Allecia Verheire

Artist, Brainstormer, Designer, Environmentalist

I'm a life-long learner and designer seeking the mysteries of the Earth Experience.

Neurogenesis, and you should be too. When our process of creating new neurons from the hippocampus is inhibited, our mental health can fail. That sounds dire but it's not: I reccomend Sandrine Thurets talk "You Can Grow New Brain Cells Heres How" (https://www.ted.com/talks/sandrine_thuret_you_can_grow_new_brain_cells_here_s_how) as an introductory point to the complex world of our brains response to trauma, and how we can help. Don't have time for a whole talk? Here's what I do to keep my brain growing: Eat Your Berries (raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries especially. I grow bushes of them on my tiny patio because I'm that passionate about it. Evidence points to Lionsmane mushrooms supporting brain health too.), And Exercise ( Sandrine talks about low-impact nature walks having a notable impact and being an easy activity for all ages. Evidence also points to resistance training being great for your mental health, so go with your pace.) Hope this nudge puts you on the brain-train too!

is understanding the relationship between the changing climate and our behavior. As the planet warms up, so do our tempers; how do we keep the planet and our mental health cool at the same time?

I grew up on a generational farm with less than dial-up (do you remember those fax machine sounds when you tried to use the landline?), and so I was a library feind. As a teenager struggling to find my place in the world, a mentor gifted me 'The Element' by Sir Ken Robinson, and told me about his TEDtalks, and I was changed. Having TEDtalks as a resource has fundamentally shaped how I grew from then on, and how I inform my world now. I am incredibly lucky to have joined the TED Team and support the community that supported me in such an important way!

Scholarly Discourse writing!