I’m wading into this conversation anyway, not because I claim to be the expert with the magic pill you’ve been waiting for, but because what I’ve seen through neuro/somatic work across a wide variety of humans who presented with different persistent health challenges may offer some relief.

And because I don’t know what I’ll do if I see one more ad for a “supplement stack” or “reset protocol”.

What sparked this

Someone shared a video with me from Chris Williamson, host of the mega-popular Modern Wisdom podcast, who documented the behind-the-scenes of his severe health struggles while building his business. After just a few minutes, I immediately recognized the pattern I see repeatedly with the high-achievers I work with:

Going from expert to expert, solution to solution, searching for the magic pill to fix the health problem without rehabilitating the communication between the body and brain.

When we hop from one miracle solution to another, relentlessly searching for the answer out there without slowing down enough to tend to what’s in here... we’re ensuring it’s going to be a long, bewildering road.

And here’s what surprised me and led me to write this: the comments section under his video was actually full of the thing that often goes unsaid:

• “Calm down your nervous system. You are trying too hard to get better and doing too much. Your body won’t heal if you keep it stimulated.”

• “I am a pulmonary and critical care doc with 20+ years of experience... you have to keep peeling your way through the burning pain of disappointment, anger, anxiety, fear, and frank rage that is turned more inward than out.”

• “I finally feel my nervous system down-regulating for the first time in my life and my symptoms are getting better. This is after seeing more doctors and specialists than you could imagine and having every one of them shrug their shoulders.”

Why we keep chasing

Let me be clear: I’m not suggesting you turn away from medical expertise or ignore diagnostic data. That information is valuable.

But here’s what I want you to consider:

What if the problem isn’t that you haven’t found the right treatment?

When we’re stuck in chronic stress, fatigue, or pain, we default to our most practiced skill: problem-solving. We accumulate knowledge. We optimize. We create color-coded spreadsheets comparing modalities. We push and we push to find the answer.

This makes perfect sense — it’s how you’ve succeeded in your career. It’s probably how you’ve navigated most challenges in life.

But the body is limited in how it can respond to an intervention when it’s spent decades in anticipation of a tiger lurking just around the corner.

When your nervous system is in a chronic state of activation (sympathetic dominance), the body will limit the resources going towards healing.

Our autonomic nervous system has two primary branches: the sympathetic (mobilization, alertness, action) and the parasympathetic (rest, digest, heal). When we’re constantly in “search and fix” mode — even when we’re searching for solutions to help us rest — we’re reinforcing this dynamic.

It’s like trying to fall asleep by thinking really hard about falling asleep. Doesn’t work, makes you angry, 0/10 would not recommend.

Think of it like trying to have a conversation with someone who’s sprinting. They might hear fragments of what you’re saying, but they can’t process it deeply or respond thoughtfully. That’s what’s happening between your body and brain.

Your body is sending signals — through fatigue, through pain, through anxiety — but if your system is locked in high alert, you can’t receive that information clearly. We’re treating the alarm signals as the problem instead of recalibrating our alarm system.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.

- Friedrich Nietzsche

The missing ingredient (Not another $97/month supplement)

Supporting a more fluid conversation between body and brain means creating the conditions where your system can shift flexibly between states. Where you can reliably and consistently access the parasympathetic “rest and digest” mode that allows for healing, integration, and clarity.

This isn’t about adding another protocol to your stack. And, please hear me on this: it is not just about calming down. This is about recognizing that you can’t biohack or detox or plant medicine your way out of being disconnected from your own body. (Trust me, I’ve seen people, much like Chris, go all out.)

It’s about creating the foundation that then allows you to rebuild your capacity for change.

When you build this fluidity, a few things happen:

1. You start recognizing your body’s signals earlier (before you crash)
2. You discern what your body actually needs (vs. what you’re grasping at out of desperation)
3. You access more energy for the things you actually care about (not just surviving the day)

Here’s how this played out for one of my clients:

She’s a startup leader who came to me exhausted, anxious, and frustrated that she’d “tried everything” but still felt like she was running on empty. Like most of my clients, she spent her days staring at screens, locked in a fixed gaze for hours at a time. Her browser tabs had browser tabs.

To start, we co-created a visual reset ritual. A simple practice to help prevent the overwhelm that comes from an inundated nervous system, which is typical in a high-demand life.

For her, it looked like this: After her post-lunch walk, she comes back inside, grabs a cooling gel eye mask, lies on the floor with her legs up the wall, rests her hands on her belly (the gentle weight provides a feeling of support), and spends a few minutes relaxing her face muscles, doing some audible sighs, and letting the snow globe in her head settle.

That’s it.

No complex protocol. No expensive equipment. No app that gamifies your parasympathetic activation. Just a few minutes of intentional, low-stim space for down-regulation built into the day, ideally before it’s desperately needed.

The result after one week of this daily practice? She reported having significantly more energy for everything she cares about — especially outside of work. More present, less reactive.

Wild, eh?

Why this matters for you (And why it can be so hard)

Here’s what I want you to notice this week:

Where are you looking outwardly for solutions instead of building inner fluidity?

Look: This outward searching serves you in some way. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be doing it. It gives you a sense of control. It feels productive. It’s familiar. You can put it on your to-do list and check it off. (”Research magnesium types” ✓ “Read 47 Reddit threads about sleep optimization” ✓)

And it can keep you stuck.

Both can be true.

The invitation isn’t to stop seeking expert input or medical care. It’s to make space for becoming the expert of your own dynamic, inner experience.

Which is hard because it’s not the way most people are living. And because coming back to the body in earnest — after feeling betrayed by it for so long — is no easy feat.

Your experiment (That will seem too simple to work)

Create a visual reset ritual that you actually enjoy.

Give that brain a break from constant stimulation by going straight to the visual system that takes up more of your brain real estate than any other.

Some options:

• The cooling eye mask + legs up the wall combo (like my client)

• A soft gaze out the window at the furthest point you can see for a minute

• Closing your eyes and gently pressing your palms against them for 30 seconds

• Looking at the sky, trees… allowing for peripheral vision activation

The neuroscience: When your gaze is fixed (as it is on screens), your sympathetic nervous system stays activated. When you allow your eyes to soften, move, or rest, you signal safety to your system. This is one of the fastest pathways to parasympathetic activation.

Try it daily for one week. Notice what happens.

That noticing is the beginning of fluidity.

Yeah, it might seem anticlimactic at first. But keep going for one week.

Neuroplasticity doesn’t work like a flip-of-a-switch, despite what those reels on instagram claim.

You got this.

Reply and let me know: Where have you been searching for answers outside yourself that might benefit from some inner attention?

If this resonates and you want support building more practices like this into your work life, reply here or message me. We have both group and 1:1 openings coming up for those who are ready to stop pushing through and start working with their nervous systems. No more “research” required.

And if you want to get into a bit more of the science behind this, listen to our most popular episode of the pod to-date (#11) where I speak with the founder of Neurosomatic Intelligence, Elisabeth Kristof.

An invitation to a rare intro workshop we’re hosting. Tomorrow, October 16.

(If you’re seeing this too late, just ask me for the recap.)

Adea and I will be hosting a 90-minute workshop for self-aware achievers who want to shift stress → clarity, and doubt → decisive action.

Sign up here or read on for more.

​​”If you’re looking to meet yourself and your nervous system more fully, be inspired by two brilliant, wise and present leaders and be held in authentic, robust community as you grow - this is for you. Highly recommend and would sign up to anything Adea and Oren lead.”

The Truth Few Talk About

It’s late at night. The emails are done, Slack is quiet.

And yet, you’re still replaying the meeting where you didn’t speak up. Or the feedback that hit harder than you want to admit.

​​On paper, you’re successful. Important role, big responsibility, people who look to you for guidance.

But inside? It can feel like your emotions are working against you - anxiety, self-doubt, even shame.

We’ve been taught to believe the problem is what we feel. But the real challenge is that no one ever taught us what to do with those feelings.

What we see time and time again with the leaders and brilliant achievers we work with is this: everything you want in life - any goal - is on the other side of a difficult emotion.

“I’ve done plenty of programs, but this one cut straight to something deeper. At the start I thought clarity meant just ‘knowing how I feel.’ By the end, I realized clarity is what it is to really live in alignment with my values.”

Why This Matters

For the longest time, emotions were seen as “soft”. But the truth is they’re the sharpest edge you can have as a leader, both at work and at home.

​​Most high-achievers aren’t struggling with skills or strategy.
We’re struggling with how to work with the intensity of what we feel.


What You’ll Learn

​​In this free workshop, we’ll walk you through the foundations of the MOVE Method - a simple yet powerful framework that has helped our executive coaching clients stop fighting their thoughts and emotions and start using them as fuel for clarity and confidence.

​​You’ll walk away with:

• A roadmap for how to process difficult emotions like stress and anxiety

• Tools for breaking out of self-defeating behavior patterns, like procrastination and overwhelm

• A new way of thinking about emotions that helps you work and live with more ease

• Deeper insights into yourself and your relationships

  
  

“This course is an absolute essential. I am a highly intellectual person, and it’s extremely refreshing to have the tools to go deeper into my body. I feel like I’ve learned a superpower.”

​​Who This Is For

You’ll love this workshop if you’re a high-achiever who know’s there’s a better way than ignoring what you feel to get ahead.

​​This work has changed our lives and relationships. It’s for those who know emotions are the key - and who are willing to go first: to turn inward, build real confidence, and lead in a way others can’t.

​​If you’re still reading - thank you for taking responsibility and ownership in the world. You’re our kind of person.

See you on the inside.

‘This really redefined everything for me. The constant tug-of-war between responsibilities and my own needs no longer feels like a zero-sum game. Instead of fighting myself, I feel pulled toward what actually matters. It’s given me a sense of agency, spaciousness, and aliveness that I honestly didn’t know was possible.”

I'm in crunch time getting ready to host my first multi-week group program since peak pandemic. It’s been too much screen time, not enough body time. And in moments like these, my old pattern would usually kick in: the bumpy slide into isolation.

Growing up, I perceived depending on others to be an unsafe bet. (Ask me for the deets another time.) But suffice to say, my brain’s software programmed in some handy artificial safety through control and self-containment. "We're not doing that again. Let's just muscle through and develop a delightfully charming yet unapproachable demeanor instead."

As my brilliant co-lead Adea said so succinctly this morning: these patterns aren't logical — they're biological.

And they're culturally reinforced:

1. Overwork is virtuous, while rest is risky.

2. Fueling a career with coffee and trauma is celebrated.

3. It’s seen as normal to define our identity through our accomplishments.

No wonder we've got so many little lone wolves running around trying to run companies, homes, and healing... simultaneously... while dehydrated.

The truth we keep forgetting:

To develop as a human, I need people. And they need me.

Your nervous system extends into the world. It senses other people’s states. We learn how to work with feeling by connecting with others.

If we want a meaningful life of impact, this inter-dependence isn't nice-to-have. It's a biological prerequisite.

So we’re building this program for ourselves as much as for our students.

Those of us who prioritize growth and impact need a space to re-learn the essential human exercise of experiencing the messy stuff together, and practicing working with the nervous system instead of overriding it.

Working with hundreds of high-performers has shown:

You can't have healthy relationships with a neglected nervous system. And you can't recover nervous system function without relationships.

This goes beyond being calm or managing emotions or building resilience.

This is about reclaiming your full sensory aliveness that's been impatiently waiting for you to remember that lasting transformation happens through connection.

This round of our five-week program starts May 29.

We meet weekly as a group for 75 minutes, plus practice pods for 30 minutes.

If you've read this far, set up time with me on Monday to learn more.

I want to trust my instincts, have deep confidence, and move through the world with the lightness that comes from knowing I don't have to carry it all.

And I want that for you, too.

We were never meant to figure it out solo.

Here’s a little 90 second reminder before we get to the updates.

This Month’s Updates

1. New pod name, who dis?

2. Strategic alignment for startups

3. Pro bono coaching slot opening

1️⃣ Podcast rebrand to… Working with Feeling! (How’d you guess?!)

This change (from “Whole-Human Work”) better represents the true focus of this podcast/newsletter: applied neuroscience to support you and those you work with to be better equipped to work with feeling (emotion) so you can work with feeling (aliveness). Let me know what you think?

The new season starts next week!

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

2️⃣ Startup leadership teams: Avoid misalignment mishaps in 2025!

I’m partnering with my friend, and reformed management consultant, Sara Powell to offer a program specifically geared toward startup execs who are done done done with the miscommunication, duplicative efforts, and sheer frustration that result from a lack of strategic alignment.

Strategy derailment (and the associated discombobulation) is a challenge for most orgs I work with. It’s time it got addressed holistically, human-ly.

So we’re combining the strategic with the somatic.

Know someone whose team is fed up with finger pointing and ready to do the uncomfy, deeper work at the root of developing true, strategic alignment?

Reply here or DM me on Linkedin if you know someone who has a distributed/remote team and would value being guided through this process which has emerged from my work with dozens of teams.

Your referrals get first dibs and pilot pricing.

3️⃣ 1:1 Somatic Leadership Development coaching on da house

I dedicate one slot in my coaching practice for no-cost development for:

• Impact startup founders not yet taking a salary

• Leaders doing cool shit but facing financial hardship

This slot is opening beginning Jan 2025.

Have someone in mind? Have them to reply here or DM me on Linkedin.

Must be ready and willing to make a 3 month commitment to deep dish work that will leave you with nowhere to hide from yourself so you can show up fully and authentically for the impact that is yours to make! ;)

Reminder: not therapy, not provided by nor under the supervision of a healthcare professional.

+ Reading rec for this month

As soon as I find the courage to reconnect with my body, to bring my feelings back online, it always turns on again, and I have my voice back.

Psychosomatic illness. You’ve heard about it and likely know someone who has been to doctor after doctor with no helpful diagnosis or relief. If so, I highly recommend reading Tiago’s story of learning to bring feeling back online and how it changed his life.

And, in other news, Leo turned 2 whole años old. Feliz cumple, cangurito!

He says hi to your dog, btw.