S4:E1 - It's Not All In Your Head, It's In Your System with Dr. Abrar Hussain
Release Date: 04/07/2025
S4 - E22: The Scarcity Code - Part 3
Who Turned The Lights On?
Probably my best iteration yet of how I I found my way out of the dark. I chose to share this information as an article I wrote for my younger self. Recording it and sharing it through audio with an invitation for you to come listen in. This final episode in this 3 part micro series speaks to how those of us from high stress childhoods, ongoing stress careers, now aged 40sih, can find our way out of the dark. How the nervous system is so much more than a piece of anatomy, and why #nervoussystemintelligence is so fundamental our quality of life - to everything. Resources mentioned in this...
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S4-E21: The Scarcity Code - Part 2
Who Turned The Lights On?
In this episode, this audio explores how nervous system adaptations silently shape the way we price, earn, and show up in business. From freezing at bigger ticket opportunities to collapsing under visibility, this recorded audio for my younger self, unpacks how survival logic—not strategy—often drives our decisions. We trace the five-layer Scarcity Code loop and reveal what shifts when pricing, receiving, and success stop being trauma responses and start showing up from places we've made whole. ______________________________________________________________________ Meet Shannon...
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S4-E20: The Scarcity Code - Part 1
Who Turned The Lights On?
In a Who Turned The Lights On first, I invite you to listen to a reading I recorded for my younger self, and perhaps for yours, too. This is Part 1 of a short series called The Scarcity Code, exploring how survival, money, and self-limitation are shaped by the nervous system from a time long, long ago. If you’ve ever felt stuck in patterns of under-earning, overgiving, or financial fear — even after years of strategy, effort, or mindset work — this may offer a different lens with which to explore the code that was added, that we can now choose to keep as is, or replace it with...
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S4-E19: Distinctions, Insights & Context, As You Find Your Way Out Of The Dark
Who Turned The Lights On?
The final episode in an 8-part micro series exploring the 70 page book - Successful Outside, Struggling Inside. This final episode summarises the last 7 episodes, before we get stuck into some very helpful distinctions, insights & context as you find your own way out of the dark. I include some more lived experience to bring these ideas to life, and ultimately, give you a clear map and suggestions on how and where to start, or continue along your own path to the exit from whatever this chapter gets called. The point being - there is an exit. We know where it is. We know how to get...
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S4-E18: NeuroCity & BioCity is why micro moments, 3x daily for 12 weeks is so effective.
Who Turned The Lights On?
While we don't really need to understand Neuroplasticity or Bioplasticity to recover, it is very helpful to undestand its role. Maybe understanding a bit about this, will make the path out of the dark a bit easier. Episode 18, is part 7 of our mini series exploring Successful Outside, Struggling Inside - a wee book of 70 pages that is my first attempt at articulating how I found my way out of the dark, and transformed my life more in 2 years than the prior 25. Neuro(pasti)City - rewires the brain ... but why, and what is it rewiring, and where did those original wires come...
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S4-E17: Rabbits & Turtles to Help Us Stop Overriding The Body
Who Turned The Lights On?
The area I ignored most, that likely added at least a year or more to my recovery. This is part 6 of our mini series exploring the wee book: Successful Outside, Struggling Inside. Page 45-48 in that free 70 page PDF, examines pace & progress. We start by putting a few key distinctions on the table, and then examine pace for both your thinking self, and separately for your nervous system. We look at how you, hijack you. Specifically the 3 most common markers where flares up happen. The pace of self regulation being long before you become dysregulated. The cost of...
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S4-E16: Supporting Your Nervous System To Make T.H.E. C.L.I.M.B.
Who Turned The Lights On?
This is episode 16, also known as part 5 of our mini series on We explore all 8 bio-items that are the building blocks for optimum nervous system health. Those 8 bio items are captured as an acronym: T.H.E. C.L.I.M.B. Each of these 8 will be applied differently pending which run of the nervous system ladder your baseline currently is. We take a brief tour in and around each 1 and I make sure to add lived experience as we go, to ensure these feel as accessible as possible, for you to take away and work with right after the episode. The 8 bio-items? Thoughts Habitat Emotion...
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S4-E15: Changing That 5yr old Wiring, Hijacking Your Current Reality
Who Turned The Lights On?
Episode 15 is also part 4 in this mini series, exploring the 70 pg wee book - Successful Outside, Struggling Inside. This episode recaps the prior 3 episodes, before taking a deep dive into The Rulebook installed in childhood, reinforced into adult years, that hijacks your current reality as it creates all sorts of shenanigans while it is left unchecked. Quite literally, it is like having your 5 year old self make decisions for your 40ish year old self today. We take a close look at what the Rulebook is, where it comes from, what it does, and a few ways (out of countless ways) to...
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S4-E14: Perception? Nah its projection!
Who Turned The Lights On?
Episode 14 coincides with a lived experience from this very morning that is used to shape, direct and explain this section of that wee book titled: Successful Outside, Struggling Inside, page 27-35 You can get the pdf in your inbox by going to this page, leaving your email, before hitting submit. Should land within a few minutes. This episode examines perception as projection. We look at two nervous system states and explore how different their respective perception is. We cover how the nervous system uses long forgotten past experiences to shape the vibe of today's...
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S4-E13: Nervous System 101
Who Turned The Lights On?
Get instant access to the wee book here: We are back with the 2nd of our mini series discussing the wee book - Successful Outside, Struggling Inside, pages 16-25. This episode focuses exlusively on the nervous system, tabling distinctions between dysregulated and depleted, nervous sytem states as our baseline vs the places our nervous system moves in and through, before taking a much closer look at each of the 4 states, and why state specifc recovery matters. For example, if you're stuck in survival mode - the red zone, and trying to help yourself with tools and resources from the peak...
info_outlineWe're back with Dr. Abrar Hussain to kick off Series 4, Episode 1 as we bring another lens on all things "40+ professional, highly functioning, not-always-ok" with an emphasis on all things relational.
Here's a brief summary of what Dr. Hussain covers in this podcast:
We Exist Within Systems — Not in Isolation
We are not isolated beings; we exist within a complex web of systems. Internally, we have biological systems like the nervous system. Externally, we are embedded in relational systems — families, communities, societies — all of which interact with and influence each other. Dr. Hussain introduced the Rule of Thirds: You bring a third of the dynamic. The other person brings a third of the dynamic, and the space in between you holds the other third.
The Nervous System: Our Internal Command Center
Among our internal systems, the nervous system is perhaps the most powerful. It is always learning, constantly scanning for cues that it is either safe and can trust what is happening, or it is not safe, it can't trust, and needs to go into defence mode, and then adapt accordingly.
It helps us make judgments, assess risk, and grow. But it is also vulnerable. Its bandwidth is limited, and it can become overwhelmed or dysregulated when too much is happening — especially in environments, or with people it determines to be unsafe, or not trustworthy.
What happens around us directly affects our nervous system. Our relational experiences — how people treat us, respond to us, or ignore us — are encoded as safety or threat. Our nervous system learns not just from what is said, but from tone, facial expressions, body language, and presence.
The Blueprint of Relationships: Childhood and "The Dance"
Our earliest relationships create the template we carry into adulthood. Childhood experiences — whether nurturing or challenging — shape our nervous system’s default settings. They teach us what to expect from others, how to relate, how to protect ourselves, and what it means to be loved or rejected.
Dr. Hussain explains how these patterns are reflected in what CAT (Cognitive Analytic Therapy) calls reciprocal roles — learned dynamics that we replay in adult relationships. This becomes “the dance” — a repeating pattern, often unconscious, driven by our nervous system’s learned responses to relational cues.
Relational Safety: A Two-Way Street
Our nervous system is relational — it is in constant communication with the nervous systems of those around us. For true safety to exist, both people in a relationship need to feel safe with each other in mind AND nervous system. This mutual co-regulation is the foundation of secure connection.
Trauma and the Nervous System
Trauma lives in the nervous system. Nearly all trauma is relational — caused by someone, something, or the absence of someone or something. When left unhealed, trauma fragments become lodged in the memory networks of the nervous system.
These fragments don't stay quiet. They resurface as flashbacks, nightmares, emotional dysregulation, or even physical symptoms. The nervous system holds onto these pieces, waiting for the safety and opportunity to process and heal.
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Dr. Abrar Hussain
Dr Abrar Hussain is a pioneering force in #NervousSystemIntelligence (#NSQ), redefining the way professionals understand #coregulation, #relationalhealing, #highperformance and #wellbeing.
As a consultant, psychiatrist, speaker and advisor, he specialises in guiding individuals and organisations toward deeper #nervoussystem awareness, helping them shift from #nervoussystemdysregulation to #resilience. With a lifetime of expertise in #CognitiveAnalyticTherapy (CAT) and innovative nervous system frameworks, Dr. Hussain empowers professionals to navigate complexity, foster psychological safety, and optimise energy for long-term success.
Follow Dr. Abrar on LinkedIn >
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Shannon Eastman
Shannon Eastman is a business growth strategist fluent in both boardroom dynamics and nervous system regulation.
With 25 years of experience scaling businesses across tech, finance, and regulated industries worldwide, she brings a systems-thinking approach to performance, leadership, and wellbeing.
After five years studying the neurobiology of trauma, Jungian psychology, and polyvagal theory, Shannon now integrates nervous system intelligence into the way business gets done—through corporate pilots, strategic partnerships, and a global network of innovators driving this shift.
Her work bridges performance and wellbeing, laying the groundwork for a more human, sustainable way to lead.
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NEW: Nervous System Economy™
You’ll hear us refer to the Nervous System Economy™ — a industry level educaiton initiative committed to integrating Nervous System Intelligence into business and leadership. You'll find more about this over here: www.nervoussystemeconomy.com
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A Note on Safety
Your mental health, wellbeing, and sense of safety matter deeply. Working with a trauma-informed practitioner can make a significant difference.
While this podcast shares insights, reflections, and tools, it is not a substitute for professional support. If you’re seeking a qualified practitioner, visit the Directory on our website.
Our community includes psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists who work through a trauma-informed lens — often with a special interest in supporting professionals aged 40+ or working within organisations.
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#WTTLO #WhoTurnedTheLightsOn #NervousSystemEconomy #CPTSD #Wellbeing #MentalHealth #40PlusProfessionals #Anxiety #TraumaRecovery #NervousSystemRegulation #WellbeingAtWork #Edutainment #NervousSystemBasics #NervousSystemInformedApproach