Hello and welcome to the Harmonious Mind,
A space to slow down and gently reset your nervous system.
My name is Tanya McIntyre,
Your mindfulness mentor,
Coming to you from the beautiful lakeside town of Goderich,
Ontario,
Canada.
These short reflections are crafted to help you build a kinder relationship with your mind.
Let this reach you the way music does,
Without effort,
Without judgment,
Simply allowing yourself to be here in the present moment.
Today we'll explore how to use our three brains to achieve better mental health.
At the dawning of this new year,
What do you want for your life in 2026?
Seeking self-improvement can sometimes turn into just another way for us to beat ourselves up.
There's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to better ourselves,
But it can become a pitfall.
You might have the discipline to attain all the milestones you think you need to be happy,
But without discovering yourself,
You might build a world that isn't actually for you.
That's the difference between self-discovery and self-improvement.
Self-discovery is all about uncovering who you are and what you truly want from life.
It's about finding the principles,
Passions,
And goals that are uniquely rewarding and fulfilling to you.
Self-discovery begins with using our brains,
All three of them.
We have our head brain,
Our thoughts.
We have our heart brain,
Our emotions.
And we have our gut brain,
Our nervous system.
Our head brain is our human brain.
It controls higher order functions like reasoning,
Planning,
And problem solving.
Our heart brain is our mammalian brain.
It governs our emotions and our ability to form social connections.
And then we have our gut brain.
That's our reptilian brain.
It's associated with our nervous system,
Which has over 100 million nerve endings that produce 90% of our body's dopamine and serotonin chemicals,
All promoting feelings of pleasure,
Motivation,
And satisfaction.
We use these brains as a framework to describe our experience of the world.
You can actually hear it in our language when we use phrases like,
I'm stuck in my head,
Or my heart's just not in it,
Or I've got a gut feeling.
The practice of mindfulness and Tai Chi is teaching me the importance of being in the present moment,
And taking the time to listen to my heart and feel my gut.
As a mindfulness mentor,
My mantra has become,
It's not what we do in life,
It's how we do it that matters.
And this is a foreign concept to us humans who are programmed to provide and perform from the time we're born,
Especially for parents.
Imagine what your life would be like if you were able to take pleasure in every single moment.
For instance,
How are you listening to this right now?
There might be a more pleasurable way to experience it.
Perhaps it's being less rushed,
Or maybe just stopping to notice the sensations in your body,
Feeling how every word lands in your system.
Many people don't want to feel emotions because they think it will hurt,
And it's actually the resistance to the emotion that can be painful.
When our emotions are allowed to flow freely,
They can't control us anymore.
Instead,
There can be a deep enjoyment of them.
The definition of pleasure is the awareness of sensations moving through your body.
The more pleasure we can feel,
The more our nervous system knows it's safe.
And if we feel safe,
We can connect with the pleasure that is right here,
Right now.
Like anything else,
Your capacity for pleasure is something you can actually grow into.
And as you learn how to welcome pleasure,
Your ability to have pleasure grows and grows.
My wish for you is that you create a life you love this year,
A life you will never need to escape from.
Thank you so much for being here with me.
I hope these insights offer you some serenity.
Join me again for future episodes of The Harmonious Mind as we continue to explore practical ways to build better mental health.
Until then,
May your coffee,
Your heart,
And your patience be strong.
My name is Tanya McIntyre,
Your Mindfulness Mentor.
May the force of mindfulness be with you always.
And remember,
You are the force.
