DL Ep. 17: Trauma, Memory, and the Brain's Capacity to Change

REMINDER: Live Q&A with Richie and Cort TODAY at 7pm ET on Substack.Why do certain memories feel like they still live in our bodies years after they happened? And why do some difficult experiences become turning points for growth while others leave us feeling stuck?In this episode, we explore the neuroscience of trauma and the contemplative tools that help us reshape old emotional patterns. A central part of our discussion is the role of plasticity in both trauma and healing:“Trauma wouldn’t happen if there wasn’t plasticity. The same quality that allows experience to wound us also allows us to heal.”We look at how emotional memories are encoded in the brain, why they can resurface with such force, and how memory reconsolidation creates a natural opening for change each time a memory returns. We also share a powerful experience from a recent meditation retreat, where a long buried emotional imprint surfaced and released through simple, spacious awareness.Again and again, we come back to one insight:Our emotional past is not fixed.Each time we remember an experience, the mind updates it. The state of our mind and body in that moment influences how it is stored again.Meditation helps create the conditions for this shift. A calm and open nervous system changes how old patterns settle in the body. Presence and care make the difference between a memory that stays tight and one that begins to loosen.In this episode we explore:* Why trauma exists on a spectrum and why we are more resilient than we often believe* How emotional memories form and how sensation, context, and meaning become linked* The science of reconsolidation and why remembering a memory makes it editable* How meditation supports emotional release and re-patterning* What happens in the hippocampus and amygdala during emotional release* Simple practices that help us reset between activities or at the end of a day* How offering ourselves the same caring presence we offer others can shift deep patternsA final takeaway:Reconsolidation shows that nothing in our emotional history is final. Each encounter with the past becomes a chance to update it. When a memory returns in a calmer mind, it settles differently.Warmly, Cort + RichieChapter List00:00 Why memories change every time we recall them 01:21 Opening greetings & Center for Healthy Minds 02:34 Introducing today’s topic: trauma & old baggage 03:00 How neuroscience defines trauma 04:03 Trauma, neuroplasticity, and brain change 05:40 Trauma as a spectrum, not a binary 07:44 Innate resilience and basic goodness 09:11 When difficult experiences become patterns 10:55 PTSD vs. post-traumatic growth 11:52 Personal stories of challenge and insight 12:58 Why some adversity overwhelms us — and some transforms us 13:32 Growth mindset & the belief that change is possible 15:33 Why we get “stuck” with old emotional residue 16:07 Cort’s retreat experience: when old pain resurfaces 17:20 Open awareness and effortless presence 18:00 Memories, emotion, and bodily release 19:08 What’s happening in the brain during emotional release 20:06 Consolidation vs. reconsolidation 22:03 The hippocampus and encoding emotional experience 23:53 Retrieval, reconsolidation, and the chance to reshape memory 25:36 Why memory is always an interpretation 27:08 Re-encoding old memories in a calm body 28:40 How meditation creates a new emotional context 29:38 Care + presence: the healing alchemy 30:52 Can reconsolidation be disrupted entirely? 32:22 What animal research shows about memory deletion 33:00 Emotional memory without emotional charge 34:06 How meditation alters hippocampus–amygdala pathways 36:00 Updating anxiety and old narratives through practice 37:05 Practical tools: daily resets 38:30 Micro-pauses between activities 39:33 Mealtime gratitude as nervous system reset 40:53 Finding small spaces for awareness in busy lives 41:33 Shifting from “doing” to “being” 42:00 Final reflections & gratitude This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dharmalabco.substack.com/subscribe

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