274: How to Master Your Emotions, Overcome Uncertainty and Harness the Power of Your Brain with Neuropsychologist Dr. Julia DiGangi
Sep 27, 2023
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Dr. Julia DiGangi, a neuropsychologist, discusses how to harness the power of the brain, the importance of confronting emotions, trauma, and processing trauma, managing stress, and the role of emotional intelligence during difficult times.
Confronting and accepting uncomfortable emotions is crucial for emotional intelligence and a satisfying life.
Avoiding uncertainty and discomfort can lead to self-betrayal and harm our well-being.
By cultivating self-trust and allowing emotions to rise and move through the body, listeners can tap into their emotional power and transform their lives.
Deep dives
The Power of Magnesium
The podcast episode discusses the speaker's experience with taking magnesium supplements and the positive impact it had on their health, such as improving sleep, reducing anxiety, and relieving period cramps. The speaker emphasizes that not all magnesium supplements are created equally and recommends Moon Juice's magnesium, which contains three bioavailable forms of magnesium and L-theanine. The episode highlights the importance of supplementing with magnesium due to the high prevalence of magnesium deficiency in the US.
Interview with Dr. Julia DeGangi
In this episode, the podcast host interviews Dr. Julia DeGangi, a neuropsychologist, who shares her insights on the importance of confronting and accepting uncomfortable emotions. Dr. DeGangi explains how avoiding uncertainty and discomfort can lead to self-betrayal and harm our well-being. She describes her work in understanding the brain's connection to emotions and trauma and how harnessing the power of the brain can lead to more emotionally intelligent and satisfying lives. Dr. DeGangi also discusses her new book, 'Energy Rising,' which explores the idea that everything we desire in life is on the other side of the emotions we avoid.
Empowering Yourself Through Emotional Processing
In this episode, Dr. Julia DeGangi shares practical steps for processing and confronting emotions. She advises listeners to identify the source of their pain and recognize their own contributions to their struggles. Dr. DeGangi encourages listeners to focus on the emotional energy they want to embody and align their thinking, behaving, and feeling systems. She emphasizes that painful emotions are not here to torment us but to guide us towards a more fulfilling life. By cultivating self-trust and allowing emotions to rise and move through the body, listeners can tap into their emotional power and transform their lives.
The Brain's Hatred of Uncertainty
The brain has a strong aversion to uncertainty and finds moments of emotional uncertainty more painful than physical pain. This aversion leads to behaviors of overworking, overthinking, and overperforming in an attempt to eliminate uncertainty. However, the pursuit of certainty only exacerbates anxiety disorders. The opposite of uncertainty is not certainty, but self-trust. Cultivating self-trust involves honoring one's feelings and commitments to oneself, and realizing that no matter the circumstances, one already possesses everything needed to be okay.
Facing Painful Emotions for Transformation
When confronted with pain and difficult emotions, it is crucial to face them rather than avoid or suppress them. Avoidance perpetuates anxiety-related conditions like PTSD, OCD, and social anxiety. By embracing a new relationship with negative feelings, writing or talking about emotions, and understanding the emotional scale, individuals can experience transformative healing. Breaking free from the hallucinations of what others think and shifting focus to one's own internal powerful self can lead to liberation and authentic living.
Dr. Julia DiGangi is a neuropsychologist who completed her residency at Harvard Medical School, Boston University School of Medicine, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. DiGangi has also studied genetics, trauma, resilience and more at Columbia, the University of Chicago, and Georgetown. She has nearly two decades of experience studying the connection between our brains and our behavior. She joins the show to discuss how to harness the power of the brain to lead a more emotionally intelligent, satisfying life. We discuss the importance of confronting and accepting uncomfortable emotions, the many ways we betray ourselves to avoid uncertainty, trauma and why people can experience and process the same trauma in different ways, how to let painful emotions move through us, why our internal state is more important than our circumstances and so much more.
This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.
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