We are gonna look at some of the basic chemical processes in the brain designed to create the sensation we call “pleasure.”

We have touched on this lightly in the past but we are going to take a deeper dive today as we are in the midst of the summer season.

Your body, more particularly, your brain has a set of natural processes designed to make you feel good under certain stimuli.

Certain intersections of behaviors will literally tell your brain to activate your pleasure centers and release dopamine.

Dopamine is our brain’s natural “happy” chemical and it is vital for our continued health and happiness.

There are known ways to trigger your brain to release these chemicals and improve your state of well-being.

This episode starts a mini-series on the three circles of overall wellness.

Today’s focus is the circle of our physical health and how our brain assists in those processes.

As I always say, Give Yourself Grace and Know Your Limits.

Happy Thanksgiving American Friends! In this season of gratitude and the week of the Thanksgiving holiday, come learn about the physical effects of gratitude on the brain. Sit back and listen how the simple act of gratefulness and mindfulness actually improves the chemical makeup of your emotion regulating system. This episode is meant for anyone who is overwhelmed by the big things and has a love for the simple and small gifts of life.

Sleep and the Brain- Daylight Savings time is a controversial topic because among other things, it messes with our sleep cycle. Did you know that the brain is like our home where everyday it gets cluttered with thoughts? It's true and our sleep is the daily housekeeping that we need to keep our brains tidy and efficient. Come learn about the sleep cycles, how long it takes to move through your sleep cycles and how important sleep is for the brain and the body.

Hey Friends, its Election Day! Sometimes as we think about days like today and as we go through our daily lives, our thoughts don’t always match our actions. Why is that? It’s called Cognitive Dissonance. Sometimes we create this dissonance on purpose because we can’t face a truth. Sometimes we face this when new information confronts past thoughts and closely held paradigms. Learn how to confront and overcome when our current or past actions don’t always match our current beliefs and thoughts.

Time to apply what you have learned! Just like life can sometimes go off the path even with the best of our intentions, our amazing brain can sometimes create thoughts and paths we don’t want to be on. Learn about how you can change your beliefs and thoughts to a better, grander and more upgraded version of ourselves. Learn about neuroplasticity and how you can manage your brain’s natural safety response as you work towards new values, new goals or a new you

Our discussion on how the brain creates, reacts to and processes fear and anxiety responses continues! If you enjoyed last weeks episode, tune in to hear Julie bring it all together and get you on a path to greater brain peace and understanding of self!

Halloween approaches! Come listen to scary tales told by Julie! Ok....not really. As you will learn in this episode, scary things is NOT Julie's cup of tea. But the Brain IS Julie's cup of tea and in in this fascinating episode, she dissects some of the psychology and physiology behind our fears, phobias and anxieties. Come join us for a not so spooky tale to learn what the hell is your brain doing!

On this fascinating episode, Julie teaches you about the 4 "Happy" chemicals in the brain and how they impact the body. Where do emotions created by your brain processes sit in your body? What impact does the tense or relaxed body have on the brain? Can I use my body to help hack my brain? Julie answers all these questions and more