I was asked to speak at a Mind Circles Talk event this month about the Concept Of Self. The founder, her team, the venue and the audience were amazing. I wanted to share some of the key points explored by myself and the audience.

Our sense of self is woven together by key elements such as our past, our present, our biology, our psychology, our sense of safety and our simple and complex needs. Another reminder about the numbers behind our sense of self. The human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons, but more importantly they form 100 trillion connections to each other! The numbers are beyond our own comprehension, we are all navigating the world with our own dynamic universe inside ourselves constructing ‘controlled hallucinations’.

Our own universe is communicating and interacting with different networks/systems (e.g. Digestive, respiratory, immune, cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive. Default Mode Network, Salient Network, Central Executive Network. Fascia System) 24/7. A new field of neuroscience called connectomics is helping us to understand how neurons are connected to form interconnected networks. Their aim is to produce precise structural maps known as connectomes that may eventually give us insight into higher order interactions across emotion, thought and behaviour.

Our sense of self is interacting with multiple kinds of senses for us to interpret and perceive. Keep in mind as with all the senses our sensitivity to them are on a continuum.

Here are a handful of sensory examples:

Interoception - how we sense (or not) internally (e.g. heart rate, muscle aches, stomach pains, thirst, safety and so forth) in different environments, with different people.

Proprioception - how we sense our own body position, self movement or force (touch your nose with our eyes shut, balance, etc), it allows us to feel a physical sense of agency.

Exteroception - external senses, like sound. For example some people can find distinct sounds (e.g. chewing, crunching, heavy breathing or pen clicking) so overwhelming that it can cause an intense emotional or physical reaction, this is known as misophonia.

As we move through life we start to understand our own sensory make up, which contributes to how we can also learn to meet our own needs.

So what do I mean by needs?

As humans we have our basic physiological needs of air, water, food and shelter etc to survive. But the complex and meaningful needs are connected to the challenging stuff like: self worth, sense of purpose, sense of belonging and being comfortable in our own skin.

Here are just some of my own needs examples:

Breathing. I was a shallow breather, so I was not meeting my physiological need to give my lungs a full share of oxygenated air. I now try to consciously remember to breath deeply at certain points throughout the day.

Sense of purpose. I didn’t believe in my own strengths or capabilities so could easily dismiss any need relating to purpose. My mind works by seeing the bigger picture, so I would struggle with short-termism. Following my passion (neuroscience, sense of self, wellbeing etc) enabled me to align with my purpose and start using my voice to try and make meaningful change.

Food. As a child my diet needs were met but as an adult my beliefs and commitment to animals and the planet have changed. I have consciously chosen to not eat meat and fish for the past 7 years.

Feeling physically and psychologically safe. As I often touch on the nervous system does so much work out of conscious awareness with the senses interacting with our complex memory systems. I spent many years being on high alert regardless of being ‘safe’ in the present moment. By working with my nervous system I continue to understand its needs to feel grounded and ‘embodied’ in my body.

What I am keen to demonstrate here is how the physical, psychological and emotional elements of being human are all inextricably linked and are personal to each individual- our own distinct neuronal signature! We are messy and contradictory beings processing many conscious and subconscious elements. Try to give yourself some time and space to listen to the body and make friends with your nervous system because it is communicating valuable lessons throughout our lifetime.

In the current climate it is hard to remember the main human super powers which are: sociability and friendliness. Unsocial media, doom scrolling, constant streaming of dark news, societal polarisation is financially benefitting a small minority but causing physical, mental and emotional harm to many. In this piece I want take a goodness snapshot of being uniquely human.

Blushing: a blessing not a curse

Hide your emotions, win by any means. The problem: humans are the only species to blush- one of the ways shame, anxiety or embarrassment can visibly show itself. Unlike misplaced shame, ‘healthy shame’ serves a valuable purpose, it is the civil wonder web that binds us. The evolutionary purpose to engender trust, connection, encourage self awareness and growth, promote cooperation and non verbal communication. A blushing gift delivered from our sympathetic nervous system. It is perhaps a mystery that many people in ‘power’ are shameless, continually lying, cheating & self serving, but are put in power by the many in society who are not. However, if the messaging these leaders give (regardless of whether it is true or not) offers relief in the short term, the nervous system will often take the immediate, in the moment solution. To think deeply, long term and change takes energy and resources, which is in short supply for the majority, but we can do it.

Culture and our prediction machines

The brain is a predictory organ, it needs to be, it has to monitor energy levels and be as slick as possible to deliver real time individualised reality to our sense of self, moment to moment. The brain will learn from its environment, its experiences, to make a prediction about how to respond both in an out of conscious awareness. So therefore our culture heavily influences the electrochemical activity of our nervous system and as a result a healthy ‘civilisation’ requires culture to play ball. But, from the get go many of us are born into societies that define success through material value, individualism, competition and excessive consumerism. The brain is hoodwinked into accepting this as a social norm, a value to shape behaviour. This has resulted in us normalising the most addictive drugs available - the news and more recently social media. The news in the short term generates money by constantly feeding (mis)information about the worst of humanity, creating division, hate, to keep the drug flooding the market. To think this has been legally dispensed to young people globally too.

Follow that gaze

Paradoxically the news ‘drug’ corrupts the evidence that humans are predominately good. We need to remind ourselves that as a species we have survived due to our ability to be social and friendly. We are exceptional social learners utilising play and bonding. Aside from blushing we also have the white sclera (the area surrounding the iris) evolved, to allow us to follow the direction of peoples gaze, enhancing non-verbal communication, trust and emotions.

Talking of emotions..

Anger, sadness, excitement, happiness and not forgetting shames older sibling guilt. Notice how shame doesn’t need any words it is held within the body, often masquerading as something else. In contrast guilt requires language, intellectual thought. All these emotions can be felt often as pain. Just like the news addiction, we find ways to stop pain, in the short term, as opposed to understanding holistically the genesis. Western medicine has no interest in understanding the source but rather plays to the productivity and profit framework. We need to remember we evolved with a gamut of emotions to benefit our survival rather than demise.

Potentially we can collectively reevaluate and change the culture (s) we have created by placing our evolutionary uniqueness at the forefront. Blushing, shame, guilt, eye chemistry & so much more make us all human, lets not let the small shameless minority ruin the collective good and our natural world.

The intimate communication you have between your cognizant self and the notes being relayed from your nervous system are obviously ongoing and private unless you want to share! The somatic narrative is drawing heavily on biology, chemistry and physics (e.g. neuronal communication, hormone or neurotransmitter release or Piezo molecules noticing ‘pressure’). Ultimately the individualised reality that is produced for you at any given moment is balancing your memory & sensory data and energy capability, something I have often written about. But in this piece I want to give time to ‘time’ itself, with a nod to time in a physical sense and a psychological one.

Its all about the architecture

Recent research led by Cambridge University analysed over 4000 brain imaging datasets with a collective age range of zero to 90 years old. They pinpointed four significant topological turning points across the human life span, occurring around nine, thirty two, sixty six and eighty three years old. These ages determine five major epochs of brain architecture developments, with their own nuanced age-related alterations in the brains landscape.

From babyhood through to childhood network consolidation takes centre stage, where synapses (connections between neurons) are trimmed down and it becomes survival of the most active! Grey and white matter grow quickly in volume. Cortical folding on the outer brain stabilises.

From around 9 years the second “epoch” starts the adolescence era, white matter continues to expand, enabling the brains communications networks to strengthen and sharpen. Efficiency of connections dominates this phase which shows itself in cognitive optimisation. Epochs one and two are clearing ramping up.

The third epoch starts from 32 years. The brains structure becomes more stable compared with the first two epochs, complimenting other research which sees a respite from change in intelligence and personality. In addition brain compartmentalisation is also more noticeable.

In contrast turning points at 66 and 83 into the final two epochs witness a decrease in brain connectivity, obviously correlating with ageing and atrophy of white matter in the brain. Perhaps we could say this is the ramping down process after the plateau of the third epoch.

But what about time in the psychological sense ?

As we have explored with the epochs of the brain, physical time is measured in a linear fashion even if human development itself is not. Physical time is objective, governed by atomic clocks and astronomical cycles. In contrast psychological time is a subjective construct, with a fearful or dull minute lasting a lifetime or joyful, captivating periods passing in the blink of an eye.

Psychological time is heavily reliant on complex systems incorporating such things like -experience, sensing, language, heritage, culture and combined evolutionary history. It can move bidirectionally i.e recalling from the past ( how you felt meeting your best friend at infant school) or playing out simulations for the future ( summer 2026 beach holiday, swimming in clear blue sea). We utilise a retrospective component as well as a prospective component supporting imagination and future planning akin to chronesthesia- where we are able to time travel with ease.

Another vital element to psychological time is autonoetic (self knowing). We possess an awareness of ones sense of self as a continuous entity through time, whereby we recognise we are the same self who experienced a past event as the same self who exists in the present and will exist in the future.

Celebrate every epoch

Regardless of whether it is ‘physical’ or ‘psychological’ time try to remember in this very moment you are uniquely you, we don’t individually and collectively remain in a fixed state. Our beautiful complexity knows no bounds. In a flash ‘all time’ ultimately passes us by. No matter which epoch you are in try to be kind to yourself, fellow living beings and the planet.

Telecoupling explores the interconnectedness of distant human action and natural systems. Telecoupling takes the Greek adjective tele meaning far off or at a distance with coupling denoting an interaction between two or more systems. Coupling in a scientific sense can often indicate intricate feedback loops akin to the overall nervous system being comprised of multiple complex sub systems, with an insane amount of feedback loops.

Palm oil is a really straight forward telecoupling example, amongst many. The sending system such as Indonesia or Malaysia produce large amounts. The receiving system - Europe, China or US import palm oil for snacks, cosmetics or biofuels. This allows for flows to be established: palm oil exports, money from international trade, technology and corporate investment. Effects of sending regions: economic growth and jobs, deforestation, loss of wildlife. Effects in the receiving regions: cheaper products. Thereby action and consumerism in one part of the world directly affect ecosystems, land and economies in ‘distant’ regions.

The nervous system, our psychology and the different parts that make up our sense of self engage in a kind of telecoupling approach, albeit the tele element is just metaphorically distant! This is my playful example:

The sending system produce unsustainable needs/wants ( I need to avoid rejection at all costs, I need a vodka, I want to be ‘seen’, I want sugary foods, I want to buy more things, I want to keep scrolling. All viable options to to make us feel better in the moment. The receiving system accepts whatever is available to meet the needs/wants. This in turn allows for a flow to be formed, such as the production of unsustainable needs/wants are exported, surface level exploration and neuroplasticity ‘investments’ allow for quick immediate responses. Effects of sending region: short term satisfaction and pain avoidance. Effects on the receiving regions: needs and wants are met in the short term, loss of self worth and self belief, poorer mental, emotional and physical health in the long term. Thereby we can avoid and deny getting up close and personal with the contributory factors associated to the unsustainable needs/wants.

We seem to struggle with longtermism, which of course makes sense: preoccupying ourselves with the long term takes up energy consumption. Our biology is always trying to monitor or minimise our own energy consumption in the moment, preventing long term sustainable ‘change’, when paradoxically it would ultimately help us in the long and short term! This also makes sense as to how avoidance and denial are such powerful players in human existence.

Humans are like no other living species, our evolution has not seen much physical change but rather the evolution has focused on the mind. Our intelligence and creativity is unparalleled in many ways.

But we appear to have a limited supply of wisdom.

Humanity has forgotten to place nature at the front and centre of all human endeavour. Here are some examples in numbers:

171 trillion plastic pieces floating in the seas alone, alongside millions of tons on the seabed and beaches, harming wildlife and ecosystems globally

100 billion garments of clothes are produced annually

Global AI water use by 2027 is predicted to be the equivalent of half of the UK’s total annual water consumption

The modern day conflict: the human mind has outgrown the planet but yet without the planet there is no human mind. Maybe in 2026 we need to start listening to our bodies to find how our true purpose and our minds can work in harmony with nature.

It can be very easy to forget or to dismiss the constant stream and evaluation our internal states are managing, in relation to the environment we inhabit. The nervous system is trying to avoid harm/pain, manage energy reserves and identify opportunities. Our personalised conscious reality is also underpinned by what we ‘feel’ being heavily linked to many biological and psychological components, facilitating adaptive responses from the past as well as the present. Key aspects contributing to the internal state are the hedonic tone of the emotion and its arousal (intensity). Lets look at some examples:

The other day I found myself taking a break, sitting on a park bench, all wrapped up keeping warm. The sun was out and it was a bright blue sky. Two squirrels chasing one another caught my attention. The hedonic tone was very much in the ‘positive’ sphere. I was curious and happy so the arousal triggers were activated. In contrast, the next day, I was driving along and someone pulled out in front of me unexpectedly, leaving me trapped in the yellow box. Hedonic tone was very much in the negative, angry zone and it also triggered high arousal. As we can see the hedonic tone is on a continuum (e.g. happiness v infuriated, amused v sadness). Likewise the arousal can also remain low across positive and negative tones (e.g. gloomy or content).

Our very own brain signatures

So as all these feelings are underpinned by neurobiology, we of course all have our own distinct brain signatures and as science advances we will be able hone in further to observe individual nuances. But have you ever considered the distinction between the subjective experience, we feel, and the body’s involuntary response (autonomic reactivity), such as increased heart rate or sweating? Lets delve abit deeper.

Distinct dimensions of an emotional response

Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the two dimensions of an emotional response are not always correlated. For instance some people may have an overwhelming internal feeling of fear but a weak physical (body) reaction or vice versa. Now over the years I have had a couple of significant panic attacks, with hindsight it has always been an accumulation of emotion/mental challenges linked to past complex trauma. For me my subjective experience and autonomic response are correlated. I have experienced a loss of feeling in the extremities and extreme dizziness. I can exhale too much carbon dioxide and my hands then become rigid. But to reiterate for others there may not be a physical autonomic reaction or it could vary, here are some other examples - blood pressure, skin conductivity changes or suddenly jolting.

Uniquely YOU

Likewise just as there can be variation in autonomic responses, the sensitivity of the ‘feels’ themselves vary and of course can change across the life span (childhood, teenager, 20s, 30, parenthood, hormonal changes and beyond). If it serves you to feel the feels or even notice the lack of feels find the best and safest way for you to do that, but ultimately remember to acknowledge the complexity and wonder that makes you uniquely YOU. Dare to start working with your nervous system to understand what it needs to thrive.

I often write about the senses in some shape of form. We have trillions of electrochemical interactions, working non stop, with many other complex components and networks to produce our own individualised reality, enabling us to navigate the natural and manufactured world around us. Knowing this really helps me try to manage and support my own mental, emotional and physical wellness. It particularly helps me try to be more forgiving and kinder to myself.

Pressure from the outside world (news, social media, war, genocide, apartide, injustice, greed, consumption). Pressure from the internal world ( internal narrative, depression, cognitive rigidity, worthlessness). Pressure from the senses (too much /too little). Pressure from the past. Pressure in the present. Pressure about the future. The biological and psychological systems that in effect make us who we are, are overloaded with pressure, anxiety. As a result rather than writing 301 million people globally have an anxiety disorder, lets rewrite 301 million individual and collective nervous systems are effectively communicating a really powerful message about the world we have created.

But lets take a closer look at pressure from a different angle with biology and a splash of physics in mind.

As mentioned previously we have many different kinds of senses ( such as exteroception, interoception and proprioception) classic examples are taste and smell. They were trailblazers. For example taste allowed ocean-loving bacteria to detect nutrients swimming toward them a couple of billion years ago. Taste and smell in effect sense ‘chemicals’. But humans and our predecessors have the ability to also sense ‘physics’ -i.e. pressure.

Imagine the bladder is full or our stomachs are full- how does this force get communicated? Well, Prof Patapoutian and his team at the Scripps Research Institute unravelled the mystery. After painstaking exploration they found a tiny molecule embedded in the cells membrane that triggers an electrical current, that ranges in significance depending upon the force being ‘felt’. The molecule was aptly named Piezo (Greek for pressure). It turns out that we have hundreds of thousands of Piezo molecules throughout our bodies, including our skin, interacting with many systems ranging from breathing, blood pressure through to our ability to touch.

Our nervous systems are sensing and interpreting all kinds of signals- chemicals, pressure, light, even threat (from the past and present). The information has to be interpreted utilising our different memory components and the brains ability to predict often out of conscious awareness. Human complexity becomes even more mind boggling when we consider the variation in responses across our lifetime. For instance during a very emotional/distressing period the nervous system can ignore, in the moment, the signals from the Piezo molecules: binge eating the stomach is too full but yet food continues to be consumed in a harmful way. Then in a different emotional situation the nervous system cannot ignore the message and stops in a timely and gentle manner.

Our sense of self is comprised of many, many parts. Atoms, molecules, cells, sensing, feeling, memories and so much more, create our own unique nervous system that relies on synchronicity with other nervous systems. Celebrate YOUR ONE and try to treat it like a best friend!

I attended the anti fascism rally last week. With the current divisive, hate fuelled climate I have been thinking a lot about how the nervous system can respond in so many different ways to fear and hypocrisy. A big easy example to share: Many large organisations, both private and public have their mission statements/values clearly marked out along with their diversity, equity and inclusion frameworks embedded but yet remain silent in the face of fascism and genocide. Obviously, beyond financial ‘justification’ there are many reasons for this at an individual and collective level such as cognitive rigidity possibly underpinned by fear and energy conservation.

Fear causes many physiological responses preventing us from seeing a bigger, long term picture. We can become caught in a short term cycle of survival both in a physical and psychological sense. Our mobile phones, immediacy and 24hr information (& misinformation) addictions are fuelling this with polarisation intensifying. A recent publication carried out by researchers in Amsterdam modelled a social network entirely populated by AI -powered chatbots. They found that even the AI powered chatbots quickly establish opposing packs and magnify extremes. Also it mirrored the real world, with a small ‘elite’ group dominating, much like the billionaire world order. Ultimately, in the short term remaining in an echo chamber conserves energy, no learning or growth has to take place. Also it insulates us against rejection and vulnerability, again this plays to the brains main strength of keeping us ‘alive/safe’ in the the moment (at both a physical and psychological level). But this perpetual ‘shortermist approach’ is failing future generations and the planet.

Lets look at some approaches that are easily overlooked but yet positively challenge our current trajectory:

Embracing collective knowledge (action & intelligence) and cumulative culture. The former is concerned with collective knowledge among groups of individuals- ‘phenomena in which significantly more is achieved by the collective than is possible for any one individual alone’.

The exposure of collective knowledge has been studied across populations of animals, humans and machines. Examples include, ‘consensus decision-making’, ’the wisdom of the hive’, ‘emergent sensing’, ’collective brain’ and ‘‘collective intentionality’. Within artificial intelligence research an example is ‘swarm robotics’ and there is also, of course, a fusion of human and machine: the collective intelligence generated through largescale human–machine interactions.

The second area of interest: cumulative culture requires the forming and dissemination of traditions through social learning. Cumulative culture requires two qualitative approaches - instrumental, such as how to keep warm in the winter, the introduction and evolution of tools ( the first stone tool dates back 3.3million years ago) enhancing our ability to hunt, eat and clothe ourselves. The second approach is social convention (how to perform a ceremonial dance or coming of age ritual). We acquire such ability through imitation and conformity. Culture has often been described as a unique feature of being human but animal and machine observations indicate otherwise.

The key point is living beings and even machines collectively build upon shared knowledge transmission over time. Human expansion relied upon cumulative culture to enable us to thrive in such diverse habitats from the tropics to the tundra regions. We are complex multidimensional beings who often forget our biological and psychological journey to this current point.

We also forget our need for synchronicity with nature

Going beyond the one dimensional ‘westernised’ culture currently based on individualism and shorttermism would benefit humans and the natural world. A recent positive example includes utilising legal personhood, (which allows an entity to exist in the legal system by entering contracts etc.) Usually this process is limited to human beings and corporations. But the concept is also being applied to non human entities. The Whanganui River in New Zealand and the Komi Memem River in Brazil have been granted this status. Viewing and respecting nature as living entities can remind us we are not superior to it. This in turn may help to ease the spread of cognitive rigidity and ‘anxiety existing’ as many different wonderful cultures around the world evidence.

Even jellyfish (pictured) prove you don’t need a highly developed brain to learn individually, its remembering to challenge and question what & why we are being taught and who does it benefit not just in the short term but the long term?!

This maybe a big ask but as you read this stop and consider how your own personalised nervous system got to this point in time, whether it be good, bad or indifferent. Lets start way back at a macro level and I mean way back!

Planet earth was created approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Fast forward to approx 850 million years ago where the supercontinent of Rodinia was in existence, there were no plants and no animals. The only life form appeared as bacteria clumped together forming living mats, found in the coastal water. But in this time something new appeared -large cells stood above over the living mats. It turns out these microbes are ancestors to animal life. They are not bacteria but eukaryotes and the first cells with a nucleus powered by sunlight and food from the bacteria and minerals from the land mass. As you can imagine a rather basic, dull eco system but an interconnected system none the less.

Then bang- tectonic plates shift and Rodinia is tearing itself apart. For millions more years the land mass reshaped causing new river and coastal formations, which in turn led to land minerals pouring into the oceans. As a result the eukaryote population boomed -colonising and contributing to a more advanced eco system.

Notice how no living process exists in isolation and its cyclical. Evolution does not always ensure survival.

Now fast forward to just 7million years ago and the human family tree starts to evolve ultimately ending with our current form homo sapiens, derived from the latin meaning ‘wise human’. With time our brains have become larger, brain organisation has streamlined, we can be exceptional at learning from our experiences and those around us. We have populated the world across different terrain and environments. We have moved from a nomadic to static existence. Language, symbolism, culture, abstract thought sets us apart from other living beings.

But are we really collectively wise ?

Well the jury is out and what we do know is the world we have manufactured does not seem to compliment our nervous systems.

Homo sapien children grow up much more slowly than earlier human ancestors (homo habilis, homo erectus, homo neanderthalensis etc) taking longer to get to sexual maturity. Now the reasoning behind this is we need a really long time to learn how to use these brains of ours. If we can stay in childhood as long as possible the longer we can learn, but surely we are reliant upon enriched learning environments with movement, play, creativity, nature and collaboration being the focus. This is certainly not what we currently offer the majority of the worlds young population where processed food, cognitive centric, one dimensional static learning dominates, ultimately to fuel the corporate machines benefitting a tiny minority.

Our nervous systems are of course reliant upon the building blocks of the mega past on a macro level but also our building and learning blocks at a micro level (our family, our childhood, our friends, our schools, our community & our culture).

Interaction, resilience and intrigue are our superpowers but artificial intelligence, the digital world and extreme capitalism continue to negatively manipulate these powers. The brain is often working with immediacy and short term survival at a physical and psychological level. We are fed information and opinion (truth and lies) 24/7 activating the many systems, networks and feedback loops the nervous system juggles.

If you often feel that your nervous system is failing remember the mind boggling complexity it is dealing with to keep you alive in each moment, not just in the ‘now' but it is drawing from the past on how to respond. It is doing what evolution designed which is to keep you ‘safe’ in an extremely hostile world. Each nervous system is constantly adapting to the sensory data coming from the outside environment and our internal world. With that in mind maybe real wisdom is finding what simple things take you from survival to embodied thriving. It could be walking in nature, watching the sunrise, catching up with an old friend, reading a good book, a swim, a kick about, stretching, smiling at a stranger or infinite other ways to help the brain revitalise the present moment and empower the future.

Us humans are amazing, beautiful and so much more than the sum of our parts but like the eco systems we are all interconnected, not only to other humans but to the natural world. Lets find a better, kinder way.

The ongoing journey of understanding our sense of self often requires an openness to explore beneath the surface, both in and out of conscious awareness. The individualised reality each nervous system is producing via the senses, memory components and complex networks is quite literally mind blowing. Individually and collectively it can lead to really challenging questions being asked: Why do I binge eat? Why do I drink too much ? Why do I have a visceral response to unfairness ? Why am I so materialistic? Why am I too empathetic ? Why do I feel so angry? Why don’t I feel anything ? What is our purpose? What can we do to feel safe? The list is infinite.

Pain Management and Energy Conservation

Obviously there is an array of different complex answers to challenging questions and our environment has played its part in some shape or form. But keep in mind ‘nature’ will ensure there is diversity in ‘coping approaches’ and simply navigating life itself e.g. numb the pain or avoid pain with alcohol. Or fill the ‘emotional hole' with food, in the short term both are a great fix but totally unsustainable. In contrast imagine having a nervous system that is bankrupt of empathy and cognitive flexibility. It would appear many humans from the past and present live with this affliction. Humans also have a powerful ability to avoid and/or deny both in and out of conscious awareness. Interestingly this appears to generate a swarm like effect, with many humans taking this approach (such as avoid/deny genocide, fascism or climate change). From a biological standpoint it can offer safety but just like the coping strategies above, avoid and/or deny potentially conserves energy &/or avoids pain but only in the short term. Ultimately the problem(s) & or trauma(s) remain often intensifying until avoid and denial becomes a redundant option.

Perhaps it is that deep after all….

Our emotional, thinking, movement, sensory data and memory systems are working tirelessly, both on and beneath the surface. But it is not just society, the environment or culture influencing our reality, it is also at the micro level. Lets explore some lesser known potential contributors to our individualised reality through a cellular lens:

Microchimerism- this is for the Mums out there!

A ‘chimera’ is a fanciful being.. think pheonix, mermaid, dragon, made up of parts from different animals. Now biologically a microchimera is a person made up from cells from more than one genetic origin. During pregnancy a baby’s cells can venture over the placenta and stay sometimes for decades or even a lifetime in Mum’s body. Fetal cells have been found in Mum’s brain, heart, lungs, liver and blood, even supporting healing. Likewise Mum’s cells can also enter the fetus. Such a two-way cellular exchange demonstrates the ethereal wonder of humanity.

More cycles and synchronicity

Now lets look at a different group of cells known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). This is a tiny cluster of cells in the hypothalamus of the brain (found above the roof of your mouth) that acts as the body's master clock, regulating circadian rhythms, including the sleep-wake cycle. It works with various hormones including cortisol, forming a pattern of release to ensure stimulation but also relaxation. But what is particularly clever is how cortisol can curate its own rhythm independently. For example the SCN can start to adjust and prepare ahead of the alarm going off after just 3 or 4 mornings of a new routine, because it learns from the initial spike in cortisol when we first started to react to the alarm going off. This is entrainment, where different rhythms influence one another and form a synchronicity to preempt.

Regardless of whether it is tiny cells doing their thing or a global human crisis it ALL contributes to OUR individual constructed reality. Humans are multi dimensional, connected to the natural world, our sense of self and fellow humans. Imagine creating a world that reflected this.

My writing always try’s to express how we all benefit from daring to understand the many complex networks and memory components (e.g. salient, default mode, central executive networks or factual, emotional, genetic memory components) that contribute to our individualised reality, but a different kind of network called the fascia system does not get much air time…lets remedy that now.

Wonder web

The word fascia originates from the Latin word fascia which means bandage, ribbon or bundle. The fascia is a network of connective tissue that acts as a web supporting the entire body. There are four main layers: superficial, deep, visceral and parietal. Collectively this mesh magic surrounding our muscles, nerves, blood vessels, bones, tendons, ligaments and organs is integral to our wellbeing, impacting our movement, emotions, thoughts and senses. There is a growing body of research associated with the fascia system and poor mental/physical health, such as inflammation, pain, including pain perception, anxiety and depression. Again this research is only what many people & communities across the globe have been saying since day dot, but our reductionist, one dimensional model of wellness struggles with this.

Now, I am not particularly bendy or agile but if I don’t move my body a lot throughout the day I struggle, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. In particularly if I haven’t stretched out my body, something the fascia system takes a leading role in. But aside from stretching if I am stressed, triggered, exhausted or dissociated my fascia system seems to be very influential in expressing that to me, which of course makes sense when it is enabling things like our muscles to contract and relax.

Slick & smooth or dry & sticky

When the fascia is thriving it is slick and smooth but when the fascia is struggling it can get drier and sticky, impacting at a general or local level movement, agility, nerve pain and organ related pain. Interoception is our body’s ability to sense how we feel. The highly innervated fascia system including the blood vessels, the hormonal and neurotransmitter receptors is integral to this process. It would also appear that the fascia system acts as mediator between the nervous system, immune regulation and emotional regulation.

Complex interplay

All these different networks and systems are managing a delicate complex interplay to allow us to navigate the world moment by moment. This interplay relies heavily on memory, not just bog standard trivial pursuit memory but the important stuff like emotional, embodied and generational memory. This in turn makes sense as to how dynamic our sense of wellness can be. Many other cultures have always understood the importance of respecting integrated systems across movement, emotion, the senses, cognition, memory and more broadly across societies and the natural world. When we start to see things through interconnected systems, we value the component parts, like the fascia system, but also its greater collective whole.

The personalised universe in our brain and body is constantly communicating with the world around us and our internal biology. With so much electrochemical activity taking place it probably won’t surprise you that a relatively new field of neuroscience called connectomics is mapping and exploring connections within the nervous system, most notably the brain. With trillions of connections to unravel it is hoped we will have a greater insight into different networks and higher order interactions across emotion, thought and behaviour.

From the get go, humans need to ‘network’ with fellow humans for survival, but lets delve internally a bit deeper into some potential brain networks that contribute to creating our own individualised reality: the Default Mode Network (DMN), the Central Executive Network (CEN) and the Salient Network.

The DMN is an interconnected group of brain regions, active during rest and sleep, it comes alive during daydreaming. It appears to be less active when the brain becomes focused on ‘external’ goal orientated tasks. When the brain isn’t actively engaged in a specific cognitive focus the ‘default’, subconscious activity enables such things as -mind wondering, ‘me time’ escapism or imaginative free styling! Not surprisingly this area is involved with creating a sense of self and contemplating others thoughts and feelings. It draws upon elements like childhood memory patterns in relation to how we felt, what we sensed. It also considers perception in relation space and time.

Obviously we need to counterbalance the DMN. This is done when the CEN comes active. It is driven more by goal orientated demands being activated. Here’s a simple example:

So you are in deep thought staring out of the window, internal thoughts & feelings are not adhering to any regime or boundary (DMN is active/ CEN less active). All of a sudden a colleague comes over and demands a new excel report to be created (DMN less active / CEN active). This is all mediated by the Salient Network switching between the two states. The Salient Network relies on external and internal sensory data being streamed, such as noticing a distinct smell or sound. Internally it will notice bodily sensations (i.e fear or joy) and changes.

Like everything in life we have to find a balance, some people can have overwhelming challenges with the DMN becoming overactive. In contrast living life in constant CEN mode may be rather robotic. Try to remember the beautiful complexity underpinning you, we are obviously so much more than distinct networks and ultimately the networks need to work in synergy! Our sense of self is woven together by key elements such as our past, our present, our biology, our psychology and our sense of safety. Outwardly remember the importance of respecting and appreciating our individual differences - no brain is the same. Whereas inwardly notice and build ongoing awareness to find what serves you and your networks best !!

I passionately believe in interconnected systems. Everyday examples of this include how the moon affects the tides on Earth; how emotions impact financial markets; how stress and trauma interact with mental and physical health; and how fossil fuels and deforestation are destroying the planet.

Remember we are full of alive electrochemical networks working tirelessly to keep us physically and psychologically safe, even if it doesn’t always seem that way. These networks make up our nervous system managing everything, such as- our dreams, our immune system, our thinking, our feeling, our memories and our vast sensing capability. It goes way beyond conscious present awareness and observational behaviour.

In a world becoming ever more polarised and hostile how can we move from what appears to often be chronic stress mode to bigger picture, positive change mode? As I have discussed previously our memory and sensory components are integral but lets look at other aspects:

Movement

We have normalised sitting for long periods for decades. TV, computers, office jobs, mobile phones and of course social media has kept us very sedentary. A cultural trend that is contributing to poor health, wellbeing and lack of creativity. Here’s how:

Research is showing us that creativity is increased by the simple act of moving the body. Regular activity can initiate structural changes which can complement working memory, attention and information processing. It can also engender mind wondering, promoting connections between thoughts and novel ideas. Fresh oxygen also allows for protein production that is good for the brain cells. Contrast that to the millions of people just sitting, only moving their fingers all day, it’s no wonder that our limited physical movement repertoire has stunted creativity and curiosity. Also there is a growing movement, who believe (like me) that perception, cognition and emotion are woven together, this entangled interaction would possibly further justify why movement is so integral.

All heart

The gut and heart exemplify this entanglement. Neurons are not only found in the gut but also in our heart. Neuroscience has shown there are approximately 40,000 neurons found in our hearts, interacting via our vagus nerve. This bidirectional highway influences attention, perception and emotion. This once again underscores how the mind and body is an integrated system, we are so much more than surface level cognition. Remember when your heart aches or races it is communicating wholeheartedly!

Dig a little deeper and we are even reminded that the heart generates an electromagnetic field that research indicates is stronger than the brain. This maybe influencing the synchronicity of physiological rhythms and emotional regulation explored briefly and very simply here via a mechanism known as ephatic coupling.

So as usual I am building a picture of human complexity something we are all managing 24/7 and this is before we add cognition into the mix.

Cognitive flexibility (or rigidity)

With the vast amount of information and multiply opinions we now have access to, cognitive flexibility is a hot topic. Some examples of cognitive flexibility include believing there are many ways to perform a task or solve a problem. Being open to consider other peoples opinions and suggestions. Feeling at peace with abstract or hypothetical concepts that do not have a single, clear answer. In contrast we also have cognitive rigidity where it can be very difficult to shift thought patterns or mental sets. Of course this can make it very challenging to adapt to an ever changing environment or new information.

Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, the pioneer of political neuroscience Leor Zmigrod found people with doctrinaire views and those found on the political extremes display more cognitive rigidity. The research also highlights how there are neurobiological differences between people with moderate or extreme ideologies. It is also worth keeping in mind that for all human beings when we are under stress the rigidity becomes more acute, this makes sense because ultimately we are trying to conserve energy to survive physical or psychological threat (s). This in turn makes the need for us to collectively foster healthier, fairer and diverse societies, even greater.

As we navigate through each day try to remember how amazing the body and brain are. Try to move as much as possible. Try to take heed of gut and heart instincts. Try to notice when cognitive flexibility is available or not. Nervous system mastery is ongoing and multidimensional. Its benefits can improve resilience, creativity, curiosity, intuition, health and serendipity! Something we ALL benefit from.

Our first 2000 days in the world take us up to 5 years old. These days are integral for shaping our sense of self, our sense of safety, our sense of worthiness led by how our nervous system interprets and lays down patterns of what is felt within and out of our conscious awareness. All underpinned by our unique biology -no brain is the same.

While such beautiful complexity is being created we are also incredibly inquisitive. Between the ages of 2-5 we ask approximately 40,000 questions of why. We are learning and framing the world around us. Why is the sky blue? Why do we have to hurry? Why do birds fly? Why are we going to the shops? Of course this process takes up considerable energy because we are building out neuronal connections, growing mentally, physically and emotionally. Keeping in mind, at this tender age, we have no way of knowing if what we are learning and sensing is positive, negative, nourishing or unhealthy. It simply is our individual lived experience.

Many years ago, for one reason or another, I found myself at one of the very big theme parks in Florida, America. It was opening time and the national anthem started playing. Everyone stopped and stood to attention. Not one person could tell me why this was happening. I found it really odd and I felt really uncomfortable. If only humans maintained the same intense ability throughout life to notice and to ask why, not only for surface level understanding but in relation to emotional and somatic awareness. But the western world has collectively failed at empowering us all to ask and understand ‘why’ in relation to the body, brain & planet interactions and communications. This approach suits an exceptionally small minority who are power and money obsessed.

To reiterate in the short term it is not necessarily energy efficient to ask why but yet paradoxically if we consistently fail to explore the bigger picture and the longterm we all lose. Surely to utilise our ‘real intelligence’ we have to consciously override the short-termist approach. Real growth and change comes from asking why, being curious with who we are, our purpose and why we behave in certain ways. This requires bravery, empathy and vulnerability. This not only takes energy but also time. Furthermore it is made even harder when the world we now inhabit is dominated by:

Artificial food

Artificial beauty

Artificial connection

Artificial intelligence

Artificial misinformation

Artificial marketing

The body and our mental wellness will show if we are ignoring our true sense of self. For example- where is your nervous system spending much its time? Is it in functional freeze or a dissociative, depressive, anxious or angry state? If yes, start with gently asking why? Dare to get curious with the world around you, your past, your present, your future. Why do I really feel like this? What do I need? What happened to me? Who makes me feel safe, truly safe in a psychological and physical sense?

We do have a choice to make this a fairer and better world. Although key patterns are established during those first 2000 days, the nervous system is not fixed, it is more than capable of establishing new, healthier patterns.

But, above all try be kind to yourself. Admittedly that is not easy but we can keep trying.

Last year I attended an event at a London based university. A senior lecturer spoke about how the brain can respond to disagreement and strategies for enhancing communication during difficult conversations. I have to admit I left feeling exceptionally disappointed and somewhat concerned. Sadly, their research was driven solely by language, one dimensional intellect, akin to AI.

But why is one dimensional intellect such a problem? Let me explain.

AI is amazing for things like language models and image generation. The tech companies have spent many years harvesting from our global digital life, our text, our images, our sounds, trillions and trillions of pieces of our data. Keep in mind we collectively have never been consulted or compensated for these pieces of ‘memory’ to contribute to the creation of the AI world that now exists. Furthermore AI is only as robust and valid as the information and misinformation it has been fed, or not, by us.

Humans in everyday life process staggering amounts of data, utilising our complex memory capability. Unlike technology, our brains contain living cells with a metabolism. Oxygen and energy are needed to keep them functioning. Every interaction with ‘technology’ such as Instagram, LinkedIn, TiK Tok or AI means we are expending energy. For a moment compare our cognitive load to 10 years ago let alone 100 years ago. It perhaps really is no shock our mental and physical health is taking a collective hit, expressing itself via anxiety, depression and inflammation.

But aside from the importance of energy consumption. AI is not conscious, it is not sensate. Deepseek or ChatGTP has probably read most of the internet but it has no concept of reality. Much like many areas of psychology AI works on surface level cognition. It does not consider our complex multifaceted capabilities, incorporating elements such as: our interoceptive, exteroception and proprioceptive capability, our emotional embodied memories, genetic memories, our energy needs, our interconnected brain-body-movement-system.

If like me you find this world very physically, mentally and emotionally overwhelming at times, you are not alone. Remember AI is the product of incredibly complex mathematical ordering. In contrast, we are made up of a rich historical tapestry of biology and psychology contributing to our sense of self. We need real connection, purpose, movement, community and a sense of safety to thrive. We are part of nature not superior to it.

Have you ever considered your own relationship with rejection? We may not realise it but it features directly or indirectly in all aspects of our lives. This is not just confined to romantic rejection but rejection of things like our identity, appearance and beliefs.

Rejection is processed in the same area of the brain as physical pain, this is why rejection really does hurt. This allows us to marry psychology and biology more easily and highlight that sensitivity to rejection is on a continuum and may change throughout the lifespan. At its most severe rejection or even perceived rejection can be excruciating with a physical wound sensation. It would therefore make sense that humans can deploy many kinds of avoidance tactics to protect against the sensation, even if we aren’t consciously aware that is what we are doing!

Our senses (sight, taste, touch, hearing, interoception etc) are constantly picking up what is happening in our environment and feeding this back to the brain/nervous system. The brain acts like a prediction machine on how to respond to any given environment, with our nervous system keeping us safe at any cost, which of course means avoiding pain whether it be physical or psychological. Its response is governed by previous experiences. Here is a ‘simple’ example to explore:

1. As a child our ideas and/or creativity are ridiculed and dismissed by a parent/primary care giver.

2. The rejection is very painful.

3. Our nervous system deploys a strategy to protect against any future similar scenarios.

4. It chooses dissociation (become separated from our body, our sense of self) and people pleasing.

5. Our ideas and creativity are silenced to avoid the chance of them being rejected again.

6. But other peoples ideas are wonderful and amazing.

Our coping strategies are often chosen at a subconscious level. Here’s why:

The nervous system was there originally to protect our physical bodies (e.g. freeze, dissociation, fight and flee). Therefore if a predator is coming towards us, we don’t want to waste time engaging in cognitive thought of what are the best options. We want the nervous system to do it for us out of conscious control. Great for physical danger but perhaps not always so helpful for a psychological one. Nonetheless it is still our nervous system trying to protect us.

We all have to manage rejection every day of our lives, of course it is part of being a human being. Ranging from the big things mentioned in the opening to things like no email response back, not getting promotion or colleagues arranging a meeting without you. Maybe just start to notice how your nervous system responds to rejection. Getting curious with what our own nervous system is communicating can engender new pathways in the brain to be forged, with old coping strategies being thanked for their good work and reassured they are no longer needed. Equally maybe start to notice family, friends and colleagues and their sensitivity to rejection because the more aware we are the more chance we have of creating a kinder and sustainable world.

Many animals enter the world pretty much with their brain architecture set to control their bodies and navigate the world. Humans don’t, we are born helpless. We can take approximately 25 years to get the initial brain wiring ship shape. Our environment and biology are both equally important in dictating what neuronal connections and networks are created and strengthened. They are also personal to each individual brain, cultivating our sense of self.

But let’s look at this more closely by introducing something called misattunement. Simply put it is when we are out of sync with others, our needs are not noticed, acknowledged or met. Now reconsider it through the eyes of a baby or child, who has no intellectual understanding. But instinctively craves the basic needs such as milk, shelter, warmth and the more complex like love, synchronicity, trust and safety.

Here are some simple examples:

Leaving a baby to cry it out alone. The baby senses and perceives no one will help and that there is no healthy synchronicity. The baby’s safety network has laid down this pattern without cognition. If a baby had intellectual thought and language it would probably be thinking ‘its best I stop crying, shut down and disconnect’.

A child says ‘I am hungry’. The response ‘ you are not hungry, you are always saying you are hungry’. The response from the primary care giver is misattuned to the basic need.

A child says ‘I’m scared’. The response ‘ don’t be stupid, you really need to grow up and behave’. The response from the primary care giver is totally out of sync, ignoring the more complex need about emotional security around how they feel and sense.

If there is significant misattunement during these crucial years the brain, nervous system and body becomes ‘emotionally’ malnourished. As a result the brain may well pick (out of conscious control) distinct coping strategies that carry through life. For example people pleasing because without conscious awareness the brain and body mistakenly believes ‘my needs don’t matter, so I will be really helpful to everyone else and not worry about myself’. Or other strategies could be dissociation, or anger or avoidance.

It probably won’t surprise you to read that burn out cycles, anxiety, depression, addictions and many other mental health challenges may be linked to misattunement. However, remember the beauty and wonder of the brain is with the ‘wiring’, via neuroplasticity, can establish new pathways to deploy new healthier strategies and find synchronicity.

The key point here we are more than intellectual thought. The brain is beautifully entangled embracing emotion, the senses, different types of memory, perception, biology, electrochemical reactions, the past, the present and cognition. Let’s utilise this to find a kinder and more sustainable world, something that is needed more than ever.

The Anthropocene ( ‘anthropo’ is greek for human and ‘cene’ means new) is a term used by many scientists to represent the planets history in regard to human influence. There is an ongoing debate as to whether we are officially in a new geological Anthropocene age but placing that aside what we cannot contest is the fact that we have affected at least 83% of the planet’s land surface, negatively impacting biodiversity, oceans, ecosystems and so much more.

But what does the Anthropocene have to do with nervous system mastery? Well let me explain. Our nervous system is an interconnected, multifaceted, complex system just like our planet. Humans work with multiple types of sensory data from external ( such as sight, touch, taste) and internal sources from within our physical body ( numerous examples including stomach pains, feeling relaxed, safe, knees aching, knowing we need the loo). All of this data is being streamed 24/7 and is being aided by our extensive memory components to help us build out our reality.

The different types of memory :

factual/intellectual (FI) memory examples- remembering our name, age, address, the name of the film viewed at the cinema, the location of the cinema or boring stuff like details for a mortgage application

procedural memory examples- learning to walk, riding a bike

emotional memory examples- how we felt on a blind date, wedding day, first day at school or a new job, how attuned we felt with our primary care givers as babies

embodied memory examples- a pain from being hurt but yet we may not remember how or why

There is also generational memory akin to geologists mapping the planets past. For example researchers made use of mice love of cherries. The smell of cherries would prompt them to hunt out the cherry treat. But scientists in America exposed a group of mice to a cherry like smell and then immediately to a mild electric shock. The mice quickly learned to freeze every time they smelled the cherries. They then had pups who had no exposure to cherries or electric shocks. The pups then had pups themselves and this is when the experiment resumed.

Now I personally struggle with any animal testing and could not do it myself. But placing my opinion to one side the results were very important. It turns out the grandpups were very fearful and more sensitive to the smell of cherries. The DNA in the grandfather mouse’s sperm had changed shape, which rerouted nerve cells connected to pleasure and reward, towards patterns connected to fear instead.

It would appear conflict, neglect, violence and abuse is not only held within the body but the genes too. Of course many us do not need science to validate what we already believed in regard to generational trauma but just as trauma changes our biology so does curiosity and empathy too. It reinforces the need to approach mental and physical health differently in all aspects of our society. Furthermore, it also highlights how our different types of memory do not always work in sync. For example FI memory, unlike the others, work with language and understanding time. Interestingly this is also a perfect illustration of why AI and humans differ. AI generally requires a language model to learn and unlearn, humans don’t, we also have a somatic narrative, exemplified by the different memory components, that are held in and out of conscious awareness. Neuroscience is also demonstrating how the brainstem and subcortical areas are contributing to our cognitive intellect, adding more weight to the brain and body interplay.

Therefore with all this complexity I wanted to give a shout out to the importance of consciously maintaining curiosity about our sense of self. Self awareness is daring to look & ask questions of one’s self. Its an ongoing process of understanding, requiring vulnerability and bravery. Throughout our lifespan we are constantly establishing patterns about our behaviour, motivations, feelings, needs, thoughts and perceptions all entwined with memory. Just as geology can show the planets history so can our bodies and genes. Fortunately, however, neuroplasticity allows for learning and unlearning to unravel old patterns and old memories replacing them with healthier patterns if need be. Admittedly not an easy process but none the less possible when we create the right environments.

May 2025 allow for more leaning into complexity, more curiosity, more empathy, to give our brains, bodies and the planet a better chance to thrive.

As we enter the festive season I thought I would unite social connection and communication with a sprinkling of neuroscience. It is not just in childhood that we need other humans to survive and thrive but throughout our lifespan. Whether it is in the office or boardroom, having a kick about in the park with family, a bite to eat with friends, collaborating with fellow side hustlers or even an interaction with a stranger these social connections impact our brains personalised, dynamic architecture. This of course has profound implications for society as a whole but also allows us to highlight the importance of psychological & physical safety, the power of self awareness and diversity. We need to also ensure when changes are implemented to enhance human development that they are embodied rather than just a cognitive, tick box exercise.

As we ebb and flow through life the brain is tuning and pruning adjusting to familiar patterns and people. Notice how we can all play certain roles in family or friend dynamics or professional group dynamics, well from an energy efficiency perspective this is good news for the brain. For example dendrites (derived from Greek meaning tree) the receiving part of a neuron become bushier, more efficient, ultimately contributing to sharpening the brains predictive capability. Yep all very helpful until we no longer want what we currently have or we realise that role keeps us small, irrelevant or unchallenged. It could be a career change, leaving an organisation, ending a relationship, confronting the same voice’s in meetings, establishing healthier boundaries with a colleague or family member. For change to take place those bushy dendrites contributing to ‘same old’ or ‘business as usual’ will need to become straggly, with other new connections forming and taking priority. This all takes its toll on the ‘energy kitty’ and probably why at a micro and macro level we tend to keep the status quo!

As social beings we have multiple ways to communicate: Speaking, silence, movement, signing, writing, avoiding, artistic expression the list goes on. But our brains also have many ways to communicate too. There is neuron to neuron where electricity and different chemicals are communicated. Such as glutamate, a neurotransmitter playing a key role in brain function, memory and learning. Or hormonal communication via the bloodstream. For example melatonin is a hormone the brain produces in response to darkness and supports our sleep / wake cycle, amongst other things. Or cortisol a hormone heavily involved in the stress response and blood sugar levels.

But it turns out there are even more magical ways our beautiful brain communicates. Such as the lesser known mechanism called ephatic coupling. Neurons are full of electric and magnetic interactions to power the cell, which in turn produces electric fields. Now these fields can be strong enough when precisely positioned to influence neighbouring cells! A relatable, albeit simplistic comparison could be made to seeing one human start to powerfully dance or sing and other humans follow: a contagion effect full of energy.

We are all full of energy, even if/ when we don’t feel energetic. Our social connections and communication options are so rich but yet we can easily forget to utilise them. Understanding our own individualised electrochemical wonder to play our part in this very demanding world is an ongoing learning process. Maybe dare to lean in to the complexity and even celebrate it!!

Understanding how our own brain, body and mind interacts with the world is an ongoing process and of course individualised. Energy levels, sense of safety, purpose, our past, our genetics and so much more are playing out real time for each and everyone of us. No human being ever fully masters self awareness but we can always learn something new and this is a key component to nervous system mastery. The brains ability to change and adapt throughout our lifespan is the wonder of neuroplasticity. By exploring things like our behaviours, our triggers, our emotional responses we can find new ways to serve ourselves better and ultimately contribute to better brain health and thriving societies.

What appears to be a key factor in brain and societal health is immediacy. Collectively our attention spans are being challenged. Social media ‘feeds’ are doing just that feeding us and we are consuming at an exceptional rate. The 24/7 information or disinformation consumption means we are overloaded. But this is not just from scrolling, we have had years of email streams too. I was programmed to respond immediately or it would niggle me until it was dealt with!

Take a moment to think of the sensory load just in relation to screen/tech time. We are dealing with changes in light, shape, viewpoint, plus nuances such as our ability to blink so there is the constant management of motion of our eyes, head and body. All this takes energy. But more importantly think of the psychological and emotional demands all these streams, feeds and scrolling takes from us. Most notably how hypocrisy & trauma is now seen in real time and it is visible all the time. Food parcels being dropped by the same countries who supply the arms to inflict genocide. Climate change being ignored, elite sport funded by activities that are killing the planet. Individuals and organisations involved in people trafficking, sexual abuse and violence. Leaders & shareholders being paid well for failure.

We also have a proliferation of access to opinions and personal experiences. A few decades ago there would be a printed version of news that remained the same for 24 hours. Plus a newsreader telling us just once or twice a day the state of play, albeit partisan. Now history, human complexity, devastation and ambiguity is laid bare like never before. Such powerful stories and testimonies understandably demand change and justice. This individually and collectively takes its toll too.

But beyond our access to information and disinformation, could the speed and demand of our modern day in general, be directly or indirectly contributing to mental health issues? Lets just take a look at burn out. Burn out is predominately associated with chronic stress, often in the workplace but not always. The key elements are energy depletion /exhaustion, reduced professional effectiveness and feelings of cynicism or negativity towards the job/ or in general. Here are some potential elements at play:

Biology: remember the brain and body require energy to thrive, if we constantly deplete our batteries, burn out is more likely. Just like the planet, our energy consumption requirements are multifaceted, complex and interconnected.

Authenticity: what really underpins your own burn out ? There are many different factors, here are just a few examples: a default safety mechanism to people please, a fear of rejection or setting boundaries or perfectionist tendencies. I know personally I can relate to these examples and how they feed in to one another. Once again this highlights the importance of neuroplasticity, I can recognise these patterns and consciously choose to try manage them to my advantage or find a new approach. This certainly is not easy but incremental changes and an ongoing openness to try to learn from failure rather than fearing it has helped.

Purpose: mentally and emotionally humans need a sense of purpose, which is bigger than ourselves.  Therefore in contrast to short-termism maybe we would benefit from reacquainting ourselves with cathedral thinking. In the Middle Ages cathedrals could require 200 years or more to complete. For example Notre Dame Cathedral was initiated by a generation that laid the foundations and then their children and subsequent generations would continue the work. In essence contributing to something in the present that will offer greatness in the future. Modern day equivalent examples could be ongoing collective building and nurturing of Wikipedia or exploring and understanding the solar system and beyond.

Burn out is not classified as a medical condition. It is crucial we remember that burn out is not a disease but a hallmark of the world we have constructed. Likewise think how many other mental and physical health challenges are linked to the environment? At its core humans are navigating an increasingly violent and contradictory world. Whether it is in a professional or personal capacity getting up close and personal with our biology and psychology can individually and collectively start to engender change. This in turn can support nervous system mastery, whereby we can understand and try to challenge unhelpful, counterproductive, short term actions or even inaction. Lets find a better way for our brains, bodies, minds and planet to thrive.

Trauma: accidental, malicious, complex, in childhood, in adulthood, vicarious, generational impacts us all directly or indirectly and we can all respond in different ways, which is on a continuum. We are an electro chemical interaction of our past and present. The brain, nervous system and body are interconnected, where safety is sensed.

From a very young age I was having a constant battle with chronic fatigue. I was eventually given that as an 'official' diagnosis. The diagnosis never really sat well with me and definitely contributed to my fascination with neuroscience. I would watch how my nervous system would respond to its environment, especially the people in the environment, causing symptoms to fluctuate significantly. But without doubt even if I was up raring to go physically, my body was carrying an overwhelming ‘weight’. That weight had no language or intellect to connect to it. It was a feeling, a sense, all connected to emotional, embodied memories. Yes the irony, it is easy to forget that memory is not just about remembering the Prime Minister in 1976 or our numerous passwords. It is also about memory that is held and felt in the body, without intellectual cognition. Simple examples could be remembering the feeling of walking into a new school for the first time or riding a bike.

For me anxiety, burn out, depression, dissociation and complex post traumatic stress would all subsequently feature. Again notice just like chronic fatigue these are all ways the body and nervous system are communicating via feeling and sensing because the body never forgets even if we can’t consciously remember and/or understand. This shows an exceptional amount of emotional and physical intellect, yet paradoxically the western world has disordered it! Our medical and societal models force cognitive intellect upon sensing and feeling without understanding any context or exploring the real origins beyond the misguided notion of blame it all on the genes or the discredited chemical imbalance theory.

My body and nervous system was holding trauma from the start. I had no verbal language or cognitive understanding to explain or comprehend the abuse and neglect I had endured personally or generations previous. Just like a soldier the nervous system and body are still in combat mode, even when you can cognitively intellectualise the war has ended. Of course this comes with added complexity when trauma comes from childhood by virtue of the fact emotional, perceptual, physical, sensing and cognitive networks are obviously in their infancy, creating vital connections, especially in relation to trust in ourselves and others.

In addition the nervous system and body has an ability to internalise what happens. This can range from too much, too quickly such as physical/sexual violence abuse, a car crash or a terror attack. Equally too little for too long is equally as overwhelming and injury inducing (especially from childhood) such as emotional neglect,  attachment/ attunement issues, poverty, prejudice or narcissistic primary caregiver(s). This can also lead to MISPLACED shame and blame being incorrectly allocated on ourselves. Now on the face of it you may find this strange but shame, for example, can be incredibly helpful. Here’s how - if you need to be ‘out the way’, ‘insignificant’ to avoid violence/ abuse etc the body keeps us small and silent. Again no cognitive intellect needed - just look how a toddler reacts when told off for running near the road- shoulders hunched over, head down and in this case its healthy shame. The problem is with trauma, it can keep deploying such strategies, in and out of our conscious awareness because the ‘networks’ involved do not understand time or cognitive intellect, its only priority is to find what it needs.

But let’s dig deeper:

Sensing physical and psychological safety are compromised causes a physiological response, the nervous system can react in many ways such as fight, flight, freeze and appease. The reaction can be done out of conscious control, after all, we don’t have time to cognitively intellectualise the options! The body interacting with the nervous system will work to decide redistribution or changes to things such as blood pressure, oxygen, sugar levels, heart rate and hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. But it is more intricate than that, for example just look at the role of the vagus nerve plays. Vagus derived from the Latin for ‘wandering’ and it certainly lives up to the name. It is actually a pair of nerves that communicate two-ways between the brain, heart, lungs, stomach, oesophagus and voice box. It is also involved in inflammation, immunity, breathing and digestion. Even from just giving a quick nod to the vagus nerve we can see the entanglement involved across brain and body. So, it is no wonder that trauma produces such a variety of output, not just at the time but years and years beyond. Also it’s worth introducing what are known as medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) potentially this is the body keeping score due to past traumatic experience(s).

Trauma can cause the synchronicity across the senses (exteroception, interception and proprioception), perception, memory, emotion and cognition to become ruptured. To try to regain synchronicity we may have to go way beyond surface level cognition. This is probably why so called ‘alternative’ approaches can be more beneficial or support healing, again there is no one size fits all. Ultimately its about finding a sense of safety, sense of trust, sense of belonging, a sense of justice by understanding our complex needs, Examples include -art, dance, movement, music, eye movement desensitisation reprocessing (EMDR), emotional freedom techniques (EFT), boxing, yoga, acting, breathing techniques, psychedelics (serious research and ongoing care needed with this as there are risks), freedom to just talk or just sit in silence, nature /sea walks and many many more.

Mental health has no biomarkers to test for any disorders or illness they are subjective constructs. Neuroscience is showing us that the brain, nervous system and body cannot be truly reflected by diagnostic manuals and discrete conditions. We are our past as much as our present within and out of our conscious awareness. We are also incredibly resilient and given the right environment(s) we can utilise neuroplasticity and find our true sense of self.  We need our organisations, institutions and businesses to prepare for a new way of how we understand ourselves and each other.