Mindset Neuroscience Podcast

Memory is not just in the brain. Many of you have heard of the book, The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van der Kolk. The main idea of the book is that memory is not just something contained in... READ MORE The post Our Body Keeps the Score, Our Cells ‘Remember’ with Dr. Nikolay Kukushkin appeared first on StefanieFaye.

When we focus on trying to 'fix' dysregulation without acknowledging how it emerged, we are conveying a message that somehow the anxiety or overreaction just ‘appeared’ because of an imbalance in their brain and that distress, dysregulation and anxiety are... READ MORE The post Season 2 Episode 6 – Why are humans so anxious? and the dark side of mindfulness appeared first on StefanieFaye.

The formation of self-identity and group identity through the lens of hyper-coherent networks, key features of what makes a system resilient.    (remember - your brain, your relationships and human society are all systems).   To help systems become more flexible and innovative, we need to understand the mechanisms of change. A mindset or paradigm shift is one of those mechanisms.   A level higher than that: being able to rise above paradigms altogether*.   This is what can free our mind to experiment with perspectives that are guided by our values - rather than only confirming a narrow field of vision based on our past, which is largely driven by our tribal identity. The post Season 2 Episode 5 – Resilience, Stability and Hyper-Coherent Networks appeared first on StefanieFaye.

The human species has some pretty spectacular systems built into us to achieve mental, emotional and physiological states that most of us are not even really aware of.  We also have systems and features within us that make us very vulnerable to being influenced and 'programmed' into behavior that is not reflective of our most evolved neural circuitry. Technology is interfering with and manipulating those systems.  And the more we get to know how technology is interfering with those systems, the more we can get control over our internal state rather than let the tech companies (who do not have the best interests of the human brain and nervous system in mind) hack into our vulnerabilities.   The post Season 2 Episode 4 – Tech Addiction and the Social Dilemna appeared first on StefanieFaye.

  What do a viral video and a stampede of animals have in common? It's a mechanism that is also related to 'self-fulfilling prophecies', self-beliefs, anxiety and negative thinking in general. It has to do with something called 'positive feedback'.... READ MORE The post Season 2 Episode 3 – Feedback Loops appeared first on StefanieFaye.

    One of the most complex adaptive systems we know of is the brain*.    When we are trying to understand a complex system, one of the most important things for us to think about is its function.   ... READ MORE The post Season 2 Episode 2- Your Brain’s Predictions and Paradigms appeared first on StefanieFaye.

  This episode focuses on the idea of systems thinking, and how we can use this 'lens' or paradigm as a way of expanding our thinking so we can see new ideas for solving challenges in our life and in... READ MORE The post Season 2 Episode 1 – Systems Thinking appeared first on StefanieFaye.

“What matters is not how things are, but how they interact.“ – Carlo Rovelli, theoretical physicist, in his book, Reality is Not What It Seems ​​​​​Relationships are the key to building our most powerful mind. Our relationships with others build... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 12 – “Relational Minds” appeared first on StefanieFaye.

No two people ever experience reality in the same way: our senses and neural architecture are built up by our own lifetime of unique experiences. Our brain and senses are constantly narrowing down our world. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: if... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 11 – This is what happens to your brain when you add diversity to your life appeared first on StefanieFaye.

Most growth mindset interventions don’t work because they focus on: changing ‘other people’s’ attitudes rather than on the mindset of the person who is teaching or leading catchphrases & posters rather than relationship & trust specific results, like improving standardized test scores* *this is literally the... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 10 – Can you make people ‘willing’ to change their mindset? appeared first on StefanieFaye.

In order to teach growth mindset, we need to be sure it’s coming from an authentic place. It seems that much growth mindset teaching is focused on changing the attitudes of others’, rather than looking at how we internalize and... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 9 – How to be more authentic when you teach growth mindset appeared first on StefanieFaye.

Have you ever had a misunderstanding over text?  Maybe you texted someone and they didn’t reply right away.. or their answer left you feeling rejected or frustrated? Do you know why you feel the urge to put an exclamation mark... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 8 – Toxic Media: How social media impairs your brain, nervous system and relationship skills appeared first on StefanieFaye.

Earlier studies on fixed vs growth mindset reveal how we build bias and stereotypes. The original wording used by Carol Dweck and colleagues before they popularized ‘fixed versus growth mindset’ was ‘entity’ versus ‘incremental’ mindsets. Dweck’s research (included the idea... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 7 – How fixed mindset leads to bias, stereotype and prejudice appeared first on StefanieFaye.

    Sound may be the most important sense we have for learning as well as for detecting others emotions. The human ability to hear ‘just noticeable differences’ is significantly more powerful than what our eyes are able to detect... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 6 – The importance of sound and how it affects our wellbeing appeared first on StefanieFaye.

“Feelings can annoy or delight us, but that is not what they are for […].  Feelings are for life regulation, providers of information concerning basic homeostasis or the social condition of our lives.” -Antonio Damasio, The Strange Order of Things... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 5 – Self-Regulation: the remarkable skill that will make you a better human appeared first on StefanieFaye.

Summary: In this episode, we look at how neuroscience can help us explain: why so many people react to life unconsciously (not ‘on purpose’).  Understanding this helps us get to the root of our issues, instead of repeating our reactions... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 4 – A Sense of Purpose appeared first on StefanieFaye.

There's a lot of 'old science' out there. Stuff we used to believe that has been de-bunked. Things like...   'humans are more complex than other species, which means we have more genes.' Before the Human Genome Project was completed in... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 3 – The science most people keep using is wrong appeared first on StefanieFaye.

"It's not merely that we can't be loving or creative when we're scared; we can't heal." -Stephen Porges   In order for us to access our most evolved neural and behavioral resources, we must be in a state of physiological... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 2 – Psychological Safety, Resilience and the Vagus Nerve appeared first on StefanieFaye.

Listen on iTunes   Old, outdated science said that the human brain basically stopped developing in childhood and there wasn't much we could do to change it.  What we got was what we got.   But we now know that that... READ MORE The post Season 1 Episode 1 – Neuroscience of Growth Mindset appeared first on StefanieFaye.