Ever wondered why symptoms like pain, anxiety, headaches, or digestive issues seem to flare up when life gets overwhelming? Neuroscience offers a helpful analogy to explain this—your threat bucket.
In neuroscience, the term “threat” is often used to describe what we commonly call stress. But here’s the thing: threats aren’t limited to emotional stress or big life changes. Your nervous system is constantly taking stock of various “threats” in your environment, body, and mind—some obvious, others hidden.
Each of these threats adds water to your metaphorical threat bucket. And when your bucket overflows, that’s when symptoms show up. These symptoms are your body’s way of saying, “I’m under too much pressure, and I need help.”
Here’s a video to summarize this threat bucket concept with 2 practical tips/tools:
What fills up your threat bucket?
In Better Expert, we take a deep dive into all the ways threats can sneak into your life and add water to your bucket. Here are some common examples we explore, along with how we address them:
- Physical Threats: Poor posture, tattoos, dental work, botox, unaddressed injuries, or even the way you move can signal danger to your brain. In Better Expert, we use tools like vision therapy, vagus nerve drills, and proprioceptive exercises to rewire these patterns and help your body feel safe.
- Emotional Threats: Stressful relationships, work pressures, or unresolved trauma can overwhelm your nervous system. Through practices like boundary setting and somatic tools, we empower you to create emotional safety and resilience.
- Nutritional Threats: Undereating, over-restricting, or inconsistent fueling sends stress signals to your brain. We teach you how to fuel your body with my 5 part Neural Nutrition course, in a way that supports brain health and keeps your bucket balanced.
- Environmental Threats: Poor sleep, excessive noise, or overstimulation can overflow your bucket. We guide you in creating an environment both externally and internally that supports rest and regulation.
Better Expert isn’t just about understanding your threat bucket—it’s about giving you the neuroscience-based tools to manage it effectively.
When your threat bucket overflows, your nervous system shifts into survival mode.
Why Symptoms are helpful tools:
It can feel like your body is reacting to everything at once, even when you can’t pinpoint why. These symptoms aren’t random; they’re your body’s way of signaling that it’s under stress. Here’s how it might show up:
- Pain: Persistent or seemingly random backaches, joint pain, or tension headaches that don’t seem to go away.
- Anxiety: Racing thoughts that come out of nowhere, constant restlessness, or feeling easily irritated with little provocation.
- Digestive Issues: Bloating, constipation, or stomachaches that persist despite your best efforts to eat well and take care of yourself.
- Fatigue: A constant feeling of being drained, even after a full night’s sleep, as if your body never gets the rest it needs.
In Better Expert, you’ll learn how to manage your threat bucket effectively with neuroscience-backed tools, like vision therapy and vagus nerve drills to address the root causes of pain and empower you to feel confident in how to reduce stress, alleviate symptoms, and feel more in control of your body and health.
While you can’t eliminate every threat, you can find ways to reduce what’s in your bucket and strengthen your nervous system’s capacity to handle stress. Inside of Better Expert, we focus on equipping your nervous system with the capacity to adapt, so you can navigate challenges without overflowing your bucket.
Here are a few strategies to get started:
- Identify and address big stressors: Reflect on your relationships, work-life balance, or physical health to uncover what’s taking up the most space in your bucket.
- Adding in nervous system practices: Breathwork, walking, vision therapy, yoga, or that can help regulate your nervous system (inside of Better Expert, we teach you over 60 brain-based drills to help you empty your threat bucket).
- Prioritize sleep: Rest is your body’s reset button—it allows your nervous system to recover.
- Move thoughtfully: Exercise is a great tool for stress relief, but too much or the wrong kind can add to the bucket. Finding the right balance is something many of the students inside of Better Expert learn within the program.
- Eat to nourish your body: Focus on whole, anti-inflammatory foods that support your gut and brain health.
Take a moment to download the threat bucket worksheet, where you’ll be guided through prompts to help you reflect on what your biggest threats may be in your life right now and what one small change you can make to lighten your load.
