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Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome back to another episode of Mojo Monday.

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Speaker 1: I'm Cauli Taylor, and this week I'd like to touch

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Speaker 1: on something that I have found really fascinating and it's

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Speaker 1: something that I'm currently studying in my Masters and counseling,

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Speaker 1: and that is the connection between our early childhood experiences

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Speaker 1: and how we handle stress as adults. So, when we're young,

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Speaker 1: our brains are developing rapidly, especially in the first thousand days,

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Speaker 1: and the environment we grow up in plays a huge

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Speaker 1: role in shaping how we respond to the world around us.

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Speaker 1: Our brains are like a Bonzoi tree, So you know,

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Speaker 1: the Bonzoi master he or she shapes the tree by

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Speaker 1: trimming it and hanging weights on the branches, and then

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Speaker 1: the tree grows into this unique shape. And that's like

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Speaker 1: our brains, which are shaped by a process called synaptic preening.

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Speaker 1: And it's our environment, our emotional experiences, and of course

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Speaker 1: the people in our lives that uniquely shape our brains

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Speaker 1: when we're young and as we grow. Now, if you've

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Speaker 1: experienced a traumatic event or events things like war, physical

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Speaker 1: and emotional abuse, neglect, isolation, or intergenerational trauma or ongoing trauma,

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Speaker 1: your brain will disproportionately be shaped through this process. Even

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Speaker 1: if you didn't go through these more extreme traumatic events,

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Speaker 1: you still may have experienced an environment which was challenging

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Speaker 1: growing up, and these have likely influenced your default stress

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Speaker 1: response today. So depending on your environment will depend on

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Speaker 1: how your brain may have adapted by becoming more sensitive

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Speaker 1: to stress. And it's your brain doing its job to

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Speaker 1: keep you safe and to keep you alive. But what

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Speaker 1: happens is this response becomes maladaptive, which means in your

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Speaker 1: current environment it cannoten not be helpful. So sometimes we

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Speaker 1: can feel really stuck. But we can gradually change our

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Speaker 1: brains by what we do now, and that's by weakening

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Speaker 1: those connections that are maybe not helpful to us and

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Speaker 1: then strengthening new ones that are so understanding why we

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Speaker 1: respond to stress the way we do can be really empowering.

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Speaker 1: It's not about labeling these experiences as good or bad,

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Speaker 1: but just having that knowledge and recognizing that they are

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Speaker 1: there for a reason. And so it's really good to

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Speaker 1: have this awareness. And for me, I realized that some

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Speaker 1: of my own stress responses will linked to my childhood experiences,

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Speaker 1: some of which were very challenging for me. And just

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Speaker 1: by being aware of it, I now can choose to

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Speaker 1: respond differently to my automatic stress response rather than getting

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Speaker 1: all caught up in it. And that's what I want

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Speaker 1: to share with you today, So not to be a

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Speaker 1: victim of the past or to blame, but to understand

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Speaker 1: how you can understand and influence your emotions in the present.

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Speaker 1: And the understanding and thinking about this is really it's helpful,

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Speaker 1: but it's not enough because that's just knowledge without the action.

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Speaker 1: That's like staying in a library accumulating all this knowledge

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Speaker 1: but not actually doing anything with it. So I've done

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Speaker 1: a few Mijo mondis on how we can respond differently

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Speaker 1: to our thoughts and our emotions using ACT which is

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Speaker 1: acceptance and commitment therapy and Japanese psychology to work on

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Speaker 1: that mindset stuff. You can go back and have a

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Speaker 1: listen to those episodes if you are interested in some

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Speaker 1: mindset tools. But today I'm going to talk about something

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Speaker 1: that's made a huge difference to me, and that is

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Speaker 1: what I do on a daily basis over and above

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Speaker 1: these mindset tools. And this is about action and working

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Speaker 1: not just on our minds and brains, but also our physiology.

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Speaker 1: So if you want to be mentally fit, you have

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Speaker 1: to bring the body into it. And I have these

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Speaker 1: daily rituals or non negotiables in place that work on

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Speaker 1: my mindset and my physiology so I can be as

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Speaker 1: optimal as I can each day. And when I say optimal,

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Speaker 1: I just mean being the best that I can be

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Speaker 1: whatever is going on in my life. So consistency is key,

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Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean it's the same thing every day,

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Speaker 1: because life is forever changing and forever flowing, and we

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Speaker 1: get strown obstacles and curveballs which we then have to

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Speaker 1: adapt to. So what I do each day, or what

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Speaker 1: I call the fundamentals, I find that when I commit

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Speaker 1: to them, I live better even when stress shows up,

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Speaker 1: and in fact that's the best time or the optimal

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Speaker 1: time to keep going. And we should all be aware

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Speaker 1: of what our own unique baseline of our wellness is,

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Speaker 1: so everyone has their unique baseline, so yours will be

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Speaker 1: different to mine. And if you have a health condition

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Speaker 1: that impedes you from doing some things or horror a

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Speaker 1: lot of things, then you work out what you can

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Speaker 1: do and you work out your baseline. But having conditions

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Speaker 1: is not an excuse to do nothing. So what I

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Speaker 1: want to share with you is how I manage my

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Speaker 1: baseline each day, and I hope if you are struggling

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Speaker 1: with stress that you'll consider what daily rituals are going

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Speaker 1: to help you. And this baseline can change depending on

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Speaker 1: what's going on. So it's not about an all or

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Speaker 1: nothing thinking. You know, what you can do one day

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Speaker 1: maybe different to the next. So, as I said earlier,

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Speaker 1: it's about adapting to life's demands, but doing the groundwork

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Speaker 1: on the fundamentals to meet that baseline every day. So

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Speaker 1: the fundamentals I'm talking about mindset, exercise, nutrition, sleep, and connection.

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Speaker 1: And I've learned that when I don't prioritize these fundamentals,

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Speaker 1: my day doesn't go as well full stop. I know

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Speaker 1: that because there's been plenty of times when that has happened.

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Speaker 1: So the first fundamental that I mentioned was mindset, but

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Speaker 1: I'm actually not going to talk about that today because

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Speaker 1: I've done plenty of Mojo mondays that you can access

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Speaker 1: to learn about that. But I will start with exercise,

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Speaker 1: and exercise is hugely important to function well in all

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Speaker 1: areas of life. So I am I'm not an athlete,

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Speaker 1: I've never been that competitive, but I am dedicated to

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Speaker 1: moving my body every day throughout the day, So even

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Speaker 1: when I'm really busy or I'm not in the mood,

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Speaker 1: I will do something because I know the consequences of

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Speaker 1: skipping it far outweighs any momentary discomfort. So if I

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Speaker 1: can't do a full session. So I'm currently doing CrossFit,

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Speaker 1: which I love, but if I can't do that, I'll

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Speaker 1: do movement snacks throughout the day. And when I consistently

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Speaker 1: exercise whatever that looks like, I sleep better, I focus better,

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Speaker 1: I feel stronger, and that strength in my body supports

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Speaker 1: the strength in my mind. Plus I'm a nice person

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Speaker 1: to be around. You can just ask my family and nutrition.

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Speaker 1: Each day, I focus on my eating. I eat real

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Speaker 1: food and I keep sugar and ultra processed foods to

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Speaker 1: a minimum. I limit my process carbs and I'm not

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Speaker 1: saying that you shouldn't eat them, but moderation is the key.

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Speaker 1: And I've increased my protein intake to support my bone density,

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Speaker 1: which I know is low because I've had dexic scans

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Speaker 1: that have shown that, and I want to maintain or

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Speaker 1: even increase my muscle mass as I age, and I

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Speaker 1: carry a water bottle with me wherever I go and

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Speaker 1: I sip water all day to ensure I'm hydrated. If

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Speaker 1: I don't drink water throughout the day, it affects my mood,

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Speaker 1: it affects my energy levels. So it's incredibly important to

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Speaker 1: stay hydrated to make sure that I'm at that baseline.

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Speaker 1: And I stop drinking caffeine by around twelve o'clock at

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Speaker 1: the latest so it doesn't impede my sleep. And so

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Speaker 1: let's talk about sleep now. It's a massive priority for me.

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Speaker 1: It's the umbrella of all the fundamentals. If I don't

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Speaker 1: have a good night's sleep, I will not be optimal

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Speaker 1: the next day, and so that baseline that I've been

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Speaker 1: talking about will move and everything else needs to be adjusted.

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Speaker 1: So I have a pretty strict sleep routine. I stay

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Speaker 1: off screens at least an hour before bed. I avoid

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Speaker 1: alcohol during the week, which I do not just for

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Speaker 1: my sleep, but also even if I have one or

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Speaker 1: two glasses of wine, I know that it affects me

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Speaker 1: the next day. I leave my phone charging outside of

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Speaker 1: the bedroom. I have a routine that usually includes just

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Speaker 1: reading before bed, and I go to bed early most

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Speaker 1: nights and wake up early. And this has had a

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Speaker 1: profound impact on my ability to manage my stress. If

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Speaker 1: I don't sleep well, I cannot expect to function at

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Speaker 1: my best. And there is a saying that I love

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Speaker 1: the morning starts the night before for so just reflect

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Speaker 1: on this. Now, what are you doing in the evening

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Speaker 1: that could be reflecting or could be impacting your sleep

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Speaker 1: and then impact how you wake up in the morning.

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Speaker 1: So is there something that you could do tonight some

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Speaker 1: tweaks so that you wake up differently tomorrow morning. And

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Speaker 1: if you have your mobile by your beard and you

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Speaker 1: are checking socials or you're checking the news before you

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Speaker 1: go to sleep, then I can guarantee that you will

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Speaker 1: not be sleeping well. It's going to disrupt Sorry, you're

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Speaker 1: circadian timing due to that blue light exposure, and your

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Speaker 1: brain is going to be stimulated relative to whatever content

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Speaker 1: is that you're watching. And then if the first thing

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Speaker 1: you do in the morning is check your phone before

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Speaker 1: you've even put your feet on the ground, that is

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Speaker 1: going to affect or have an impact on how you

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Speaker 1: manage your stress level. And it certainly won't help because

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Speaker 1: what's happening is your brain is on high alert before

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Speaker 1: you've even said good morning to your kids. So if

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Speaker 1: you can do it. Buy an alarm clock and get

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Speaker 1: your mobile phone out of the room and even just

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Speaker 1: experiment with it. Do that for two weeks and just

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Speaker 1: see whether it affects your sleep, and see whether it

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Speaker 1: affects your energy levels throughout the day. And then connection

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Speaker 1: connection with family and friends is also essential. I prioritize

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Speaker 1: quality time with Paul and the kids. I try to

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Speaker 1: be as present as possible. I check in with my

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Speaker 1: extended family, though I probably could do that more often.

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Speaker 1: I make time to connect with friends whenever I can.

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Speaker 1: And I'm going to throw in their connection with nature.

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Speaker 1: So if you're anxious or you are low in energy,

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Speaker 1: just going for a walk and notice the trees, noticing

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Speaker 1: the birds and the clouds in the sky can have

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Speaker 1: a huge impact on your energy levels because nature is

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Speaker 1: such an energy booster. So these fundamentals are like my

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Speaker 1: daily anchors. And because I've struggled with my stress, how

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Speaker 1: I respond to stress, and you know that inner chatter

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Speaker 1: in my mind, these daily non negotiables, they what they

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Speaker 1: do is they keep my baseline at a good optimal level,

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Speaker 1: which means that I live well even when the stress

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Speaker 1: is present. So as you go through this week, consider

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Speaker 1: how your early experiences might still be influencing your stress

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Speaker 1: response today. And remember you're not a victim of the past.

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Speaker 1: You are in control of the present. So if you

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Speaker 1: do the fundamentals each day and keep that baseline at

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Speaker 1: a level where you can function of deimale even when

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Speaker 1: stress is present, you will find it makes a huge

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Speaker 1: difference to your life. So thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: joining me, and I will catch you next week. Dear