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“Brain health”, you say? Yes absolutely. Flor Pedrola, a brain health expert and coach joins us this time on Unstoppable Mindset. As she says in her biography, “I was a recent economist ready to carve out a well thought out and planned future for myself and suddenly, starting in 1989, fate plunged me into worlds totally unknown to me”. First her father was diagnosed with ALS and passed 18 months after receiving his diagnosis.. Then her son was diagnosed with ADHD. As with any analytical person, Flor began studying the brain. As she will explain, she made contacts and found a doctor who was taking a novel physical approach to study the brain. While she still has a day job with a technology company, Flor sometime ago started her own brain health coaching business. As she describes, she has client,s both adults and youth, with whom she works to help them better understand their lives and possibly their brain health situations. As I discover, Flor works with many people simply who feel stressed or out of sorts in some way. She uses her skills to help people better understand their bodies, their brains and how to improve quality of life for both. Flor gives us good ideas of what we all can do to keep a healthy brain active and engaged. I think you will appreciate her sound advice. About the Guest: I was a recent economist ready to carve out a well thought out and planned future for myself and suddenly, starting in 1989, fate plunged me into worlds totally unknown to me. First into neurology and neurodegenerative diseases, and soon after into the world of neurosciences and so-called mental disorders.
All my knowledge, abilities and illusions were of no use in my new reality and I made one of the best decisions of my life: to embark on a long and exciting path of exploration, learning and discoveries about the brain that captivated me.
I want to be able to reach as many people as possible, and to help build a society, a world that, thanks to the great advances in technology, becomes familiar with the brain. Many medical professions have been able to see the organs they were treating for years, such as orthopedic surgeons who, thanks to X-rays, could identify the problem, the breakage, and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Nowadays it is possible to 'see' the brain, to study and understand it much better, and to diagnose much more accurately 'mental' diseases and disorders.
And the best thing is that also thanks to technology and the information it has provided in recent years, it is possible to a large extent to prevent the damage that a brain can suffer, and which is likely to affect for the rest of your life.
And I also wish you fall in love with your brain and understand that taking care of it is a must so it can take care of you. You will not regret it. Ways to connect with Flor: My web: www.brainttitude.com (in spanish for the moment) UDEMY COURSES (in english) Upgrade your focus and attention levels (Upgrade your Focus and Attention Levels – Brainttitude) Neuroscience for parents: a new look on ADHD (Neurosciences for Parents: a new look on ADHD – Brainttitude) LINKEDIN PROFILE: Flor Pedrola | LinkedIn coaching program subscribepage.io/9tXFtN What is your brain type? https://bit.ly/3VKE3Zg About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes:
Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Hi, everyone. I am your host, Mike hingson, and welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset. Oh, I'm talking so well today, unstoppable mindset today, we are going transcontinental again. We're going to be chatting with FlorPedrola, that's my English pronunciation of petrola and flora is in Madrid, Spain. I have been to Madrid, but it's been a long time. Anyway. She has an interesting story to tell. I was reading her biography, and she starts out her biography by saying something to the effect of, I was a recent economist ready to carve out a career, when suddenly, in 1989 fate bunched me into worlds totally unknown to me. Wow. What a way to attract someone's attention, mine specifically, and yours now too, and I am sure that Flor is going to tell us all about that. But first, hi floor, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. Flor Pedrola ** 02:29 Thank you very much, Michael, I am thrilled to be with you, and thank you very much for inviting me to your podcast. I really believe that the work that you are doing is fantastic, and I am accepting this with joy. And really I'm super happy. I just would like to say that even though my English seems to be fluent, sometime I make some mistakes. So I hope that you will excuse me well, we all Michael Hingson ** 03:01 make mistakes. Sometimes we we sometimes let our our tongues get ahead of our words and our brain. So I wouldn't worry about it a bit. You're doing fine. Well, why don't we start with you telling us a little bit if you would, about the early Flor, growing up and so on, if you would where and where you grew up and a little bit about you as a child. That's always kind of fun to start the process. Flor Pedrola ** 03:27 All right, let's go. So my name is Flor pedrola. I was born in Madrid in Spain. My father was Spanish, and my mother is French. I was raised always in the two cultures. And I remember when I was a child asking my mother, but Mom, what is better being French or being Spanish? And she always answered, saying, everything is okay. It's just about being different, but you are lucky enough to have two cultures, and this is going to be fantastic for you. So I am the oldest of three daughters, the two the two that follow me are Paloma and Elena, and we have been living in Madrid all our lives. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 04:26 you stay in one spot, huh? Flor Pedrola ** 04:30 Yes, yes. And that was not my. My initial thought I wanted to go to France and study education. But unfortunately, as I was making some money doing babysitting, I had to travel to Malaga, which is in south of Spain. We went by car, and we had an accident in the car with the car, and one of the children died. So. So that made me so sad, and it really destroyed all the plans that I, that I had. I didn't know what to what to do. So as I was studying in the in at the French school, kind of economics, the beginning of economics, she proposed me to continue and make the career of economics in Madrid, which I did. This is why I am an economist, not just because I wanted to do it, but because it was like, Okay, this could be a nice solution. And I became an economist. Well, I started to work. I started to work in a American company, and I got married and and, yes, life, life made me some surprises. Michael Hingson ** 05:56 How? So what? Kind of surprises? Flor Pedrola ** 06:02 Yeah, as I was mentioning in my biography, I had to be confronted to a world that I was completely unfamiliar with, and this is the world of brain health. Now, Michael Hingson ** 06:20 why did that happen? Flor Pedrola ** 06:24 So the first time I had to know about brain health was in 88 when my father was diagnosed with ALS. This is a Neurotrophic lateral disease, and this is a motor neurone disease, right? I remember attending New congresses about this illness, and I remember doctors saying that there was hope and that some helpful treatments would be discovered in a five years time period. I remember, but my father died 18 months after being correctly diagnosed. So I was wondering, what health is, is this brain disease, and why is this happening, and what is the motor neuron disease, right? So I was kind of surprised, because it was so unknown for me, I decided, with my mom and my sister to create an association that is called Adela, but we did not continue with it after some years, because it was too much suffering. You know, it had been such a painful period that we decided just to create, to put the basis and that, and then let others to continue with it. But in 1995 my second child was born, and in 1998 he was diagnosed by a neurologist as an ADHD child. So for the ones that are not familiar with ADHD, it corresponds to attention deficit and hyperactive disorder. And I remember when we went to visit the doctor, he said that that was a very clear diagnosis, even though my son was only three years old, and while we were leaving the office, he told us, be prepared. And I thought, what again, we come back to Brain matters, right? I am not a doctor. I am not a nurse. I we did not, did not have any family related to this career, you know, and and I had no clue what he was talking about. So my son was at a nursery when he was diagnosed, and then he entered school. And then problems arrived, very annoying problems where he was suffering a lot. He had the behavioral issues, difficult relationships with his friends, and very bad results the teacher when he was six, the teacher told us, you know, your boy is really suffering, maybe you should investigate a little bit more of about what you could do with him. And I had no clue. I really did not have no clue. We did not want to give him any medicine for him to stay quiet in the class, because that was one of the main concerns of the teacher, you know. But at the end, we had to give him some. Um, some retelling so he could concentrate while he was studying, but the side effects were really annoying. He could not sleep, and he was really losing weight, so it has been a tough period, but I really did not know how to help him. But what happened? And, you know, God always put the right people at the right place in the right moment. So I was compacted by a person who was living in Australia, because my job at the company was about leadership. I am an executive coach, so I was relating to executive coaching and facilitation training, mentoring, meaning taking care of the people. So she contacted me because of my leadership competencies, and we decided to explore and see how we could collaborate. She even came to Madrid. She was living in Australia, in Sydney, and I was part, at that time, of different groups. I was mentoring executive woman, and I was part of a book jury also, so I invited her to make her presentation about a very interesting program that was about neuro leadership. And I said, Well, this is very helpful for the leaders and for my actual job, but maybe this could also help my son. So I asked her, What else can I do to learn about this? And she said, why don't you come to Australia? Because we are organizing some courses there, and maybe, if you meet some different people, maybe they can give you some light. So I ended up in Australia. Sometimes I think, why? What the hell? How come I did that? Because that was absolutely not part of my plan. But I went to Australia, I attended her neuro leadership training, and that was the moment where I met people absolutely extraordinary, and one of them was commenting about Doctor Daniel Amen, who is living in the US, and he's a psychiatrist and radiology expert, and he uses spec, spec scans to help deliver accurate the diagnosis to his patients and to find the best customized treatments. So I started to be in very interested in all the work that he was doing, and he also created some, let's say, brain health learning for people that were not in the medical sector, right? So I decided to study with him, and this is how I became a brain health coach and a licensed trainer for not only help my people at the company, but also my son. So 10 years later, here I am coaching people with a neuroscience based approach, and I have now my own program, but maybe we will be talking about this later. This is not the point now. So Michael Hingson ** 13:47 you left being an economist and working in the economic field to become a brain health coach, yeah, and that's what you do, full time, Flor Pedrola ** 14:01 not exactly full time, because I'm still working in the company, and now that many things are changing. Now I am doing more customer support task, even though I still coach some people. But yes, I am developing more and more in my private side everything that is related to coaching and helping people to thrive by being aware about the importance of the brain and taking control of their lives by improving few habits that can help them to be Much more happy. Michael Hingson ** 14:39 So you said you still work for a company. Is that company in economics? Or what company do you work for? It's a technology company. It's a technology company. And what do you do with for them? Flor Pedrola ** 14:53 I have been working with them since 1986 so I have been doing so many things. Things I was I was system engineer, I was in sales, I was in market development, and then I moved to kind of HR. And this is where, since 2008 after taking a manager role, I decided to devote only to helping people thrive within their careers, because I really have a servant leadership mindset. And this is what I love, this is what I enjoy, and it is fantastic to help others Michael Hingson ** 15:40 so you are are working some in the technology field, but you're also now doing a lot more in your own private industry, if you will, dealing with with Brain Health and and I can appreciate that. So what, what do you do these days in terms of brain health? So what do you do on, on, on your your side job, if you will. Flor Pedrola ** 16:11 So first of all, I used all the information that I, that I got from Doctor Amon to help my son, because one of the things that I discovered is that there is no one single type of ADHD, which in Spain 30 years ago, it seemed that nobody knew, right, yeah, and it is so important to Know that there are seven different types of ADHD, and this means that the treatment has to be also different. And for me, that was an eye opening. The other main lesson that I got from Dr Amon is that there is no mental health as such. Mental health does not exist, if you allow me to say um, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, are so much related with the structure of the brain that it is, at least for me, much more interesting to see how the brain functions, and then to discover how this apply to the way we live, right? So based on those two things, what I do now is to offer coaching programs. I have two different programs. One is for young people from 20 to 30 years old when they are finishing their studies at the university and starting their first job. So I can help them to get to know themselves better under a brain perspective, to observe themselves and to discover what are their big let's say capacities or strengths, always based on on brain assessments that that I used to and And then I have another program for adults. This is a program that is already packed five sessions, where first we talk about values, purpose and objectives, and then we do some brain assessments, and then I do the proper coaching, but once we know what is the identity of the person. Michael Hingson ** 18:46 So you're talking about the people you work with are people who have ADHD, Flor Pedrola ** 18:52 not specifically, you know, there are so many weaknesses as we could say under a corporate wording, people with anxiety, with depression, some some people that consider that they are not able to perform the way they wish. And what we see together is what is going on on their brains, if there is something that is missing and we try to develop some new habits that can help them. So I wanted to mention also that the approach that I take is anthropological perspective, because every human being is made out of four dimensions. The first one is the biological let's say the one that we can measure in some way, and it is related to brain health, physical health, the nutrition, the excess. Exercise, sleep, any type of infections that they may have, allergies, injuries, toxins. So sometimes people are not aware of bad habits that they are having, and they that it that is preventing their prefrontal cortex to work optimally. Then we have the psychological dimension, which is related to the self talk, or the self concept that they have about themselves. It's about discovering if they have past emotional trauma, and it is also related to the sense of worth, or the sense of power and control that they might think they have, then we have the social dimension, which is related to the quality of their environment. Is so important to be surrounded by the appropriate people, you know, the friends, the ones that will be cheering you up when you want to continue in your journey. It's about stress. It's about how they leave their work, or even even what happened at school. You know, because sometimes people, they still remember some traumatic experiences in school. And finally, it's the spiritual dimension which is related to the sense of meaning and purpose, and responding to the question, why my life is does matter, right? So this is very important, because, for example, for any people that has some brain disorder like ADHD, it can, it could be very difficult to make the brain to develop as it should at the path that the school is requiring, right because, in fact, ADHD is characterized by some brain areas that are less developed that the average, let's say so those brain areas, they will be developed in the future, but In the school period, it is difficult for the children to follow the instructions as as they are requested. So maybe when you are 12 years old, your brain is eight years old, and when you are 16, you are 14. So it really needs some time to develop because for whatever reason, those neurons or those connections were not created as they should be. So from a four, four dimensions perspective, you see that your child cannot follow the rhythm that is requested, but you can help him so much with the other dimensions, because you can, for example, develop their curiosity. My son is passionate about art, and he used to go by himself when he was very young to the museums. You know, he loved to go to museums. He loved to see things and to make connections of colors, of structures, of movements, of textures. He developed a lot of information that was stored in his brain, even though it not it was not used, let's say, but this information was stored and it has been used later. You know, he can refer to all the things that he was learning, and also regarding the sense of purpose. It's very difficult to talk about the sense of purpose with with young children, but sometimes you can teach them about values, about you know, for example, for me, it's very important to be grateful. And yes, it is. It is key to understand that maybe something in one of your dimensions is not working as it should. And let me put that in brackets, but you can help the person from other dimensions, and this is so relieving for them. Yeah, Michael Hingson ** 24:29 so you said, you've said a number of interesting things here. One thing that I had never known before is that there are seven different kinds of ADHD, yes, did Dr Amen discover that, or did other people discover that? Do you know anything about how that happened, how that was learned, and what they are? Flor Pedrola ** 24:54 Well, Dr Amen uses spec scans. This is a very specific type. Type of scan that are used for the brain. And what these scans measure is the blood flow, meaning he sees in real time if the blood flow is enough or if it is too low or too high. So let me explain the importance of the blood flow is that this is what transports the nutrients for the neurons, right the glucose and the oxygen. So what happens is that if there is not enough blood flow, the neurons are not receiving what they need for work, and they do not function. And each area of the brain has its own, let's say, task to perform. So what he has been able to see is, what are the different areas of the brain, what that can be affected by an ADHD child? And for many other symptoms, you know, it's not only about ADHD. He's a psychiatrist, and he sees a lot of conditions. It's just that I am much more focusing on this, because this is what matters to me. But what he sees, and after doing more than 200,000 sped scans, he has a lot of studies where he can share what he has discovered, and he insists so much on differentiating the type of disorder because each of them requires a different Treatment. Michael Hingson ** 26:37 Yeah. And so because he has done physical scans. And I think that's the interesting part about it, is that that he has taken the approach of truly looking physically at the brain and doing the spectral scans that have been used to make his determination. So that's certainly, I would think a major advance. What so like in the case of your son, he, he's, I assume he scanned your son's brain? No, Flor Pedrola ** 27:11 we could not do it. But okay, as we had so many studies published by Dr Amen, I was able to to study, and I am part of the team of brain health coaches. So we share a lot of information, and anytime that I need something, I just look for it. But yes, I would like to just take what you just mentioned. One of the sentences Dr Raymond used to is that when he discovered the possibility of using technology and doing these spec scans. He said, you know, a traumatologist can see if the bone is broken right, and a cardiologist can see what is happening to the heart, but psychiatrist, we never knew what was happening in the brain, and now we can, yeah, and Michael Hingson ** 27:58 that's why I mentioned that it was a physical situation, because he's doing something that the most people haven't done but but the other question that comes up is, so he does a scan, or let's talk about your son, what then is done as a result of the scan to address The issue? Well, Flor Pedrola ** 28:20 what he does is to make some tests and interviews, and the scan is like giving light to the situation. Michael Hingson ** 28:31 Okay, so by you discover, you discover what kind of ADHD someone has, let's say your son. That's fine. But then, obviously, what you want to do is to mitigate or eliminate it. And how do you do that? Well, Flor Pedrola ** 28:49 basically, basically at the time I knew about Doctor Amon, I started to change his nutrition, for example, because sugar is very, very bad for ADHD children. I mean, it's bad for the population, but for the ADHD children, is really horrible. So it's about lowering excitement, and it's about taking some other type of it's not medicine, but supplements. And those supplements, you can find them anywhere, you know. So, for example, he's taking l theanine and GABA and vitamin b6 and also, in the case of my son, sports were super important. So what he did, and he managed to succeed in his university degree, was that he was waking up very early. He used to go to swim one hour at the university, and then he was attending class. Us, and he didn't need any specific medication for that. And by the time he had exams he took, he used to take one pill of Ritalin, and then he stopped taking it, so he has been using it for the very specific moment that he knew he needed some concentration and being quiet, but since quite a few years, he's not taking any medicine, just sports, good nutrition, sleep and, of course, purpose, self talk and good friends, you know you you have to take care of the four dimensions, not just the biological one. Michael Hingson ** 30:51 Well, the the other question, though, is given what doctor Amon has done in terms of being able to diagnose ADHD and brain health through physical analyzes. Are there other kinds of physical treatments that can be incorporated, or have we not progressed to the point of being able to do this yet? Are there physical kinds of things that can be done to using your description, improve blood flow and so on to those appropriate parts of the brain. Or are we still not really in a position to be able to do that kind of thing? Flor Pedrola ** 31:30 Well, the main, the main tool to increase blood flow is exercise, you know. Michael Hingson ** 31:37 But there's not a a physical kind of thing. We don't know why blood flow to a particular part of the brain necessarily is not what it should be. We haven't analyzed, or we haven't figured that part out yet, or what? Oh yes, Flor Pedrola ** 31:51 there are many things that can they can disturb, let's say brain flow. Brain blood flow. Excuse me, smoking. Michael Hingson ** 32:03 Well, we're talking about like your your son and people who just are diagnosed, even at an early age with ADHD there, there have to be reasons that the blood isn't flowing appropriately to the brain. Physically speaking, right? And so Flor Pedrola ** 32:26 neurotransmitters, yeah, many things, many things. Each is different, and we Michael Hingson ** 32:31 don't yet know how to physically reverse that in the brain. Flor Pedrola ** 32:40 Well, you are asking me something that maybe it is too medical for me. You know, I am okay, do not go. But I can tell you that before the child is born, there are some internal processes within the brain that my condition, the fact that the structure of the brain is not as it should be, right and and this is going to impact all I mean, this is one of the main reasons why there are brain disorders. Michael Hingson ** 33:16 And my point is, though, we don't yet have the technology or the tools, or maybe the knowledge to reverse those processes or those physical situations. I mean, yeah, there are things that we can do, like with drugs and so on, as you talked about, but yes, we don't, we don't physically know yet how to really go in after birth or whatever and reverse those, those situations, is that what I'm hearing, I Flor Pedrola ** 33:47 cannot tell you, because this is, this is not my okay. I am, I am not a medical specialist, you know? But that is a I know that AI is doing incredible things. For example, creating algorithms that are trying to detect some illnesses in the brain of a child before he's born and try to correct that. But I have not heard anything about brain I mean blood flow, but more about other other Yeah, other things, yes, and, Michael Hingson ** 34:29 and. So the the point is that the that this is still a relatively new area, and Dr Amon is clearly a pioneer, if you will, in in that so there's a lot of work to be done, but it's fascinating to hear that he took the leap to say, why don't we understand the brain physically like we understand other parts of the body? And so. He developed the whole scan process to begin that process and go down that road, which I think is exciting, absolutely. Flor Pedrola ** 35:08 And I can tell you that even though I, I think my my clients, they don't have the possibility to do the scans because we are in Spain, or because there is no possibility for them to travel around the world. One of the things through the brain assessments that I offer to them, one of the things that they say is, wow, now I see how my brain functions, and I can understand my behaviors, and I know that the way I behave is not my fault. This is so important, you know, because sometimes we behave in a way that we do not understand, that we do not know why this is happening, and this is because there is a physical interference somewhere in your brain. And once you identify it, and you see that there is this structure, physical structure that is not working, the correspondent behavior is also derailing, right? And I think first of all, my family, for example, when my son was behaving the way he was doing, they used to tell me, Oh, you're not raising your child appropriately. And I was saying, Oh, my God, what can I do? Yeah, but the fact is that this is because they did not see what was happening in the brain. For example, if you see a child with a cast in his leg, you cannot ask him to run right, because you know that he cannot do it. But when there is a brain disorder happening, even though you ask the child to perform some task and he does not, he does not do it, then you will put an etiquette instead of thinking that he's not doing it because he cannot do it. So that was such an eye opening, and I think that doctor Amon has helped so many people, not only the ones that were affected, but also the environment that has to become much more empathetic, right, Michael Hingson ** 37:32 right? Yeah, absolutely, and it's it's interesting to hear about the advances. Let me ask you this, brain health, clearly, is very important, and with the work of people like Dr Amen, it's gone to a whole new level. How do you believe that brain health? How do you believe that brain health and disability or relates to disability in the workplace? Okay, so disability, whether it's a mental or physical or or dumb people, is another story, but that we will worry about that today. But yes, Flor Pedrola ** 38:20 so I would say, from a physical perspective in the workplace, I think companies now are more and more prepared to assist their employees and to help them to perform the best they can. You know, because one thing that is clear, at least from my point of view, is that diversity, diversity is only positive. So I I remember people that were blind, that that used to have first date their talk with them at the office and using a specific keyboard to work. And this is going to evolve, and I think that at some point I hope this will become transparent. You know, it should not be something to discuss people with. I don't know we had also some paralytic people and trisomic people. And no problem, it can, it can happen, and those people are clever, and they can bring a lot of things, and mainly, mainly, I would say, they are much more resilient that the people that didn't did not have to fight so hard to find their place in the work environment. Yeah. So from the psychological perspective or the mental perspective, disabilities can come either because you are, for example, ADHD, but, but, you know, add the HD when you are a child, can be a big problem. But when you are an adult, and if you have been working on it. One of the main characteristics of an ADHD person is that they are super creative. Their imagination is always running all over the places, and again, they can bring so much different perspective in the work environment. And then you can be like, I don't know Asperger, but Asperger, we had so many famous people. You know, Anthony Hopkins is Asperger. I saw it some, some weeks ago. I don't know, Michael Phelps, he was ADHD, and he was a champion with a lot of gold metal, you know? So, yes, it is a difference. And this was so helpful, because I come back to what my mom says, you know, it's not, it's not that French is better than being Spanish, or Spanish being better than being French is just different. And let's, let's work together. Michael Hingson ** 41:34 Yeah, and I think that it like anything else that we deal with is appropriate to discuss and understand, although from an employer and employee relationship, what people should not do is look down on people who are different than they are, and we See that all too often, which is extremely unfortunate, but I think it's important that people really do develop a good understanding of of different people. And as you said, diversity and accommodating difference is a very positive thing. We should do that we should accept that not everyone is exactly the same, and so Flor Pedrola ** 42:26 everybody is unique. Michael Hingson ** 42:29 Everybody is unique. And so it's important that we that we deal with that, and that we recognize that. But so many people don't, and they regard people who are different than they are as less than they are. And that's too bad. And I know that as the world has progressed, as knowledge has progressed, we now hear a whole lot more about ADHD than we did 20, 3040, years ago, and I'm sure that Dr Amon has contributed to that, and people like you are contributing to that, because you help coach. People. Tell me a little bit more about your coaching business and what you do. So when people come to you, who comes to you, and then what do you do? Flor Pedrola ** 43:16 So in the adult area, yeah. Let's stick with that, yeah, mainly my clients are people that are very much stressed. I mean, this is the word they use, okay? They see, they say that I am very stressed. I am losing control of my life. Maybe I am. I see that I am not enjoying what I am doing. I am I have too much anxiety. I cannot sleep properly. And it's like they they lost the their way, you know, in different in different aspects. So what I do is my first session, we talk about, what are the values that they really that attract them, not the ones that they consider they have? Because I think it is much more important to see, okay, you are attracted by by this value, so your heart is connected to this. How can you put it in practice? How can you show them? How you can you develop them? Because we are a single unit, and your heart needs to be connected to the brain too, right, right? Um, so once they know their values, then we discuss about their objectives. And again, I always go to the four dimensions, because I want them to see if there is one of them who might be less developed. Because the main purpose is to be to be balanced. In all areas of your life, because this is the best way to surpass any challenge that you will that you will meet, because everybody has challenges to to work with, right? So once we know the objectives that they have, we try to find the purpose, and this is kind of the first conversation that we have all together. Then in the second session, I discuss with them the results of two tests that I send them. So one is about what type of brain they have, because Dr Amen has made a classification of 16 types of brain. So I send them the link to Dr Amen website. They can, they can do the test they see what is the type of brain and and there are some advices that they can perform to help themselves based in more in the biological aspect. So mainly it's about nutrition and sleep and, you know, physical aspects. And then I also send them another assessment, which is about the brain areas, the prefrontal cortex, the cingulate charis, the basal ganglia and the emotional brain. So once we have the results, we look at them, we discuss about them, we try to see connected with the objectives and the purpose that they declared in the previous session, what can be done and what they have to focus on. And then in the three last sessions, we really tackle to the update the objectives that they declare to have within, let's say, mid term. So normally I ask them to do focus on either one year or 18 months, and we look at what they can do based on their purpose, their objectives, and their brain type and how their brain areas work. And It is incredible how many things they discover about themselves, how they regain control of the things that they want to do, how they gain clarity about what they want to achieve in all the areas of their life, and they are much happier if, if I may say, right? And to my surprise, they because I really thought that five sessions was was okay. But 80% of them, they always ask, okay, can we have another session in three months? You know? It's just like to kind of reconnect with you and see if everything is okay. And what do I need to redirect if I forgot some some of the new habits that they have to take, because the brain is very clever, you know? And as he consumes up to 35% of all the energy that the body intakes. Um, it is not enough for the brain. If the brain could have more energy, he would take it. So instead of having more because the rest of the body is saying, No way we keep the rest what the brain does is to automatize a lot of aspects of our lives. You know, we have 1000s of thoughts during the day, but we don't think about them. We just perform. And many thing should become to the to the awareness level again, so they can, so they can discuss and think about this. This is what I am doing, really, and that this is beneficial for me or not. You know, starting with the food, for example. Michael Hingson ** 49:16 So you have people who come to you who may not physically have any issue like ADHD, but they, they feel there is something wrong, and you, you help them by talking about the brain, and you help them looking into themselves and learn about themselves and hopefully become better As a result. Yes, Flor Pedrola ** 49:40 absolutely, absolutely. I have been doing so many years executive coaching, and I was missing something in my practice, you know. And when I discover this methodology, I was so happy, because for me. But that was the missing point. Michael Hingson ** 50:03 Yeah, what so carrying that on? What kind of habits should people adopt or bring into their lives to be able to keep their brains functioning at peak capacity? Flor Pedrola ** 50:21 Well, now I think that everybody talks about the three main aspects about this, and this is, of course, nutrition, because this is the energy that gets into the body and makes it function, right, not only physically, but also mentally um, sleep is key, absolutely key. Because, you know, while we sleep, the brain is much more active than when we are awake, because it has to store all the memories that you have been creating during the day, and it's also washing itself and recovering the pieces that maybe are not going so well. And anyone can can testify. You know one, if you do not sleep properly when you wake up, you have like a cloud in your head, and you are not able to think as as you should. You cannot be as active or proactive as you would like. So nutrition, sleep, exercise, vanishing all the toxins that you can mold is super bad for the brain. And I think that people already know, you know, in my when I look at Instagram, you have so many people, health coaches, life coaches, all doctors, physicians, functional doctors. Everybody is talking about those three things, but I think that the main, the main, key thing that is needed is the will, because you cannot change. You cannot improve if you don't want to so hopefully people realize that something is not good or is not going as good as they wish or as they planned, and this is why they come to me or to other specialists or other coaches to See what they can improve. But there is no transformation if there is no will for that. Yeah, and there in in the in the brain aspect, one thing that also helped a lot to my son was neurofeedback. I don't know if you have heard about it, it's the they put some stuff in your in your head, and these are like electrical signs that keep the brain awake. So one of the things in ADHD is that some connections are lost, and the person looks at the other screen, and the brain is monetized with with a computer, and they see what are the connections that are not working, so they stimulate them. And we have been doing this for two years, and it helped a lot. And I know that this is not only used neurofeedback is not only used for people having brain disorders, but also for people that are doing sports, you know, and at work too. So it's helping in a lot of disciplines. And another thing that helped so much my son was sophology. Have you heard about it? No, okay, so sophology is like a guided meditation. 54:10 Ah, okay, Flor Pedrola ** 54:14 so the person that was taking care of my son first explored who he was, and then design meditations specifically for him. And that was also amazing. It worked so well, for example, doing visualizations for the exams because my son was terrified by doing exams, and he failed so many times, and he he didn't know how to overcome this problem. And one of my sisters talked to me about a sophologist, and I said, Okay, let's try. You know, we have been trying. So many things, and that worked beautifully. I remember one of the most important exams he had to do before entering at the university was in a building 60 kilometers away from our house, and the sophologist managed to make a visualization for him, and we went to the place he could, he could enter into the building, see the classes. So he got already a lot of information that was taking out anxiety from him. And he passed and he could go to university, I can tell you, he called me by by telephone. I was at the office, and he called me, he said, Mom, I have a future. You know, that was for him, like the big, big pain he could not overcome and fight. Michael Hingson ** 56:00 I assume there are, there are people who face cognitive challenges at at work, or they they discover that they're starting to experience those what are some early preventative measures, very quickly, if you will, that that people can incorporate if they think that they're discovering cognitive issues at work. Flor Pedrola ** 56:23 Okay, I would say that the social environment is very important. Okay. Why do I say that? For example, an HD, ADHD child that is living in the countryside who can run and and make a lot of physical movements and don't doesn't have to be seated quiet. He might go through ADHD in a much more healthy way, if I may say so for adults, for example, when there is something that is not going properly, if, if the if the social environment that you have around is a supportive one, and they can make you aware of of this. This is fantastic. Okay, it's all about first awareness, either by yourself, either by the people who loves you, and then communication, it's important to talk about it. If it is a biological problem, like any brain disorders, there will be the need from the work environment to adapt to it. And and I think that many companies, as we were talking about before, are really conscious about it, and they are doing a lot of investments and effort to include these type of profiles. Michael Hingson ** 57:57 Yeah, let me ask you this, because we're going to have to wrap this up soon. Anyway, if somebody feels they're having some cognitive issues, developing and so on, what kind of message do you have for them? What message do you have for everyone, but especially those who may think that they're facing cognitive kinds of things, I Flor Pedrola ** 58:18 would always look for a functional doctor, meaning a person who does not look only to what you say that is happening to you, because many times there is some other sources, right? So young people. I have some students that I am taking care of. And some of them, they come and say, Oh, I have such a headache, yes, but maybe the headache is because you are not eating properly, or because you did not rest properly, or because, you know, there are many other things that can happen. So for me, it is so important to go to somebody who has a holistic view of yourself, your habits, the way you live, what you do, and then probably they can direct this person to a specialist, you know, but not decided that, because You have this cognitive impairment during one week that something is terribly wrong and that you have to take this specific medicine, I rather prefer to suggest the person to go to, somebody who can have a general view of who you are, and then try to detect where you have to go. Michael Hingson ** 59:40 And I think if I were to add to that, the most important thing that I think people should do and can do is to constantly be aware of themselves, and don't be afraid to if you find that something is different than what you expect, doing something about it. Yeah. Yeah, Flor Pedrola ** 1:00:00 this is what I said, awareness and communication. Yeah. My my grandfather, who was French, he was a veterinarian, and I remember him telling us to all the grandsons and granddaughters, you have to observe yourself. You need to know yourself. You know, observe yourself, always. And yes, awareness, Michael Hingson ** 1:00:24 it's, it's the most important thing that we can do. And there's no excuse to say, I don't have time. Of course you do, because you are still going to be, ultimately your own if you, if you really work at it. Your own best advocate of what's going on with you, and it's important that you really do deal with that and address it. And if it means going to see a doctor or someone else, then do that well. Flor, I want to thank you for being with us today and talking to us about brain health and and your your coaching world, and what you do if people want to reach out to you and learn more and maybe engage your services. How do they do that? Flor Pedrola ** 1:01:12 Well, they can go, I mean, the web page is in Spanish, but they can write to me at info, the at braintitude with two t.com's Michael Hingson ** 1:01:27 spell braintitude Then B, R, A, I, N, yes, Flor Pedrola ** 1:01:30 double, t, e, t, u, d, e, okay. And I have sent you also the brain type test from Doctor Amen, if anyone wants to just enter into the into the in Michael Hingson ** 1:01:45 the show notes, right? Yes, and see Flor Pedrola ** 1:01:47 it, yes, of course. Michael Hingson ** 1:01:50 Well, I hope people will reach out. It's an important topic. It is something that is absolutely worth everyone thinking about. And so I want to thank you for taking the time to help raise awareness about it, and I'm excited by the work of Dr Amen and the work that will continue to come. And as you said, AI is going to make a big difference. AI has helped in so many ways and being used in a very powerful and positive way. So thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening. Love to hear your thoughts. Please shoot me an email. Send an email to Michael H, I m, I C, H, A, E, L, H i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I b, e.com, or go to our podcast page, which is w, w, w, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, Michael hingson is spelled M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, S O n.com/podcast, wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We really value your reviews and your input, so please do that. We would appreciate it a great deal. If you know anyone else who ought to be a guest and floor as well for you, if you know anyone who we ought to have on as a guest to talk about issues, please let us know. Feel free to provide an introduction. We will respond. And we love to hear from people, and we love to to get people on who want to talk about issues that we all should hear about. So thank you all again for listening and Flor I want to once more. Thank you for being here with us today. Flor Pedrola ** 1:03:25 Thank you, Michael. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure to talk to **Michael Hingson ** 1:03:34 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.
