Dr. Irene Cop: Upgrade Your Operating System And Heal

In this episode we talk about using the power of neuroplasticity to retrain your brain to heal from autoimmunity, and my friend Irene Cop is sharing her expertise with us today on how to do that.

Show Notes

In today's episode, Dr. Irene is sharing with us her expertise on why we get sick and how we can use neuroplasticity to change our programming and create true healing.

Dr. Irene shares how her story of catastrophic burnout and near-death experience led her to add to her Doctor of Chiropractic to become a Medical Doctor and expert in neuroplasticity, in order to help others bounce back from burnout to live their most successful, and healthiest lives.

Dr, Irene's wisdom:
We are ALL extraordinary!
You CAN heal yourself!

Programs that are running, whether from childhood, trauma, parents, society, genetics, previous generations... you get the idea.. these are all energy sucks and lead to us unconsciously detaching ourselves.  Eventually leading to flame out and illness.

Flame out syndrome is similar to burnout but includes health and personal life.  It isn't exclusive to the workplace.

We all have a tipping point and often don't realize the stress load we are burdened with.

We are designed for success and set up for failure.

Neuroplasticity is defined as the ability of the brain to grow, change, and heal.
"Nerves that fire together, wire together."

It is impossible to think clearly and find the best solutions in stress mode.

Neuroplasticity = Upgrading your Operating System!

How to do we quickly out of stress mode?
Do an energy practice by rubbing your hands together to create friction and heat.  Then separate your hands and feel your energy field between them, getting wider and stronger.  Play with it!  Take arms up high and out over head (think Superman/Superwoman).  Say... "I am strong, powerful and confident!  I've got what it takes!"

We heal when we prune back the nerves of the connections that no longer serve us, and start growing the connections that do.

Creators and Guests

Host

Julie Howton

What is Inspired Living with Autoimmunity?

The podcast for high achievers who want to stay sharp, focused and full of energy despite their diagnoses. Those who know there has got to be something better than simply accepting decline.

Hosted by Julie Howton, a National Board Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach who used to suffer from crippling Rheumatoid Arthritis until she learned the tools and strategies to take her power back from autoimmunity.

In this podcast, Julie brings you interviews with thought leaders in the Functional Health and Wellness space. You will get actionable recommendations to Take Your Power Back and catapult your health. No fluff, just concrete, useful steps to improve your health!

Welcome back to the inspired
living with autoimmunity podcast.

I'm your host, Julie Michaelson.

And today I'm joined by Dr.

Irene Cop and we are talking about
retraining your brain to heal autoimmunity

as an expert in neuroplasticity, Dr.

Irene shares, why people develop
autoimmunity and what we can do about.

We discuss the energy vampires
that contribute to your condition

and how to use neuroplasticity
to retrain your brain and heal.

Dr.

Irene, welcome to the podcast.

Thank you so much for having me,
Julie, appreciate being here.

I am really looking forward to our
conversation and sharing your, not

only your expertise, but just the
energy you bring for listeners.

So I would love for you.

I always start with, you know, how did
you get to be doing what you're doing?

I would love for you.

I know you have an incredible story.

And I feel like that's what makes all of
us lean in and think, oh, maybe me too.

So would you, would you be willing
to share your journey with us?

It would be my pleasure.

And so where do I start?

Oh my goodness.

That's a, that's a really good question.

So I started out as a
meditation instructor.

A neurophysiological meditation instructor
years ago, back when the earth was

green and unicorns roamed the earth.

And it was back at a time
where the only people who were

meditating were gurus or hippies.

And I learned it as, as a
way of, of teaching people,

biofeedback, how to improve their.

or gain control over their
so-called involuntary nervous system

and, and help themselves heal.

So that was the very first thing.

And so that was my first foray
into health and wellness.

And in my first degree, and then
I became a doctor of chiropractic,

followed that up with acupuncture.

In other words, I was, I was
already on a mission and a course

to improve the world and save
people's lives and love what I did.

And I thought I was on top of the world.

I really, truly did.

I thought I had it all going on.

I was a single mom at this point.

I was, you.

head of the PTA, the, you know,
business improvement association.

I almost single handedly ran a what's
called the lake shore festival in Toronto.

That gets hundreds of thousands
of visitors every year.

Like I was doing it all.

I was superwoman

I can hear it already in your story.

Irene

Yeah.

I even had the best year
financially in my clinic.

Right.

Like, as I said, I was on top of the
world until I crashed and burned.

and I crashed and burned.

Literally.

You and I in the green room were
just talking about where I, I live in

Canada and I was driving in Northern
Canada and in Northern Canada, there's

an area called the Canadian shield.

And so you, you drive through
these, these hilly windy areas

and there's massive rock.

On either side of, of the road and I
lost consciousness, the road curved,

and I drove straight into basically like
a three story rock face, and I woke up

to seeing a fire in the engine and the
engine was basically in my lap and.

my two young children were in the
car with me and I couldn't see them.

I had no idea what was going on with them.

All I knew is that we waited what
seemed like forever to have the

jaws of life come and cut us out.

And I was very aware of pain, pain,
pain, so pure that it was like I

was vibrating outside of myself.

Turned out that I broke 10 bones,
including my neck back, both sides, my

pelvis, and, you know, moving on down,
had a mild head injury brain injury.

I still have the scar right here.

And my six year old son was running
around witnessing what had other

adults at the scene throwing.

so needless to say, my six year
old son developed PTSD like that.

And my four year old son suffered
a catastrophic brain injury and

needed to be airlifted to the nearest
pediatric hospital, which was in

Toronto at the time three hours away.

And they didn't know if he was
going to live for about two or three

weeks after undergoing emergency
life, saving surgery, brain surgery.

And.

in the midst of all this, it
was the first SARS quarantine.

So the first SARS, the little sea
bug that's traveling the world

right now is the second SARS.

They just call it something
different to differentiate.

And so I was in hospital with
10 broken bones and all alone

because I couldn't have visitors.

I couldn't see my children.

And.

, I'm not ashamed to say that
I was balling my eyes out.

It was truly the lowest moment of my
life because I, I was going crazy for

fear with, you know, for my children.

I couldn't see them.

I was getting news secondhand, you know,
from other people who would call in at one

point, they didn't even know that there
was like a mom involved, like, you know,

and I was at a whole different hospital.

Right?

Like it.

A really, you know, the truth
is stranger than fiction.

And I go into this detail
because I, I want people to, to

sit up and, and pay attention.

And I'll, I'll explain why in that moment,
I'm all alone in this dark hospital room.

Forget, you know, racked with pain.

I was spiraling down in guilt and
shame and remorse and, and, you

know, my inner judge and jury was
like, what kind of mother was I?

You know, what kind of doctor was I
not to know that I had this condition?

What kind of monster was I like, you know,
it was like, did I even deserve to live?

That was, you know, what was, you
know, whirling around my mind and the

question that kept coming to mind.

why me, why me and, and yeah, absolutely.

There was a massive dose
of self pity, like why me?

But deeper down, the more
important question was, why me?

Why did this happen to me?

I was a doctor.

I did everything right.

You know, nutrition and exercise, yoga
meditation, you know, but the only thing

that I could be so-called faulted for was
that I, you know, had two young children.

So, you know, I got as much
sleep as a single mom, you know,

with two young children does.

And what I realized was.

that I was, and I, I believe
this for each and every one of

us, including your listeners.

We are designed for success.

I truly believe that
every baby who is born is.

Is designed for success.

They have their own unique set
of gifts and talents and genius,

whether they have down syndrome
or whatever, it doesn't matter.

We are all infinitely valuable.

Yes.

And can I get a hell?

Yeah.

Hell yeah.

that?

You're from Jersey.

You're.

Am I allowed to say hell here on this?

Okay.

whatever

Good, good, good.

I I'll only I'll use it

from Canada, so

I'm a farmer.

So exactly.

So, so we are born infinitely
valuable, and a baby knows that, right.

A baby knows, like they don't sit
there and go, Ooh, I have to earn

my way before I can like get fed.

Or cuddled or right.

But somewhere along the way by
mostly well-meaning people, we

are programmed to believe that
we have to achieve to be worthy.

right.

That we have to prove that we've got what
it takes that, you know, and, and you

could add on all of the different layers
of, of, of programming and it's, and

it's, it's what our society, our culture.

Sure.

Not only accepts they expect it.

Yeah.

right.

Which is why burnout has such a, a stigma,
which thank goodness is, is changing.

And I'm on a mission to change
that it's that we have, I call

it the gauntlet mentality.

And you know, if doctors make the
worst patients, it's because there are

certain careers like doctors where the
gauntlet mentality is, is alive and well.

and, and hammered into us that
you have to prove you've got

what it takes to be a doctor.

You, you, can't just, it's not good
enough just to be the best and the

brightest and wanna help people.

No, you've gotta prove, you
know, working a hundred hours

a week as a resident or right.

Like it's, it's crazy.

that, that you're gonna defy
all laws of wellness and still

perform top of your game.

It makes

exactly.

Yeah, exactly.

And, and, but here's the thing I'm, I'm
gonna, I, I I'll, you know, admit on

behalf of doctors, doctors make the worst
patients, you could say all the healthcare

providers make the worst patients,
all moms make the worst patients.

Right because they're constantly women
and guys not to leave you out will get

there, but it's like, we, women are,
are programmed with a special set of,

of, you know, rules, you know, little
girls are to be seen and not heard

that it's, you know, you're selfish.

If you don't put everyone
else's needs in front of you.

And that there's like some kind of badge
of honor to sacrificing like a Marty.

You know for yourself.

Right.

And, you know, on top of needing
to prove that you're worthy of love

health, happiness, success, right.

Guys, you got a separate, you know,

So yeah,

separate, right.

You know, you know, suck it up,
take it like a man be strong.

Great.

Like, so guys, you, you have
your, your, you know, layer

of, of programming as well.

I had a lot of time to
think in that hospital bed.

And what I realized was that
we may be designed for success

were set up for failure by our
programming and by other factors

that I lovingly call energy vampire.

that sucked the life out of
us, sucked the energy out of

us and set us up for burnout.

And what I call flame out syndrome,
which is the, the catastrophic

version of, of burnout, where you,
you develop the physical symptoms and

autoimmunity is one condition that is.

Very much tied in with that.

And you know, where you can
possibly crash and burn.

It may be with hypoglycemia.

Like I developed where I lost
consciousness because my blood sugar

crashed and burned before I did.

Right.

Or it may be an autoimmune condition.

right where your immune system is D
depressed and, and, and inflammation,

which is a derangement of the immune
system, you know, causes your, your

body to attack it's its own cells.

Right.

So I realized there, and then that I
was . Rather than allowing myself to

spiral continue spiraling down into you're
a monster you don't deserve to live.

I chose to transmute those burdens
of what I felt into what I called

the burden of responsibility.

That if I could help one family,
one person avoid what my family

and I did, then I would be success.

and that was years ago.

I went back, got my
medical degree got a slew.

I, you know, specialized in, in brain
injury and neuroplasticity because

I refused to accept the prognosis
that, you know, my son would never

walk, talk or pass high school.

He does both.

And he's in his fourth
year of engineering.

They're both doing great, not to
leave everyone hanging on, on that

right?

Yeah.

and, and.

and then I got a whole slew
of coaching certifications.

It's like, what do I need?

What, what pieces of
information do I need?

Number one, to heal my family
and then to heal, help my

clients heal against all odds.

And, and so that is now my mission
as founder of the stress to success

shift Institute is to show people that.

and guide people in
awakening to the awareness.

Number one, that we are all
born to be extraordinary.

Extraordinary.

People are just ordinary people
who believe that they can do

it and they take action on it

Mm-hmm

and you can heal yourself.

well, say it again.

believe you can heal yourself.

Right.

All it takes is, is eliminating
those barriers to healing that.

is designed to do it.

It's not, you know, I, I remember
my story back in the earlier days

of my healing journey was, or before
I really began to heal I would hear

healing stories, and this is why I
ask for your story in the beginning.

And then we're gonna dive a little
deeper into how you help people.

But I had heard not many.

Some healing stories when I
was really ill and still of the

mindset that that was my fate.

and I had my own, you know, I had my
own versions of, well, they, you know,

maybe they experienced a miracle.

Maybe they weren't really sick.

May, you know,

Mm-hmm

And this is why we do this, right.

Both of us is I, if nobody else ever
believes a doctor, when they say,

you know, Here's your autoimmune
diagnosis and you can't heal.

I, then I figured one of my jobs well done
and then like you, the other hand is I, I

love helping people through that journey
and, and watching the transformations.

So cats out of the bag.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

heal.

There's so many things that you brought up
that I wanna circle back to, and I know we

don't have five hours scheduled for this.

Listeners are not

I should, I should, I should asked you how
long you wanted me to spend on my story.

No, well, it's, it's.

were very concise.

I mean, it's all so important.

So no, I'm the one who
has to temper, like, okay.

I can't ask about every single thing
I wanna, I wanna dive right into.

Well, and I wanna highlight actually,
I'm gonna go back to, to take your

story and, and because you connected
the dots already with, you know, the

universe stopped you in your tracks.

for you, it was a blood sugar dip
that led to this unbelievable accident

that most people would be like, oh
my gosh, I can't relate to that.

You're you equate that with it.

It's it's I always say, you know, if,
if we don't listen you know, it gets

louder and whether it's this, you know,
intense thing like you experienced,

or this accumulations of symptoms that
leads maybe, or maybe not to a diagnosis

or, you know, however it shows up.

The universe will stop us
at some point in some way.

And, and I love your distinction
between burnout and flame out because

I, as somebody who suffered for years
with auto immunity, that, that I'm

like, oh, I, I could feel it when you
said flame out is like, yeah, this,

I know.

Right.

And that's what I did.

I'm gonna just say is like, Some people
are like, what's flame out and, you

know, versus burnout, everybody's
heard of burnout and it's a pet peeve

of mine that, you know, it burnout.

The term was coined by a Dr.

Freud and Berg back in the seventies.

And he, and everyone since has
defined it as only workplace related.

I was just gonna say, you think
of like, that's what you think of.

Right.

And only mental and emotional.

Right.

So I, all we have to do.

Number one is, well, even the world
health organization, that's how it's

di it's defined as only mental and
emotion and only workplace related.

Anybody who has been on this
earth over the last couple years.

understands that it's no longer
just work related stress.

That's maybe a huge part of it.

It's, you know, personal life.

It's our relationship.

It's physical illness is a stress, right.

And, and wars going on the
fears that are rampant.

Right.

And so,

the news, like there's

a vacation from the news,

so many, please.

Right.

So, and, and, and then only mental
and emotional where you feel tired

and detached from, you know, and you
don't like what you're doing anymore.

Essentially.

That's what burnout means.

So I went, okay.

I can either go fight.

The world health organization in 40, 40,
almost 50 years of, of history with the

term burnout, or I can create my own.

And I had a friend who was a pilot.

And so we were talking about flame out
it's, it's an aviation term, which it

literally means that when one of your, one
or more of your engines cut out, right.

That you can.

You know, and you start to spiral
down, you start to dip, there's

a possibility you can pull out

right,

or you may

you have to do something you're not just
gonna, you actually have to take that's

the moment you've got to take action.

right.

Or you may crash and burn, which
is the catastrophic part of it.

And, and so to me, that's
the physical manifestation.

I call the syndrome.

That just means that it has a
constellation of, of symptoms.

Right.

And here's the thing that I, when I
said in my as I saying to my story,

I thought I was on top of the world.

The reality is I didn't wanna.

Right.

right, because it went counter to
everything that I was programmed,

like, you know, to muscle, through,
to push through to tough it out.

Right.

So that was that part.

So I honestly did not recognize any
mental or emotional components to it.

Right.

And, and yes, it, it was one of
those things that if I had just

been in my home, I might have lost
consciousness just in my home.

And it would not have had as severe.

The reality was I was in adrenal
exhaustion and didn't know it.

Right.

And that was the part of the why
me, because, and when I talk about

energy vampires, it's, it's huge.

Component is your programming, right?

It's what pushes us, especially we
purpose driven high achievers, a

perfectionist in your audience, right.

That you have to, you know

98% at least of the

exactly, exactly right.

Like so called type a personalities.

And they may not self define that way.

And that's the, and I wanted
to highlight that as well.

You said it in your story.

Mm-hmm

You don't have to feel stressed out

right.

to be experiencing this syndrome.

And that's the, that's the thing I think
that people really need to understand.

I have people show up all the time.

And you said, you said it before
too, you know, illness is a stressor.

I have people that show up and
they tell me they're not stressed.

Yeah.

And I'm like yeah, you are . We
need to get you in touch

with what's really going on.

Yeah, because that's the other part
of the, the programming, right.

Is that, and, and our unconscious
response is to detach ourselves.

It's like, you know, Ling through pain.

It's, you know, There's a reason
why we have pain receptors

in, in our body, right.

In different types of pain receptors,
because they they're meant to be

part of our alarm system, right.

Our safety system.

And yet we are trained to ignore them
and we are trained to ignore mental pain.

We're trained to ignore emotional
pain and I, you know, it's all pain.

Right.

And, and so.

what I also recognized in that
long time of having lots of time to

think was that it's number one year
programming and that into combination

with the trauma that is impacting you.

And, and here's the thing,
it's your personal trauma

that you may or may not re.

Right.

right.

Like in other words, number one,
like for instance, I don't have any

memories before the age of eight
because I had a very abusive childhood.

My father had had PTSD from atrocities.

He witnessed in the military,
in the Congo, in the sixties

right before I was born.

And, you know, so he.

Basically told at that time, cause
I didn't recognize it, you know,

suck it up, take it like a man.

And by the way, this is
confidential and you're not

allowed to talk to anyone about it.

And so he did what any good soldier
would do, he soldiered on and

he self-medicated with alcohol.

Right.

And he honestly didn't even remember
anything of what he did when he did that.

You know?

So that's what I say.

Like, I didn't even recognize the trauma.

inside because I wiped it out.

Right.

We have this beautiful coping mechanism
in our brain that when something

is too much, we, we literally, you
know, will, will block it out and,

and, and have amnesia around it.

I'm, I'm also a superhero geek.

So for any of you who have watched moon
night, , it was a beautiful example

without ruining the plot line for anybody,
you know, where, and I think this is kind

of well known in the trailers that he has.

The, the hero has dissociate dissociative
disease disorder, which is where

literally it's like your personalities
fracture is considered part of

schizophrenia, but really what it is
is your it's a coping mechanism where

your personalities fracture so that you.

Manage the trauma

Yep.

that you are experiencing, right.

And to keep a part of you safe.

And, and so our unconscious mind is so
powerful that you may not even recognize,

or how about this as cultural, right?

Like what is considered to be trauma
is very much based on cultural.

Like if you've ever heard the
term rule of thumb, have you

ever heard that rule of thumb?

The reason why we say

familiar with that.

is that a Canadian thing?

Anyway, it's, it's, it's a
phrase that's well known.

It's called, you know,
the rule of thumb is this.

Well, the rule of thumb actually
comes from a British law that

was in place that said that a man
could not use a, a, a, a stick.

Thicker than his thumb to beat his wife,
children, or animals when women and

children were still considered channels.

And it was expected that the man of the
household would keep them in line that

spare the rod spoil the child thing.

Right.

So that may not be the law anymore.

And yet remember that programming.

Right.

Gets carried on and down and down.

And, and so we have so many things that
like that, that we may not even recognize

as, as trauma because our society, our
culture, even our religion may feel

that it's, it's completely normal.

Right.

Again, it goes back to that, suck it
up, take it like a man kind of thing.

Right.

Or know your place.

As a female, even if we, we consciously,
like, we think we've been programmed

with something else, guess what?

Our, our parents, and then
our grandparents, right.

It's like we have been programmed
with, you know, carrying it it down.

Like basically our programming
is like cavemen technology on the

Well, and, and we're not aware
of the generational stuff.

We're not aware of the ancestral stuff,
you know even, and often, even if we

haven't dissociated or blocked out We
don't, I, I saw a, a cute thing that it

was like, you know, you realize you've
experienced trauma when you're telling

your girlfriends a story and you see the
horrified looks on their faces and you

weren't even thinking of it that way.

You know?

So sometimes we need that
feedback and perspective

yeah, absolutely.

So

so there's that.

none of us get here without that.

Right.

And then when you add in intergenerational
trauma, which is the trauma of

your parents, that you have been
socialized with their fears, and,

but now they know epigenetic PTSD,
which is another term of, of.

Coined which they now realize that that
fears can be transmitted down through

your genetics, your DNA expression, and
also physical conditions and increased

mortality can be carried down without
you even perhaps, you know, having

met your grandparents, your great
grandparents and, and, and so on.

And all of these act like
massive energy vampire.

That can be sucking your life force
and causing massive energy and

efficiencies that you may be saying,
oh, I'm not stressed, but guess what

you have, like, I refer to resilience
as like a pot of water, right?

So you have a pot of water that is
sitting on your stove, you know, and

hope, you know, typically it's like
at room temperature to start, and

then you slowly turn up the heat.

That's the.

right.

And it takes like a certain amount
of temperature range before you

start to simmer and boil over.

Well, all of these, the programming,
the traumas, and other responses

that we get into and, and.

To teach a boat at the Institute, right.

Raises the temperature of that
water without you even realizing it.

So to all intents and purposes,
it may just look like a, you

know, a pot of water still.

Right.

The thing is, is that it may take very
little for it to suddenly boil over.

Right.

So when you look at all of the trauma,
that you're not even likely aware of the

programming, the fear responses, the,
the sabotage patterns that we have, you

know, that train us, that you have to like
overachieve and, you know, push, push,

push, push, push, that kind of thing.

Right.

It makes, it makes it far
easier for many of us.

To, to boil over that much more quickly.

And then you add in a dose of, of, you
know, like, you know, the little seat

bug and everything else that's been
happening in the last couple years.

And guess what?

There's no room,

Yeah.

Pots

there's no room.

So guess what's gonna happen, right.

If, especially if you're trained to
ignore the mental and emotional symptoms.

right.

And you soldier on as we've
all been trained to do

physical, I, I, I think of when I was
single parent three kiddos with all

of these autoimmune symptoms that.

If I wasn't, you know, didn't wanna be
the good mom or, you know, didn't ha

feel like I had to, I had to ignore them

mm-hmm

my day.

Right.

I had to take care of my kids.

And so didn't understand obviously
then that in order to do that best

prioritizing myself and my health.

Would've been the optimal way to do that.

But how so, how do we.

How are you using, how can we use
neuroplasticity to help heal autoimmunity?

I

Big question.

I

I love that question.

I love it.

Bring it on.

well, cause if we leave it there,
that sounds pretty doom and gloom.

And that's

I know.

I

of us is about.

Right.

No, no, exactly.

talking about this because we can
heal and there, and we know, you know,

things that we need to do to heal.

So, so let's talk about that.

Let's talk about

absolutely.

through neuroplasticity

Absolutely.

So.

and I guess actually, will you
define neuroplasticity for us first?

mm, great point.

So neuroplasticity simply means the
ability of the brain to change and

to grow and by that means to heal.

And, and so neuroplasticity
is your ability to.

to, I, I love the term, retrain your brain

Mm-hmm

for healing and, and I'll go back to
that time when they finally decided

that my son was going to live.

And I remember sitting there listening to
one of the world's foremost neurosurgeon.

Pediatric neurosurgeons saying, you know,
telling me that he was never gonna walk.

He was never gonna talk and he
would never pass high school.

He would be one of those special
needs kids for the rest of his life.

And, and when I said, because as
a chiropractor, we already talked

about this word, neuro, when I
said, what about neuroplasticity?

He went.

You don't understand, it's gone.

The tissue is gone and trust me,
I've seen a spec scan of my son's

brain and he's literally missing
like a third of his left hemisphere.

So strictly speaking without
neuroplasticity, he shouldn't,

where he would've been.

Right.

shouldn't be able to walk,
talk or pass high school.

And thank goodness

You knew

Number one that, that
neurosurgeon was wrong.

I say that with all the love in my
heart, number two, I did not believe him,

Yeah.

That's the, the big gift.

Right, right.

And.

. And so I knew that neuroplasticity was a
thing and, and so I set out to prove it.

And I got, as I said, I went back
and got every certification, medical

degree, whatever I needed to, to prove
it and to make people listen to me.

And I raised my son believ.

Like I, number one, never told
him what the prognosis was.

I said, you are a genius.

You can do this.

Yes.

You're gonna have to work hard.

And, and at the same time, when the
going gets tough for everyone else,

you're just gonna keep going because.

Right.

You're used to it.

So my, my kid had like two hours of
therapy and tutoring every single

day after school from kindergarten,
right up into high school.

So it, I'm not saying it didn't
take hard work because guess what?

That is the retraining your brain
part, because the fundamental principle

behind neuroplasticity is that nerves
that wire together, fire together.

I'll repeat that nerves, that
wire together, fire together.

I said it wrong nerves that
fire together, wire together.

In other words, it does take repetition.

Right.

And what ends up happening is
that another part of your brain

will actually get recruited over
and take over that function.

yep.

that's the beautiful part
about neuroplasticity.

So, and it's why I'm so passionate
about the, the power of the

mind and our powers to heal.

Because if my son can do what he's
done and he's missing huge amount,

then why not all of us, right?

So the retrain your brain
is, but understanding that.

it all starts up here, right?

Like, so when I talk about
retrain your brain, I'm not

even just talking about mindset.

Mindset's great.

I love mindset and it's
a conscious thing, right?

Everything happens though at
the unconscious level, right?

Your unconscious mind is
what's running the show.

99% of the time, your emotions.

Your thoughts and you know, this, if
you've ever had those thoughts that

think you, or those emotions that feel
you, and it runs your body, right?

It's like all your automated processes,
cuz you could not survive a minute.

If you had to think about,
okay, I gotta beat my heart.

Now I gotta breathe.

Now I gotta like right.

Yeah.

W we'd be gone.

Right.

So we need our unconscious
mind to do that.

And our unconscious mind
not only runs that show.

it runs the, the operating system
it's running on is our programming.

That's downloaded into us.

And most people have never upgraded their
programming, their operating system.

Like how far would we get, even
with our phone, if we didn't do.

Right.

Like

They wouldn't work anymore.

exactly, well, guess what, it's
the same thing with our brain.

So that's why I say to people that if
you aren't getting better and, and I

now talk about 360 degrees success.

As the opposite to burnout and stress.

So hence the shift from stress to success,
but it's understanding that, you know,

you can't have a successful career,
financial freedom, successful health

and energy, successful relationship,
successful personal life, you know,

without having a healthy programming.

And, and so.

what we show people how to do is
to retrain their brains, upgrade

their programming, get rid of
the old glitchy shit stuff.

And, and, and then

cursed.

I love it.

no,

that's that's the Canadian word is, sorry.

Everyone thinks it's a, now it's sorry.

We're sorry.

And, and, and then

no, you need to reprogram that.

Stop apologizing for it right now.

exactly.

Exactly.

And, and, and then we, we show our clients
how to release the impact of the trauma.

Right?

In other words is a beautiful part
of our thing about our brains, our,

our unconscious primitive brain,
where you have your amygdala,

which is your emotion center.

and it's like that five alarms, you
know, that go off, like when you're

under stress and right next to it is the
hippocampus, which is your memory center.

Right.

And then wrapped around.

It is the limbic system that well
controls everything, including pain.

Right.

So where pain is perceived.

Right?

So with the trauma, what we do is,
is show people how to disconnect the

emotional impact from the memories.

right.

So right.

that's the key.

It's the key.

And it's also, and as you said,
because none of us truly is, has, has

not ever experienced trauma because,

We don't get to live on this planet.

Unscathed.

It just,

right.

And, and it's also, as I said, the,
you know, what we, how we define

trauma because trauma really is.

Any time that we feel overwhelmed
or powerless or our nervous system

So my definition of trauma is not
gonna be the same as somebody else's,

Right.

And when you're a five year old,
it's so much easier to suffer

trauma because let's face it.

You're this little we being in this
big universe and you are at the

mercy of, of the universe, right?

So you have no control,
no power at that point.

So that's why we so often, you know,
end up going back to childhood.

The most important thing is
understanding that when we

prune back the nerves, right.

That's how we do it in
neurophysiological terms.

When we prune back the nerves of those
connections that no longer serve us then,

and we start growing new connections
between nerves that do serve us.

Right.

That's how we, we upgrade
our operating system.

All of a sudden.

We have tons of energy that is released
and, and, and is now free for us to use.

We can use it to improve our focus, our
productivity, and guess what to heal.

I had a, a, somebody took our retrain
your brain program a program last year.

And.

, he was a C-suite very busy guy,
like, you know, multiple titles,

you know, in this global company.

And he knew he was like
approaching burnout.

And so he took my program and.

all of a sudden on LinkedIn.

I, you know, I turn it on to,
to see him posting this, this

post saying, it's a miracle.

And I'm like, what is this?

And he goes, talk to your
AAD is a miracle worker.

And, and without me knowing he had
had multiple sclerosis, which is an

autoimmune condition for over 20 years.

And even though it was mostly
controlled by medication, there

were St still symptoms that.

Persisted.

Right.

But it's like, you know,
his face would droop.

There was like, he had no
feeling on the side of his face.

He had trouble walking.

He had trouble holding a coffee cup,
not things that necessarily other

people would notice, but you know, it
was kind of like his silent symptoms.

And what he noticed is that within
a week of starting to take the

bootcamp, his symptoms started clearing
up and that was it's a miracle.

And I went,

And this is why we are having
this conversation today.

Right.

Well, and, and, and what I said is

even know because, and this is
what I mean by, we don't even.

Necessarily forge aware of our
stressors or qualified that wasn't

something he even thought to share.

Right.

That wasn't his focus.

That was a, in his mind at the time, I'm
sure that he joined the, the program.

Was it just, was it wasn't something
that he ever thought possible to

absolutely like, and, and, you know,
because he, like so many people with

autoimmune conditions believe that,
you know, it's just the way it is.

I'm gonna have to live with it.

Especially like given that Ms
is about, you know, physical

lesions in the nervous system.

Right.

And so, and so he honestly believed that,
you know, he was stuck with it forever

and, and he was like, it's a miracle.

I went, no it's energy efficiency.

all you have done is started to free
up precious energy that has been

sucked out of you on a constant basis.

And now all of a sudden
you can heal, right?

So those lesions may
not go away right now.

And at the same time, there's
a ton of inflammation, which

I know you teach people about
that is, is causing the symptom.

Right.

Is, is he a hundred percent,
you know, free and clear?

No guess what?

You know, if he runs into
something it's likely gonna come

back to bite him in the butt.

And at least he has the tools

Right.

that he can.

You know, once he, he gets hit
with the curve ball, then he

can, he, he knows the tools.

Right.

That's why we're very clear
about teaching people.

I love the phrase, teach a man how
to fish and feed him for a lifetime

Absolutely.

Like instead of words, teaching the tools.

Yeah, it it's it's and I love that
you use operating system because I,

I always talk about, again, whether
we're aware or not these programs

open that are draining our energy.

I didn't know that before we hit
record today, but you know, it it's.

We can only, we only
have so much bandwidth.

Right.

Which is goes back to the pot.

I, my, I wasn't, I was gonna try to
filter it, but since I don't have a

filter, when we were giving us the
analogy and we were talking about New

Jersey before being from New Jersey,
I, I was thinking of, you know, your.

Pot of, of water and, you
know, from room temp to warm,

to simmering, to boiling over.

And I was thinking of you
know, if you cook a lobster.

Oh,

I know, and that's why I
was like, this is horrible.

Don't say it.

I will say I don't eat shellfish
anymore, but I did grow up in an area

where lobster is, is a popular dish.

And that is how you cook a lobster.

You have to start at room temperature.

They don't notice the water getting
warmer and warmer and they cook.

To put a lobster in a pot of
hot water, it will jump out.

Oh, yeah.

So, but it, I mean, it's the
same, it's the same thing, right?

It's not like it reaches a temperature
where it's like, oh, now this is too hot.

I'm leaving.

No, it it's.

And that's what I was thinking of.

I was like, oh my gosh, we're the lobsters

we are, that is as, as painfully,
as the analogy is it's,

it's, it's very appropriate.

In terms of what happens, right, is
that, you know, for most of us, the, the

water temperature gets higher gradually.

or, you know, you may start at a certain
level that may feel normal to you because

but it's not room temperature.

It's already . Yeah.

Right.

So, but at some point you could say,
when we're born, it's like, we all

start with room temperature, water.

It's just that in whether
it's in childhood through

trauma or adversity, right.

That.

Right.

It, it, the temperature raises
without us even being aware of it.

And then, you know, you pile on school
and, and needing to achieve and, you

know, and, and proving that we we've got.

And, and, and, and, and, and then, you
know, it's, it gets to the point where you

have a little sea bug, you know, racing
around the world and all of a sudden.

It's like the straw that
broke the camel's back.

That's another weird analogy.

And it it's that it's, it's
not just that one thing.

Right.

It's everything that led up to it.

right.

It's not.

The, yeah.

Oh, if only that one thing didn't happen.

Well, you were already full something
was there's a tipping point.

We all have a tipping point.

Yes.

you've given us so much can listeners
do today, like now, or, you know,

by tonight, where can they start?

What's one step that everybody listening
can take to, to start to improve their.

I think that's my
favorite question of all.

And so the answer I'm going to give
is this, that when you're in stress

mode, which really is survival
mode, your thinking brain is, which

is your prefrontal cortex behind
your forehead is wiped offline.

Right?

And it's, it's, it's a very
deliberate survival mechanism, right?

Because as far as your.

Brain is concerned is when you
are under threat, which is what

stress is, survival mode, right?

It's and in your face, let's go
back to caveman days and there was

a sabertooth tiger staring you down.

That's not the time to be going.

Hmm.

Let me think about this for a second.

Should I turn around and.

Should I run for my life.

Should I freeze and hope?

They don't know me.

Right.

In other words, it's like,
it's, it's a neurological safety

mechanism that our thinking mind
is wiped off line and happens.

In a split second, just as are
everything else that happens, right?

You, you, your body jumps into gear, your
pupils, dilate the blood rushes from your,

your intestines out to your, your muscles
so that you're ready to fight or run.

Right.

All of these things happen
and you act on instinct.

Right?

In other words, just as animals, we
don't like to think we're animals.

We are right.

Just as animals, like a
gazelle is hardwired to.

a honey Badger is hardwired to
fight rabbit shivers and fears.

And you've always heard like a deer
caught in the headlights or possum faints.

Right?

In other words, we are the very same way.

And we act on instinct, right?

Because our thinking brain, our
executive rockstar team is wiped offline.

And so you can't think logically you
can't come up with creative solutions.

You can't make good decisions.

You can't.

Galvanize yourself into action.

In other words, you're,
you're on road either.

You're paralyzed because you, you haven't
even started moving or you're like a

hamster on a wheel and I gotta go, go, go.

I gotta do something.

I gotta make this right.

I don't know what I'm gonna
do, but I gotta make this.

Right.

Or maybe it's your mind.

That's like on the hamster wheel.

And I, I don't know how to make this.

You knows.

Like I gotta think of all the
things that can go possibly wrong.

Right.

That is what's happening.

So you can't see your way clear.

to find the, the solutions and take
action on them that will actually

help get you out of our modern
day stress and survival mode.

So one of my favorite things to teach
is what I call SOS tools that in seconds

moments, less than a minute, what can you.

to quickly ground and center so
that your unconscious mind, I mean,

your conscious mind, your executive
rockstar team can kick back can

yeah, so they can come back online.

mm-hmm

Right.

And so there's many different
ways of doing it and, and

probably the, the fastest way.

And I did.

before we, you pushed the record button.

Did you notice

I did.

start rubbing your hands together,
as soon as you can do this, don't do

this while you're driving, please,
but you can rub your hands together.

Pretend you're like a girl scout or
a boy scout, feel the keep build up.

Like you're, you're, you know,
trading fire really focus on on how

much pressure you have to put there
and then just allow your hands to

separate and feel the tingling.

And then just.

Play with it.

Move your hands farther
apart, closer together.

Imagine that you have this energy
ball between your hands and you do.

It's your life, energy.

And notice that how it actually, as
you move your hands farther apart, it

actually gets stronger rather than weaker.

right.

And that's because when we are under
stress, we tend to pull in our life

energy thinking that we need to protect.

It's kinda like how you go into the fetal
position, but the reality is when you

stretch your arms out farther and farther,
and what you're really doing is you.

allowing your life energy to spread out.

That actually makes you
stronger and more powerful.

And this is not woo woo.

Our whole bodies run on
electromagnetic energy.

So what if they used to call
it auras and chakras and right.

But that's the reality.

And you can literally, even Dr.

Joe dispenses and they've measured this
that you can, your energy field can.

Spread out like three yards B beyond
your body, if you allow it to.

So by doing that, you are actually
making yourself stronger, more powerful.

And then what also happens is, and for
those of you who are just listening,

spreading your arms up and out, a Harvard
research study showed that when you

spread your legs out, your arms out.

Even if you have to do it in the
bathroom or in a stairwell before you

need to go handle, like, you know,
get into Superman superwoman pose, it

actually sends the message to yourself.

Right?

I'm strong.

I'm powerful.

I'm confident I've got what it
takes, no matter what happens.

And you transmit that out
to everyone else around you.

So that the Harvard researchers,
even if that the subject didn't

do that right in front of people,
they had, they had others judging.

without realizing what they
were doing behind closed doors.

And after the person held that pose
for a short time and then walked into

the room, the, the panel on the other
side actually judged them as being

more brilliant and more successful
than somebody who didn't do it.

Yeah, it's it is amazingly powerful
and it it's funny it and not woo woo.

At all.

So science

It is,

so rooted in science.

Very, very old science,

Yeah, it is.

I mean, there's a reason why the
military harp so much on posture, right?

Shoulder's back my salt,
your shoulders back

so they look good and battle

right?

Yeah.

It's like, you know, put your
chin up, put a smile on your face.

Cuz by activating the smile muscles,
it sends a message to the brain.

Oh, she's happy.

I better release more sero.

Yeah,

right.

So it's, so your physiology creates
your emotions and the rubbing the

hands together without telling you
what it was, is a form of active

meditation that you can do in seconds.

And I've done it so much

everywhere and anywhere.

And I do it in front of people.

I don't

yeah, yeah,

I don't hide in the bathroom.

I, I do it wherever I am.

The best place is airports.

I love, you know, sometimes you'll
get somebody asking what you're

doing and then you can share.

And that's fun too.

So,

Oh, absolutely.

I've I, I, I have been, you know, I
do tapping emotional freedom checking

from an acupressure standpoint, and
I've been like sitting there, like, you

know, doing, doing my tapping, like, you
know, out in the middle of strangers.

I don't

Oh, yeah,

I care more about how I feel.

exactly, exactly.

And that's cuz you have
changed your programming

Mm-hmm and if right, it gets them to ask.

It's like, as soon as they ask
the question, what are you doing?

You know, you have an opportunity
to help them retrain their brain.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

This has been beyond amazing.

I know we went over time.

I thank you for giving
me extra time of yours.

You have amazing gifts for listeners
that are in the links are all in

the notes, but if somebody is like
I am and they listen on the go,

where's the best place to find you.

I would say I'm on social as @DrIreneCOP.

You can find me on LinkedIn,
Instagram face Facebook.

My website is DrIreneCop.com.

That's Dr.

I R E N E C O P.com.

And.

Yeah, just reach out to DM me and, you
know, let me know how things are going.

And I encourage you guys, not only
to, to start this exercise, but to

take advantage of the amazing gifts.

The, that, again, the links will
be in the show notes because

it's, there's so much value.

And we know you can heal I'm not special.

I we're all special, but I'm, I'm.

Special in the fact that I can heal.

We all can.

And so Dr.

Irene has amazing tools to,
to help you all do that.

Thank you so much for sharing
such gold with us today.

My pleasure.

For everyone listening.

Remember you can get those
show notes and transcripts by

visiting inspired living.show.

I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.

I will see you next week.