I hope you've been tuning into possibility and hope during this potent celestial portal. (I'm talking about the Full moon in Aquarius and Lion's Gate Portal).
Cosmically, right now is the perfect time to really look at your thoughts and self-talk.
Are you imagining a gloomy future?
Or are you open to see something new, and possibly unexpected could be birthed from this time of upheaval?
Since sharing my new music and spoken word poetry about planting Seeds of Hope, I've heard that some of my students felt it really hard to see even a tiny ray of hope.
As I shared in last week's livestream video, Lotus Rising, we can tap into the brain's Hope Circuit, as described in research by Steve Maier and Martin Seligman.
🧠 The Hope Circuit is the part of the brain that can literally suppress the fear-based helpless state.
To activate your hope circuit, you’re essentially moving from a paradigm of learned helplessness to one of learned optimism.
If you feel stuck in fear, grief or hopelessness, and you would like my support, I’m open for private sessions again.
Here are 6 keys to interrupting the brain's helpless default and turning on the Hope Circuit:
1. Recognize and Replace Learned Helplessness
Helplessness isn’t a permanent trait; it’s a reaction to stressful conditions that you believe you can’t change.
Check to see if you have any beliefs or self-talk that sounds like: “I can’t,” “It’s pointless,” or “Why bother?”
Recognize that these as learned patterns, they are not fixed truths.
🦋 Shift your perspective to recognize that you have the choice and power to shift into a hopeful, optimistic state with your intention!
2. Practice Learned Optimism
Optimism is not naive positivity. It’s a cognitive skill. It's a skill you can develop!
When something challenging happens, ask:
Is this really permanent? Is it true that it's never going to change?
Is this challenge pervasive across my whole life, or just one area?
Is fixing this challenge all on me? Is it really personal, or could other factors be involved?
🪬 These questions disrupt the automatic pessimistic narrative.
3. Focus on Intentions, Not Just History
Seligman's PERMA model says that humans flourish when they focus on the future they can create, not the past they’ve endured or the present they fear will last forever.
Your mind should be a tool for modeling possibility.
Start by imagining and choosing among different futures based on intention.
Regularly visualize what a meaningful, joyful, well-used life looks like for you.
Rather than ruminating on everything that's wrong (outside and in your personal life/mind) allow your mind to drift into possibility mode on a daily basis.
4. Map multiple pathways
In my first book, The Pennington Plan, I outlined a 5-step plan for using your intention and dreams in a sustained way to bring you success.
To break out of helpless loops we have to recognize that there is more than one way to get to almost every destination in life — whether your goal is health, wealth, or security.
So outline at least 5 ways you could get to your goal. This means create a Plan A as usual, then stretch yourself to write down Plans B, C, D, and E! 📖
And since most of us have goals that will take months to years to achieve, we have to break them into milestones, smaller goals we can start moving toward today.
For each micro-goal, outline 2–3 actionable strategies.
💥This builds confidence and hope that if one path stalls, another one still remains viable.
5. Enhance your sense of agency
Remember that the default brain state of helplessness triggered by stress or trauma echoes can be turned off when we sense we have some control.
You may not be able to control the outside world totally and completely. But you can control your behaviors, reactions, and activation of your Hope Circuit.
💬 Use daily check-ins to ask:
“What did I complete today?”
“What worked, what didn’t—and how will I adjust?”
💠 This builds trust in your own competence and influences the activation of the Hope Circuit at subtle levels.
6. Sustain motivation through celebration rituals
The final step is a challenge for most people...and that is to celebrate small wins consciously. (Seligman calls them “small victories”).
When you take the time to check in to see your progress and take note of what you completed, what worked, etc, you will keep the brain engaged in a forward momentum state.
If you have a hard time acknowledging your own progress in a positive way by saying "Yeah, but..." and quickly insert some excuse or reason why it's not enough... be aware that...
...dismissing your progress or achievements will only strengthen the default hopeless brain loop!
We all can to take more control over our mind and our physiology by:
— Using rituals and creating routines that reinforce our sense of agency
— Repeating positive statements based in truth, aka ‘affirmations with soul’
— Staying connected to positive people, and
— Nurturing deeper relationships.
Repeat this consistently over time, give yourself a break when you feel bad, and get back up! You will set yourself up for emerging from drama and trauma free of PTSD and on your way to Post-Traumatic Growth! 🌺
Hope Circuit Activation REPLAY! 💕
I'll went live in the Real Self Love Movement to share more about how the Hope Circuit plays a role in setting us up for Post-Traumatic Growth.
I answered community questions and led the Attunement Meditation.
This is a beautiful way to be in a hopeful, safe container with other souls on this journey of conscious evolution.
The Real Self Love Movement is free and includes many downloadable guided meditations, workshops, and replays on so many topics you've got many reasons to be hopeful!
If you're not already a member, join here to get the Zoom link and replays.
We meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month
at 9am PT, 12pm ET, 5pm UK, 18.00 CEST
If you’re ready to rise now and want my diamond sharp, deeply compassionate support to level up, then this is your magical window!
🌺 Get my mentoring for boosting HOPE and positioning yourself for a future of growth and expansion!
Work with me 1:1 now!
Sovereign Self Attunement Sessions Open Now!
I still have 3 VIP Spots for Attunement + Alignment Sessions for you if you're ready to live from your most aligned self and stand fully in you soul-level sovereignty.
These sessions are like walking through a shimmering threshold — on one side, the looping code that’s kept you dimmed… on the other, the version of you who moves with ease, speaks with clarity, and attracts aligned opportunities without force.
During these sacred, strategic sessions we use my Cornerstone Process™ to help you:
🌀 Dissolve the hidden trauma loops behind:
Over giving and burnout
Identity confusion
Nervous system shutdown or paralysis
Money chaos or undercharging
Voice suppression and creative stalling
Leadership paralysis
💎 Reclaim the codes that allow you to:
Show up with consistency, calm, and confidence
Launch aligned business offers without self-doubt
Speak and sell with authentic power
Magnetize your soul-mate clients and opportunities
Be seen as the next-level guide, artist, coach, or change-maker you're becoming
If you'd like to work with me 1:1 reply to this email for more details on the VIP Sovereign Self Attunement Sessions 🦄
If you don't book one of the VIP sessions you can still reclaim your sovereignty and hope in community...
Our next cohort of the Conscious Evolution Collective opens this September. It's a 3-month group mentoring container using The Cornerstone Process™.
Join the interest list here to get advanced notice.
Sending blessings of peace and compassion your way,
Dr. DaeEss 1Dréa
A few more things you may also enjoy…
Grounding Yourself When the World Feels Wobbly
There are days when the nervous system flares—tight chest, foggy mind, that low hum of panic just under the surface.
The Seeds We Plant | Hope as Defiance Series (Part 1)
In a world unraveling at the seams, when the skies burn and the foundations shake, when tyrants rise and systems crumble, there is a quiet revolution stirring.
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