Optimal Response Initiative (ORI) PODCAST: Recent Episodes
Coming Home Well
The Optimal Response Initiative (ORI) is exactly what it says: it’s about learning how to respond more optimally to life! The Optimal Continuum Response Line is a visual that illustrates the main goal of ORI: to identify where upon the line one is and in which direction one desires to move along the continuum regarding their response. Whether one is at a lower case better or a capital case BETTER is not as important as in which direction they are moving. ORI skills are similar to replacing an on/off light switch (all on/all off; all right/all wrong; all good/all bad) with a dimmer switch. The great thing about a dimmer switch is if you still need to punch it “on” quickly, you can; however, most of the time in our everyday lives, a dimmer switch is more realistic because, depending on the context of a situation, one may need to dial their response up or down. Join Dr. Kristina Seymour as she explores how to create your dimmer switch and THE POWER TO CHOOSE YOUR RESPONSE.
In this episode I discuss how the amount of power we believe we have is determined by how we tell our story re: space, time as well as whether we are telling it, anchored in the truth of emotional closeness. I share the value in optimizing one’s narrative in current space and time. I also discuss the importance of anchoring that story in truth, especially as it relates to emotional closeness. I discuss that our brain creates maps of where we are in physical space and time, as well as how close we are with others, emotionally.
And I share the three things that strongly influence the quality of our attachments (our relationships):
- Space
- Time
- Closeness (Emotional)
Before we dig in, it’s important to step back and recognize that our brain creates maps that enable us to have a sense of the basics re: our physical body and where we are in physical space and time as well as how close we are to things.
For example, we have neurons in our Hippocampus that fire (have electrical activity) any time we enter a familiar place. Place Cells fire (to represent the location of objects in that space/furniture in a room for example). We also have Proximity Cells that fire re: how close or far we are from an object.
Place and Proximity Cells also create maps re: relationship/emotional attachments.
For example, we know where to find our loved ones. And while we may not know exactly where they are every second, we do know the general area in which they may be and can find them relatively easily.
There is a unique brain region, the Inferior Parietal Lobule, that is activated re:
- How far or close you are from someone in (physical) space
- How far or close you are from someone in the current dimension of time (how long would it take you to be able to be with them, talk to them, for example)
- How close are you to a person: emotional closeness
FULL EPISODE NOTES
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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Welcome to another episode of the Optimal Response Initiative with Dr Kristina Seymour. Did you know that there is research out there that says when we hear a story at different places, different times, but the same story, our heart rates synchronize. It's apparently part of a human experience. Stories are powerful things. Listen to this story written by Kristina Seymour July 2023
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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dopamine, a molecule in the brain and body that greatly influences levels of motivation. When dopamine levels are high, we are energized, believe we can do what we need to do (high self-efficacy), and highly focused on attaining/gaining something that we need/want – from basic needs (water, food) to healthy needs, objectives, and goals. However, dopamine does not have a preference whether what we are pursuing is healthy or not. It is up to us, with the help of our brains, such as the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) and some other areas, to implement our power to choose our response to our felt needs, desires, goals, pursuits, and passions.
- The ORI Continuum Response Line between Pain (of not having) and
Gain (getting) - The ORI Continuum Response Line between Isolation (not having
connection) & Connection (getting) - The ORI Continuum Response Line between Faith (believing) and Action
(moving towards that which we believe/taking action)
DO – TAKING ACTION - to leverage dopamine for our OPTIMAL GOOD not our demise – and to specifically do this by discussing how ORI Tools already do just that via taking action to do no less than 2 things a day to fuel each ORI HEALTH TANK!
And I must make a powerful point. I truly believe that many of our sisters and
brothers in arms are ending their lives because they believe they are caught
between two extremes, not realizing that there is an ORI Continuum Response
Line for EVERYTHING aka there are many OPTIMAL RESPONSES between
those extremes – AND THRIVING TRAINING is as critical to the mission as
training for the mission itself!
When one is stuck believing they have to choose, however, between Going Big
(and living) or taking themselves out (not living), the idea of suicide (Suicidal
Ideation/SI) may be considered when people are stuck believing they must
choose to either keep sucking it up and pressing on living or ending the press’n
in to live to the flip of that which is suicide. I am on a mission to train every
active-duty service member and veteran to stay alert stay alive AND THRIVE.
So, in this episode, my goal is to drill home that which you can TAKE ACTION to
move from pain to gain and isolation to connection so that instead of living in
the extreme of all or none thinking - “Go big or go home” – you can Go Big for
Health, Quality of Life, at Home and for Home - today, next week, and the rest
of your OPTIMAL LIFE!Dr. S’s Slides Link
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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During this episode, I share my realization that there’s a Continuum Response Line for everything because without the extremes we can’t be aware of a continuum between those extremes. The ORI Continuum Response Line – giving you a way to get out of the knee-jerk-reaction trap & find a way to respond “better” or “BETTER” (anything is better than worst) with the goal of choosing which direction one wants to move, which is towards OPTIMAL. We all know that is easier said than done.
Awareness-where is your focus focused (from Dissociate – Interoceptive, & Exteroceptive Mode), Internal Location of Control to External, Biology to Environment, Body to Mind, The Facts of a SIT…. (SIT REPORT) Thoughts & our Behavioral Response, Communication from Passive to Assertive (OPTIMAL) to Aggressive, No Boundaries to OPTIMAL PERSONALLY IDENTIFED & SET BOUNDARIES to Rigid, Cycles & Styles of Relating from One-Way to Reciprocal
I challenge you by asking “Where do your Emotes rank in your Chain of Command”?
& Yes, Movement has a Continuum from stagnant/unmotivated to taking action/motivated. I also discuss the neuromodulator Dopamine & its role re: the Continuum between what we want & what we get, highlighting that effort is required (aka taking action). What occurs when Dopamine levels are high as well as low
How to get back your Get up & Go that may have got up & went a decade or more ago -by focusing on the Basics First & then discussing how one might catapult their Dopamine levels out of the rut it may be in below baseline, back up to baseline & even above baseline – reminding you that this is possible IF &
WHEN THE BASICS ARE CONSISTENTLY ACCOMPLISHED FIRST.
I define my personal definition of a Capital Letter NEED vs. a lower-case letter need. Both are important but you are responsible for the first one.
I share a personal story about how I behaviorally moved through a very hard season in my life by – believe it or not catapulting my Dopamine levels way above baseline & I didn’t even know I was doing it at the time.
And finally, I share the most extreme Extreme I know of in the Bible: fear: the kind that is based on shame, condemnation & Perfect Love which casts out that fear.
1 John 4:18
SLIDES:
LINK TO BTS BONUS BOOK:
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear by Dr. Kristina Seymour
Copyright 2011 a downloadable PDF Gift for Behind the Service Family
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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In this episode on EXTREMES, I remind you that there are several extremes that are used as tools within the Optimal Response Initiative: (ORI): the ORI continuum response line, the lower intensity to higher intensity extremes with emotions, and the tendency to focus within self (about self and about one’s suffering) as well as the tendency to focus on the external (or both at once). We often get stuck living from one extreme to the other. It seems to be human nature to recognize and focus on extremes especially when we are going through hard times. Why?
Looking to extremes gives us a quick answer, and we like to have answers ..because it gives us a sense of control.
A problem with a quick answer, however, is that extremes don’t provide quality answers-
and quick answers often give us a FALSE sense of control.
There are many things in life we cannot control. We refer to this as the 80% in ORI.
In close, I remind you of focusing on finding balance and responding optimally by using the tools you have - such as filling your tanks, breathing practice, meditation and mindfulness practice especially NSDR and Time Space Bridging.
I challenge you to look for the extremes, but don’t get stuck there. I challenge you to recognize the extremes and commit yourself to moving towards Optimal as you find balance for yourself so that you can Stay Alert - Stay Alive AND THRIVE!
In day to day life for thriving - balance is key.
Know where the extremes are use your ORI skills in the midst of them.
Dr Kristina Seymour
"It is good that you take hold of one thing (righteousness) and also not let go of the other (wisdom); for the one who fears and worships God {with awe-filled reverence will come forth with both of them". ~Ecclesiastes 7:18 AMPLIFIED VERSION
"Pay attention to these instructions, for anyone who fears God will avoid both extremes". ~Ecclesiastes 7:18 New Living Translation
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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In this episode, I empower you in that you have the ability to creatively problem solve and THRIVE. I discuss how convergent and divergent thinking are key to being able to generate creative ideas and provide three types of meditation tools that I learned about from Dr. Andrew Huberman from his Huberman Lab Podcast: open monitoring meditation; space time bridging (focused attention); non-sleep deep rest (NSDR). NSDR can improve one’s ability to engage in these creative thinking patterns in specific and powerful ways with a 65% increase in Dopamine in the Substantial Nigral Pathway in the brain. I also discuss how Dopamine and mood contribute to the creative process and describe behavioral approaches for increasing Dopamine to engage in creative thought and implementation. I also discuss how movement, physically and figuratively via storytelling (movement throughout the narration of a story/self-transformation within one’s own ORI journey), can increase neuroplasticity and improve creative problem-solving skills.
Theta Brain activity occurs during the creative process - when one is creating a novel useful thing or when one is experiencing the benefits of that new useful thing. I also remind you about a previous ORI sleep podcast that Theta Brain waves are occurring in REM Sleep. REM sleep is needed to be able to transfer the information from our short-term memory/thumb drive (Hippocampus) to our long-term memory/hard-drive - especially when we have learned a new narrative to our story – one that is more about THRIVING vs only surviving…..I invite you to join me and find out how valuable creating can be! Creativity represents flexibility – an ability to move beyond the confounds of what we know, facilitating an opportunity to capital letter KNOW something (maybe) we’ve always known of or about to some degree such as: Survival skills, Emotes, Colors, Movement, Breathing, and Sleeping, however, now we can KNOW them and experience the combination of them in new and useful ways for thriving! In the same way that one trains in the military, creating (creatively approaching SITs in optimal ways) is a skill that can be cultivated. Simultaneously, neuropathways of creativity can be honed, toned, and strengthened! As the Rangers say: “Adapt and overcome”; as my husband says, “There’s always a way.”; as Hebrews 4:13 reads, “Nothing in all creation is hidden.” Hebrews: 4:13
To all the Behind The Service ORI Thriving Warriors out there - Be courageous and curious about using your creative problem solving skills in the midst of opportunity meeting moments in your day to day life to THRIVE!
SPACE TIME BRIDGING EXERCISE
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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SEASON 1, EPISODE 11 OPTIMAL RESPONSE INITIATIVE (ORI)
Dr. Kristina Seymour https://ORI.KristinaSeymour.Com
In this episode, Dr. Seymour reviews that Emotes are (energy in motion within us) moving up and out to give us intel about what we may NEED in any given SIT(uation) SO THAT, we can gather the intel and then optimally consider how we might meet our identified NEED to empower us to move towards OPTIMAL.
Dr. Seymour emphasizes using a capital letter NEED to remind us that we are using the Emote Intel for ourselves to brainstorm and find ways to TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES (this is an internal location of control); we are not jumping to external people and things to meet NEEDS (not as our first line of action). This process of Thriving in the areas of Emotional Health, is about increasing SELF-awareness and SELF-understanding of emotions (Emotes). As we do so, we improve our ability to THRIVE (vs. merely survive). Increasing self-understanding and emotional awareness (increasing the Emote Intel Word/Thriving Bank from which to pull from) is about you figuring out YOU. It is about YOU figuring out how to SIT and consider your likes, dislikes, wants, NEEDs, and everything in between FOR YOU. Dr. Seymour reminds us that we can work on emotional awareness any time of night or day. We don’t need to go anywhere, call anyone, or get anything in order to do so. We can use our skills and be curious and consider:
- What am I feeling (the EMOTE)
- If you feel it - you feel it – it counts.
- If you don’t feel it – you don’t feel it.
- Sometimes, when we feel a lot for too long without the ability to acknowledge it and take care of ourselves, “numbness” may occur; this actually means we care a lot – so much so that the body and mind attempts to save some energy (numbness) because of being in survival mode
- Remember, it is possible to recalibrate, but tools are required to do the work.
- What intel is this Emote telling me that I may NEED in this moment?
- How might I meet that NEED in an OPTIMAL way to move towards OPTIMAL on the ORI Continuum Response Line?
BEHIND THE SERVICE BONUSES INCLUDE:
Dr. Seymour’s ORI OPTIMIZED SIT REPORT – fillable
Dr. Seymour’s SPEED, NEED, MEET – fillable - so that you can “gather the intel to thrive!”
Thanks for listening!
A, BEHIND THE SERVICE PODCAST https://linktr.ee/BehindTheService
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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Over the last 25 years ORI has been developed by Dr. Seymour, personally for her own use because she needed it; then, she created tangible tools from her unique insights in the form of handouts and tools that she shared with her children, close friends, her professional colleagues, Service Members, Veterans & their families.
In this episode, she is honored and excited to have the opportunity to empower
everyone tuning in with BEHIND THE SERVICE – that when we consider ALL Emotes as valuable intelligence to inform us about what we may need in any given thriving situation, we are then able to be courageous and curious about how to meet those needs in optimal ways! Dr. Seymour shares one of her favorite visuals: an Emotions Color Wheel. Primary Emotions, like primary colors, exist in the human experience as unlimited hues and variations! She encourages you to choose an Emote, look it up in a synonym finder & then place the Emotes (aka synonyms of the chosen Emote) in order from least intensity to highest intensity as you deem fit FOR YOU. She also gives us a special forces tip on how to really personalize your own Emote Wheel, Key, or Speedometer (from slower speed to highest speed) so that you can be fully informed to thrive! AND, she shares her newly updated Dr. S’s ORI SIT Report which combines several tools in one! A LOT OF THRIVING TERRITORY IS COVERED IN THIS EPISODE!
The ORI Continuum Response Line Mode of Network Continuum (Default Mode Network vs. Deliberate Mode Network)
Internal Location of Control vs. External Location of Control
The Apple Tree Analogy: What Kind of Tree/Person are you dealing with?
Stress is a request for energy from 1-100 (not positive or negative)
Step away from the extremes unless they can put you in the ballpark of discovering what you may need (Dr. S’s Freedom to Feel E-MOTIONS Tool)
EMOTES Value: Intel for Thriving to help us identify our potential needs
EMOTES have different levels of intensity (aka synonyms/hues of color)
Practice Thriving Training by utilizing your senses for THRIVING on Purpose
She shares a BONUS NEW ORI video re: the ORI External Triggers Pass
A Collection of Scriptures on “Be Slow to Anger”
* Shares insights on the ways in which Love and Self-Control go hand in hand re: The Fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness (humbleness), Faithfulness, and Self-Control
You definitely don’t want to miss this episode of ORI – GATHER THE INTEL!
STAY ALERT – STAY ALIVE – AND THRIVE – THE TRAINING CONTINUES with Dr. S.
All Information within the ORI Podcast, along with THRIVING TOOLS are Copywritten materials Copyright 2015 to Present
ORI.KristinaSeymour.com
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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FREEDOM SISTERS SHOW
In this episode Dr. Seymour focuses on the benefits of Stage 4 REM
- Why it is so important
- Ways that too much Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine) - adrenaline in the brain as well as Serotonin can inhibit REM
- Additional ways you may be able to optimize your sleep and improve your overall health and quality of life – behaviorally
- REM is rich in emotional processing
- REM is the brains ways of integrating and making connections between the events of our lives
- How the brain needs to get to stage 4 REM to edit previous information with new info
- Memory consolidation
- Fine motor muscle memory
- Implications regarding the importance of REM and the mental health treatment, with an emphasis on PTSD
- The importance of taking time to wind down at night before bed
- Dr. Seymour prepares a creative narrative to explain how memories travel from short term-memory to long-term memory
- Make sure you catch The Boring Bedtime Story Harmony the Hippo to help you go to sleep (and get to REM)
- Implications for Creativity & Problem Solving (which is next week’s topic)
REFERENCES:
G. G. Mascetti, Unihemispheric sleep and asymmetrical sleep: Behavioral, neurophysiological, and functional perspectives. Nat. Sci. Sleep 8, 221–238 (2016).
Poe, G.R., Foote, S., Eschenko, O. et al. Locus coeruleus: a new look at the blue spot. Nat Rev Neurosis 21, 644–659 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0360-9
S. Sarasso et al., Hippocampal sleep spindles preceding neocortical sleep onset in humans. Neuroimage 86, 425–432 (2014).
Whitehurst, L.N., Cellini, N., McDevitt, E.A., Mednick, S.C., Autonomic activity in humans predicts memory consolidation in humans. The Salk Institute of Biological Studies 26, 7272-7277 (2016).
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1518202113
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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BONUS EPISODE
Have you ever listened to something to help you fall asleep? Today's BONUS EPISODE will help you do just that. Dr Kristina Seymour takes you on the journey of catching the thriving train with a calm and relaxing story of Harmony the Hippo.
This is Dr. Seymour, and I've prepared for you a very boring story to help you relax and unwind. To slow down and consider the benefits of taking care of yourself, taking time to sit, still, relax and get a good night's sleep and the importance of catching the thriving train, going to bed at a certain time, a consistent certain time, waking up at a consistent certain time,
It will help recalibrate your health, your mind, your body so that you can continue to serve your mission with thriving.
This is a story about Harmony the Hippo.
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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Kristina and Dr. Simon are going to talk about the importance of sleep. Today we are really going to focus on components of sleep, aspects of sleep and the things that you can do to enhance and improve the overall quantity and quality of your sleep.
- to improve the quality of sleep, set goals to get more than 4 hours of sleep per night.
- the brain cleans itself during the day.
- Kristina recommends taking a shower every day to clean the brain.
- Kristina believes that as we get older, the body stops building muscle and starts to lose it.
- Kristina explains the stages of sleep. Kristina wants to improve the quantity and quality of sleep in general.
- Kristina's brain is on a journey to get information from the hippocampus to the hard drive, but it's not getting there fast enough. Kristina is not getting enough sleep.
- Kristina explains how to improve sleep habits.
- Kristina wants her brain to process information 5 times. She wants it to move from the thumb drive to the hard drive.
Psalm 91. "He who dwells in the shelter the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say, oh Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust. Surely, he will save you from the Fowler snared, from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and a wall. You will not fear the terror of night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the most higher dwelling, even the lower who is my refuge, then no harm will befall you. No disaster will come near your tent. For he will command as angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against the stone.
You will tread upon the line in the cobra. You will tramp with a great lion in the serpent because he loves me, says the Lord. I will rescue him. I will protect him for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him with long life. I will satisfy him and show him my salvation".
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 988 for specialized support.
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Dr. Seymour discusses the importance of recognizing that which we SAY greatly influences the quality of our day, of our emotional experiences, and our subsequent behaviors.
It is important to recognize the content and quality of our thoughts. That which we believe about our past experiences, our current experiences, and our future experiences IS our experience. And any belief (thought -aka that which we say to ourselves) that we have about an experience we have had, never had but hope to have, fear will happen and hope it won’t happen, etc. – ANYTHING we say to ourselves about ourselves, the situation, others, and the world WILL influence our experience – during the day – and during the night when we sleep.
That which we SAY to ourselves about what we expect regarding our sleep WILL influence the quantity and quality of our sleep.
Therefore, it is of optimal importance that we begin to do that which we CAN – which is begin to SAY things that will optimally influence our sleep. Sleep is the #1 predictor of cellular health (which impacts ALL areas of health), especially as we get older.
Dr. Seymour reviews many of the tools she has shared in previous ORI Podcasts, reminding you that taking care of yourself (that which you eat, the activities you engage in – physical exercise/physical therapy, the quality of your nutrition, the quality of your fluid intake, the quality of the company you keep, etc., will influence the quality of your sleep. Why? Because it is all connected.
Dr. Seymour also shares a BTS ORI Take Home Tool: Dr. S’s GOODNIGHTmare Pass so that you can be empowered if and when you are faced with a nightmare. Combining re-scripting (what you SAY), breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, allowing the sadness to surface because it is there anyway aka “some exposure work”, grounding to one’s physical environment, and yes – some humor because humor can increase cognitive flexibility if used optimally.
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-8255 for specialized support.
"Thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode!
Behind the Service listeners can get 10% off by visiting:
https://betterhelp.com/behindtheservice
Visit our webpage at cominghomewell.com
Follow us on our socials
YouTube @cominghomewellmilitary
Instagram DR. KRISTINA SEYMOUR
@behindtheservicepodcast
Facebook at (1) Behind the Service | Facebook
LinkedIn at Coming Home Well
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Capitalize on your ability to Catastrophize THEN use that Intel to THRIVE!
In this episode Dr. Seymour discusses current research that she is very excited about because it provides evidence that recognizing and focusing on “worst” on the ORI Continuum Response Line
- For a thriving purpose AND
- For a set time
AND THEN using that information to refocus on the optimal opposite (of that worst case scenario/fear) can turn that “worst” into an empowering tool for THRIVING!
Dr. Seymour also shares the “Why?” and “How” to apply this optimal information in practical ways in your everyday life! She provides two ORI Take Home Bonus Tools.
- A. Capitalize on your ability to Catastrophize (fillable worksheet)
- B. Hopes/Fears SOP (fillable worksheet)
- These ORI Take Home Tools come with a serious warning:
- If you are not going to use A & B for every “worst case scenario thriving fear – don’t use them at all”
- After you identify 1 Worst and utilize ORI Take Home Tool “A” you MUST immediately then use that intel to Fill in ORI Take Home Tool “B”
Because nobody needs help catastrophizing! This is THRIVING Training, remember? 😊
You can literally use the Hoo-Ah catastrophizing military training that you are excellent at – AND APPLY that intel to create an SOP on how to THRIVE and increase the likelihood that you achieve the HOPE/DREAM! (which is the exact opposite of the worst case scenario thriving fear)
ORI TOOL
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-8255 for specialized support.
"Thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode!
Behind the Service listeners can get 10% off by visiting:
https://betterhelp.com/behindtheservice
Visit our webpage at cominghomewell.com
Follow us on our socials
YouTube @cominghomewellmilitary
Instagram DR. KRISTINA SEYMOUR
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The Mind Body Connection - What’s in it for YOU?
**This week Dr. Seymour reminds you to use your ORI Tools: SIT REPORT
Thriving vs Merely Surviving (using your senses to pay attention to thriving things), and she continues to discuss how intricately and intimately all areas of health are connected. She teaches us about how to set long-term goals (the destination) for each area of health: Physical, Cognitive, Emotional, Spiritual, and Social as well as how to brainstorm and identify 2 things that we can do for each long-term health goal (take action on) to empower us (give us the energy/power) to get to that long-term destination (goal).
She provides an ORI Fuel UP Tool to set and achieve your goals in each area of health. And, Dr. Seymour shares how ORI was personally developed and how it all still applies to her health and life today. She woke up in a coma at age 7, determined to reconnect her body and mind and get back to her brother who was and still is her best-friend; don’t miss this episode as she reaches out to you – her sisters and brothers in arms to stay alert stay alive AND THRIVE!**Bonus Tool ORI Fuel Up Health Tanks
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-8255 for specialized support.
"Thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode!
Behind the Service listeners can get 10% off by visiting:
https://betterhelp.com/behindtheservice
Visit our webpage at cominghomewell.com
Follow us on our socials
YouTube @cominghomewellmilitary
Instagram DR. KRISTINA SEYMOUR
@behindtheservicepodcast
Facebook at (1) Behind the Service | Facebook
LinkedIn at Coming Home Well
Home » Coming Home Well
We are a 501C3 nonprofit organization.
Interested in sponsoring our podcasts email us at cominghomewell@gmail.com
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Dr. Seymour discusses current research re: A Present Mind is a Happy Mind. Humans spend a lot of time thinking about what is not going on around them, this makes them unhappy. When people focus on the task at hand, they are happier. And this is true whether they are engaged in a task that they enjoy or don’t enjoy or whether their mind wanders to a more enjoyable or less enjoyable task (in the past or in the future). Dr. Seymour engages you in a thought-provoking discussion re: what this may mean for Service Members & Veterans who - as we know:
- Are highly dedicated to accomplishing their mission
- But if the current mission is to set and achieve Survival Goals in Thriving Territory – the likelihood of being able to achieve the Survival Goal (aka: find the threat first) is greatly diminished because the frequency of threats is greatly diminished in Thriving Territory as compared to a combat zone, for example)
- When we default to setting Survival Goals in Thriving Territory, a failure to thrive is more likely to occur
Dr. Seymour adds increased relevance to this research by considering military members in a Thriving Situation who are not only NOT thinking about the present tasks/moment at hand – but they are also honed in on thinking about all the bad that is NOT HAPPENING in the moment – and this Definitely makes them unhappy…
“I must control everything so that all the bad stuff that could happen but is not happening and very likely won’t happen – won’t happen!”
What?! How is one supposed to control all the things they can’t control in the first place (100% of the variables outside of us) – especially when they haven’t happened yet? ORI TOOL BONUS TOOL
Dr. Seymour brings an ORI Take Home Tool – “Thriving vs. Merely Surviving” recalibration practice using one’s senses to actively engage in the present moment. There is a way to recalibrate from Survival Mode and begin setting Thriving Goals in Thriving Territory. She also empowers you with the knowledge that Survi
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-8255 for specialized support.
"Thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode!
Behind the Service listeners can get 10% off by visiting:
https://betterhelp.com/behindtheservice
Visit our webpage at cominghomewell.com
Follow us on our socials
YouTube @cominghomewellbehindtheservice
Instagram DR. KRISTINA SEYMOUR
@behindtheservicepodcast
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...
Whenever we have an opportunity to respond to our own physical symptoms, thoughts and emotions, other people, and circumstances (which occurs hundreds, to thousands, of times a day), we have a choice. And, that choice exists on an ORI Continuum Response Line from worst to OPTIMAL.
IN THIS EPISODE OF THE OPTIMAL RESPONSE INITIATIVE, Dr. Seymour focuses on a few of the many components that influence our responses.
- UNDERSTANDING a little bit about the stress response:
- In the brain
- In the body
- and how the stress response can impact:
- our thoughts
- our emotions
- our behaviors.
- + COMMON SENSE
Once we have understanding, we can then apply common sense and insight to forge a way to make useful tools for practical application in our everyday lives.
- = INSIGHT
Dr. Kristina Seymour points out the power of the breath to begin switching from survival mode to thriving mode.
RESILIENCY VARIABLE: CONTEXT
Dr. Seymour shares the importance of combining two common recommendations that when used independently from one another may cause more harm than do optimal good! However, when combined with UNDERSTANDING within the context of (ALL areas of health: physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, and social) + COMMON SENSE, together all of this = INSIGHT. As a result, YOUR own INCREASED UNDERSTANDING, + YOUR OWN COMMON-SENSE may = INCREASED INSIGHT TO further empower you to apply these tools to thrive in YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE!
These two very important common sayings are as follows:
1. “Just breathe – take a breath.”
2. “Just count to ten.”
But Dr. Seymour optimally recommends that you don’t JUST read these brief ORI Podcast notes and continue to allow these two commonly misused (or inadvertently or ignorantly separated statements) to continue to raise havoc on your health and peace of mind. – find MEANING for yourself and continue to move towards OPTIMAL. It’s time to stay alert – stay alive – AND THRIVE!
Proverbs 4:4-23 THE MESSAGEORI SIT REP
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-8255 for specialized support.
"Thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode!
Behind the Service listeners can get 10% off by visiting:
https://betterhelp.com/behindtheservice
Visit our webpage at cominghomewell.com
Follow us on our socials
YouTube @cominghomewellbehindtheservice
Instagram DR. KRISTINA SEYMOUR
@behindtheservicepodcast
Facebook at (1) Behind the Service | Facebook
LinkedIn at Coming Home Well
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...
In this #1 Optimal Response Initiative – a Behind the Service Podcast, Dr. Kristina Seymour introduces the major concepts of her ORI Workbooks (Military & Civilian Versions) that she will be taking listeners through over the next many weeks.
Dr. Seymour is excited to be joining us every Friday for thriving training. She will be pulling content from her ORI Workbook(s), providing practical tools for everyday application, and integrating current research to optimize all areas of health – physical, cognitive, emotional, spiritual, and social. She shares how as an USAF Veteran married to a Ranger, a mom of two grown children and a warrior grandmom of two – she got out of the AF in 1995 and I had a hard time figuring out how to exist in everyday life. She shares that the word “cope” was a foreign concept. She “just sucked it up and pressed on and did what she needed to do.”
Dr. Seymour spent 20+ years working and going to school and is now a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in recovery from PTSD & Substance Use – however, the Optimal Response Initiative is also full of her own real life examples of doing things the hard way for a few decades until she came up with some of her own coping tools - She wrote the ORI workbook in order to offer you some tangible hope wherever you are. She is passionate about reaching her brothers and sisters in arms (and their families) empowering you to stay alert, stay alive AND THRIVE!
- A Call to Recover
- ORI Continuum Response Line (ORI Take Home Tool #1)
- Variables of Resilience (Seymour, 2014)
- 80/20 Rule (ORI Take Home Tool #2)
- ORI Creed (ORI Take Home Tool #3)
- ORI Thinking Fuel (along with ORI Continuum Response Line Take Home Tool #1 Visual Included)
- ORI Behind the Service Bonus: Willing Warrior Poem
ORI Take Home Tools
Podcast for Educational & Informational Purposes only. Nothing we say should ever be in place of professional counseling or reaching out for help! If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out to veteran's crisis line / suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-8255 for specialized support.
"Thank you to BetterHelp for sponsoring today's episode!
Behind the Service listeners can get 10% off by visiting:
https://betterhelp.com/behindtheservice
Visit our webpage at cominghomewell.com
Follow us on our socials
YouTube @cominghomewellbehindtheservice
Instagram DR. KRISTINA SEYMOUR
@behindtheservicepodcast
Facebook at (1) Behind the Service | Facebook
LinkedIn at Coming Home Well
Home » Coming Home Well
We are a 501C3 nonprofit organization.
Interested in sponsoring our podcasts email us at cominghomewell@gmail.com
...