Blog for
Chris Lauzon - Therapist, LICSW

Your Old Mental Muscle would awaken instantly. Run. Fight. Jump. Do something. …Anything but this. Our nervous systems are beautifully designed to keep us alive. Unfortunately, they are also designed to react to perceived danger just as intensely as actual danger. Anxiety, panic, relationship conflict, difficult conversations, uncertainty, rejection, grief, and shame can all convince us that catastrophe is moments away.

Old Mental Muscle once served an important purpose. It helped us navigate difficult family challenges, relationships, environments, expectations, disappointments, life transitions, and fears. It became efficient because it was practiced so often. From both a clinical perspective and a neurological one, these patterns become deeply familiar neural pathways; the brain’s preferred route. The path of least resistance. Imagine this Old Mental Muscle as a massive six-lane highway

Imagine standing on the stage of your own mind, and a voice calls out: “Let’s make a deal!” Here’s the offer: You commit to staying 80% in the present, and only 20% in the past or future. Not as a punishment. Not as a restriction. But as a gift to your present self, the only “you” that can act, change, breathe, and respond. Let’s break this deal down.