Ep: #70: In this episode, we welcome communication and conflict resolution coach Vince Abramo. She is a brain health trainer working closely with Dr. Amen. Vince emphasizes a holistic approach to well-being, focusing on the complete picture of an individual, including diet, environment, and social interactions. Her approach extends to working with teams and organizations, emphasizing improved teamwork and interactions for enhanced performance.
As we navigate our busy lives, Vince sheds light on managing negative thoughts, which can be triggered by various factors. She stresses the importance of recognizing that there's no universal "normal" and encourages embracing individual uniqueness. Negative thoughts often stem from past experiences or external influences, and Vince offers guidance on challenging and replacing these automatic negative thoughts, a process that can benefit from professional help.
In the context of hectic routines, such as returning to school and work, Vince provides valuable insights on managing mental energy effectively:
1. Setting boundaries and time limits, especially for activities like excessive screen time or social media, can prevent mental exhaustion.
2. Finding sources of joy, laughter, and beauty in life is essential, as they boost serotonin and dopamine levels, promoting mental well-being.
3. The importance of avoiding significant decisions when fatigued and maintaining proper sleep patterns for optimal brain health.
To learn more about brain health, listeners can take a free assessment test at brainhealthassessment.com. For information on Vince's services and workshops, visit her at https://www.bambooshoot.co/.
This episode encourages prioritizing mental well-being and provides practical tips for maintaining a healthy brain.
You're Invited to a free LIVE training: How To Get Out of Debt Faster With Mystery Shopping. Register here: https://www.budgetdivas.com/faster
Mystery shopping? What's that got to do with my finances? Mystery shopping isn't just about scoring free meals or testing out luxury cars; it's a powerful tool that can turbocharge your journey to financial independence! Imagine paying off your student loans, credit card debt, or that pesky mortgage years ahead of schedule! Head over to www.budgetdivas.com/faster and secure your spot. Seats are limited, and you won't want to miss out on this life-changing event. It's time to take control of your financial future and unlock the potential within you.
Host: Welcome, Vince to the Budget Diva Show. Thank you so much for joining me today to talk about brain health, and this is a topic that I'm super excited to talk about because I feel like as we're getting off of summer and kids are going back to school and people are going back to work, our brain is shifting from the mental energy of summer to getting back into getting things together before the end of the year, checking things off of our list, but our brain is still busy, So before we start the show, can you tell us more about you and what you're all about?
Vince: Sure. I'm Vince and I'm a communication and conflict resolution coach. I am a brain health trainer with Dr. Amon, and I like to find out what is going on with the person. So I'll take a look at the whole person and not just about when I'm doing life coaching or anything like that. It's not just one aspect of the person, but I am looking at the whole person, what's their diet like, what's their. Who they're surrounded by, what is the factors that may be going on with them? And that's how I approach a, uh, a lot of firms. A lot of companies. It's not just about the one leader, it's about the whole team. What is going on with the team and how can they interact better with one another?
Host: That's so interesting that our brain and our brain health depends on so many different factors. Like you said, diet, our surroundings, external surroundings, internal surroundings. I really wanted to bring you back on the show today. I've taken your classes in the past, which have been super valuable to me, and I wanted you to come and explain to our audience how powerful it is to take care of our mental energy when it comes to brain health as a natural introvert. There are times when I love spending time with people and, and going out, but I always have to pull back at the end of the day to have that alone time to kind of mm-hmm. Refresh my energy. And sometimes that's really hard to do when our life is super busy when we have kids around and running our businesses or going to work and dealing with all the things. Mm-hmm. So what are some tips? That you can start by telling us how the brain works and then we can get into more tips on what we can do moving forward to improve our brain health.
Vince: Sure. So one thing about brain health, and I am a certified with Dr. Amen. I am not a mental health professional. I need to say that. Um, we need to put boundaries around our brain. Our brain needs to relax Sometimes, and I'm not talking about having devices or anything like that, but you need to take care of your brain and there's so many ways that you can take care of your brain and just like how you take care of your body, it's understanding what your brain is functioning to do. So there is a brain health test and seeing what you need particular because there's 16 different brain types, and so understanding what your. Diet needs are, what kind of intake you have, what are is the environment that's going on, who the people that you're being surrounded up by is so important for your brain. So the first tip that I would want you to know is that you are okay. That's the whole thing, is that there is no such thing as normal, right? And recognizing that you are enough, because we tend to pile on things. We try to do everything that we can because we're either reaching for perfectionism or we are reaching for something that we are not never going to attain. So showing this to even your kids or to your spouse or partner is so important that they can take that break, have that mental break with them, and we also concentrate on exercise. Because exercise actually fuels the brain and it helps have that cognitive recognition and helps you push your, from your amygdala to your prefrontal cortex to make better decisions. I love that you mentioned that we have to let our brain take a break.
Host: Yes. Because you know, my son is home for the summer and he's interning at a company, but also going to school online. And he feels like he always has to be on, and he feels like he can't take a break and he can't just relax. Feels like, oh, if I take a break, that means that I'm gonna be not productive. And so far, so. What does that really mean when we're allowing our brain to take a break and relax?
Vince: Great question. The importance is of sleep. Sleep is the biggest factor about making sure your brain relaxes. So having it seven to eight hours is very important. And again, like the devices not having social media or gaming more than two or three hours a day is also important because your. What's happening with your eyes and your ears is that it's trying to process all the time, right? And your brain needs that break from processing. It needs to see something green, so I'm always surrounded by something green, and it needs to have that break in that moment for you to continue. Now, we also use the stop technique to switch your brain from those negative thoughts. Talk that you have, we call it in the Amen Clinic. Automatic negative thoughts and automatic ne negative thoughts creep up from growing up and listening to other people. And that gets embedded in our brain as this normal thing for us. So getting rid of those ants, that's what we like to call automatic negative thoughts is very important, and it's actually very healthy for you to eliminate those and so you can switch yourself. From being tired or from being overwhelmed to saying, okay, maybe I got this, or maybe I don't have this and maybe I should get rid of it. So what is better for me in my life right now and better for my family?
Host: Can you talk more about getting rid of the aunts ants?
Vince: So there's several different types of ants. We tend to have negative thoughts within ourselves, and I'm having a class coming up actually in September. I forgot about it, but it's those negative thoughts that have crept up in our life and that it's. An automatic thing that we think of right away. Some people say, oh, I don't look great. Or I, you know, what, what's the sense of even walking because I'm too fat or I can't do this work because, um, I'm not smart enough. Those are the different of negative thoughts that creep up or anything to do with trying to get over a project. There's so many different factors that come into negative thoughts, but you've been wired so long to think that way, that we need to get rid of that. And I can show you how to get rid of those ants. 'cause they are very important to get rid of. And the technique that we use is called the stop technique. And you literally stop yourself from going any further. So you don't have any negative thoughts, and then we switch you to something else, something positive.
Host: Well, I think that that's very important to remember, especially as we go into the last half of the year and we've been through so much. Mm-hmm. So for us to be more productive and get more things done and stay healthy and mind, body, and spirit.
Vince: We have to take care of our brain, which is a very important organ that we need to do.
Host: And how can they find you?
Vince: So I'm all over social media. I'm on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and I have a website called https://www.bambooshoot.co/, and you can see all my events on Eventbrite and you can reach out to me and I also offer a complimentary coaching. I have a lot of classes that I offer at no charge and just because I want to give back and I want to show people that you can do this. And you are okay and you are enough.
Host: Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining us today, Vince.
Vince: Thank you for having me.