Dr. Ilene Naomi Rusk

10/17/2026

I’m in Colorado and the harvest is so wonderful. I feel the bounty that mother earth gives us and I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. Today was a very peaceful day at the farmers market and I’m sharing some of my peace with you, along with a nourishing, brain and mental healthy recipe.

10/16/2026

I bolted ⚡️⚡️out of bed at one in the morning because I couldn’t sleep thinking that my tomato 🍅 plants might freeze. It’s going down to 32°F in Boulder, Colorado for a few hours tonight and even though we’ve covered all my plants with a tarp, I wouldn’t have slept thinking that they might 🥶 freeze. .
I put a lot of love into growing them, so I’m putting a lot of love into saving them!! in terms of my Brain Health, I may not have as much slow wave delta sleep tonight but it’s worth it .

10/11/2026

is a fabulous and welcoming conference. So happy I got to share my talk on the importance of feeling safe for trauma recovery + brain + mental health. Spending time with a group of clinicians + researchers dedicated to preventing and treating neurologic and psychiatric illness using deep, caring and integrative approaches is the best!! Join us next year, if you missed it this year. #

09/19/2026

They called this thoughtful online conference “from stagnation to vitality” but I realized that stagnation is when we don’t move because our nervous system says “it’s too much” or we simply can’t because of fear, fatigue or a whole slew of other things! So…. I called my talk from “rest to vitality”, honouring the cycles of the nervous system and how periods of rest can really be invigorating and allow us then to have seasons of vitality and then continue the cycle from rest to vim and vigor. That nervous system flexibility allows us more choice to move into, and out of, play and stillness. Register for this Summit! Link to follow!

09/05/2026

Tonight I paddle-boarded into the sunset with a dear friend and colleague, and it felt like such a beautiful counterpoint to what I had been speaking about earlier today with a group in Germany.
Our nervous systems are asked to process an extraordinary amount of information. Sensory information, conversations, decisions, screens, worries, responsibilities, the emotional states of the people around us. Our brains are constantly deciding: What matters? What can I ignore? What should I pay attention to? What can wait?
And sometimes we fall into the habit of trying to respond to all of it (I raise my hand)
But a healthy nervous system isn’t one that is endlessly available!
I want to be able to mobilize when life asks something of me and then genuinely disengage, recover, and restore.
Rest is not stagnation. Rest is an active part of resilience.
Tonight, there was nowhere else to get to except closer and closer to beauty. Just the rhythm of the paddle, the gentle water underneath us, the changing light, conversation and quiet, and the wonderful ease of being with my buddy.
Nervous system health is not another thing that needs to be worked on.
Sometimes it is allowing ourselves, for a little while, to stop working…And paddle into the sunset. 🌅

08/30/2026

When I was a teenager in Montreal, taking a pilgrimage “Out West” meant travelling to Alberta, British Columbia, but especially to Banff. I didn’t do it then, but I’m doing it now, and these holy Canadian Rockies are going to be calling me back! My nervous system is so at home here. I’m here for a wonderful friend’s wedding, so the warm familiar faces coupled with the magical lakes and mountains make it a superb delayed pilgrimage.

08/12/2026

A reminder for my colleagues and community that I’ll be speaking at the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health (IMMH) Conference 2026, October 8–11 in San Diego.

I’m especially looking forward to being part of a remarkable lineup of clinicians and researchers, including Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. Jill Carnahan, Dr. Eboni Cornish, Dr. Emeran Mayer, Dr. Dale Bredesen, Dr. James Greenblatt, Dr. Nasha Winters, and more than 50 leaders in integrative medicine and mental health.

If you’ve been considering attending, now is a good time to register. I’m pleased to offer my community an exclusive discount with my conference code.

Use code ILENEIP100 to register to get a discount on registration.

I hope to see you in San Diego this October. It promises to be an exceptional few days of learning, connection, and new thinking around brain health and mental wellness.

08/07/2026

Self-applied touch can be a powerful tool for nervous system regulation and self-soothing.

In this brief Havening exercise, we use gentle, self-applied touch as a way to support a sense of safety and calm. Havening is a set of psychosensory exercises developed by Dr. Stanley Rudin that may help us work with stress and emotional responses.

Why does this matter for the brain?

Our emotional state and cognitive function are deeply connected. When we’re highly anxious or overwhelmed, our attention can become narrowed, making it harder to think clearly, focus, or access flexible problem-solving.

On the other end of the spectrum, states of low mood, collapse, or shutdown can also affect cognition, including processing speed, attention, and cognitive flexibility.

This is why developing greater emotional flexibility can be an important part of supporting cognitive flexibility.

Practices that help us notice, regulate, and shift our nervous system state aren’t just about feeling calmer. They can also create the conditions for our brains to think, adapt, and respond with greater flexibility.

Try the exercise and let me know in the comments what you experience. 🧠

08/04/2026

Your nervous system is constantly asking one important question:

"Am I safe?"

When stress, anxiety, or overwhelm take over, your brain can become so focused on potential threats that it loses touch with what's happening in the present moment.

One of the simplest ways to help calm your vagus nerve is through orienting.

By slowly looking around the room and intentionally noticing everyday objects, you send your brain new information: There is no immediate danger here. This gentle practice helps shift your nervous system from protection toward regulation and supports greater feelings of calm and connection.

It's a small exercise, but when practiced regularly, it can become a powerful tool for improving nervous system resilience.

Try it the next time you notice yourself feeling activated, and let me know how it feels in the comments.

08/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JygqEtmqg/

I'm pleased to share that I'll be speaking at the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health (IMMH) Conference 2026, taking place 8–11 October in San Diego, and I'd like to invite you to join me.

My session introduces a new framework for understanding how the brain and body move between states of protection, adaptation and repair.

We'll explore how chronic stress, trauma and inflammation influence brain health, emotional regulation and cognitive function, and how evidence-based, personalised interventions can help restore resilience by creating the conditions for healing.

Drawing on advances in neuroscience, lifestyle medicine and trauma recovery, this session offers practical insights into promoting brain health, supporting nervous system regulation and helping to prevent cognitive decline.

I'll be joined by Dr Robert Lustig, Dr Jill Carnahan, Dr Eboni Cornish, Dr Emeran Mayer, Dr Dale Bredesen, Dr James Greenblatt, Dr Nasha Winters and more than 50 leading researchers, clinicians and practitioners from across the field.

As part of my community, I'm pleased to offer you an exclusive discount if you register for the conference.

To find out more, please call my office or visit our website at ilenenaomirusk.com.