Why Do I React the Way I Do? What Your Brain Is Really Doing ~ Rick Griffin Ep. 164

Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking, Why did I react like that? Maybe you've promised yourself you wouldn't lose your patience, shut down, or become defensive again, only to find yourself falling into the same patterns.

What if those reactions aren't simply about willpower?

In this fascinating conversation, Robin Blumenthal sits down with neuroscience educator and founder of the Neural Leadership Academy, Rick Griffin, to explore how our brains are constantly working behind the scenes to predict, protect, and conserve energy. Understanding these hidden processes can completely change the way we view ourselves and the people we love.

Rather than responding with shame or frustration, you'll learn how curiosity opens the door to healthier relationships, greater self-awareness, and lasting change.

Whether you're navigating parenting, marriage, friendships, leadership, or your own healing journey, this episode offers practical insights that can help you respond with greater wisdom and compassion.

In This Episode You'll Discover:

• Why knowing what to do doesn't always translate into doing it

• The surprising reason your brain falls back on old habits during stressful moments

• How brain energy impacts your emotions, communication, and decision making

• Four hidden sources of strain that affect every relationship

• Why curiosity is one of the most powerful tools for healing and connection

• How to recognize when you or someone else needs safety, clarity, rest, or reduced overwhelm

• Practical ways to pause, reset, and respond instead of simply reacting

• A simple framework that can help you navigate difficult conversations with greater confidence

This conversation will help you understand that behavior is often the result of a brain under strain, not simply a lack of character or self-control. That shift in perspective can transform the way you relate to yourself and to others.

Connect with Rick Griffin

Learn more about Rick's work, neuroscience education, and Neuro Nation resources through the Neural Leadership Academy and his weekly Substack.

www.neuro-la.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-griffin-nla/

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If this conversation encouraged you, share it with a friend, spouse, parent, counselor, ministry leader, or anyone who desires healthier relationships and a deeper understanding of how God designed the brain to work.

Healing often begins with understanding, and sometimes one new perspective can change everything.

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Transcript

Hello and welcome to Living the Reclaim Life. My name is Robin Blumenthal, and I'm one of the co-hosts for Living the Reclaimed Life. And today I'm very excited to be with Rick Griffin. Rick Griffin is a neuroscience educator and founder of the Neural Leadership Academy. And Rick and I have known each other for I think it's been about eight years. And when I first met Rick, he had been involved with a project, the Paper Tigers, which was a documentary. And as we began talking and have developed both a friendship, but mostly I look at Rick as a mentor and whatnot. So Rick is here today because not only is he working as a neuroscience educator, but he has a way of explaining things about the brain's energy and about how the brain predicts that makes the average person like me understand sometimes why I do the things I do, why I don't do the things that I thought I was going to do, and a little bit of all of that. So I think that you will find that this episode will be very helpful for you understanding your own behavior and some of what you can do about that. So Rick, thank you for being here, and I'm going to hand it to you to tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 2 1:18

Oh no, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it, and love the introduction, especially when it includes NeuroLeadership Academy. That is my new baby. I absolutely love being involved in helping others understand what's going on with the brain and the consequences for not understanding the brain, and so that that's kind of where I've been living for a while is really trying to understand human behavior started many many years ago. My first passion was how does this work with teenagers who are struggling and the parents who are working with them, and and starting to see lots of different situations that would come, whether it be addiction or or violence or the things that teens often struggle with, and realizing that lots and lots of stories, but they're all struggling from some of the similar things and trying to define. You know what is what are those common factors that really make this work? And as I dug more into that, it was really the brain that helped me see that it's like you know their their the brain desire to help them to survive had some consequences in in terms of their behavior, their desire to stay safe caused them to respond in defensive ways or ways that were harmful to themselves and harmful to others. And so I thought, wow, this is really interesting. How do I learn more about that? And so as I continued to study that, and it became really important for me to share that with the at the time with the parents of the teens we were working with, and saying, "Okay, here's what's going on with your kid. You know, they're not a bad kid. They're they're just protecting themselves in ways that aren't very helpful. And and so I started to share that with parents, and started to realize that wow, when we understand what the brain is doing and and the consequences for what the brain is doing, I think we can find better interventions. So that became my joy is to be able to talk with others about how is the brain impacting what we do, and how does understanding help us to live a more fruitful life.

Speaker 1 3:17

Absolutely, and if we think about that, every every behavior is some kind of communication, and and that's what you're saying, right? Is how the brain is responding, and then I tell parents or individuals it changes how we show up in someone's life or how we look at our own life when we understand that instead of being judgmental or angry or frustrated, which is more of our gut response. If we look back and say, you know, or step back and say, what is the brain trying to tell me here? Then we can approach it in a much healthier way and get further in that healing. We can kind of be curious about. So, so let's segue into many of the people who listen to our podcast, or let's say they're, you know, a little bit later in life or midlife, and they're they've had maybe trauma or struggles in life and they're like man I thought I was over that or I thought I would respond differently in this situation at work or with my spouse or with my kids why do I keep responding this this way so tell us a little bit about maybe what's happening in there how can they be more curious and struggle and and that's a whole big thing. But I know that you will be able to kind of make us like, oh, that makes sense.

Speaker 2 4:28

I appreciate the question. If learning really translated into doing all the time, the world would be so much different because we've learned a lot. We've had you know we have classes on resilience and all kinds of campaigns on mental health. If it was just about information, I think things wouldn't be the way they are. But it's not, because the brain is doing something really important when it comes to learning. It's it's how it's learning that that's one thing that we need to consider, and sometimes we don't pay enough attention to that. But what it does in the moment that might suggest something different, especially when you said, "Yeah, you know, you've got an audience that is maybe midlife. That means they've got some experiences. They've got a model of the world that they've been running for a while, and it's been successful. They've made it. So their brain is looking at it like, "Hey, I've helped you to survive this point. So whatever we've done has been successful. So in times of stress, that's what it's going to fall back on. Is no, let me do the thing that God is here, kind of thing. Now it may be a completely harmful strategy, but it has still managed to keep them surviving, and so that's kind of what happens. That that the brain is going to rely on those patterns that it's learned in those moments of stress because it has worked. Trying to help them to do something different, trying to help ourselves to do something different, to try to not use those old patterns. That comes from really understanding what is the brain doing and how is it doing it, so we can create interventions that work in those moments, as opposed to just allowing ourselves to regress to the old model and and find ways to fight through that to run a different model in times of need.

Speaker 1 6:08

So think of maybe you can think of an example. I'm a let's say I'm a mom. I've got several kids and I am very stressed. Things are going on and I am starting to yell at my kids, or I'm doing something that I'm like, darn it! Now I feel bad about myself, and the kids feel bad about me, and we get in this mode. Like, can you share how what you're trying to talk about with the energy and the prediction could change that, even if it's after the effect, and we realize what happened? Maybe both. Like, what can we do in the moment if we're able to, and if and let's say we mess it up altogether, right? What can we go back and do, or how can we begin to change that behavior to a more positive behavior?

Speaker 2 6:49

Yeah. So there's a there's there's a couple different questions in there. So let me describe first of all. Just just awareness becomes the very first important step. If we're aware that our brain is predicting, it's making a guess of how do I help stabilize the next moment. In a sense, how how do I make it through the next moment? How do I manage what's coming? So if you're a parent and you've grown up where somebody's been screaming and yelling and using deterrence as as punishment to try to change behavior, and you know that that doesn't always work, but that is the pattern that you've learned a lot of. So when stress comes, when your brain is starting to conserve energy, it's going to run those easier models. And so if we can just be aware of that and just know, okay, if I'm going to, if I'm in a situation where I'm with my children or with my partner or with somebody else, and I know that first of all that I'm going to be running those older patterns if I start to get a little stressed out, or if my the energy in my body, if you know, it takes fuel to to even survive, and so if that's running low, and it it's not going to allocate the energy to communication at a at a civil way, then there could be some problems. So if I know that going ahead, I might choose to do something different.

Speaker 1 8:11

Like you might set the stage so that you might be more successful. Something that would keep you calmer and more in your thinking brain.

Speaker 2 8:17

Right, and so like to my son, I might say, you know, right now I need to maybe just sit down for a little bit, get a drink of water, kind of reset, because I know that what I do in that moment is not going to be helpful if I'm already running low. So just awareness of where I'm at and and and what it's going to take from me, and I can just stop and and reset before I pursue might be the best thing I can do. So I know it sounds kind of counterintuitive, but sometimes the best thing that you can do in those moments is do nothing. Is is let yourself reset because it's just using too much energy, and it's going to require energy to make an effective response. So stop, reset, do nothing for a while, gain the energy back so that you can make a more effective response, and and so I think that that's so that awareness is the first step, and then being able to do something about that. How do I make sure that I can go into this with a little bit more fuel, with a little bit more energy, and then we have to understand that it is a prediction. It's still a guess. I don't really know if this next moment of what I'm going to say will be helpful, but I'm going to try to to kind of manage my expectation and say, what is it about this situation that I think will be better? Is this just about I want it? Do I want my child to stop acting that way because it makes me feel better. Now, what is the situation? I can look at it more clearly when I understand that I'm just making guesses. Nothing has happened yet. I haven't done anything yet. I've I've got to look at where do I want to start. So understanding prediction that it's something that's going to happen in the future hasn't occurred yet, so I've got time to think about where do I want to go with this. How do I want this to be? What's the goal? What what goal do I have? What goal does my child have? Are are they the same goal? If they're not, how do I help either change my prediction of of how I want to get there, or help change and influence their prediction of where they need to go. I need to do something different to make sure that those predictions stay helpful and fluid. That we're working together instead of against one another. It sounds

Speaker 1 10:31

like, yeah, and sorry to interrupt, but it sounds like I need to be a little more curious because otherwise I might try to fill in the predictions without stepping back, I might just say, "Well, if I say that, they're just going to argue. So I'm not even going to. That's like you have to maybe approach it with not so much judgment and a little more curiosity. Am I hearing that right?

Speaker 2 10:53

So if we're able to understand that it's a prediction, then I can say, "Well, I'm just I've just got some expect expectations, and I should. I've been a parent for a while. I kind of know what I think might be best, but if I also understand that my child is making a prediction as well, and they've got a different goal, perhaps that curiosity of what are they predicting? So we're not butting heads. It's not I've got to win kind of thing. It's no, we both want something, and it might be beneficial both if we could understand that. So we're not fighting against one another, and I think that's the clarity of curiosity. I can be not, I can be curious about myself, but I really need to be curious about their goals. What are they trying to achieve and accomplish? Because if I'm fighting against them, it is going to be a fight. And so, how do I make sure that we're aligned in this? And I think that's the the precursor to that curiosity is can I be curiosity curious on both sides and the goal to both sides. So I I often use the analogy of like sports. You know the I guess the best sport would end up zero to zero because you're preventing the other team from scoring, but that can't be at all. You know, you've got a goal too. You've got to be able to to score, but you've got to understand both sides of it. What are what are they trying to do, and what do we need to do, and and and how can I do something that makes that effective, and it doesn't become just my way or the highway. And so yes, it's curiosity. However, it's it's curiosity on both sides. So you undertake.

Speaker 1 12:26

Absolutely, absolutely. And that's how we certainly all of what you're sharing would apply in a marital relationship. It would apply with a boss employee or co. You know, friends. I mean, I think of so many times where we're already rehearsing what we're going to say, but we're not. I guess that's what I was thinking. We we're rehearsing what may or may not happen without the curiosity of it. We're just trying to get our point. We're just trying to be on the defense or just on the offense. We're not trying to see that it's both and. I think I that makes a lot of sense.

Speaker 2 13:00

Anytime there's two brains involved, at least two brains, because it's our brain. We got to understand that our brain's doing something, and it can't and it can't have a limited capacity, low energy, and all those kind of things. But so does someone else's, and so I got to understand that too in order for it to be helpful. And it doesn't matter what two brains they are in any in whatever capacity they are. It's still gonna have it's gonna drive their behavior. It's going to drive my behavior. And if I really want this to go well, I better understand both.

Speaker 1 13:26

Absolutely, I love that. When you, I'm going to go back to something you said. You talked about that taking a moment to reset, or taking space, or stepping back. Talk a little bit about. I know as a parent or as a spouse. I remember one one day my husband and I said, you know, I'm not in a good frame of mind. We should talk about this later. And as I turned, I thought, oh, what a good job, Robin, that you took a break. And then I thought, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and delve into it right now. And it it didn't go well. So clearly more than 20 seconds for a reset. But do you have a? If somebody was like, I'm going to try to start getting better at that that pause and that reset. Talk about is there like a a rule of thumb time or like how would somebody judge how much time they need? Maybe how much energy they already have spent or.

Speaker 2 14:13

Yes, yes, that's exactly it. It's it's almost like your your your car. If you've got a long journey and you want to stop, you're not going to put just one gallon in. You know, you've got to really refuel now. If you've only spent one gallon of energy, in a sense, then yeah, it can be a shorter pause in a sense. So it really depends on where you're at and what you have left to do to how beneficial that pause can be, and to know that there's some other things that can help to change that that that energy level in that moment. For example, it's it's one thing to be able to rest so that you can store your energy, but it's another thing to produce more energy. So things like like food intake, glucose intake. We know that those are things that actually, to the biological level, help us to produce more energy. So if if we're to the point we're so low that conserving energy isn't helpful anymore, that we got to produce more, then the break has to change. It has to look a little different because you have to do something different in order to produce enough energy to do what is necessary at the next stage.

Speaker 1 15:20

So that's what's happening when someone's hangry, right? You know, we think about that. But I love your analogy about the car. I mean, that all of us have been there. All of us have taken a trip or not checked the gas tank or run out of gas, and and then you get so frustrated at the car when it's not the car's fault. I think we hadn't be paying attention.

Speaker 2 15:40

Yeah, yeah. So the human body needs gages, you know, so that we can tell.

Speaker 1 15:44

That would be helpful.

Speaker 2 15:46

Other people can tell when we're running low as well.

Speaker 1 15:49

That's true. Sometimes we can't tell, but other people can, right? So, oh my goodness, I love that. All right. So then we talked about a little bit about how we kind of that pause and reset, and we look at the energy. What are some other pieces that would be helpful for people to know when we're looking at the predictive brain and brain energy that that would be maybe helpful across the board wherever somebody lives and works and breathes? Because our brain is with us all the time.

Speaker 2 16:18

Well, I don't know if you understand how brilliant that question really is Robin. Oh

Speaker 1 16:22

gosh, thanks. No, I don't.

Speaker 2 16:24

I think the one thing that we don't understand sometimes about the brain, and in this world of trauma-informed, which is so important, is that we recognize that safety is a big issue. That when there is a potential threat, especially from our past, when our past is dictating that there might be a current safety issue. We know, and we put a lot of energy into try to become safe. But that's not the only reason why our brains struggle and why we have stress and strain. And so we've been talking about energy loss, and so that's that's another component that has nothing to do with safety. You can feel completely safe, but still low energy, and it still has some problems in how to respond. But there's two other things that the brain is doing that I think are equally as important, and so we have to also realize that you can feel completely safe and still be confused. That uncertainty requires a lot of scanning, which requires a lot more energy. So you're trying to figure out what's happening next, what's going on. When you're uncertain, it still requires a lot of energy, and you can burn through a lot of energy very quickly. So it might not be an issue of lack of safety, and it might not be an issue of low energy. It could be an issue of that you're just uncertain, and you know that if you don't have some answers to that, then it will become an energy issue. But in the moment, it's really just about I need some clarity. I need to you know what are the expectations so that I I don't have that strain build up. So yes, absolutely, that threat is a huge concern, and so is uncertainty, and so is energy loss, and the fourth one really comes down to that that capacity issue. Do I have not necessarily energy capacity, but just do I have what it takes to manage the moment ahead? Maybe it's a skill set. Do I have the ability to manage what I think could be coming up because of overwhelm? Sometimes you can just be too overwhelmed. There's too much data to go through, so it's an overlap with the energies. But I'm not low in energy. I just don't have enough energy for that kind of all the data that that might require for me to process in that moment. So overwhelm is a concern that is really really genuine that often gets overlooked. We think about that often when it comes to neurodivergent issues. So we start thinking about sensory overwhelm and those things. But I don't think we often consider that every human being has a limit to what we can deal with in terms of capacity. You know, we've got 11 million sensory inputs all through our body. We're only paying attention about 40 or 50 of them, and because if we had to pay attention to everything that was happening, we'd all be overwhelmed all the time. So we have to understand that when we are overwhelmed, it's a lot easier than to pull back again and again conservation mode, not just of our the our ability to produce energy or consume energy, it's to distribute it. Are we distributing it to the right resources, to decision making capacities, to problem solving capacities, to empathetic capacities? So that ability to understand that we're overwhelmed and that it's going to need we're going to be compromising our ability to have an effective conversation, even to to calm ourselves takes energy. You know, to breathe and all the our system requires energy to do that. So if we've used it all because of our overwhelmness in dealing with a lot of other data, that's going to compromise everything we do at that point. And I think it's those issues that need to be understood. All four of those really need to be considered. Which 1am I dealing with? We just use the word safety all the time, but it always it doesn't always apply in the same way, we have to have a more nuanced approach to what's going on.

Speaker 2 20:24

Am I really genuinely unsafe? Is this a dangerous situation, or do I just lack clarity and it's just confusing? Or am I just overwhelmed? Or do I just not have the energy? All four of those really matter because they require a different process to be able to navigate the next moment, and if you're looking at intervening with somebody, you got to know which one they're at, and so you can provide the right intervention.

Speaker 1 20:50

Right, and we have to know where we're at. I think of years ago, I had a friend flippantly say something to me like, "Well, Robin, you know how you get when you get overstimulated, and I go, what? And she goes, well, you know, like when there's too much going on, and it was like this light bulb. But I went, oh my gosh, I do. If there's too many voices or too many people are talking to me at the same time, and the TV's on, and whatever, and I have, maybe I've grown, maybe I'm not, but I know that at that moment, I had never been aware that that overwhelm was something because then I started reacting in ways that I didn't want to be reacting. I was much shorter. I was, you know, was more knee-jerk reactions instead of you know, you know, a purposeful reaction. And and I wasn't even aware of what was causing that. You know, I would maybe group it up. Oh, I'm just stressed, but it really wasn't stressed. It was that moment of that kind of that overwhelm, and I I think as you were talking, I was like, oh yeah, yeah, I can think of 100 examples, but that's just you know.

Speaker 2 21:52

And listen to the words you use. You get shorter. That's that's conservation. Your your brain is conserving because it's like it doesn't have time to full explanations for things, and it's just nope. Let me, you know, but it really has a challenging way of being viewed by other people. So it's going to challenge a relationship real quickly when you do that. You're doing it for the right reasons because you need to. You need to reduce input and those kind of things. So it's great for your body, but it's not great for communication. It's not great for you know the a relationship, and and so if we can recognize that that's what happens, it can be so much again. If we had a gage, that would tell us as our capacity issue being compromised because of too much data at this point in time, can we reduce the amount of data so things can happen well,

Speaker 1 22:41

and you know as you were talking, I was thinking about a few years ago at a moment at a work meeting where everybody's in a meeting, and I know for me, I was not being able to hear the feedback that was coming for something, and then the voices and other tensions. Maybe it was a large event, so it wasn't just feedback for me, and you could see all that rising in the room, and as you're talking, and I'm like, oh yeah, the energy was just running out everywhere, but it wasn't where it needed to be. And how do we go forward to the next step? And and the leader or anybody who recognizes it might have put a calm. Sometimes we say, let's take a break and calm down. Normally, that word is not the word-at least for me. That's not going to help restore anything at all. But I think that somebody who understands how our brains, or what are we hearing everybody say, how are we processing, how are they processing-that's why I think what you teach and do is so fabulous, because I think in everyday interactions all over, knowing some of this can change how we interact. We can't help. We can show up differently. I can't do a. Let me give you a 10-minute brain lesson as I'm in the middle of the thing. But if I react different, I can help reset their brain a little bit, right? Or could I? I think that's what you were talking a little bit about that that other person.

Speaker 2 24:00

Yes. Yeah, and and I think it ties so well into some of the things that you've been doing for a while, especially from that trauma lens. Because when you have a trauma history, and your brain is already scanning for signs to make sure that you're not re-injured again, yeah. So it's like trying to keep you safe. You've had this terrible thing happen to you. You got to make sure that it doesn't happen to you again. So you're scanning that. That takes a heck of a lot of energy to continue to doing, but you don't realize that it's taken so much energy that now it's causing certain responses to be short and or to to miss out on other visual cues because you're so focused on safety cues, and and so we start realizing that our our past history has is in the current moment it's causing some troubles and it's not related necessarily. It's not because this person is doing the same things as the the harm in my past. It's just because the harm in my past still is haunting me in a sense because I'm having to scan to make sure it doesn't happen. So I hope that we understand the difference between that. So you're not trying to always heal somebody's past history because you can't do a lot about the past sometimes, but you have to realize that. But it's still doing some current damage because I'm still scanning, and that scanning is what's taking the energy and keeping me from being bringing forth my best self out, and I think that that's how I start to feel a little bit more healed. Is to realize that now I'm not having to to continue scanning all the time. Race was my big issue. It's like you know I'm always scanning for somebody to be racist. Realizing now that's that's that's your past talking. Don't spend your energy thinking about that. And now I can bring my best self forward. I I can realize that maybe wow, this person was actually giving me a compliment. It had nothing to do with my past, and so I can bring forth my my best self. And to to me, that feels like a healing.

Speaker 1 25:59

Oh, absolutely. I think about when you think of either ourselves were triggered or activated, like you said, something from the past has inserted itself, and that same thing can be happening to the person we're talking to. So now you have two brains that are doing this this dance or whirlwind, and in our last few minutes, how about is there a way when let's say that we are we are bringing our best self in that moment, or you know, as close as we get to our best self, and we realize that this other person is whoever it could be-a child, or a friend, or our spouse, or a coworker-seems to be maybe being, you know, triggered or activated or overwhelmed or whatever. What is something we could do, or what are a few tools that we might be able to do to help them from our end of it?

Speaker 2 26:48

Yeah, great question. So it's the the first thing that we need to do again is to to try to name what the strain is in a sense that they're they're going through something, right? They're instead of just advancing to behavior. If we start thinking about in terms of behavior, I think we have already gone too far. This isn't about someone's bad behavior. This is about their brain being in a state that is no longer helpful in the moment, and and so I think that's the the the first big step that that we can take. And then once we've done that, I I think then we can get into an area to try to figure out now which of those four areas that I talked about is the one that they're struggling with. So I know how to assist. That they're they're they're under strain. The brain's under strain. It's not behavior. It's just a brain under strain. So how do I help this? And then if I can figure out which one it is, is this an issue of safety? Are they predicting a challenge in their safety? Then I know that okay, yep, they're feeling threatened. I need to bring some safety. If I'm looking at it, oh, it's uncertainty that is causing the activation. That's causing the them to be strained in the moment. Okay, now I I need to to bring some clarity into the situation. Oh gosh, it's overwhelmed. They've got too much going on in one area or another. Now I I know how I can bring a little bit more capacity, or stop the the amount of data coming in from different sources. But if I find out it's an energy loss, okay, let me maybe I can we can suggest a rest, a pause, grab a bottle of water. Hey, let's take a snack, and I can do something different. So those are the things that we can do for somebody else, and it's and it's important for us to start with that sense of knowing that it's not behavior; it is the brain doing what the brain does. They're just trying to manage their world, and right now it's causing some extra strain. How do I help that?

Speaker 1 28:58

And I would imagine it's not easy to shift from focusing on their behavior to thinking about the brain that is driving that behavior, you know, or that might be having them do whatever it is that we are seeing on the outside, since we don't see what's happening, right?

Speaker 2 29:13

Because their behavior, in a sense, starts to give us us signals that may think that we are not safe, you know, they're doing something that might might endanger me, or they're doing something that might end up taking more time to deal with, and so I don't have the time for that. It starts to become a prediction for us that becomes challenging, and so we have to resist that. Say this isn't about me. It's the Q-tip model. Quit taking it personally. This is about them and their brain right now. That's showing a little strain. Let me figure out how to produce, how to get them back into balance a little bit.

Speaker 1 29:47

I love that. I think that is so helpful. And if if you could bottle that and take it in a a pill or something, then I mean, oh my gosh, you'd be a millionaire, right? Because you'd be like, oh, here, take this. This will help us both. You know,

Speaker 2 30:00

it won't be an appeal, but you know, I am coming forward with a neuroresilience is the new course, and and and so that that the acronym of that step I just walked you through is called name or the acrostic, I guess, since it spells the word, but it's name the moment so you can meet it. So N A M E. So you're you're noticing the brain that's under strain. You're assessing what the brain is responding to, you're matching the response to what is needed in that moment, and then you're expanding the ability for the brain to respond in the future. And so it's it's not as quick as a pill, but I think through practice it can be. We can learn to to reach for that first, if we can practice it enough.

Speaker 1 30:43

Well, and that's exactly why I invited you to be a part of the podcast because the way you explain it is understandable, and if we understand something, it makes it easier us for us to learn, to experience, to practice it. So as we wrap up, is there? Let's say some of our listeners are listening. They're like, "Oh my gosh, I need to learn a little bit more. I I see this happening now. What do I do? Can you share a few resources? You mentioned what you're just getting ready to work on, and a couple other places that they can check out.

Speaker 2 31:14

Yeah, so I have a Substack that I send information out once a week that explores it from all different angles, from my own personal life and journeys there to what's going on inside of our workplaces, what's happening other places. So it's a chance to to read real life stories and real life situations about how this is happening and how it's manifesting in our world. And so I think that can be real helpful from a more global sense, the the two scientific frameworks are about predictive processing, and you've got lots of authors. But the ones that I follow most closely is Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, Andy Clark, those researchers dealing with that prediction machine in brain, and then brain energy. Dr. Christopher Palmer and his work on metabolic psychiatry, dealing with the brain energy. So for those who are kind of neuroscience nerds, that may be the angle to go. If you're just wanting to kind of figure out how that impacts the everyday life, check in with my Substack and become part of what I call Neuro Nation, folks who are trying to figure out what's happening with our brains.

Speaker 1 32:24

I love it. I'm a part of Neuro Nation, and I love the way you write. It is. It is. When I say simple, I guess clear is really the word, and you use great examples. And I have so many aha moments, and want to continue to to both learn and then practice it so I can live that out. Like you said, knowledge is the awareness and the knowledge. But then I really want to get better at my at my roles with individuals and communicating, and better even understanding myself and what I'm contributing to what's happening or not happening, as it might be.

Speaker 2 32:57

Personally,

Speaker 1 32:58

so well, thank you very much for being a part of our podcast today. I'm so thankful, and I hope that everyone walked away with some great awareness that they can take into their next conversation with whoever they're having. So thank you again for being here, Rick.

Speaker 2 33:14

Thanks, Robin. Take care.