You know how people say, “think positively”, there is actually something to that. But you can’t just say it, you have to whole body do it. Michelle Hutchison breaks down the science and the spirituality behind helping us rewire our minds for a healthier, stronger self!

 

Julie Holton:

Have you found your calling in life or are you just trying to find your way through the day? Today, some hope and some real talk to help us with both.

Julie Holton:

The climb to the top feels so good when you get there.

Audrea Fink:

Is it just us or can it feel lonely sometimes even when you’re successful.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

And who define success anyway? What about life’s twists and turns?

Julie Holton:

We’ve learned a few things along the way, and we’re ditching the culture of competitiveness.

Audrea Fink:

Bringing together women from different backgrounds to share their stories.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

Let’s do this together. Welcome to Think Tank of Three podcast.

Julie Holton:

Welcome to the podcast. I’m Julie Holton here with Audrea Fink and Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris. Ladies, raise your hand if you have questioned what you’re doing with your life even once in the last year. Is it just me?

Audrea Fink:

Wait, only once?

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

Can I raise my hand any higher?

Audrea Fink:

What if I put both hands up and maybe like my right foot?

Julie Holton:

I think it’s safe to say that all of us question life, our calling, our purpose, decisions, even without a pandemic and lockdown. I think it’s okay to question because it helps us find that better answer. And I can’t even believe I’m saying this because I am the woman who in the moment is like, “Dear Lord, I do not want to learn any more lessons. I told you, I’m done learning lessons, I’ve learned enough. Thank you very much.”

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

Yeah, we launched our new season with an entire podcast on those lessons and we know we’re not alone. So today’s guest is going to walk us through how to navigate the roller coaster, please. Michelle Hutchison has a master’s in clinical social work in the field of education with an emphasis on building neuro psychological resilience in the brain. Michelle, welcome to the show.

Michelle Hutchison:

Thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited to be here.

Julie Holton:

We’re ready for the group therapy sessions.

Audrea Fink:

We are, always.

Julie Holton:

Thank you.

Michelle Hutchison:

Me too.

Audrea Fink:

The word resilient has become especially of late, right, a really big buzzword, I think in part because of the pandemic and all of the complications around the pandemic. But sometimes it’s also just used as a way to sugarcoat a really shitty situation, or a way that tell someone like, “Stick it out, even though this is crappy,” without actually being helpful for people, like it’s just a thing we say. “Oh, just work on your resiliency and eventually, you’ll get over having cancer.” Right, I mean, it’s silly. So can you peel back the layers for us? We know what it means to be resilient, but how do we actually accomplish this in a healthy and meaningful way that isn’t just blowing smoke at difficult times?

Michelle Hutchison:

Such a great question. And you’re absolutely right. We use these buzzwords, and the new and exciting topic. But what does it really mean to break it down in a tangible way so that our thinking patterns are changed, and our brains actually grow? Because we know now that neuroplasticity, meaning the changing of our brains is really possible. And so I’m excited to talk about some of these tools that we can gather to really make life different and to progress and move ahead.

Julie Holton:

Michelle, one of the things you said to me months ago, we were just having a conversation, and you said that the pandemic has actually changed our brains, like it has literally rewired our brains. And at the time, when we were having this conversation, I believe we were in the first lockdown, maybe the second I don’t know. But we were kind of in lockdown mode where everyone was working from home, or at least those non essential workers were working from home. So a lot of Zoom meetings. We were talking about kids seeing people wearing masks and how that changes their development, because they’re not seeing facial cues and being able to connect through seeing faces.

And I remember you saying, the pandemic has rewired our brains. And I was like, “Oh my gosh,” but in that very next breath, you said, “But we also have the ability to rewire them again.” Can you talk about that? What does all of that mean? Because I think we’re feeling that like yes, the pandemic has changed us, but I want to grab on to this hope. Because if we can rewire them back or do something better, what does that look like?

Michelle Hutchison:

Yeah, great questions, Julie. And let me just remind our listening audience that the pandemic does have an effect on our brain and it hasn’t rewired everyone’s brain. Right, but the people that feel, any of our audience that feels this impact, or this change in themselves can know that that change is really coming from a brain chemical state. So in order to answer some of your questions, we have to back up and talk about what resiliency is. And Audrea you brought it up in the very beginning. So resiliency really is this ability for our brains to adapt in the face of adversity, to bounce back from how adversity may affect the chemical makeup of our brains, and then ultimately changing the brain structure. So I’m going to give you a few, just very simplified key concepts.

One, we have chemicals that flow through our brain like dopamine makes us feel good, serotonin can make us feel good, oxytocin, it helps us bond with one another. Cortisol, which helps us protect ourselves in times of stress, but can also be extremely damaging to us if we have too much of it. And then we have this other simplified concept, which is neural pathways that our brains are actually created of many neural pathways, that when they come together, they create a path of structural thought. So we have a thought life which comes from our mind. And then that thought life often just naturally takes the neural pathways physiologically in our brain to create patterns of behavior. This is high science stuff coming down in very simple form to you. So when we think about how the pandemic has impacted us, we know that it’s impacted our brain chemicals and we know that that then affects the physiological makeup of our brain.

So what happens when we go for months or days, or hours even without engaging with each other through eye contact or through voice tone, or through touch, it actually reduces the chemical flow of dopamine and serotonin and oxytocin, which makes us feel good, which brings that sense of life and excitement and wanting to think futuristically. And instead, we have a decrease of those brain chemicals flowing, and then an increase of cortisol, that’s our stress hormone. And all of a sudden, we’re thinking negatively, we’re feeling negative, we’re not seeing hope in our future. Let me give you one example, eye contact. So having eye contact, making eye contact actually releases oxytocin in the brain. Oxytocin is the ultimate chemical that we want released in our brain. It’s our bonding chemical.

It’s what makes us feel joy and connected on earth. And so you can just begin to think about how much the pandemic and isolating socially can really then begin to change the structure of our brains physiologically. Because when we’re not feeling joy, and happiness, then all of a sudden, we are seeing a pattern of negative thinking, of fearful thinking. And now we’re building structures out in our brain to think negatively and to think through fear.

Audrea Fink:

I’m a slight introvert. I’m probably like 50/50. Look, I thoroughly enjoy socializing and being with folks but I also thoroughly enjoy sitting on my couch with a good book and a cup of tea and not talking to anyone for hours. That actually might be my favorite thing to do. I was shocked at how much I missed interaction. And once things started opening back up and we were able to kind of see each other, I was unprepared for the amount of emotion that I got from giving someone a hug. It was like getting high on dopamine [crosstalk 00:09:06].

Michelle Hutchison:

Exactly. [crosstalk 00:09:07].

Audrea Fink:

From a hug. Now I’m a toucher so I like, I hug everybody or I’ll pat you on the arm. So like I could understand that physical touch was missing, I could tell that was off but I wasn’t prepared for the shift in brain chemicals when I got it back. So it’s like all the like little things are falling into place as you’re talking about this because I’m like, “Oh that’s what that was.

Julie Holton:

Audrea, I can so relate because my top two love languages are physical touch and quality time. And I can tell you as a single woman quarantine during the pandemic, I was lacking in both of those. But at the same time, as soon as things like opened up and it felt like in Michigan where I am, it was like all of a sudden overnight, “Okay, you can all go back and socialize now. And if you’re vaccinated, like go on, have fun.” And I couldn’t comprehend, like my body just I felt like I was hit by a truck. The first networking event I went to was amazing. I felt that same high that you’re describing. And then by the time I got home, I needed three or four days to recover, because I was overwhelmed. Michelle, are we normal? Is this part of what you’re talking about here?

Michelle Hutchison:

You’re normal, you’re absolutely normal. And those are perfect examples because you can see how, oh, my goodness, over time we didn’t even realize what was happening in that brain chemical change, the change and then neurologically how that began to change the physiological structure of what was happening. And so the good news is that when you went and socialized again, you felt your brain bounce back. That’s resilience. And so essentially what we want to say is, how do we build up the resilience in the brain so that bounce back remains, and so that the bounce back comes quicker and more effective. So I like to actually think about the pandemic in this sense, that we actually have an opportunity to grow our brains even better and even greater than before. And so that’s the concept of resilience is that you take adversity and you say, “Actually, it’s not going to stop me, it’s going to grow me and expand me even more.”

But that’s not as easy as we think especially for individuals who may have already struggled with the bounce back or the resilience. And we know that resilience isn’t just a matter of mind over matter, but that it’s actually impacted by genetics as well. Some people are genetically more vulnerable to a lack of resilience. And so sometimes it really can come down to I have to work harder than you at the bounce back.

Julie Holton:

Wow. I’m trying to soak that in because, I mean yet again, another reason why we need to continue to combat the mental stigmas in this country, because like here’s something that is so important to know, because that blanket message is always out there of being resilient. We were talking in another podcast recently about athletes who are forced to just bounce back. And I would imagine that their genetic makeup perhaps leads them to do that more easily than others. But Gosh, we just expect everyone to be able to bounce back. Michelle, I have to ask you too, just quickly here, for those of us who did work from home, or even, I work, I run a virtual agency so I’m always from home. Zoom calls were nothing new for me.

Do we lose when we’re… You talked about eye contact and what that does to stimulate the chemicals in the brain. Do Zoom calls still do that or do we lose that? Because so many of us, it’s like we still have this face to face contact, there’s still a computer screen. So what does that do to our brains?

Michelle Hutchison:

Yeah, well, the computer screen itself, the blue screen, all of those, the technology that we use has an impact on our brain chemicals. So yes, am I seeing you? Am I getting some joy out of this? Absolutely. Do we not yet even understand the complete impact of technology and blue screen on our brains? That’s correct. And so there is science out there. And that’s not for today’s show, but there’s science out there that talks about what the blue screen does in regards to bringing that like addiction response in the brain. And so, yes.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

It’s filtered in just again, it’s another topic but I know that that’s something that we had to deal with, with our son. My daughter was full time school because they were able to go and she was in preschool and they wore their masks. I did not like the hybrid model situation for my son. And he needed consistency and structure so we did full time remote for him. But then it hit me late, but I still would have done it the same way. This kid staring at a computer screen for six to seven hours a day, because his teacher was desperately trying to make it as much the classroom setting as she possibly could, which meant engaging. She wasn’t just like, “Okay, here’s your assignment, go away, come back in a couple of hours.” She was like, “All right, we’re doing this now.” She treated as if we were in the classroom, this is what we would be doing.

We had to get him glasses because I noticed him sleeping was just falling apart. And all of that is a filter, so you’re not getting that direct eye-to-eye thing that when you’re in-person that glimmer because I can’t see the pupils of your eyes through a computer screen. The other thing with this pandemic, we were all home which meant we were all watching stuff that maybe would have missed normally. We were all at home, watching the news, watching what felt like this country getting set on fire through social injustice, and all that was happening. Which I know for me brought up emotion and feeling that I didn’t even realize I had until it happened, especially for black folk and black women, there was a moment of, “I’m so tired and done and it’s over…”

You feel broken, you feel like I’m just broken. A woman went off about when they were having rioting in Minnesota, and her response was, “You should be happy that we’re just breaking windows and glass, because we could really be doing something else.” So how do you then build a resiliency from that when you’re no longer talking about this one moment in time? You’re talking about something that’s been in play for all of history that finally came up out of the cracks and finally shown its ugly head for real? How do you…

Michelle Hutchison:

Yeah, you’re talking about epigenetics, and you’re talking about environmental impact to that resilience. So epigenetics really is the concept that within our neural pathways, which I described to our thinking patterns, we actually store deep within those pathways are proteins and within those proteins are our DNA. So this sometimes is mind blowing because we think our DNA is just like our blond hair, blue eyes, but it’s actually our thinking patterns as well. And so when we’re talking about resilience being genetic, we’re also talking about this concept. Like if I have a history of thinking in a certain pattern, structure or being oppressed, because now I’ve acclimated to oppressive belief system, then that tends to be what I continue to pass along. So then when I have adversity, my natural response is to fall into that oppressive thought process until I begin to understand that neuroplasticity, building new neural pathways is possible.

But then it makes you think, “Well, how do I do that?” So essentially, the science is the science, whether it is generations of oppression or it is a pandemic that we’re walking through, we know that we can rebuild the brain structure so that we can begin to think differently. And this takes me to something I’m really passionate about, teaching women, teaching people, teaching human beings in general that we walk out change, body, soul and spirit, not at just one level. And even if you back up to like being stuck in the house and watching news and how when we see fear-based thinking or when we hear things like the news, day and night and its negative and its approach, it begins to impact our thinking patterns to the place of fear.

And do you know what fear does on a molecular level in the body because we’re made up of chemical vibrations essentially, our atoms and molecules. It begins to weaken our systems. And so all of a sudden, fear creates an immune response in the body and weakens the immune system. And what happens when our immune system gets weakened, we’re more vulnerable and susceptible to illness, and depression, and anxiety. And so all of that leads us back to understanding how important it is to reign in not our brains, but our minds, our thought life, our will and our emotions, because then that will ultimately physiologically create structure in our brains that our behavior patterns follow. And so the good news is, out of all of this, we know how to build resilience in the brain. No matter what’s going on behind you, it is possible to re-develop your brain structure, which re-develop your thought life, which changes your life behavior patterns.

Audrea Fink:

Do you have tactics that you could offer us for changing our thoughts? And maybe how to break down generational curses, if you will, and rephrase some of those thinking. So we were talking to another podcast today about how people feel about money for one example, right? And how you were taught to deal with money affects how you currently think about money and how you currently think about money affects how much money you have. So if we grew up in a family where there was emotional trauma of some sort, we’re going to walk through life bare minimum with the defense mechanisms for that emotional trauma, and then probably other elements that we sustained through that trauma. People who are living through systemic racism, who are living through sexism, who are living through all of the crap that you get out in the world, right? What can we do? And how do we work on changing our thoughts and breaking from those sort of generational problematic thought processes?

Michelle Hutchison:

Andrea, that’s such a fantastic question. And it’s hard for me to simplify that in just a few minutes time. And so I’m going to dissect your question and respond to it at just one level, because I believe that breaking generational curses, and it’s such a real thing, I’ve watched that in my clinical practice over and over, is a matter of breaking that in a behavioral, physical way. And breaking it just as you talked about from that soul realm, which essentially is the beliefs and the will and the emotions that I carry. And I would take it even to the spiritual realm as well. But let’s focus on that soul realm, because really that’s our mind, our will and our emotions. And there are some simple things that can be done, for example practicing compassion. I’m quiet, because I’m letting us sit and think about that.

Practicing compassion actually builds up the matter in your brain. We know there are studies out there that talk about individuals that grow up in poverty often have less empathetic regions in the brain, depending on how much violence exposure they’ve had. So that could be a rabbit trail on its own, but how do we combat that? We actually can build empathy back up in the brain, we can build compassion backup in the brain. We can use practices such as mindfulness to exercise slowing the brain response down and increasing the ability to think and contemplate, which actually begins to build a pathway of thought of thinking and thinking hypothetically, and processing instead of just responding out of anxiety and anger or fear. We can increase our grid, pushing through when things are difficult. Even if it means I pushed through it a little bit more than last time. I didn’t want to get out of bed this time, or last time, I didn’t want to get out of bed.

This time, I’m going to get out of bed and I’m going to call a friend. Last time I called my friend to say I wasn’t going out because I just couldn’t do it. This time, I’m willing to go out and get coffee, but I’m not willing to commit to dinner. Right? All of those baby steps are what begin to build that resilience in the brain to say I can do it. So you’re partnering with a thought pattern to begin to expand out of your comfort zone, which is often not healthy, to grow yourself even more.

Audrea Fink:

Can you articulate the difference between compassion, self compassion, and empathy? I feel like I am an extraordinarily empathetic person. I have no issues putting myself in someone else’s shoes. I really struggle with compassion, both self compassion and compassion for others. I’m like, “Well, this is what I would do if I was in your shoes, like do this. Get over it. Move on.” And I can recognize that’s not healthy nor is it very kind. And compassion and empathy are so frequently used as the same thing, but I think they’re pretty different.

Michelle Hutchison:

Yes, they are different. And they’re different, really by one major component. So empathy is this capacity that we have to share the feelings of others. The look at someone and their life struggle and to feel what it is that they’re going through and to understand what they’re going through. While compassion is that not only do I share the feelings that you’re experiencing, but I’m also feeling compelled to alleviate your suffering? And so it’s what do we do? It’s the difference between what we’re feeling and the fact that I can connect with you and understand, but then, am I draining myself in the process of alleviating your suffering? And how does that impact me and how does that… And I’m asking this rhetorically. And then how does that impact my ability to continue to support you, as you’re going through transition or life crisis or adversity? Did that make sense?

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

It’s interesting. That makes a lot of sense. In fact, it literally brought me to a conversation I was having with my mother. And she, in walking through all of the things that she’s been walking through this past year, this past year and a half, she has a family member who she spends a lot of time rolling through all of the stuff that’s happening and asking that question is, “I just don’t know what to do.” She lives in kind of in a constant state of fear. And explaining it, my mom now I believe she’s considered the matriarch of the family. So now that the fear is, you’re the last and we don’t want to lose you and everything. And she’s talking to my mom, and she continually is asking my mom. We’re not really sure what is it, is it advice on how to walk through or whatever.

And my mom finally reached a point where she’s just like, “I don’t need to be reminded every single day that my son died, that my husband’s gone, that my favorite niece has passed.” She said, “You don’t need to tell me that every day. I know this.” I think that that’s that other side of things, because my mom is one of those constant, you go to her, you talk to her, she walks you through things. But then people aren’t recognizing that you can’t just constantly go to someone for problem solve especially when they might be going through their own. And there’s a moment where you need to stop and [inaudible 00:27:11], you need to feel what you need to feel. I think there’s a plug in there where people they’re wired to try to want to problem solve.

Michelle Hutchison:

I was just going to say, that really takes me to one of my favorite conversations, which essentially, now we’re moving into a little bit more like deeper conversation. And so hopefully what happens today is it just leaves us all thinking and looking for more. But it’s this idea of, do we really know our identity? Or are we walking in a false identity? Because sometimes being the fixer, or always having the answer, or always listening is a diversion from having to feel our own pain and grief. So is it because we truly know our identity and we walk in that and we’ve learned life lessons, and we have wisdom and so we’re able to feed back into others? Or is there a part of what we’re doing that we do because it gives us a sense of self worth? Or because it deflects from our own pain? The life lessons of us as human beings is that everything that we experience, we experience in microcosms.

So as we’re helping someone else, we’re also getting enlightened ourselves and finding our own freedom in that. But I’m hearing what you’re saying and I go back to and let’s dig into, why is it that we do what we do? And is it that we don’t truly yet walk in the confidence of our own identity and who we are? And so what are we gleaning, from taking on certain roles, and roles of compassion and roles of empathy? And what chemical releases are happening in our own brains? And so what would happen if we stripped away those roles? Could we still be happy? Could we still be fulfilled? Could our brains still have release of dopamine and serotonin? I think even taking this conversation back full circle, during the pandemic, did you step it up and work even harder because you felt a responsibility to do that or because there was opportunity and it fed your soul?

What was it really feeding? Or did you pull out of everything and then you started to feel that depression and anxiety creep in? And did it make you stop and think, where am I getting my release of dopamine from? Where am I getting my oxytocin from? What truly matters in life, because I’m not feeling so good in this time? Then so what am I myself reflecting to figure out what really fulfills me outside of a sense of worth based on the people around me?

Julie Holton:

Michelle, I want to bring your faith into the conversation because I know that you are a Christian woman, very spiritual. And I know that this also plays into the science that you’re talking about as well. And so I want to ask you, specifically, when we started this podcast, we’re talking about the women who… We all raise our hands, we’ve all questioned at least once, if not a million times. Like am I serving out my life’s purpose? Am I where I’m supposed to be? Even though I’m an adult, what am I going to be when I grow up? So what are your thoughts talking about resiliency? What are your thoughts for the women who are in that place, no matter what age they are, or what success they’ve had in life, trying to figure out the questions of who am I and what is my purpose? And how does your faith pull into the science of all of this?

Michelle Hutchison:

Gosh, Julie, that’s such a fantastic question that even makes me think deep.

Julie Holton:

I mean, it’s a whole ‘nother podcast. I know.

Michelle Hutchison:

It’s a whole other… That’s what I was just thinking like now, how do I answer this in 30 seconds?

Julie Holton:

I’ve heard you describe just the act of prayer and that prayer releases dopamine. Can you even talk about that? Because when you said that to me, I was like, whoa, mind blown. The science of the physical response in the body when you pull… and it doesn’t have to be the Christian faith either, for women who are listening, we welcome all women whether you have faith or not, or spiritual side or not. But I’m just curious about the spiritual side of things and how that ties into what you’re describing as the chemicals in our brains.

Michelle Hutchison:

Yeah, there are a lot of studies so you can research studies on prayer, and its impact on the brain. But in short, essentially, what happens if you practice a contemplated prayer, or for me, I would consider it prayer. If you took spirituality out of it, a lot of people will say, mindfulness in many ways, but studies that specifically show prayer or contemplated prayer, meaning I’m slowing down, I’m quieting my environment around me, and I’m focusing my mind on hearing what there is to hear whether it’s in my subconscious thoughts, or some neuroscience will say now they can track waves of thought that come even before the subconscious thought. I would identify that as God, the voice of God speaking to us. And then we begin to think, subconsciously and reflect, and then we can begin to verbalize and act on that thought process.

But as we do that, as we pray, and we connect with God, there’s actually a lot of research that shows a release in that dopamine and serotonin and specifically a release in the oxytocin. And to me that oxytocin is the most important because it’s not a brain chemical that we just get easily, it really does require that bonding, that physical touch, it comes with intimacy. It comes when mother breastfeeds baby and there’s close eye contact. And so it’s that deep sense of connection and deep sense of self. And there’s so much research out that really talks about when we spend time in prayer connecting with God, that there is a release in that oxytocin. And ultimately, oxytocin brings joy. See let me throw this little nugget out. If we talk about the pandemic of substance abuse that we’re going through as a nation, right, really what substance abuse is bringing to someone is a release of those brain chemicals, dopamine and serotonin.

People are looking for happiness, but the problem with that is that only comes in short spurts, and then it runs out. And so you have to use more and we have to use more frequently in order to remain at that level of feel good, happiness feeling. Oxytocin is something that comes when we connect with our creator, when we connect with one another, and it brings joy. And joy is sustainable. And so for me as a spiritual woman, and I believe and I know all of the research is coming out in mental health, that connecting spiritually is what brings true whole mental health and wellness. That we can’t talk about mental wellness without talking about tapping into both our spirituality and the understanding of that with our brain chemicals and what happens. So we know we’re not just saying, well, it feels good to slow down and practice contemplate of prayer or to believe in something bigger than us, but that there’s actually change in the brain.

And when we have joy, then it changes our thinking pattern. So when I’m feeling good about something, I’m not going to automatically default to a negative thought process. And so if we default always to a negative thought process, those neural pathways get wider and stronger and deeper in our brain. So that becomes the way that we function. But if we’re functioning out of our spirituality and connecting with God, and then we have this release of joy and dopamine that’s consistent in our daily spiritual practices, then we’re building neural pathways that are leading us in that direction and growing our positive thinking, our joy, our desire to connect with one another. And all of a sudden, those negative pathways die off because that’s what happens when we don’t use them, and we have a brain structure that’s created of all things good, of good thought patterns.

And maybe we have a bad day, but we don’t stay there. Again, this is the bounce back. This is the resilience. And so we’re recreating our brain, our neural pathways to break those generational curses, and begin to process and think in the renewed mind. And it’s beautiful because it’s life changing, and it physiologically changes the brain and we need more of it as a society.

Julie Holton:

Michelle, in a recent podcast episode that we did with Joyce Martyr, Reisch read a quote. And what I really love is this kind of simple quote, where it talks about, I mean it’s a beautiful quote, but this quote that that kind of, it talks about how what we think turns into what we do. And you’ll have to, this is our shameless plug, you have to go back and listen to that episode [inaudible 00:36:42] quote because it’s great. But Michelle, what I love is you are describing the science behind that, how what we think turns into what we do and how it… it’s so fascinating. And in fact, you’re in the process of developing a business that pulls all of this together and then some, it’s this huge vision that you’re bringing to life with a core group of women. I’m so grateful to be working with you on the project, it’s really going to be incredible. Tell us about this women’s center that you’re working on.

Michelle Hutchison:

Yes, the Meta Center. I’m so excited to talk about it because in my years of clinical practice, I’ve watched trying to sow seeds of healing into individuals and break those patterns of behavior and those generational curses. And through all of that, I believe I got this bigger picture of all of the facets needed to bring our brains into practice, which ultimately bring us into wholeness, body, soul, and spirit. And so the Meta Center is a center for transformation, for growth and for networking. Because we need inner growth, we need inner healing, we need networking with one another in safe and pure relationships and love. And love comes when we have identity and when we truly know our purpose and our calling, and that there’s more than enough in life, we can love without competition and without jealousy.

And guess what? We are capable of getting there. It just requires us to have healthy brain structures and to be connected to something bigger and greater than ourselves. And then to have a growth mindset, to be willing to say, because I know neuroplasticity is real, I know I can change my brain, I’m going to change my brain. And I’m going to be responsible for my own behavior patterns. Instead of focusing on those around me, I focus on myself. And when everyone does that, then you have a beautiful community of one another, pulling each other higher, changing brain structure, changing behavior patterns, and then ultimately walking out our purpose. Because we allow people around us to help us and pull us up higher.

And you do that, I’ll close with saying this, by renewing your mind you have to choose daily to control your thought life because your thought life controls then the physiological makeup of your brain. So you have to learn to change your thinking and your intelligence. You have to be exposed to the kind of concepts that we’re talking about today to even think in those directions. We have to wire positive thinking networks. We have to detox our thought life.

Julie Holton:

Yes, now more than ever, right?

Michelle Hutchison:

We have to control our brain.

Julie Holton:

So, sign me up like-

Michelle Hutchison:

I know.

Julie Holton:

… I am ready for the Meta Center.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

And it’s active practice. It’s active practice, you have to make the daily choice to do that. And that’s not sometimes the easiest thing to do because let’s face it, our heads are a very dangerous place to be. I know mine is. I definitely know mine is. And it goes back to the quote that Julie had mentioned that I’d said before it’s, watch your thoughts. Well, I won’t do the whole quote, but watch your thoughts.

Audrea Fink:

No, do it. It’s a good quote.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

[crosstalk 00:40:12]. But it was, “Watch your thoughts for they become your words. Watch your words for they become your actions. Watch your actions for they become your habits. Watch your habits for they become your character and watch your character for it becomes your destiny.”

Julie Holton:

Yes.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

And that just what you said it’s all connected. It’s an active decision, you have to actively participate in your life and actively participate in your thought process and actively [crosstalk 00:40:47] make that decision.

Audrea Fink:

That can be really hard.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

And actively make that decision that I am going to think positively at this moment, at this time and you have to active… You might be one of those people who has to do that several times per day.

Michelle Hutchison:

That’s right.

Julie Holton:

[inaudible 00:41:04]. Right? And in community like that’s why we are made to live life together and not have to struggle through things alone or try to change our thought habits alone. I mean, that’s why we’re all big advocates of therapy, and having a tribe like the Think Tank of Three, right? Because we know that sometimes life is really hard and changing those thought patterns can be really hard. We have to do it in community.

Michelle Hutchison:

You’re absolutely right, Julie. We didn’t even talk about mirror neurons, and in the picture of what it can look like. And this is the goal of the Meta Center. Our mirror neurons, our brains were created to symbiotically flow with one another. And so as your brain begins to reflect healthy patterns, my brain responses will pick up and mirror the same. And then my chemical brain flow can ultimately look the same as your levels of cortisol, as your levels of dopamine. That’s a conversation for an entire podcast in itself. And what happens when you start to build this ball of momentum of healthy brains and healthy thinkers? And I have to add, because it is central to my life, and for me it is the key to what has made all of this science effective. When you allow God to change your thought life, just exactly as the quote said, then that kicks off the momentum for all of those other pieces. For then your brain to change, for your behavior to change, for your heart to change.

And so when you’re listening and you’re changing your thought life, which for me comes from hearing the beauty that God can bring and the wisdom that he can bring in any situation, then the rest just follows along. And then you build this ball of momentum of healthy thinkers, a network of healthy thinkers who aren’t just healthy in their minds, meaning their thought life, but they’re also healthy in their physical body. Because now we know that our physical body, our physical health is a result of our mental health. That’s the truth. We know this now. And then the relationships around us are impacted by both our thought life and our physical life. And then we’re walking wholeness, body, soul, and spirit.

Audrea Fink:

I’m so excited for this, the center to go live. We will, the Think Tank of Three will share information on the launch of the Meta Center when it launches, especially the virtual component. So make sure you stay tuned for that.

Michelle Hutchison:

Yes, there will be lots of healing work to go around and lots of support [crosstalk 00:43:55] as you walk that out.

Julie Holton:

Michelle, before we go, we are collecting advice from successful women in our communities and sharing it in our Think Tank forum. So we have three rapid fire questions for you to wrap up today’s podcast. Are you ready?

Michelle Hutchison:

I am ready.

Julie Holton:

Alright, number one, is there a lesson that you’ve recently learned that you wish you would have learned earlier in your career?

Michelle Hutchison:

That true healing really comes body, soul and spirit. Even in life traumas that we have to heal it up in all three areas of our life.

Audrea Fink:

From the lessons you’ve learned thus far in your life, what advice would you offer specifically to other women?

Michelle Hutchison:

To work from a place of identity. And if you don’t know your identity, then you know where to start your healing journey.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

In today’s professional setting, what do you think is the most important skill for a woman to have?

Michelle Hutchison:

I think the skill of love is the most important because it is a skill that has to be practiced. And love actually means boundaries. Love means pulling people up higher. Love means not working in jealousy, right, but knowing how to honor people in their dysfunction as you bring them up higher. And if you can’t do it, then you know where to start your healing journey.

Julie Holton:

I love that. Not to overuse the word love, but I do, I love that. Michelle, what is the best way for our audience to connect with you?

Michelle Hutchison:

Thank you, Julie. At this time, they can connect to me through my personal website, resilientmindsconsulting.com and you can contact me through the website. And as we release the Meta Center, I know that you’ve shared that you’ll also put out the launch of the Meta Center and ways to contact in that regard. We are so excited to launch this and to be open to bring healing and wholeness to women at all different places in life and in their journey.

Audrea Fink:

Thank you so much for joining us today. Michelle, this has been absolutely wonderful. And I know that I have those positive brain chemicals going through my head right now because I’m just sitting here grinning to myself for no reason by the way.

Michelle Hutchison:

I love it. There is [crosstalk 00:46:36], but I won’t get too nerdy about it.

Audrea Fink:

And that’s all for this Think Tank of Three.

If you have topics you’d like us to cover or guests you’d like to hear from, send us a message at thinktankofthree@gmail.com. Subscribe to the Think Tank of Three wherever you listen to podcasts and connect with us online. We blog weekly at thinktankofthree.com.

Julie Holton:

Follow us on social media. You can find us individually on LinkedIn and as Think Tank of Three on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Women click to join our private group on Facebook where we can all share advice and articles.

Reischea Canidate-Kapasouris:

And if you liked what you heard in the podcast, share it. You can find Think Tank of Three on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon Music and SoundCloud.