Many of us have trouble staying present in the face of difficulties. But if we can learn to notice, to understand what our brain does when we are anxious or stressed when trying to learn new things, we create the ground for creative and innovative ways of working. If we continually forget things or get confused, will we beat ourselves up, or criticize the other, or will we bring curiosity and connection to grow conscious awareness of how the brain is working? We can come to understand what settles and soothes our own system, or support others to understand. We can learn from the latest neuroscience, and from careful observation, what creates the optimal conditions for learning what we choose to learn. For mind, body, spirit and emotions, are all involved in learning, and each can take us away from ourselves, leaving us unavailable to learn, lost in high energy reactions, or numbed out and passive. Either way we need careful conscious awareness to come to a place where the brain can change, and learning is possible.

As an educator, counsellor, or change supporter of any sort, formal or informal, we can support that conscious awareness, creating conditions where the whole being can open to learning. Then startling success can be possible. And when success is not possible right then, then there is no blame, no avoidance, and another attempt can be made later, when what is possible may change utterly, if the conditions externally or internally are different.

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