Your brain is a border collie
Border collie pups love to learn, and love to try new things.
They’re curious and whip-smart, and when they're doing something they love their focus is laser sharp.
But let them get bored or get out of hand, and they’ll chew your slippers and pee on the rug.
Brains are similar.
Love to learn, curious as fuck, super smart, and capable of laser focus.
And when they get out of hand, they can be just as destructive (though it’s less slipper-chewing, and more self-criticising or procrastinating).
And both brains and border collie pups learn strange patterns if they experience trauma.
Back in the day, I was one of the puppeteers on the movie Babe.
During filming, I got to watch the border collies who played main characters Fly and Rex.
And I got to watch working dogs do their thing with flocks of sheep for scenes in the movie.
The same things that keep a working dog functioning at its best AND having a good time, are also good for our brains.
First of all, both need the basics - adequate rest, good nutrition and hydration, plenty of affection.
Both love plenty of variety to keep things interesting. Both function waaaaaay better when daily life feels like mostly play.
And the owner/operator/trainer needs to take responsibility for having a kind and loving relationship.
You have to know who’s in charge AND that has to be done with kindness.
One of the dogs on Babe was nicknamed Space Ace, because every so often, completely out of the blue, he’d flinch as though invisible aliens were circling his head.
With the cameras rolling and a huge film crew standing around (costing around $10K per minute), there was huge pressure on him to get focused on the job in hand.
His flinching response was most likely related to the trauma of his life. He’d been ‘discovered’ working as a stud dog in one of those terrible puppy farms, and hadn’t really been outside before. A film set full of people and strange equipment would have been very stressful for him.
But his trainer never got mad with him, and she never made a fuss about his anxiety.
She would demonstrate her OWN calm, bring his attention back to the here and now, and then give him something simple and familiar to do. That helped him regain his confidence and forget the scary thing he’d seen, so he could get back to his job, which he clearly loved doing.
It’s the same with your brain.
In those moments when you lose your positivity, get distracted by something scary that nobody else can see - your thoughts about money or relationship or your health or politics - you can follow the same path.
Don’t get mad with your brain. It might be as simple as a trauma response, and we all have those from time to time.
And don’t buy into the drama in your head about time pressure or missing goals. Pffft.
Be the owner/operator, channel your inner excellent border collie trainer, and step in to work with your brain from a place of kindness and calm.
Take a deep breath, and focus on your senses and your body to bring your brain’s attention back to the here and now.
You can look around and focus on one stable and beautiful thing, like a cushion on a chair or the blue of the sky.
Or listen to the sounds around you and pick one to focus on.
Or sniff the air and discover something that you can smell right now.
Or all three.
Then, lean into something simple that you know how to do. Brew tea, or make your bed, or do a simple admin task you find kinda boring but not challenging.
And then, teach your brain some new thoughts that help it to remember - bit by bit - that you are safe.
My favourites for this are ‘all is well’ and ‘I trust myself’ and ‘right here, right now, I am safe’.
And then, dive back into the thing you were doing before your brain went all Space Ace.
And just like those border collies, practice is paramount.
Over the five months of that film shoot, Space Ace became ordinary Ace.
He calmed down, as he learned to trust.
He still sometimes saw invisible aliens, but it took him far less time to bring his focus back to the job at hand.
He clearly relished the work he was doing. To him, it was more like play.
And the film crew and strange equipment all became just part of the scenery. No big deal.
Training your brain on how to recover from those Space Ace moments does two things.
It helps you feel better in the moment when you encounter those weird invisible aliens (thoughts and trauma responses).
And it gives you resilience you can lean into, next time the invisible aliens are circling just above your head.
PS sometimes being the owner/operator of a human brain is like living with a dog that just won’t behave, and that’s when you might need help. I’m like the brain whisperer. So when you’re ready to streamline this process, get in touch and see how I help.
