Your Biology Is Running Your Life Before Your Brain Even Knows It | Dr. Deb Rivera

What if burnout is not an emotional problem? What if it is biochemical?Rubina Chadha sits down with Dr. Deb Rivera, PhD in neuroengineering from UCLA, scientist, inventor, Associate Professor at the Center for Care and Cures at Eindhoven University of Technology, and founder of JourneyMetrics. This conversation bridges nervous system regulation, breath work, creative expression, and cellular biology into one clear picture of how we function under stress and how we recover.In this episode: why stress processes the same way in your body whether it comes from a virus, a toxic environment, or a thought you will not let go of. How chronic stress locks your main energy pathway. What the default mode network actually is and why most of us live there. Why the inhale sets the neural clock for coordination across the brain. How creative expression rewires the balance between your rational brain and your emotional brain. And why creativity and well-being feed each other like a water wheel.Dr. Deb also shares her own journey through concussion, heart surgery, and loss, and the personal operating framework she built from the inside out.“Creativity is as important as exercise.”“You don’t have a discipline problem. You have a regulation problem.”Find Dr. Deb Rivera on Instagram at drdebrivera.Learn more about JourneyMetrics at journeymetrics.com.Inner Design® with Rubina Chadha explores the inner systems that shape how we live, lead, create, and thrive.New episodes every week. Subscribe onApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inner-design-podcast/id1896836118Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033oJ6dEAuG8tqbMkNfRTo?si=794517309a4241f9YouTube:https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsPLi4c5Gu04-k5BohhsC5Yp2Ja2yZgUF&si=kWCUaXMrcvwWIlVS