Why When I Smile, Your Brain Smiles Too! A discussion With Hannah Bornet

Why smiles, joy and laughter are the best medicine, role models and exemplars in life. In this episode Dr Rachel does a Q & A with Hanna, where they talk about how finding joy is an antidote to fear and Scotland evokes the greatest imagery of how nature heals.

This episode provides a great reminder of the importance of smiling and the mirror neuron system, and how we can change our brain structure by spending time with certain people. We all need the joyful in our lives and this episode explains why. A reminder that we all don't need to have experienced trauma to be a good role model and mentor to the traumatised. 

Key Insights From This Episode:

• I think that there's not much space in everyday life for people to have that kind of reflection and realisation space. Dr Rachel
• I'm a true advocate of having to have that connection between the brain, the body, your wisest parts. - Dr Rachel
• Not many people realise just the importance of what our feet do in the connection between us and the earth, carrying the weight every single day. - Dr Rachel
• Maybe the greatest asset would be to have humility and admit, even when something is great it's always got an equal and opposite ungreatness. - Dr Rachel
• It's so difficult to sit both with somebody in pain and also sit with your own pain and not do anything. I think one of the greatest lessons in life is when we can just sit with pain and just let it be. - Dr Rachel
• I feel like you have to be ruthless to live a simple life. - Hannah
• I think we've got to own the situation that we're in. Yes, there’s things that are not within our control at all. But there's plenty that is. And we need to focus on that. - Hannah
• I often say to people who have hypervigilant nervous systems, seek out people who haven't because your brain will copy their brain, your mirror neuron system will copy theirs. - Dr Rachel
• Awe and awesomeness has been appropriated really inappropriately in that we'll just say automatically for something that's pretty mediocre. - Dr Rachel
• I think going through a painful experience allows you to grow and provide you a certain amount of wisdom. - Hannah
  
  

Keywords: trauma, smiles, mirror neurons, nature, grounding

About Our Guests:

Hannah Bornet

Here’s what Hannah said about joining Dr Rachel on the podcast.

“Chatting with Rach was both enjoyable and insightful – her questions got me thinking about my behaviour and values. It felt like a fun therapeutic chat with an old friend.”

About Our Host

Dr Rachel Taylor

[email protected] 

Dr Rachel Taylor is a neuroscientist with decades of experience exploring, discovering and solving everyday challenges faced by many, as well as listening to and telling the stories of people she comes across in her endeavour to show difference is good, trauma is endemic and joy is connection. She started UnBroken as she wanted to highlight that the system is broken not people and uses the UnBroken podcast to share her learnings, honest conversations and words of wisdom with the UnBroken Tribe of listener.

About UnBroken 

https://un-broken.me/ 

UnBroken is founded upon the belief that the environment in which we were born, grew in, live in, work in, play in and rest in has a huge impact on how well we believe we are and how well we perform. Wellbeing and optimal human performance are not simply about the absence of disease, they are about the ability to live purposefully, intentionally, joyfully and freely.  

UnBroken provides a range of supportive online resources including a podcast, blog, apothecary and monthly online membership for people who dare to be different, are open to possibilities and want a different pathway to their own version of success.