Projekt 180: Psychological Alchemy

“The framework we’re exploring today comes from relationship expert and therapist Terry Real. It’s called The Wounded Child, The Adaptive Child, and The Wise Adult.

What I appreciate about this model is that it helps us understand a fundamental truth. Not every part of us lives in the present. Some parts of us are still carrying old injuries. Some parts of us are still running survival strategies, and some parts of us are capable of responding from wisdom, compassion, and reality.”

“You can deeply desire change and still have no embodied roadmap for how to create it, and honestly, that realization can feel overwhelming, because people often assume that awareness should automatically create transformation. But insight is not the same thing as integration.

“Most people encounter attachment theory through social media, a short video or reel, an attachment styles quiz or a meme. Someone declares they’re anxious, avoidant, or disorganized, and suddenly, attachment style becomes yet another identity to wear.”

“Beneath every reaction, beneath every emotional state, beneath every defensive strategy, the nervous system is constantly assessing safety and danger, and most of this happens outside awareness. Before thought, reasoning, before conscious decision-making, your body responds first, and your mind explains later.”

"So what exactly is the window of tolerance? Imagine a zone where you can remain present, you can think clearly, feel emotions, stay connected, learn, reflect, and respond instead of react. That’s your window of tolerance."

“While bringing a child into the world is often portrayed as one of life’s greatest joys, it’s also a time of transition and can be disruptive to routines, predictability, and normalcy. That’s not indicative that something’s wrong, but rather something profound is happening. A new human is entering the family system, and systems change when new members arrive.” Zach Pennington.

“In my experience, relationships don't dissolve from a lack of desire, and most relationship challenges are not caused by a lack of love. Relationship challenges are caused by disconnection, misunderstanding, unspoken expectations, old wounds, protective strategy, and nervous systems that no longer feel safe with one another.”

Join Projekt 180: Psychological Alchemy for the first offering in the Foundational Practices Series- Meditation: Becoming the Observer.

 “While it's true a meditation practice can absolutely support regulation and healing, I think we've lost something important. Meditation is not fundamentally about escaping discomfort. It's about changing our relationship to the experience itself. It's about how we relate to the experience of suffering or dissatisfaction that is a part of the human experience.” Zach Pennington

Introduction

Welcome back to Project 180, Psychological Alchemy. I'm Zach Pennington, and today we're talking about the nervous system.

Neuroception

More specifically, something called neuroception, which is essentially the body's unconscious process of constantly asking, "Am I safe?"

Long before thought, before logic, before conscious awareness, the body is already responding. Tightening, guarding, mobilizing, and shutting down, and many people are walking through life believing they're broken when their nervous systems are simply trying to protect them.

Have you ever walked into a room and instantly fe...

 Welcome to Psychological Alchemy, the Projekt 180 podcast.

Introduction

This podcast is about transformation, not the polished kind, not the performative kind, the real kind. The kind that happens when life breaks open the stories we've been living inside of. We're going to talk about trauma, meditation, nervous systems, psychology, Buddhism, contemplative practice, attachment, suffering, healing, and what it actually means to wake up inside a human life, not by escaping it, but by turning toward it.

My name is Zach Pennington, and this is Projekt 180. I've been thinking a lot about transformation lately. Re...