Latest / The MODERN YIN Podcast / Survival Brain vs. Visionary Brain

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Survival Brain vs. Visionary Brain · The MODERN YIN Podcast

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Well, hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of
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the Modern Yin podcast. I'm Kimberly Roberts of Soulful
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Yin, and I'm so glad you're here.
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So if you've watched the last few episodes, especially if you
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tend to watch video versus audio, you've probably noticed
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I'm in my pajamas. I don't know, maybe this is
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going to be a thing of like every time I record, it's going
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to be a podcast and I'm in my P JS.
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I don't know. But anyways, I'm rolling with it
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right now. So welcome to today's episode.
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I'm really excited about this topic.
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I want to talk about the survival brain versus the
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visionary brain, right? So this is something, and I'm
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going to laugh, I'm going to be totally honest with you here.
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This is something I wish I had had been explained to me years
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ago. But you know what?
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Better late than never, right? So there's a big difference
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between the survival brain and the visionary brain, right?
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Or I call it like safety brain versus like the creative brain,
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right? Because for a long time, I
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thought I had a strategy problem in my life.
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I thought I needed a better plan.
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I needed better discipline. I needed better productivity.
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But I'll tell you something. This is actually really like,
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the truth is so much simpler now.
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It was my nervous system. Yeah, my nervous system was
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still in survival mode after 25 years in an abusive relationship
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with an alcoholic that certainly did not, you know, like, leave
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me in a creative, visionary inspired vibe.
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Like I was literally, like, looking for danger, like, left,
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right and center all the time. And then here's the here's
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another part. When I moved here to this
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apartment, to this condo here 10 years ago, it's been like 10
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years since I've been living here.
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I thought back then, little old naive chicken nugget me thought,
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well, I'm not in survival mode anymore.
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I'm free, I have peace, I'm OK because I wasn't in that threat
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anymore in the relationship. But here's the thing, my nervous
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system was still very much in survival mode.
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And I'll tell you something like, I didn't know back then
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that your nervous system was something that you had to train.
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So I would tell myself over and over again, I'm safe, I'm OK.
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And you know what? Like to a certain extent that
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worked, but not really. And then, you know, I started to
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realize that I'm in survival brain.
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And that's so much different than visionary brain because
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they operate from 2 completely different places.
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So let's talk about the reality of the survival brain, OK?
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It's not dramatic. It's not always panic attacks or
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breakdowns. And I'll be honest with you, for
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a lot of women, especially women over 40 that are very high
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functioning, survival brain looks competent.
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Like just what I was. It was like, while I'm working,
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I'm showing up, I'm taking care of my clients, I'm taking care
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of my patients, I'm managing my responsibilities.
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So from the outside it looked like, well, I'm OK, I'm not in
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threat anymore. But internally, totally
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different story, Completely different vibe here.
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My body was bracing, my nervous system was constantly scanning
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for the next problem, and my mind was focused on managing
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risk, right, staying safe instead of imagining
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possibilities or opportunities. Like the survival brain is the
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one that's always asking, am I safe?
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Like that question is constantly running in the background of
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everything, Am I safe? Am I OK?
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And the survival brain can feel very much like little small
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signals that the body gives you, right?
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Because our body is always communicating with us like
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247365 S some of the like little you know signals that you're
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still in survival brain. Your jaw is tight most of the
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day your shoulders are like slightly lifted even when you're
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sitting still and your mind it's constantly jumping to problem
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solving even when nothing is wrong.
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That's the thing, I had that so often where it'd be like my mind
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would be scanning and looking for the danger.
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Oh, where is it? It's like, where's the imaginary
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bear in front of me always, like all the time, even though there
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wasn't one there. But I'm all, you know, I'm
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always preparing for it, preparing for that next e-mail
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that's just going to set me over the edge.
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The next bill that like, Oh my God, like am I going to have the
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money to pay for that the next responsibility or, you know,
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thing that's being put on my plate that it's like, can I
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handle it? The next thing that might go
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wrong, Here's the thing that might might go wrong, not that
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will go wrong that not that is going to go wrong.
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It's might because your brain is just always looking for danger.
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And The thing is, is when you're in that vibe and you're getting
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all these small little signals, you're actually bracing
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beautifully, like you are nailing it.
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And many women, very capable women, because this isn't about
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like it can't handle life. It's like you're capable, but
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many capable women are actually living in that state for years
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and years and decades. So just let that land for a
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second. Like think about your own life.
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Now here's the problem with building from a survival mode or
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survival brain, right? And this is the part that a lot
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of people miss, myself included, for sure.
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But when your nervous system is in survival mode and you're
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constantly bracing, your brain literally has no capacity for
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vision. No, not happening.
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You're not wired for creativity in that state.
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You are wired for production. Production is efficient, but
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it's not expansive. It's not creative.
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So you, you know, you might be asking yourself questions like,
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well, why can't I figure out what I want?
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Why do I feel so freaking stuck? Why is it that clarity is not
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landing? Like I used to ask those
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questions all the time? Like, why can't I make a
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decision? Like, I would sit in decision
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paralysis for like days, months, and I'd ask myself over and over
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again, why isn't this working? Why isn't what I want working?
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And then I realized, well, maybe the issue isn't strategy.
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You know, it might just be that my nervous system hasn't felt
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safe enough to expand. And here's the thing, like, your
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nervous system is something that you train.
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Like, think of your biceps, right?
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Like you look at a set of weights and you're like, you
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don't just look at them and say, yeah, I have defined biceps.
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You don't just pick up the weights once and go, yeah, I've
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got defined biceps exactly the way I want them to.
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You literally, you got to train them.
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So you got to pick up the weights again and again and
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again and again. Doesn't mean you have to pick
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them up for an hour every single day, but 5 minutes once a day,
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three times a week, that's training.
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Your nervous system feels the exact same way.
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And when your nervous system hasn't felt that safety, hasn't
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been trained to feel that safety, then it's not going to
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expand into, you know, like what is possible for me because the
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visionary brain only comes online when the body stops
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bracing and how the body stops bracing.
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We pause and we train the nervous system to feel safe, not
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by telling it, oh, calm down. Oh, you're safe because that
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doesn't work. I know.
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I tried it for years. I used to just tell myself I'm
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OK, I'm fine or I'm just fine. I'm calm down, I'm relaxed, but
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the nervous system had a totally different vibe there.
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So let's spin things around a little bit and let's talk about
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what the visionary brain actually feels like.
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OK, so you have some context. You know what the survival brain
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feels like, right? We're bracing, we can't relax.
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We're stressed. The visionary brain feels so
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different, like it's a whole other level, like your breath
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deepens naturally, You don't have to try and force it.
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Your thoughts, they slow down. Like instead of like you
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spiraling like a hamster on a wheel, you actually have time
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and distance between your thoughts.
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And here's a really big part. Your mind begins asking
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different questions instead of like, well, what the heck could
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go wrong? Or why am I so stuck?
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You start asking, oh, what's possible for me?
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Like your visionary brain is curious, it's creative, it's
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spontaneous, it's patient. Your survival brain is
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impatient, it's stagnant, and it's just looking to be safe.
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And when you're in the visionary brain, you can see patterns and
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possibilities that the survival brain can't.
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But here's the big thing. It requires something first, OK?
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Before the visionary brain can even like start to like show its
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face, it requires that you are safe.
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Safe in your nervous system. Not telling yourself I'm safe,
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but literally training your nervous system to feel safe.
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So the shift is regulate first, then strategize, not the other
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way around. But I'll tell you the the
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survival brain will often try and do it the other way.
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Well, let me just strategize this because if I strategize it,
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then guess what? Like things will work and then
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I'll be regulated. No, it doesn't work that way.
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And I know because I literally tried that for like decades.
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It just doesn't. This is why modern neon yoga, it
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focuses on regulation before expansion.
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It's the stillness that does the real work.
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Because when the body stops bracing, the brain recognizes
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and it reorganizes things. The clarity returns.
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It's like, you know, the light bulb moment over your head.
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You're like, Oh my God, why didn't I think of that before?
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That makes so much more sense. That comes from the visionary
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brain. Your energy stabilizes, right?
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Ideas start landing again, like. And sometimes it's like you're
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not even thinking about it. It's just all of a sudden the
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thought pops up and you're like, I didn't force that.
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It just happened. Yeah.
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When you're forcing it, you're in survival.
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When you're not, when things are just naturally coming up, you
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get that spark that hit that just lights you up and you're
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like, whoa, where did that come from?
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Right? And I know you know what I'm
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talking about. We've all had those moments
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where it's like, wow, that was a thought.
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Where did that come from? And you know what, I want you to
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notice any time that that happens, notice what you're
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doing. It's not something that you're
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doing that's stressing you out. You're not in the middle of a
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presentation to a marketing company where you know, like
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you're on the line for millions of dollars.
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It's usually when you're like, relaxed.
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Maybe you're out for a walk, maybe you're doing some
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meditation, some deep breathing, some yin yoga.
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Maybe you're moving your body right.
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But in those states, your system finally has the capacity to
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receive. But the safety has got to come
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first, then the clarity comes second, and then the momentum
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comes third. It's not the other way around.
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Safety, clarity, momentum. Put that on a posted note and
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put it somewhere where you can see it all the time, right?
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Safety arrow beside it. Clarity arrow beside it.
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Momentum. OK, so if this is all landing
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with you, if you have been feeling stuck, if you've been
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wondering why the heck aren't things moving forward, pause.
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Just pause for a minute and I want you to ask yourself this
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really important question. Am I trying to build vision
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while my body is still in survival mode?
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Am I still standing in front of the imaginary bear while I'm
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trying to think about what do I want for my life?
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Because I'll tell you something. Let's put this in context for a
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hot second. OK?
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Imagine for a minute you were standing in front of a bear, a
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big black grizzly bear. It's got its little baby Cubs
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beside it. So that's Mama bear.
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And she is not happy to see you. And she is feeling your threat
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even though you're not threatening her, but you are to
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her because she's got her baby Cubs there.
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And she's like, no, no, no, you are not going to do anything to
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me or my babies. So in that hot minute, while you
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were standing in front of the Mama bear and her babies, can
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you think about? I wonder what kind of business I
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want to create. I wonder how, you know, I want
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to launch a podcast. Oh, you know, I want to know,
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like, maybe I should start posting on social media.
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Like maybe I should start this business from my hobby.
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Are you kidding me? You're not thinking any of that.
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You are literally thinking how the F am I going to get out of
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here alive? Right?
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Yeah. Survival, not creation.
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So if you're asking yourself, am I trying to build vision while
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my body is still in survival mode?
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And the answer is yes. I don't want you to feel like
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you're behind because I'll tell you something.
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I felt like I was behind for a long time, and that didn't serve
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me at all. In fact, it just pulled me back.
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So I always say, because my dad used to say this to me all the
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time when I was a kid, and I never really understood what he
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meant back then, but I do now. He would say, you know what?
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You do the best that you can with the tools you have in the
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moment. And it's like, this is this is
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life, right? Like we do the best that we can
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with the tools that we have in the moment.
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So right now you're just building from the wrong nervous
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system state and tools. And here's the beautiful part.
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It's something that you can change gently, consistently
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through regulation. Consistent, and I do mean
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consistent. Like literally if someone says I
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don't have time, I'm like, you got 5 minutes a day, you've got
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5 minutes a day, 5 minutes a day, 10 minutes a day, 15
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minutes a day is better than I'll carve out one hour once a
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week. So consistency through
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regulation will bring you safety.
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And that's the difference between survival brain and
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visionary brain. It's not discipline, it's
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safety. When your body feels safe, the
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vision becomes possible again. AKA the bear and her baby Cubs
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are no longer standing in front of you, right?
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That's the work of modern yen yoga.
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That's where stillness does the real work.
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And you know, if you're listening to this, you're
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watching this and you're like, Oh my God, like light bulb
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moments. This is like really landing for
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me. Then I'm guiding something so
18:45
simple inside the Soulful Yin Yoga app starting March 10th.
18:49
A 14 day unwind and calm March reset series.
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Nothing intense, there's no pressure, It's just daily
18:58
practices designed to help you and your nervous system shift
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out of survival mode and into regulation.
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And what's really cool about this is that I'll be showing up
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live in a private community space each day and I'm going to
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be dropping you like little Nuggets of like, aside from the
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practices, little Nuggets of like, you know what, this can
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help you with anxiety today because that's the theme of
19:27
today's practice. This can help you with, you
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know, like sleep. This can help you with
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relaxation. Like I'm actually like so
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excited for the live components because you know, they might be
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little audios, they could be like a quick post, it might be a
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little video that I put up. But every single day I'll be
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there supporting you. Because here's the thing, when
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you start doing this work, you're going to want some
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additional support. And that's what I'm here for.
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So if your body and your nervous system are like shouting at the
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rooftop in all the best ways for this kind of support, you're
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welcome to join us. So thank you so much for
20:12
pressing play on today's episode.
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I'm pretty sure that the next one, you'll probably see me in
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pyjamas again. I don't know, maybe we'll make a
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trend of this. You can drop a comment if you
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like. If you'd like to see me post
20:24
more video here in my PJS. So have a great day and I'll see
20:31
you in the next episode.