The Movement, Mind, and Meaning Podcast delivers mind-body tools to help you thrive beyond anxiety and stress. Discover the power of movement, mindfulness, and mindset shifts to build resilience, find clarity, and create lasting mental and emotional well-being. Perfect for women seeking natural solutions to calm your mind, feel authentically happy, and live with purpose in all areas of your life.
Purposeful Powerhouse Podcast
Claim This Podcastby Megan Nolan
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The Movement, Mind, and Meaning Podcast delivers mind-body tools to help you thrive beyond anxiety and stress. Discover the power of movement, mindfulness, and mindset shifts to build resilience, find clarity, and create lasting mental and emotional well-being. Perfect for women seeking natural solutions to calm your mind, feel authentically happy, and live with purpose in all areas of your life.
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Recent Episodes
July 23, 2025
The Missing Piece in Healing
<p>Why are so many people still stuck in pain, anxiety, and chronic stress—even after trying therapy, breathwork, and nervous system tools?</p> <p>In this episode of the Movement, Mind & Meaning Podcast, I'm chatting with special guest Cynthia Allen as explore the hidden connection between trauma, the brain, and chronic pain… and what most healing paths completely miss.</p> <p>You’ll discover:</p> <ul> <li>Why calming your nervous system is just the beginning How trauma rewires the brain and body to stay in pain</li> <li>The surprising role your body plays in retraining your nervous system</li> <li>How to unlearn stress-based habits and escape the pain loop for good</li> <li>What your nervous system is actually craving to feel safe and heal</li> </ul> <p>Whether you’ve tried talk therapy, somatic work, or meditation—and you’re still asking “Why do I still feel this way?”—this episode will show you the missing piece in your healing journey.</p> <p>Learn more about Cynthia here:</p> <p>Cynthia Allen has been working in wellness practices, health care management, and organizational consulting for over 35 years. In 2001, she became a Certified Feldenkrais® practitioner and, more recently, a Senior Trainer in Movement Intelligence. She has a personal history in overcoming childhood trauma and found the Feldenkrais Method to be a vital part of returning to present moment living. In her private practice, she has had the privilege of working with many people who also have had a history of significant trauma wanting to come home to their bodies and movement. Cynthia has written about the Feldenkrais Method, pain, and trauma for the Alternative and Complementary Therapies Journal as well as the online Chronic Pain Partners. She has conducted and published a research paper: Alternative Movement Program in Geriatric Rehabilitation in the Functional Neurology, Rehabilitation, and Ergonomics. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, business partner and NLP guru, Larry Wells and their puppy Darby.</p> <p>Visit her through her website at <a href="FutureLifeNow.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FutureLifeNow.com</a></p> <p>Grab her free gift of the Turning, Seeing, Sitting, Standing, While Improving the Neck mini course here: <a href="https://futurelifenow.thrivecart.com/turning-seeing-sitting-standing-ever/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://futurelifenow.thrivecart.com/turning-seeing-sitting-standing-ever/</a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!</strong> </p> <p>Today we're talking about the missing piece in healing with my special guest, Cynthia Allen, a Feldenkrais practitioner. Welcome back to the Movement Mind and Meaning podcast. I'm your host, Megan Nolan, and I am really honored and happy to have one of my fellow BBD. What's BBD, Megan?Business by Design, one of the business courses that I'm in, one of my fellow BBD family members here with me. today. Cynthia Allen, as I mentioned, is a Feldenkrais practitioner. She'll explain what that is if you don't know. But today we are going to be talking about the sometimes missed, sometimes neglected, sometimes ignored, really essential component in your overall healing, thriving, abundant success, you know, pretty much everything today. So welcome, Cynthia. It's lovely to have you here. Oh, it's good to be here, Megan. I'm excited to to share with you and explore with you. Thank you. Thank you. So we'll have you circle 26 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,1000 back to what Feldenkrais is 27 00:01:05,1000 --> 00:01:08,720 and all of that magic in a moment. But we like to just get right into it. We like to just get right in and get to know you. So you have an incredible list of certifications and experiences which people, if they're curious about that, can certainly read in the show notes. But. We just like to just just get right into the beauty of the magic that is you and that has really led to where you're at now, what you're doing, what you do, and how you serve and all that beautifulness with a little bit of a glimpse into your life and into your 41 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:35,1000 story. So will you please take us to a 42 00:01:35,1000 --> 00:01:38,880 moment, maybe where you had a open heart, open mind, realization, situation, whatever it was for you that led you to where you're at now and doing what you do?Yeah, yeahSo I think it's important just to. Say something about my earlier background that would have led me to even want to do this. So I am somebody who had quite a significant amount of childhood trauma in a variety of ways. And then I also had movement coordination problems. I had definitely difficulty with chronic pain starting at a young age, so you know. Like many of us, you you do OK. You somehow manage to keep it all together. And then there's usually some point in life that people realize they can't keep it together anymore. Mine came in the mid to late 20s when my first marriage was breaking up and my mother was also dying from breast cancer, and I really began to realize I couldn't keep it together any longer. And so I did many things. I did psychotherapy, spiritual direction, shamanic work, several different kinds of body work, art-related creative expression, and all of these things, or I should say most of them did help some, and maybe some of them even more than just a little bit. And still though,I was still a pretty big hot mess. That's just the truth of it. I was going through several years into this. I'm 78 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,1000 still really struggling. So now I'm into 79 00:03:09,1000 --> 00:03:12,080 my mid 30s and I tried, 'cause I'm trying everything, right, that I can think of to try. I'm trying the Feldenkrais method. I go to a few classes and I think to myself, ah I don't know, this is a weird work. It's not too slow. It's too methodical. What the heck?And yet I kept feeling better and better and better. And I would think to myself, hold it, I didn't know anybody could feel good like this. I'd be at work managing my department and I'd 92 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,1000 go, how is it that people, is it other 93 00:03:42,1000 --> 00:03:45,120 people who actually feel good?I never knew that you could actually feel good. And about a year into that exploration of just kind of going to some weekly classes, the instructor asked me if I thought I might like to train in the work 'cause there was going to be a training. coming to our area, to Cincinnati, Ohio. And I said, No, no, no noAnd then she said, Well, I'm gonna give you an application anyway, 'cause I think 105 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,1000 there's something here for you. And I 106 00:04:11,1000 --> 00:04:14,200 took the application out. My husband and I were doing the classes together. I took the application out and he got into the driver's seat and I got into the passenger seat and I started to cry. And he said, What's wrong, what's wrong?And I said, I'm coming home. It was so clear. Now, I didn't really know that I was going to practice it as a practitioner. I thought I was still taking it for my own health and well-being, but which was true. But about a year in, I thought this is actually, I've been looking to make it out of traditional healthcare into something more aligned with where I was and my beliefs and. my life at the time. So it 125 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:57,1000 did become, it took a while to 126 00:04:57,1000 --> 00:04:59,840 transition, but it did become that my transition out of healthcare management and development into being a Feldenkrais practitioner. And for me, it was, you know, it was very, very meaningful to just have a possibility to find that, oh, my body. is okay, despite everything that I thought and believed, and despite how I felt to just have someplace where there was no judgment, where I could explore movement in a way that I would never have been able to explore because I didn't really have that capacity as a child. And when I did do it through the sort of traditional physical education, that kind of thing, it was horrible. I didn't really probably know for sure at that point how much it was gonna affect my emotional state, but I was still having regular PTSD like nightmares uh when I went into the program. And And that really started to shift over the course of the first year of study to where I could you know get in bed, fall asleep and not be scared to sleep. Because I didn't know what horrible thing I was going to dream up again that night. So it's just been an incredible blessing to me and I'm so happy to share it with others. Wow. Thank you. And thank you for your vulnerability and honesty in that and. And I love that you were able to explore different modalities and approaches to find your way back home to yourself and find a tool set that really worked. And that's really the 167 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:41,1000 essence of this podcast is mind and body 168 00:06:41,1000 --> 00:06:44,200 tools to help us thrive and overcome and move beyond anxiety and depression and trauma and stress. And and you know, as my teacher likes to say, there's many paths to the same mountain, the same mountain being that. Thriving, vital, resilient, balanced self where we do feel at home, where we do feel like we're thriving. And I know that I can relate to what you said and and perhaps many of the listeners and watchers can relate too of having that moment of realization like this is this feels like my true and natural state and and having that realization that. For a long time I was like, really? Like, do people really feel that good?Do they feel this happy?It seems like it's not a real thing, you know, cause it just felt so foreign to me. And so I love that Feldenkrais and and I know later on you're gonna share some ways to get connected and to understand and explore that deeper. And so if people are curious about it, definitely check out the link that we're gonna share a little later on. But just so you know, it'll be in the show notes. So can we talk about how many people may understand at a deep level, but maybe not conceptually understand the interplay between many of the things that you mentioned, complex trauma or trauma itself, anxiety, stress and chronic pain?I mean, we all know the commonality is the body, but can you? Explain a little bit deeper from your perspective that sort of dance and interplay between these very common experiences that many of us have. Yeah, I think it's, I think it is really complex. And so anytime somebody gives an answer that's too simple, we ought to, 211 00:08:25,1000 --> 00:08:28,960 we ought to pull back a little bit. So let me. So having said that, I'm probably going to try to give an answer that's a little too simple, but. When we think about the way a human being functions, like we think of the thing called emotions, emotion, right? We think of emotions as if it is something that's in our control separate from the physical body or movement. And that's not true. I mean, now we're even discovering that the bones are sending signaling up to the nervous system, to the vagal system about emotions. So that when we say things like I felt it in my bones, that may not have been too far from the truth. And you know, a few years ago, we were really big into the gut, right?The gut, oh my gosh, the gut, the gut. And then it turned out the gut is is maybe perhaps triggering Parkinson's disease. That was something that came along as, oh, the gut is talking to the nerve and somehow it it sets off Parkinson's disease perhaps. So there are, Lots of studies now that show 238 00:09:31,1000 --> 00:09:34,880 that we are really a whole package. We're always a whole, whole package. Now, the way that we develop as babies is through the sensory world around us. So we start 244 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:51,1000 out and yet it does look like babies are kind of born with a personality. I mean, it doesn't take long for anyone who's had more than one child to go, well, that child is different than my first one and the third one, whatever, you notice that they're different. And yet they have a long road of apprenticeship, of growing in order to really step into who they are. And that beginning state is in this sensory world where they're they're just like, you know, right, 'cause they don't have any choices yet. They don't coordinate hardly anything. First, it's just sucking and breathing and pooping. And And then it's like looking, like I can look maybe, and I can start to get my thumb maybe to my mouth and stuck on my thumb. And then it starts, 264 00:10:37,1000 --> 00:10:40,400 oh, I can feel the surface and I can press my foot and when I press my foot, which of course they don't even know as a foot, but in the act of pressing, they begin to know it as a foot. And so we know that the child is experimenting around 4000 times with every single possible movement variation before it goes on to explore and acquire a new set of skills. Another variation. It takes 274 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,1000 time to build habits. It takes time to build habit. Now within that,There is not just the child doing that, but there's the parents and the environment around them. So parents will pass on things to children like fear of them hurting themselves or fear of them falling off of something, or they will over reward them for discovering something that for the child was really cool and they liked it. But then, oh, now mom and dad like that a lot, so I should just keep doing that. by accident in the celebration for the child, the parent can actually take over and smash down or or hover over or make it hard for the child to find their own emotional state about it as the primary thing that matters. And it's not anything anybody does on purpose, right?We We love seeing our animals, our children, other people excel and learn for sure. 297 00:12:03,1000 --> 00:12:06,1000 So it's not a critique of parents,But all 298 00:12:06,1000 --> 00:12:09,400 of this matters. So whether the parent is a parent who cheers their child on, or the parent is one that doesn't notice what the child is doing at all, or whether the parent is one who has problems with anger and does a lot of yelling or the environment is chaotic, the the whole state of the human being is being formed within that, not just the emotional state, but also the sensory state of how we know our bodies. What is our, what is our relationship of our hand to our arm, to our mouth, to our shoulder? Everything is being formed in that whole container of being a baby. Now it it lays down all these habits because 314 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:47,1000 you and I couldn't possibly get out of 315 00:12:47,1000 --> 00:12:49,760 bed every morning and start from zero. We've probably seen those documentaries where people have lost. a significant capacity to maintain memory. And they do try to start over every day, kind of from zero. And it would, you can't get out of, hardly get out of bed. How do you roll over?How do you put on your shoe?How do you put on clothes?I mean, we can see the absurdity of that. So these are deep 325 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:11,1000 habits. By the time I was in my 326 00:13:11,1000 --> 00:13:14,960 thirties and somehow feeling I had no choice but to really dig in and examine what was going on and looking for guidance, Most everything that I'd ever thought, mostly dark thoughts. I hardly had any positive thoughts. Dark thoughts, right? 334 00:13:32,1000 --> 00:13:35,840 The The belief I had about myself, I'd have probably thought those millions of times. Thought is a habit. It's a movement. I cannot say that enough. It's a movement. So it's all movement in the human body, whether it's your sense of swallowing,or me looking at you right now and receiving that image or or touching somebody else or somebody touching us, that's all movement and so is our emotional state. So it's a very important thing I think for us to grapple with 348 00:14:11,1000 --> 00:14:13,920 and I hope it can be helpful because if you have the right tools, you can begin to interrupt habits that no longer serve you. First, you have to know about them. You have to be able to discover that they no longer serve you. And it's funny the way that humans discover habits. We often discover them by accidentally doing something different. The environment didn't really take us in our normal pathway until we do something different and we like it. And then we go, wow, that's really unusual. OhhThat means this is what I usually do. Ohh This is what I usually do. Ohh I like, I didn't know he did that. I do that. I do that. My gosh, I do that a lot. In the Feldenkrais work, we 368 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,1000 actually set up movement lessons in order for people to discover from in a really non-judgmental, in a very similar way as these babies, as you did when you were a baby. If you had a fairly good birth and a fairly decent set of parents, you were able to do this as a baby. We're trying to take you back to a place of non-judgment, of relative innocence where you don't regret, but we have some place that you can go and we do these movement, I'll call them experiments, in which you learn to be the observer as well as the person who is 383 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:47,1000 being experimented with, so you're 384 00:15:47,1000 --> 00:15:50,560 completely in charge. and 385 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,1000 you begin to realize, oh, every 386 00:15:53,1000 --> 00:15:56,960 time I go on to get interviewed, my right shoulder comes up. Ohh Every time I go to do these interviews, I cross my arms and I don't even like the feeling of it. That's interesting. You can begin to find ways to interrupt the habit patterns. And if you stick with it, you begin to realize that the the skills that you're learning can be carried over beyond the sort of physical awareness into the emotional awareness. Umm I love that. And And two of the tools we really speak to, which it sounds like you're saying in pretty much the same way. The two of the tools that we really use in the Power Pause movement are first and foremost, as you mentioned, Non-judgmental self-awareness, right?It is learning to become a witness and be 406 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:47,1000 present with these patterns, with these 407 00:16:47,1000 --> 00:16:50,680 habits, and to cultivate compassionate curiosity because these are learned behaviors, right?And so these are learned patterns, learned habits. But the beautiful thing that you said that we often speak to here is, is the ability to change that once we cultivate those two key starting points. And then with these experiments, with these tools, with these practices, we can begin to. 417 00:17:09,1000 --> 00:17:12,360 Shift these patterns as we learn to to witness and and hold space for them, right. And just by knowing that they're there, we have that willingness and that curiosity. And so I love that. And so would you say that, you know, these 423 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,1000 patterns are part of what keep us in the stress pain loop that so many people are experiencing, whether that's physical pain, but more so in the context of our conversation, emotional pain or mental pain? Yes, I think that ohh much of physical pain of the chronic musculoskeletal pain is caused by the defense against. That defense against might have started out in in a particular way that was important, but then as time has gone on, it's just become very chronic and anywhere that 439 00:18:05,1000 --> 00:18:08,720 there's a holding,It means that you're not able to use your physical self as well as you could use it. So that it means that you're not getting good circulation into that area. So there's a whole host of things there. There is studies that say that, and really compelling studies that say that there is a correlation between chronic pain and someone who's had adverse childhood events. But you've got to be really careful with that kind of stuff because we don't want people going around looking for trauma in their background or for them to figure out why they hurt. For the most part, if you've been worked up by a physician, you don't need to be concerned about why you hurt. You need to be concerned about what's the solution of unlearning the patterns that go with it. And the same thing is true emotionally when we hold an emotional pattern. So let's say that the emotional pattern, like one I had was all men cannot be trusted. I didn't have, there was no gradation. It was all. And so through that lens, I would live my life and I would reinforce that emotional piece of there it is again, they can't be trusted. There it 471 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:25,1000 is, they can't be trusted. They can't be 472 00:19:25,1000 --> 00:19:28,080 trusted. They can't be trusted. I could reinforce that for myself all day long. I didn't have any reason to have a different lens, but it became clear that I needed to find a different lens or I didn't have a life that was really worth living. You've got to find your way out of these corners that we end up in by accident. We didn't want to get there, but it happened and then you start to realize, okay, what I have here is me. Here I am in the corner all by myself. I can't, I can't make it through that corner. It's not going to let me go 487 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:03,1000 through it. So then it must be a need to 488 00:20:03,1000 --> 00:20:06,720 turn around and start to examine what else is available to me, right?So I can totally relate to that. You're like standing in the corner, like, what's the problem?Why can't I change it?Because in that One Direction, only at the pivot point of the corner. And then, like you're saying, when we turn around and we realize, oh. OK, right. And all that OK might be very scary because we our world was so limited before. There is a safety and there is a safety in believing the things we believe. But because when you 502 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,1000 turn around and you go, hold it, what 503 00:20:43,1000 --> 00:20:46,880 is all of that?Now, the thing that we believe has kept us safe, even though we know on another level it's not true, the thing that we believe has kept us safe is totally up for grabs. So that's that's pretty scary. So having these somatic tools that you're teaching, that I teach,where we can bring ourselves back here, present moment, grounded, butt on the chair, feet on the ground, head going towards the ceiling, breath, easy, normal, natural breath. Looking around what we see, and then we can take it into other kinds of movements that we can begin to foster more and more ease, more and moreeven elegance after a while. Then now we have are creating the environment in which we can afford to look around. We still can turn into the corner anytime we want, but we can say today I can maybe turn my body five degrees and that already opens up a huge amount. And maybe some days we feel like we can turn out and face the world sort of head on and go to the center of the room and look all the way around. So it's it's these tools that are at the level of sensation and curiosity, experimentation, non-judgment that can really make such a big difference. Umm I love that. And And I know that many of us can relate to That feeling of, OK, fresh perspective, right?Maybe we have, we listen to a podcast, maybe we do some, a journey of sorts, breath work, you know, shadow work, psychedelics, who knows?We have this moment where we turn around and we're like, oh, oh wow, OK, there's a whole big world out there. And I was just in this little zone and now. And that in and of itself is very liberating, very freeing, very exciting, but also potentially threatening to be a preconceived normal of the nervous system, right?Because it's new, it's totally new, it's unfamiliar, it's unpredictable. And so from your point of view, when we are turning around, whether that's through sensation, through movement, energetically, you know, mentally, all the all the ways we're turning around. We know that coming to a place of safety and center within ourselves to create that baseline, like you said, and I love the ease to elegance. I love alliterations and I just love that visual. So beautiful. So calming the nervous system to create that centered, OK, I can do this. This is a new phase. Here we go. We know that that's important, but oftentimes is just the beginning. So can you talk a little bit about that and maybe talk about what from your perspective, like what are next steps?What is that progression from there? And how do we turn around and make some progress forward? Yeah, yes. So it it starts with creating a sense of safety. I'm home. I'm home in my body. I'm home with myself. I don't. have a continual constant critical eye towards myself. But that's the kind of calmness and a centeredness and a beingness that we often will foster in like meditation or maybe you know you have a a place at the end of the exercise class or your asanas that you go into a really nice bone. But that's not, that's a calming, that's learning to calm oneself in one's nervous system. It is not learning to regulate it. Not really. It's only one place. So you you then tend to go back out to function in, let's say your job. You go to your job and you're like, oh my God, it's the schedule again. And then I got to talk to this person, and then this person, and this person. And then the whole nervous system kind of lights up and goes bonkers again. And then you bring it back down at the end of the day with some kind of calming technique, if you're lucky. Calming tends to become compartmentalized you know to a certain kind of environment. And so what we we need to do is learn to regulate and that's to be able to bring it up and down. You do need to have a nervous system that goes up. You know We need We need to be able, if we want to run across the street, If we want to get something done fast, you can be such a thing as too calm. And you can also be you know totally wildly chaotic and not able to function too. So it's the ability to take yourself in and out, what we call reversibility in the Feldenkrais work. So we're looking for reversible movements, reversible action. So that if I go to reach for something and then I fall over, that is not reversible. That's not reverse, that's a bad idea, right?But if I go to reach and I realize my balance is being lost and I know how to bring myself back without hurting myself, that is a uh a reversible movement. And the same thing is true on the emotional scale. We don't wanna just be able to turn around and go, let's let all of this come in. We want to be able to turn around in degrees and go back to where we came from, step out, step forward, step to the sides. And I do mean that both literally physically, as well as in the way people think of their emotional state, which is a little bit different, but the words can still work across the physical and emotional. So the ability to regulate. So in the Feldenkraits work, we often start with these. The base in our lessons, we call them lessons because they are the active process of learning and we're not trying to drive towards a specific outcome other than that the person is in the learning process in the most conducive way that they know how to create for themselves right now. Then we take those lessons that might start with a lot of calming, a lot ofA lot of just being at home, feeling the surface, learning how to monitor your breath. But then we're gonna go into increasingly more difficult movement sequences. Not necessarily ones that you might think of as like becoming a pretzel necessarily, but like when you have to work harder to understand what's being asked of you. You have to think a little bit more. You have to go, huhI don't know if I know what that means. Did I ever feel that part of myself?I'm not sure about that part of myself. What would it mean to use that part of myself in the reaching process? What does it mean if she starts to ask, can you use your other leg, your foot, your pelvis to help you reach or to roll or to to do judo rolls or to spiral up and down or a variety of different kinds of actions. So we're looking at the process of action. And how can we allow those actions to be well regulated throughout?And so that the amount that your nervous system is like fired up and ready to go is appropriate for what you're doing. It's appropriate for what you're doing. It's not like fired up and ready to go, but you're supposed to be sitting here eating and having a really nice little breakfast that's quiet and calm. Well, I love that. And what I'm hearing you say is it's an exploration and we're creating versatility. You know, we're creating that ability to rise to the situation and then settle ourselves back down and not not live in the extremes, but find that mid happy ground that feels good both in our body as far as a movement perspective, but also in our ability to turn around and take it all in and make these shifts and step forward. And so thank you. I appreciate that. So you've shared a lot of really great tools and insights. And so we've reached the point of our episode today, of our experience today, where we're going to take a little power pause. And so we would love to have you guide us through this really powerful tool that people can use in any situation to calm themselves, calm their mind. And so would you please lead us through this? Yeah, so I want to lead you through something that comes from Michael Krugman's work called Founders' Sleep. He was also a Feldenkrais practitioner. He's no longer with us, but his work lives on. And he had a work that had three different components to it. One of them was called a date tamer, something that you could do anywhere, anytime in order to bring your nervous system back to a calmer state. And so we're gonna look at the secret handshake. The one thing that is really nice about this, it's also, I'll think of the other name too, but it's nice about this is you can do this anywhere. So you bring your hands out so you can see them and it doesn't matter which hand you choose, but you're going to wrap your fingers of one hand around the thumb of the other, that's all. Now the other fingers are still extended up in the air, okay. and you're going to extend now. Okay, let's do it again because I got myself confused looking at the camera. Okay, so here you wrap around the thumb. Now the fingers that wrapped around the thumb extend your index finger. So extend your index finger. Now wrap your fingers around it. So now you have two hold points. You've got your thumb and your index finger, and you're going to place them on your lap because we don't need any additional tension. in your body anywhere, just enough for you to know that you have your thumb wrapped with your fingers and your index finger wrapped with your other fingers. And we don't practice deep breathing. We practice light, easy, simple, slow breathing. So whatever feels to you like a nice breath is what you get to breathe. You don't have to make it anything special. And as you feel yourself sitting here, breathing in and breathing out, at whatever rate you are enjoying right now, on the next inhale, just ever so slightly squeeze the thumb. And as you exhale, release it. As you inhale, you makeA squeeze is only enough for you to know you've increased the contact, the pressure. It's not to strangle it. And as you exhale, you release and you let the thumb slowly be released from the pressure. The length of your inhale is the length of time that it takes you to do the light, easy squeeze. The length of your exhale is the time it takes you to slowly release that squeeze so that you synchronize the squeezing with your breath. Now you can pause for a moment. Just release your hands for a moment. You can bring them back up and we'll just practice this one more time and just stay with the same handhold, it'll be easier. So wrap your fingers around one thumb, extend the index finger of the fingers that wrapped around the thumb, wrap your other fingers around, place them back down, very comfortable. You could rest them on a table there if you are standing so that you don't have to hold the weight of your arms, you just really want it to be simple. You can imagine this is under a table at a meeting or you're at a family gathering. Your hands just look like they're just sitting in your lap. You don't have to, nobody has to know what you're doing. And now maybe as you come into your breath, on your exhale, you'll squeeze the thumb. And as you inhale, you release. You squeezed gently, lightly on the length of your exhale and you released on the inhale. So one of these was more pleasant for most people, either squeezing on the inhale or squeezing on the exhale. What was it for you? And I think it might be previous conditioning, but more comfortable was the squeezing on the exhale and relaxing and opening on the inhale. That's just the pattern we use in yoga. So it's familiar to me, but I like the diversity. I like the switching it up. Yeah. And so there's no right or wrong in this. You get to choose the one you like. And if it turns out one day you like it one way and another day you like it another way. That's totally fine. You don't have to do anything at all to somehow feel like you'd have to get squeezing right. The most important thing is that you don't squeeze. Yeah. It's so gentle. It's so gentle. Like if you were to think that you had a baby's hand and you wanted them to know you were there, right?Or a loved one that was ill and you wanted them to know that you were there, it would be so gentle, just so gentle. And you just go around with that. So you can do this at a stressful gathering, meeting. You can just turn yourself around at your own desk. If you are here, I could turn myself around away from the computer for all of you behind me. I'd like to do it for just a few squeezes and breaths and there will be an almost immediate calm. I remember we had a class where a woman who had been in significant, significant pain came and we did this together and she said, that's like the first time I haven't felt pain in years. And it was only like 5 minutes. It wasn't very much. It was really amazing what can happen when a person is able to bring themselves just to a moment of relative calm. Oh, I love that. I love the practicality. I love the ease of it. I could definitely feel the the calming coming through. Thank you. And that nice anchoring feeling. So if you're just joining us for the power pause, this is actually part of a complete episode of the Movement, Mind and Meaning podcast in which we are going a lot deeper with Cynthia Allen and talking about the missing piece and healing. And so this power pause was. A continuation of that lovely conversation. And so make sure to listen to the full episode because there was so many more Nuggets, so many more insights that, you know, if you are looking to be able to truly support yourself at the deepest level of your healing and move beyond trauma and anxiety and stress and sadness, then this episode has, I'm sure, many golden Nuggets for you and as we prepare to finish up. just this PowerPause section and the whole episode, I know that you have a tool set beyond this beautiful secret handshake that we just got to practice, a gift that you would love to share with people. So will you tell us just a little bit about that, please?Yeah, so it is pure Feldenkrais and it looks at the function of turning. Turning, if you are gonna ask the thing that I see that most people have a restriction in, it's just this basic ability. And so that means you're carrying a lot of tension in the neck and the shoulders that you don't really even know that you're carrying. And so it's a series of short lessons. They're They're not as short as that beautiful secret handshake, but they're like in the 10 to 15 minute range. And it begins to help you really realize how quickly you can release muscle tension without stretching, strengthening, or pushing yourself hard, just really Starting to break up the habit of how you hold yourself and how you move. I love that. Thank you. And so make sure to check that out. I know that there is. A code for you to get full access for free. So all of the information is in the show notes, both here on the video and as you're listening inside the audio on whatever magical platform you'd love to listen on. So make sure to grab that. And if you're just watching the power pause, make sure to listen to the whole episode as well if you're on YouTube. And so as we close off today, Cynthia, do you feel? That there's anything that you would like to share from your perspective, of your beautiful background, of someone to someone, excuse me, to someone that may be in a season of sadness or maybe in a feeling of anxiety, maybe in this moment or of late that you would like to share to them. If you can literally just speak to their heart that you would love them to know that you think might be supportive to them, or maybe something that you would have liked to have heard at a moment in time like that in your past. Yeah, I I think one of my teachers talks about biological optimism. Ruthie Alon had this great phrase called biological optimism. And for me, biological optimism is when you you wake up and you realize the day ahead of you and you say, I can do this, I got it, I can do this life. You see your life folding out in front of you and you go, I can do it, I can do it. So many times when we're stuck in anxiety and stress, we don't recognize that we have been doing it. We've already been doing it. So now it's just about improving, somehow making it more pleasant, more easy. It's just building our skill set at navigating a little bit more. You've already been doing it. You can do it. You can do this life. We can do it together. That's beautiful. Thank you. Yeah, that is important. And that's a reminder that we all need, right?We all need. We need to hear from others and we need to. We get to practice speaking to ourselves as a beautiful reminder and a coming home. And so thank you so much. It's been so lovely chatting with you today and. I know that you know you have so much wonderful magic going on. And so once people grab the freebie that you just spoke to, again, it's in the show notes. They'll be able to get connected with you and ask any questions that they might have about your work, about Feldenkrais, about how you can support them. So make sure to connect with Cynthia. And also we would love to know what landed for you. And so we will also include her Instagram in our show notes. So if you feel so comfortable, you can take a little snapshot and share it to your stories and tag us or send us a DM because. This is really about being of service and helping you to return to that, knowing that of that biological optimism and of that centered state where you know from your heart, from your bones, as you now learned that you can do this right. And and life is, as we discussed before we started recording, a wild roller coaster sometimes and having tools, having support, having community, having people that have walked the path and maybe you're just a couple steps ahead and can turn around and hold your hand really gently. Like a little baby hand and help you to walk forward too. And so thank you so much, everybody. And thank you again, Cynthia. It's been really lovely chatting with you. Thank you. It was a pleasure, Megan. Lovely. All right, everyone. Well, thank you for being part of this beautiful global movement. Thank you for doing what you do and showing up because. Yes, you are amazing and resilient and life is challenging sometimes. We admit that 1000%. And so thank you for hopefully getting some insights and tools. And now you know that once we learn something, we get to practice it, right?We get to, we get to start to implement it and that's where the true magic is. So let us know if what landed for you and we look forward to seeing and hearing you in the next episode. Take good care, everybody. Bye, bye.</p>
July 16, 2025
The #1 Mindset Shift Preventing Burnout
<p>NEW WORKSHOP ALERT: "The Productivity Leak" to discover the 8 success stopping habits that might be draining your team's energy & focus (& how to shift them in just 9 minutes a day)<br>👉 Save your seat here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity</p> <p>You don’t need more hours in the day. You need to use your brain the way it was built to work.</p> <p>In this episode, we dive into what the latest neuroscience tells us about focus, fatigue, and performance—and why ignoring your brain’s natural limits is the fastest way to drive burnout, not results.</p> <p>💡 Inside:</p> <ul> <li> <p>The rhythm your brain runs on—and why pushing past it backfires</p> </li> <li> <p>What the top 10% of productive people do differently (hint: it’s the 52:17 rule)</p> </li> <li> <p>How to quietly destroy decision-making, creativity, and focus</p> </li> <li> <p>What has to change if you want success to be sustainable, not exhausting</p> <p>If you’re serious about preventing burnout, boosting performance, and building a team that actually lasts—you’ll want to hear this.</p> </li> </ul> <p> And if you want to turn these insights into action, join our free live workshop:<br> "The Productivity Leak" to discover the 8 success stopping habits that might be draining your team's energy & focus (& how to shift them in just 9 minutes a day)<br> 👉 Save your seat here: https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity</p> <p>Because the most effective way to boost performance isn’t more hustle.<br> It’s recovery. Rhythm. And leadership that knows the difference.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>The number one mindset shift in preventing burnout is exactly what we're going to be talking about today on this week's episode of the Movement, Mind and Meaning podcast. I'm your host, Megan Nolan. And before we get into this short but sweet episode. Have you signed up for the Productivity League yet?This is a brand new workshop where you will join us for free and learn the 8 success stopping habits that might be draining your team's time and energy and how to shift them in just 9 minutes a day. So if you haven't signed up yet, you can sign up and join us live if you make it in time or catch the replay if you catch this in the few days of the workshop itself and the link to do that will be in the show notes so. Join us for that. Now, the number one mindset shift in preventing burnout. Lean in because it's not AI. Lean in because it's not an app. It's not a hack. It's not a brand new hot shiny strategy. It is that breaks are tools, not rewards. Breaks are tools, not rewards. And we're gonna talk about the science behind why slowing down will actually help you to speed up, why power pauses are the most effective way to boost your team's energy and performance, and how you can begin to integrate this and implement this literally today. Literally today. Because the truth is, is that burnout is a symptom of an exhausted, depleted. Nervous system. And when we get to that point of complete depletion, it takes a long time to get ourselves back from it, to recover at a systemic level, physically, mentally, emotionally, on a overall holistic level. It takes a really freaking long time, and that's because we've literally burnt out and depleted all of our resources. And so it's really imperative that we are proactive and that we recognize that in order to be functioning and performing at your best, as well as, and I think more importantly, feeling your best, it's important that we are proactive. And when we think about performance, we think of being able to get to the finish line in the most effective and efficient way. And we forget that in order for us to do that, it takes thriving at the level of the body, the mind and the spirit. Because you are not a robot. You are not something that is wired in a way that is. Able to and has the capacity to be performing and running at 100 all the time. And let's talk about this from a level of the body. So you probably are familiar with your circadian rhythm, which is where you start to get sleepy near the end of the day when the light changes around you and where we have a an increase in melatonin and serotonin and that cause you to get sleepy and go to sleep. And so that's your circadian rhythm that we naturally have throughout the day. So we have another rhythm that's in your body that's called your ultradian rhythm. So your ultradian rhythm, depending on the person, runs about every 60 to 90 minutes. And So what happens is, is that with the ultradian rhythm, what happens is the your brain works in natural cycles of high and low alertness, roughly every 60 to 90 minutes. And so at your peak, at the peak level of performance, when those levels are high, then we are able to focus really clearly, we're able to solve problems, we're able to create, we're happy, we're engaged, we're we're in, we're very much in that output phase. That's when the levels are really high. And so when the brain after it starts to release lower levels of dopamine, which is what helps to really create that ultradian rhythm. The the shift in activity where we enter, rather than being at a peak, we enter a trough, right?We we have that natural cycles of high and low alertness after about 60 to 90 minutes. Depending on the person, we have a drop in focus. We have a higher levels of cortisol. We shift in our brain activity because cortisol spike triggers activity in our amygdala, which is the survival center of the brain and decision fatigue starts to set in. We get really distracted. We get, we can tend to get a little more irritable. We are not as able to create and design at at that level that you you know you're capable of. So this is a natural rhythm in your brain. And so this means that in order to maximize how much we can and how much we can do in that peak, we also need to respect that in the through. There are certain things that you can do to bring yourself back up to that peak performance of the brain, and that one of those is not overriding this rhythm. And so when you notice after about 60 to 90 minutes that you're you're fatiguing, you're distracted, you're, you know, bouncing from project to project, you're staring at a blinking screen or the blinking wheel on your on the Google Doc or whatever it is. Is that we can recognize that in that moment is a really prime opportunity for you to resource and replenish yourself. So we use a break as a tool, not as a reward. So a tool here is when you notice that you're starting to fatigue or that your output is decreasing. That's when it's time for a power pause to replenish your energy. And So what I mean here is that at when you notice and if you wanna be preemptive, there's actually data that shows that it's about at a fifty-two minute mark for most people is really important for us to take a break. And so we can use that opportunity to get up to move your body because you're not a rock, right?You're not a rock. And so it's really important to recognize that in order to feed the ability to continue on and get to the finish line of the goal, we can slow down, we can step away from the task at hand. Maybe it's to go refill your water bottle, have a snack, take a power pause, move your body, re-engage that more aligned, efficient posture so that your body is getting energy naturally without having to consume a load more caffeine or, you know, have some sugary snacks. What we're doing here is we're nourishing the ability for your body to perform. Because when your body is thriving, it sends the signal from your nervous system, from your body up to your mind, right?And if you're in that strong, open power pose, then your body is signaling safety. And when you signal safety, then the amygdala, which is the survival center, the threat detection center of the brain, receives the signal that everything's OK because you're not scrunched over in weak posture, taking short, shallow breaths, which trigger stress even more and your body's signaling. Up to the brain that everything is copacetic in the body and then your prefrontal cortex, which is the high functioning creative aspect of your brain. The decision making aspect of your brain comes back online. So not only are you. Working with that ultradian rhythm more instinctively and intuitively, you're actually nourishing your nervous system so that you are able to in that regulated state. And So what we know about the brain and the nervous system is that we don't perform well under stress. And so if we're constantly we're bypassing that natural rhythm of the body and we're attempting to just power through and keep going, we tend to default and we tend to run more on the cortisol levels versus the the dopamine and the oxygen. Which are more nourishing neurochemicals in the body that we talked a little bit about earlier. And so when we are working with the natural rhythm of the body in those 60 to 90 minute cycles, we step away, we take a power pause, we nourish the body through movement, we're nourishing the body through water, nourishing snacks, then we're supporting the system, right. And when we support the system, we're resourcing the system and when we are back online from that place of. Groundedness and centeredness and focus and clarity and that level of awareness within the nervous system, we signal the prefrontal cortex to come back online. And as I mentioned, that's considered the CEO of the brain and it's responsible for decision making, problem solving and planning and focus and clarity. All of those things are the responsibility of that part of the brain, so. We're signaling that part of the brain through the body, right?We 80% more information comes from the body to the mind versus the other way around your. Brain only signals about 20% of the activity of your nervous system. So it's important that you're nourishing the body and treating it as the tool that it is, right by giving it that power pause, giving it the moment of movement, of breath, of grounding, of play, whatever it is, because that naturally supports the higher levels of creativity and focus and performance. So it really is a beautiful way to nourish the system. And then when the the body is in homeostasis and in that regulated state, then all of the systems get what they need to thrive. So we have the longevity, we have the output, we have the joy, we have that expressiveness, we have the playfulness, we have the natural energy flowing in your body. So that's really quite interesting, right?And so I said it wasn't a hack, but it it is, it is in a way, right. And so. What's interesting here is that in addition to that ultradian rhythm, where the natural rhythms of the brain cycle at about 60 to 90 minutes, after about 60 to 90 minutes, the prefrontal cortex, which is that key player in everything that we just mentioned, it starts to fatigue. It starts to fatigue because of everything that we just mentioned. I E if you're asking it to do a lot of work, it it's not able to do that high level of quality output consistently for long periods of time without what?Without the pause, right?And that's why power pauses are the most effective way to boost and maintain energy as well as boost and maintain performance. And so after about 60 to 90 minutes. We start to have fatigue in that area of the brain, which impacts your decision making, which impacts your the quality of your thinking, the clarity of your output. And so you're more prone to distractions, you're more prone to mistakes, you're more prone to impulsiveness, right?And so this is all really, really based in neuroscience. But it's looking at your productivity and your performance from a more holistic perspective because we can't just be running the machine ongoing, the machine being you ongoing and expecting high quality performance if we are not working with the natural cycles. And here we start to recognize and that's why it's the number one mindset shift in preventing burnout is that rest and breaks are a tool to ensure that high quality level of performance. And not a reward for such things. And So what we're looking at here is how to continue forward on the journey without exhausting yourself and getting anywhere near burnout. And that's why power pauses are so key, because what they do is they replenish and support your nervous system. Therefore, your the quality of your thoughts, the energy that you're in, the mood that you're in, the posture that you're in, the way that you communicate, the way that you listen to other people. They support all of those things in a very beneficial way because they're supporting the system at the deepest level. And when we can shift brain activity from that stressed out, worried, anxious, spiraling. Patterning of the amygdala or stress into focus and clarity and presence and solid, grounded leadership energy. Because that's what's available to you when you are in that regulated, centered, grounded state, not running on the fumes of cortisol and exhaustion and caffeine, but instead replenished and resourced and ready. And you're really steady within that readiness. You're able to do the tasks because you're working with the natural rhythms of your body, not attempting to run a million miles an hour for an extended amount of period, and then finally rest on vacation for two weeks at the end of the year. No, in order to perform at the peak capacity and output and ability. It gets to come from that resourced place, and that's why we want to look at these breaks and power pauses as the tool that they are, so that you can access all of the gifts that you have, so that you can access all of these different qualities that you have, and you're doing it from a very steady space. You you're able to be driven and ambitious. You're detail-oriented, you're focused. You are saying yes because you want to, because you're a resource and you're not getting to the point of depletion or exhaustion. And so it's really important that we have this mindset shift around these moments. And the beautiful thing with power pauses is because they are very effective, they're also very efficient. We don't need to take long periods of time unless you want to do that because they're very effective in just three minutes at a time. So 3 minutes of very focused attention is enough to create a shift in the nervous system, to shift the inner state and come back to that place of connected awareness and come back to that place of regulation so that you can show up. Very intentionally, very grounded, focused, ready for action from that place of being resourced and taken care of at the deep level of the nervous system. So that's what I wanted to share with you today. I wanted to share a quick little action-packed, but also hopefully perspective shifting because it's so important that we recognize that. As much as we are appreciative of advancements in technology and you know, in the systems that we use, the core system that you use is you and your body is the vehicle for the mind. And the essence of you, which are your unique qualities, which cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence. And that's one thing that, you know, as incredible as a I is and technology is, it will never replace you and the core essence of you and the way that you show up and you do the work that you do. So we need to, we get to nourish that. Nourish that core essence that is your energy, your communication style, your way of leading, your way of writing that will never be replaced. So we need to, we get to take care of that and prioritize that. Because in a world that is relying more and more on artificial intelligence, it's so imperative that you're unique. Skill set, your unique energy, your unique attributes are prioritized and therefore protected. And that's what we're talking about here is we're we're talking about nourishing and supporting your energy so that we can continue to do what you do in the way that you do it as long as you want to, as long as you can, as long as you're able to, because you know these natural rhythms of your body, you know this. Way of nurturing this high level of performance by this very understated and often dismissed tool that is taking breaks. And we want to look at this from a very proactive point of view. We're both proactively nourishing and taking care of ourselves, but we're also doing it from a preventative point of view, right?We've always we've heard that like an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Is that it?I hope so. I think that's it. Sometimes me and these euphemisms, I make up my own version of them, meaning that it is more effective. For us to nourish ourselves in the moment rather than playing catch up down the road and having to recover the whole system is where I was going with that. And So what we're learning how to do is work with this incredible system that you have, right?Your body and your brain is so incredibly intricate and amazing. And so how can we connect to that system at a deeper level?How can we understand it at a deeper level?And so as much as we want to make use of these incredible. Systems and tools outside of us, it's so imperative that we work with the system that is your true operating system and that's your nervous system. And so, yeah, that's what I wanted to share with you today. I hope that that was really insightful for you. And I would love to have you join us for the Productivity League because we're going to dive a lot deeper into all of this. So make sure to grab your spot for free. Make sure to tell me what really dropped in and landed for you about this episode. And we will see you very soon. Thank you again for being part of this incredible community and take good care. Bye, bye.</p>
July 9, 2025
Is Stress Disguised As Hard Work?
<p><span>Join my FREE 30-minute workshop: “The Productivity Leak: Discover the 8 Stress Habits Draining Your Team’s Time & Energy (and How to Shift Them in 9 Minutes a Day)” Save your seat here: </span><a href="https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity">https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity</a></p> <p>Is your team truly productive—or just powering through stress? In this week's episode, I reveal how stress at work is often mistaken for dedication, and why that false praise may be slowly draining your team’s energy, focus, and collaboration without anyone realizing it. If you’ve been searching for:</p> <p>• early signs of burnout in high performers</p> <p>• how stress impacts workplace productivity</p> <p>• stress management techniques for teams</p> <p>• what chronic stress looks like in employees</p> <p>• how to improve team morale without micromanaging …you’re in the right place.</p> <p> </p> <p>🔍 Inside this episode:</p> <p>✔️ How stress hides behind “hard work” and overachievement</p> <p>✔️ The neuroscience of stress and performance</p> <p>✔️ The key difference between burnout and high engagement</p> <p>✔️ How to create a high-performing culture without pressure</p> <p>✔️ And the #1 mindset shift that smart, people-first leaders are using now. Whether you lead a remote team, run a startup, or manage a busy department—this episode gives you the practical tools to recognize stress before it becomes a performance problem. Want to fix your team’s hidden stress patterns without adding more meetings or to-dos?</p> <p> </p> <p>Join my FREE 30-minute workshop: “The Productivity Leak: Discover the 8 Stress Habits Draining Your Team’s Time & Energy (and How to Shift Them in 9 Minutes a Day)” Save your seat here: <a href="https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity">https://www.megan-nolan.com/productivity</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Please find the show notes below. Since it is a transcription there may be spelling errors and/or weird grammar. Ignore that and enjoy!</strong></p> <p>Is stress disguised as hard work? Well, that's what we're talking about today. Here's where it gets interesting, is where these qualities that are actually indications that the system might be in a state of stress are often qualities that are highly regarded and highly rewarded in the business setting. So. Double edged sword, if you will. We're going to jump into that in a moment, but before we do, I would love to invite you to a brand new workshop that I have created called the Productivity League. Inside this free interactive workshop, you're going to learn the 8 success stopping habits that might be quietly eroding your team or your own energy, time, focus, productivity, and yes, of course, joy, energy and happiness. So you'll learn those success stopping habits as well as. How to stop them in real time so that they don't become full blown performance issues. You'll learn how to do that so that you can reclaim your time, your energy, and joy. This workshop is perfect for people that literally don't have a second to waste, but truly care about the well-being, the happiness, and of course the productivity and performance of their team members. So make sure to grab your free spot for this brand new workshop. So let's talk about it. Let's talk about the ways that stress might be silently showing up in your workplace. That is also interestingly very celebrated and rewarded. So it's kind of an interesting dance, right?Because these qualities that we're gonna be talking about and the ways that stress might actually be showing up because of the way the system is reacting to the situation at hand are are both very important, necessary. Celebrated and are things that you know we want to nurture, but are also things that are a sign that we might be in a stress reactive mode. And So what do we do with this?What do we do with this information?Where do we go with it and how might it be showing up in in your life and in your business or in your team?And so that's what we're talking about today. And So what I would love for you to really just take note of is as we discuss these, maybe you recognize these qualities of saying yes when you really mean no, always being available, checking your e-mail first thing in the morning, periodically throughout the day, at lunch, in the afternoon, you know, when you go to the toilet, like being that, that yes person being available, always being on Slack, you know, that sort of thing. And so. Also, maybe you find yourself just responding quickly in a, you know, a short, simple e-mail, but not taking the time to, you know, have those pleasantries, if you will, that may come across a little bit rude. Or maybe feeling like you are constantly multitasking, like you're, you know, you're putting away food from the grocery store while you're listening to a podcast, while you're kind of thinking about an e-mail that you're supposed to write later. Really, you know, that's sort of a a split brain activity. As well as being very driven, very goal oriented, but be almost having that insatiable drive for what's next, what's next?What do we have to do?What are we going to work towards?Or maybe you find yourself, you know, getting to that point where you have a big project and you're wanting to take action on it, but you're finding you're overwhelmed with all the details because you've had this really big vision and now all of the little small details are kind of slipping through the cracks, right?And so. You can see how there is this dance that gets to happen because we can be both very ambitious and very driven and a visionary and get lost in in these big projects and these big tasks if we're not grounded. And so if we are not in that nice steady state, that balance state of being your beingness, your nervous system. Then what happens is we default to these patterns and they are signs that we need to. We get to come back to that place of regulation and center within ourselves so that we can use that level of ambitiousness or drive or being very detail-oriented or being very willing to support other people from a place of presence and from a place of knowing. And so as a reminder, when you experience a little bit of stress, it's very activating, right? Cortisol and adrenaline in your system, which is how your body activates you when you're experiencing stress, are very energizing. And so that's important, right?That's the little fire under your ass to get you going, to get you up, to get you moving. But when we're experiencing chronic stress and when we're experiencing with more and more tasks, right and andEverything happening in the world and everything happening in your team, it's it's a lot for our system and we're not really designed to be, you know, intaking and outputting constantly, ongoingly throughout the day and throughout the week and throughout our lives, right. We're meant to be able to rest and slow down and not have to just shut down and get totally, you know, flat out, you know, exhausted before we slow down. Because what happens when we when your body experiences stress is your amygdala, the part of your brain that detects threats and is constantly looking and scanning for things that might be dangerous or, you know, that need to get handled, right?In the case of more aligned with the business setting is that when the amygdala comes online, it impairs your decision-making, it impairs your ability to be logical, be very focused because it's in literal survival mode. Right. And so when we are activated into stress, that part of our brain is running the show, right. And so when we are active in that part of the brain, the the CEO of your brain, your prefrontal cortex, your decision making, creative, grounded, expressive, happy, interactive part of your brain isn't available because it's it'sOne or the other, right?They don't. They're not working at the same time because your brain has activated the stress response. So your amygdala is hijacking brain activity. And So what happens is when that is, is the case, then we start to go into this survival state. And so in survival states, you move out of that regulated balance state of the nervous system into fight or flight or freeze or fawn or flop. And so that's dependent on your patterns, the situation, what you've been modeled, what your nervous system is conditioned to. And so it's a really interesting thing because when the when we are experiencing this constant input into the system, into the nervous system, it handles it well, it handles it well and it defaults to these patterns, right. And so in this business setting, if you will, this organizational setting. It's a different reaction than, you know, if you were out in the wilderness and you heard a bear roaring in the wilderness, right?So your body would still go into fight or flight or freeze or fawn or flop, of course, to to react to that bear roaring in the distance or nearby, right?So in the business organizational setting, it still does those things. It still responds to that stress. But it's different, right?You're not gonna go if your boss or if you or, you know, if if someone asks something of you and you're like, no, that and it freaks you out, you're not gonna, you're probably not going to go running as fast as you can in the opposite direction, right? You're not gonna flee that way. But you might go into a different mode of fleeing. You might go into a different mode of fighting back. You're still going to have that same instinctive reaction in your nervous system, but it looks different, right?So when when we're in the, you know, business setting, it starts to present in a different way in that often works to our benefit to a degree. But then when it's just our default, that's the only thing that we do, then it can work against us, right?And so how does this present as hard work?Well. When we go into perfectionism, when we go into being a yes person, right, that people pleasing aspect of our personality, when we go into being that very driven, very ambitious, can't turn it off, those are expressions of our fight mode showing up in the business setting, right?And so the flight mode is slightly different. So flight mode is when we are moving away from the issue at hand. And so that would be more like hopping all over the place and you know that distractibility that that shiny squirrel like oh squirrel, what's over here, what's over here as well as focusing more on on the perfection of things. And so you can see how these are, these are. Both very important things that might show up as, Oh yeah, I can do it. Yeah, no problem. I'll do that, I'll do that, I'll do that. And if we're always responding that way, then it's it's important for us to recognize and learn these patterns about ourselves so that we are aware that they might be an indication if you're constantly overthinking an issue, for example. So this is an expression of. Of flight mode is is just being in our head, right?You're not taking action. You're over here away from the issue, right?Or away from the the cause of the stress. And you're just constantly kind of thinking about, oh, this way I could try it this way. I could do it this way. I could do this instead. Or just doing research, right?If you're just constantly asking Chatty G for more input, if you're just constantly seeking that that you know. Next best thing, rather than actually taking action and putting things out or or moving the project forward, then that's it's both something that we want to be aware of. But here's where it's a little bit ironic because all of these things have have gold within them. They all have gold within them. They all have that beautiful, that growth opportunity. They have lessons, they have opportunities, they have directions, they have a beautiful gift for us. When we are able to recognize that we are maybe past our capacity, right. And so if you find yourself just constantly always on the go, always on the move, can't slow down, like can't stop, won't stop, can't, you know, really can't be that in that satisfied way of operating, it's really important for us to. Witness that habit, this tendency, because the truth is, is that this level of go, go, go more, more, more, do, do, do. And the way that all of these habits show up, these different modes of handling stress show up are very present for people that are are very ambitious, very driven, high performers. And so when we have these constant sources of stress. It's really important to recognize that this is really in a sense. Both the key to our success when we use these gifts and these skills intentionally, when we do them from that place of being resourced, being regulated, taken care of, IE you are getting enough sleep, you're eating well, you're having lots of well nourishing mineralized water, you're moving your body consistently, you're taking your power pauses. You are thriving. You have these gifts, right?You have these beautiful gifts. You have these tools. You have this gold within you. But if we are experiencing ongoing chronic stress and these patterns are showing up and you're seeing yourself never being able to slow down, always saying yes, always being available, micromanaging, being very like hyperperfectionism, then this is an indication that your system is on overload. And when we are constantly running the system, right, think about it like the motor of a car. If you just ran the car and you sat it in the driveway and you just ran the car and you had it in park and you just put it on the gas and the car wasn't going anywhere and still the car was operating like it was going 100 miles an hour. Eventually it would run out of fuel. Eventually it would burn out the motor. Eventually it would run out of oil, right? Your body is the car in this analogy, and if you are just powering forward and you're just going as fast as you can, and sure, you might, you know, slow down at the end of the day when you finish work for the day and you're just still scrolling, you'd still have your foot on the gas a little bit, right?And if you're if you're just constantly running the system, you're going to burn the system out quickly, right?The system being both your nervous system and the car in the analogy, so. It's interesting because people that are, you know, really capable often can hide this better, right?And but the subtle signs that you might notice or that you might witness in your team, and specifically, let's start with you, that you might notice that your brain is just constantly running, right?You feel like you can't just sit and relax and be present with people. You need to be moving. You're constantly fidgeting. You might feel yourself kind of. You know, tapping your foot or shaking your body out a little bit and you may feel that you you're constantly ping ponging all over the place. Like you're doing your workout or you're in yoga and your brain's like, yeah, but what about this? And what about this?And what about this? It's really challenging for you to stay in the container of whatever you're doing, right?Or you might notice you're getting snappy with your partner or your friends. And so that being said, you may notice similar things in your team, right. And so these are all things that we want to start to become aware of because not only are those behaviors that are, you know, often associated with being a really hard worker, being a very high performer, those are both qualities that are very rewarded, but they're also, you know, potentially risk factors for burning out and for overwhelming the system, right. And so. Just things to to be aware of because we want to really recognize that while the the showing up and giving it your all and all that is is is important, it needs to be done from a place of very being very present. Because a lot of times you know if people are overwhelmed internally and and they are reaching that point of exhaustion within their nervous system or within themselves. We may get to a point where they're showing up for work, but they're not actually doing anything. They're just kind of distracted and all over the place. You may notice that they're, you know, kind of wandering from task to task and they're not actually seeing any progress moving forward. So that would be an expression of flight mode, right?Or if they're just constantly, they have all sorts of questions and they're not actually doing anything. That might be a way that that freeze is showing up because freeze is still very much a stress reaction, right?We're still very present, but we're agitated and we're feeling anxious. But we're not actually doing anything, right?And so it's really important that we are present to these things within yourself. And it's really learning how to take power pauses throughout the day so that you can ground the system, right?Take your foot off the gas in a way that allows the system to settle and come back to that center state of connected awareness. So that the amygdala quiets, the prefrontal cortex comes back online so that we are able to really stay present and keep going, refuel the system so that we don't get to the point of exhaustion or get to the point of shutdown. And so it's interesting because, you know, we tend to reward these. And so what's happening is that we want to make sure that we're not overwhelming our team or. Burning them out to the point of complete shutdown or they quit or they're just not doing, they're not being productive, they're not moving forward with things because what's happening is inside the system, if they are really stressed out, if they're overwhelmed. Then the cortisol levels are constantly flowing. The adrenaline levels are constantly flowing. So right here, it's, you know, all of these things are running in the background. They're running in the background, they're draining the system, right?They're draining the system. Although on the outside, you know, they may look like they're they're just fine. But if you start to notice these more subtle symptoms, then it's really something that we want to look at because what's really interesting is that, you know. If we are in that one of those those flight modes and we're kind of multitasking and we're going here, we're going there, we're doing this, we're doing that actually diminishes our productivity significantly by like upwards of 40%, right. The American Psychological Association, it's it's not a very strong use of our time when we are going from back and forth, back and forth, right. And that's that's scattered, that's a stress reaction and so. It's really important that we just learn about these things within ourself, become a witness to them within our team so that we can become a little bit more empowering, so that we can, you know, fill up those, those energy leaks, those stress leaks. And so it's it's things that we can really become aware of. And so that's where power pauses throughout the day so that you can allow yourself these little moments that. Fuel the continued work that fuel the high level of performance that fuel that that level of well-being, that productivity and performance that you want, that you know you're capable of, that your team is capable of is so key. And it's great because these are just three minutes long. You can just take a little time out to ground yourself, to move your body, to breathe, to stretch, whatever it is, however you want to do your power pauses. Is really refreshing to the system. And it's not like, you know, you need to go on onto the rooftop and meditate for 45 minutes to get what the benefit of it is that they're very effective. It's a pause, right?They're very, they're short, they're mindful. They're moments where you are resetting your system. And so that you don't go sideways, right?You're able to use these gifts, these tools, these beautiful things that you have and that your teammates and your team members have, that they're able to use them. To the benefit, right?They're not being used in a stressed, reactive state. They're used from that really centered state. They're able to go when they need to go, but they can come back down and they can recover and then they can be able to keep going, right?Think of it more of a long duration marathon than just a fast-paced, short duration Sprint, right?We want to be able to fuel people ongoing. So that they can really be thriving and be balanced in in their system, right. So this is about taking care of them at the deepest level of their nervous system so that they are happy, they are energized, they are present, they are showing up, they are engaging, they are having good. Beautiful, ongoing, open communication with their team members. Like this is really thinking about this from a very intentional nervous system perspective that then supports the high level of performance that you're looking for, but also supports them. And 1st, I think most importantly supports them as a human being, supports them at the level of their well-being so that they truly are from a systemic level thriving and not just. Going through the motions and not just operating from that stressed out, overwhelmed, depleted state and using those stress reactions from a way that's very actually depleting them even further. That's really what this is about. And so that's truly how to stop the productivity leak is learning to recognize these things both within yourself and within your teammates. And so I would love for you to join us for the Productivity League workshop. Make sure to grab your spot for that. That is what I wanted to share with you today. I really hope that that's helpful because it's an interesting thing. It's this sort of dichotomy between making use of these gifts, of these skills, of these qualities, rewarding them, but really doing it in a way that resources them so that we can continue to make use of them so that they don't. Become depleted, right?That's what a resource is, is we want to support the resource so that it's it doesn't get completely depleted over time, both, you know, in our natural world, but and in in ourselves and in our teammates and team members. So I hope this was insightful for you. I hope that you were able to learn a little bit about your system, learn a little bit about the nervous system from a polyvagal perspective. And have something that you can begin to recognize within yourself because that's what this is, right?Is learning and empowering yourself, but from a place of non-judgmental self-awareness so that we can recognize these patterns. We can meet them with compassionate curiosity. We can recognize these these patterns, these parts of ourself and support them in a way that is is really inclusive and is very integrative. So that they are, they're really celebrated and and supported so that you know they become something that are a true asset, right. Because these things are assets. I hope you're seeing that. I hope this is making sense that these these qualities, they have incredible assets within them, but we don't want to completely deplete them, right. And when we are running them constantly, when we're operating in stress constantly. Then that's inevitably what's going to happen is we're going to burn out the system, right?Remember the car analogy. It will only go so long in park with the gas on or, you know, not necessarily in park either, even even not in drive. It will only go so long if we're not replenishing and if we're not downshifting and if we're not coming back to, you know, that idling where we're resting and recovering. So that is what I have for you this week. I hope that was really insightful. And I hope that you take this to heart, take this to mind and bring this into play in your system and also in your organization so that you can thrive beyond these stress reactions and really move beyond that to a place of full expression of yourself so that you are able to use these beautiful assets that you have, these beautiful gifts that you have in a really intentional and impactful way. So see you at the Productivity League. Have a great rest of your day, everybody, and take good care. Bye, bye.</p>
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