Welcome to the BrainSMART Living Project
A resource to help cut through the noise and simplify.
A place to explore the research, test ideas, and share both trusted resources & personal experience.
A focus on adapting to life's inevitable changes - both personal & the world at large.
Our Approach
Share insights from three perspectives:
Modern science - what helps us test, understand & predict.
Ancient traditions - 1000's of years of natural experiments.
Individual experience - our N-of-1 life experiments.
Our Priorities
Brain-First Living
Protecting our brain to strengthen body, mind, mood & connection
BrainSmart Tactics
Rewiring & working with our brain to create lasting new habits & traits
Present Living
Preparing for the future while finding joy and living fully in the present
Your Engagement Options
Finding Your Path Forward
There is no single path that works for everyone. We share what we're learning as a place to start - to orient around fundamentals to then question, explore, and personalize.
Choose what works for you:
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Explore on your own: Browse our blog, Playbooks, and favorite resources for ideas worth investigating.
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Continue the conversation with friends and family: Share a Playbook or resource links as a starting point for discussing what might fit your lives.
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Explore with your favorite AI: Drop in a PDF set of notes from our Playbooks or an article link, or an idea and ask how it might - or might not - apply to your circumstances, needs, and priorities.
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Join the public conversation: Share questions, experiences, and perspectives in blog comments and future conversation groups.
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Connect with us privately: Email us (connect@brainsmartliving.com) with a question, suggestion, experience, or resource you think is worth exploring.
We provide starting points. You decide where the conversation goes next.
Our Playbooks
We keep topic specific detail and links to our favorite resources in Playbooks:
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JC's Notes with Key-Takeaways we choose to prioritize and some examples of how we've tailored the evidence to meet our individual needs. All downloadable.
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Curated posts related to the topic.
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Resource links to detail direct from the experts: primarily podcasts.
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Quick Bytes: <= 15 minutes
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Knowledge Builders: 15-60 minutes
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Deep Dives: 1-2+ hours
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Essential Reads: Books and the occasional 3rd party post or paper.
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Meet Your Hosts
Host
Janice 'JC' Cunningham, MPH
Vancouver, Canada
Why I'm Here
This is my personal record of finding footholds through change:
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Notes, tactics, and stories from my own path, shared as I go
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What appears to work for me, what doesn't, and everything in between
What Shapes My Thinking
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A professional background and graduate studies in communication technology and health
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An appreciation for both modern science and ancient traditions - Stoicism, Tai Ji, Buddhism
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N-of-1 experiments and experience - what works depends on the person
Losing my dad to complications from Alzheimer's triggered my first deep dive into this space. That search led me to prioritize the brain first - it's how I simplify things and focus on what's foundational to how we feel, behave, and adapt."
Why Share?
Why keep it to myself when I've already put in the time to research, test ideas and distill what I've learned.
Sharing my notes gives others a place to start. Your comments give me and other readers the opportunity to hear what I may have missed, insights from different perspectives.
No one person has all the answers, not even AI, if we don't get the questions right.
Be safe. Be well.
JC
Mentor, Contributor & Reality Check
Sibel Tunali
London, England
Greetings from London
It’s easy for all of us to believe what we want to believe, so my role in BSL is to bring a skeptical lens and practical guidance to the journey.
My Role as Mentor & Contributor
In Sibel's Corner I share reflections on resilience and navigating life’s challenges.
My Reality Check Role
My perspective complements Janice’s. I focus on a reality check for someone with many other life piroriteis. I live the reality of juggling life as a mother, business executive, and, more recently, a cancer survivor rebuilding energy and resilience.
What Informs My Approach
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Years of cancer treatment gave me a new perspective on health, energy, and resilience.
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Being the mother of twins reshaped my priorities and sense of balance.
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My background as an engineer turned telecom executive informs how I mentor and support startups in food, wellness, and technology.
I invite you to join the conversation and complement my role through comments or the occasional survey.
Wishing you well,
Sibel
Join the Conversation
Add your voice through post comments on the blog
or
Email connect@brainsmartliving.com
to share more private thoughts, suggestions or questions.
