Welcome to this week’s 2-4-1 — a small pause to recharge, rethink, and reconnect.
Inside you’ll find two ideas I’m sitting with, four fun or fascinating discoveries, and one tiny step you can take to feel more like yourself this week.
2 INSIGHTS
1. You feel it before you think it.
Here is something worth knowing. You have two different “brains” inside your skull. One is ancient and emotional. The other is newer and rational. They do not always agree.
Most moments of panic, anger, or overwhelm come from the older emotional system firing before your newer rational system has time to choose a calmer response. Presence begins when you refuse that first impulse.
According to Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, there are five common triggers that activate that older system at work:
• feeling a lack of respect
• feeling unappreciated
• feeling unheard
• being treated unfairly
• someone else taking credit for your work
If you want to learn more about the parts of the brain responsible for this instant reaction, click here.
2. Glimmers compound like interest.
Glimmers are the opposite of triggers. If triggers pull you into old patterns before you have time to think, glimmers do the reverse. They are small, conscious moments of safety, warmth, or presence that remind your nervous system it is allowed to settle.
These micro-moments are the brain’s best way to carve new pathways. Every time you pause, breathe, or notice something grounding, you are training your system toward steadiness instead of reactivity.
If you want a quick visual explanation, here’s a short video on glimmers and how they work.
4 FUN FINDS
1. A quote from Thich Nhat Hanh
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
A beautiful reminder that presence doesn’t eliminate emotion. It simply gives it somewhere safe to land.
2. A helpful tool: Name it to Tame it
From Dr. Dan Siegel. When a strong emotion hits, labeling it out loud (“I feel overwhelmed” or “I feel frustrated”) reduces limbic activation and increases prefrontal clarity.
It works because naming pulls you out of the swirl and into awareness.
Fun fact: most adults can only name three emotions off the top of their head. If you want to expand your emotional vocabulary, the How We Feel app is a game changer.
3. The RAIN technique (for emotional clarity)
If you want something deeper after Name it to Tame it, this short video breaks down Tara Brach’s RAIN method:
Recognize
Allow
Investigate
Nurture
It is simple, grounded, and surprisingly powerful for stepping out of an emotional spiral and into presence.
4. Way-back playback (90s edition)
Since we’re talking about RAIN, here’s your nostalgic counterbalance: No Rain by Blind Melon.
A song every 90s kid knows the moment the first guitar line hits. Warm, nostalgic, impossible not to smile at. And the coincidence with the RAIN technique felt too perfect not to include.
1 REFLECTION / ACTION
What emotion has been steering the ship lately? And what would it look like to pause before it takes the wheel?
If you enjoyed this week’s 2-4-1, the best way to support the newsletter is simply to share it or leave a quick comment. Your questions and reflections shape what I write next.
Thanks for being here.
Jack