Ep. 16: Retraining your brain with Paola Telfer creator of Sens.ai

This is such a powerful episode, where I talk to the amazing, whip smart and incredibly articulate, Paola Telfer, a UBC electrical engineering grad, turned entrepreneur who created Sens.ai, a revolutionary at home brain training system. Her own accident, which left her at rock bottom and wanting to heal herself, was the catalyst for her wanting to create a system that was far more accessible to the average person. 

We dive into how this product can help survivors retrain their brain, create new neuropathways, and really live lives they love, despite what the abuser in their lives, do, or don't do. It really is such an empowering episode because we dive into how this product can help change your brain, which has been impacted by abuse, and therefore, your life.

Spoiler alert: it truly does work and has literally changed my life. I've gone from not sleeping, to consistently sleeping through the night, after a 20 year battle with sleep. And my focus and productivity have drastically improved as well. 

You can find her and Sens.ai on social media @sens.ai.inc

Or at: www.sens.ai/chantalcontorinescoaching

You can also use the Coupon Code: CHANTALCONTORINESCOACHING to receive $100 USD discount off a Sens.ai headset

Visit: https://chantalcontorinescoaching.com to learn how to work with me.

Grab my free parenting resource:

https://chantalcontorinescoaching.myflodesk.com/free-how-to-guide

Join my monthly membership for protective parents: https://chantalcontorinescoaching.com/monthly-membership

Follow me on Instagram: @chantal.contorines.coaching

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice.

Transcript

0:01

Welcome everybody to The Survivors Playbook. I'm your host, Chantal Contorines, and this is the podcast for every survivor of abuse. If abusers can have a playbook, then why can't survivors also have a playbook so that you can learn to live your best life despite what the abuser in your life does or doesn't do? And I am so excited to have on this amazing woman as our guest today. I partnered with Sensei. Over a month ago now to try their product to see if it actually lived up to the claims that I read about. And I have to say it does it actually super seeds all of my expectations I had. I went in very skeptical and because of how it actually works and has helped me, I am a firm believer now. So today we have on the amazing Paola. Telfer. She is a CEO of Sensei and she is, a local to me. She's from Vancouver. She's a UBC grad. She is an electrical engineer who created this revolutionary product using both technology and pairing that with AI technology. Now, AI gets a bad rap. A lot of people are skeptical about AI and its implications for the world, but she's actually using it. For good here. So thank you so much, Paola, for being here and for taking the time outta your full life to impart your knowledge and expertise for our listeners today. Thank you so much for having me, Chantel, and it really is very, touching to me that this product has really touched your life impacted you in just the one month that you've been using it. So yeah, pleasure to be here. I was skeptical just because I've tried so many things. Sleep has evaded me for over 25 years, and I've tried every hermo remedy every. Upside down head thing, yoga, meditation. Nothing has helped. I don't have a problem going to sleep, but staying asleep is a real issue for me. And in the month that I've been using this product, not only has my sleep improved, I've had. So many consecutive nights of full sleep where I don't even wake up. But because of my training in the morning, my focus training, I focus all day. I did drive one morning and oh my goodness, I felt like I was on like super speed, like caffeine. I was like, woo, this is crazy. And I don't drink coffee anymore. So I was like, wow, this is what it feels like when you just start drinking caffeine. So this actually does work. This is the thing. It, I don't wanna. Promote something that I truly don't believe in, but I truly am a believer. can you tell us a little bit about this product? For those who have no idea what sensei is, how did you come to create this? What was the process like? I can't even imagine what the process was like in terms of the creation. Yeah, first maybe I'll start a little bit on the product. So we are talking about neuromodulation, which means very simply that we're changing the neurons that are firing in your brains and their rhythms and their timing and, The way the brain works, we often think of it as being chemical. So we approach it with pharmaceuticals. That's our default in society. And all that we are saying is we are looking at it as an electrical system. you mentioned I'm an electrical engineer. you can actually change the brain, not just with pharmaceuticals and other sorts of drugs, but you can change it by changing the brain waves, the electrical activity. So when your neurons are firing in your brain, you can actually read them. Technology that's referred to as EEG at the skull. you don't have to get invasive. You don't have to, put electrodes inside the brain. You can actually just measure it at the skull. And these are tiny little signals, but they have been, studied for 50 plus years. This is, it's not new science. It's science that's been around and there are many studies. That have been doing, modulation of the brain for treatment of anxiety or A DHD or insomnia, brain fog, even Parkinson's, epilepsy, things like that. So there's quite a body of evidence to support it. And so what we're doing is taking the best of what's out there and already studied and already got this, body of evidence. And then we've made it. Small, less expensive and easy to use. I'm so glad you say I am not techie. And I was like, okay, this might take me a month just to understand how to use it. It took me a couple of days to actually be like, okay, I know exactly what to do. It's very user friendly. It's very step by step, which I really like because again I am not tech savvy. My son is the tech person in the house. When I have an issue, I'm like"Carter, I need your help." So this was super simple for me to use. If I can use it, anybody can use it, and it's, I'm really glad you say that because I think we've been in market since August of 23, and then we've made lots of strides in the user experience, right? What we call ux. And that's both to do with the app and with the hardware and also even the tutorials that are embedded in the app. Precisely for that reason, I want my mom to be able to pick it up, put it on, and be ready to go in five minutes without calling for tech support because that's a call to me. So that's what the headset's about. And we can go into some of the tech in a little bit, You also asked me why I started it and what that process was. I was in my rock bottom, so this was less than a decade ago, but around that timeframe. And I'd gotten, into a motor vehicle accident. So I was rear-ended. I was just sitting still, so completely passive. I got rear-ended. My neck was a certain way. Long story short I needed neck surgery and had musculoskeletal pain. It was like the spiral of pain. It was a spiral of frustration and the mental impact. Was actually outweighing the physical and it wouldn't let me heal physically. in that process, I discovered that you could get right to the root cause of, any sorts of mental illness by getting into the electrical system of the brain. And I did that by exploring various clinics and experts that were working on brains that some of them that needed a lot of healing. Other one like concussions and things like that. But other ones were just people trying to get sharper. And a lot of where this field has gone is just people who are elite athletes or executives and they just want that edge. And so a lot of this is somewhat, exclusive. It's in certain clinics around the world, it's very expensive technology. And that's where I ended up, not because I could afford it, because I was at rock bottom and I had no other options. And, I did that and it was. A tremendous dramatic impact in my life. I understood that it worked. I understood that there was a body of research behind it, and that there were still experts alive from that pioneering age that everybody would go to who were the mentors in this field. And they knew a lot of information that was not documented. And so my process. Was I think a very humble one in that I thought, I'm just an engineer. I can understand the technology aspect and I think I can solve the technology hurdles to making this small and scalable, but I need the experts around me, people who know about the brain, about psychology. about all the different aspects, the physical aspect, the neurosurgery aspect, the neuro research, And so I gathered these people, clinicians as well, who had just very practical experience. And the question was, if we were to take the best of the best that's out there and build something, what would you include? And assume that there are no, technological hurdles and we want this to be an everyday accessible product for people to just take charge of their lives. Yeah. So whether it's just anxiety or it is as much as, healing trauma, how can we look at that whole spectrum? And then that's where the design came from, these very open discussions and explorations and prototyping It was a five year, research and development, adventure. So Wow. It was a labor of love for sure. I was just gonna say it's a real labor of love that actually has paid off because it truly. Does change your life. Yeah. you have to be intentional in its usage. Yeah. you can buy all the best products, but if you're not using it intentionally, so for me, I use it daily, sometimes three times a day, like my nighttime, my morning, and then I have my calm training during the day. I have experienced huge shifts in my cognition, my ability to focus, my ability to stay asleep, which I think is affecting and impacting the rest of my day. Because I'm sleeping for the first time in my life, I'm able to actually be present in my day. And not just waiting for bedtime to happen so I could go back to sleep'cause I'm so exhausted. I've always said if I could just tackle the sleep thing, I think I could conquer the world. And when you've experienced prolonged stress, when you've experienced any kind of trauma, when you've experienced any form of abuse. Remember, abuse is stress. The entire relationship that you've been in this abusive relationship is stressful. Stress wreaks havoc on your brain, your body, your ability to function, and this is a product that can actually help survivors create lives that they love, which is the whole purpose of all the work that I do. You have this active abuser in your life. What can you do? What can you take control of? What can you focus on to make yourself as whole as possible, so that you can create a life that you love for you and your children? And the great thing is that it's not only wonderful for adults, but it also can help children. That's right. And let's talk about sleep a little bit there. So like, why does it work for sleep and what's actually going on there? A lot of times when we can't fall asleep, there's a couple of things. One of them is, our sensory motor rhythm. It's like the drum. Like the heartbeat, of the brain. There's a rhythm to it that focus training we call focus training is actually sensory motor rhythm brain training. So what's happening is we are resetting that. To, a rhythm that is allowing you to get more REM sleep more restorative time in, sleep mode. And so that's one aspect of it. The other aspect is, deep calm that is part of that sleep protocol. What it allows you to do is to access a deep inner safety, right? So sometimes, a lot of times the world, it doesn't feel safe, right? And so we can actually find that inner safety. In ourselves reset just even the organ of the brain, Into those deep alpha rhythms, which are a feeling that, sometimes we stop being able to access. Because, we have trauma ongoing in our lives because we're stuck in fear. And sometimes for some people, it's really exacerbated by the media cycle. Everywhere we look it looks like threats. And so that deep calm training allows you to get back into what feels like, inner safety, deep relaxation, peace. And really once that becomes true. It's it's it's such a beautiful feeling. It's so restorative. And once you feel that and you're like, oh I remember. I haven't felt that for a long time. And so that's really what, when we're talking about brain training, we're talking about you developing a skill. It's not something that's being done to you. You actually have to focus. And this is where I have the hard it, it's been. Not challenging in a bad way, but challenging in that. the visuals the music gets louder as I'm paying more attention and it gets calmer and quieter as I drift. Part of my issue is that as an adult, I have so many things to do, so I'm always creating lists in my head. Yes. and this training has shown me that I'm oftentimes not present in the moment. I'm already looking forward to what I have to do next. So these trainings have forced me to actually stop and focus, like literally focus the name of the training is focused to focus on the task at hand and nothing else. Clear my brain of all the things that I have to do after this 20 minutes is over and just focus on the task at hand. I'm so happy when the colors get bright on the screen and the music gets loud. I'm like, oh, my brain. And then I look at my stats afterwards, I'm like, oh, I actually have a bigger streak today than I did yesterday. And I actually have control over my mind. I can actually tell my mind to just focus on the colors Chantal, focus on the music coming in through the headset. Focus, focus, focus. And I do. Yeah. It's honestly amazing. And so maybe I can share what the experience feels like. So we are reading your brainwaves. And so I don't know if anyone's, on video, but we do have these electrodes. And so the electrodes are that technology that EEGI referred to, but all of that to say is that we're reading the brainwaves at the skull and then we're feeding them back to you as an experience, which is audio and visual. and that feedback is actually the brain's natural way of learning what's called operant conditioning. We learn by feedback. So if I touch a stove and it's hot, I won't touch it again, right? you get a grade at school, right? You learn. I didn't study hard enough, or that was good. I'm really good at this subject. So we're always getting feedback as we're learning new things, and the brain's nature is neuroplasticity. So even when we don't mean to learn new things, we are always training the brain. So the people that we surround ourselves with, right? The thoughts that we entertain, if we're ruminating on the past, if we're, worried about the future, all of those things are actually training our brain and we're getting into these habits of mind. And so all that, brain training Is biofeedback, neurofeedback, and it is that real time feedback, which is like less than half a second, right? Faster than the speed of thought. It's actually this immersion with your brainwaves, very much like a hands free video game where you are learning to listen to your mind. And then you're learning how to dance with it. Really. You're learning how to move with it, how it feels to be focused, how it feels to be calm. And it's training you in all these things and it becomes a skill. And so that's the intention of that neurofeedback. And then back to, the sleep aspect, it is that presence that helps you with that.'cause you're not. Ruminating before you fall asleep Sometimes. That's what keeps us, awake at night and that latency before we go to sleep is because we're sitting there going, oh, I can't sleep right now because you're worried about so many things in the past, in the future. And so what we're trying to do is calm that default, mode network in the brain where it's got that deep safety, that deep calm, and then it's actually gonna be much more still and quiet. Honestly, 25 years I've had sleep issues. I've tried every concoction, literally everything other than prescription drugs because I really try to stay off of anything that's not natural, because I don't wanna become addicted and then rely on something else. So this is literally, even when I do wake up in the middle of the night, and sometimes I still do, I'm able to fall asleep within five or 10 minutes, whereas before it was Two or three hours and by the time I was falling back asleep, it was time to get back up again. And I know that so many people can relate to that because I have so many clients and members and listeners who sleep, it's just, and sleep affects so many parts of your life. It impacts your ability to be creative. It impacts your ability to be productive. It impacts your ability to be present and engaged with your children and with life It impedes everything. So if you're not sleeping well, your days are not going to be the days that they could be if you're sleeping well. And so that's the foundation. Everything else that I've experienced is just a bonus. Like honestly. yeah. Like I'm just like, oh, okay, I was doing this for this, but now I have the, and literally it also is very empowering to be able to feel like you are. Part of the solution, like you are literally seeing the feedback of your brain and what happens with your brain when you're in these trainings and you're in these booths, and it feels very, rewarding. I was actually part of this, and yes, I drifted off, but I came right back and I'm getting better and I can see the growth in that. For somebody who's been disempowered through abuse, feeling empowered. Taking back control, not over, not only of your body, but literally also of your mind. Yes, absolutely. Because, I've heard you talk before about, there's things that you can control and there's things you can't control. And this is very much about controlling your response. It's about controlling your response to life and the ups and downs of life, which are whatever they are. Even if you weren't part of an abusive, As an adult, life is just stressful now. We have so much coming in, so many expectations. Our schedules are overburdened. It's very easy as an adult, irrespective of abuse, to feel overwhelmed by life and you're just treading water. You're not actually. Growing, and I think the whole purpose of life is to grow as individuals and to reach our full potential in this lifetime. Yes. Agreed. Agreed. And actually maybe that's a good segue to share, the way the app was designed is that there's levels to it and it unlocks over time. So it's a gamified app and I love that. I didn't know, I was like, I don't play games. And I was like, okay, gamified. I don't know what that really means. And I'm like, oh, I'm on the next level now. I literally feel a pat on the back and my cortisol rises because I've just done something good for myself. I'm like, this is amazing. And the theme of it is Interstellar Travel. it's meant to be transportive. So when we have people on the app, we want them to just be experiencing versus analyzing and thinking. If they wanna analyze and think and look at the technology and stuff, there's lots of information on the website, but the app is meant to be this deep experience that you don't have to explain. It doesn't have to have a theology to it. It's very universal and it's just very human. But the way that it unlocks is at the very beginning, we try and look at it like me, me issues. So me issues being anything that's blocking you right now. Sleep is number one. Exactly like you said, it's the first domino you change your sleep. Everything else changes. Maybe you don't have brain fog anymore, maybe you don't have focus issues anymore, or anxiety. It's change sleep and then we reassess. So what we do is we run an assessment. It's 10, 15 minutes long. You're wearing the headset while you're doing this. Yeah, this genius call control. I just did, I think it was on Saturday, was my next one and I've improved. That's amazing. So we tried really hard. We're not making stuff up, we're leveraging what's already been done. So the Genius Pulse is the name that we gave it, but it's actually, a known test that is called event related potentials. and the reason we're doing that is because we wanted an objective measure of life function. We wanted to know that people's. Lives were changed. And the best way to look at that is by function. And maybe no surprise, once we are doing better, we actually think faster. We're clearer so we can measure thinking speed with that test. Our impulse controls improve. That's huge, right? Yeah. And so we can measure that with that test as well, of course reaction time. And so there's a lot of measures and these are measures that would only typically be done in a clinical test, usually it would take hours. So we're doing that in a way that self-serve 10, 15 years long. Again, not only would it take hours, but it would cost so much money, this is the thing. There's an investment in this, but it's so inexpensive when you look at what you're getting and what it would cost you to do this in a clinical setting. And it's from your com. I do it from bed. It's like my happy thing. And I tell my children, I'm doing my sensei training right now. And they know that means don't disturb, don't knock on the door, don't come to the door. Make as little noise as possible. Mom's doing her training. It's just become part of our lexicon in our household now. That's nice. And so we, when we start, you first do the assessment and then it's gonna recommend a mission like this Interstellar mission, which is a protocol. And then the first level, the ME level is getting rid of any blocks, like anxiety and sleep and attention disorders, brain fog, and then once that level is completed, you move on to the next level, which is the we level. And now in the we level, there's a lot of things around creativity and mindfulness. But there's one mission there that's worth pointing out, which is actually called Freedom Now. And that mission is around letting go. it's about letting go of things we can't control. the reason we take time to unlock it is because you're actually deep diving into the subconscious, into alpha theta states. If you think of it like you're going into the ocean, you've trained your attention. You've trained your inner safety in the first surface level, and then now you're deep diving into this, alpha theta hypnogogic level where you can actually do rewiring. You are doing your own rewiring, right? But you're in the state where, let's say that you're practicing a mantra. Let's say that you're doing some journaling and you have some introspection around, some forgiveness for yourself. You can do that at a level of Alpha Theta. It will actually become ingrained in your nervous system, and that's what you want. You don't want to, intellectually forgive, intellectually let go. You want actual freedom and that comes from your subconscious. A lot of times when you go in there and do that exploration and maybe your coach or your therapist has guided you on certain talk tracks, you've been doing that work. Now, when you're in the alpha, the state, you can investigate further and you might actually find that it unveils. Memories that you didn't have for a long time, and you remember things from your childhood. And so the intention of all of that is to be able to bring in forgiveness and with time, gratitude and have personal freedom. It doesn't mean that you let the other person off the hook. Nope. It means that you are letting yourself off the hook and you're no longer taking on that stress level. you're letting go of those triggers and you're actually finding that space for yourself, that clarity. And so that program, that protocol is embedded in there and it's an invitation. It's nothing we force people to do. But I would share what I didn't finish sharing in my personal story is that I was stuck in a fight or flight from the motor vehicle accident. And so it was very difficult for me to get into a vehicle with another driver. And even with myself, I was stuck in, hyper vigilance you would say. so many survivors Can relate to that hyper vigilance. So many survivors are in a constant state of hyper vigilance where they're not able to ever relax. That's right. It's absolutely horrible. And exhausting. And there's no way you can have clear thought when you're stuck in that state.'cause everything's a threat. You need to be able to get into this relaxed state, calm the nervous system. You need to do all of that, and let yourself relax. this was the most powerful thing that helped me to get outta that state. I felt like it was urgent because my son was six at the time. And I was stuck in that state. Can you imagine? He would come up behind me to hug me to play with me, and I was like, startle reflex reflux. Yeah. Not a good, yeah. Startle, reflux. And then I, and he felt like he was giving me pain in my body. Yeah, it was just not sustainable and I felt horrible, but myself and I knew I couldn't be a good mother. And so it was, drastic times. And this was, these were the measures I took for me. It cost me a lot of money and then I just needed to make it. Condensed and smaller, and hopefully it's shareable as well, right? So people can have this in a house and people can share it. That's the great thing. The hardware thing, again, I can use it and my children can use it. Yes, we can all benefit from it. So children who need focus, to get through school, to become creative. And so many survivors who are adults, have children who are actively surviving constant abuse. Abusers who abuse their partners also abuse their children. And so children are coming and you hit a nerve, like literally, when you said the nervous system. So many of my clients, be they adults or children, their nervous systems are constantly being dysregulated by the abuse. And it's so important as a protective parent to help our children co-regulate, to get them back into a parasympathetic state. And this is a really powerful tool to not only help yourself, but also help your children. And it's shareable. You can all use the same headset. You all have different programs you're training, different. And that's really important because this is individualized for you. So you each have your own program and it's helping you at your level where you need to be met, which is why you start with the assessment. I just did my second assessment. I can't wait for my third and so on and so forth. I'm literally hooked for life. I know I have this, for three months, but I'm going to extend it because I love this so much and I am just using it right now. I'm being very selfish. But I tell my clients you have to take care of yourself first before, before you can take care of your children. And so I'm using it now, but I also can't wait to be able to share this with my children. That's great. I was gonna mention too, like we talked a fair bit about biofeedback and so we do biofeedback that we're reading the bio signals and feeding it back to you in real time and you're playing it like a video game. So we do that with the brainwaves, the neurofeedback, and then we do it with the heart rate variability, which is, biofeedback. And that's a really the heart of sensei'cause we want you to develop those skills. But at the same time, it is an active engagement. It's only 15 minutes, three times a week, for you to have that impact. And after 20 sessions, you'll feel the impact. And after 40 sessions, this is the clinical data, 40 sessions, you'll have another level of impact. But at the same time, that is very much like going to the gym. And sometimes we feel tired to go to the gym, right? So in addition to that, what's really important that we added to Sensei back to the original. Design thoughts. We added stimulation. So stimulation we use, infrared light. So it's referred to as transcranial photobiomodulation, which is a mouthful, but I was just gonna say that 10 times fast. But it's, it's just light therapy. we use this light that's infrared 810 nanometer wavelength, wavelength, and it penetrates the skull to about five centimeters. And at the same time, we're doing bin neural beats through the ears, which is another way to modulate the brain, which just means changing the brainwaves and the intention of this, we call this a boost as opposed to the training and the intention of it is to give you that boost when you need it, it's a passive engagement. You just put it on, and you close your eyes and you could turn the meditation on or off that comes with it and you get the binaural boost and you get the transcranial boost and you come out of that feeling different and there's an impact to that is changing your day. So I would do that. I did do that actually earlier today, before this podcast. I would do it before I get on stage at certain meetings if I feel low. Or high energy. I modulate for what I need that day. And you can go through this list. This is a great thing about this product, is you have your phone, you're like, what do I need today? And you go through this list of booths and there's chill, there's snooze, there's focus, there's drive, and you can tailor your day based on what you need for that day. That's right. How amazing is that? Like literally at your fingertips, it's like a shot of whatever. If you're into drugs, it's like a shot of drugs if you like, like you say, this is like the, if wine was a frequency, this would be it, but this is what it feels like. Yeah. It your calm down at the end of a day or you're boost at the beginning of a day. If you wanna get super productive and just get stuff done, you can choose Drive. Or for me, my favorite one right now is focus. I do it in the morning and then I focus. I have six to eight hours of just uninterrupted. I can actually get my to-do list done as opposed to being sidetracked. I work from home. It's very easy to get sidetracked at my house. I was like, oh, I can clean right now. Or, oh, I could do this outside right now, and now I'm just getting my stuff done. And then we also, we talk about the content and the container when we talk about the brain. And so a lot of what we've talked about is the brain modulation is the container All the brainwaves are musical instruments and we're just trying to get all the orchestra in tune, right? But at the same time, the content, which is the psychology of it, is super important. So what we've included is certain meditations that we think are across, different dogmas, that they're just very human centric. They do include forgiveness and gratitude, focus on the breath. But they would be, they would also have, very deep ones that are about death. Contemplating the preciousness of this life. So they're meant to be the most transformative meditations according to consciousness studies that have been, part of the human experience for millennia. And so there's only about 14 of them, and you can choose or to do them or not do them with the boost because it is passive. It's helpful to have, a talk track that helps you to get into a positive state of mind. In addition to the brain stimulation. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Like really, and it is, but the perfect partnership. And it is such a low time investment because I know that people really, time is, you're like, how am I gonna fit in the gym and my therapy? This is something that I do from the comfort of my bed. Before I go to sleep. When I wake up in the middle of the day, I'm really invested in this. I really wanted to get the most bang for my buck and really see the potential. And I have invested my time into this, and this is something that I actually look forward to now. It's just like when you start, any new habit, like when I first started going to the gym eight years ago, I was like, oh, this is really hard. And now I love it. It's very rare that I wake up and I don't feel like going to the gym today. This is exactly the same thing. I actually know the benefits and it's way more beneficial than popping a pill or drinking a cup of caffeine, it's natural and it's rewiring. You also mentioned neuroplasticity. Can we touch upon that briefly for those who don't understand what this is, because I think this is a key piece for people to understand. You're not stuck with what you have right now. So what is absolutely not neuroplasticity? Yeah. You are not stuck with the brain you were born with, right? So the brain, very much like the body can be sculpted. So we go to the gym or we do certain types of exercises. So then our bodies, adjust to that training. And so very much the same way, that even into, your older years, you will still have neuroplasticity. It does tend to decline over time and you have to put more effort in, but you can still change your brain. even the photobiomodulation by itself. It has, there's studies showing that it can actually reverse early signs of, cognitive decline. That's incredible. So cogniti impairment. Yeah. Your memory's declining. Your, and you can actually, change the way that your hippocampus is formed, like physically see, like it was shrinking and now it's actually getting back to its normal size. The brain's superpower is neuroplasticity, which means that you always have a choice on how you spend your time, your energy, what you give your attention to. That's super important. So are you gonna do Netflix at the end of your day, which is fine, or are you gonna do this at the end of your day? Are you gonna scroll Instagram first thing in the morning for an hour before you get up? Or are you gonna train your brain? Yeah. or just do 15 minutes less Of Netflix, it really is that short of a time. That's what we really focused on, is how can we fit into modern life that is so busy, and make it still practical and you can see results. This is what they need. So that's, yeah. Is it short? It's short. Short, which I think anybody can do. You, there's, you have 10 to 15 minutes there. It might mean that you have to get up a little bit earlier or do a little bit less of something else, but it doesn't mean you have to take away that thing. Like you said, you can still do your Netflix, but just do 10 to 15 minutes less. All the work that I do is about focusing on what you can control, because that's really only where your power lies. You can't control anybody else in this world. You can't control your children. You can't control your partner. You can't control your ex. You can't control your boss. You can only control yourself, and this is a tool to be able to optimize what you have and supersize. And when you do that, you can actually create real, meaningful, impactful change for yourself and also for your children and your work. Yeah. And your bottom line and your life and your peace, your harmony. Your ability to actually derive pleasure to be present and engaged. That's a hard one for me, and I think it's a hard one for many people to be present, as opposed to thinking of your to-do list that you have to do after this podcast. I'm not thinking, oh, Chantal, after this I have to, walk the dog or do this. I'm like, okay, this is. I can't stress this enough for people who are doubtful, for people who you know are feeling like they just don't have power. This is something that can empower you. You have actual power to reshape your brain, to train your brain, to make it the best brain possible. Yeah, absolutely. And so when let's say for example, if you, do have anxiety or you do have insomnia, the there are signs that we can see in the brain's electrical signatures, right? When you are mindful, when you are focused, when you're in flow. We can see that as well, right? So there are signatures that are understood. That are known, that are studied. And so that is what the training is based on. So when you're talking about being present, and we talked a bit about, falling asleep and your rumination that might come up, that might disturb that. The actual training, we talked about it being a handsfree video game. When you're training alpha. And you're training relaxation whether it's alpha or deep deep, calm, you are actually, going to be rewarded when the power of that brainwave moves higher. the reward will be higher volume. more, persistent, more frequent, notes. Let's say it's a piano, if it's a open eyes session, you will see flowers, blooming, waterfalls, et cetera. And so that is the way that, reward works in this brain training. Now what does the opposite look like? Let's say that you start getting sleepy. Or you start getting distracted about a to-do list, then those rewards will go down. It'll get quieter, right? The less frequent pianos, that sort of thing. And all of this doesn't actually need to be explained to the brain. The brain naturally wants sound. It naturally wants this reward. It loves visuals. So as long as you sit there and you decide. I want more piano, I want more flowers blooming, whatever that is, it will take care of it itself. The brain just starts training itself and and so that, that helps you become more present and more self-aware. And when you become self-aware, now you can self-regulate even outside of these brain training sessions. So that, that's the idea, and that's the key is this is not just applicable for the training. You actually take this into your daily life. That's right, and that's the piece that I want people listening is that, yes, your ex will never change. Your ex is always gonna be an abuser. They're always going to abuse you. They're always gonna go after your children. This is what they're going to do. You can't change that. But you can control how you respond. And this is the key thing when you're in this constant state of hyper vigilance and always having to be three steps ahead of what they're going to do, this training, this product, this headset can actually help you no longer become so blindsided, so triggered, so reactive, it can help you actually stay calm and focused and responsive. I can't even tell you how powerful that is for survivors of abuse. And I'm doing it right now and I can tell you for myself in, I think it's five weeks now'cause I'm on my five week streak. I just got that notification this morning. It is literally changed my life. For the first time in 25 years, I'm sleeping for the first time because I'm sleeping, and also because I'm doing the focus boost, I'm actually able to focus during my day and get stuff done. I've always gotten things done, but it's taken me eight hours versus say the four hours that it takes me now. Yeah. Which means I have more time for other things. That's right. Yeah. My experience when I was, I went to get rid of my PTSD, but in that process, and in doing that Alpha Theta training, I uncovered memories. Why did the PTSD manifest for me and maybe somebody else in that situation that wouldn't have manifested, so I had some memories from childhood where maybe I had lost control, where I was stuck in this fear state. And so I had to go and resolve all those things. And after that I was, I felt so. I dropped a bunch of backpacks. I didn't know. You have so light, right? Yeah. It was that was like first, that was the first thing. I was like, wow. And then after that I realized that there was more space, more mental space. I was running a different, tech startup at the time. And I had more creative thought. I had epiphanies for business. I was more focused like you're talking about. But I didn't go in for that. Yeah. But I came out with that because once you start, making the whole system more efficient, the brain becomes more efficient, there's more space for it, everything's running smoothly. And then I was hooked. Then I was hooked. Yeah. you can't be creative when you're in survival mode. This is like the reality. You're just trying to survive day to day, minute by minute. When you take that away. You actually can have room for creativity, for creative thought, and that's also a foundation of so much. That means that you can also change your day. You're no longer surviving your day, but you're thriving through your day and you're creative, and you can find passion again, and you can find joy in the minutia. This is the power of this product, and I'm so thankful. I wish that you didn't have that accident. But it was a catalyst for change for not only yourself, but also for so many people that are followed in your footsteps since you, had that accident. Hit rock bottom. Typically, I find a lot of people create stuff when they themselves have experienced something because they're desperate, right? When you can't find, a solution to a problem, and it's a problem that, impacts your life so profoundly, you sometimes have to rely on yourself and say, now what can I do? And so I'm thankful in a way that you had that accident, although I don't wish that on anybody. But because of that, you didn't become passive. Person, you became active in your healing and then you came, became active in helping other people who you know, might need. And it could be for anybody. It doesn't just have to be for people who've experienced trauma, like you said, it could just be for the person who just wants like an edge, who just wants to go to the next level. Because again, this is life, right? Why stay stagnant when there's so much room for growth? and your growth actually might impact the world. Like your growth is now impacting the world, When you actually dial in and become the best version of yourself possible, you can actually positively impact people behind you. Exactly. I think these, there's moments in life that define you. And you have to decide, am I gonna go just break through it or am I gonna give up? And for sure in the beg, I had frustration. I went into depression. I felt helpless. once I decided, no, I'm not gonna take that, I picked myself up and went through. Now I did have enough support around me. So you have to make sure you're surrounding yourself with people who are going to support you in that world. That's key. I think that's key for anybody. We all need the right support. We all need the right connections. I think that's the human experience as well. But it's vital. Yes. And then that inner work that I did with, neurofeedback, which you can do with meditation as well, right? But that inner work has to happen. You have to feel through it. You have to allow the feelings, the anger, all of that, and then, reframe it. And that reframing you can do in an alpha theta state that reframing is entirely in your hands. And then you can rise above it. And then you can, gain a better perspective of, okay, now. How has this impacted my children? what does this mean for my future? And you're gonna have that much more space to hold those things and get creative and understand and, be exactly what you're saying. Less reactive. Like we actually measure reactivity and impulse control, less reactive and more. You take a beat. That's what happens when you start doing brain training or meditation. You actually take that beat and you have less, instinctive, Fight or flight responses. And more thoughtful responses. I call it the pause, practicing the pause. So this is, you're using all the same terminology that I use. So I use the word reframe all the time. It's so important for us to reframe our experiences, especially when we're dealing with ongoing abuse. But, we can do that through our cognition, but you are also doing it at a deeper level, right? So when you pair those two, I'm gonna reframe this from this to this, and I'm also going to couple that with training my brain to be also able to do that. It's so much more powerful, and so I'm so thankful that you've created this product, and I truly believe that this is not only gonna be able to help so many other people, but specifically for me, my niche, my area is helping survivors, specifically protective parents, lead lives that they love, despite what the abuser in their life does or doesn't do. And I think this is a perfect tool. So that people be, can become active participants in their own healing and their own growth and take back control that their ex is trying to wrestle from them. So thank you so much. Thank you Chantelle, for creating this product, for taking the time out of your life to really explain to us the background in a way that's actually palatable. You made it very understandable for people who don't have backgrounds in electrical engineering and or sciences and or even psychology. So I think this is going to really help people understand the technology and also understand the benefits. That's wonderful. if, you can't afford the headset right now, that's completely okay. There's a free version of the app that has a boost and it's called the Align Boost, and it does that nervous system, regulation. it also has, binaural beats that you can use with your air pods or whatever headphones you have, and that will help you get into a nice alpha state. We made that free because everybody needs nervous system help right now, and we just wanna get that out there. Yeah, try it. Honestly, I was skeptical only I did all the reading, I did the research. I heard from a friend who had it and she was like, this is amazing. So I trusted that feedback. But I was also, the skeptic in me was like, I've tried everything and someone's always trying to sell you something as to why, but this actually works. But first, try the free align, and then see for yourself what we're actually talking about. That's great. Thank you so much Chantal Thank you so very much for creating this product. I honestly can't tell you enough. I think I started, I've been saying it throughout the entire podcast. This has really helped me so much and if it can help me, then it can help so many other people,'cause I thought I was a lost cause when it came to sleep. I thought this was as good as it got. I was just gonna live life with brain fog and not being at my optimal level. And I can't, it's only been five weeks. I'm just entering my fifth week. I'm just starting. So watch out world. Like I said if I could conquer sleep, I could conquer the world. And I think I'm on the, I believe it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Exciting. So thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening to the Survivor's Playbook. If today's episode helped you feel less alone, more confident, more clear, more empowered, and more educated, please share it with someone else who may also need this. And if you're ready for deeper support, you can join my monthly membership or grab free tools on my website. All links are in my show notes. Remember, your clarity is your power. Your calm is your resistance. You are not crazy. You are not alone, and you are not powerless. Until next time, keep going. I see you.