When a child is emotionally dysregulated we call it a temper tantrum, a phase and these days “big feelings”. When an adult is emotionally dysregulated we call it mental illness. What is it that happens or doesn’t happen between childhood and adulthood that paves the way for the long list of disorders now associated with emotional dysregulation and what can we do differently? That’s the topic for today’s Work IN.

People are wired for connection. It’s an evolutionary survival mechanism innate in even the most introverted of us. And it’s repeated from our cultural community and tribal tendencies all the way down to a cellular level in the body. Connection in the context of health and wellness can look like mindfulness practices, building self awareness through meditation and journaling, setting healthy boundaries, improving work life balance, strengthening relationships with family and friends, getting involved in your community, building your own communication and leadership skills, tapping into hobbies and activities that bring you joy.

On the surface those things might not seem as critical to our health as getting our blood pressure under control or lowering our cholesterol and losing weight. But it’s precisely BECAUSE those things are critical that we need to acknowledge the influence that our connection to ourselves and our community has on those more measurable health outcomes. Today we’re discussing the internal and external connections that matter when we’re making changes to our health.

We are working our way through 5 categories of health with our Cat 5 challenge and today we’re diving into category 4 the nervous system. Last week we discussed the overlap of the nervous system and sleep and how we’re looking for ways to help the body feel safe enough to be able to relax into that parasympathetic so we can rest and be close to other people. Today I want to discuss how playing it safe ALL the time can actually keep you in a state of protection, hypervigilance and anxiety.

I have had a love hate relationship with social media from day one but when you are looking to scale an online business it seems like a necessary evil. I’ve learned some things over the last 4 years though that have given me a little less anxiety and a whole lot more backbone when it comes to using social media as a tool. I’d like to share some of those things with you including 3 specific social media marketing skills that no one needs no matter what business you’re in.

Are you hearing a lot about AI? I am. It seems every other story in the online business has to do with new AI tools. Either how this new tool will revolutionize your business or how it’s the beginning of the end of free thought and creativity. No matter what camp you fall into, AI technology is here to stay and you might want to set some intentional professional boundaries around how or why or if you are going to use it.

What I’d like to highlight in today’s episode has to do with how our hypervigilant state of protection prevents us from emotionally connecting and bonding with the people who we are trying to protect. Especially our kids but this also applies to pretty much any relationship.