What are Reptiles on Caffeine Like?

I'm reading Brooke S. Musterman's "Reptiles on Caffeine," and enjoying it so much. I'm quoted in it quite a few times. "People are strange," it begins ... and Brooke tells about the strange behaviors encountered at a Cafe, much of them stress-related. We learn a lot about the reptilian brain.

What's the reptilian brain? It's the oldest of our three ("Triune") brains, and its influence is automatic, programmed, and quite often outside our conscious awareness. It's the brain we share with reptiles (who do not have a limbic brain, which we share with mammals, nor a neocortex, which humans alone have.) Because it is the oldest, and concerned with survival, it is the most powerful. It pays to get to know it ... here's why.

As Dr, Suzanne LaCombe writes in her article, "What's with the Reptile?":

...almost everyone underestimates the influence of the reptilian brain.

The reptilian brain (comprising the brainstem and spinal cord) in combination with our limbic system is in effect where the personality resides: our idiosyncracies, our way of being with others, who you are emotionally and behaviourally.

[The reptilian brain and limbic system] form the biological infrastructure of the right brain.

From Reptiles on Caffeine:

The reptilian brainstem is like a bodyguard who is constantly watching your back, constantly scanning the environment for threats.

You can see that getting this on a chain would be important.

Because it involves the right brain, if you want to make changes in your self, your beliefs, your thinking, your reactions, your "personality," and therefor your LIFE, you need to engage the right brain. ("Change your self, and your world changes.") See my ebook "Changing Beliefs". The title, BTW, in fact the topic, was suggested to me by a client. Someone who was obviously ready to learn and grow and change.

The right brain holds the old neuropathways carved in infancy, when you first started relating to others and learning about your world. Our brains are called "plastic," because you can continue to form new pathways probably your entire life. You can learn to modify these, change them, and even form new ones. Then you can change things that are not working in your life.

Want to learn more? Take THE EQ COURSE(tm). The material is even presented in a right-brained way to help get you started. What's a "right-brained way"? Well, you'll see in the Internet course, which includes workbook lessons that you email for feedback. It's adult learning, self-paced, affordable and effective.

It's doubly effective combined with personal coaching.

Susan Dunn, M.A., Clinical Psychology
Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc