Welcome to 3-2-1 Tuesdays with Better Wellness Naturally- You're Not Broken. You're On Autopilot.
- Admin
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Thank you for joining us for 3-2-1 Tuesdays!
Quick bits of therapeutic info and learning, ideas, concepts, and quotes.
Brought to you by Better Wellness Naturally
3: Keys
2: Concepts
1: Quick Article
“"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
— Viktor E. Fran
3 Keys
Survival is a Reflex, Not a Choice
You snap at someone you love. You freeze when a task feels too big. That's not a personality flaw or bad behavior. It's your nervous system using a survival strategy you learned a long time ago. Your body is trying to keep you safe the only way it knows how.
The Exhaustion of "Fine"
We burn more energy pretending we're not overwhelmed than it would take to actually process the stress. Hiding your exhaustion is a full-time job that pays only in burnout. Acknowledging "I'm struggling right now" is the first step toward releasing that weight.
Awareness is the First Shift
You can't change a pattern you haven't met yet. This week, notice one default behavior: the way you reach for your phone the second you feel anxious. Don't try to stop it or judge it. Just notice: "There's that reflex." That gap of awareness is where healing starts.
A Couple of Concepts
The Window of Tolerance
Coined by Dr. Dan Siegel, this is the zone where you can handle stress without either ramping up into panic or shutting down completely. When you're carrying trauma or chronic stress, this window gets narrower. Healing means widening that range so you can stay present instead of constantly toggling between fight-or-flight and collapse.
Default Mode Processing
This is autopilot mode. You're moving through your day on reflex: same commute, same meal choices, same negative self-talk running in the background. Shifting out of it means catching yourself in the act. Noticing the pattern is what creates the possibility to change it.
A Quick Overview:
Many of us approach personal growth like a construction project: work harder, fix the problem, move on. But when it comes to your nervous system and deep-seated patterns, ‘trying harder’ just triggers more internal stress.
Neuroplasticity means your brain can reorganize itself throughout your entire life. For decades, we were told the brain was set by adulthood. We now know that every time you choose a new response, even something as small as taking a breath during a traffic jam, you're physically creating a new neural pathway. You're rewiring your brain in real time. And yes, this does happen throughout your lifetime.
Your heart has its own neural network as well and there are roughly 40,000 neurons that communicate directly with your brain. This is why gut feelings or heart-centered awareness isn't just metaphor; it's physiology. The heart and brain are in constant conversation. When that communication gets disrupted by chronic stress or trauma, everything feels harder.
Getting the heart and the brain back in sync is the foundation of healing. And healing isn't about becoming a different person; it's about clearing the default clutter so you can function as who you actually are.
References:
Siegel, D. J. (2012). The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation.
Armour, J. A. (2007). Potential clinical relevance of the ‘little brain’ on the mammalian heart.
by Laura Weber Garrison, PhD
New Review:
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