Mind Movers #47 - Anne-Sophie Flury

This expansive and deeply reflective episode features Anne-Sophie Flury — neuroscientist, psychology graduate, former PhD researcher, and wellness educator — whose work bridges hard science with lived human experience. Known online as “Coochie by Gucci,” Anne-Sophie brings rare honesty and intellectual clarity to conversations about the brain, trauma, intuition, and emotional agency.Rhona and Payman explore Anne-Sophie’s unconventional academic journey, from leaving a business degree for psychology to working in experimental neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology alongside leading researchers. Together, they unpack why understanding the brain isn’t enough — and how learning that the brain can change became the turning point in Anne-Sophie’s own mental health and sense of agency.The conversation moves fluidly through modern overwhelm: social media burnout, dopamine addiction, emotional over-identification, and the spiritualisation of feelings. Anne-Sophie offers a grounded, science-based perspective on meditation, psychedelics, mindfulness, and nervous system regulation — cutting through both clinical detachment and performative spirituality.What emerges is a powerful discussion about responsibility without shame, emotional awareness without indulgence, and why separating yourself from your thoughts may be the most liberating skill of all.In This Episode00:00:25 – Returning to Mind Movers & meeting Anne-Sophie00:01:45 – From business to psychology: finding intellectual purpose00:04:15 – Neuroscience, VR research & leaving the PhD00:07:20 – Failure, resilience & unconventional career pivots00:08:30 – “Coochie by Gucci”: identity, grief & online personas00:10:20 – Social media, activism & burnout00:12:30 – Doomscrolling, empathy fatigue & loss of motivation00:14:40 – Perfection culture, comparison & digital disconnection00:18:45 – Psychology vs neuroscience: understanding the brain00:20:05 – Psychedelics, policy & political suppression00:23:00 – What psychedelics actually do to the brain00:27:20 – Mental health, loneliness & early emotional struggles00:30:40 – The moment everything changed: “I can change my brain”00:31:50 – Meditation, neuroplasticity & emotional regulation00:34:00 – Agency, awareness & visualising a different life00:36:00 – Relationships, values & evolving identities00:38:10 – Can core values really change?00:40:10 – Trauma, intuition & emotional misinterpretation00:42:25 – Are we over-validating emotions?00:44:30 – Spiritual bypassing vs real growth00:45:00 – Float tanks, meditation & separating from thought00:48:20 – Anxiety vs intuition: learning the differenceAbout Anne-Sophie FluryAnne-Sophie Flury is a neuroscience and psychology specialist whose work focuses on emotional regulation, nervous system awareness, and personal agency. After completing a psychology degree, a master’s in experimental neuroscience, and publishing research during her PhD, she stepped away from academia to make science accessible in the real world.Blending research, lived experience, and practical tools, Anne-Sophie helps people understand not just why they feel the way they do — but how to change it. Her work challenges emotional fatalism, encourages responsibility without self-blame, and reframes mental health as something dynamic rather than fixed.