Your Brain Coach D

Are you exhausted from pretending everything is fine?

I think we’ve put too much pressure on ourselves to always be positive, joyful, patient, and nice to everyone.

But anger, frustration, irritation, sadness, and difficult emotional states are all part of being human.

What matters is learning how to acknowledge what you’re feeling instead of pushing it away.

A healthy brain can recognize an emotion, name it, process it, and eventually move out of a state that is no longer serving you. Naming and accepting what you feel can help shorten the time you remain caught in that emotional state.

Difficult emotions are part of being human. You can feel frustrated, angry, or sad without needing to pretend that everything is fine.

And if you find yourself staying in those feelings for too long or struggling to regulate them, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

If this feels familiar, reach out to me. I work with leaders and women leaders who may look like they have it all together on the outside, while life feels very different on the inside.

The “perfect time” to change may never come.

I see many successful women waiting until everything is ready before they make a change.

There is always one more thing to prepare before you feel ready. And while you are getting everything in place, the change you want can keep getting pushed further away.

Our brains learn and optimize through small habits that are repeated consistently. Over time, repetition can create additional layers of myelin around neural pathways, helping reactions become more automatic and reducing the need to rely on the prefrontal cortex to make the same decisions repeatedly.

That’s why I encourage my clients to start much smaller than they think they need to.

Choose one tiny habit. Repeat it. Then repeat it again.

Big events can also contribute to changes in the brain, but they can come through traumatic experiences, and I certainly wouldn’t wish those upon anyone.

Small, repeated habits give you a practical way to work toward change.

And over time, those habits can become part of who you are.

What is one tiny habit you could start repeating today?

What if getting back up is how you build self-esteem?

I’ve learned that failure can tell us a lot about ourselves, especially by what we do next.

When I pick myself up after something goes wrong, I’m giving myself proof that I can move through difficult moments. I may have wanted to stay in bed, but I got up anyway.

Sometimes we create the situation we’re dealing with. Sometimes life simply throws us into it. Either way, getting back up reminds us that we are capable of finding our way out.

And that can change the way we see ourselves.

So when you get back on your feet after a setback, give yourself credit. You did something difficult.

I’m grateful to for inviting me into this conversation and giving me the space to talk about resilience, self-esteem, and what happens after we fall.

Have you ever had to pick yourself up after a setback?

Your morning routine could be doing more for your brain than you realize.

About 20 minutes after I wake up, cortisol naturally rises. When I add movement during this time, whether it’s dancing, stretching, or exercising, I can support BDNF activation and engage my prefrontal cortex, which plays an important role in learning.

For me, this creates a useful window for learning, clarity, and sharper thinking during the first couple of hours of the day.

There is one important caveat: I’m more of a midday person myself. If you are too, your activation routine may need to work with your own circadian rhythm rather than simply following a morning routine that works for someone else.

I believe understanding when your brain is naturally ready to perform can help you use that time more intentionally.

If you want to learn more about your brain and how to optimize it for the life you want, follow me and comment “YES” for a surprise in your inbox.

Your closet might be costing you more mental energy than you realize.

Every morning comes with a series of small decisions.

What should I wear? What goes together? Is this the right look for today?

Individually, these choices seem insignificant. But when your day already demands constant focus, judgment, and self-control, reducing unnecessary decisions can make a difference.

That’s one reason some high-performing people simplify what they wear. One outfit, one less decision, one less thing competing for mental energy.

There’s another benefit I find fascinating: consistency can also strengthen your personal brand. When people see a consistent image, it becomes easier for them to recognize and remember you.

You don’t need a closet full of identical outfits to try this.

Lay out your clothes the night before. Or, when possible, give yourself two options instead of twenty.

Small choices can create more space for the decisions that actually matter.

Take care of your brain, and your brain will take care of you.

If you’re still being told to breathe through hot flashes, it may be time to question that advice.

I still see the 2013 study being referenced as evidence that diaphragmatic breathing can reduce hot flashes by 30–40%. It was a small study, and this finding has since been challenged by subsequent research.

Breathing can absolutely be helpful. I use and recommend breathing techniques for stress and anxiety, where there is plenty of research supporting their use.

But when a woman is struggling with menopause, I don’t want her to believe that breathing is the answer to her hot flashes.

As a brain coach, I know where my role begins and where it ends. Coaches, psychologists, and therapists can provide valuable support, but some things need to be addressed by doctors and other medical professionals.

That is why I always encourage women to stay informed, look at current research, and seek the right professional help rather than relying on advice that may no longer reflect what we know today.

Because the goal is simple: to help women feel better and thrive.

If you’re struggling, get yourself some real help. Go to a doctor.

We often look at symptoms to understand whether a treatment is working. But what is happening inside the brain?

Poland is home to the world’s largest brain biobank, housed at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw.

More than 6,000 human brain tissue samples, preserved since 1952, give researchers an extraordinary opportunity to study the brain at the cellular and molecular level.

What makes this especially interesting is the possibility of connecting those findings with what researchers observe in living brains through EEG.

That opens the door to deeper questions about psychiatric treatment.

How do antidepressants such as SSRIs physically affect the brain? Which neural pathways change? And why do some people respond to treatment while others don’t?

Research like this moves the conversation beyond symptoms and toward a better understanding of the biology behind the brain and the differences between people.

For me, this is one of the most exciting directions in mental health research: understanding the brain one neural connection at a time.

And as a Polish brain coach, I’m especially proud to see this kind of research coming from Poland.

If you’re fascinated by the brain and want to learn more about how it influences your life, follow me for more neuroscience-based insights.

What can 20 years of brain data reveal about psychiatric medication?

Researchers in Poland have created one of the largest maps to date of how psychiatric medication affects brain function.

The team analyzed more than 24,000 EEG recordings collected over 20 years from patients treated in two psychiatric hospitals in Warsaw.

They examined 14 different classes of psychiatric medications and more than 75,000 neuropsychological parameters, looking at changes in brain-wave activity, synchronization between brain regions, and the complexity of neural communication.

That makes this research particularly interesting because it looks beyond whether symptoms improve. It examines how the brain itself changes while patients are receiving treatment.

As a Polish brain coach, I’m especially excited to see research of this scale coming out of Poland. The passion for understanding the brain certainly feels close to home.

If you’re interested in brain health, neuroscience, and how the brain influences the way we think, perform, and live, follow along and connect with me.

Link to the study in comments.