Unlocking True Courage In Your Brain: How To Face Challenges

What is courage? And how can I strengthen my courage to face my challenges? This combination of talk and meditation will give you a fresh perspective on what courage really means. Based on neuroscience, you will learn which brain structures can block us in our potential and how we can nurture our own courage to face our challenges.

Transcript

A warm welcome to you to this session which is going to be about the neuroscience of courage.

This is one of the topics that I've been looking at for quite some time and as a neuroscientist I'm especially interested in the neuroscientific perspective on certain psychological concepts.

And as mindfulness is one large inspirational source in my life,

I also always like to see how mindfulness meditation can contribute to our own well-being and in this case courage.

I have invited this imaginary special guest for this session here for this meditation and talk and the special guest that I have invited is a person,

A young man called Alex Honnold.

Perhaps you've already heard of Alex Honnold and if not I do recommend to have a look into who Alex is and especially in what he has achieved.

A few years ago he climbed El Capitan,

Which is a big rock in Yosemite National Park and I'm not sure if you know El Capitan but El Capitan is about 900 meters high or in other words 3000 feet from base to summit.

And Alex Honnold is known for his free solo climbing,

This means he climbs without any source of protection and one of his greatest achievements is climbing El Capitan without any form of security in about less than four hours.

Well I'm not sure if you would call this a courageous act,

Some people would call it a total crazy act,

But I would like to use this example to you to tell you a bit more about what courage means and how we can address it from a neuroscientific perspective and especially how we can nurture our own level of courage.

If it comes to climbing,

I'd like to give a personal example,

I have two children,

Two daughters and my youngest one she has absolutely no fear of heights and my older one she's like me she has a very strong fear of heights and every time when we go climbing my oldest daughter she would look at my younger daughter climbing up to the top and then she would look at me and she says listen my younger sister she's so brave for climbing all the way to the top and the first time she mentioned that I reflected on that and in the end I responded and said listen it's not your younger sister who's being courageous here it's actually you being courageous for climbing all the way to the top because you're the one with fear and you're still climbing even though you experience fear.

So being courageous is not necessarily about doing something which is very natural to you but being courageous really means facing your own fears and undertaking something even though you're feeling held back because you feel insecure or you feel anxious you feel uncertain.

If you look at courage and if you look at the brain there is one particular brain structure that plays a very important role if it comes to courage and your own performance and this part of the brain is called the amygdala.

The amygdala is a brain structure that is very small and we have two of them one of the left side of the brain one on the right side of the brain and they're very small and they look like an almond.

Amygdala is also the Latin word for almond and the amygdala they're small but they're extremely powerful.

The amygdala they play a very important role in our survival whenever there is a real danger outside the amygdala will trigger a fight flight or freeze response.

So you will fight the danger you will run away or you will just be blocked in your own emotions you will freeze perhaps you will hide.

So the amygdala is very important for our survival and for many emotions in general but in many situations the amygdala will also become active when there is no real danger.

For example standing on stage and holding a presentation leading a difficult conversation.

These are two examples where there is no real danger but nevertheless the amygdala they can be triggered and they cause this feeling of nervousness anxiety and it's these feelings of nervousness and anxiety or insecurity that it will also block us in our potential to hold the presentation or to lead a good conversation.

So if you look at courage,

Courage really means that we face our own insecurities our fears that are caused by the amygdala activation and will still try to give a good performance.

So what is it that we need then to down regulate this amygdala activation?

Well what we need to down regulate this amygdala activation is a capacity or a skill that is called self-regulation.

Self-regulation is an extremely important skill that allows us to recognize this amygdala activation or fear that is blocking us in our potential and it allows us to regulate this amygdala activation so we can access our potential much better.

So let me go back to the examples that I've mentioned to you.

If it comes to climbing my youngest daughter who has no fear of heights she does not need self-regulation to climb up to the top.

But my older daughter and myself we're both very much afraid of heights we need a lot of self-regulation to deal with our fear so we can climb even though we feel afraid.

And self-regulation is also needed when you're afraid of holding a presentation or when you are being nervous for holding or leading a difficult conversation with others.

So self-regulation is a very important skill.

So how is this combined with mindfulness?

Well mindfulness meditation is one particular way to regulate yourself.

Mindfulness meditation if practiced correctly and regularly it will even lead to the fact that the amygdala are not so easily triggered because the amygdala they will calm down their activation level.

So mindfulness has several effects if it comes to courage.

One is that if you regularly practice mindfulness meditation as a self-regulation strategy the amygdala will calm down and you will feel less afraid and it will be easier for you to access your potential in those situations where you feel challenged.

That's one way.

The second tip that I can also give you to increase your courage or to help you especially in situations where things are challenging for you is a certain breathing exercise.

If the amygdala is being triggered and is causing feelings of being afraid then it's the autonomic nervous system that will be activated.

And the autonomic nervous system just as the word says is a nervous system that will spontaneously automatically regulate certain biological changes in our body such as for example the heartbeat,

The blood pressure,

The digestion,

Sweating or not sweating.

These are biological changes that are regulated by the autonomic nervous system.

Now the autonomic nervous system consists of two branches.

One of those branches is the sympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system is that part of the nervous system that is triggered when we feel anxious or nervous.

What will they cause in our body?

The heart rate will go up,

We also start swashing,

We also get a dry mouth.

These are the typical biological changes that we experience whenever we feel stressed.

Then we also have in the autonomic nervous system another branch which is called the parasympathetic nervous system.

And the parasympathetic nervous system will cause the opposite biological changes in our body.

The heart rate will go down again,

We will stop swashing.

The typical changes that are connected to relaxation.

If you look at the breathing and if you look at those two branches then it has been found that breathing in is related to your sympathetic nervous system,

To the system that is active when we feel stressed.

And it's the breathing out that is connected to the parasympathetic nervous system,

Namely that system that is associated with a state of relaxation.

So in sum,

When we feel stressed or when we are in a challenging situation where we need courage to act,

Don't forget to fully breathe out.

Because it's with the breathing out act that you trigger the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and this will more easily bring your body and brain into a state of relaxation and even better,

It will downregulate your amygdala activation.

So to sum up,

We have this courage act which means we face our own fears,

We face our own anxiety.

And how can we do that?

Well one way is with regular mindfulness meditation practice,

When we regularly practice mindfulness meditation,

The amygdala that causes those fears and feelings of insecurity,

The amygdala will calm down.

And the second tip is if we are doing a breathing exercise,

Just make sure we fully breathe out.

In the heat of the moment,

When you are leading a difficult conversation,

When you have to perform on stage,

Just try to notice your breathing out and make sure you fully breathe out.

Because the breathing out will trigger your parasympathetic nervous system which will downregulate your levels of insecurity and fear.

Now if we make the connection with Alex Honnold,

Alex Honnold who climbed El Capitan without any form of security,

His brain was also investigated and what they've noticed is that his amygdala absolutely did not show any reaction in certain situations where other people would have reacted with amygdala activation or with a fear reaction.

So if you make the connection with courage,

Is Alex Honnold courageous or not?

Well I believe of course he is courageous for undertaking such an act and again some people would call that crazy.

But given the results of the brain scans,

Alex Honnold does not experience this strong amygdala activation that other people would experience when climbing.

This of course also allows him to access his full potential to climb.

I must honestly tell you that I'm quite sure that I had more amygdala activation watching Alex Honnold climb compared to the amount of amygdala activation that he was experiencing.

So these are the two tips that I have prepared for you.

There's many more but these are two that I would like to combine into a relatively short mindfulness exercise where we are going to integrate those two tips.

And for this mindfulness meditation exercise I invite you to close your eyes or if you have your eyes open,

If you prefer that,

Just apply an unfocused gaze.

Your back is also straight which allows you to breathe in and out fully.

Your hands are in front of you,

On your knees or on the desk in front of you.

Your feet are stable on the floor and if you're lying down just take a comfortable position.

It's important to be comfortable but at the same time also alert and fully present.

We start this mindfulness exercise by breathing in and out just a few times a bit deeper and slower than usual.

Now you return to your normal breathing pattern and we let the wandering mind go to the background by bringing our full awareness to what is happening right here and right now.

The inhale and the exhale.

Perhaps you feel the inhale and exhale in your tummy or in your chest.

Perhaps you also feel the inhale and exhale at your nose.

Your fresh air is going in and a tiny bit warmer air is flowing back out.

Perhaps we also feel the breathing in our back or in the shoulders that are moving up and down very slightly with the inhale and exhale.

Now very consciously we bring our full awareness to especially the exhale.

And when possible for you then try to have the exhale just a tiny bit longer than the inhale.

Whatever feels comfortable to you,

Even if your exhale is just a tiny bit longer than the inhale.

Your breathing is happening right here and right now.

You are here and now.

And you are present,

Fully present here and now.

And you are grounded.

And above all,

You are ready.

You are ready to nurture your courage.

And you are ready for whatever it is that the remainder of today will bring to you.

Thank you for listening and I hope to meet you again here soon.

Reviews

Brilliant talk of huge benefit to me. Thank you. ❤️

So well explained and helpful to understand the biology behind this!

I found this to be very interesting, and helpful as I have had to make some uneasy medical decisions and choices this week. 🙏🪷😌☮️

A really excellent and, easy to understand explanation and meditation.

Thank you for sharing this helpful knowledge! I felt very calm and mindful after the mediation ❤️🙏🏽

A fulfilling meditation fit into such a short period of time. I feeling so much better. Thank you!

Exactly what the doctor ordered to move ahead on my journey.

Thank you so very much for this educational and powerful experience. I feel grateful to have the understanding about the amygdala and the connection with the out breath to regualate the parasympathetic nervous system. I have always focused on the inbreath until now. I feel gratefully happy to know how to self regulate since I experience a great deal of fear in stressful moments. Your voice as well as your calm grounding presence and music are comforting and gently empowering. I will use this meditation regularly. 💗

Thank you for the information on the reaction of deep breathing on amygdala. 🙏

Very clear and informative on the benefits of mindfulness for self-regulation and the neuroscience that sits behind this. And a lovely guided session to put it into practice. Thank you 🙏

Wonderful information on the neuroscience and beautifully explained! Thank you a million times over🙏

Great talk, thank you! You have a true talent in explaining a complexe concept in a clear way. Will revisit often.

28.3.22
Effective and useful.
Thank you Karolien.
🌿🌿🌿

I enjoyed it very much. Very engaging. Thank you :).

Fascinating information and excellent practice! Thank you.

Very helpful to understand the roots of fight, flight or freeze.

Thank you for sharing this very important and enlightening information.

I really like her approach: logical, science- based, and empathetic. Great reminders of why I return to meditation again and again.

Now I understand why so many meditation techniques emphasize the longer out breath. Very interesting. Thank you

Thank you. Just what I needed to hear before logging on to work during high stress and overwhelm.