A Beautiful Brain

In my opinion, if you don’t work on your brain, the rest of your health efforts have about a 10% chance of making it and then sticking around for the long haul.

Consistently unhealthy choices are typically made when the brain needs to soothe, numb, or shut up something.

And let me be clear, I’m not talking about a choice now and again that doesn’t feel great, balance is just as much about making those choices as it is about making ones that feel good.

I’m talking about those choices that consistently gnaw at your body and soul—not sleeping, eating foods that don’t feel good, overindulging in alcohol, drugs, or unhealthy relationships.

It is so easy for the brain when it’s not feeling good to watch all those videos, ads, posts, etc., and grip to one piece of advice, one glimmer of hope that speaks to them. It’s typically an “all or nothing” approach because that’s what the brain is used to, “cut carbs; ban sugar; do only this workout; never, EVER, do that thing again.”

And you know what, some people have gotten pretty darn far that way. But I would argue true, balanced, lasting health (not skinny, not “ripped,” not whatever the internet says in healthy) is next to impossible if you don’t work on the reason you’re doing the things you’re doing in the first place. Or at least work on the why behind your habits in tandem with whatever else you are trying.

There are a million different successful approaches to health, and I believe all of them work for SOME, and NONE of them work for all. You have to find what works best for you by tuning in and being honest about how you feel while you’re doing it.

But it is next to impossible to truly dial in and understand what’s healthy for YOU unless your brain is fully on board with that plan. That’s where it all goes awry and you either find yourself falling “off the wagon” or becoming obsessive about your new plan and overdoing it to the point of injury or illness. And both of these things happen because the brain is still begging for your attention, and it hasn’t been given what it needs to heal.

Focus on your brain health first, and the rest will come.

Then focus on your brain health again, again, and then again. Because nothing stays forever in balance, but it does become easier to recognize when your brain needs more love and attention. And you can give it what it needs sooner so that you don’t find yourself in as many unhealthy situations as you once did.

And that’s where real growth happens.

It’s not easy, it’s not quick, it’s certainly not sexy, and it’s a lifelong endeavor.

But it’s true balance. Now, how can we show off more photos and videos of that?

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A woman is running with two dogs in a park.

Balancing a Brain that’s Fighting Back

By Katherine Warren • April 6, 2025

Your brain will straight up lie to you. There’s no way to sugar coat that, friends, there just isn’t. But your brain also creates beautiful ideas and inventions, and well, everything you see that surrounds us. It’s the power of the AND. Your brain is the king of the “and.” The first step in finding balance is recognizing this. The second step is discerning the beautiful part of your brain from the beast. The third is not reacting to, judging or negotiating with the beastly part. It’s tough, tough work. It’s lifelong work. And even if your friends start calling you things like the “definition of balance” (a term so kindly bestowed on me by some friends recently). You’re still gonna have to work your a** off on this part for the rest of your life as you sway back and forth, in and out of balance. Does it get easier? Yes and no. The beauty of understanding the feeling of balance is that you don’t have to rely on your brain so much. You know how it feels to be in a place of solid, grounded peace, no matter what your brain is shouting you “should” or “could” be doing. The harder part is that the more you find balance, the more likely it is that you are upleveling your life. Your focus and pure presence have likely brought about more of whatever you define as a successful life--mentally, physically, or materially. That uplevel can mean those brain lies cut a little deeper, make you question every decision you make to protect your peace. If you’ve learned to sit with that pain in your belly, it might fight a little harder to make you pay attention to it. It might put up a bigger fight to try to force you to listen to those untruths. This is when you have to remind yourself, your brain will straight up lie to you. Under no circumstances should you negotiate with these thoughts. That’s where spiraling lives, that’s where lack of balance lies. Sometimes holding hard to your balanced routines will do the trick.