Greetings, greetings, and welcome, welcome back to the sweet spot. I'm Dr. Derek Sweet and beautiful souls. You're listening to Making Moves Monday here on the Sweet Spot. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a board certified psychiatrist. I specialize in peak performance. But for those of you who do know me, you know I'm much more than that. I'm right here in the journey with you, discovering and navigating the mystery and the meaning of this thing we call life. And we've been walking side by side for many months, if not years, on a daily basis. And look, we are in the middle of a new series, a seven-day series. We just completed the seven breakthroughs. Oh my god, that was so cool. Now, those were the blocks of the breakthroughs. This uh particular series now is gonna be a little bit different. We're gonna call it the seven releases. Yes, the seven releases. We're gonna release seven things this week that's gonna help us live the life we love and be at another level. Are you ready to rock and roll? Yes, you are because I am too. Look, before we step into today's release, I want to tell you why we're doing this series at all. Because it really matters this part. There are seasons in life when people, when we all start feeling the weight of everything, everything we've been carrying, not just the stress, but that deeper exhaustion that you feel, the kind that doesn't always like have a word that you could put in it, but you're feeling it, it's in your bones. And in this season, this time of life where we are, all family roles can start pressing on us again. Grief can wake up at this time of year, it's sort of the unexpected moments start being uh more prevalent, our mind gets loud, our emotions begin to feel closer to the surface, and beneath all of that, there's this quiet fear about what's coming next, and am I ready for it? Whether I'll have the strength for it, whether this next chapter will ask something of me that I actually don't have, or demand something from me that I don't have left to give. I'm kind of tired, I'm exhausted. I've seen this happen in families that I've speaking that I've spoken to, I've seen this happen with high performers, caretakers, elderly individuals, younger individuals. It doesn't really matter. People who look strong on the outside often are carrying a private storm on the inside. Is that you today? Are you carrying a private storm? If you are, keep walking through it, keep going through it. Storms pass, and you've got to be strong and hold on. And so that's why we're looking at the seven releases this week. Yeah, because these emotional gravity wells that we find ourselves in can show up so consistently year after year, especially at certain times of the year. And I wanted to create a journey that helps us put down what the soul was never meant to carry, what your soul was never meant to drag forward. And that's what the seven releases is about this week. Releasing the burdens we've held so quietly. So we can walk lighter into what's coming next, so we can breathe again. And today, my friends, we begin with the first release, and we're calling the first release release the rush. Now, when I say rush, I don't mean your schedule because that's clearly always something that we rush. I'm talking about the rush inside of you, the rapid fire mix of thoughts, emotions, responsibilities. You know what I'm talking about, expectations, old wounds, worries that pile up before you can even breathe, the stuff that's running through your head at night, in the morning, the all the things you have to get done, that kind of rush, where your mind is moving faster than your body and even faster than your actual life. All in the head, all in the neck up. Most people think of rushing as something that happens outside of them, and that's kind of true, but there's a deeper truth. There's a truth that rushing can actually be inside, it can be an internal storm, and I want to show you something inside that storm that might change how you understand yourself. In your brain, and you know I was going here on the sweet spot. We love neuroscience, we love blending science because we're about science, soul, and success. That's our motto. So, in your brain, there's this network called the Default Mode Network, the DMN. You've heard it here before. I'm gonna refresh your mind on it just a bit. Because look, some neuroscientists call this the seat of the self. You know why? It's your inner narrator, this default mode network. It's the part of your mind that tells the story of who you are. When everything else gets quiet, when you start daydreaming, this is the brain section, the default mode network that replays your memories, it imagines what the future will be like, it interprets emotions, it fills in the blanks of uncertainty. That's called the default mode network, the DMN. But here's the problem: when you've been overwhelmed for a long time, this DMN, this narrator, it speeds up, and suddenly you're not moving fast alone on the outside. Your inner world is erasing too with this DMN out of control, and your mind starts stitching together meanings too quickly. I'm behind, I should be doing more, I can't slow down. Oh my god, if I stop, everything's gonna fall apart. I can't wait for you to finish your sentence because I gotta go, I gotta go. Those aren't truths, my friends. Those are the symptoms of the narrator in overdrive. That's when your DMN is in overdrive. And what makes it even more fascinating is that the DMN has a direct relationship with the brain's threat system, your amygdala, you know, all that other stuff we've talked about. So when things feel heavy, the two systems start hyping each other up. You know, the threat system and the DMN start to like like they're having a dialogue, you know. They're like, hey, we're in danger, something's wrong here. We got to speed up things on things on cold, uh, things on cop aesthetic, we gotta move. And this is why rushing feels emotional. This is why rushing is not just physical, it's mental and spiritual. It's not weakness, it's your biology just trying to protect you by making you move fast, making you think that this is a five-alarm fire and it must be done. Now, of course, if it is a five-alarm fire, you should be rushing. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about rushing when your mind is racing, and there's nothing out there that's really a five-alarm fire, but inside it feels like it. So that's what we have to get aware of that the brain can gallop, it can run like a racehorse without any control. But there's an inspiring part here too. It's not all bad. This same network, this same DMN that creates the anxiety is the same network that lights up interestingly when you pray, when you meditate, when you do something creative, when you get a deep insight, and when you breathe. When the rush slows down, the noise becomes wisdom, the panic becomes clarity, the storm becomes a whisper. And the ancient wisdom oh has a way of always putting it there. In the message Bible, uh, it says step out of the traffic. Step out of the traffic. Now, this message Bible is really modern, right? Like we know it as be still and know I'm God. But I love how the message Bible puts it: step out of the traffic. It's not just telling you to calm down, it's inviting you out of the internal traffic jam that's been drowning your mind, drowning out your inner truth. The traffic that's in our heads. So, how do you actually release the rush? Let's make this practical. One, name what's happening, literally name it. My mind is racing, my emotions are loud, I'm feeling a lot of pressure in my chest. Right now, my body is tight. Just calling it out. That simple act lowers your brain's threat response dramatically. When you name the storm, your brain stops treating it like danger and starts treating it like information. Do you get that? Good. Number two. Don't force stillness, just lower the volume. Ask yourself, what can I set down for one hour today? What problem do I not have to solve today? What's actually urgent? And what's just emotionally loud? When you soften something and you dial it down, like think of a dial and a volume. You turn it down a notch, you break the rush loop. Just by doing that, you can break the rush loop. Take away one thing, dial down one thing. It is not a five alarm fire. Okay, let's make it a four-alarm fire or three, right? And number three, let your body lead you. Thoughts don't slow thoughts, just so you know. Your body slows your thoughts. Drop your shoulders, unclench your jaw, put both feet on the ground, put your hand on your chest, breathe. Remember, we always take a deep breath, let's do one now. In through your nose. And then slowly out, making the exhale longer than the inhale. For some of us, it's the only deep breath we're taking today. But my message to you is that your body will calm your mind if you will just follow these very simple, very simple instructions: dropping the shoulders, relaxing the jaw, sitting, putting your hand on your chest, and just taking a couple of deep breaths where the exhale is slower than the inhale. And once your body settles, guess what? Your mind settles. That's a secret. Many performers that I work with know this trick, and I'm sharing it with you. So here's your micro challenge for today. Ask yourself what is the pace my soul is actually asking for right now? Not the pace of your job, not the pace of your fear, not the pace of other people's expectations. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about your pace. What is the pace of your truth? How fast do you really want to move or not move? Just asking yourself that question begins this release of the rush process. And you're in the driver's seat again because you determine how fast this thing is gonna go. And somebody else's speed doesn't have to be your speed. Step aside, let them keep it moving. You ever be on the road and the cars coming really fast? You just let them go. That's their journey, their problem. Got it? Awesome. Thank you for listening. This is Dr. Derek Sweet. You're listening to The Sweet Spot. It's Making Moves Monday. We're in a big release week. We're releasing this, we're doing the seven releases. And today we released The Rush. So tomorrow we're stepping into the second release, release the lie. Ha ha! The stories we've been telling ourselves that were never true, and how truth can rewire our entire emotional system if we let it. So if today opened something up for you and you want to share this with somebody who is moving too fast, and I know a couple of people, I know you, I know who you are. Alright. Uh yeah, if this is moving you and you're feeling like, you know, I really got this, share it with someone. And if you know somebody who's uh also moving too fast on the outside, but exhausted on the inside, share it with them too. And I'll see you tomorrow, beautiful soul. One breath at a time, one release at a time.

Peace.