One of my most controversial takes:
No one else has the power totrigger you.
When someone does something that triggers you, your amygdala fires first.
You can slow the response with a breath and choose the extinguisher over gasoline. So, you actually always have the power to not be trigger-able. 
It's hard and holy work, but it's worth it to regain that sense of control that you used to believe someone else could take from you by triggering you.
Save this for the next time you start to feel triggered, and share it with a friend who needs to know how much power they actually have over their own emotional state.
Follow for more brain science tips to stay in control.
And click the link in my bio to learn more about self-brain surgery.
#neuroscience #anxiety #anger #emotions 
Alex Golesh said he’s talked to his wife and their house in Auburn has been rolled.
“Only in Auburn do people know where you live,” Golesh said.
He added, “It’s better than a for sale sign.”
Catherine put out a video from Cornwall today and it's worth a minute of your time, because it's the most Catherine thing she's done.
No announcement about herself. No drama. She's asked her Centre for Early Childhood, the thing she set up in 2021 when nobody was paying attention, to go and find out properly whether growing up around trees and mud and sky changes how babies and toddlers develop. Not whether it feels nice. Whether it works. Social skills, emotional skills, the stuff that decides what kind of adult you become before you can read.
The Duchy of Cornwall is paying for it. That's William's estate. Husband's land, wife's research, kids' futures. Quietly done, in Cornwall, on a Thursday.
Here's why it matters coming from her. Two years ago she sat on a bench in a garden and told the country she had cancer. She has said since that nature was the thing that got her through it. The woods, the walks, the sea. Most people who go through that come out with a story. She came out with a research programme, aimed at two year olds, so that the thing that healed her might be built into how we raise children who haven't been born yet.
She's been on this since 2021. Five Big Questions. Shaping Us. The baby cue research with health visitors. The animated films for nursery staff. None of it trends. All of it compounds. In twenty years there'll be a generation of kids raised differently because a princess kept turning up to a subject everyone else found boring.
Same week as all the noise, this is the signal. Get your kids outside. She's about to prove why.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis knows exactly what's going on.
Vote YES on Amendment 3 to stop local governments from using your primary residence as their own personal ATM machine.
Let me share a little gem if you’re visiting Florence, Tuscany, Italy 🇮🇹💎
If you’re getting tired of the crowds, overtourism, endless lines, and noise, take my advice and head to Fiesole, the beautiful hilltop town just above Florence
It’s very easy to reach, and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into another world
You’ll find ancient Roman ruins, Renaissance villas, restaurants with breathtaking views of Florence, and two absolutely wonderful convents, San Domenico and San Francesco
Both are incredibly peaceful, rich in art and history, and have that special atmosphere that makes you want to stay a little longer
And then there’s Villa San Michele, the spectacular Belmond hotel set in a former monastery, surrounded by greenery with a gorgeous view over Florence
Add beautiful walks, nature, and plenty of good food, and you have the perfect excuse to escape the city for a while
Trust me, Fiesole is a little corner of Tuscany that deserves to be discovered 💚
Society wants you to believe you’re a slave to your own brain activity. That everything about you is just neurons firing, and you’re along for the ride.
Here’s the problem: if you believe that, it starts to become true for you.
The moment you decide your brain is in charge instead of your mind, you stop trying to change anything. You just try to manage it. And when life actually ruptures—real stress, real loss, real crisis—you’re in trouble, because you never learned that you had the standing to change any of it.
That’s when people reach for numbing instead of operating. A drink. A distraction. Anything to avoid doing the work. And numbing never leads to getting better. It just delays the appointment.
You have to take command of your life. That’s self-brain surgery.
If you don’t operate your life, your life is going to operate you.
Click the link in my bio to dive deeper into this topic and learn more about self-brain surgery!
(This is a clip from my talk at the 2026 American Association of Christian Counselors meeting in Dallas)
*FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.
A MONTESSORI TEACHER REVEALED WHAT REALLY CALM CHILDREN DURING TANTRUMS (punishment makes it worse):
1. The teacher said the fastest way to calm a child is not words, it’s the body.
This is probably the most controversial thing I discuss publicly: you already have what you need to heal, grow, and change.
I want you to say this out loud with me if you're somewhere you can: "I already have what I need to heal and grow and change."
I know it's true for you because Scripture says it. You already know you have a sound mind from 2 Timothy 1:7 ("God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind").
Then Peter adds this.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3, NIV)
Every time I teach this, somebody comes up and says, "But you don't know what I've been through. You don't know my personality. You don't know my diagnosis."
That's true, I don't. But I do know what Peter wrote, and he wrote "everything we need."
I say this with love, friend, but also as a doctor giving you the straight facts; I don't see an asterisk in that verse that says, "Unless I've been through trauma, or have ADHD, or a high ACE score, or my name is ________."
So are you ready to accept what he has already given you, and the way he designed you? Are you willing to learn how to operate your system so it stops operating you?
And ultimately the question is this: do you want to get better, or do you want to stay broken, bitter, or trying to figure out who to blame for what's keeping you stuck? Because neuroscience and scripture agree: you have what you need if you're willing to change your mind.
Share this with a friend who needs to know they are designed to heal, and save it for later when you need a friendly reminder that you have what you need.
And follow me for daily connections between neuroscience and faith that will help you in your quest for healing, hope, and higher performance in your life.
Click the link in my bio to learn more about my New York Times best selling book, The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery.
#neuroscience #mentalhealth #hope
#anxiety #selfbrainsurgery
In the 1990s, Canadian ecologist Suzanne Simard made a groundbreaking discovery that challenged everything we thought we knew about how forests work. While studying managed forests in British Columbia, she noticed something puzzling: when birch trees were removed to promote the growth of valuable Douglas firs, the firs did not flourish as expected, they actually struggled and grew more slowly.
Determined to understand why, Simard traced the movement of nutrients using radioactive carbon isotopes. What she found was astonishing. Trees were actively sharing resources through vast underground fungal networks known as mycorrhizae. These delicate, thread-like fungi connect the roots of different trees across the forest floor, forming a complex web that allows the exchange of carbon, water, nutrients, and even chemical signals, sometimes between entirely different species.
She discovered that older, larger trees often serve as central "hubs" or "mother trees," supporting younger saplings by redistributing vital resources and helping the entire ecosystem remain resilient. When these key trees are removed, the underground network weakens, and the health of the remaining forest declines.
Simard’s research overturned the traditional Darwinian view of forests as battlegrounds of ruthless competition. Instead, she revealed a far more sophisticated reality: forests operate as highly cooperative systems where trees communicate, support one another, and even warn neighboring trees about threats like drought, disease, or insect attacks.
What appears to the human eye as a silent, still forest is, in truth, a vibrant, interconnected living network, built not on isolation and rivalry, but on deep connection and mutual aid.