Dr. Derek Suite - The Suite Spot
Synthesizing Science and Soul for High Performance
Hosted by Dr. Derek H. Suite, The Suite Spot blends neuroscience, psychology, and ancient wisdom to unlock elite mental skills, resilience, and momentum. Designed for athletes, executives, and high achievers, each episode delivers practical strategies, evidence-based insights, and affirmations to elevate your mind, body, and spirit.
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Dr. Derek Suite - The Suite Spot
Break the Loop 1/7: Flip the Switch on Fear #MakingMovesMonday
#ScienceSoulSuccess...
🔄 Break the Loop 1/7: Flip the Switch on Fear #MakingMovesMonday
You ever notice how stress sneaks up before you even know it’s there? One moment you’re just checking your email, and the next your heart is pounding like you’re being chased.
That’s your amygdala, the little alarm bell in your brain, pulling the fire alarm before there’s even smoke.
The truth is, we’re still carrying around wiring from cave days. It kept us alive when lions were nearby, but now it jumps at traffic jams and text messages.
The good news is you can break the cycle. Your breath is the quickest switch you’ve got.
Try this: take a slow inhale, then let the exhale last twice as long.
That simple rhythm tells your vagus nerve, the body’s “calm line,” to kick in.
Do it often enough, and your brain starts to build a new pathway.
As Stephen Covey said, “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.”
That’s exactly what this practice gives you: a little space to choose calm over chaos.
So here’s today’s challenge. Pick one thing you know sets you off. Maybe it’s a noisy commute, maybe it’s a tough email. Or if you’re an athlete, think of that moment before a free throw, a snap, or a penalty kick when nerves creep in. Use the breath then. See how quickly your body shifts from tense to steady.
🎧 Hit play and let’s talk about flipping that inner switch so stress doesn’t run the show.
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#BreakTheLoop #FlipTheSwitchOnFear #MakingMovesMonday #ScienceSoulSuccess #ItsAboutTime #StayAmazing #SUITESPOT
Greetings and welcome Welcome back to the Sweet Spot. We're so glad you're here with us for another week of exciting insights here on the Sweet Spot on Making Moves Monday. Are you ready for a powerful week? Well, we are, and we're going to be right there with you.
Speaker 1:As you know, I'm your host. I'm Dr Derek Sweet. I'm a board certified psychiatrist working in sports and high performance. I get to help athletes and executives perform at their best every day, but, honestly, what really lights me up is helping all of you, interacting with you and talking to you about living our best life, being the best versions of ourselves that we possibly can.
Speaker 1:So today, on Making Moves Monday, I want to talk to you about something I'm seeing everywhere right now the stress. Oh, my goodness. Everywhere you turn, there's a cycle of stress and anxiety. It seems to be impossible to not go somewhere and not have to deal with something stressful. These days, there seems to be no escape. You know what I'm talking about, right? That feeling of being constantly on edge when one news alert gets you going, or a difficult conversation, or maybe you see someone and it just hits you the wrong way, or you have something to do or execute and it's sending you spiraling. That's what I'm talking about Stress coming from every angle.
Speaker 1:There's a powerful quote, when I think about stress, from Viktor Frankl that goes like this it says that between stimulus and response there's a space, and in that space is our power to choose our response. Between a stimulus and response is a space, and in that space is our power to choose our own response. I love it. It's a great quote, the idea of having the power to choose how I'm going to respond to whatever the stimulus or the stress or whatever it is that's bugging me or bothering me or coming at me. But here's the thing Most of us, myself included sometimes we have trouble finding that space because our brains are working against us without us even knowing it. So we don't even have the time to create the space. We're just responding to the stress. And let me explain what's actually happening in your brain during those kinds of moments when you encounter something stressful.
Speaker 1:Your amygdala I know you know that term because we've used it so often here on the Sweet Spot, your amygdala, which is basically the brain's threat detection system or the fear system it starts to light up. It just lights up. It's like the brain has this alarm system when we get into a stressful situation and it activates within milliseconds. We don't even realize it and before you know it, your conscious mind has already been co-opted by this amygdala which is in the emotional, limbic section of the brain, and your body is already flooded with all the stress hormones. And this lightning fast response is so quick that before you know it, you're breathing shallow, you're feeling kind of tight, you're feeling a little edgy. It could be that you just looked at the news. It could be that the phone rang. It could be that person that walked up to you and just said a couple of words, that fast. And guess what? This threat system, this amygdala which is sitting in the brain. It's not a bad thing.
Speaker 1:Back in the prehistoric days, this amygdala was literally the difference between life and death for our ancestors, who depended on being able to detect threats and respond, have a stress response that was quick and fast. It really helped them navigate the wilderness, the bears and the tigers and all the other dangers that they were facing. So it was a huge help. But you know where it's not helpful today, right now, when we're not actually being chased by tigers and bears, but just a ping on the phone is triggering that same response. So our amygdalas sometimes are out of control and that's what's causing the stress to really perpetuate. But here's some good news Neuroscience is showing us, and really teaching us, that we can literally have a say with this amygdala and do something called pattern interrupt this amygdala and do something called pattern interrupt. We could interrupt the pattern of just responding quickly and get that space back that we're looking for. So a pattern interrupt is a way to break the automatic circuit of fear and anxiety and that quick stress response. So I want you to just keep that in mind, that you can do a pattern interrupt and literally break the stress-anxiety cycle in your life. And it's a powerful technique to do it. It's so simple too.
Speaker 1:Wherever you are, I want you to take a moment and notice where you're holding your tension today, where in your body you're holding this tension. Maybe it's in your shoulders. It's sort of creeping up to your neck area. Maybe it's in your neck, maybe it's in your jaw or your arms. You're just feeling tight, just a sense of edginess in your body or in your chest. Now that you have awareness, I want you to take one deliberate breath in and then, when you exhale, all I'm asking you to do is make the exhale twice as long as when you inhale A deep breath in, that's it and then then exhale and exhale longer than you inhale.
Speaker 1:Do you know that that extended exhale is actually activating another structure in your brain? This structure or this nerve is called the vagus nerve, and it's a nerve that's associated with relaxation. And so if you control the breathing, like I just shared with you, whenever you sense or feel the threat or the anxiety or you become aware, you will activate the relaxation part of your brain by getting the vagus nerve to respond to your breathing. And it's not just relaxation, it's a strategic reset of your neural pathways. Isn't that kind of cool? I mean, just the idea of slowing down and staying still and taking this deep breath and then letting it out slowly as you are in your stillness and then allowing that vagus nerve to kick in. And doing this repeatedly will help you relax.
Speaker 1:And you know this is an ancient wisdom. It's amazing how much stuff is in ancient wisdom. Do you know? In Psalm 4610 it says be still. Literally be still, that whole idea of stillness which is also going to help that vagus nerve. Be still and know that I am God. You know, I used to think that this was some kind of a very passive, quiet thing, but in Hebrew the word be still is actually translated to let go or release. It's the idea of letting go. It's fascinating to me, man, how this kind of ancient wisdom can align perfectly With neuroscience, which is why here, on the Sweet Spot, we say we're synthesizing soul and science.
Speaker 1:We're the place where science meets soul. Think about it your brain, your amygdala and your vagus nerve and the scriptures have something in common that stillness and silence and taking a breath Can quiet that amygdala, activate the vagus nerve and reset and change the way you respond to stress. So here's your move for today You've got to identify one trigger that constantly or consistently activates your stress response. We all have something that either just gets us going and whatever that is. Once you figure it out, I want you to do a pattern interrupt, like we just said, with that breath, that breath in and the exhale that's a lot longer, like twice as long as the inhale, and do it two or three times and, believe it or not, you will be establishing a new neural pathway to cope with stress. Wow. So remember you're not just only coping with stress, you're literally rewiring your brain, your brain's response, and that's your powerful move for Making Moves Monday. And hey, hey, if you're committing to this and you're going to do it, just type in reset when you respond to me.
Speaker 1:Okay, and I know you got this all right now. This is dr sweet. Thank you so much for listening to making moves monday here, on the sweet spot where we just covered a way to pattern, interrupt the cycle of anxiety and stress with a breath, with the right kind of breath and the right kind of exhale. You know, tomorrow, on take action tuesday, we will build on this by exploring how to transform the these moments of a pause into decisive action. So I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. This week, we're really going in on coping and resetting our resilience and making sure we have techniques and tools to handle the anxieties and distresses that are all around us these days. Look for me on Twitter, on Instagram, on LinkedIn, and I'm also on Threads as well as YouTube. Be blessed, stay strong and make your move today.