Hi Reader,

Thank you for registering for "The Brain Economy - Building brain-positive habits, leadership, and environments in the Age of AI".

A tremendous thank you to Maria and Kristaps for their insights, expertise and practices to carry forward!

Below you'll find a link to watch the full recording, along with ways to connect with Maria and Kristaps.

What is the brain economy?

As AI takes over routine work, your brain becomes your most valuable asset, and your biggest risk if you don't protect it. Governments and global bodies (the UN, WHO, G20) are now treating "brain capital" as an economic priority. The takeaway for you: protecting how people think, focus, and create isn't a wellness perk anymore. It's a performance and business imperative.

A few key takeaways we covered:

1. Activity isn't productivity. People under chronic stress still show up and respond fast, but often run at 60–70% capacity. Busy doesn't mean effective. If a weekend off doesn't reset you, watch for drops in focus, memory, stamina, and creativity, plus a shorter fuse.
2. Stress shuts off your thinking brain. When the brain's threat center fires, the prefrontal cortex checks out, and you usually don't notice it happening. The vagus nerve is bi-directional, so slow, deliberate breaths signal to your amygdala that there's no threat.
3. Your breath is the fastest reset. Belly breaths, through the nose, with a long exhale. It signals safety to your nervous system in seconds, even mid-meeting. Mechanics: 2-minute for deep belly-breathing, not shallow in the chest. Watch back for more practices.
4. Emotional debt: resilience without release is a trap. We're great at pushing through, but rarely intentional about releasing what we carry. A five-minute pause to name what you're actually feeling slows the stress response and hands you back control. Don't let emotional debt pile up.
5. Your environment shapes your biology and beliefs, and AI is turning up the pressure. The three levers aren't separate. A stressful environment keeps triggering the threat response (biology), which feeds the stories we tell ourselves (beliefs), which makes the environment feel more threatening still. AI accelerates the whole loop: faster pace, more output, fewer resets. unBurnt's research with the CHB at Bentley shows the cost: visible productivity stays high while innovation capacity quietly erodes.

Thank you again for registering, and if you had the opportunity to tune in live, we hope it left with you with a few helpful takeaways.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Warmly,

Alison

WATCH ON DEMAND

Connect with the Panel

Maria Engström-Eriksson — An engineer turned psychologist, Maria has coached 1,000+ leaders on performing under pressure without risking their health. Founder of Matheva AB and creator of the Brain Athlete approach, Maria is the author of two books and has spent over a decade helping high performers get more out of themselves without sacrificing their health or relationships. Her premise: the gap between knowing what would help and actually doing it isn't a willpower problem, it's a brain problem.
​LinkedIn | website ​

Kristaps Kazaks — By 20, Kristaps was working in the English Premier League. By 25, he was the youngest person at FIFA. But despite the success, he found himself closer to burnout than fulfillment, and that frustration led him to certifications in breathwork, somatic work, and coaching. In the session, he shared how he stress-tested his own method in real time: delivering the FIFA World Cup 2026 from a place of internal ease rather than the overwhelm that defined 2022.
​LinkedIn | website ​

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