Did you know that we have 3 brains?

Dernière mise à jour de l'article le 20 July 2024

Did you know that we have three brains 🧠 in our body? There is the one we all know, in the head, there is a brain in our heart, and another one in our gut.

In fact, even if you weren’t aware of it, you already knew it subconsciously.

And yes, don’t we say, “I feel it in my gut,” or “I have a knot in my stomach,” or “The heart has its reasons…”?

If I’m telling you this, it’s to introduce you to another concept used in NLP 🤔 that can influence our decisions and behaviors.

In some situations, it can be useful to be aware of it!

But what are you talking about, Houefa? What is this thing you want to tell us about?

Well, to find out, I suggest you read this article 😁

Let’s go!

A brief introduction to these three brains: head, heart, and gut

First of all, I’m not a scientific expert on the brain, okay?

So, what I’m going to present to you in this part comes from my research on the internet, particularly from this article (in English): The 3 Brains — Head, Heart and Gut – science.

The brain in our head

• It is composed of three main parts: the cortex, the limbic brain, and the reptilian brain.
• It contains between 86 and 100 billion neurons.
• It is responsible for many cognitive functions such as thinking, memory, and perception.

The brain in our heart

• It is composed of four chambers: two upper chambers (the atria), and two lower chambers (the ventricles).
• It contains between 40,000 and 120,000 neurons.
• Its main role is to regulate the heart’s rhythm and function.
• It seems that our heart sends emotional and intuitive information signals to the brain and body, and it can learn, remember, feel, and perceive.

The brain in our gut

• It is composed of the small intestine and the large intestine.
• Also called the visceral brain, it contains about 500 million neurons.
• It controls the digestive system, regulating movements, secretions, and blood flow.
• It can learn, store memories, and perform complex independent processes. Additionally, the gut brain is responsible for producing many hormones that regulate our emotions and mental well-being.

Why am I talking to you about these three brains?

But why am I talking to you about these three brains?

What could this bring to your daily life and to your personal and professional development?

Well, actually, I’m talking about it to introduce another topic (I already mentioned it in the introduction, so no surprise 😁). But don’t worry, there is a (small) connection!

I think you are aware that every day, we think, feel, and act. These three elements are essentially controlled by the brain. But I suggest drawing a parallel with other parts of our body.

For example, we can represent our thoughts by the head, our emotions by the heart, and our actions by our body (that’s the connection!).

In fact, we often use expressions related to a part of our body.

For example, when we make a decision that is not in line with ourselves, even if it seems logical intellectually, sometimes our body or heart tells us otherwise: “I don’t feel it,” “The head is there, but the heart isn’t.”

And this will influence what we decide to do (or not do…).

Let me illustrate this with a few examples:

(1)

Suppose you want to start a new professional project that is close to your heart (ah, another expression related to a part of our body…).

If you think you won’t be able to succeed in this project because it’s too complicated, or you think you don’t have the skills to carry it out – basically that you will fail… – (negative thought), you might feel stress, fear, or anxiety (unpleasant emotions). These thoughts and emotions could lead you to avoid taking action or perhaps to postpone the start of this project (negative actions). This is the pattern: Negative thoughts → Unpleasant emotions → Negative actions On the other hand, if you think you can successfully carry out this project (positive thought), you might then feel confident, optimistic, or excited to start (pleasant emotions). These thoughts and emotions could then lead you to take action and look for solutions to successfully complete this project (positive actions). This is the pattern: Positive thoughts → Pleasant emotions → Positive actions
You see, even before you actually started this project, depending on the thoughts that arise in your head, well, it will influence your action or inaction…

(2)

Another example, starting from emotions. You are in a café with a close friend and you are having a lively discussion together…

If the discussion in question is an argument, you will feel anger towards your friend (unpleasant emotion), you might have negative thoughts about them (negative thoughts). This could lead you to say or do hurtful things or behave aggressively (negative actions) that you might regret later. We are in the pattern: Unpleasant emotions → Negative thoughts → Negative actions
If, on the contrary, the discussion is about your upcoming vacation together and you feel happy and excited about spending this beautiful week of vacation with friends (pleasant emotions), you might then have positive thoughts about your friend and the upcoming vacation (positive thoughts). This could lead you to take part in organizing the trip or express your gratitude to your friend (positive actions). Here, it’s the pattern: Pleasant emotions → Positive thoughts → Positive actions
And so in this second example, you can see that with the same context (a lively discussion…), depending on the content of the discussion and the emotions felt, we can end up with completely different behaviors!

(3)

One last example (and I think you’ve guessed which element I’ll start with 😉)

We’ll keep our example of the lively discussion between friends…

If we take the first case where you behaved aggressively towards your friend (negative action). You might have negative thoughts about yourself: “What was I thinking doing that!” “I’m so stupid for reacting that way” (negative thoughts). Having these thoughts about yourself, you might feel guilt or shame (unpleasant emotions). This is the pattern: Negative actions → Negative thoughts → Unpleasant emotions
If we take the second case where you decide to take part in organizing the trip with your friend, you want to help them (positive action). You might have positive thoughts about yourself: “Ah! I’m glad to help,” “It makes me happy to take part in this project!” (positive thoughts). Having these thoughts about yourself, you might feel pride or satisfaction (pleasant emotions). This is the pattern: Positive actions → Positive thoughts → Pleasant emotions
And we can continue with all the possible combinations of the triptych: Thoughts – Emotions – Actions! In short, these examples show how thoughts, emotions, and actions are closely linked and influence each other.

*I don’t like to use the terms ‘positive emotions’ or ‘negative emotions’. If you want to know why, you can listen to this episode of the podcast Le Quart d’Heure d’Inspir’Action: Let’s stop talking about negative emotions! 😉

How does this translate into the world of personal development: the computation index
What I described above is represented by an index called the computation index, also known as the awareness index.

It is a concept used in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) that helps to better understand our mode of functioning in a given situation.

The computation index distinguishes three types of processes: the internal process (IP), the internal state (IS), and the external behavior (EB).