Rewiring the Brain for Healing, Resilience, and Healthspan

What trauma, thoughts, and daily habits have to do with brain health

One of the great joys of hosting the Re-Think Aging podcast is getting to speak with people who are deeply committed to helping others heal, grow, and flourish. In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Ruth Mary Allan, PhD — a certified brain health professional, trainer, havening practitioner, high-performance coach, and founder of the Wellbeing Warrior Academy.

Ruth’s work is centered on helping people “boost their brain power and performance by overcoming trauma and unchaining themselves from past pain.” I loved this conversation because it brought together so many themes I care deeply about: brain health, emotional resilience, neuroplasticity, trauma healing, and the practical daily choices that shape our healthspan.

What struck me most is how hopeful this message is. No matter what you have walked through, your brain is not fixed in stone. There is tremendous potential for healing, growth, and change.

A painful story transformed into purpose

Ruth’s own story is powerful.

Before entering the brain health space, she was working in the corporate world as a management consultant. In the midst of striving for professional advancement, she experienced a traumatic miscarriage. Shortly afterward, she was placed on an unexpected performance review and told she had “no emotional intelligence.”

As she shared, this sent her spiraling. She described feeling like “a biological failure” after the miscarriage and then “an emotional failure” after the criticism she received at work. She began having deeply depressive and suicidal thoughts and realized she needed help that went far beyond surface-level performance coaching.

What followed was a turning point. Ruth began pursuing high-performance coaching, discovered Dr. Daniel Amen’s work, left the toxic workplace environment she was in, and started rebuilding her life from the inside out.

She eventually realized something so important: she had spent years paying little attention to her brain health. Looking back, there had been warning signs. But it was not until everything came tumbling down that she began to understand just how deeply our thoughts, emotions, habits, and environment affect the brain.

That journey became the foundation of her mission.

The five pillars of brain health

One of the most practical and memorable parts of our conversation was Ruth’s framework for what she calls the five pillars of brain health. She uses the mnemonic FACTS:

Feelings
Actions
Connections
Thoughts
Surroundings

I love frameworks that are both simple and profound, and this one truly is.

As Ruth explained, when she was struggling, no one was helping her “look at the facts.” No one was acknowledging her grief. No one was helping her explore the actions that were harming rather than helping her. No one was addressing the toxic surroundings she was living and working in. And she certainly was not yet equipped to manage the thoughts and emotions running beneath the surface.

What makes this framework so useful is that it helps people begin to understand themselves in a grounded, accessible way. Ruth said it beautifully:

“When you look at all of those five pillars and you start peeling back the onion layers, you can really easily as an individual start to take back control because then you start to truly understand yourself.”

That is such an important point. So many people feel overwhelmed by their symptoms, stress, or emotional patterns. But often, healing begins when we slow down and become curious about what is really going on.

Feelings are signals

Ruth emphasized something I deeply appreciate: emotions are not random. They are signals.

When someone is spiraling with impostor syndrome, catastrophizing, or anxious thinking, Ruth begins by helping them identify what they are doing and then asks, “How does that make you feel?”

From there, she helps them explore what emotions are surfacing and whether those emotions are helping or hurting.

She explained that emotions are signals moving us toward something or away from something. But in order to become aware of them, we have to pause.

“It takes about 10 seconds to turn on our prefrontal cortex. So in order to connect with our emotions in a logical way, we have to pause, stop, and reflect.”

That is such a practical invitation.

Pause.
Stop.
Reflect.

So often, we live on autopilot. But when we become aware of our emotions and curious about what lies beneath them, we begin to understand our inner “operating system,” as Ruth described it.

She also made the insightful point that many of these patterns go back to early life experiences. In her words, we need to understand “what software has been programmed on our computer” and whether that software is still serving us.

I think that language is incredibly helpful. It reminds us that some of our patterns may have developed for a reason, but that does not mean they are still serving our health or our future.

Havening: a fascinating tool for trauma and emotional regulation

Another highlight of our conversation was Ruth’s explanation of havening, a psychosensory technique designed to help calm the brain and reduce the emotional charge associated with stressful or traumatic experiences.

Ruth discovered havening after another painful life event — the sudden death of her father, which she witnessed firsthand. Nearly a year later, she was still crying daily and struggling deeply. After just one havening session, she said her distress dropped from a seven out of ten to a two out of ten.

That experience was so profound that she knew she had to study it further.

She described havening this way:

“Havening is a psychosensory technique that uses the power of human touch to generate calming delta waves in your mind.”

I found this explanation fascinating because it highlights something so deeply human: touch can be regulating, calming, and healing. Ruth connected this to what we instinctively do with babies — holding them, stroking their face, comforting them when they are distressed.

She explained that havening can be used in non-trauma situations for stress regulation, but she also made an important distinction: complex trauma should not be self-processed alone. For deeper trauma work, it is wise to work with a trained practitioner.

That nuance matters.

Still, what I loved about this part of the conversation was the reminder that our bodies and brains are designed with mechanisms for calming and healing. The nervous system is not our enemy. It is something we can learn to understand and support.

Brain health is not just about mindset

As much as I loved Ruth’s emotional and neuroplasticity framework, I also appreciated that she did not reduce brain health to mindset alone.

When I asked her what some of the most overlooked brain health factors are, she immediately pointed to biomarkers and nutritional deficiencies.

This resonated strongly with me because it aligns with so much of the work we do in functional medicine.

Ruth spoke about the clinical impact of deficiencies such as vitamin B12, omega-3 insufficiency, and broader nutrient depletion in our modern food system. She also highlighted the role of sugar and alcohol, both of which can fuel inflammation and negatively affect the brain.

She said something important: many symptoms people experience — including anxiety, depression, palpitations, and brain-related concerns — may have biological contributors that are too often overlooked.

I wholeheartedly agree.

This is why testing matters. It is why I routinely look at nutrient levels, omega-3 status, vitamin D, magnesium, B12, folate, and other root-cause factors in my patients. We cannot protect the brain well if we ignore the biological terrain that supports it.

The modern world is shaping our brains

Ruth also raised concerns about our environment, especially the way modern life is affecting brain health.

She talked about device overuse, shifting food quality, and the growing exposure to electromagnetic frequencies. Whether we are talking about screens, Wi-Fi, processed foods, or chronic overload, the broader message is this: the brain does not exist in isolation.

Our surroundings matter.

That fits beautifully with Ruth’s FACTS framework. “Surroundings” is not just about physical space. It includes culture, stress load, relational dynamics, environmental inputs, and the everyday ecosystem in which we live.

If we want to age well, we have to think more broadly about what our brains are being exposed to and what they are being deprived of.

Simple ways Ruth lives this out at home

I always love asking guests how they personally live out what they teach, and Ruth’s answers were refreshingly practical.

She shared that she turns off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at night, avoids TVs in bedrooms, minimizes screen time for her daughter, has turned 5G off on her phone, and uses havening to help regulate stress and support sleep.

Nutritionally, she focuses on a strong foundation: multivitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, omega-3s, probiotics, and limiting gluten, dairy, and sugar based on what she has learned works best for her and her family.

I especially loved hearing how intentional she is with educating her daughter. Rather than simply imposing rules, she teaches her why something is or is not good for the brain. That is such a beautiful model of empowered parenting.

As Ruth said:

“We can empower our kids to make informed decisions by leading and role modeling the way.”

That is true for our children, and it is true for ourselves as well.

Where to begin if you feel overwhelmed

One of my favorite parts of the conversation came near the end, when I asked Ruth what advice she would give someone who feels overwhelmed by all the “checkboxes” of healthy living.

Her answer was excellent:

“Aim low.”

What she meant was this: do not try to change everything at once.

Pick one thing. Do one thing well. Be consistent.

She encouraged listeners to make one simple change — perhaps giving up caffeine, removing one unhealthy habit, or choosing one small daily action that is easy enough to sustain. Then celebrate that success and build from there.

I love this because it honors the reality of behavior change.

Ruth explained that we stay with habits more easily when we form an emotional attachment to the positive outcome. In other words, it is not just about discipline. It is about connection. When we begin to feel the benefit of a healthier action, and emotionally register that benefit, the brain becomes more motivated to repeat it.

That is where real momentum begins.

A hopeful reminder

This episode was such a beautiful reminder that the brain is dynamic, responsive, and deeply connected to every part of our lives — our emotions, our habits, our trauma history, our nutrition, our environment, and our relationships.

Healing is not always simple. But it is possible.

Awareness matters. Small steps matter. The body matters. The brain matters. And the way we care for ourselves day by day truly shapes the road ahead.

Listen to the full episode

You can listen to the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ncUsdZAfc 

To learn more about Dr. Ruth Mary Allan, visit ruthmaryallan.com or thriveby85.com.

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