengthen your second brain with mindfulness, opening the door to one of the most powerful tools you can use to help you to become more self-aware and socially aware as you’ll begin to sense what others need and want. I once asked a business executive who was the last step in my interview process for this job I really wanted, after she offered me to position, I asked her “What made you choose me for the job?” I wanted to know what she would say, and the answer that came from this seasoned executive was not what I expected. She said “I went with my gut instinct” showing me of the power of using our second brain, or our gut, when making decisions in the workplace. Now That Our Brain is Primed for Learning, How Do We Make Our Memories or Learning Stick? We remember John Dunlosky focused on the importance of spaced repetition for memory formation on episode #37[xxi], (practicing a skill over and over again) and we know that memories aren’t reliable from episode #44[xxii] (that each time we recall something from our past, it changes) but what exactly is happening in the brain when we remember something? Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux explains memory consolidation: “Consolidation is what happens when a memory persists. When you have a memory, it goes into short term memory and If for some reason the memory isn’t consolidated, long term memory doesn’t occur. The conversion of short-term memory to long term memory is called consolidation. This process involves that the neurons in the brain that are forming the memory undergo protein synthesis. These proteins basically glue the memory together. Reconsolidation occurs when the memory that is fully consolidated is reactivated or retrieved, has to go through another phase of protein synthesis in order for that memory to persist into the future. If you block protein synthesis after retrieval, you prevent that storage process and disrupt the memory. This is important because each time we retrieve a memory, we have to update it.”[xxiii] He simplifies this by saying—when we first meet someone, we have a memory of that experience.  When we meet that person again, we retrieve the first memory and whatever else we’ve learned about the person in the meantime are added to form the new memory. To not forget this memory, it has to be stored, and updated with what we remember from the past, with what we add to it in the present moment. It’s not like watching a video of exactly what occurred the first time, which is the old view of how our memory works. What really happens is that “every time you take a new memory out, you must put it back in and this forms a new memory.”[xxiv] Can We Forget Certain Memories? LeDoux explains it is possible for people who had had a traumatic experience that they would like to forget to be given a substance that would “block the protein synthesis and prevent memories from forming which is called Reconsolidation Blocking and it doesn’t erase the memory, but just dampens the impact of the memory so it’s less troubling or arousing or troubling when it’s remembered later.”[xxv] REVIEW OF THIS WEEK’S BRAIN FACT BRAIN FACT 1: Did you know that emotions help memories form and stick? This episode we went deep into where our emotions begin in our brain, with strategies to balance our brains using Brain Network Theory, in our classrooms and workplaces, so we can easily take in new information, and understand how we can retain it.  We know that “memories linked with strong emotions often become seared in the brain”[xxvi]  and we can even test this theory ourselves by thinking back to certain memories you might have in your life and see what you can remember about that event. What do you remember about September 11th, 2001? Do you remember anything about September 10th, 2001? I couldn’t tell you a thing about Sept. 10th. Not what I ate for breakfast that day, or even much about the house I was living in at the time. But the day after, for some reason, everything seems crystal clear to me. I can see the television that I turned on while getting ready to watch the planes crash into the twin towers, can remember the sun coming in the windows, and even the shade the sunlight made on the ground in front of the television. The rest of that day is pretty clear as well, proving that emotions really do make memories stick. I hope this episode has helped you to imagine our brains in a new light using Brain Network Theory, how we prime them for optimal learning, to ensure what we learn goes into our long-term memory, and then how to make these memories stick…if we want them to. See you next week. REFERENCES: [i] The Compass Teachers Podcast with Ti-Fen Pan from Taiwan https://compassteacher.com/ [ii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Episode #100 with Mary Helen Immordino-Yang https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/professor-mary-helen-immordino-yang-on-the-neuroscience-of-social-and-emotional-learning/ [iii] Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD https://candle.usc.edu/people/ [iv] Mary Helen Immordino Yang Emotions, Learning and the Brain (November 16, 2015) https://www.amazon.com/Emotions-Learning-Brain-Implications-Neuroscience/dp/0393709817 [v] Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang “We Feel, Therefore We Learn” Published on YouTube April 16, 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85BZRVE6M0o&t=338s [vi] Mike Rousell, Ph.D.  The Power of Surprise: How Your Brain Secretly Changes Your Beliefs https://www.amazon.com/Power-Surprise-Secretly-Changes-Beliefs/dp/153815241X [vii] Jaak Panksepp The Science of Emotions TEDxRanier Published on YouTube Jan. 13, 2014  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65e2qScV_K8 [viii] The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory Published August 24, 2017 Chai M Tyng, Hafeez U Amin, Mohammed N M Saad, Aamir S Malik  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5573739/ [ix] What Makes Memories Stronger? https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain-basics/memory/what-makes-memories-stronger [x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #48 with Andrea Samadi on “Brain Network Theory” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/ [xi] A Delicate Balance Between Positive and Negative Emotion by Anne Trafton Oct. 17, 2016 https://bcs.mit.edu/news-events/news/delicate-balance-between-positive-and-negative-emotion [xii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #25 with Mick Neustadt on “Mindfulness and Meditation” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/mindfulness-and-meditation-expert-mick-neustadt-on-how-meditation-and-mindfulness-changes-your-life-results-and-potential/ [xiii] What is box breathing? By Ana Gotter June 17, 2020 https://www.healthline.com/health/box-breathing [xiv] https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kath6490/amygdala-first-aid-station/ [xv] Neuroscience Meet Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODES #16 and #56 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/lori-desautels-and-michael-mcknight-on-the-future-of-educational-neuroscience-in-our-schools-and-communities/   https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/educational-neuroscience-pioneer-dr-lori-desautels-on-her-new-book-about-connections-over-compliance-rewiring-our-perceptions-of-discipline/ [xvi] Amygdala First Aid Station https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kath6490/amygdala-first-aid-station/ [xvii] Your Brain at Work by Adam Waytz and Malia Mason August 2013 https://hbr.org/2013/07/your-brain-at-work [xviii] Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness, and Success by Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning, Ph.D. (2017) https://www.amazon.com/NeuroWisdom-Brain-Science-Happiness-Success/dp/1682303055 [xix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #27 with Friederike Fabritius on “Achieving Peak Performance” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/pioneer-in-the-field-of-neuroleadership-friederike-fabritius-on-the-recipe-for-achieving-peak-performance/ [xx] Gut Feelings-The “Second Brain” in our Gastrointestinal Systems by Justin and Erica Sonnenburg May 1, 2015 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-feelings-the-second-brain-in-our-gastrointestinal-systems-excerpt/ [xxi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #37 with Professor John Dunlosky https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/kent-states-dr-john-dunlosky-on-improving-student-success-some-principles-from-cognitive-science/ [xxii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #44 “12 Mind-Boggling Brain Discoveries” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/andrea-samadis-12-mind-boggling-discoveries-about-the-brain/ [xxiii] What is Memory Consolidation and Reconsolidation? Joseph LeDoux Published on YouTube November 9, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKiV3FNpXhk [xxiv] IBID [xxv] IBID [xxvi] Why Are Memories Attached to Emotions So Strong? July 13, 2020 https://neurosciencenews.com/emotion-memory-16631/

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for Brain Fact Friday and episode #119. Hello and Welcome back! I’m Andrea Samadi, a former educator who has been fascinated with learning the science behind high performance strategies in schools, sports and the workplace, for the past 20 years. If you have been listening to our podcast for some time, you will know that we’ve uncovered that if we want to improve our social and emotional skills, and experience success in our work and personal lives, it all begins with putting our brain health first. As I am working closely with neuroscience researcher, Mark Robert Waldman, and learning new ideas that could help improve results for students in our classrooms, or those in the corporate world, I will share with you what I am learning, with the hopes you can implement the new idea in your life, for immediate, improved results. This week’s brain fact goes right along with the past few episodes where we have been talking about the profound impact that exercise has on our cognitive abilities and mental health. Dr. Daniel Amen, (who we’ve talked a lot about on past episodes) and Dr. John J Ratey would both agree that it’s “simply one of the best treatments we have for most psychiatric problems.”[i] Instead of just one brain fact about the importance of exercise on our brain, I have a few-- to really hit the importance of this brain fact home. Here are Your Brain Facts for This Week: Did You Know That: “Physical activity is crucial to the way we think and feel.” (John J Ratey, MD).   “Children who exercise regularly are likely to do the same as an adult.” (Spark, Page 12) “Statistics show that about half of those who start out with a new exercise routine drop out within six months to a year” (Spark, Page 260) probably because they jump in at a high intensity, it’s too much, and they give up. If you have heard our past 2 episodes, you will know that Dr. Ratey wrote the book Spark on this topic after he saw Naperville’s scores on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) where they scored #1 in science and #6 in math, in the world, proving that there was something unique that they had discovered with the correlation of exercise and academic achievement.  Naperville provided a powerful case study that “aerobic activity can transform not only the body, but also the mind.” (Spark, Page 19) Dr. Daniel Amen often talks about the importance of exercise, or walking 5 days a week, like you are late (he would say) for your brain health. He mentions that “blood vessels age, not your brain cells”[ii] and the best way to keep blood vessels healthy so blood flows to your brain, is with moderate exercise. So for such an important brain fact, that two of the most famous brain experts I know, have focused most of their careers teaching the world about, why isn’t everyone taking advantage of this profound impact of exercise on the brain—for our students in our classrooms and for everyone in the workplace looking for increased productivity. It All Begins With Understanding How Our Brain Works Most us have not had the crash course in this topic. Since we know that our brain is involved in everything that we are and everything that we do, it’s important that we understand how it works, especially when it comes to making habits (like implementing a new exercise program) stick. I was speaking with Victoria Sambursky this week (she is working closely with Dr. Ratey with her company Edominance)[iii] with assessments that unlock personality and behavior, and she was asking me about the best way to break a habit. I shared with her what I cover on episode #35 on “Using Your Brain to Break Bad Habits”[iv] since what we must do to break a habit is the exact opposite of what we must do when forming our new habit, like our new exercise routine that we want to start. I Shared with Her—Here’s How We Break Habits and Here’s How We Form New Ones Learning creates a synaptic connection when you are thinking, feeling, or actually doing something new. New neural pathways are formed. I’m sure you have seen the YouTube videos that show how the pathways look in the brain, like a highway.[v] Each time you think that same thought, or do that same action, you strengthen that neural pathway.  Each time you do that new exercise routine, that pathway strengthens. This is how you create a new habit. Breaking a habit is just the opposite; by avoiding certain thoughts, feelings or actions, your impulses or neural connections become weaker and weaker. Just as knowledge and skills are constructed in our brain with focus, they also diminish (or prune away) without the focused attention. As we learn, our dendrites actually grow as they make new synaptic connections. Learning something new happens when we forge these new connections. Think About it This Way: “Neurons that fire together, wire together” and “neurons that are out of sync, fail to link.” If we want to form a new habit, we must practice the new skill over and over again, (wiring and strengthening the pathway) and breaking a habit, means don’t practice the skill—don’t even think about it. It’s easy to see now that “we are what we think about” or “we create our reality” as we do reinforce our neural pathways with the attention to the habits or goals that we want. We even reinforce what we don’t want when we are thinking” I don’t want that piece of pie” or” I don’t want this project to fail” or “I don’t want to lose that game” and so on. The neural pathways for “I don’t want this or that” are being formed! Our brain only knows what we tell it, so we must be very careful with our thoughts, feelings, and actions, as they will reinforce those neural pathways in our brain. In Learning Something New: The Key Ingredient is Motivation Since the brain only hold information it finds to be useful, and discards what is doesn’t need, we have to be sure that when we want to learn something new (for ourselves or for others) that we make the learning relevant, and interesting. The brain will be motivated to learn when it’s exposed to something new, and unfamiliar. How to Motivate Students to Learn and Move with Brain Health in Mind I’m always looking for new ideas to help students learn when searching through social media, and this week I saw something that caught my attention. If you are looking for tools, or ideas on how to motivate your students in the classroom, or kids at home if you are homeschooling, I highly suggest taking a look at the FutureSmart Program[vi] where MassMutual’s Foundation has partnered with the NHL to provide engaging financial education along with movement. The videos are motivating, interesting, and we know they are building the brains of our next generation. If we can encourage our children and students to move, in any possible way, we will be stimulating their thinking skills needed for academic performance.[vii]  A new study suggests that “when academic classes include physical activity, like squats, or running in place, students do better on tests.”[viii] Take a look at this resource for some new ideas that go beyond just movement. They also have financial education and skills to help prepare our next generation to be future-ready. What Does the Latest Neuroscience Research Reveal About Exercise and Our Brain? We know that exercise increases levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine—important neurotransmitters that monitor the flow of our thoughts and emotions. You’ve probably heard of serotonin, and maybe you know low levels of it is associated with depression, but even many people don’t know the rest. “They don’t know that toxic levels of stress erode the connections between the billions of nerve cells in the brain or that chronic depression shrinks certain areas of the brain. And they don’t know that, conversely, exercise unleashes a cascade of neurochemicals and growth factors that can reverse this process, physically bolstering the brain’s infrastructure. In fact, the brain responds like muscles do, growing with use, withering with inactivity. The neurons in the brain connect to one another through “leaves” on treelike branches, and exercise causes those branches to grow and bloom with new buds, enhancing brain function at a fundamental level.” John J Ratey We are just starting to learn about the impact on our brain cells with exercise at the gene level and as technology in neuroscience improves, there will be new ways to measure the changes that are happening in the brain. I just learned from Dr. Andrew Newburg, who is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences and the Director of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, from episode #88,[ix] that the changes in brain scan technology make his job very exciting. Like Dr. Ratey mentioned we can see the changes in the brain with exercise, Dr. Newburg says that someone could start a mediation practice today, (or an exercise program) and wonder if they can measure the changes in the brain, and Dr. Newburg would say they can. With time, the frontal lobes of meditators become thicker, and he can see the changes in the brain with Blood/Oxygen Imaging that follows the brain through meditation.  With time, and new technology, it will be very clear that exercise and meditation changes the structure and function of the brain. I’m looking forward to learning what else they discover here. Once We Know How to Create This Heightened State of Well-Being, Where Else Can We Use It? In our podcast episode #27 with Friederike Fabritius, we covered the DNA of success or peak performance[x] which is that brain state where we lose the presence of time and are the most productive. If we can create this heightened state of well-being for our students through exercise, we could also create this environment in our workplaces. Friederike mentioned the importance of having fun with your work, (or with your workouts) releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine, having just enough fear, fun or a challenge to release the neurotransmitter noradrenaline and that with these two factors, focus will occur, and the neurotransmitter acetyl choline will be released to help us to achieve the “flow” that occurs at this heightened level of productivity. These three neurotransmitters must be in place for peak performance to occur and when we hit this level of performance, it’s important that we are able to manage our distractions so that we can stay here for as long as possible for those higher levels of productivity. To Review Our Brain Facts, Let’s See if We Can Gain Some New Insight with Our Brain in Mind “Physical activity is crucial to the way we think and feel.” (John J Ratey, MD).   An understanding of our brain helps us to see why. Rigorous activity helps to put the brain in the right environment for learning to take place. “Children who exercise regularly are likely to do the same as an adult.” (Spark, Page 12) Since they have built the neural pathways in their brain that they reinforce over and over again. The only way they would not keep the same habit as an adult, is if they stopped exercising. And even with this example, we do have incredible muscle memory, for anyone who has ever had to stop their exercise program for a certain amount of time. Your muscles will remember, and your neural pathways will keep strengthening even with your time away. “Statistics show that about half of those who start out with a new exercise routine drop out within six months to a year” (Spark, Page 260) probably because they jump in at a high intensity, it’s too much, and they give up. That’s because most people start off fast and lose motivation when it becomes difficult. Pace yourself, remember that everyone is different, and don’t compare your workout or results to anyone else’s. Find something that you enjoy, and you will be motivated, creating the neurotransmitters you will need to reach those peak performance levels. I hope you’ve enjoyed these Brain Facts, preparing us for our interview with next week with Paul Zientarski, the PE Teacher from Naperville, who will help us to see exactly what was involved with their PE program to reveal such outstanding results. See you next week! REFERENCES: [i] Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, MD (January 10, 2008) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7GQ887/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 [ii] Dr. Daniel Amen on the Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast “It’s Not Your Brain Cells That Age, it’s Your Blood Vessels” https://brainwarriorswaypodcast.com/its-not-your-brain-cells-that-age-its-your-blood-vessels/ [iii] https://www.endominance.com/company/about-us/ [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast Episode #35 on “Using Your Brain to Break Bad Habits” with Andrea Samadi https://www.achieveit360.com/how-to-use-your-brain-to-break-bad-habits-in-2020/ [v] Neural Plasticity YouTube Uploaded November 6, 2012  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpfYCZa87g [vi] FutureSmart Program https://www.nhl.com/fans/futuresmart [vii] How Exercise Can Boost Young Brains by Gretchen Reynolds October 8, 2014 https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/08/how-exercise-can-boost-the-childs-brain/?_r=0 [viii] Movement During Class Improves Students’ Academic Abilities by Linda Carroll October 21, 2019 https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1X02CZ [ix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning EPISODE #88 with Dr. Andrew Newburg on “Demystifying the Human Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/neuroscientist-andrew-newberg-md-on-neurotheology-spect-scans-and-the-aging-brain/ [x] Friederike Fabritius: “Fun, Fear, and Focus: The Neurochemical Recipe for Achieving Peak Performance” | Talks at Google Published Jan.15, 2019  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWi-oCySuFA

On this episode of BIG Intuition, I am sharing 4 reasons why I think Marketing is magical. The book mentioned was “Words Can Change Your Brain: 12 Conversation Strategies to Build Trust, Resolve Conflict, and Increase Intimacy.” by Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman. Special podcast listener discount code = BIG25 to save 25% off of your purchases on my website (not including the Visionary Monthly subscription program). To learn more about me, find me on Instagram at @bgintuitivemarketing or www.BrittanyGash.com. About Me: My name is Brittany Gash and I am an Intuitive Marketing pro and Tarot Reader, working to build a bridge between the mystical and the logical. I've been working in marketing since 2006 and have been reading tarot since 2001. My goal is to empower you to create soul-aligned, intuitive marketing strategies that are authentic and effective so that you can reach your business goals. Our intuitive gifts and spiritual tools/rituals can be connected to pro marketing strategies - bridging our personal and spiritual lives and allowing us to have soul-centered businesses.

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, episode #104.Watch this interview on YouTube here. Our guest today came to me when I was referred to his book on one of my neuro-coaching training calls with Mark Robert Waldman[i], from episode #30 when I asked a question that was sent to me from a close friend from the UK, on dreams.  Mark Waldman told me that he was anxiously awaiting the NEW book, When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep[ii] and I immediately looked up the book, and contacted the author, Antonio Zadra, to appear on our podcast. He agreed, and the rest is history!Before I get to the interview, I want to give you a bit more background information on this book, and the authors, and what you can expect before picking it up. I’ve got to say that what I expected from this book, continually changed as I began to read it, and it took me deeper and deeper into the mysterious world of our dreams.Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold bring together state-of-the-art neuroscientific ideas and findings to propose a new and innovative model of dream function called NEXTUP—Network Exploration to Understand Possibilities. By detailing this model’s workings, they help readers understand key features of several types of dreams, from prophetic dreams to nightmares and lucid dreams. When Brains Dream reveals recent discoveries about the sleeping brain and the many ways in which dreams are psychologically, and neurologically, meaningful experiences; The book explores a host of dream-related disorders; and explains how dreams can facilitate creativity and be a source of personal insight.Antonio Zadra[iii] is a professor at the Université de Montréal and a researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine. He has appeared on PBS's Nova and BBC's Horizon.Welcome Tony, thank you so much for agreeing to share more about your new book, When Brains Dream today.Q1: Tony, when we first spoke, I mentioned to you that I had been writing down my dreams since the late 1990s (off and on) it started when the speaker, Bob Proctor from episode #66[iv], who I worked for, suggested that I could learn a lot of insight from journaling about dreams, but nothing was more powerful than my first conversation with you.  You taught me a valuable lesson, that “we cannot interpret other people’s dreams, only our own.” Can you share why this is important for all of us to understand, as we all probably have the same urge to ask “what does this dream mean?” and what should we be thinking of asking instead when searching for meaning with our dreams? (Ch 12 Working with Dreams). Q2: How can readers use your model NEXTUP (Network Exploration to Understand Possibilities) to understand prophetic dreams, nightmares or lucid dreams?Q3:  Before we look at working with dreams, can you explain that while Freud’s influence on dreams was great,  (you cover his influence in Chapter 3) what powerful scientific and clinical work was being done on dreams way before Freud? Q4: What made you become interested in studying about dreams, and becoming a dream scientist?Q5: I have to ask, the biggest question about dreaming that you cover in chapter 7. Why do we dream?  I always thought our dreams were our wishes or fears, something from the past, unresolved issues, and something triggered by a current event. What would you say? Why do we dream?Q6: What are the contents of most dreams and how can they facilitate creativity and have our dreams be a source of personal insight?6 PART B Also, you mention in chapter 12 that “20 percent of dream material can be confidently traced to waking-life sources.”  Where is the rest of 80% coming from? Our non-conscious?  The collective consciousness that I know you mentioned.Q7: When we were talking about 2 of my dreams before this call, you noticed that water was a theme in both dreams, and one included flowing water that you mentioned can be metaphor for our emotions. You were able to ask me some questions that pinpointed very quickly and easily the meaning of those dreams. Can you expand on any other metaphors like water that might be common themes for people? Also, what can you tell me about dream characters and why are they of such interest to you?Q8: You had mentioned to me that taking art appreciation classes can help to get a better appreciation for our dreams, and not being one to go to the museum or art gallery, I wondered what I could learn from this. Then you mention Santiago Ramón y Cajal, (Cahal) a Spanish histologist and anatomist who won the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of nerve cells and I watched a video about his book The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal[v] on YouTube and it was fascinating. For the first time I began to make connections between art and dreams and see this strategy in a new light. Can you expand on this idea and explain why art appreciation is an important strategy for dream exploration? Q9: In the epilogue you talk about the future of dreaming and that maybe one day sleep trackers could store/log our dreams and how scary this could be. What do you think the future holds for us and our dreams? Do you think there will ever be solid answers that neuroscience can answer to help us to better understand some of the questions that come up with our dreams? Thank you very much for your time today Tony and for sharing your insights on the power of understanding how our brains dream. If anyone wants to purchase your book, is the best place Amazon? If people want to contact you directly, or learn more about your work, what is the best way?@DrZDreams on Twitterhttps://antoniozadra.com/enhttps://antoniozadra.com/en/mediaThank you!RESOURCES:Ready Player One https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677720/The Dream Keepers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L21GQBD/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1REFERENCES:[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Episode #30 Neuroscience Researcher Mark Robert Waldman on “12 Brain-Based Experiential Living Principles” https://www.achieveit360.com/neuroscience-researcher-mark-robert-waldman-on-12-brain-based-experiential-learning-and-living-principles/[ii] When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep by Antonio Zadra and Robert Stickgold (Jan. 12, 2021) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D1SF658/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[iii] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antonio_Zadra[iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast episode #66 The Legendary Bob Proctor on “Social and Emotional Learning: Where it All Started” https://www.achieveit360.com/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on-social-and-emotional-learning-where-it-all-started/[v] The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal Published August 10, 2017 on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72IPPIt5iMw&feature=youtu.be

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, episode #101, where we will review highlights from the past 100 episodes, that began in June 2019, with a behind the scenes lens, where we will take a look at the results created from this podcast, with the goal to inspire listeners to not just implement the ideas offered in each episode, but to think about what Horacio Sanchez from EPISODE #74 reminded me this week, of “the impact possible when you have an idea, nurture it, and watch it grow.” (Horacio Sanchez, EPISODE #74[i]).My name is Andrea Samadi, and if you haven’t met me yet, I’m a former educator who created this podcast to bring the most current neuroscience research, along with high performing experts who have risen to the top of their field, with specific strategies or ideas that you can implement immediately, whether you are an educator, or working in the corporate space, to take your results to the next level. Before we get to the episode, and the highlights learned from our guests, I want to share some of the unexpected results that have come as a byproduct of this podcast to perhaps light a spark under anyone who might be thinking of new ways to create brand awareness, or market their business in 2021. If you have been thinking of ways that you can extend your voice, message and reach, I highly recommend this mode of delivery. I also want to thank everyone who has supported us with this mission, come on as a guest, or downloaded an episode. We wouldn’t exist without the guests who offer their time, expertise, and strategies designed to help our listeners (in over 132 countries) who tune in on a regular basis and take the ideas offered to make an impact locally in their schools, communities, businesses and workplaces. I appreciate the feedback and messages received via social media and email and look forward to the next 100 episodes. As long as there is still growth, I will continue to produce new episodes.So Here are 3 Lessons Learned Looking Back at the 100 Episodes.LESSON 1: WHEN THERE’S A NEED, CAN YOU PUT A SPIN ON IT?I saw a serious need in the area of social and emotional learning that was being implemented in schools around the country and the world, and many educators didn’t know the best way to begin their implementation.  I thought it would be a good place to gather “best practices” from experts around the world to offer their ideas that we could all learn from and apply to our own lives.But I knew I needed a bigger idea than just a podcast about social emotional learning in our schools, or emotional intelligence training in our workplaces. Too many people were already doing this. But not that many people were teaching the basics of practical neuroscience as it relates to this topic. The idea to combine neuroscience and social/emotional learning came with the thought that “success in life, and in college and career specifically, relies on student’s cognitive, (the core skills your brain uses to think, read, remember, and pay attention) social and interpersonal skills, (including the ability to navigate through social situations, resolve conflicts, show respect towards others, self-advocate and learn how to work on a team with others) and emotional development (including the ability to recognize and manage one’s emotions, demonstrate empathy for others and cope with stress).” In the corporate world, these skills aren’t new, but they are “newly important” and of high urgency to develop in our future generations. I’ve mentioned this quote before but think it’s important enough to repeat. A recent survey showed that 58 percent of employers say college graduates aren’t adequately prepared for today’s workforce, and those employers noted a particular gap in social and emotional skills. This is where our goal with this podcast began—to close this gap by exploring six social and emotional learning competencies as a springboard for discussion and tie in how an understanding of our brain can facilitate these strategies. AHA! MOMENT with LESSON 1That’s really how I took the need, put a spin on it, and came up with the title Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning in 2016 (3 years before launching the podcast) when I first began presenting on this topic. This title drew the session on the introduction to practical neuroscience to fill up with standing room only, at the YRDSB Quest Conference, in Toronto, Canada. This was my first presentation on the topic, and I knew at that moment that there was a serious interest in this topic.Back then, I was working one on one with one of the leading neuroscience researchers in the country, Mark Robert Waldman, and he had just finished writing his book Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success[ii], When he shared his research with me, I saw how practical neuroscience could help people to gain a deeper understanding of how to create change from the brain level and impact their social and emotional thinking and began to write the outline for the vision I saw. I also found Dr. Lori Desautels this year, who is now a good friend and supporter of our work.This was how we took a need and put a spin on it. The rest is history.LESSON 2: THINK IMPACT vs INCOME: GIVER’S GAINAfter the first few months of releasing episodes, I heard from so many people who wanted to know “how did you launch this idea,” and asked about some best practices as they began thinking of ways to replicate the results that inevitably come when you put in consistent daily effort that turns into weekly and then monthly effort until it’s no longer effort, but what you do every day, habitually. If you want to know if launching a podcast would work for you, message me and I can send you some ideas on how to get started, but my first tip would be that you should pick a topic that you love, something that you won’t mind putting in the time and effort to learn more about, as this is what you will be immersed in on a daily basis.I heard a few times “How do you make money with a podcast?” and that’s a great question and why I wanted the second lesson to focus on the impact you will have, not the income. When you have enough listeners, you can earn money from sponsorships and ads, but the key is to use the podcast as a tool to drive people to your programs and services. Doors will start to open for you in ways that you never imagined. I heard Max Lugavere (an American television personality and health and wellness writer) talking about these incredible types of results at about the 2-year mark of his podcast on Dhru Purohit’s Broken Brain Podcast[iii]. The income will come once you put your focus on service and helping others to achieve their goals.This is exactly the same concept as writing a book. Most people who dream of writing a book, think that it will take off like the Harry Potter Series, and they will be set, riding off into the sunset as a millionaire. The truth is that most authors never sell more than a few hundred copies of their books, and for it to become a best seller, it should reach 10,000 copies sold in a week. This is easier to do when selling larger volumes (like to schools or organizations that want your book) but not easy at all to do when selling books one at a time, relying on Amazon as your distribution service. Authors know that books, like a podcast, are just a tool to get your message out there. Since I have released content both ways, I can say from experience that putting your best content out into the world, for FREE, with the idea of helping people, will yield better results than thinking of selling your ideas before anyone even knows who you are.AHA! MOMENT with LESSON 2This podcast was actually originally going to be an educational course, written for a publisher, but a turn of events had me decide to release this content in the form of a podcast for FREE, to be used by anyone who needed these resources. What was interesting is that when I put a focus on the IMPACT I wanted to create, rather than the INCOME it would give me back in return, something magical happened. Max Lugavere mentioned it happened for him at the 2-year mark, and I would have to say it happened for me around the 100th episode mark after just a year and seven months. The opportunities came disguised as consistent, daily, effort and work.LESSON 3: MASTER PROLIFIC QUALITY OUTPUT (PQO).I heard this statement for years, until this experience made me finally understand it. Brendon Burchard, the author of the book High Performance Habits talks about how “High performers have mastered the art of prolific quality output (PQO). They produce more high-quality output than their peers over the long term, and that is how they become more effective, better known, more remembered. They aim their attention and consistent efforts toward PQO and minimize any distractions (including opportunities) that would steal them away from their craft” (Burchard, 2017[iv]).  Over the years, I never really understood what PQO meant. I listened to Brendon explain it a few times, and he would give the example of “Beyonce, who puts out hit after hit, or Ralph Lauren who creates luxury and designer product after product, or even Seth Godin who creates blog post after blog post.” There’s also the WakeUpIt’sDayOne Blog who explains PQO as it relates to athletes as “the type of things you typically don’t see an immediate reward with or have to repeat on a daily basis. Think about Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Lebron James, Tom Brady – the greatest athletes of all time. When you research them and understand how they became who they are today, all you ever read is that they focused on the fundamental things that improved their overall physical and mental skills[v]” their PQO—and I would add consistently, on a daily basis.AHA! MOMENT with LESSON 3Then I thought, what is my PQO? What is my output? What am I creating day in and day out? I’ve always been creating content, but it hit me after I had been producing episodes consistently for a year, that my PQO was the podcast episodes. I had created a certain standard with each episode that included the fact that each one had to be my best effort. If I wasn’t ready to interview someone, or had not researched enough, I would not produce the episode until it hit that standard.I also saw the importance of creating a video interview where I could edit in images and text to explain what the person I was interviewing was talking about. Many times, the concepts discussed are difficult to understand with words alone, so this became another standard. The final standard was that each interview had to be produced and released either that same day, or no longer than 2 days after. Waiting too long in production destroys the momentum created by the interview, so this meant many times that editing went into the night and researching early morning and weekends. Many content producers outsource their video or audio editing and production, but to date, each of the episodes have been produced and edited by yours truly. We will see what happens with this over the next 100 episodes.If you want to make an impact that goes beyond what your mind can imagine, a global impact, you need to have mastered Prolific Quality Output. Do YOU know what YOUR PQO is?Now that we have looked at some of the results created from this podcast, that really were unexpected, this episode will take a closer look at some lessons learned from the speakers along the way, as they relate to the 6 social and emotional competencies and how we tied in a connection to practical neuroscience for improved productivity and results.After each interview, I brainstormed the most important points learned with my husband, since he is also in the field of education. He always asks “what did you learn from this speaker” and there’s always 2-5 AHA points that definitely surprised me. I love making connections between the speakers and mapping out what each one says to other episodes. We really are connected, and what one person says, connects to what someone else will say in a later episode.  I’m always looking for ways to take knowledge and make it applicable for anyone who is willing to apply it and use it.Just a note: Even though I had a written outline for the podcast, it did take a turn towards health and wellness close to the end of 2020, which I think was important and necessary. I will pull out examples used from our speakers in the following areas:EXPERTS WHO:Demonstrate Practical Neuroscience to Improve ResultsDemonstrate the Social and Emotional Learning Competencies (Mindset, Self-Regulation, Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Decision-Making).Explain SEL in the EDUCATIONAL SETTINGAre Involved with PHYSICAL HEALTH, WELLNESS AND NUTRITIONLESSONS LEARNED FROM PRACTICAL NEUROSCIENCETHE POWER IN LEARNING ABOUT HOW OUR AMAZING BRAINS WORK: This area is where I spent the most time on the podcast, making sure we had a variety of experts, many who are well known with their books and research, to make a case for the importance of learning the basics of neuroscience to improve our productivity and results.Whether it was tips from 15-year-old Chloe Amen on how you can “Change Your Brain and Change Your Grades,” neuroscientist Friederike Fabritius on ways to “Achieve Peak Performance,” Dr. John Medina on his “Brain Rules” or Dr. Lori Desautels on the power of implementing neuroscience in today’s schools, the one person who tied everything together was Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang with her research that shows “The Brain Basis for Integrated Social, Emotional, and Academic Development.” Her work shows how emotions and social relationships drive learning, bringing the entire podcast full circle as Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning. I saw the importance of these 2 topics, and Mary Helen can prove why they are so important, with her work at the University of SCA in her Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE LAB).  We will continue to bring more lessons that tie practical neuroscience to social, emotional and academic development in our future episodes as this really is the future of education. What was interesting to note in this area was that EPISODE #68: Neuroscience of Personal Change with Stephen R Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was the #1 most downloaded EPISODE with over 1100 downloads, showing me that people want to make this connection linking neuroscience to success and of the POWER IN LEARNING ABOUT HOW OUR AMAZING BRAINS WORK.LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE 6 SEL COMPETENCIES SEL COMPETENCY: MINDSET“A great attitude does more than turn on the lights in our worlds, it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change.” Earl Nightingale, author of Think and Grow Rich Frank Shankwitz, from EPISODE #40 has modeled what happens when you keep a good mental mindset, for the course of his life. So much so, that they made a movie about his life, called Wish Man, that is based on Frank’s life story (he was a motorcycle cop in Arizona who was haunted by the traumatic separation from his father when he was a boy. After surviving a near-fatal accident, he finds hope with a terminally ill boy, who reunites him with his father. To honor this boy, Frank creates the Make a Wish Foundation, and continues to live a life of honor every day. Nothing can tear this man down. Follow him on social media and you will see for yourself of the importance of a “great mental attitude.” SEL COMPETENCY: SELF-REGULATION with PERSISTENCE and PERSEVERANCE“Success has to do with deliberate practice. Practice must be focused, determined, and in the environment where there’s feedback.” Malcolm GladwellDr. John Dunlosky from EPISODE #37 started this topic off with his years of research that showed that “deliberate practice” was one of the most effective learning strategies, vs cramming for a test. We’ve all heard this and know that knowledge will be retained and recalled more efficiently when it’s learned over a period of time.  Todd Woodcroft, the former assistant coach to the Winnipeg Jets, current Head Coach to the University of Vermont Catamounts[vi], from EPISODE #38 puts John Dunlosky’s theory into practice as he explained that the “daily grind in the NHL” begins with “hard work” being a baseline of what is expected of each player, and that to rise above this baseline, players must embrace certain daily habits, without complaining of the work, knowing that “things don’t get easier as you get better, they get harder” with the repetition of these important skills.Dalip Shekhawat further reinforced Dunlosky’s research with his interview detailing the preparation involved in climbing Mount Everest, and neuroscientist Stephanie Faye from EPISODE #39 shares why this spaced repetition is so important at the brain level when she explains how the neural pathways are formed with this daily, consistent practicing of skill. SEL COMPETENCY: SELF-AWARENESS with MENTAL HEALTH and WELL-BEING“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” Ralph EllisonMoving into the 3rd SEL competency, self-awareness, this was the area that received the most downloads. The second most downloaded episode was my interview with my mentor, Bob Proctor, that shares where this idea began over 20 years ago. The third most downloaded episode was my solo lesson with a deep dive into everything I learned working directly with Bob, in the seminar industry for 6 years.Many of the speakers interviewed in this area came from the connections made from these speakers that I met in the late 1990s. It was here that I first saw the power of these social and emotional learning skills with 12 young teens, who would inspire me to keep moving forward with this work.This section is full of speakers, leaders, entrepreneurs of all ages who have a vision, like I do, for change with our educational system.EPISODE #66 Bob Proctor #2 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODE on “Social and Emotional Learning: Where it all Started for Andrea Samadi”EPISODE #67 “Expanding Your Awareness with a Deep Dive into the Most Important Concepts Learned from Bob Proctor Seminars” (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #68 The Neuroscience of Personal Change with Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi)#1 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODE with over 1100 downloads SOCIAL AWARENESS/RELATIONSHIPS/DECISION-MAKINGThese 3 SEL competencies are important with solo lessons for each topic. Greg Wolcott, the author of the book www.significant72.com was dominant in this area. I will mention an aha moment with his work in the next section.LESSONS LEARNED FROM EXPERTS IN SEL/EDUCATION TAKE ACTION, EVEN WHEN YOU AREN’T READY. My first guest speaker was my husband, Majid Samadi, who always is there to offer ideas, suggestions and support with all of my projects, so of course when I needed to interview someone to launch this idea, I asked him to be my first guest. If you go back to EPISODE #1 that covers “The Why Behind Launching an SEL or Emotional Intelligence Program in Your School or Workplace” you will hear me interview him on his thoughts, from the point of view of someone who spends most of his time, working in schools across the country, as the Regional Vice President of Sales for an Educational Publishing Company. This interview happened 5 minutes after he walked in the door after getting off a flight, I think from LA, and he put his suit jacket on my desk, and I handed him a sheet of questions and said “Answer these and talk into the mic.” I’m sure he had been working since early that morning, and it was well into the evening when we recorded this, but he did it, without rehearsing his answers, or spending time preparing. We launched the podcast when we weren’t 100% ready because if we didn’t, I’m sure I would still be spending my days planning. Take action, even when you aren’t ready.PAY ATTENTION TO EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE: SMALL DETAILS CAN LEAD TO BIG DISCOVERIES AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT LAST My second interview was with educator, Ron Hall, from Valley Day School (who I found from an article I saw through Linkedin, and reached out to him hoping he would say yes to being a guest on the show). He agreed, and we have remained in contact ever since. Something funny to mention is that I had just started using Zoom for these interviews, a year before everyone would be using Zoom, and I hadn’t mastered the audio yet. There was a setting on my end that I needed to fix, and finally figured it out, but I’ll never forget the stress of not being able to hear my first guest for a good 30 minutes (could have been longer) as he tried everything on his end to fix the audio, that we finally figured out was on my end. Once we figured it all out, Ron spoke about how he launched neuroscience into his school with one of his major influencers being an author and speaker named Horacio Sanchez. When I created the video for Ron’s interview, I added an image of Horacio as he explained his story. This became important a year later, when I was introduced to Horacio Sanchez from Corwin Press Publishers for Episode #74. With each person you meet, whether in your life, or work, it’s important to pay attention to small details that can lead to something important to you later on. Always develop and maintain relationships as you never know how that person could be of assistance to you, or you to them, at some point in the future.  I’m forever grateful for Ron Hall being my first guest, for staying in touch with me, and for the introduction to Horacio Sanchez, who I’m working with now on another project. GRATEFUL FOR BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THAT LAST.KEEP LEARNING AND DON’T GET IN YOUR OWN WAY: One of my early interviews was with Greg Wolcott, and assistant superintendent from Chicago, and the author the book Significant 72[vii]. I had been following Greg’s work since I heard him on an SEL webinar in 2016, where he explained how he was building relationships in schools across the country. Greg quickly became an incredible supporter of the podcast after our interview and referred me to many other guests. We became friends, and kept in touch as each episode was released, he would let me know how useful the information was for the educators he was working with, as he brainstormed the ways that the episodes were helping him. This gave me belief in the content, as I saw it being applied, and made me realize that it was crazy that I was nervous interviewing Greg, who would become an incredible support, leading me to step out of my own way, and into a path of greater opportunity down the line. Reminding me to KEEP LEARNING AND DON’T GET IN YOUR OWN WAY!LESSONS LEARNED FROM HEALTH/NUTRITIONWhen I launched this podcast, I had no idea I was going to even go in the direction of health, wellbeing and nutrition. It just happened. Health is my #1 value, and something I put an incredible amount of time towards, so it wasn’t a surprise to me that when the Pandemic hit our world, I saw the importance of interviewing people who were putting a focus on their physical health as well as their mental health and well-being.I’ve always stayed close to my trainer, Kelly Schmidt, from episode #51, but when I watched a documentary on the health staples that were shown to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease, I decided that I needed to expand what I knew in this area. I took the 5 health staples and began looking for people I could contact who were experts in each of these areas. I met Luke DePron on Linkedin, who connected me to Dr. Stickler, and Momo Vuyisich. I reached out to Shane Creado from Dr. Daniel Amen’s Clinics, leading us to get our brain scans, learn more about the importance of sleep and finally, reached out to Jason Wittrock on Instagram, after his videos had inspired me to make changes with my diet a few years back.This set of interviews led me to moderate Podbean’s Wellness Week with Dr. Carolyn Leaf and John Kim, who you bet I am working on getting on the podcast for 2021.I hope you have enjoyed this review of our first 100 EPISODES. There is a lot of information to review, and many lessons that I plan on revisiting over the holidays as a review. I’ll definitely be reviewing EPISODE #66 The Neuroscience of Personal Change (our #1 episode) and will be planning Season 5. Please do send me a message via social media, or email andrea@achieveit360.com and let me know what episodes you have liked, so I can be sure that I am producing the best content I can for you.See you next year.Health Staple 1: Daily Exercise  (Luke DePron)Health Staple 2: Getting Good Quality Sleep (Dr. Shane Creado)Health Staple 3: Eating a Healthy Diet (Dr. Daniel Stickler).Health Staple 4: Optimizing our Microbiome (Momo Vuyisich)Health Staple 5: Intermittent Fasting (Jason Wittrock) EXPERTS WHO DEMONSTRATE PRACTICAL NEUROSCIENCE TO IMPROVE RESULTS:EPISODE #11: 15-year-old Chloe Amen on how to “Change Your Brain, Change Your Grades”EPISODE #17: Harvard Researcher Jenny Woo on “The Latest Research, Brain Facts, Myths, Growth Mindset, Memory and Cognitive Biases”EPISODE #26: Simple Strategies for Overcoming the Pitfalls of Your Brain(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)  to Prepare for EPISODE #27EPISODE #27: Friederike Fabritius on “Achieving Peak Performance”EPISODE #28: Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight: The Basis of Social and Emotional Intelligence”EPISODE #30: Mark Robert Waldman on “12 Brain-Based Experiential Learning and Living Principles”EPISODE #35: How to Use Your Brain to Break Bad Habits (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #42 Dr. John Medina on “Implementing Brain Rules in the Schools and Workplaces of the Future”EPISODE #43 Deep Dive into Dr. John Medina’s Brain Rules(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #44 Andrea Samadi’s “12 Mind-Boggling Discoveries About the Brain”(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #46: As Close to Mind Reading as Brain Science Gets “Developing and Using Theory of Mind in Your Daily Life”EPISODE #48: Brain Network Theory : Using Neuroscience to Stay Productive During Times of Change and Chaos  (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #56: Dr. Lori Desautels on her new book “Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perceptions of DisciplineEPISODE #57: Taking Initiative: Your Brain and Change and Your Mentors(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #58: James MacDiardmid and Natasha Davis on "The Wise Emotional Fitness Program" (Virtual Reality).EPISODE #59: Suzanne Gundersen on “Putting the Polyvagal Theory into Practice”EPISODE #60: The Science and Benefits of Dan Siegel’s “Wheel of Awareness Meditation” (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #68: Neuroscience of Personal Change with Stephen R Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (#1 EPISODE with over 1100 downloads)EPISODE #69: Ben Ampil on “Using Your Brain to Manage Your Behavior and Results”EPISODE #73: Chris Manning on "Using Neurowisdom to Improve Your Learning and Success in Life."EPISODE #78: David A Sousa on “How the Brain Learns”EPISODE #81 Critical Thinking and The Brain (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #82 Doug Sutton “How a Brain Scan Changed My Life” PART 1EPISODE #83 What Exactly is a Brain Scan and Can it Change Your Life PART 2 (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi) EPISODE #84 Brain Scan Results PART 3 (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #85: Dr. Sarah McKay on “High Performing Brain Health Strategies That We Should All Know and Implement”EPISODE #88: Dr. Andrew Newberg on “Neurotheology, Spect Scans and Strategies for the Aging Brain”EPISODE #97: Kirun Goy and Samuel Holston on “The Neuroscience Behind Our Habits, Addictions, Love and Fears.”EPISODE #98 Dr. Dawson Church on “The Science Behind Meditation: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness”EPISODE #100: Mary Helen Immordino-Yang on “The Neuroscience of Social and Emotional Learning” EXPERTS WHO DEMONSTRATE THE 6 SEL COMPETENCIES: MINDSETEPISODE #20: Coaching a Growth Mindset: Strategies for Overcoming Obstacles and Cognitive Bias (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #40 Frank Shankwitz on “Lessons from the Wishman Movie”EPISODE #49: Dr. Jeffrey Magee on “Managing Fear, Focus and Strategy During Challenging Times”EPISODE #52: “Igniting Your Personal Leadership to Build Resiliency”(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi—Inspired by Dr. Bruce Perry).  EPISODE #55: Torsten Nicolini on “Working Smart: How to Improve Productivity and Efficiency at Work”EPISODE #61 Maria Natapov on “Building Autonomy, Self-Confidence, Connection and Resiliency Within our Children”EPISODE #73 Chris Manning Ph. D on “Using Neurowisdom to Improve Your Learning and Success in Life”EPISODE #74 Horacio Sanchez who Addresses Race, Culture and How to Apply Brain Science to Improve Instruction and School Climate”EPISODE #86 University of Phoenix President Peter Cohen on “A Positive Vision for K-12 and Higher Ed Campuses”EPISODE #99 Irene Lyon on “The Science Behind Trauma and a Healthy Immune System” SELF-REGULATION with PERSISTENCE and PERSEVERANCEEPISODE #14: Self-Regulation: The Foundational Learning Skill for Future Success(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #37: Dr. John Dunlosky on “Improving Student Success: Some Principles from Cognitive Science”EPISODE #38:  Former Assistant Coach to the Winnipeg Jets Todd Woodcroft on “The Daily Grind in the NHL”EPISODE #39 Stephanie Faye on “Using Neuroscience to Improve our Mindset, Self-Regulation and Self-Awareness”EPISODE #45: Dalip Shekhawit on “Life Lessons Learned from Summiting Mount Everest”EPISODE #53: Self-Regulation and Your Brain: How to Bounce Back Towards Resiliency (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #70 Self-Regulation and Behavior Change-Andrea Samadi solo lesson on David R Hawkins’ “Power vs Force” (4th MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODE)CASE STUDIESEPISODE #13: Teen Artist Sam Roberts on “Winning a 4-Year Prestigious Leadership Scholarship at the University of AR Fort Smith.”EPISODE #68: Donte Dre Winrow on “Breaking into a Challenging Career Path”EPISODE #50: Shark Tank Season 1 Success Story Tiffany Krumins on “Life After Shark Tank”SELF-AWARENESS with MENTAL HEALTH and WELL-BEING EPISODE #6: Helen Maffini from the Mindful Peace Summits on “Launching Mindfulness and Meditation in Our Schools”EPISODE #8: 14- year-old Adam Avin on “Improving Well-Being and Mental Health in Our Schools”EPISODE #21: Spencer Taylor on his Educational Documentary “The Death of Recess”EPISODE #23: Understanding the Difference Between Your Mind and Your Brain(Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #25: Mindfulness and Meditation Expert Mick Neustadt on “How Meditation and Mindfulness Changes Your Life”EPISODE #29: How to Re-Wire Your Brain for Happiness and Well-BeingEPISODE #31: Nik Halik on “Overcoming Adversity to Create an Epic Life”EPISODE #32: John Assaraf on “Brain Training, The Power of Repetition, Resourcefulness and the Future”EPISODE #33: Kent Healy on “Managing Time, Our Greatest Asset”EPISODE #34: Chris Farrell on “Actionable Strategies for High Achievers to Improve Daily Results”EPISODE #65 Dr. Barbara Schwarck on “Using Energy Psychology and Emotional Intelligence to Improve Leadership in the Workplace”EPISODE #66 Bob Proctor on “Social and Emotional Learning: Where it all Started for Andrea Samadi” #2 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODEEPISODE #67 “Expanding Your Awareness with a Deep Dive into the Most Important Concepts Learned from Bob Proctor Seminars” (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #68 The Neuroscience of Personal Change with Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People” (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi) #1 MOST DOWNLOADED EPISODE with over 1100 downloadsEPISODE #80 Samantha Wettje on “Mitigating the Negative Effects of ACES with Her 16 Strong Project”EPISODE #92 Sarah Peyton on “Brain Network Theory, Default Mode Network, Anxiety and Emotion Regulation.”EPISODE #95 Dr. Sandy Gluckman on “Reversing Children’s Behavior and Mood Problems” SOCIAL AWARENESSEPISODE #5: Social Awareness: How to Change Your Social Brain (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi)RELATIONSHIP SKILLSEPISODE #7: Greg Wolcott on “Building Relationships in Today’s Schools”EPISODE #9: Using Your Brain to Build and Sustain Effective Relationships (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi)DECISION-MAKINGEPISODE #9: Using Your Brain to Build and Sustain Effective Relationships (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi)EXPERTS IN SEL AND EDUCATIONEPISODE #1: Majid and Andrea Samadi on “The Why Behind Implementing an SEL or Emotional Intelligence Training Program in Our Schools and Workplaces”EPISODE #2: Self-Awareness: Know Thyself (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #3: Ron Hall from Valley Day School on “Launching Your Neuro-educational Program”EPISODE #4: Jennifer Miller on “Building Connections with Parents and Educators”EPISODE #12: Clark McKown on “SEL Assessments Made Simple”EPISODE #16: Dr. Lori Desautels and Michael McKnight on “The Future of Educational Neuroscience in Our Schools and Communities”EPISODE #18: Kenneth Kohutek, PhD on his new book “Chloe and Josh Learn Grit”EPISODE #19: Bob Jerus on “Emotional Intelligence Training and Suicide Prevention”EPISODE #22: Marc Brackett on his new book “Permission to Feel”EPISODE #24: Dr. Jeff Rose on “Leadership, Innovation and the Future”EPISODE #36: James Nottingham on “The Importance of Challenge with Learning”EPISODE #40: Erik Francis on “How to Use Questions to Promote Cognitive Rigor, Thinking and Learning”EPISODE #47: Erik Francis on “Transitioning Teaching and Learning in the Classroom to Home”EPISODE #54: David Adams on “ A New Vision for Education: Living Up to the Values We Want for Our Next Generation.”EPISODE #62: CEO of CASEL Karen Niemi on “Tools and Strategies to Enhance and Expand SEL in our Schools and Communities”EPISODE #63: Hans Appel on “Building an Award Winning Culture in Your School or Organization”EPISODE #64: Greg Wolcott on “Making Connections Between Neuroscience and SEL”EPISODE #75 Maurice J Elias on “Boosting Emotional Intelligence Through Sports, Academics and Character”EPISODE #76 Michael B Horn on “Using a Positive Lens to Explore Change and the Future of Education”EPISODE #77 Doug Fisher/Nancy Frey on “Developing and Delivering High Quality Distance Learning for Students”EPISODE #79 Eric Jensen on “Strategies for Reversing the Impact of Poverty and Stress on Student Learning:”EPISODE #91 Drs. Jessica and John Hannigan on “SEL From a Distance: Tools and Processes for Anytime, Anywhere.” EXPERTS IN PHYSICAL HEALTH, WELLNESS and NUTRITIONEPISODE #51: Kelly Schmidt on “Easy to Implement Fitness and Nutrition Tips”Jason Wittrock on “Nutrition, Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet”EPISODE #71 Self-Regulation and Sleep with Dr. Shane Creado’s “ Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes” (Solo Lesson by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #72 Dr. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage”EPISODE #87 The Top 5 Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Strategies (Solo Lesson with Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #89 Dr. Erik Won on “Groundbreaking Technology That is Changing the Future of Mental Health”EPISODE #90 Luke DePron on “Neuroscience, Health, Fitness and Growth”EPISODE #93 Momo Viyisich on “Improving the Microbiome, Preventing and Reversing Chronic Disease”EPISODE #94 Jason Wittrock on “Nutrition, Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet”EPISODE #96 Dr. Daniel Stickler on “Expanding Awareness for Limitless Peak Performance, Health, Longevity and Intelligence.”BONUS EPISODE: Top 5 Health Staples and Review of Season 1-4(Solo Episode by Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #82 "How a Brain Scan Changed My Life" With Doug Sutton PART 1EPISODE # 83 "What is a SPECT Scan and How Can it Change Your Life?" PART 2 (with Andrea Samadi)EPISODE #84  "Brain Scan Results" with Andrea Samadi PART 3 Each Season at a Glance:Season 1: Consists of 33 episodes that begin with introducing six the social and emotional competencies (building a growth mindset, making responsible decisions, becoming self-aware, increasing social-awareness, managing emotions and behavior and developing relationships) along with an introduction to cognitive skills that I call Neuroscience 101 where we introduce some of the most important cognitive strategies, or the core skills your brain uses to think, remember and pay attention. CONTENT: In this season, you will learn about understanding your mind vs your brain, mindfulness and meditation, the 3 parts of your brain, achieving peak performance, and improving awareness, mindsight, rewiring your brain for happiness, and experiential learning. We interviewed Ron Hall from Valley Day School who talked about how he launched his neuroeducation program into his school, Jennifer Miller on “Building Connections with Parents and Educators,” Helen Maffini on her Mindful Peace Summit and “Launching Mindfulness and Meditation in our Schools,” Greg Wolcott on “Building Relationships in Today’s Classrooms,” 14 year old Adam Avin on “Improving Our Mental Health in Our Schools,” Clark McKown from xSEL Labs on “SEL Assessments” and how we can actually measure these skills, Sam Roberts on her experience of “Winning a 4 Year Prestigious Scholarship” using these skills, Donte Winrow on “Breaking into a Challenging Career Path” with the application of these skills immediately after graduating from high school, Dr. Lori Desautels and Michael McKnight on “The Future of Educational Neuroscience in Today’s Schools,” Harvard researcher Jenny Woo on “The Latest Research, Brain Facts and Myths, Growth Mindset, Memory and Cognitive Biases,” Psychologist Dr. Kenneth Kohutek on his new book “Chloe and Josh Learn Grit,” Psychologist Bob Jerus on “Suicide Prevention and Emotional Intelligence Training,” Spencer Taylor on his “Death of Recess Educational Documentary” featuring Carol Dweck and Sir Ken Robinson, Marc Brackett on his powerful book “Permission to Feel,” former Superintendent Dr. Jeff Rose on “Leadership, Innovation and the Future,” Mick Neustadt on “How Meditation and Mindfulness Can Change Your Life,” Friederike Fabritius from Germany on “Achieving Peak Performance with the Brain in Mind,” Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight: The Basis for Social and Emotional Intelligence,” my mentor and neuroscience researcher Mark Robert Waldman on “12 Brain-Based Experiential Learning and Living Principles,” Nik Halik on “Overcoming Adversity to Create an Epic Life,” and John Assaraf on “Brain Training, the Power of Repetition, Resourcefulness and the Future.” Season 2: These 33 episodes build on the strategies from Season 1, with high level guests who tie in social, emotional, interpersonal and cognitive strategies to increase results in schools, sports and the workplace. You will learn about the power of repetition, challenge, creativity, using your brain to break bad habits, how the brain ties into mindset, self-regulation, and self-awareness, cognitive rigor, thinking, learning, brain rules for schools and the workplace, the theory of mind, brain network theory, personal leadership, taking initiative, resiliency, the science behind mindfulness/meditation and your values. CONTENT: You will hear from Chris Farrell on “Strategies for High Achievers,” James Nottingham on “The Importance of Challenge with Learning,” Dr. John Dunlosky on “Improving Student Success,” Todd Woodcroft on “The Daily Grind in the NHL,” Stefanie Faye on “Using Neuroscience to Improve our Mindset, Self-Regulation, and Self-Awareness,” the Co-Founder of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Frank Shankwitz on “Lessons from the Wish Man Movie,” Erik Francis on “How to Use Questions to Promote Cognitive Rigor, Thinking and Learning,” Dr. John Medina on “Implementing Brain Rules in the Schools and Workplaces of the Future,” Dalip Shekhawat on “Life Lessons Learned from Summiting Mount Everest,” Dr. Jeff Magee on “Managing Fear, Focus and Strategy During Challenging Times,” Tiffany Krumins on “Life After Shark Tank,” Kelly Schmidt on Easy to Implement Fitness and Nutrition Tips,” David Adams on “A New Vision for Education,” Torsten Nicolini on “Working Smart,” Dr. Lori Desautels on her book “Connections Over Compliance,” The Wise Emotional Fitness Program delivered via virtual reality with James MacDiarmid and Natasha Davis all the way from Australia, Suzanne Gunderson on “Putting the Polyvagal Theory into Practice,” Maria Natapov on “Building Autonomy, Self-Confidence, Connection and Resiliency Within Our Children,” Casel President Karen Niemi on “Tools and Strategies to Enhance and Expand SEL in our Schools and Communities,” Hans Appel on “Building an Award Winning Culture in Your School or Organization,” Greg Wolcott on “Making Connections with Neuroscience and SEL,” Dr. Barbara Schwarck on “Using Energy Psychology and Emotional Intelligence to Improve Leadership in the Workplace,” and an Introduction to my first mentor, speaker, Bob Proctor on “Social and Emotional Learning: Where it All Started,” where I share how I began working with these skills over 20 years ago,  along with a deep dive into some of the lessons learned from Bob Proctor’s Seminars.Season 3: These 14 episodes tie in some of the top authors in the world who connect their work to these social, emotional and cognitive skills, with clear examples for improved results, well-being and achievement within each episode.CONTENT: You will learn about the neuroscience of personal change with a deep dive into Dr. Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” (that’s currently the most downloaded episode) Self-Regulation and Behavior Change with David R Hawkins’ “Power vs Force,” Self-Regulation and Sleep with Dr. Shane Creado’s “Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes,” Chris Manning on using “Neurowisdom” to Improve Learning and Success in Life, Horatio Sanchez on “Resilience,” Maurice J Elias on “Social and Emotional and Character Development,” Michael B Horn on “Disrupting Education” and the future of education, Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey on “High Quality Distance Learning.” David A Sousa on “How the Brain Learns,” Eric Jensen on “Reversing the Impact of Poverty and Stress on Student Learning” and Samantha Wettje from Harvard on “Mitigating the Negative Effect of ACES.” I conclude this season with a solo lesson from me, on critical thinking and the brain, after being asked to create an episode on this topic for the corporate space. Season 4:  These 18 episodes (82-100) that begin to tie in health, and mental health into the understanding of our brain, productivity and results. The shift to health on this podcast became apparent when we started to see how important our brain health is for our overall results. CONTENT: Everything that we do starts at the brain level, and we dive deep into this with our 3-part episodes on “How a Brain Scan Changed My Life” with a look at what we can learn from looking at our brain using a SPECT image brain scan. The interviews of this season mix in the power of education with an understanding of health and wellness. Dr. Sarah McKay agreed with Dr. Shane Creado (from Season 3) that sleep is one of the most important health strategies we can implement. It became apparent that there were 5 health staples that emerged as so powerful they were showing an impact on Alzheimer’s Prevention, so this season became a deep dive into these top 5 health staples (daily exercise, getting good quality and quantity sleep, eating a healthy diet, optimizing our microbiome and intermittent fasting). You will also hear from Dr. Andrew Newberg and his episode on Neurotheology, Dr. Erik Won and his ground -breaking technology that’s changing the future of mental health, Luke DePron, who is stretching the limits with neuroscience, health, fitness and growth, Sarah Peyton on “Brain Network Theory, Default Mode Network, Anxiety and Emotion Regulation,” Momo Vuyisich on “Preventing and Reversing Chronic Disease by Improving the Health of Your Microbiome,” Jason Wittrock on the Ketogentic Diet and Intermittent Fasting, and Dr. Sandy Gluckman on “Reversing Children’s Behavior and Mood Problems.” We also hear from behavior experts Drs. Jessica and John Hannigan on their new book “SEL From a Distance” that offers simple strategies for parents and educators who are working on implementing these SEL skills into their home or classroom, during the pandemic.When Season 4 took the direction of health, mental-health, and wellness, I began looking for guests to dive deeper into the Top 5 health staples that seemed to continue to emerge with each guest. Dr. Daniel Stickler came on with the topic of “Expanding Awareness for Limitless Peak Performance, Health, Longevity and Intelligence, Kirun Goy and Samuel Holston from the BrainTools Podcast on “The Neuroscience Behind our Habits, Addictions, Love/Fears,” Dr. Dawson Church on “The Science Behind Meditation: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness,” Irene Lyon on “The Science Behind Trauma and a Healthy Immune System” and Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang on “The Neuroscience of Social and Emotional Learning.” REFERENCES:[i] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning EPISODE #74 with Horacio Sanchez https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/leading-brain-science-and-resiliency-expert-horatio-sanchez-on-how-to-apply-brain-science-to-improve-instruction-and-school-climate/[ii] Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning, Ph.D. Published Jan.31, 2017  https://www.amazon.com/NeuroWisdom-Brain-Science-Happiness-Success/dp/1682303055[iii] Drhu Purohit’s Broken Brain Podcast with Max Lugavere on “Building a Personal Brand” https://shows.acast.com/broken-brain/episodes/behind-the-scenes-max-lugavere-on-building-a-personal-brand[iv] High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard Published Sept.19, 2017  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072N6MQ5V/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[v] WakeUpIt’sDayOne Blog https://wakeupitsdayone.com/2018/07/16/increase-productivity-habit-4-of-high-performers/[vi] Interview with Todd Woodcroft on Hockey Minds Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/hockey-minds-podcast/id1517330567#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fpinecast.com%2Fguid%2F7dcaf914-d44a-42e6-a9c5-bca89a40aff6[vii] Greg Wolcott www.significant72.com

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, with a special episode, recorded for Podbean’s Wellness Week.When I first launched this podcast, in June 2019, using Podbean as my host, of course, it was a bit by chance, as I had just purchased a new template for my website that had a podcast theme, and the developer who helped me to build the site said “you can delete the podcast section if you don’t want to host a podcast” and I thought about it for a minute, and was already conducting interviews for the programs and services I was offering in my membership area, so I told him, “let’s just keep it” and I went over to Google and searched for “what is an RSS feed” and “how to launch a podcast.” I had no idea at that moment just how powerful that one decision would be, leading me to launch something that would connect me to leaders around the world, be downloaded in over 100 countries, become my biggest learning opportunity I’ve ever had,  and open up many doors, all from just one decision.I also started this podcast because I saw a serious need in the area of social and emotional learning that was being implemented in schools around the country and the world, but many educators didn’t know the best way to begin their implementation.  We all know that “success in life, and in college and career specifically, relies on student’s cognitive, (the core skills your brain uses to think, read, remember, and pay attention) social and interpersonal skills, (including the ability to navigate through social situations, resolve conflicts, show respect towards others, self-advocate and learn how to work on a team with others) and emotional development (including the ability to recognize and manage one’s emotions, demonstrate empathy for others and cope with stress)” but what are these skills, and what exactly is the best way to implement them?[i]In the corporate world, these skills aren’t new, but they are “newly important” and of high urgency to develop in our future generations. A recent survey showed that 58 percent of employers say college graduates aren’t adequately prepared for today’s workforce, and those employers noted a particular gap in social and emotional skills. This is where our goal with this podcast began—to close this gap by exploring six social and emotional learning competencies as a springboard for discussion and tie in how an understanding of our brain can facilitate these strategies. Hence the title of the podcast, Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning. If we want to improve our social, emotional and cognitive abilities, it all starts with an understanding of our brain. Season 1: Consists of 33 episodes that begin with introducing six the social and emotional competencies (building a growth mindset, making responsible decisions, becoming self-aware, increasing social-awareness, managing emotions and behavior and developing relationships) along with an introduction to cognitive skills that I call Neuroscience 101 where we introduce some of the most important cognitive strategies, or the core skills your brain uses to think, remember and pay attention.CONTENT: In this season, you will learn about understanding your mind vs your brain, mindfulness and meditation, the 3 parts of your brain, achieving peak performance, and improving awareness, mindsight, rewiring your brain for happiness, and experiential learning. We interviewed Ron Hall from Valley Day School who talked about how he launched his neuroeducation program into his school, Jennifer Miller on “Building Connections with Parents and Educators,” Helen Maffini on her Mindful Peace Summit and “Launching Mindfulness and Meditation in our Schools,” Greg Wolcott on “Building Relationships in Today’s Classrooms,” 14 year old Adam Avin on “Improving Our Mental Health in Our Schools,” Clark McKown from xSEL Labs on “SEL Assessments” and how we can actually measure these skills, Sam Roberts on her experience of “Winning a 4 Year Prestigious Scholarship” using these skills, Donte Winrow on “Breaking into a Challenging Career Path” with the application of these skills immediately after graduating from high school, Dr. Lori Desautels and Michael McKnight on “The Future of Educational Neuroscience in Today’s Schools,” Harvard researcher Jenny Woo on “The Latest Research, Brain Facts and Myths, Growth Mindset, Memory and Cognitive Biases,” Psychologist Dr. Kenneth Kohutek on his new book “Chloe and Josh Learn Grit,” Psychologist Bob Jerus on “Suicide Prevention and Emotional Intelligence Training,” Spencer Taylor on his “Death of Recess Educational Documentary” featuring Carol Dweck and Sir Ken Robinson, Marc Brackett on his powerful book “Permission to Feel,” former Superintendent Dr. Jeff Rose on “Leadership, Innovation and the Future,” Mick Neustadt on “How Meditation and Mindfulness Can Change Your Life,” Friederike Fabritius from Germany on “Achieving Peak Performance with the Brain in Mind,” Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight: The Basis for Social and Emotional Intelligence,” my mentor and neuroscience researcher Mark Robert Waldman on “12 Brain-Based Experiential Learning and Living Principles,” Nik Halik on “Overcoming Adversity to Create an Epic Life,” and John Assaraf on “Brain Training, the Power of Repetition, Resourcefulness and the Future.”Season 2: These 33 episodes build on the strategies from Season 1, with high level guests who tie in social, emotional, interpersonal and cognitive strategies to increase results in schools, sports and the workplace. You will learn about the power of repetition, challenge, creativity, using your brain to break bad habits, how the brain ties into mindset, self-regulation, and self-awareness, cognitive rigor, thinking, learning, brain rules for schools and the workplace, the theory of mind, brain network theory, personal leadership, taking initiative, resiliency, the science behind mindfulness/meditation and your values.CONTENT: You will hear from Chris Farrell on “Strategies for High Achievers,” James Nottingham on “The Importance of Challenge with Learning,” Dr. John Dunlosky on “Improving Student Success,” Todd Woodcroft on “The Daily Grind in the NHL,” Stefanie Faye on “Using Neuroscience to Improve our Mindset, Self-Regulation, and Self-Awareness,” the Co-Founder of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Frank Shankwitz on “Lessons from the Wish Man Movie,” Erik Francis on “How to Use Questions to Promote Cognitive Rigor, Thinking and Learning,” Dr. John Medina on “Implementing Brain Rules in the Schools and Workplaces of the Future,” Dalip Shekhawat on “Life Lessons Learned from Summiting Mount Everest,” Dr. Jeff Magee on “Managing Fear, Focus and Strategy During Challenging Times,” Tiffany Krumins on “Life After Shark Tank,” Kelly Schmidt on Easy to Implement Fitness and Nutrition Tips,” David Adams on “A New Vision for Education,” Torsten Nicolini on “Working Smart,” Dr. Lori Desautels on her book “Connections Over Compliance,” The Wise Emotional Fitness Program delivered via virtual reality with James MacDiarmid and Natasha Davis all the way from Australia, Suzanne Gunderson on “Putting the Polyvagal Theory into Practice,” Maria Natapov on “Building Autonomy, Self-Confidence, Connection and Resiliency Within Our Children,” Casel President Karen Niemi on “Tools and Strategies to Enhance and Expand SEL in our Schools and Communities,” Hans Appel on “Building an Award Winning Culture in Your School or Organization,” Greg Wolcott on “Making Connections with Neuroscience and SEL,” Dr. Barbara Schwarck on “Using Energy Psychology and Emotional Intelligence to Improve Leadership in the Workplace,” and an Introduction to my first mentor, speaker, Bob Proctor on “Social and Emotional Learning: Where it All Started,” where I share how I began working with these skills over 20 years ago,  along with a deep dive into some of the lessons learned from Bob Proctor’s Seminars.Season 3: These 14 episodes tie in some of the top authors in the world who connect their work to these social, emotional and cognitive skills, with clear examples for improved results, well-being and achievement within each episode.CONTENT: You will learn about the neuroscience of personal change with a deep dive into Dr. Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” (that’s currently the most downloaded episode) Self-Regulation and Behavior Change with David R Hawkins’ “Power vs Force,” Self-Regulation and Sleep with Dr. Shane Creado’s “Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes,” Chris Manning on using “Neurowisdom” to Improve Learning and Success in Life, Horatio Sanchez on “Resilience,” Maurice J Elias on “Social and Emotional and Character Development,” Michael B Horn on “Disrupting Education” and the future of education, Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey on “High Quality Distance Learning.” David A Sousa on “How the Brain Learns,” Eric Jensen on “Reversing the Impact of Poverty and Stress on Student Learning” and Samantha Wettje from Harvard on “Mitigating the Negative Effect of ACES.” I conclude this season with a solo lesson from me, on critical thinking and the brain, after being asked to create an episode on this topic for the corporate space. Season 4:  These 14 episodes (82-96) that begin to tie in health, and mental health into the understanding of our brain, productivity and results. The shift to health on this podcast became apparent when we started to see how important our brain health is for our overall results.CONTENT: Everything that we do starts at the brain level, and we dive deep into this with our 3-part episodes on “How a Brain Scan Changed My Life” with a look at what we can learn from looking at our brain using a SPECT image brain scan. The interviews of this season mix in the power of education with an understanding of health and wellness. Dr. Sarah McKay agreed with Dr. Shane Creado (from Season 3) that sleep is one of the most important health strategies we can implement. It became apparent that there were 5 health staples that emerged as so powerful they were showing an impact on Alzheimer’s Prevention, so this season became a deep dive into these top 5 health staples (daily exercise, getting good quality and quantity sleep, eating a healthy diet, optimizing our microbiome and intermittent fasting). You will also hear from Dr. Andrew Newberg and his episode on Neurotheology, Dr. Erik Won and his ground -breaking technology that’s changing the future of mental health, Luke DePron, who is stretching the limits with neuroscience, health, fitness and growth, Sarah Peyton on “Brain Network Theory, Default Mode Network, Anxiety and Emotion Regulation,” Momo Vuyisich on “Preventing and Reversing Chronic Disease by Improving the Health of Your Microbiome,” Jason Wittrock on the Ketogentic Diet and Intermittent Fasting, and Dr. Sandy Gluckman on “Reversing Children’s Behavior and Mood Problems.” We also hear from behavior experts Drs. Jessica and John Hannigan on their new book “SEL From a Distance” that offers simple strategies for parents and educators who are working on implementing these SEL skills into their home or classroom, during the pandemic.When Season 4 took the direction of health, mental-health, and wellness, I began looking for guests to dive deeper into the Top 5 health staples that seemed to continue to emerge with each guest.Health Staple 1: Daily Exercise  (Luke DePron)Health Staple 2: Getting Good Quality Sleep (Dr. Shane Creado)Health Staple 3: Eating a Healthy Diet (Dr. Daniel Stickler).Health Staple 4: Optimizing our Microbiome (Momo Vuyisich)Health Staple 5: Intermittent Fasting (Jason Wittrock)On this episode, that we are releasing for Podbean’s Wellness Week, I’ll take the Top 5 Health Staples from EPISODE #87 and offer additional tips, strategies, and ideas based our most recent interviews, that you can implement immediately for improved health and well-being. You can see EPISODE #87[ii] on the “Top 5 Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Strategies” that I wrote after watching Dr. David Perlmutter’s Documentary: Alzheimer’s the Science of Prevention[iii], that inspired the change in direction for the podcast towards health and wellness in addition to social, emotional and cognitive strategies for improved results.The case is clear that in order to move the needle the most with our health, there are some important areas that we can come to a consensus that are crucial to pay attention to. We know that Alzheimer’s disease now affects “more than 5 million Americans and is the most common form of dementia, a term that describes a variety of diseases and conditions that develop when nerve cells in the brain die or no longer function normally.”[iv]I was interested in learning more on this topic, since it was one of the reasons, we did scan our brain in the first place. The pattern of Alzheimer’s can be seen in the brain years before signs and symptoms show up, so when I saw Dr. Perlmutter’s Alzheimer’s Prevention series, I watched every episode to learn what brain experts across the country are saying about the top ways to prevent this disease, that currently has no know or meaningful treatment but I was given some hope when I learned that “you can change the direction of your cognitive destiny” (From Max Lugavere,[v] a Health and Science Journalist and NYT Bestselling Author, Genius Foods). Here is how we can take control of our health and future, with the TOP 5 health staples that I think we should all know, how they play a role in Alzheimer’s prevention, with added TIPS from our most recent health interviews.Health Staple 1: Daily Exercise: This seems to be the solution for every single brain problem, so I think that this is the most important strategy, and the reason why I block out exercise time on my schedule as non-negotiable. If we can incorporate 30 minutes of brisk walking every day, we will be miles ahead with our brain health. It wasn’t until I started to measure my activity, that I started to see that 30 minutes of walking really did make a difference. I didn’t need to be running or working really hard (like I used to think I had to do) to notice a difference, but I did need to put in some effort to move the needle.  The benefits  of daily, consistent exercise “come directly from its ability to reduce insulin resistance, reduce inflammation, and stimulate the release of growth factors—chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance and survival of new brain cells.”[vi]  If for some reason, this whole idea of exercising still doesn’t sound the least bit interesting to you, you might be surprised like I was, that household activities like vacuuming, or raking leaves, or anything that gets your heart rate up, like shoveling snow (something I haven’t done in years since I moved from Toronto)—but these activities can also fall into the category of moderate exercise. The idea is whatever you choose, that it remains consistent, so it eventually becomes something you do habitually.ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION THOUGHT FOR DAILY EXERCISE:If exercise reduces insulin resistance and inflammation, it would make sense that it also reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s. Studies show that “people who are physically active, have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and possibly have improved thinking.”[vii]DEEPER DIVE with LUKE DEPRON:On episode #90, I interviewed Luke DePron on “Neuroscience, Fitness and Growth” Luke is a Men’s Health & Performance Coach[viii], and graduate of Exercise Science, Kinesiology. Luke has done everything from personal training with 100s of clients, to working alongside Drs of Chiropractic as a corrective exercise specialist, training Olympic level athletes, to performance work with world champion mixed martial arts fighters. Currently Luke works as a Men’s Online Health and Performance Coach—learn more at http://www.livegreatlifestyle.com/ where he helps men step into a lifestyle approach of exercise and nutrition to transform their physique, energy, and confidence. He’s also the Host of the Live Great Lifestyle Podcast[ix] where he’s interviewed former Navy Seals, Mixed Martial Arts world champions, New York Times best-selling authors, personal development speakers, and many more….LESSON LEARNED FROM LUKE ON DAILY EXERCISE: I learned from Luke that “most people start a fitness or nutrition journey with a physique goal in mind, but it’s how you feel at the end of it.” What’s inspiring Luke says “is to see someone who might not be in that great health to begin with, create daily and weekly habits or standards that they follow, that creates energy and confidence that comes along with these habits.” That’s what the journey is all about.Health Staple 2: Getting Good Quality Sleep: Making sure we are getting at least 7- 8 hours each night. I think that we have seen the importance of sleep with our interview with sleep expert Dr. Shane Creado, on episode #72[x] and with Dr. Sarah McKay on episode #85.[xi] It is clear that sleep deprivation causes poor health and performance because it’s not allowing enough time for the brain to wash and clean itself. With less than 7 hours of sleep each night, the “trash”[xii] builds up in our brain, that leads us farther away from health.  I learned from health expert Darin Olien from the Darin Olien Show[xiii] --he’s the one who did the Netflix Docuseries with Zac Efron called “Down to Earth with Zac Efron[xiv]” that studies show that “almost all neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, are created when protein waste accumulates in the brain, which in turn slowly suffocates and kills the brain’s neurons.”[xv]  We also know that the brain shows lower functioning to important areas when it’s sleep deprived.ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION THOUGHT FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP:Dr. David Perlmutter, on his Alzheimer’s Science of Prevention Series, made a clear case for the fact that “sleep deprivation is directly linked to developing Alzheimer’s disease” and that “sleep plays an important role…impacting our risk for developing this condition.” He went on to remind us that “from a medical perspective, we cannot afford a bad night’s sleep” and that “sleep is essential if we want to retain optimal function of our body and our brains.”[xvi]DEEPER DIVE WITH DR. SHANE CREADOOn episode #72 with sleep medicine physician, sports psychiatrist and author of the NEW book “Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes: The Cutting-Edge Sleep Science That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage”[xvii] Dr. Shane CreadoShane Creado[xviii] is a double board-certified sleep medicine doctor and psychiatrist. He practices functional sleep medicine, integrative psychiatry, and sports psychiatry, putting all those skills together to uncover underlying factors that sabotage the patients, comprehensively treat them, and help them achieve their goals.LESSON LEARNED FROM DR. CREADO ON SLEEP:Dr. Creado mentions that “Sleep is a key pillar of brain health and it’s modifiable, which is what’s beautiful about it. We can’t really change our DNA, well, we could talk about epigenetics and how the environment influences our DNA but sleep is something that it modifiable and we can correct it.” When working with a patient, Dr. Creado looks at the brain using SPECT image brain scans and based on what he sees, he determines the treatment plan. When Dr. Creado looked at my brain, he suggested that a change in my sleep pattern of adding just an additional half and hour to make 7 hours of sleep, would improve my results. He also reminded me that a 20 minute nap in the afternoon would boost my productivity and is not lazy, to incorporate this habit into my daily routine, and that Google and many high level corporate environments offer sleep pods to help their employees to gain the rest needed in the afternoon to boost productivity.Health Staple 3: Eating a Healthy Diet: Eliminating sugar and processed foods. We hear this all the time and know intuitively what feels good when we eat it, and what makes our body feel tired, lethargic and just plain bad. The goal is to eliminate “the brain robbers that steal our energy and do what helps it, not hurts it.”[xix]  There are two specific moments that I remember were life-changing when it came to my diet.The first was around 2005 when I was seeing a foot doctor, Dr. Richard Jacoby, for foot numbness after exercise, and he asked me to eliminate sugar completely from my diet.  I was looking for solutions to why I couldn’t feel the top of my foot during exercise, and I didn’t show any signs of diabetes, but this doctor was writing a book, that is now released called Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage and Reclaim Good Health[xx]  and he was convinced that sugar intake was at the root of most health problems. He suggested that I take fish oil, and learn to avoid higher glycemic foods, and the results that occurred were so impactful, that I wished I had done this sooner. The benefits of cutting out sugar from my diet only snowballed my health for the better down the road. When I was ready to have children, I was a bit worried that I would have some challenges here, as I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) in my late 20s and told that I might need to take fertility drugs to conceive,  but surprisingly, after some tests, my doctor told me that I no longer had this condition, that it appears to have reversed, and she asked me what I had done. The only thing I did was exercise, take fish oil and cut out sugar.The second life-changing Aha Moment around diet was focused around intermittent fasting, that I talk about in point #5, but it was also eye opening when I started to follow Dave Asprey, the author of the NYT bestseller The Bulletproof Diet: Lose Up to a Pound a Day, Reclaim Focus, Upgrade Your Life[xxi] and creator of Bulletproof Coffee[xxii].  Who would ever have thought that putting butter, coconut oil or MCT oil in your coffee would help you to increase your energy and stay lean? I heard this idea first from bodybuilder and fitness expert Jason Wittrock[xxiii] from watching his YouTube channel where he explains exactly what goes into a keto coffee, and why it’s good for your energy levels. He explains the science behind the keto diet and was a great resource for me when I was learning that eating fats, won’t make me fat. Thomas DeLauer[xxiv] is also a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about intermittent fasting, or the ketogenic diet.ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION THOUGHT FOR EATING A HEALTY DIET:Did you know that sugar in the brain “looks like Alzheimer’s” in the brain,  and that “60% of cognitive decline is related to how you handle blood sugar?”[xxv] There was a study that followed “5,189 people over 10 years and found that people with high blood sugar had a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar—whether or not their blood-sugar level technically made them diabetic. In other words, the higher the blood sugar, the faster the cognitive decline.”[xxvi]Did you know that with Type 2 Diabetes, you have almost double the risk for Alzheimer’s Disease, that has no known treatment? If you have type 2 diabetes, your goal would be to do everything that you can to manage your blood sugar, by eating good carbs[xxvii] (complex carbs with fiber),  eat lower glycemic foods[xxviii] that balance your blood sugar levels, instead of throwing them off balance with high levels of sugar.Above is an image of a healthy brain, from Dr. Amen’s Clinics, showing even, symmetrical and smooth blood flow to all areas in the healthy brain, and the Alzheimer’s brain shows a drop of blood flow to the important parts of the brain.DEEPER DIVE WITH DR. DANIEL STICKLEROn episode #96 with Dr. Daniel Stickler, MD, a former vascular surgeon who concluded that traditional medicine is not the best route for ideal health. He is now the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of The Apeiron Center for Human Potential (Apeiron meaning Limitless) and is the visionary pioneer behind systems-based precision lifestyle medicine, which is a new paradigm that redefines medicine from the old symptoms-based disease model to one of limitless peak performance. A few minutes of looking at Dr. Stickler’s work and your level of awareness will expand.LESSON LEARNED FROM DR. STICKLER ON NUTRITION:Dr. Stickler talks about a skill called interoception or the ability to listen to the signals within the body that we have spoken about in a few episodes on this podcast (whether it was with Dr. Dan Siegel and his Wheel of Awareness meditation[xxix] that strengthens this awareness) or personal trainer Jason Wittrock who talked about the importance of listening to your hunger cues to gain control over your eating habits.Dr. Stickler mentioned interoception as a skill used by pro athletes to achieve results with their athletic career, or with those in the special forces who must learn this skill since they are often faced with life vs death situations. If we can learn to listen to the cues our body tells us, whether it’s with the food we are eating, or when we are eating, we will be miles ahead with our well-being.Health Staple 4: Optimizing our Microbiome: Did you know that your gut is made up of trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes. This microbiome plays an important role in your health by helping to control digestion and benefitting your immune system. Taking a probiotic daily, remaining active, eating a healthy diet and avoiding foods that disrupt our microbiome[xxx] (processed fried foods, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners, are important for our gut/brain health.ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION THOUGHT FOR OPTIMIZING YOUR MICROBIOME:There does appear to be a hidden relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and the microbiome in our gut and that “an imbalanced gut microbiome (dysbiosis) could lead to Alzheimer’s disease and wider neuroinflammation through the gut-brain-axis. Promoting ‘good bacteria’ relative to ‘bad bacteria’ in the gut may be important in maintaining good digestive, immune and neurological health.”[xxxi] This is still a developing field but taking prebiotics and probiotics[xxxii] are the best way to promote a healthy gut/brain balance.DEEPER DIVE WITH DR. VUYISICH Our recent episode #93 with Dr. Momo Vuyisich, the co-founder and chief science officer of Viome[xxxiii], a healthcare disruptor that’s using IA to analyze your gut microbiome to make personalized nutritional recommendations, we learn about the importance of the gut/brain connection and how we can take control of our own life and health by optimizing our gut microbiome with personalized nutritional recommendations using Viome testing. Dr. Vuyisich’s research focused on applying modern genomics to the areas of gut microbiomes, host-pathogen and microbial inter-species interactions, pathogen detection, cancer biology, toxicology, infectious diseases, and antibiotic resistance.LESSON LEARNED FROM DR. VUYISICHDr. Vuyisich believes that “Today we have 100% of the science and technology needed to cure every chronic disease and every cancer.” He urges everyone to learn more about ways to optimize their gut health by understanding what damages our gut health, and what is good for it. Since each person’s microbiome is different, his company offers microbiome testing, and the result is that people learn what foods they should avoid, minimize, enjoy and those that are superfoods for them. This has opened up a whole new world for him, and it begins with each person taking charge of their own health by understanding our gut/brain connection.Health Staple 5: Intermittent Fasting: Has many health benefits[xxxiv] that you might have heard of, like the fact it reduces belly fat. I started intermittent fasting around 3 years ago when I was looking to take my health to the next level, and was following some of the well-known body builders, to see what they were doing for their health and fitness. I started the 16-8 program where you fast for 16 hours, and only eat foods in an 8-hour window. I just picked 4 days a week (Sunday to Wednesday) to do this, to see what happened, and the results were obvious. I was able to quickly get down to my goal weight, where I was stuck, and not able to move the needle with exercise alone.ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION THOUGHT FOR INTERMITTENT FASTING : Intermittent fasting has so many other health benefits tied to this practice, like the fact it “fights insulin resistance, lowering your risk of type-2 diabetes, reduces inflammation in the body, is beneficial for heart health, and may prevent cancer.”[xxxv] If it is fighting insulin resistance, then it is also fighting your risk of Alzheimer’s.DEEPER DIVE WITH FITNESS TRAINER AND MODEL JASON WITTROCKOn episode #94 with personal trainer and fitness model, Jason Wittrock we learn more about intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet that go hand in hand.I first found Jason Wittrock late 2016/ 2017 when I was searching for answers with my diet. I was at a crossroads with my health, and knew I needed to do some things differently, I just didn’t know exactly what to do, and I had heard some friends in some of my online groups talking about how they were drinking keto coffee, and experiencing health benefits, like increased energy and weight loss.  So I went to YouTube, and typed in “how to make keto coffee” and Jason Wittrock’s video came up called “Keto Coffee”[xxxvi] and my journey began here, taking my health to a whole new level, and have never looked back. I’m sure there are thousands of stories just like mine.LESSON LEARNED FROM JASON WITTROCKJason says it just like it is. He talks about the fact that eating fats, won’t make you fat, which is a whole new paradigm for anyone who is used to counting calories.  He says “You can’t get mad at the butter for what the bread did” and is one of the leaders in the fitness industry who has built a career on helping people implement the ketogenic diet. Many people on this diet notice that they stay full for much longer, and intermittent fasting becomes easier to implement.REVIEW AND ACTION STEPS:Wherever you are with your current health, there is always a way to take your results to the next level. You also don’t need to get bogged down with implementing these ideas in a rush and stressing yourself out in the process.To get started, pick one area that you want to improve, and work on that one area for the next 90 days.Remember what Luke De Pron suggested, the end results should be how you “feel” not what you look like. How you feel will spill over to your confidence levels, helping to improve your daily productivity and results.WHERE TO BEGIN WITH DAILY EXERCISE:If you want to improve your daily exercise, but have no idea where to begin, I would start with walking.Beginners: I remember after a surgery I had that I could barely walk to the bottom of my driveway and remember thinking how frustrating that was. Listen to your body and start with short distances.  I would wake up early, at 4am (since I didn’t want the whole world watching me struggle to walk short distances) and I could walk from the bottom of my driveway to the end of the street. I did that every day for a week and then added a longer distance that lasted 15 minutes. After a few weeks, I was walking longer distances and longer amounts of time, showing me that progress is possible, with regular, consistent activity.Moderate to Advanced: If you have plateaued with your current exercise routine, have you tried working with a trainer? Many are available for zoom/video calls during this time if your gym is still closed, or if you don’t have one. The key is to do something that you have not done before, to get new and different results.WHERE TO BEGIN WITH GETTING A GOOD QUALITY SLEEPWatch the interview with sleep expert Dr. Shane Creado, on episode #72[xxxvii] and with Dr. Sarah McKay on episode #85?[xxxviii]If you are waking up and feel tired, or not rested, have you considered getting a sleep study to test the quality and quantity of your sleep?Take inventory of your sleep. Are you getting at least 7-8.5 hours/each night? Remember that Dr. Creado said that the beauty about sleep is that it is modifiable. How can you adjust your sleep to make improvements? Even just by adding an additional half an hour each night, along with an afternoon nap, can yield noticeable results.Have you ever used an app to measure your sleep? Dr. Stickler in episode #96 measures all of his clients sleep using a Garmin device, and he has noted that someone doing all the right things EXCEPT for sleeping enough, were able to lose weight only once they improved their sleep.WHERE TO BEGIN WITH EATING A HEALTHY DIETDo you avoid processed foods?Have you ever thought about cutting out sugar?Do you choose healthy carbs and fats?Do you choose whole foods vs processed foods?WHERE TO BEGIN WITH OPTIMIZING YOUR MICROBIOMEDo you take a probiotic? A prebiotic?Do you know what foods help/hurt or damage your microbiome?Have you considered microbiome testing like Dr. Vuyicish’s company offers so you can pinpoint the foods that you should avoid, minimize, maximize, or foods that are superfoods?WHERE TO BEGIN WITH INTERMITTENT FASTINGIf fasting for 16 hours with an 8 hour eating window seems too much, try 12 hours fasting and 12 hours eating to begin. Try it for a few days a week, and just see if you feel better fasting than when you eat like you normally would. If you feel better, you can always experiment with different fasting methods, and see where you feel best.Remember Jason Wittrock explaining that when you are eating a diet that is higher in fat, that you will not get hungry the same way you do eating a high carb diet.I hope you have found this episode helpful, and I that you did learn something new. Please do send me a message on social media and let me know what you think.  I really do believe that if we want to improve our social, emotional and cognitive abilities, it all starts with an understanding of our brain, and these TOP 5 strategies seem to move the needle the most, especially when it comes to preventing Alzheimer’s and other diseases that I know we all want to avoid.  I hope you have found the additional interviews helpful, and begin to make small changes in one area at a time. It’s these small, daily habits, that when repeated over and over again, yield outstanding results.See you next episode!REFERENCES:[i] (Integrating Social, Emotional and Academic Development: An Action Guide for School Leadership Teams) page 4[ii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning EPISODE #87 on the “Top 5 Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Strategies”[iii] Dr. David Perlmutter’s “Alzheimer’s: The Science of Prevention” https://scienceofprevention.com/[iv] 10 Early Alzheimer’s Symptoms That You Should Know https://www.amenclinics.com/blog/10-early-alzheimers-symptoms-that-you-should-know/[v] Max Lugavere, Health and Science Journalist and NYT Bestselling Author, Genius Foods. https://www.maxlugavere.com/[vi] Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills by Heidi Goodman, April 2014  https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110[vii] Alzheimer’s Disease: Can Exercise Prevent Memory Loss April 2019  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/alzheimers-disease/faq-20057881[viii] http://www.livegreatlifestyle.com/[ix] Live Great Lifestyle Podcast with Luke DePron http://www.livegreatlifestyle.com/podcast/[x] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast Episode #72 with Shane Creado on “Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes” https://www.achieveit360.com/self-regulation-and-sleep-with-a-deep-dive-into-dr-shane-creados-peak-sleep-performance-for-athletes/[xi] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast Episode #85 with Neuroscientist Dr. Sarah McKay on “High Performing Brain Health Strategies That We Should All Know About.”[xii] Darin Olien “The Sleep Position to Detoxify Your Brain”  https://darinolien.com/detoxify-your-brain/[xiii] The Darin Olien Show https://darinolien.com/podcasts/[xiv] Down to Earth with Zac Efron (co-host Darin Olien)  https://www.netflix.com/title/80230601[xv] Darin Olien “The Sleep Position to Detoxify Your Brain”  https://darinolien.com/detoxify-your-brain/[xvi] Dr. David Perlmutter’s “Alzheimer’s: The Science of Prevention” EPISODE 10 on Sleep  https://scienceofprevention.com/[xvii] Dr. Shane Creado’s Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes: The Cutting-Edge Sleep Science That Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage (March 15, 2020) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085YFP9YW/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[xviii] www.shanecreado.com[xix] Dr. Daniel Amen “7 Simple Brain-Promoting Nutritonal Tips” https://www.creativityatwork.com/2011/01/10/dr-amen-seven-simple-brain-promoting-nutrition-tips/[xx] Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage and Reclaim Good Health by Dr. Richard Jacoby (April 2014)  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPVB4OA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[xxi] Dave Asprey The Bulletproof Diet https://www.amazon.com/Bulletproof-Diet-Reclaim-Energy-Upgrade-ebook/dp/B00K8DSTWU/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3EQ3XAEBNVQKS&dchild=1&keywords=dave+asprey&qid=1600893573&s=digital-text&sprefix=dave+asprey+the+%2Cdigital-text%2C210&sr=1-2[xxii] Bulletproof Coffee https://www.bulletproof.com/recipes/bulletproof-diet-recipes/bulletproof-coffee-recipe/[xxiii] Fitness expert Jason Wittrock on “What goes into Keto Coffee”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzLwqBDMgGc[xxiv] Fitness and Health Expert Thomas DeLauer https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC70SrI3VkT1MXALRtf0pcHg[xxv] Dr. David Perlmutter’s “Alzheimer’s: The Science of Prevention” EPISODE 5  https://scienceofprevention.com/[xxvi] The Startling Link Between Sugar and Alzheimer’s by Olga Khazan Jan. 26, 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/01/the-startling-link-between-sugar-and-alzheimers/551528/[xxvii] Good Carbs vs Bad Carbs https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/good-carbs-bad-carbs[xxviii] Lower Glycemic Foods https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/low-glycemic-diet[xxix] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning EPSIODE #60 “The Science Behind a Meditation Practice with a Deep Dive into Dr. Daniel Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness Meditation”  https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-science-behind-a-meditation-practice-with-a-deep-dive-into-dr-dan-siegel-s-wheel-of-awareness/[xxx] 11 Ways Your Life Can Disrupt the Gut Microbiome https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/11-ways-your-life-can-disrupt-the-gut-microbiome/[xxxi] Alzheimer’s Disease and the Microbiome by Oman Shabir  https://www.news-medical.net/health/Alzheimers-Disease-and-the-Microbiome.aspx[xxxii] What is the Difference Between a Prebiotic and a Probiotic https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323490[xxxiii] https://www.viome.com/[xxxiv] 11 Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2[xxxv] 11 Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2[xxxvi] Keto Coffee with Jason Wittrock Published August 2017 on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzLwqBDMgGc[xxxvii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast Episode #72 with Shane Creado on “Peak Sleep Performance for Athletes” https://www.achieveit360.com/self-regulation-and-sleep-with-a-deep-dive-into-dr-shane-creados-peak-sleep-performance-for-athletes/[xxxviii] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast Episode #85 with Neuroscientist Dr. Sarah McKay on “High Performing Brain Health Strategies That We Should All Know About.” https://www.achieveit360.com/neuroscientist-dr-sarah-mckay-on-high-performing-brain-health-strategies-that-we-should-all-know-about-and-implement/ 

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

What do we know about the brain's working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

What do we know about the brain’s working, what is myth and what is on the cutting edge. Learn what is the current neuroscience thinking. Mark Waldman is the author of 14 books, including the national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain which Oprah selected as one of the nine Must Read books for 2012. Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University where he created one of the first NeuroLeadership programs in the country. He is also on the faculty of Holmes Institute where he teaches a ministerial training course on “Spirituality and the Brain.” His neuroscience research on consciousness, communication, and spirituality have been published in journals throughout the world. And his work has been featured in Time Magazine, the Washington Post, the New York Times, Forbes, and Oprah Magazine, and many others. He has appeared on 100s of radio and television programs, including PBS and NPR, and his TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 100,000 people.

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, episode #88 with Dr. Andrew Newberg, M.D[i]. an American neuroscientist who is the Director of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital,[1]  and the author of ten books (translated into 6 languages), and over 200 articles on neuroimaging in neuropsychiatric disorders and also on neuroscience and religion.Watch the interview on YouTube here. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to speak with Andrew, as he has been exploring the topic of neurotheology, which addresses the relationship between the brain and religious experiences, since his teenage years.Andrew is the co-author of the bestselling book, How God Changes Your Brain[ii] (2009) which was chosen by Oprah for her book club that same year[iii] and Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (2001)[iv] which both explore the relationship between neuroscience and spiritual experience. He has also co-authored Words Can Change Your Brain (2013)[v] Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality and Truth (2008)[vi] and The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Belief (1999). The latter book received the 2000 award for Outstanding Books in Theology and the Natural Sciences presented by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences[vii] which is an organization that focuses on building bridges between theology and science.I’ve got some powerful, insightful, thought provoking questions for Andy, and I know you will find this topic interesting, especially with his ability to share his insights and years of research, from the point of view of pure science.My name is Andrea Samadi,  and if you are new here, I’m a former educator who created this podcast to bring the most current neuroscience research, along with high performing experts who have risen to the top of their field, with specific strategies or ideas that you can implement immediately, whether you are an educator, or in the corporate space, to take your results to the next level. If we want to improve our social, emotional and cognitive abilities, it all starts with an understanding of our brain.Welcome Andy and thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of this fascinating topic on the podcast today.For anyone who knows your schedule, this is a rare opportunity, and I’m grateful for Mark Waldman[viii] for connecting us after the webinar you did last week where you addressed many powerful and mind-boggling questions that connect theology and neuroscience that I know will benefit those who listen to this podcast in different part of the world.Q1: Andy, I have had so much interest in this podcast, even before we had booked our time to speak today. I just put up a graphic with your book cover “How God Changes Your Brain” and the messages started coming in on all social media accounts. Then I quoted something you say in the book “the more you think about God, the more you alter the neural circuitry of in specific parts of the brain”...and then you say with the utmost confidence that “God can change your brain.” (Andrew Newberg M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman, How God Changes Your Brain).Can we begin here?  Where did your interest in religion and the human brain begin? What is Neurotheology? What does neuroscience say about whether there is a God or not? Q2: I have to ask it. I grew up going to church every Sunday, (Presbyterian), read and studied the Bible, and really do believe in the 10 Commandments but I still don’t really know how I would explain God, other than the fact that I just believe he exists and I do feel more connected to God/spirit when I’m in nature. I know that you have scanned the brains of Franciscan nuns and charted the neurological changes that happen in the brain.  What is God? Is God the same as consciousness? What does your research show about religion and the human brain? Is there a certain area you would look at that connects my religious beliefs to my brain?Q3: You covered this on the training you did for Mark Waldman’s group last week, but I think it’s so important to talk about today. It’s about the power of intercessory prayer (praying on behalf of others).  It’s a component of the Dr. Daniel Siegel’s “Wheel of Awareness[ix]” Meditation where we are asked to focus on those who we are close to and send loving/kindness to those in our communities, cities, state, country and expanding to the world. What does your research say about praying for someone far away? Is it possible to measure one person who might not put the focused attention towards the person they are praying for verses someone else who focuses with intent, loving, and kindness? Can prayer really impact those close or far from us?Q4: You mentioned on that call you did last week, that you did a brain scan, an MRI, where they measured your brain, and your memory, by asking you to remember 10 words. This caught my attention, because I just had my brain scanned using a SPECT SCAN and, the results showed I scored low (1/10) on recall memory which I feel was accurate. For the life I me, I couldn’t remember random words during the test.  But I can remember things word for word, from over 30 years ago (conversations with people, or speeches from 12 years ago). From the brain scans that you have done, what are some strategies that you have seen for people like me, looking to improve memory recall? How did YOU do on that MRI test?  What other techniques have you seen people use to improve their memory? Q5: I just finished watching Dr. David Perlmutter’s Alzheimer’s, the Science of Prevention Series[x] that focuses on the staple things we should all be doing to prevent this debilitating disease that has he mentions no known or meaningful cure. We all know that sleep, diet and exercise and important for protecting the aging brain, but what else have you found to be an important practice to preserve our brain health? What do you do?Q6: We’ve covered belief or paradigms on this podcast, with different episodes and speakers. What do you think from your experience working with the brain? What are beliefs, how do they form, where are they stored, and how can we change old/outdated beliefs? Q7: In closing, is there anything that’s important to this topic, that we haven’t discussed today?RESOURCES:The Principles of Neurotheology by Andrew Newberg, M.D.  http://www.andrewnewberg.com/books/principles-of-neurotheologyKirtan Kriya Meditation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfKEAiwrgeY REFERENCES:[i] www.andrewnewberg.com[ii] How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist, Andrew Newberg, M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman (March 20, 2009) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001Y35GDS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[iii] Oprah’s Book Club http://www.oprah.com/book/How-God-Changes-Your-Brain-by-Andrew-Newberg-MD-and-Mark-Waldman?editors_pick_id=35314[iv] Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief by Andrew Newberg M.D., Eugene D’Aquili, and Vince Rause (2001) https://www.amazon.com/Why-God-Wont-Go-Away-ebook/dp/B001NJUP7U/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=why+god+wont+go+away&qid=1601599952&sr=8-1[v] Words Can Change Your Brain: 12 Conversation Strategies to Build Trust, Resolve Conflict, and Increase Intimacy by Andrew Newberg M.D. and Mark Robert Waldman  https://www.amazon.com/Words-Can-Change-Your-Brain-ebook/dp/B0074VTHMA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=21MDUEAMV1M7U&dchild=1&keywords=words+can+change+your+brain&qid=1601600126&s=digital-text&sprefix=words+can+chan%2Cdigital-text%2C191&sr=1-1[vi] Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality and Truth by Andrew Newberg M.D. https://www.amazon.com/Why-Believe-What-Uncovering-Spirituality/dp/0743274970/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=why+we+believe+what+we+believe+newberg&qid=1601600285&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr[vii] Center for Theology and Natural Sciences https://www.ctns.org/[viii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #30 with Mark Robert Waldman on “12 Brain-Based Experiential Learning and Living Practices” https://www.achieveit360.com/neuroscience-researcher-mark-robert-waldman-on-12-brain-based-experiential-learning-and-living-principles/[ix] Dan Siegel’s Wheel of Awareness Meditation https://www.drdansiegel.com/resources/wheel_of_awareness/[x] Alzheimer’s: The Science of Prevention Series with Dr. David Perlmutter https://scienceofprevention.com/ 

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, episode #84. This is PART 3 of our past 2 episodes on “How Looking at Your Brain Can Change Your Life” with a deeper dive into What We Learned from Getting a SPECT Image Brain Scan at Dr. Amen’s Clinic in Costa Mesa, CA. The results are in (or at least mine are). My husband’s results won’t be in until next week. The reason I’m sharing my findings is so that you can see how important it is to look at your brain. It’s not important to know my results specifically, but  how someone can be doing all the right things, and still have the ability to take their results to the next level with what they learn from looking at their brain. I hope that you can take away some new insights that open your eyes to why brain-health is so important, and consider looking at your brain, if you can.Read this episode here for larger images:https://www.achieveit360.com/how-a-spect-scan-can-change-your-life-part-3-with-andrea-samadi/Just a quick update for those who are new here, my name is Andrea Samadi,  I’m a former educator who created this podcast to bring awareness, ideas and strategies to our most pressing issues facing educators in their workplace, or parents working from home or in the corporate space, to keep us all working at our highest levels of productivity. The goal is to bring the most current brain research and practical neuroscience, connected to our social and emotional skills, to take our results to the next level. We can do this when we do everything with our brain in mind, since our brain controls pretty much everything that we do.This episode, we are looking at How a Brain Scan can change your life. I mentioned the results of my brain scan are here, but first, just to review, PART 1 of this Brain Scan Series, we spoke with my friend Doug Sutton[i], who had a SPECT image brain scan a few years ago when he was noticing low energy and brain fog. He went to Dr. Amen’s Clinics, one of the most respected psychiatrists in the country, who began looking at the brain, taking his practice to a whole new level. Dr. Amen believes that “when your brain works right, you work right” and his work is focused on helping people improve their lives by improving their brains. The decision to get a brain scan completely changed Doug’s life and gave him an entirely new perspective of this organ that controls pretty much everything that he does. His scan showed him that he had been exposed to toxic mold that might have been contributing to some of the health issues he was having, and he learned about things that could have harmed his brain (competitive kickboxing that he did in his early 20s) that gave him a new perspective of this organ he had not thought twice about in the past. He kept up with his treatment plan and has never been happier, and sharper, mentioning the experience to be life changing.PART 2, was about my husband and I’s visit to Amen Clinics[ii] in CA. We made the decision to get a brain scan after interviewing Dr. Shane Creado from EPISODE #72[iii] on sleep strategies. It was Dr. Creado who suggested “why don’t you just go and get your brain scanned” when I asked him specific questions to help optimize my brain after our interview. In PART 2, I did review what a SPECT image brain scan is, what it can detect, and the main thing that we are looking for, is to see what type of brain we have based on the amount of blood flow going to the Prefrontal Cortex that controls our Executive Functions, as well as anything that he could see that would be important for us to know now, (Dementia and Alzheimer’s can be seen years before symptoms show up) so we could work on optimizing our brain for improved results.The scan could tell us that we have the perfect amount of blood flow to our brain (which I don’t think is the case or we probably wouldn’t have gone), too little—that Dr. Amen calls hypofrontality) since “hypo” is a prefix that means “less” like hypothermia means being too cold, and frontality meaning the frontal lobes of our brain (the prefrontal cortex where all of our thinking and planning takes place) or too much blood flow, that he would say is hyperfrontality. I made a prediction that I think my husband has a lower blood flow, or a sleepier brain, and that I have more blood flow activity to the PFC, or what he calls a busy brain. I made this guess by following Dr. Amen’s courses, Brain Warrior’s Way Podcast and from reading his most recent books.  I’m curious to see how accurate my prediction is.If you remember from the last episode, I mentioned actress Laura Clery getting a SPECT scan, and she had cameras follow her from start to finish. Her results are also in[iv], and you can watch her meeting with Dr. Amen to see what she learned.  There were some incredible Aha! Moments for me watching Laura’s results prior to hearing mine, starting with the fact that the X test we had to take was designed to identify whether someone has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or not. If you watched Laura’s test, she swore a lot and found it very difficult. My husband said the exact same thing—that the test drove him crazy.  Another interesting fact—this test that drove my husband and Laura crazy, is sold by Pearson Assessments[v], the sister company where my husband and I both worked, 15 years ago. Back then we didn’t know anything about the importance of looking at our brain, and it never crossed our minds to take an assessment ourselves to test our own cognitive abilities.Dr. Amen also went over with Laura a second test that was designed to measure attention span, and he does think from her results that she has ADD and Laura agrees that it makes sense to her, so they created a treatment plan that can take her results to a whole new level once her brain is working at it’s best.  Here are my results:BRAIN HEALTH SCORES: Thinking (3.3/10), Emotion (7.3/10) Feeling (6.7/10) and Self-Regulation (9.3/10) If I didn’t score so high on the emotional part of my brain, (emotion, feeling and self-regulation) I probably would have cried when I saw the results. I’m fully aware of the fact that a brain with holes shows an increase of at least 45% drop in blood flow and I saw a bunch of holes at first glance.  But my overall score showed I can control my emotions, so I didn’t, especially not in front of Dr. Creado.  He said my resilience levels were higher than many of the elite athletes that he’s tested, explaining to me that backbone of persistence I know I have of never giving up and pushing forward when things are difficult.  I can handle pretty stressful situations and can bounce back. We did cover resilience with brain-science and resiliency expert Horatio Sanchez on episode 74[vi] where he dove really deep into what exactly resilience is, how we can develop it in ourselves and our children and why it’s such an important life skill. This was a powerful episode to revisit because resiliency is one of those life skills we want for ourselves and our children. What Needs Help:The difficult part to see was my thinking brain, where all my executive functions occur. These scores were low, specifically recall memory (we were asked to recall a list of words, and after remembering 5 or 6 words, I just gave up). I think I did this because I know that the brain can only hold a certain amount of information. Dr. Creado reminded me that my belief is important here and I agree. Where does this skill show up in my life? There have been times my husband has asked me to pick him up somewhere, and instead of just telling me the address, he’s given me a list of directions and I know I’ve lost what he’s saying after the 7th turn and stop listening, saying “just send me the address.” So we have all learned life hacks to compensate for areas of cognitive weakness, but now that I am aware of it, I can strengthen this skill. I am reminded again, how would I have known, if I didn’t look.Processing speed (the amount of times I could hit a key on the keyboard) was also low. I’m still learning about where this skill shows up in my life but will take Dr. Creado’s suggestions seriously. Motor Coordination, controlled attention, flexibility, inhibition, and working memory were all at the expected range.He could see a lot about my personality and how I work by looking at these scores. Doug Sutton mentioned in his interview #82 that he thinks getting a SPECT image brain scan should be a mandatory part of the hiring process in the corporate world since it reveals so much about a person. There’s no way you can hide with this snapshot of your brain. Dr. Creado saw that “I like things done my way, and that I don’t like a sudden change of plans” and having a high degree of structure in my life (which is what I need) helps me to achieve what I’m doing and is indicative of the high scores of the emotional brain. I wouldn’t operate at the level I am without these high scores.The X TestFor the X test or the Connor’s Continuous Performance Test scores, a lower score is better and Dr. Creado let me know that my scores showed that when I wanted to perform on this test, I had the ability to focus and do well. After doing many of these brain scans, he has noticed that people who have weaker executive functions in their brain can develop life hacks to help them to focus and concentrate when they need to. But the problem is, that with time, and not working on brain health, it will just be more difficult to keep up with these life hacks. Eventually, the brain will not be able to keep up with the hack which is why it’s so important to look and see what’s happening in your brain. You won’t know any of this, without looking.Surface Area of My BrainNow let’s go to the surface area of the brain. Dr. Creado is looking for smoothness, symmetry and shape.There are a lot of areas that are functioning well, and other areas that are not. The holes show at least 45% drop in blood flow to that area, not meaning there are physical holes, but that neurons are not firing in those areas. The temporal lobes, frontal lobes, top part and bottom part all show a hole, or reduced blood flow to that area. Traumatic Brain Injury, Toxic Chemicals and SleepI do have the pattern of a traumatic brain injury and I described that I hit my head on a pool deck in the late 1990s while competing in a triathlon.  Head injuries typically have this pattern, but other things (my brain looks similar to my friend Doug’s who had toxic mold exposure which got me thinking about the cleaning products I use to clean my house with) can also affect these areas. This area can be affected by lack of regular exercise (not an issue for me), lack of meditation (not an issue for me), or inadequate sleep or sleep apnea (aha—not sure if this is it, but we will do a sleep study and see if I am getting enough oxygen to the brain at night). Dr. Creado thinks I am doing a lot of things right, but he doesn’t like how my brain looks, so we will be doing a bit more investigation around what is happening to this part of the brain. He also suggests sleeping longer than 6.5 hours, that I might need 7.5 hours (to get 5 sleep cycles), so I will take his advice and work on a change in schedule to see if I notice any improvements. With someone doing a lot of things right, he didn’t expect to see this pattern in my PFC.  The good news is that he didn’t see the pattern of Alzheimer’s or dementia that can show up years before symptoms occur.Dr. Creado showed me that this is the typical pattern of a traumatic brain injury. The Emotional BrainMy emotional brain showed to be really underactive. He wonders if it’s from the TBI, or from chronic neck pain I’ve always had, or sleep apnea (that we will check). He wants me to do balance exercises to stimulate activity in the cerebellum. I do hike and jump often from rock to rock without any difficulty, so have not noticed any issue with balance or coordination. He sees a lack of dopamine to the frontal lobes, and would prescribe medicine for this, but I prefer going the natural route, which makes sense why I know I need daily intensive exercise before I can sit at my desk and work.  It’s like I know the neurotransmitter that my body needs (dopamine) and I’ve learned to find ways to create it naturally.The deep limbic system is the brightest part of my emotional brain, which explains why I can easily control my mood. He sees this area overactive in people who hold themselves to high standards and can see the work I am doing that I need this area to work this way, or be a bit of a perfectionist, so this area is working as it should. He just cautions me to watch that if this area is too overactive, that I could go down the path of self-doubt, shame and guilt. There are great supplements that I had started taking about a year ago that can help balance this area of the brain (5HTP that boosts serotonin) can help with this, so I will see if he recommends me taking more than I was taking before.Brain Scan Conclusion:Dr.Creado thought that this evaluation was going to be smooth sailing for him when he saw the work I am doing, and the fact that I am doing a lot of things right, but he thinks that my brain still needs some work. I will get to work now on what he suggests I do to optimize my brain health to improve blood flow to the executive functions of my brain. After thinking about some of Dr. Creado’s questions and comments (that my brain looks similar to someone with a sleep deprived brain) I’ll take his advice seriously and work on an extra hour of sleep. I also thought about how much my brain looks like my friend Doug’s, (with toxic mold/chemical exposure)  and I do spend a lot of time cleaning my house, so I will re-think how I am cleaning and the products I am using.If you want to learn more about your own brain type, or want to optimize your brain like we did, just look up the number and call Amen Clinics. If a SPECT scan is not for you, you can take Dr. Amen’s Thrive by 25 Course[vii] that dives deeper into different parts of the brain where you can see if you recognize yourself and your own behaviors, which is what I did before we actually looked at our brain. I was accurate with the fact that I have a busy brain, and my we will find out my husband’s results next week. You can also read Dr. Amen’s most recent book The End of Mental Illness[viii] where he takes a deeper dive into different brain types, along with their SPECT scans, with strategies he recommends for each type.Why is Optimizing the Prefrontal Cortex So Important?I learned that there are strategies that create more brain reserve, or energy, and the more brain reserve we have, the more resilient we are and the better our brain can handle the aging process to keep “mental health” disorders at bay. There are many different factors for how one person can have more brain reserve than another, but it stems from family history, or what types of injuries or trauma you’ve experienced in your past. After looking at my results, you can see there were many different factors that contributed to what Dr. Creado saw, and we still have some work to do on pinpointing ways to further optimize my prefrontal cortex or thinking brain.The decisions we make and the habits we engage in on a daily basis are either boosting or stealing our brain’s reserve and are either accelerating the aging process or rejuvenating our brain. When we can grasp this concept, we realize that we have a lot of influence on the health and age of our brain, as well as on our own mental and physical health.Especially during this time where we don’t yet know exactly how the coronavirus can impact the brain, and our future, I think it is important to learn more about our brain, protect it better, and take our seriousness towards our health to a new level.Improving the Prefrontal Cortex or Executive Functions of the Brain:Keep in mind that we want to protect the most important part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, since it is that part of the brain that controls our focus, forethought, judgement, impulse control, organization, planning, and empathy.  It’s this part of our brain that we want to strengthen to improve our future and the part of my brain that I know I need to work on.Dr. Amen was the principal investigator on the first and largest brain imaging study on active and retired NFL players who showed high levels of damage but who also had a high chance of recovery using the strategies he suggests after a brain scan. He did notice that many football players had a similar pattern on their brain after years of damage. Their brains were all flattened on the top, right where their executive functions were housed due to the consistent and repetitive motion of hitting the athletes head in a forward motion. We did cover tips to strengthen your brain and cognition in EPISODE #23 on “Understanding the Difference Between our Mind and Our Brain”[ix] but here’s a review.Let’s say you are ready to make some changes with your brain health. When you are curious and interested, you will be ready to put in the effort needed to work hard and concentrate on new information. You must also be relaxed in order to consolidate this new information that you will be learning. In his book Words Can Change Your Brain[x]  Mark Robert Waldman outlines his brain-scan research suggesting that “the strategies incorporated in mindfulness could strengthen the neural circuits associated with empathy, compassion and moral decision making.” This demonstrates just how powerful it can be to stop and think and incorporate a daily meditation practice. Exercise and meditation did help my emotional response scores. Take some time to stop and think about these tips of how to improve your brain and life.We all want to have a better brain and life and getting a SPECT scan was a first step towards this. After the results, I was able to look at the what Dr. Amen calls the 4 Circles of Brain Health[xi] where he reminds us that 51% of the population will struggle with a mental health challenge at some point in their life. He suggests you think about these four areas when looking at making changes to improve our life.Biological: How your brain and body works. Are you eating right, exercising and taking the right supplements? What genetic vulnerabilities do you have? Do you know what they are?Spiritual: Why are you here? Do you know your purpose and vision beyond yourself, how can you can contribute to the community or world?Psychological: How Your Mind Works. What makes you who you are (self-talk, body image, sense of self-worth, hope, and power over your own life).Social: Who Else is in Your Life? What is the quality of your life, relationships, and how do you give back to the world with your talents/skills?This experience really did open my eyes to what Dr. Amen says all the time.  “We don’t know know, unless we look” and I’m glad I looked at my brain. I wasn’t expecting to see it looking like it did, but it did answer some questions for me. I know now why meditation and exercise are so important, because my brain works best with this boost in dopamine. I can either create it myself, and also find other natural, healthy ways to keep my dopamine levels higher, including working on sleep, taking the right balance of supplements, and keeping up with the activities that have been working for me in the past. I will keep you posted as how the work begins when I receive some strategies to improve and optimize my brain. I know they will involve some sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, (many of NHL and NFL players have been treated successfully for head injuries at Amen Clinics with this type of therapy), supplements, a sleep study, and interactive metronome activities to increase blood flow to my cerebellum.The older we get, the more serious we need to be about the health of our brain. This experience showed me the reality of looking at this organ that controls everything that I do, and in order to optimize it, I need to know exactly what is happening with it. I hope you found this 3-part brain scan series helpful, and that it has lit a fire for you to take your brain health to the next level. I know it lit a fire under me to make some changes, and scared me enough to be grateful that we did take the time to look at our brains, so that we can focus on brain optimization and health with true understanding of what’s really happening at the brain level. How would you ever know, unless you look.See you next week!REFERENCES:[i] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #82 with Doug Sutton on “How a Brain Scan Changed my Life.” PART 1 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-a-brain-scan-changed-my-brain-and-life-with-doug-sutton/[ii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPSIODE #83 with Andrea Samadi on “What is a SPECT Brain Scan and How Can it Change Your Life?” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/how-exactly-can-a-spect-imaging-brain-scan-change-your-life-with-andrea-samadi-part-2/[iii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #72 with Dr. Shane Creado on “Sleep Strategies that Will Guarantee a Competitive Advantage.” https://www.achieveit360.com/dr-shane-creado-on-sleep-strategies-that-will-guarantee-a-competitive-advantage/[iv] Actress Laura Clery SPECT Scan Results with Dr. Amen https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3472842882747938 (start video at 4 minutes where she arrives at Dr. Amen’s Clinic).[v] Conners Continuous Performance Test https://www.pearsonclinical.co.uk/Psychology/ChildMentalHealth/ChildADDADHDBehaviour/ConnersContinuousPerformanceTestIIVersion5forWindows(CPTIIV5)/ConnersContinuousPerformanceTestIIVersion5forWindows(CPTIIV5).aspx[vi] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #74 with brain-science and resiliency expert Horatio Sanchez https://www.achieveit360.com/leading-brain-science-and-resiliency-expert-horatio-sanchez-on-how-to-apply-brain-science-to-improve-instruction-and-school-climate/[vii] Thrive by 25 Online Course https://brainmd.com/brain-thrive-by-25[viii] Dr. Daniel Amen, The End of Mental Illness (March 2020) https://www.amazon.com/End-Mental-Illness-Neuroscience-Transforming-ebook/dp/B07T6C3CWH/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=[ix] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Episode #23 “Understanding the Difference Between Your Mind and Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-your-brain-and-mind-for-increased-results/[x] Andrew Newburg M .D and Mark Robert Waldman, “Words Can Change Your Brain,” (The Penguin Group, New York, New York) Page 12https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0074VTHMA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[xi] Dr. Daniel Amen, The End of Mental Illness (March 2020) https://www.amazon.com/End-Mental-Illness-Neuroscience-Transforming-ebook/dp/B07T6C3CWH/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= 

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, episode #81. This episode was inspired by someone I grew up with, Alex, who sent me a DM on social media this week asking me “do you have anything I can use to help my team to learn, develop and improve their critical thinking skills?”  Since “thinking” is such an important skill, originating in the cortex, or top layer of the brain, I thought it would be a good topic to cover this week. Alex, this one is for you.For those who are new here, my name is Andrea Samadi,  a former educator who created this podcast to bring awareness, ideas and strategies to our most pressing issues  facing educators in the workplace, or parents working from home or in the corporate space, to keep us all working at our highest levels of productivity. Each episode we provide you with specific tools, resources and ideas to implement proven strategies backed by the most current neuroscience research to help you to help improve daily productivity, achievement and results.This week we are looking at thinking, specifically what we can do to improve our thinking skills. Have you recently heard yourself or someone else, say “I’m so busy, I can barely think?” or have you ever told your kids to be quiet so you can “think?” I’ve heard it and said it myself more so these days than usual, as our schedules just seem to be getting busier and busier each month with the new events unfolding in the world, with the fact that many children are going back to school “distance learning” at home, while parents are working, (and we all remember how that went in the Spring) so many of us are finding it difficult to “think, focus and concentrate” under these new conditions that require us to put in a bit more effort than we might have been used to in the past. I hope you find these strategies on thinking as helpful as I have and find ways to implement just one or two of them, to make life flow easier all of us as we move into the final half of 2020.Thinking and the BrainBefore we look at strategies to improve our thinking skills, I want to dive deeper into what exactly thinking is as it happens in the brain. When you are thinking, your neurons (86 billion of them) are shooting messages back and forth. This firing of neurons uses “2/3 of your brain’s energy”[i]  and “is powered by a molecule called ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate if you can remember that from 9th grade Science class) which is generated by the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) which burns glucose” that gives us the energy we need to think.This means that our brain runs on this simple sugar, and if we are low on this fuel, it’s harder for the brain to work.  So, we must remember to eat, to provide the fuel our brain needs to think, and rest. But eating and rest are only a part of the solution. There’s much more that we can do to optimize the power of our thinking brain.We have mentioned in previous episodes (#23 Understanding the Difference Between Your Mind and Your Brain)[ii] about ways we can strengthen our brain and thinking with the power of “the unfocused” mind.  In previous episodes, we did hear this point mentioned by some of the top thinkers in the world. Bob Proctor, on episode #66[iii] mentioned this fact when he pointed out that at the beginning of Earl Nightingale’s “The Strangest Secret” program, Earl talks about the famous Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer who recalled being asked by a reporter “what’s wrong with man today?” and Dr. Schweitzer thought about it for a minute, and then answered “They simply don’t think” which makes sense to me, because I know that life runs smoother when I can take the time I need to think.Eric Jensen also talked about the power of taking breaks in relation to learning in episode #79 when he said he asked Dr. Terry Sejnowskji, a leading scientist from the Salk Institute who co-authored the book called Learning How to Learn.[iv]  Eric asked Dr. Sejnowski about the best way to help students form long term memories with what they are learning, and he replied “10 minutes of instruction, and then go take a walk and stop your brain from processing.” The brain requires time to consolidate the information that comes into it, or we will get into what we all know to be information overload, where nothing that we are learning, or taking in, will be retained.I mentioned that we have covered tips to strengthen our brain and cognition (the mental action of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and the senses) in episode #23, but let’s review them.How to Strengthen Your Brain and Cognition:Take brief relaxation breaks to maintain focus and improve your ability to think and problem solve. We must find a way to relax our brain and body. It’s during these “resting states” that remarkable activity takes place, allowing the brain to creatively solve problems. Dr. Srini Pillay, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, (who I am working really hard to get on as a guest) wrote a book about the importance of this resting period in his book, Tinker, Dabble, Doodle, Try: that is about unlocking the power of the unfocused mind[v]. In this book Pillay explains that too much focus depletes your brain of glucose and depletes you. We just spoke about the importance of glucose as energy to keep our brain running optimally, so we must think of ways to conserve our energy. Pillay believes in the fact that it is as equally important to have strategies for purposeful focusing, in addition to unfocusing our minds to improve resourcefulness, creativity, optimism and well-being. When you can build unfocused time into your day, it will allow you to make better decisions, and will give you more energy.Be mindful of ways to eliminate decision fatigue, allowing those times for your mind to become unfocused. Remember that Einstein discovered his Theory of Relativity by using his intuition, and then used logic to explain it. This unfocused time can take you to places and insights where focus cannot. We’ve all heard of strategies used by the most successful thinkers in the world, designed around eliminating decision fatigue. Steve Jobs became famous for cutting down the number of decisions he had to make every day by wearing the same clothes each day. Since we typically make 35,000 decisions[vi] every day, so a simple way to conserve brain power is to cut down on the number of decisions you need to make. You can do this by choosing the same foods to eat at breakfast and lunch, or by getting the same outfit that you like to wear, in different colors. When you create routines like this for yourself, it will prevent life’s daily distractions (they are always going to be there) from zapping the energy that you can use somewhere else.Improve the circuits of your brain by learning to look within for answers. In his book, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation[vii] Dan Siegel (episode #28) [viii]shares that teachers introduced to a concept called “mindsight or the ability to focus on the inner life of their student or child” teach with the brain in mind and are reaching students in deeper and more lasting ways.” The research shows that developing the ability to make sense of your own life and past experiences, translates into the development of your students and children. This self-awareness also creates a sense of peace and understanding with your own life, allowing more energy to be funneled towards what’s important for you in the present and future, instead of spending time worrying about what we cannot change from our past. Once you learn to implement these energy saving strategies as habits, you will have more space available to think. You can then take your thinking to the next level. When I received the message on social media last week from my friend asking “What do you have on improving someone’s critical thinking skills” I immediately thought of episode #12 on Responsible Decision-Making, but when I looked at it, there was something missing. It was missing the fact that it’s really difficult to think or make decisions the way the world is today, without some serious introspection. Once we can take the time to step away, and give our brain some time to rest, thinking and decision-making will be much easier.Improve Your Decision-Making Muscles in the Workplace:Even though adults have a fully developed prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that makes decisions, we still need a process to follow to ensure we are making effective and smart decisions that yield the results we are looking for. Go back to EPISODE #12 on Responsible Decision-Making for review.[ix] Remember that to make an effective decision, you must first learn how to think, and we have covered tips on how to relax and save energy to maximize our ability to think.  The process of thinking is carried out by the executive functions in your brain (in your prefrontal cortex): functions like planning, implementing, monitoring, and making adjustments to overcome problems are all involved with our ability to think. When working on a goal, or solving a problem, here are four simple steps you can use that eventually will become habitual and will increase your performance for decision-making.[x]Start your decision-making process with these 4 Steps:Evaluate the Problem You Want to Solve:This process begins in your frontal lobes. What’s the problem? What outcomes are you looking for? Is your outcome achievable? Is it meaningful? Attach meaning and emotion to help increase your motivation. Make sure everyone on the team is on board with the “why” or motivation behind the goal.Then Plan Your Strategy:Next, your frontal lobe maps out the strategies needed as you ask yourself “where am I now, where do I want to go, how will I get there and what strategies and tactics do I need?” Your strategy is your game plan. I’ve seen this plan mapped out many different ways but knowing where you are starting from, what your end goal is, and identifying what’s missing (your gap) is crucial to this step. This is where skill development takes place and the gaps are filled. Become clear on what’s missing and what must be learned to achieve the goal? Who can we consult with to fill in our gaps? Identify the experts you will need.Next, Break Down Your Strategy: into Tactics:Once you have listed the strategies that you will use, then you must break down the strategy into smaller chunks or tasks. Tactics help you to carry out your overall strategy one day at a time as your frontal lobe works with your body to put these ideas into action. This is where the hard work comes into play.  Finally, Monitor, Adjust and Track Progress:When you take action, your frontal lobe is ready to make changes as obstacles come up. Be ready to pivot when needed as you monitor what’s working and what isn’t. Effective decision-making requires ongoing evaluation of these four steps. Who can you bring on your team to help you to overcome obstacles that you are facing? What else do you need?When you are able to implement the energy saving strategies of taking unfocused breaks to allow for more creativity to flow, or adding in some new strategies to eliminate decision-fatigue, or becoming confident in your abilities as you search for answers from within, your ability to make quick and certain decisions will improve. You will create reservoirs of energy that you can access on a daily basis, so that when decision-making, or problem solving comes up, you will be prepared mentally and physically to go quickly through the 4-step process, making sounder and more steadfast decisions while solving problems.But it all began with the understanding of what the brain needs to run efficiently. If you do not allow for the rest it needs, or the proper fuel, you will notice that “thinking” is the hardest work in the world. Remember—the brain is involved in everything that we do, and everything that we are, so we must tie this into our daily decision-making process to optimize our future behavior and results.See you next week.REFERENCES:[i] This is How Your Brain Powers Your Thoughts YouTube Published April 9, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxUkUaV2VPs&feature=youtu.be [ii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Episode #23 “Understanding the Difference Between the Mind and the Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/understanding-your-brain-and-mind-for-increased-results/ [iii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #66 with the Legendary Bob Proctor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHWMCzfODU4&list=PLb5Z3cA_mnKhiYc5glhacO9k9WTrSgjzW&index=51&t=1171s (41:00) [iv] Learning How to Learn by Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski (August 2018) https://barbaraoakley.com/books/learning-how-to-learn/ [v] Dr. Srini Pillay Tinker, Dabble, Doodle, Try: Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind https://www.amazon.com/Tinker-Dabble-Doodle-Try-Unfocused-ebook/dp/B01JWDZ7SK/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=pillay+tinker&qid=1570042219&s=digital-text&sr=1-1 [vi] Why Successful People Wear the Same Thing Every Day by Craig Bloem Feb. 20, 2018 https://www.inc.com/craig-bloem/this-1-unusual-habit-helped-make-mark-zuckerberg-steve-jobs-dr-dre-successful.html [vii] Mindsight: The New Science of Transformation Dr. Dan Siegel https://www.drdansiegel.com/about/mindsight/ [viii] Neuroscience Meets SEL EPISODE #28 with Dr. Daniel Siegel on “Mindsight” https://www.achieveit360.com/clinical-professor-of-psychiatry-at-the-ucla-school-of-medicine-dr-daniel-siegel-on-mindsight-the-basis-for-social-and-emotional-intelligence/ [ix] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast EPISODE #12 “Responsible Decision-Making Begins with Understanding Your Brain Health” with Andrea Samadi https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/responsible-decision-making-begins-with-brain-health/ [x] Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning, Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success (Diversion Books, January 31, 2017) https://www.amazon.com/NeuroWisdom-Brain-Science-Happiness-Success-ebook/dp/B01N9BLBDH/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=neurowisdom&qid=1565268860&s=gateway&sr=8-1 

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, episode #73 with Chris Manning, Ph.D., who is a distinguished clinical professor of finance, real estate and entrepreneurship at Loyola Marymount University. He has authored and co-authored more than 30 articles published in both academic and professional journals (including the Harvard Business Review), and he continues to serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Real Estate Research. Watch the interview on YouTube here.  My name is Andrea Samadi, and if you are new here, I’m a former educator who created this podcast to bring the most current neuroscience research, along with high performing experts who have risen to the top of their field with specific strategies or ideas that you can implement immediately, to take your results to the next level. Today we have Chris Manning, who co-authored the book Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success[1], with my mentor Mark Robert Waldman, and he is the only business professor I know who applies contemplative values and empathetic dialog when working with his Executive MBA students and corporate leaders. It is, in many ways, the psychology of business and work under one umbrella. Thank you so much for agreeing to come on the podcast and sharing with our audience your knowledge on the brain as it relates to business success. Chris, I just met you last week on Mark Waldman’s webinar, but I’ve known about you for years, through Mark Waldman. I didn’t know about your interest and vision to bring this concept you call Neurowisdom to your Executive MBA students.  Q1:  As simple as possible for our podcast listeners, please tells us What is NeuroWisdom all about?   Answer:  NeuroWisdom is about learning to use your brain better to be more self- aware and self-directed to better achieve your goals and enjoy your life more;Several years ago, Mark Waldman and I published our research findings learned from teaching our Loyola Marymount University Executive MBA NeuroLeadership course in a popular book (that we could also use as a textbook for our graduate level NeuroLeadership course):This book, NeuroWisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success, has now been turned into an online interactive course[2] complete with audios and videos to help people learn how to use their own brains better. (I recommend your listeners go MarkRobertWaldman.com[3] to check out our new and improved NeuroWisdom interactive online flipbook course complete with audios and videos and also look over our 10 free ebooks on related topics while there.)In essence, our book discusses the practical application of recent Neuroscience discoveries about our brains that can enable a person to learn more efficiently, with less stress and more joy and become more successful (at whatever that means to them whether it be their career, relationships, an advanced graduate professional degree, or merely making more money). Q2: What are the practical useful applications of recent Neuroscience discoveries that your book explains that our listeners can use every day in their life pursuits?  Answer:We call them the “Four Pillars of Wealth” in our book (referring to a person’s search for both “inner and outer wealth”) and they are really more about “How to take advantage of your brain’s natural patterns and tendencies to better learn and achieve things in life” While we all often “get in the way” (or “block”) our natural healthy motivations, and our natural abilities to learn and get ahead in the world, our book explains how to accept and take advantage of four natural brain circuits in everyone’s brain that supports our learning and how get what we want in life. Q3. What are the actual “Four Pillars of Wealth” you talk about in NeuroWisdom and how does each of them help people learn better (faster, easier, and with less stress and more joy) to overcome whatever obstacles get in the way of their success in life?  Answer: Pillar #1: Motivation (Desire, Curiosity and Pleasure)Desire and curiosity are what gets us all out of bed in the morning to do anything! When people get stuck living by only this first pillar, and pursuing desire to the extreme (while ignoring what else their brains can enjoy), people become overly selfish and greedy.Educators and business leaders need to encourage and support their students/employee’s natural desire and curiosity to further people’s energy and good health, not block, discourage, or get in the way of this extremely important natural brain function that even releases a dopamine into a person’s body (which is very pleasurable and even a euphoric experience even when only contemplating achieving whatever it is you desire to achieve or acquire).   Pillar #2: Decision-Making (Goals, Consciousness and Inner Speech)While most educators and employers appreciate the importance of learning and thinking better to make better decisions, few realize the importance of noticing when they are thinking “Positively” vs. when they are thinking Negatively,” and to learn how to control their negative thinking when it creaps in.  Certainly, worry and anxiety over something is natural for everyone, but we not only don’t have to dwell on negative things in our lives, it actually turns out to be unproductive to do so!!!What happens is that when your brain gets caught up on worry, anxiety and other forms of negativity thinking, your higher brain functions (which we are about to talk about) merely shut down (and most people don’t realize that they can’t think well using negative thoughts.We will come back to this at the end after I tell you about the two higher brain functions: Pillars #3 &4 . . .   Pillar #3: Creativity (Imagination, Intuition and Daydreaming) This is where your brain enjoys “taking a break” from consciously learning, memorizing or working hard. People don’t realize that their best thinking happens subconsciously when you are not concentrating hard on solving a specific problem, but rather when you are relaxed, thinking of something else, asleep, and maybe even daydreaming.  Neuroscientists can now observe using brain scans that a person’s brain is actually more active and working harder when they are relaxed and daydreaming that when you are trying hard to concentrate on something!!  This relaxed brain state is when your intuition and creativity provides a person with their best answers – and it is a very pleasurable experience.  (Thus, daydreaming is an important use of your time to further learning and success!)Think of all the times that people are trying to think harder for longer periods of time attempting to learn something or come up with “the answer.” Forcing yourself or others to do this is really counter-productive.  Resting your brain’s decision-making efforts is not only more productive (and even necessary at times), but it is also enjoyable, reduces stress, builds self-confidence, brings more joy and satisfaction into one’s life as they get to enjoy using their creativity and intuition to easily know “the answer” to something.  Pillar #4: Social Awareness (Fairness, Empathy, and Generosity)This higher level of brain function that makes learning easier and more pleasurable builds upon our first learning how to, and becoming comfortable with, using the other three pillars of wealth just mentioned.Thus, we should teach people to not fight their natural desire and curiosity about things (Pillar #1), while encouraging people not to dwell on “negative stuff in their life,” but rather use their infinite creativity to look for positive solutions to whatever is causing them to “worry” or “be anxious” (Pillar #2), all while taking frequent pleasure breaks and relaxing from “working hard” on their “decision making” (Pillar #3), so that their awareness (Pillar #4) can enable their intuition to “come to the rescue” to provide the answer sought;By using our self-awareness, our brains are able to “be present” with whatever is going on in our lives and intuitively know the answer to things through a higher brain function called “contemplation.” Being relaxed helps a lot to make this all happen for us. In addition, using our self-awareness, our brains can naturally integrate our desires and thoughts so that we realize automatically how important other people are to us (e.g. family, friends, etc.) such that self-awareness naturally evolves within all of us as social awareness (that includes wanting to be fair to others, having empathy for what others are experiencing in life, and even being generous toward others);Just as social awareness naturally evolves from one’s self-awareness, “Enlightened Hedonism” and even spiritual awareness naturally evolves from self-awareness and social awareness (which NeuroWisdom discusses at the end). Q4: Was there any resistance to these concepts when you first started teaching them to your Executive MBA students? Q5. Does NeuroWisdom contain any practical exercises that people hearing our Podcast today might be able to practice in order to learn how to use their brains better?   Answer:Yes, we have more that 50 specific exercises contained in NeuroWisdom that people can practice – most of which take less that 1-2 minutes for someone to do so they can immediately access the the personal benefit of doing it.Our Executive MBA students at LMU were far to busy to waste their time on meditation or anything that would take them 10-15 minutes to do! Thus, we wrote NeuroWisdom to seduce “busy skeptical people” into using their brains better to accomplish more in life, with much less stress, which enjoying each day. Q6. Can you give us an example of one of your NeuroWisdom exercises that your Executive MBA students found particularly helpful?  Answer:Yes, that would be our “Inner Values” exerciseDo we have time for me to briefly describe for your listeners how to do this exercise themselves and well as the benefits that they will notice right away in their own lives within a week? It will take less than 2 minutes? Q7. Go ahead and briefly describe for our listeners how they can do your NeuroWisdom “Inner Values” exercise on their own and experience the benefits within a week.   Answer:This is what I want your listeners to do each morning when they wake up before they get out of bed to start their day. . . .Relax, take a deep breath, and ask themselves over the next 60 seconds first think in the morning before they get out of bed: What are my deepest inner most values?By merely doing this first thing every morning, our Executive MBA students discover two very important things that improve their lives within a week:      First, that they are subconsciously reminded throughout their normal workday (after they do this exercise) when some rote habit, behavior, or repetitive social interaction is not consistent with the deepest inner most values and they are inspired to change whatever that is to improve their life.Second, when our students get in the habit of doing this exercise over a 10-day period, they begin to notice that their “deepest innermost values” gradually evolve into being even more important values that they want to live their lives by. I do often get asked “how do I know if I’m thinking of a value” and I found it helps to remind people values are like our north stars, and when we are living them, happiness, success, and high performance shows up, and when we are not living them, conflicts and unhappiness shows up. That’s one way to identify values that you want in your life. What would you say to someone who is having a hard time uncovering their innermost values or their north stars? Chris, I want to thank you very much for your time and all the work you did to prepare for this interview. If people want to learn more about the Neurowisdom book and online version that has the experiential exercises that you spoke about,  they can go to Mark Waldman’s website www.markrobertwaldman.com [4]where there’s a ton of FREE ebooks, tools and resources that take these evidence-based concepts and help us to bring them into our everyday experiences. Thanks so much for your time today. RESOURCES: EPISODE 30 of the “Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast” with Mark Robert Waldman on “12 Brain-Based Experiential Learning and Living Principles” https://www.achieveit360.com/neuroscience-researcher-mark-robert-waldman-on-12-brain-based-experiential-learning-and-living-principles/ EPISODE 48 of the “Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast” on Brain Network Theory: Using Neuroscience to Stay Productive During Times of Change and Chaos https://www.achieveit360.com/brain-network-theory-using-neuroscience-to-stay-productive-during-times-of-change-and-chaos/ FREE EBOOKS that relate to Neurowisdom http://markrobertwaldman.com/neurocoach-press/  REFERENCES:[1]Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9BLBDH/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1[2] Interactive Version of Neurowisdom http://markrobertwaldman.com/neurowisdom-enhanced-edition/[3] Mark Robert Waldman’s Website www.markrobertwaldman.com[4] Mark Robert Waldman’s Website www.markrobertwaldman.com

Today we are going to take a deep dive into the most powerful and important concepts from Bob Proctor’s seminars. If you have not yet heard episode #66[i], be sure to check out this episode first, to get some context behind how I met Bob Proctor, and how he influenced the work we are doing here today. I do suggest going to the show notes and writing down some of the ideas you learn from this episode, since these are some extremely powerful ideas that really can make an impact on your life. These concepts were learned from 6 years of working directly with Bob’s seminars, taking his courses over and over again, and then repeating them periodically over the past 24 years. These ideas changed the trajectory of my life, and I want to share them with you so you can have access them, and see if their application can impact your world, as much as it did for mine.I first met Bob when I was a teacher in Toronto, because his director of sales, Mark Low, lived next door to me at the time, and when I asked him what he did for a living, my whole world changed when he handed me Bob’s You Were Born Rich[ii]  book. Be sure to look in the show notes for the links, as Bob gives this book away for FREE on his website under his tips and tools section. Go there, download his book, and this lesson will make more sense once you have had a chance to look at the book first.Before I go into a deep dive of this book, which was also the first seminar I ever attended live (in May 1998), I want to give a backstory that you could relate to, if you’ve ever invested hours of your time creating something. Here’s how I remember this story (and remember from EPSIODE #44 “12 Mind-Boggling Facts About the Brain”[iii] that memories are not 100% accurate, so I’m telling you a story that I remember hearing many years ago and some of the details might be inaccurate, with the way that I’m remembering the events, but you will get the main idea of this story.So, when Bob was first writing this book, (my copy of the book shows a copyright date of 1997 which was just a year before my first seminar with him) and it was years before everyone carried their own personal laptop around. When I think back to writing reports or essays in school at this time, I used a typewriter, so I think that’s how Bob wrote his first book—the manuscript was a physical copy that he had typed, and he would carry it around with him to add more ideas to it, before he sending it off to the publisher.  On his way to the publisher, he took a taxi, again, years before we went everywhere via Uber, and he left the only copy of the book in the taxi. This story made me think of all those times I had written something, and then the computer crashed, and the document was not saved, or the times that I just lost something another way, and the only solution was to recreate what you’d lost, and that’s exactly what Bob did with this book. When you are reading it, think of the years of work that went into the stories in each chapter, and these are all true stories—I knew many of the people he wrote about—and then imagine that one day, these ideas were completely lost, and he had to recreate them again, for the world to gain access to them. It will give you an entirely new perspective when you are reading this book.Bob mentions in episode #66 that “he always believed he would reach the goals that he set and believed in the material and that goals are set not to GET—but to GROW.” It’s who we become that’s important in this process, not the things that we accumulate along the way, but the knowledge we acquire and how we use it to help others. When Bob first met me, he asked me “What do you really want?” and it took me back a bit because no one had ever asked me this before. I had to really think about it. I remember not being sure, but in the Born Rich Workbook we had the chance to revisit this and write out our heart’s desire. I still have the workbook from 1998 and what I wrote back then, isn’t far off from what I am doing today.  So, think about it, “What do YOU really want?” Have you written it out on a card like Bob still does and like I’ve been doing ever since?  Once you know what you want, then you will want to look at your beliefs and see if they integrate with your behavior. Then you will know what changes you need to make.Let’s Take a Deep Dive into Bob Proctor’s You Were Born Rich BookBIG IDEA #1 Paradigms: Something is Holding You Back. When You Become Aware of it, You Can Move Forward. Paradigms—what are they?  Paradigms could be controlling virtually every move that you make.“To ignore the power of paradigms to influence your judgment is to put yourself at significant risk when exploring the future. To be able to shape your future, you have to be ready and able to change your paradigm.” –Joel Barker, a technology and business futurist who published the book Paradigms in 1993.What’s interesting is that Bob Proctor is known for helping people to increase their life in the area of wealth, but that’s not what drew me to him. Even though his book was called You Were Born Rich, and his seminars focused on helping the attendees to build wealth, I was drawn to his work not just for the idea that I could make more money, but that I could increase the potential we had. This is where I started to see my own paradigms showing up.Let’s look at Paradigms. We used to sell the You Were Born Rich book for $20/copy and I remember having a box full of books at one of my first events, and within minutes, they sold out, and I was left with a few hundred dollars in one hand and an empty box in the other. This was the first time I thought, “I really need to write a book” as my awareness shifted as I identified a paradigm that I was ready to change—I was only used to earning money by trading my time, you know, go to work from 8am till 5pm kind of thinking and  you earn a paycheck this way. This was the way I was raised, but I was seeing now that there were other ways. With this book, I learned that we can create a product or service and if people want it, they would gratefully pay for it, giving anyone the opportunity to earn multiple sources of income. You could still work 8-5 but could also earn money from all over the world when you sell your programs and services online. I had only just started to interact with this book, hadn’t even taken the seminar yet, and my beliefs about earning money were beginning to change rapidly, without expecting it.Once you can change your belief, it opens up a whole new world. I began to see that we could earn money many different ways than how I was raised to believe.  When I started to sell for Bob, we would earn a certain amount of commission on each sale. Suddenly, we could sell a seminar seat and earn a few thousand dollars in a few minutes. This really changed my money paradigm quickly. The more you become aware, the more your mind opens up to new opportunities. Think about it like you are looking through a keyhole, and with more awareness, the keyhole opens up until eventually the door is wide open. Years later, when I worked in the corporate world, and had the chance to earn commission each year, it was not uncommon for the most successful sales reps to earn $50K-$300K in commission (on top of their yearly salary) but if your mind can’t grasp this, then you probably won’t be the one reaching this level.  Over the years I met many people working in the seminars, doing all different types of work. Some were truck drivers, some were business executives, some were educators like me. All of them had grasped this idea that we could earn income from multiple sources. This was a huge paradigm shift for me. How Do We Change Our Beliefs or Paradigms?Bob’s running a seminar this month on this very topic called the Paradigm Shift Seminar.[iv] I suggest going to the link in the show notes and watch the video at the top of the page.We first of all need to know what these paradigms are, before we can change them. I know it wasn’t until after a few years of working with Bob and he was always talking about these paradigms that we needed to change, that I finally asked, what exactly IS a paradigm? I had no idea what mine were. It’s easy to connect the dots looking back and see what they were now—I had all these notes from all these seminars, and could quote them word for word, but I still didn’t have the understanding of how all these pieces fit together. Do you know what your paradigms are? This takes time as we learn to integrate the information into our behavior and daily practice.Here are some steps that I found useful for changing our paradigms:IMAGE SOURCE :http://herzette-records.com/paradigm-shift a) Start by Identifying what paradigms are, then figure out what ones we want to change. We must understand what paradigms are controlling our behavior in order to make these changes. This starts with self-awareness[v] (that we dove deep into in EPISODE 2) and keep in mind that these habits have been passed down from your parents, and past generations (the ideas, thoughts, and beliefs of those who surrounded you when you were growing up, in addition to your environment) so it’s not our fault that we have these paradigms in the first place, and they aren’t bad, it’s just how we were raised and they might be preventing us from reaching our highest levels of potential. I’m pretty sure that I heard my Dad say “money doesn’t grow on trees” a few hundred times when I was growing up, so this was ingrained into my way of thinking—until I learned how to change it.b) Begin to study yourself and learn at the very core “who are you?” “Are you really doing the things you want to do?” “How do you approach change and challenge?” “How do you see yourself in the world?” Start here to identify who you are, and you will begin to see patterns that come up that keep you stuck where you are, preventing growth. You will discover what paradigms are controlling your actions, and in turn controlling your behavior and results. You can begin to identify your patterns, beliefs and behaviors the things that you need to change to reach these new results or levels of achievement.A Paradigm is a mental program that has almost exclusive control over our habitual behavior…and almost all of our behavior is habitual.Paradigms are a multitude of habits passed down from generation to generation.Paradigms are the way you view yourself, the world and opportunity.Paradigms are how you approach change and challenges.c) Once you’ve identified a couple of your paradigms, the work begins. Pick one habit or belief that you want to change and take new actions—while integrating your behavior and your beliefs with the new idea. You will change the paradigm when your beliefs and behavior line up by repeatedly taking new actions towards the new idea. The same way the paradigm was formed (repetition of action from those who raised you, or who you were surrounded by in your early years). You can do this with affirmations, by repeating the new belief over and over again, until one day it changes. You’ll need to repeat this over and over again (1,000 times at least) for 90 days until you actually believe it. An example of a paradigm that might hold you back from opportunity could be something like “no one at my age has ever done this or that” (I’m sure they have, so this is a limiting belief—find someone who has done what you want to do and ask them to mentor you) or another example “every time we’ve tried to reach this goal, we have failed, so I’m sure we will fail again this year” (if you think you will fail, I’m sure you will also, unless you try something new, a new angle). Another paradigm that might be passed down from generation to generation could be “no one in our family has ever done xyz…written a book, graduated from College, etc. I’m sure you are getting the point. We all have paradigms that hold us back, and until we change them, we will never reach the levels of achievement that we are capable of.d) Watch your whole world change when you identify and change your paradigms. Think of how mine changed when I saw that I could earn commission from sales or write a book and sell it to earn money all over the world. It opens up your thinking to a whole new level. If you are thinking “there’s no way that I could do any of these things, I work a job 8-5 and have no idea how this is possible” well, that’s a paradigm. I wrote my first book by waking up at 5am when I worked a corporate job. I would write 5 days a week 2 hours each morning before work, which was 10 hours a week and 40 hours a month. You really can accomplish anything that you really want to, if you have the will and desire to do it. I would love to hear from anyone who has identified and changed a paradigm that was holding them back. What was it, and how did you change it?BIG IDEA #2 Prosperity Thinking: The More We Give, The More We Stretch our Minds to Receive and Keep Giving More. This book starts off with a chapter that outlines our ways of thinking. We either think in lack and limitation, and that there’s not enough, or we can have abundant thinking. We even know from Mark Robert Waldman’s research from his recent book Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success, that money does predict your happiness and that “those who make more money are happier, and those who are happier, live longer.”[vi] So, having a prosperity consciousness is vitally important for your future success as well as your health and longevity.Prosperity Thinking in Action:  How to Think into AbundanceBut how can this way of thinking be possible if we’ve just lost our job and are not sure where we will end up?  This is a timely question with unemployment being high at this time, all over the world. How can we create a prosperity consciousness when our bank accounts don’t have a paycheck being deposited every few weeks, or we can’t see what’s going to happen next? If you are thinking this right now, I highly suggest reading this book, and learning all you can on this topic. Changing your thinking from poverty consciousness (I don’t have enough) to prosperity consciousness (I have more than enough and want to share with others) was probably the most important lesson I learned after Sept 11th turned the US upside down.  Mindset and taking action is important in these transitional and uncertain times. I recently listened to Mark Cuban on LinkedIn being interviewed[vii] with tips for large or small businesses on how to navigate times like we are experiencing now, and his ideas all have to do with staying positive, being creative and pivoting your business which is what many of us did after Sept 11th. Before we can create new ideas, we must have our basic needs like food and shelter covered. When times change, and we need to find work, he suggests searching within an industry that’s doing well. Do some research and then see what areas match the skills that you have, so that you can pivot to something new, where you will find some success with your current skillset.  Once you find something, keep working, and don’t give up on any ideas that you might have had before this whole pandemic hit. Write them down, keep working and when times shift, like they always do, you can begin to put your focus on what you what to create. BIG IDEA #3 The Law of Vibration and Attraction: You Attract What You AreThe movie The Secret talks about this Law, and the book The Science of Getting Rich[viii] outlines this law, along with others, but my first introduction to these levels of vibration that Bob talks about often, was in Chapter 6 of the Born Rich book.  Bob mentions this law in our interview and also the quote from Andrew Carnegie at the top of Chapter 6, that says “Any idea that is held in the mind, that is either feared or revered will, begin at once to clothe itself in the most convenient and appropriate physical forms available.” This means that we draw to us what we think about—a person thinking positive thoughts will emanate positive energy and draw other positive personalities and situations to them, and a person with negative thoughts, will of course be in a negative vibration, or give off bad “vibes” that will repel positive personalities, drawing negativity towards them. What type of person do you want to be?  How does this work? There’s lots of different places to gain this understanding, ranging from a powerful book that I keep on my bookshelf, David Hawkin’s Power vs Force[ix] where he talks about low-energy frequency people vs high energy and the ranges of emotions that either drain us or fuel us.Our thoughts have a certain frequency, and the things that we draw to ourselves have the same frequencies as the thoughts that we have created—let’s say what’s on the same wavelength as we are. We cannot be thinking negative thoughts and be in line with positive thoughts at the same time. Since like attracts like, you will notice that when you are tuned into positive thinking, you will attract more positive things to yourself. In the interview with Bob, I asked him why we meet certain people at certain times in our careers who accelerate us? He answered “You attract them, and they attract you.” He drew Sandy Gallagher to his company when he had a need for someone who understood finances, and here was Sandy, sitting in a seminar, writing out that she really wanted to work with Bob, but it took her a bit of time until they were both in harmony with this idea. Once they were, the partnership was a success.The same goes with negative thinking. If you start off on the wrong side of the bed in the morning and do not change your thinking, you will attract more and more negative things to you as the day progresses. It can snowball either way for you, so why not let it snowball in a positive direction?Our goal is to raise our vibration level and be a positive, high vibrating person if we want to achieve our highest level of results.TIPS for RAISING YOUR LEVEL OF VIBRATION or FREQUENCY Positive thinking will help you increase your thought waves to that higher level of vibration. Just think of how great it feels when you are doing something that you enjoy, like listening to your favorite song, or enjoying the beauty of the landscape and nature around you. Practice recognizing how good you feel when you doing something that makes you happy. When you are feeling good, you are on the right track to raising your vibration, and when you are feeling bad, you are not on the right track. Do whatever it takes to stay in that good feeling, and your vibration will continue to rise.Limit your activities with people, places or situations that are on a lower level frequency. If you are operating on a higher level, you won’t be able to do this for long anyway, because it will drain your energy. Be mindful of who you are spending time with so that you can keep your level of vibration up.Spend more time with like-minded people who are positive like you. This will only allow you to keep increasing your level of vibration. Join a club or a group in which you can meet people with interests similar to yours and keep improving yourself.Be polite and mindful of others at all times. Over time and with practice, this will become a habit. If you are always thinking about ways to help others, it will be inevitable that your level of vibration will rise.Find ways that you can quiet your mind, and just spend time in this quiet to rejuvenate. Some people use meditation, and others find great benefits from yoga. Find what works best for you to relax, and then practice quieting your mind. Be open to what might happen here, as powerful thoughts can occur to you when you quiet your mind.Once you begin to increase your vibration, you will notice that your life will become more easier and more peaceful.BIG IDEA #4 Learn to Live Beyond the 5 Senses with the 6 Higher Faculties of the MindWe’ve all been raised to live through our five senses: what we see, touch, taste, hear and smell, but our 5 senses can be limiting. We can access new information, deeper flashes of insight, higher levels of creativity, if we learn to live with our 6 intellectual faculties that operate beyond our 5 senses for a competitive advantage. These intellectual faculties tap into the non-physical or spiritual world and help us to build new ideas.  How does this work?  Let’s see how we can learn to use the faculties of our mind to gain a deeper understanding, perspective or ideas.Perception is your point of view. This factor can be altered at will which means that you can always see two sides to a situation, but it takes the will and some effort to switch your way of thinking to see another side of something. Sometimes when I’m hiking, I can look at the trail when I’m going up, and the exact same spot, going down, looks completely different. What we see with our eyes can be viewed an entirely different way from someone else’s point of view, standing at a different viewpoint. PUT IT INTO ACTION: How can you use this concept to gain new ideas or perspective? If you are having a problem or disagreement with someone, try to look at the issue through their eyes to see a different point of view, not just your own.  You’ll notice with practice, this skill becomes easier, and it will open up your mind and you will become more flexible, improving your relationships with others. Reasoning is the ability to think. Having this faculty makes us different from other members of the animal kingdom; they do not have the ability to reason. In the book, The Strangest Secret[x], Nobel Prize-winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer was being interviewed and he was asked “What’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor answered, “Men simply don’t think.” Wallace D. Wattles, in his book The Science of Getting Rich[xi] agreed with this back in 1910 when he said, “There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained and consecutive thought; it’s the hardest work in the world.” PUT IT INTO ACTION: Use your will to stay focused when you need to think and create new ideas. Critical thinking and reasoning is an important skill that we should be teaching to our children at an early age, so they can learn to think for themselves, rather than follow the crowd. Be sure you are always challenging young children to think for themselves by letting them make decisions. Ask them questions and see what answers they come up with.  I have a 10-year-old who often thinks of new ideas or angles that I might have missed, so I’m grateful to have more thinking minds in our home. The will is the understanding that each idea has a certain pattern and with focused attention, we have the ability to concentrate on what we are thinking about and increase the amplitude (the height of the wave) or thought wave and make them very powerful. PUT IT INTO ACTION: Use the will to lock into an idea and block out all other distractions. Using the will allows you to focus your mind on the things you want and lose focus on what you don’t want. Memory is something you can develop with practice. There is no such thing as a bad memory. However, just like your muscles, if your memory is not used, it can become weak. When you do not exercise the muscles in your body, they lose strength. This is exactly what happens when you are not practicing your memory. PUT IT INTO ACTION: Treat your mind with as much care and consideration as you would your body, as they are very much connected. The more practice you give this faculty, the stronger it will become. We have heard of some research-based strategies that are known to improve your memory, such as avoiding cramming and study what you want to remember used spaced repetition, relate new information to things you already know, be sure that you are sleeping well as sleeping consolidates memories, and adding visual images to what you want to remember. Imagination is Everything[xii] according to Earl Nightingale. All great inventions are created in two separate places: the mind of the inventor and the physical world when the inventor creates it. Our lives reflect how well we use our imagination, because when we hit one plateau of success, it will be our imagination that will take us to what’s next. PUT IT INTO ACTION: Write our where you see yourself in the next 3, 5 and 10 years. If you can do this in detail it will activate cells of recognition in your brain that when you imagine what you write, eventually your brain will accept and recognize what you are telling it, and it will go from feeling like a crazy pipe dream, to eventually something that you can see yourself actually doing, since you have thought about it so often.  One day you can make what you imagined, yoru reality. Intuition is a mental tool that gives us answers, by picking up the energy or feeling from another person or situation. We can even read a person’s energy over the telephone or the internet as I experienced in EPISODE 65 with Dr. Barbara Schwarck[xiii]. Sometimes we feel we just know the answer, or we have a gut feeling. That is our intuition at work, and we must learn to develop it. With practice, we can learn to trust our intuition and become confident with that which we feel or know. Then, we can move confidently toward that which we want. PUT IT INTO ACTION: The best book I have ever read on developing intuition was called Developing Intuition from Shatki Gawain[xiv].  This was probably one of the most valuable skills I learned to help guide my personal and professional life. I never needed to ask anyone else for advice, as I had my own built in guidance system that helped me to stay in a productive state of mind. BIG IDEA #5 Spirit is Everywhere. We are all Connected, Like a Rainbow (SIP)This next idea, I put an image of what I’m describing in the show notes. When I asked Bob about the quantum world that Dr. Dan Seigel talks about, where there is this plane of possibility where we can create anything, Bob answered with “I believe the physical realm that we live in and the spiritual world, are all connected, like the colors of the rainbow.” When we take an idea, it comes in from spirit, hits our intellectual mind, and it’s up to us whether we move it into form. Have you ever had an idea that you thought was brilliant, and you never did anything with it, and then suddenly you see someone else has created it? That’s because there is only one mind, and that we can all tap into these ideas.  Think of the three levelsSpiritIntellect/MindPhysical/Body What you can see (physical world) and what you cannot see (non-physical world) are all connected.  The physical is a manifestation of the non-physical. Another way to look at this, is to think about WATER in the physical world. We can see it. We add heat to water and it turns to STEAM (intellectual level) and add more heat to it and it turns to AIR (spiritual level). Just because we have changed the state of water from its physical form to AIR in the spiritual level, it doesn’t mean that the water doesn’t exist. It exists and when cooled down and goes right back to water.So, what we see in the physical world and what we cannot see, are all connected.Since spirit is for fuller expression and expansion, ideas (like I want to write a book) come in through the spiritual level and are looking to be expressed (from a higher to a lower potential). Think of when you ask for help from God through prayer, you are in the physical realm, reaching the spiritual realm with your thoughts for help or ideas. Ideas that come to your mind (your intellect) from the spiritual realm and it’s up to you if you will bring them to physical form. This is called the Creative Process.PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE: THE CREATIVE PROCESSDo you pray? Do you meditate? Do you believe in a higher power, or something bigger than yourself?  If you do, you will find this process fascinating, it you learn to use your FAITH through understanding. You will get new insights, and ideas through this practice that will keep you busy. Write out what comes to your mind here and see if the ideas match what you really want to BE/DO or HAVE or CREATE.  When you get an idea that’s congruent to what you want, you will want to take action with this idea. BIG IDEA #6 Thomas Troward- Fuller Expression, Increasing Life Always Aim for Bigger and Better Things There really are no limits to the heights that we all can reach and a reminder that it’s not what you’ve got that’s important, it’s who we become in the process of reaching our goals.“Nothing is impossible to the mind.All its guidance and power are available to you.When you have fully realized that THOUGHT CAUSES ALL,You will know that there are no limitsThat you yourself do not impose.” –US Andersen, author of The Magic in Your MindThomas Troward: Dore Lectures on Mental ScienceRight now if you ask Bob Proctor what he’s studying, he’d say he’s reading Troward’s The Dore and Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science[xv] and I’ve had this book and a couple of others from Thomas Troward in my Kindle iPhone library for the past 6 years and haven’t read them. I just looked through them and saw a section on Intuition, healing, the will, the body, soul and spirit—everything that we talked about in these 6 BIG IDEAS except healing. I can see why he would be reading this book, sharpening his higher faculties, deepening his connection with spirit and doing all that he can to deliver his message to help as many people as he can. Bob always read a section of Troward’s Dore Lectures on Mental Science in the Science of Getting Rich Seminar. One day, while he was running a seminar, I asked him if I could read the passage from the stage, because I was just dying to practice my public speaking and had memorized the quote. So, I read this by memory, and if there’s any passage of information I recommend anyone memorize, it’s this one. “My mind is a center of Divine operation. The Divine operation is always for expansion and fuller expression and this means the production of something beyond what has gone before, something entirely new, not included in past experience, though proceeding out of it by an orderly sequence of growth. Therefore, since the Divine cannot change its inherent nature, it must operate in the same manner in me; consequently in my special world, of which I am the center, it will move forward to produce new conditions, always in advance of any that have gone before.”What does this mean? It means that my mind/your mind is a center (there’s more than one center) but we are all connected, and there are no limits. If I was to stop there, I think that’s enough to motivate any of us to reach higher than we might have reached in the past. We are Limitless.This Divine operation is always expanding (there’s as much power above it as below it) and this means the production of something that has gone before, something entirely new, not included in past experience, through proceeding out of it, in an orderly sequence of growth. This means that what you are capable of will not be a repeat performance of something you have done before, although your past experience prepares you, but it will move you BEYOND where you have ever been, to GROW and EXPAND in an orderly way.Therefore, since the Divine cannot change its inherent nature, it must operate in the same manner in me; (so trust in the way your life unfolds—it’s all going the way it’s supposed to go) consequently in my special world, of which I am the center, it will move forward to produce new conditions, always in advance of any that have gone before. Meaning that when we keep working diligently towards our goals in life, we will keep producing NEW results that go beyond where you were before. We are always expanding and growing when we are taking action—so keep aiming for bigger and better things, and never stop learning/growing. REVIEW OF THE 6 BIG IDEAS:BIG IDEA #1 Paradigms: Something is Holding You Back. When You Become Aware of it, You Can Move Forward. Take some time to figure out what paradigms are holding you back, and start to work on changing just one paradigm at a time. This will require some work, as the paradigm is ingrained in your non-conscious mind, but with time, one day, you will look back and notice the growth that occurred because you took the time and put in the effort to make this change.BIG IDEA #2 Prosperity Thinking: The More We Give, The More We Stretch our Minds to Receive and Keep Giving More. Where is your thinking right now? I know that these are difficult times, but if you notice your mind leaning towards lack and limitation instead of abundant thinking, it’s time to take immediate action. Go somewhere where you feel energized and begin to work on changing your thinking. Volunteering or helping others can also help shift your mindset here, as you begin to see that your situation is much better than many other people in the world, and this can help shift your mindset.BIG IDEA #3 The Law of Vibration and Attraction: You Attract What You Are. If you have had trouble achieving your goals, this is the first place I would look. Do you know yourself well enough to know whether you are operating at a high or low frequency? When you are feeling good, and life is flowing, you are definitely on the right track. If things are difficult, and you feel unhappy, something needs to change, and the change starts with changing your energy or frequency by thinking new thoughts, that will stimulate new feelings and motivate you to take new actions, that in turn will change your conditions, circumstances and environment. The change begins with you.BIG IDEA #4 Learn to Live Beyond the 5 Senses with the 6 Higher Faculties of the Mind. You don’t need to master all 6 of these at once, but if you just picked ONE to work on and sharpen for the next year, you will notice the results in your life change. Pick one factor, and really dive deep into studying it in your spare time. Writing this episode has been a powerful review for me as well. I’m always working on improving my intuition, because I think it’s just fun to see how often you can guess something ahead of time, but I also see the importance of working on some of the other faculties, like the imagination, which is a key ingredient for creating something new. This is where inventors of the past went to figure out how to make the airplane take flight, where the iPhone was created and where the inventions of the future will come from. Also, just a reminder to not let what we see (with our senses-which are limiting) going on in the world limit or control us. We can’t change it, but we can keep studying, learning and growing, so that we change and improve ourselves when times are difficult. BIG IDEA #5 Spirit is Everywhere. We are all Connected, Like a Rainbow. This idea has come up with Dr. Daniel Siegel’s work where he talks about the fact that quantum physics proves that there are 2 realms: one where we operate through our senses, and the other, the plane of possibility that is timeless. We could spend a considerable amount of time thinking about this idea, but I’m just going to trust that my understanding will continue to grow here as I continue a daily meditation, prayer, and gratitude practice. The faith that comes from this practice is based on understanding and when new ideas come, I know it’s important to act on these ideas and do the work with the talents and skills that God has given me. Each of us will have our own meaning with this idea, based on our individual beliefs. Whatever you believe, find the practice that works for you to feel this connection.  BIG IDEA #6 Thomas Troward:  Life is for Fuller Expression, Increasing Life Always Aim for Bigger and Better Things. Keep studying, learning, growing and reach for more in life. You won’t be able to do this alone, so be sure that you find mentors to help you reach your new levels of achievement. Just keep learning, increasing your awareness, and growing. And answer the question “What do you REALLY want?” There is great opportunity for the person who understands themselves. I hope that you have found these ideas as powerful as I have. Remember, these are just a few of the most powerful concepts I learned from working 6 years directly with Bob Proctor, attending his seminars live, and then continuing to study and apply these ideas.  These concepts do take time before the results become apparent, but if you really want something, you will do the work and one day, you will look back, and realize that you have achieved the goals you’ve always wanted, so that you can then help others do the same.If you found this episode helpful, please share it on social media, and tag me. I would love to hear your take-aways of what you liked or learned. Until next episode, have a great week. See you next time.REFERENCES:[i] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Episode #66 with Bob Proctor on “Social and Emotional Learning: Where it All Started.” June 3, 2020 https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-legendary-bob-proctor-on/ [ii] Tips and Tools Go to Download a FREE Copy of You Were Born Rich https://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/tips-and-tools[iii] Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast Episode #44 with Andrea Samadi on “12 Mind-Boggling Facts About the Brain” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/andrea-samadis-12-mind-boggling-discoveries-about-the-brain/ [iv] Paradigm Shift Seminar https://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/events/paradigm-shift?utm_source=1-Events-Page&utm_medium=1-PG.I-Site&utm_campaign=PS-Event[v] Neuroscience Meets SEL EPISODE 2 “Self-Awareness: Know Thyself” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/self-awareness-know-thyself/ [vi] Mark Robert Waldman and Chris Manning Neurowisdom: The New Brain Science of Money, Happiness and Success page 13 (January, 2017) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9BLBDH/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3 [vii] Mark Cuban on Tips for Small and Large Businesses on Navigating Today’s World https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6650799192853753856/ [viii] The Science of Getting Rich Seminar based on the book by Wallace D Wattles https://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/programs/science-of-getting-rich?utm_source=Programs%20Page&utm_medium=PGI%20Site&utm_campaign=SGR[ix] David Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D Power vs Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior https://www.amazon.com/Power-Force-David-Hawkins-M-D/dp/1401945074 [x] The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale (2005) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1640951083/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyM0RHNzJCT1I3QTA4JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzg3NzMzMU9ETzhJWUU2MU82RyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDA2NjYwMTBWMldKMzdVRlZVOCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbCZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= [xi] The Science of Getting Rich Seminar based on the book by Wallace D Wattles https://www.proctorgallagherinstitute.com/programs/science-of-getting-rich?utm_source=Programs%20Page&utm_medium=PGI%20Site&utm_campaign=SGR[xii] Imagination is Everything YouTube by Earl Nightingale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e25hRhKPm4M [xiii] Neuroscience Meets SEL EPISODE 65 Dr. Barbara Schwarck on “Using Energy Psychology and Emotional Intelligence to Improve Leadership in the Workplace” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/dr-barbara-schwarck-on-using-energy-psychology-and-emotional-intelligence-to-improve-leadership-in-the-workplace/ [xiv] Developing Intuition by Shakti Gawain (March 30, 2010)  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000054737/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 [xv] Thomas Troward The Dore and Edinbugh Lectures on Mental Science https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036FTEX0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 

In this episode of Go Reflect Yourself, Mark and I uncover why your thoughts are so powerful and how your experiences impact what you think, and your results.   What you’ll learn: The different regions of the brain and how they impact your thoughts How to succeed by creating an experience for success Why success depends on your ability to have awareness How to enhance your awareness How to create an anchor word to help gain clarity, focus and happiness   Mark Robert Waldman is the neuroscience researcher and creator of NeuroWisdom 101.  His national bestseller How God Changes Your Brain with co-author Andrew Newberg, M.D., was chosen by Oprah as one of the “Must Read” books for 2012.  Considered a Leading Expert on Spirituality, Communication, and  the Brain, Mark is on the Executive MBA faculty at Loyola Marymount University and also teaches at Holmes Institute. Mark travels throughout the world teaching mindfulness and Neuro Leadership strategies to colleges, corporations, and philanthropic organizations.   Tune in and as you watch or listen to this special episode.  Pause every 5-10 minutes and mindfully reflect on what you just heard.  Write down your thoughts, then yawn and stretch before proceeding.   Let me know what takeaways you had from this episode.   To learn more about Mark, or to receive one of his free downloadable neurotips:Visit his website at www.markrobertwaldman.com   If something in this episode was valuable for you, please share with your friends.     Connect with me on Instagram @heatherjcrider or www.goreflectyourself.com