Next Step

Next Step Vibrancy You have completed Authenticity: The Second Reward of a Purposeful Life. Your next course is Vibrancy: Healthy with a Zest for Life. You will learn how to stay connected to your body and live a healthy and immensely rewarding life.

Your next step is Vibrancy: The Third Reward of a Purposeful Life.

Next Step: Vibrancy

127

The EBT Glossary

The EBT Glossary A+ Anger – Healthy, productive anger that activates Reactive Circuits to

help unlock them and release enough stress to put the thinking brain back online.

Allostasis – A physiological state of stress overload that has no shut-off

valves and can be ineffective and deleterious.

Allostatic Circuit – A wire that activates an ineffective stress response. Also

called a Reactive Circuit.

Allostatic Load – The wear and tear on the body and brain that accumulates

from repeated episodes of allostasis.

Authenticity – The second of the seven rewards of purpose. Defined as

feeling whole and being genuine.

Be Positive Tool – One of the 5 Core Skills of Stress Overload and one of

the three versions of the Cycle Tool. Used at Brain State 4 for situational stress. The first step of the stress solution.

Brain-Based Health – The health approach of using the power of the brain

to improve physiology by rewiring the stress response.

Brain State – One of five physiological states of stress arousal that impacts

the entire body and brain and can change rapidly.

Chronic Physiologic Stress Overload (CPSO) – A chronic state of allostasis

associated with a dominance of Reactive Circuits and an allostatic set point.

EBT treats CPSO and the symptoms of chronic stress, reactive stress, and a set point in allostasis.

Clearing the Emotional Blockade – A core practice and benefit of EBT,

using the emotional techniques to transform allostatic emotions that block self-regulation and reconsolidation into homeostatic emotions that promote self-regulation and reconsolidation.

128

Authenticity

Clear the Clutter Tool – The skill for grieving stress, one of the 5 Core

Skills of Stress Overload.

Compassion Tool – The tool for Brain State 1 in the EBT 5-Point System.

Connecting Message – A structured, simple response after listening to

someone use an EBT tool that promotes empathy and emotional connection.

Core Circuit – A generalization of expectations that is maladaptive and pro-

motes chronic stress and activates Survival Circuits that trigger maladaptive emotions, relationships, and behaviors.

Core Grind In – A tool in EBT that is used to strengthen the seven circuits

of emotional evolution, the wires that promote acquired secure attachment and resilience.

Cortisol – A steroid hormone that when chronically elevated promotes

dysfunction and wear and tear on every major organ system and cell in the body. It is “public health enemy #1.” The goals of EBT are to deactivate the circuits that promote chronic stress, prevent the age-related decline in set point, and promote psychosocial development and optimal health.

Cycle Tool – The tool for Brain State 4 in the EBT 5-Point System. There

are three versions of the Cycle Tool, depending on what is causing this level of stress.

Damage Control Tool – The tool for Brain State 5 in the EBT 5-Point Sys-

tem of Emotional and Behavioral Regulation.

Earned Rewards – The enduring values that motivate and reward us with

sustainable surges of neurotransmitters. The EBT system has seven of them.

EBT 5-Point System – The Emotional Brain Training system of stress resil-

ience and emotional and behavior regulation.

Emotional Blockade – The allostatic emotional state caused by the acti-

vation of a Reactive Circuit that blocks resilience and reconsolidation of

The EBT Glossary

129

Reactive Circuits and promotes the chronic stress associated with the onset, exacerbation, and prolongation of behavioral, mental, and physical health problems. Clearing this blockade causes blocked emotions to flow and turn negative emotions into positive emotions, switches off the stress response (HPA Axis), and transforms stress into joy.

Emotional Brain – The limbic brain and reptilian brain, the subcortical

structures of the unconscious memory system.

Essential Pain – The unavoidable hard parts of life that we need to accept

to emotionally evolve.

External Solution – The maladaptive response activated by a Survival

Circuit that is driven by biochemical surges that promote reflexive drives: emotional, relational, or behavioral.

Feel Better Tool – One of the 5 Core Skills of Stress Overload and one of

the three versions of the Cycle Tool. Used at Brain State 4 and to switch off and rewire Core Circuits.

Feeling the Feelings – The EBT practice of sustaining an emotional expe-

rience to facilitate the processing of sensations by the thalamus to provide an integration of brain and body.

Feelings Tool – The tool for Brain State 2 in the EBT 5-Point System.

Flow Tool – The tool for Brain State 3 in the EBT 5-Point System.

Freedom – The seventh of the seven rewards. Defined as living a life of joy

and purpose.

Homeostasis – A physiological state of balance that has shut-off valves and

can be effective and healing.

Homeostatic Circuit – A wire that activates an effective stress response.

Also called a Resilient Circuit.

HPA Axis – The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the collection of

structures of the stress response.

130

Authenticity

Insecure Attachment – The relationship to self and others associated with

merging or distancing that is harmful to health and blocks or slows emotional evolution.

Integrity – The fourth of the seven rewards of purpose. Defined as doing

the right thing.

Internal Solution – The adaptive response that is encoded by rewiring a

Survival Circuit to promote improvements in emotional, relational, or behavioral drives.

Intimacy – The fifth of the seven rewards of purpose. Defined as giving

and receiving love.

Ladder Tool – Tool for switching off a full-blown stress response by pro-

viding a prolonged resilience process. Pass through the EBT app from “Take a deep breath” to “You Scored a Joy Point!” starting with the 5 Tool, then each of the three 4 Tools, the 3 Tool, the 2 Tool, and the 1 Tool. Take seven to 12 minutes to sustain emotional processing and effective use of the Take Action Tool to switch off strong, dominant circuits and sustain a Brain State 1, which promotes switching off the stress response.

Limbic Brain – The brain of emotions, attachment, appetite, rewards, sexual

behavior, and spiritual connection. Part of the emotional brain, the unconscious memory system.

Natural Flow of Feelings – A progressive expression of eight emotions that

supports clearing the emotional blockade and switching off the HPA Axis.

The first four are the “natural flow” and the second four are the “positive flow.” They have multiple uses in EBT. Neocortex – The executive functioning or overseer of our responses to life,

also referred to as the prefrontal cortex or thinking brain.

Neuroplasticity – The ability of the brain to change throughout life.

Power of the Pause – The practice of turning attention to the body and

being aware of emotions and thoughts that arise from the activation of Reactive Circuits.

The EBT Glossary

131

Prefrontal Cortex – Our executive functioning or the overseer of our

responses to life, also referred to as the neocortex or thinking brain.

Reactive Circuit – A wire that activates an ineffective stress response. Also

called an Allostatic Circuit.

Reptilian Brain – The part of the brain that controls basic functioning,

such as heart rate, blood pressure, and temperature. Part of the emotional brain.

Resilient Circuit – A wire that activates an effective stress response. Also

called a Homeostatic Circuit.

Sanctuary – The first of the seven rewards of purpose. Defined as peace

and power from within.

Secure Attachment – The relationship to self and others associated with

intimacy and promoting health and emotional evolution.

Set Point – The most commonly experienced brain state, the brain’s phys-

iological stress level “habit.” As physiologic reserve declines and allostatic load increases, set point declines. The goal of EBT is a set point at One. The 7 Elevated Emotions – Elevated emotions are the feelings experienced

at Brain State 1. EBT focuses on seven of them.

The 7 Essential Pains – Essential pain is the existential reality of life to

accept to follow through in completing challenging tasks to experience the rewards of purpose. EBT focuses on seven of them.

The 7 Rewards – Earned rewards of purpose motivate following through in

completing challenging tasks and doing so promotes optimal health emotional and spiritual evolution and provides access to the elevated emotions.

EBT focuses on seven of them.

Spiral Up – The act of using the EBT 5-Point System of Emotional of

Behavioral Regulation when not at Brain State 1 to process emotions and return to Brain State 1, with optimal physiology and exceptional functioning.

132

Authenticity

Spirituality – The fifth of the seven rewards of purpose. Defined as being

aware of the grace, beauty, and mystery of life.

Stop A Trigger Tool – One of the 5 Core Skills of Stress Overload and one

of the three versions of the Cycle Tool. Used at Brain State 4 and to switch off and over time rewire false associations (Survival Circuits).

Stress Recovery Time (SRT) – The time between triggering a Reactive Cir-

cuit and having switched it off and activated a Resilient Circuit and Brain State 1.

Stress Response – A physiological reaction that occurs in response to a real

or perceived threat.

Stress Triangle – Also called the “Limbic Triangle” as proposed by Robert

Lustig MD and Michele Mietus Snyder, MD as the interaction of the amygdala, reward center, and hypothalamus that causes widespread dysregulation and behavioral, mental, and physical health problems.

Stuck Emotion – An ineffective, allostatic emotion triggered by a stress-re-

active wire.

Survival Circuit – A stress-reactive wire that encodes a false association

between a fundamental need and a response that does not meet that need.

Causes cravings, overreactions, and maladaptive drives (e.g., I get my safety from alcohol).

Take Action Tool – A tool to help move forward with higher purpose. The

second step of the stress solution.

Thinking Brain – The executive functioning or overseer of our responses to

life, also referred to as the prefrontal cortex or neocortex.

Travel Back Tool – The skill for trauma stress, one of the 5 Core Skills of

Stress Overload.

The Unlocking Moment – After expressing A+ Anger, when sadness begins

to flow, or the mind goes blank. The errant circuit has been activated and its synaptic connections are fluid and open to reconsolidation.

The EBT Glossary

133

Vibrancy – The third of the seven rewards of purpose. Defined as healthy

with a zest for life.

The Vibrancy Plan – The comprehensive EBT lifestyle program that is used

as a general guide and a “lifestyle reset” when practiced for three consecutive days.

Wired at One – The set point for exceptional resilience, optimal health, and

an abundance of the seven rewards of a purposeful life. The goal of the EBT Program.

134

Authenticity

Imagine a World at One As your set point rises, your brain will spontaneously open to the elevated emotions of life. You will feel them more often and appreciate that each wave of these emotions saturates your every cell with healing chemicals.

Emotions are the new medicine.

Now and then, take a moment and complete each of these sentences.

You are raising your set point and doing your small but important part to raise the set point of the planet.

I feel love . . .

I feel compassion . . .

I feel gratitude . . .

I feel hope . . .

I feel forgiveness . . .

I feel awe . . .

I feel joy . . .

Imagine a World at One

135