What does it actually mean to be you?

This month, we’re delving into Being You: A New Science of Consciousness by neuroscientist Anil Seth — a fascinating exploration of consciousness and how our brains create our experience of ourselves and the world around us.

The book explores some pretty big questions: How does the brain create conscious experience? Why don’t we all experience the world in exactly the same way? And what actually creates that familiar feeling of being you?

One of the central ideas is that our brains don’t simply record reality as it happens. They’re constantly interpreting sensory information, making predictions and constructing our experience of the world — while our bodies also play a much bigger role in consciousness than we might realise.

Over the month of October, we’ll be sharing some of our favourite ideas from the book and exploring the science behind perception, the body, consciousness and our sense of self.

Have you ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went in there?

This month’s Book of the Month is “Why We Remember” by Dr Charan Ranganath – a really fascinating read about how memory actually works, and how much of it is shaped by attention, context, and meaning.

What stood out to me most is the idea that memory isn’t a fixed record of the past. It’s something we’re constantly reconstructing, influenced by what we notice, what feels significant, and even how we feel in the present.

It made me reflect on how often we judge ourselves for forgetting things… without considering just how much information our brains are trying to process every day.

There’s something quite reassuring in understanding that memory isn’t about getting everything “right”, but about how we make sense of our experiences over time.

Have you ever noticed your memories feeling different to how you first experienced them?

Have you ever had a feeling about something… before you could explain why? Maybe it was to avoid a certain situation, or to not go ahead with a decision?

This month’s Book of the Month is The Signs by Dr Tara Swart – a fascinating exploration of intuition, attention, and the ways our brain and body are constantly gathering and interpreting information.

What I found most interesting is how she reframes intuition. Not as something vague or mystical, but as something grounded in neuroscience, shaped by experience, patterns, and what we choose to pay attention to.

It made me reflect on how often we override those quieter signals, especially when life feels busy or overwhelming.

There’s something powerful about remembering that not all information comes through conscious thought.

Have you ever noticed your intuition trying to guide you, even subtly?

Have you ever wondered why, in a world of more choice, more comfort, and more access than ever before… so many of us feel more restless?

This month’s Book of the Month is Dopamine Nation by Dr Anna Lembke – a fascinating exploration of how pain and pleasure share the same circuitry in the brain.

Lembke explains how we’re living in an age of unprecedented dopamine stimulation. Constant reward, novelty, and intensity, and how that very abundance can tip us into imbalance.

What struck me most is how she links individual craving to something much bigger: culture, scarcity mindset, and the environments we live in.

It’s not just about addiction.
It’s about how modern life shapes our nervous systems.

Have you read it, or noticed this in your own life?

A gentle, evidence-based exploration of how forgiveness isn’t just a moral or emotional choice but a physiological one too.

Luskin looks at what happens in the body and brain when we hold on to blame, resentment, and grievance… and what begins to shift when we don’t.

What struck me most is how forgiveness here isn’t framed as excusing, forgetting, or reconciling but as reclaiming peace from experiences that would otherwise continue to live inside the system.

It’s less about what others deserve…
and more about what your nervous system needs.

Have you ever thought about forgiveness in this way before?

Have you ever noticed how pain seems to take over your whole world, even when doctors can’t find a clear cause?

This month’s Book of the Month is “Back in Control” by Dr David Hanscom.

As a spine surgeon, Hanscom spent years treating patients with complex pain, until he faced his own. What he discovered was transformative – that chronic pain isn’t just about damaged tissue or nerves, but about the patterns our brains learn in response to threat, fear, and stress.

He shares how unprocessed emotions, anxiety, and past trauma can keep the nervous system in a constant state of alarm, amplifying pain long after an injury has healed.

What stood out most to me is how hope-filled his message is – that through calming the nervous system through better self-care, expressing emotions especially those we suppress, and re-framing thoughts, we can actually retrain the brain to turn the volume down on pain.