Evolve In Nature

Bessel van der Kolk, author of "The Body Keeps the Score," explains that during traumatic activation, Broca’s area — the part of the brain that helps us put experience into words — can go offline. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex quiets, while survival systems take over like the fight/flight response and amygdala 🧠

This is why trauma isn’t always easy to “talk through.” The experience is often stored as sensations, images, and emotional states rather than a clear narrative 💭

Talk therapy is still valuable, but language alone may not fully reach where trauma lives. That's why therapeutic approaches that include the body — breath 🌬️movement 🏃🏾‍♀️ sensation 🤲🏼— help restore regulation, making it possible for both words and integration to emerge.

Author Mattheiu Ricard, molecular genetics PhD turned Buddhist Monk, regards happiness as something we cultivate over time instead of a fixed destination.

In his book titled, "Happiness, A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill,” he describes the practice of happiness as a series of small intentional shifts and mental habits.

These include moments of awareness, attention, self-regulation, emotional awareness, Lovingkindness, compassion, cognitive reframing and altruism... all of which shape our mind over time and orient us toward well-being.

Ricard describes that "pleasure is fleeting but happiness is a way of being." Of course, this only holds true if we are not bypassing our authentic emotions, or ignoring the challenge we experience in our lives. So, what small micro-shifts could you make in your thinking that might affect your moment-by moment happiness? How could you emphasize helpful reframes over negative thought loops?