← The Nourished Nervous System
The Nourished Nervous System
Repatterning Our Lives: Rituals for Mental Health with Jocelyn Pepe
00:43:29
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- [00:04]
A
Welcome to the Nourished Nervous System, an exploration of stress, the nervous system and resilience for parents and other humans through the lens of Ayurveda, somatics, herbs and a whole lot more. I'm your host, Kristin Timchak, an Ayurvedic health counselor, stress and resilience coach, somatic stress release practitioner, and mother of a tiny human. Please join me for information and insights, deep thoughts and small steps to help you nourish your nervous system. Hello, hello, welcome and welcome back to the Nourished Nervous System. I hope you're doing well in this seasonal transition that we're in right now. From pita season summer to vata season autumn, I'm really feeling it here in New England. Things are getting cooler and lighter and drier, a little windier. So it's time to put some oil on your body and really get back into the rhythm of life, giving some rhythm and ritual to your days. And we're going to talk a lot about this concept of ritual in this conversation that I have today with Jocelyn Pepe. Jocelyn is a mental health researcher, a coach and founder of tru, where she blends neuroscience, coaching and lived experience to support personal and workplace well being. With a master's in the psychology and neuroscience of mental health and multiple coaching certifications, she helps individuals and teams move from burnout to balance. She's based in Oakville, Ontario and she's also a devoted mom of three, a nature lover, and a passionate advocate for science and soul based healing. I get a lot of PR people reaching out about having their clients come on the Nourished Nervous System. And there's a lot of them that just don't feel resonant for what I'm offering here. But as soon as I read about Jocelyn and about her book, it was like this deep.
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B
Yes.
- [02:27]
A
And just through our conversation, there is so much resonance in how we both look at the world and health and healing. And it makes me think a lot about Ayurveda because Ayurveda is this word in this system of medicine, and yet it's really just about finding balance with nature. And so there's all of these things that you're already doing that you're already learning about, thinking about, listening to, watching that are Ayurveda. They are in sync with the rhythms of nature. And talking to Jocelyn, even though she's not an Ayurvedic practitioner, that's not her background, just everything she talked about just fit so perfectly into the framework of what I consider Ayurveda So it was just a beautiful conversation. I really enjoyed it and I hope you enjoy it too. So I just want to give my friendly reminder that this podcast is purely for entertainment and educational purposes and should not be considered health or mental health advice. Anything said should not be taken as a replacement for medical, clinical, professional advice, diagnosis, or medical intervention. So let's get into the conversation. Welcome, Jocelyn. I'm so grateful to have you here today.
- [04:08]
B
Thank you, Kristen. I'm excited to have our conversation.
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A
Yay. So, to begin, I'd love to have you introduce yourself and talk about your path to where you are now.
- [04:19]
B
Okay. So, Jocelyn Pepe, I'm the mother of three incredible teenagers. I live in Canada and I work as a fractional head of mental health and organizational well being, helping individuals and teams with mental health to nourish health and ignite performance. And so my role is really to help elevate the quality of life, of humanity and personal fulfillment. And my journey has been a lifelong journey. So it began, of course, in childhood with experiences that shaped my nervous system. And so this is the case for all of us. And from womb to tomb, we are all having experiences that shape us. Whether it's in our central nervous system in our brain, or in our peripheral nervous system in our body, we all have these experiences. And so my journey through mental health has been one of accumulating psychological stress that compounded so greatly that I, I ended up in the hospital and it ended then with a traumatic brain injury that really took me to another level of healing because not only was I healing my mind and my nervous system, I was also healing my physical brain and my physical body at a level that I had never had to attune to before. And so my journey has been just that. From my first memory, through adverse experiences in my life, and my own internal coping mechanisms that really were part of the downfall of where I got to. Because the internalization of all of the events as a sensitive feeling human really had me take on more of the load than was mine to carry.
- [06:04]
A
Yeah, I think that's so common for people. Yeah, you do a lot of work with the nervous system and that's what we talk a lot about here. And we talk a lot about the nervous system and resilience. And I'd love to hear your view on why the nervous system is the key to resilience.
- [06:20]
B
Okay. So from my perspective, the nervous system is key to resilience. It's our emotional body, it's our mental body. And so if we want to be resilient, it includes how we think and relate to ourselves, others in the world, but it also is that emotional body and how we feel. And so the key to resilience is tackling all of our body. And that's why my true framework is in the five elements of well being. It's not just one thing that reclaims our nervous system, but there's famous bodies of work around, you know, how the nervous system is the place that holds all of our traumas or triggers or life events. And until we have the ability to really self regulate and take good care of our nervous system, we're not truly healing because we're operating from a place of disconnect from our mind and body. And that's the premise of my book Claim youm Brain is that connection between mind, body, soul, and how really impaired narrative that is in order to regulate and take good care of ourselves and have the highest quality of life that we can achieve.
- [07:31]
A
Yeah, I resonate with that so much. I'm an Ayurvedic health counselor. And so that's just the whole premise of Ayurveda is that our mind, body and soul are not separate, that they're all this one thing. I think in the Western culture we've compartmentalized everything into. We go to this person for our mental health, we go to this person for our physical health. These systems of our body are all compartmentalized. And so I love these frameworks that are really recognizing that we have to work on all the pieces in order to be healthy and be whole.
- [08:04]
B
I love what you just said there. And that is the premise of my book, Science and Soul. And that's what I feel like is the missing link for our current mental health epidemic that we're experiencing in the west is it is not compartmentalized. It is not a one size fits all approach. It doesn't always have to be this clinical thing that we do to take care of our mental health. But the science and the soul merges east and west and ancient traditions and wisdoms that we know work in order to have good health that we are not totally tapping into. And I mean, science is catching up. You know, we're talking about mindfulness based stress reduction and those types of things. And there's so much more to it. And I had heard you talking about it in one of your other podcasts about the bigger system. Like we're part of a bigger system. And so until we can recognize and ignore knowledge, we are one small speck in a huge pulsing universe. We won't be able to properly take care of ourselves.
- [09:00]
A
Yes, I agree 100% and I love that premise of the science and soul. One of my favorite things is how I find all these studies where they're just basically proving what Ayurveda has been saying for thousands of years. And it's just so cool to see that merging and see like, oh, circadian medicine. That's basically what Ayurveda has been telling us for so long. I love both. You know, I love the science and I love how they can lean on each other and support each other and create that more full picture. Yeah. And so you mentioned just a little bit back, those five elements. Will you talk a little bit more about the five elements of well being and how they can be built into a daily habit?
- [09:42]
B
Absolutely, yeah. So the five elements start with our social well being and so that starts with our connection and our relationship to ourselves. And when we're talking about the nervous system, this is just that the more connected and aligned we get with ourselves and our path in life, whether that's through values, boundaries, decisions, compassion, self, self talking or dialogue, making choices that really are ourselves, that level of care that we take for ourselves is number one. So that's the social piece that then in turn impacts our relationship with everything everybody else. And so when we have that right relationship with ourself, we are able to then be in right relationship with others and, and be in healthy, supportive relationships. And that is so foundational to mental health is that social well being piece and having healthy, strong connection. And I'm lucky to have had that in my life. And so that's why I do this work, is to help others have that same healthy connection with themselves so they can in turn cultivate healthier relationships. So that's the middle and then around that is physical, mental and emotional elements of well being. And so the physical health, you alluded to it just earlier that, well, it's first of all how we nourish our body through movement. It's not about exercise, it's about how we keep moving, keep limber, keep the energy flowing through our bodies. It's about nourishment. So then what we ingest and that includes food first and foremost because of the bidirectional communication with gut brain health. We know that what we eat impacts how we feel and our brain health. And also it includes how we consume. So what type of media are we consuming? What type of podcasts are we listening to? What type of fear generating platforms are we on? How's social media impacting our energetic bodies and our brains. So that's part of the physical. The physical also of course includes sleep and water and all those things. So that's physical. Then there's the mental. The mental is our connection with ourselves, others and the world around us. So that's really the psychology piece around it. So our own internalization of experiences, what, how we think about things, our perspectives on the world and our, our perspective on life. And from my experience and how we talk about it is really that mental peace is your ability to oscillate between the micro and the macro. Because the mental health suffers when we're in our micro. This thing happened, this person did this, this one thing's not going right and we, we hyper focus on that. But when we bring ourselves up to the bigger picture and have a look up at like, you know, the universe, the stars, the sun, we notice and really can put things into bigger perspective. So that's where the spiritual piece starts to tie in. And the emotional piece is that emotional body, our feeling self that also includes like our feelings, our emotions. And there's such a intricate link between our thoughts and our feelings. And you know, so many people trying to decipher what's coming first, what's driving what. But the bottom line is our emotional body and our, our relationship to our emotions is really important on our ability to be conscious and connected in the world. So that's the, the emotional piece and then the giant hug around the whole model that penetrates everything is spiritual well being. So whether folks are connecting into that through religion, spirituality, nature and the universe, that piece is interconnected and woven to every single aspect of our lives. And so when we have purpose and fulfillment, we are aligned. And it doesn't have to necessarily come through a job or a career. A purpose and fulfillment can come through an extracurricular or parenting or volunteering or whatever ways we get that level of purpose and fulfillment or travel. But also the spiritual well being piece is really connecting into some of those ancient traditions. And so we know thousands and thousands and thousands of years people have been doing ancient tradition in order to really take care of their health and well being. But we also know we're connected to this bigger thing. And there's, you know, galaxies and universes and we are literally one small speck. So when we're looking at a star, that's how small we are in the grand scheme of things. And there should be like some, some awe and some curiosity in that piece that really helps, helps the nervous system regulation and helps overall positive mental health. So those Are the five elements in the model.
- [14:04]
A
I love that so much. I love everything that you just said. It resonates so much with what I talk about. And just one thing. When you're talking about the first circle, that self. In Ayurveda, one of the definitions of health talks about being situated in the self. And that's like part of the definition of self. So in order to be healthy, you have to be situated in yourself. And that's exactly what you're saying. And I love that you bring in that social piece because that is so, so important. I think that's something that we overlook a lot. When we're thinking about self care and taking care of ourselves. We can often overlook how important it is to have those right relationships with ourselves and with others. And then the other piece that was really resonant with what we talk about in Ayurveda is when you're talking about the physical body and everything we take in, I talk about that a lot. That we need to digest everything. That's our food, that's our media, that's what we're taking in visually. And we can feed ourselves junk food. And that's fine sometimes the same way that it's fine in our bodies a little bit. But like, to give ourselves more of that health food for both our senses and our physical bodies. Yeah, I love all of that resonance and connection there. And then. Yes, definitely the big picture. I've been thinking about that so much lately. Sometimes I'll just be walking through the grocery store parking lot and just noticing how people don't look at each other or things like that. And I'm just like, we are on a planet in outer space. We are literally living creatures on this planet where there's fruit and there's water and it's kind of a miracle. Like, there's a part of me that wants to be like, hi, other human that's also on this planet. Like, how we forget to connect with each other and forget to be in that awe. We get into that micro world so much and forget to zoom out and see the big picture. So I love all of that so much. And how. How can that be built into a daily habit?
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B
That's a great. So in my book, I've really shifted the language from habitual to ritual. So living.
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A
I love that.
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Yeah. So it's like, because we can be doing things habitually, unconsciously, when we shift into ritual, we're doing things with like a sacredness or reverence for ourselves and for our lives. And then really taking Care from that ritualistic place. So that is my number one. How do we live? Imagine embodied unconscious habit and notice how that feels. Go, go, go, wake up, get the kids off, do this, do that. It's like do, do, do, do, do, do, do like a robot. Habitual is like soft and sacred and purposeful and with choice and with consciousness. How do I want to wake up? What does that look and feel like? How do I want to nourish my body first thing in the morning? What does that look and feel like? Doesn't mean that this is some luxurious, like, thing that we all can't have. We can have it, but it's a mindset, it's an embodiment, it's a choice. So from habitual to ritual is really a way of approaching our lives with that energy, that purpose, that sense of conscious fulfillment that really can impact us in a different way. So that's number one.
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A
I love that so much.
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B
That's number one about how we can integrate this in our daily lives. And yeah, it's an embodiment practice. It's a choice.
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A
Yeah. I also do somatic work. And so that reminds me of just that, of that, like tuning into the body instead of having the checklist of I need to do this to do self care. Like, what is actually nourishing, what is actually caring for myself in this moment, which might be different than it was yesterday or last season or 10 years ago, and to really be in a living practice with it. That's what it sounds like when you're talking about the ritual. It's actually being in an alive practice instead of this, like, almost robotic checking things off.
- [18:09]
B
I love that. And what I love about that, it's like not a to do list or a checkbox. It's a way of being. And that's the most important part of all of this. And how we want to take care of our overall mind, body, soul, nervous system is we have to choose how we want to be in this lifetime. So it doesn't mean that we can't still have timelines and deadlines and productivity. What it means is we approach that with a different energy and a different sense of. And then that in turn fuels how we do everything. So the more we do of that, the more it generates more of that and the more we can see life from that lens of this is a gift. Even sometimes when it's hard and I've been in those dark places where it doesn't feel like a gift, it feels like a struggle. But when we come out and we can see that gift of life. It's, it's a beautiful thing.
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A
Yeah, it really is. And I could see how that can ripple out. Like when we're, when each person can bring a little bit more of that embodiment and that mindset and that ritual into their lives, how then maybe their families see what they're doing, you know, just how that ripples out and how that can create that foundational change that seems like it really needs to happen in the world.
- [19:26]
B
And to that point, from habitual to ritual, you then have an energetic imprint on the people in your lives. So this is something I've been talking a lot about lately is what's our 1% ripple effect on humanity in terms of taking better care of this mental health crisis we're in? Because when we all choose to be in this way, be this embodied presence, we energetically output that, so then we energetically connect with others from that place versus from a frantic, chaotic doing place. And so that has that 1% ripple. Because what I know to be true is that with the biopsychosocial model of mental health, it's not just. We're not one singular being having a mental health struggle. We are a collective of human beings impacting each other's mental health on a daily. And so my mental health didn't start poor, it became poor because I was collectively taking on everybody else's. And so that's actually one other tip or tool I can recommend for individuals who want to check in with themselves throughout the day. From that energy perspective or the mind perspective, is asking yourself throughout the day, what's mine, what's theirs, what's the collective? So for me, I can check in. Is this my inner dialogue? Is this my way of thinking? Is this my energy? Oftentimes when I'm feeling funky, I can shift it. And it's not, I've taken somebody else's on and then what's theirs? Okay, they can have that back, or how do I want to support them, or how do I want to show up in this relationship? But then there's like the community or the collective. I mean, that is where we're at right now, experiencing such dissonance and such pitting against one another as human beings that it's, it's, it's causing fear based chaos in everybody's minds because so many people are tuned into what is happening. And some people don't even recognize the energy part of it. They're just like, you know, finger pointing. But if we can stop for a second and tune in. Oh, wow. I notice how this is, this world is impacting me right now. I'm operating from fear, I'm operating from a lower frequency. I'm operating from a different energy that's not serving me. So how do I want to show up in the world?
- [21:39]
A
Totally. And that comes back to that, what we've both talked about, that bigger zooming out picture of we are on a rock in outer space and it's a miracle.
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B
And we're all human beings here and yeah, some of us aren't doing the greatest job with helping one another and there are darker agendas or things like that out there. But when we are all, you know, in these types of conversations, I feel like we have a positive ripple effect. So that's that 1% that we can all have within ourselves because ourselves are listening to ourselves. But then we can also ripple that outwards.
- [22:12]
A
Yes, I love that. And you've talked a few times about this go, go, go sort of culture, which is just so huge right now in our capitalistic society. And so can you talk about the myth of powering through and what to do instead?
- [22:29]
B
Absolutely. So this is listening to your intuitive pull versus your mental push. So when we want to take a step back and the myth of powering through from a brain science perspective, the more we power through and the more stress we put in our brain, we are increasing near neuroinflammation in our brains. So we are actually decreasing our ability to be creative, agile, productive. And so we're having a negative impact when we're push, push, push, push, pushing on our bodies and on our ability to contribute to whatever workplace, family, society. And so there's an intuitive pull where we have to start to listen and tune into our nervous system and check in with how are we feeling? What is my capacity today? What am I able to accomplish? And that all comes from a conscious place of choice when we are in our ventral vagal nervous system from that higher prefrontal cortex place versus the reactive nervous system or the reactive brain. And so listening to our intuitive pull versus our mental push and having the courage to make decisions that allow us to stop pushing. Because the myth of all of this is that pushing is productivity. The truth is, and this was what I wrote my master's thesis on, in working age, healthy adults, the more we push, the more burnout we experience, which leads to brain fog, which is real, which leads to energetic burnout, which leads to cortisol increase, which all is called neuroinflammation. We are literally inflaming our brain, the harder we push. So we're less productive, less creative, less agile, less curious, less, you know, in wonder and awe and more in this place that we're actually noticing humanity in right now.
- [24:19]
A
Yeah, that is so huge. And it's so hard. It's such a challenge. I mean even for me, having all of the knowledge I have around this and having had my own experiences of burning out and autoimmune disease and things like that, it's a constant practice to move out of those habits of powering through and pushing. It's really, It's a challenge.
- [24:41]
B
Absolutely. And it's societally driven.
- [24:44]
A
Yes.
- [24:44]
B
And we get back into this more of the ancient wisdom, ancient tradition, ancient ways of living, you know, tuned into the sunrise and the sunset on a daily, tuned in to our feminine rhythms. If we're, you know, in that place for women operating on seven day cycles, tuning into our seven day cycles and how's our energy and how do we operate in those seven days? Because they're all. Each one of those seven days is different then taking that into seasonal. So how are we. And I know this is big in the ayurvedic world, is this seasonal, seasonal eating, seasonal resting. So really, really flowing in our energies with the seasons. And you mentioned this earlier a little bit with the capitalistic society on Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, that's not tuning into any of this. And so that's why so many people are suffering. This is not like all this out there. This is really a society is telling itself like this isn't working. This is why so many people are leaving the workforce to start their own thing. So they're their own boss. As a entrepreneur I work probably more than I would in a 9 to 5, but on the timeline that works best for me because I can work, you know, 11 to 7 or 11 to 6 and I'm more productive that way. I can also work an evenings and weekends when my time permits because that's when I have a spurt of energy and I'm my most creative self. So when we can trust humans to live in alignment with these systems that we naturally biologically have and bigger picture have driving us, then we'll be healthier. And even neuroscientists are talking about this, you know, getting your face out in the sun in the first 30 minutes, you know, getting your face in the sun on the end of the day like this is. These are all brain science proven strategies to optimize our human performance in ourselves.
- [26:43]
A
Definitely. Yes, I agree with that like a thousand percent, when you're talking about like the 9 to 5. I just had this image of my brain of almost like this. It's like this trying to put this square box in nature's rounded curves. It's almost like we're taking ourselves out of nature. And that's why we're sick, that's why we have the mental illness, that's why our bodies are not doing well. It's because we've taken ourselves so far removed from nature and we are nature. That's what Ayurveda tells us is like we are nature. And that's exactly. Yeah, I believe that's exactly what's going on. And so what are ways that we can rewire stress?
- [27:33]
B
Well, the first one is to breathe. We're as he has a society, we're not breathing like we're waking up, we're going. And we're not breathing with conscious intention. So it starts with our like foundational basic life force is breath. And so if we can start to breathe more intentionally. I catch myself all the time. I'm like, when's the last time I really took a proper, good lung, lung filling breath. And this was something I learned from an alternative practitioner. Even filling our lung cells with oxygen properly before we get down to like deep belly breathing. So filling our lungs with oxygen intentionally and then you can get down to deep belly breathing. But also from neuroscience, we can be sending oxygen to our brain in a really quick way. So I know that this is happens in yogic practices is like the two quick inhales and you send that oxygen to your brain with a long exhale and you can feel it go into the neurons in your brain. You can feel it go into your brain cells. So those are a couple of strategies. The lung filling breath, the brain filling breath, those interrupt stress immediately because things like gratitude, practice, et cetera have a long game. So this, these are two stress reducers that are quick and very intentional, but that also then can go into a body scan. So like checking in where you're holding tension and consciously releasing that shoulders back. Because so many of us are carrying our tension here. Our tension's in our jaw, our tension is in our eyeballs. Like that wiggling of our eyeballs and noticing like the tension we're holding from being on screens all day and in artificial light, like we're holding tension in our eyes, which, you know, goes into our brain health through, you know, the occipital nerves. Like everything's happening and so interconnected. So it's like taking that moment to fully breathe and slow and calm our nervous system down. And that can be like a daily practice. It doesn't have to be this whole big meditation thing that we get into for, you know, 30 minutes, 15 minutes, 10 minutes. Breathwork takes 30 seconds where we can calm our nervous system. So those strategies really help.
- [29:47]
A
I love that. And I love the accessibility of that because we have a lot of parents here listening, whose time is so limited. And so to have people have things that are just, just easy to do, you don't need to set aside an hour to do this. Like you said, literally 30 seconds breathing, bringing some focus on your body. Literally, while you were just talking, I was like, oh yeah, my eyes, oh yeah, my jaw. Oh, my breath. And just in that awareness, I feel different now than I did five minutes ago. So it's so quick. It's so instantaneous.
- [30:19]
B
Yes, it's so quick. And what I love about where you went with that is you can tap into all your five senses. So this is also proven in the research. When you're tuning into your five senses, it helps with emotional regulation. So what are you noticing around you? And look, look gently, look soft focus, like with gentle curiosity. I see photos of my children. Like, how beautiful. Okay, so what am I smelling? Fresh fall air here in Canada. It's cool, it's crisp. What am I feeling? I'm feeling fall. You know, what am I hearing? I'm hearing the birds chirping outside. I heard a plane go over top. So tuning into all those five senses happens any point of time, any day, Whether you're wrangling kids or driving in a carpool or working at a desk or working out in the world. It doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing or you're out for dinner. All those things are accessible. And we don't need any type of money, resources, anything. It's accessible to all humans.
- [31:18]
A
And that's so powerful because our senses are basically portals to our nervous system. It's basically our nervous system is taking in all that information through our senses. So when we can attune our senses to the things that are more neutral, positive, pleasant, that in itself is rewiring our nervous systems to take. To look for those things and take that in and find those places of more calm and stillness. I love that. And in talking about brain health, because I know that's a big topic of your book, can you talk about how to re pattern daily rhythms for mental clarity and calm?
- [31:57]
B
Okay, so from the brain perspective, I'll access this through thinking. I think like more of our mind and our thinking self for mental clarity. And calm is our mind is so powerful, so we get to program it. And so how we talk to ourselves, how we interpret life events, how we see another person, all of those perspectives are lenses on life and really impact the health of our brain. And so through neuroplasticity, which is the brain part of brain health and the mind, we get to reprogram the way our minds think. And so for calm and clarity, it's really reprogramming how we talk to ourselves. You know, I have clients, I'm so busy, I can't get to this. My life's overwhelming my this, my that. Talking to yourself reinforces that. And so it's like I choose calm, I choose ritual. My life is full, my life is robust. I get to choose, I get this. This experience is reprogramming how we speak to ourselves. And that was a huge part of my own personal journey, was reprogramming my inner dialogue. Because I absorbed so much negativity and became so hard on myself that it was really actually it was causing depression. But it wasn't mine to hold or carry, it was other people's and some of it was mine, but it had maladapted in that place. So when we're talking about that brain health perspective, we have neuroplasticity in our brain, we also have it in our nervous system. And we get to reprogram how we want to be talking to ourselves and relating to ourselves. Because then that in turn, like the social well being impacts our relationship with other people and life as a greater, a greater whole. It's not easy because humans have a negativity bias. And it's a practice, it's a ritual like we've been talking about that we get to practice every day. So if you notice yourself feeling down or depressed or hard on yourself, you get to choose another way. And so that starts the cycle of awareness. So once we can become aware of how we're talking and relating, we get to choose a new way and then we get to take a new action from that perspective. So that that cycle of awareness, lens action is really a powerful cycle use in order to change your literal brain and your mind.
- [34:19]
A
That is so huge. Yes, I so resonate with that. And it's actually something I've been bringing into my parenting lately. Like noticing when I'm telling some story of how my child is difficult or challenging, it's like not even about me, but like telling the story about them that then makes me see them through that lens. So I'm really working on changing that when I see that story coming up of catching it and like, how can I shift that? And he's having a hard time right now. He's, you know, whatever, whatever it is. But I love how it can be used in all areas of our lives and it really creates change when you just do it consistently.
- [35:02]
B
Yes, I love that. Well, this is not related to, I don't think totally what we're talking about, but it is related to parenting and children. My daughter used to say to me me that she could feel my anxiety lying beside me. And so as parents, we have a responsibility to regulate our nervous system so we don't transfer that. And we were able to have those conversations because she was old enough and she's super tuned in. But just knowing that that's what's happening and I know you have a lot of parenting conversations is really powerful. And so there's a section in my book about the heart hug and how just a long held tight hug with somebody that you love and honor and respect, it's a co regulation of our nervous system. So that's another like teeny tiny, small tip that we can use as parents. Like hug your kids longer and more often even if they don't want to. Because there's like a co regulation of nervous systems. A co connection, it can be with a partner, you know, whoever is intimate in your your life in that way that you want to have a hug that lasts a long time.
- [36:06]
A
I love that so much. I love hugs. They're the best.
- [36:11]
B
Again, it's habitual. We're like, oh, quick hug. Okay, move on to the best. No longer to heart. Let it sit, you'll let it land. Notice your nervous system regulate. Okay. And then move on.
- [36:21]
A
Yes, yes. And will you talk a little bit about your book? I want to hear just a little bit more about it.
- [36:28]
B
Absolutely. So I wrote claim your brain your practical guide to true mental health health. Because it's been literally my life journey of writing this book. And I wanted to put all the tools and resources and research that I had in one place for folks so that they didn't have to navigate like I did. Literally, like finding my way in the dark. Okay, here's this one thing. Here's this one thing. So I created a model in the book that really brings in my research in the psychology and neuroscience of mental health and also as a health coach, the practices of healthy living and high quality living, but also the intuitive Spiritual piece of who I am naturally and how I use spirituality to navigate my darkest moments in life. And so that's what the book is, the science and soul of Mental Health. It really is a workbook. So it's for folks to take, connect through my story in whichever way that resonates. So many people have connected to my story and like the way that it connects to their story. So it's a personal journey as well as a scientifically backed journey as well as a deeply soulful spiritual journey. It talks about, you know, the biopsychosocial model of mental health, which is how our biology, our own internalization, our psychology and then those environments that impact our mental health. It's not one thing. It talks about a neuroscience model from a neuroscience practitioner and then our own true model. So it's blending all that together and it's actionable. We are not lacking information as society right now. We are lacking commitment to action because so many people are looking for a shortcut, a one hit fix, a pill that's going to change the way they are. And that's how I felt at one point. I was like, I just wish I could literally have a brain transplant. Yes. And yeah, I'm a mental health coach. So it's written from a health perspective for mild to moderate mental health. It's not talking about, you know, moderate to severe though those folks need different support. So it's really framed from that lens and that perspective.
- [38:33]
A
Awesome. It sounds so good. And yeah, I agree that there's these bigger shifts that need to happen in the way people are looking at their health as something that is like what we've talked about today. Those daily habits, those small things making the small rituals of making that foundational change in everyday life instead of waiting for some magic thing to cure it all.
- [38:57]
B
It's not easy. Behavior change is not easy. That's why if you work with a coach or a friend or anybody you want to work with or how do you want to be accountable to yourself? Behavior change is not easy. So that's not we very clear in the book that this is not the easy path. It will be a very fulfilling and increase your quality of life path when you commit to it. So that end of the book is around intention and accountability with goals. Because intention, setting and accountability with goals together is where the magic happens.
- [39:26]
A
Exactly. Yes. And can you talk about other ways that you work with people?
- [39:32]
B
So I'm a corporate speaker. I do speaking events and conferences and I work with corporations or groups around mental health and our, our real Premise is to nourish health and ignite performance. So we really blend the health and performance perspective because if we're not healthy, we are not performing or we're also having a negative ripple effect across folks. And then I also work with one to one clients in a coaching perspective through everything that we've essentially talked about today and how to reclaim our brain, our mind, our overall quality of life and well being. So there's the speaking, there's the training and facilitation and the one to one coaching.
- [40:14]
A
Awesome. I'll have all of your information in the show notes. So if people want to connect to you, it'd be really easy to find you. And I love that you're bringing this work into corporations. That's so amazing. What a great way to really ripple out in a, in a big way. It's really beautiful. Is there anything else that you want to speak to before we start to wind down?
- [40:36]
B
If listeners, if you don't claim your brain, the world's going to claim it for you.
- [40:44]
A
Yes.
- [40:44]
B
So time is now to claim your own brain.
- [40:48]
A
Yes. Thank you for that. I have goosebumps. And would you be willing to give listeners a small step they can take out into their lives? You've given a few throughout the time, but maybe just something specific to this.
- [41:02]
B
Sure. So the breath work was one. The habitual to ritual was another. The oscillation between the micro. Looking at the micro details of your life oscillating into the macro and then inner dialogue. Notice how you're talking to yourself. Notice how you're relating to another. Notice what's going on on your internal tract that nobody's listening to because your cells are listening to that. And that really impacts depression, anxiety and your poor mental health. So it's really trying to reframe a compassionate, cheerleading, championing, self supporting inner dialogue so that your body can hear it. So that you change your outer experience so your inner reaction creates your outer reality.
- [41:41]
A
Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming on. Jocelyn, it's been so lovely to meet you. I really appreciate it.
- [41:48]
B
Thank you. Kristin. This has been a really beautiful conversation. I really appreciate your work in your ripple in the world.
- [42:02]
A
Hi friend, it's me again. I hope you enjoyed that, that conversation with Jocelyn as much as I did. And I will have Jocelyn's information in the show notes if you'd like to connect. And I hope that you have a really wonderful rest of your week. I'll be back next week. Bye. Hey there. Thanks again for listening. I want to let you know about a couple of resources that I'm offering if you're interested in going a little deeper. I have a deep breath meditation as well as a Nourished for Resilience workbook. There'll be links in the show notes if you're interested in checking them out, and I'm also currently offering one on one coaching around nervous system health, self care resilience. I like to weave in Ayurveda herbs, somatics if it makes sense, as well as Ayurvedic consultations. So if you're interested in seeing if we're a good fit, I have a schedule for a booking and exploratory Call in the show notes. Hope to connect with you soon. Have a great week.