I’m letting you in on something most people never learn…
I recently coached women at a conference who were brilliant, accomplished, and capable.
And the thoughts they shared weren’t about self doubt or lack of potential.
They were about responsibility and pressure. You could see the tension, the mental load, and sense that they had to be the ones who held it all together and figured it out.
That kind of mental load pulls your attention in every direction.
But guess what?
Your brain is doing what it’s designed to do: predict.
Your Brain Predicts Before You Perceive
Before you feel stressed, before you label anything as “overwhelming,” your brain is already preparing your body before you notice anything.
It’s not reacting to the moment — it’s preparing you for the moment.
Your brain’s primary job is to regulate your body so you have the resources to function.
To do that, it predicts what the moment might demand before you fully register what’s happening.
And it uses your entire lived experience to do it:
- what you’ve gone through
- what you’ve been taught
- what you’ve been rewarded for
- what your life has required from you
- what you’ve had capacity for in the past
Based on that learning, your brain prepares your body before your conscious mind creates a story about it.
Your heart rate shifts.
Your breath changes.
Your posture tightens.
Your energy mobilizes.
Your body reacts first.
Your mind interprets second.
And here’s the part that changes everything:
In the present moment, there is no built-in meaning.
Your brain uses pieces of your past to make sense of your now.
As Lisa Feldman Barrett says,
“What your brain prepares you to do determines what you perceive, think, and feel.”
Your thoughts aren’t the starting point —
your physiology is.
What Actually Creates Change
Change doesn’t begin with mindset shifts.
It begins with new internal signals.
When you use slow nasal breathing or rhythmic breathwork, you create an interoceptive shift — meaning your brain receives new sensory evidence from inside your body.
That new evidence interrupts the automatic preparation reflex.
Your prediction updates.
Your physiology settles.
Your clarity returns.
This is why, in coaching sessions, everything softens:
The pace slows.
Pauses open up.
Shoulders drop.
That long exhale shows up — the signal that the nervous system is recalibrating.
Capacity comes back online.
Biology makes room for clarity.
Try This Before You Move On With Your Day
Take one slow, gentle inhale through your nose.
Then an even slower, longer exhale.
Just notice what shifts. 💛
Clarity doesn’t come from forcing yourself to think harder.
It comes from teaching your body that this moment doesn’t require the old patterns anymore.
Want to learn how to shift into it anytime, anywhere? Reach out to me!
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