How your brain tricks you into a half-life
"Brainy What-Why-How"
Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.
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What:
Since April, I’ve been befriending a bed bound 96-year-old woman. Let’s call her Jane.
Her mind? Sharp.
Her legs and eyesight? Not so much.
And Jane is basically a living, breathing TED Talk on how the brain’s #1 job is safety.
Why:
Here’s the pattern: Jane tries something once, it scares her, she never does it again.
📻 Turned on the radio → dropped it trying to turn it off while it played a bad song; had to listen unwillingly until her next visitor came → never again.
Now she sits in silence.
📞 Dialed the wrong number → never again.
So she's lost touch with friends and family.
🚗 Tried a wheelchair → “frightening” → never again.
So she didn't even get to go to her sister's 90th birthday party.
She never married, never moved out, never risked much of anything.
And now? Every time I visit her, she tells me she’s just waiting to die because life feels miserable 🙁
Her brain did its job: kept her safe.
But safe ≠ thriving. Safe ≠ truly living.
How:
Jane’s story* is a brutal reminder: fear is just data.
If you let it be the boss of you, your life can get pretty dull.
But fear doesn’t have to drive the car — at best, it can ride shotgun and nag you about the directions.
So on Move With Adell, one theme is: feel the fear and do it anyway 💪
And we’re blending yoga + weights (yes, like dumbbells) because building muscle = building freedom.
Think:
deadlift ➡️ vinyasa ➡️ bent-over row ➡️ crow pose
Yoga + gym = the fearless mashup you didn’t know you needed. (And yes, the best age to start is the age you're at now!)
You can check out this 3-minute video where I explain a little more!
Your first week's free. So what’s scarier — lifting a dumbbell or slowly becoming bed-bound like Jane? (Yeah, I said it.)
Whatever you do, I trust that you'll always keep fear in the passenger seat {{ subscriber.first_name }},
Adell 💋
*I also want to add that "Jane" was 10 years old when WW2 broke out, and 16 years old when it ended. She has stories of walking home from school with air raid sirens going off, worried if she'd make it home, or if there would be a home to go to. So I can understand how her brain learned at a young age to give into fear and I don't judge her for her life choices! She simply didn't know any better. But I wonder how different her life would be if someone had been there when she was 16 to say "you're safe now -- go live life! Take risks!" But we can remember that WE are SO PRIVILEGED to be able to take this knowledge, and live a life that is full -- not just for ourselves but for uplifting others too! Safety is survival. Thriving is rebellion.
Want to go way deeper with me? 👀
• Check out my upcoming IRL events
• Sign up to my next NeuroYoga TTC where I teach YOU how to blend yoga + neurology
• Join me on Move With Adell -- I upload 2 new videos a week -- often with brain drills woven in -- Click here to start your FREE trial.
• Check out the courses from Z-health, where I started my education in brain-based approaches: Click here for my discount codes on their first 3 courses!
• Get my book "Too Flexible to Feel Good: A Practical Roadmap to Managing Hypermobility"