How to Stop Reacting and Discover Peace and Joy Right Now

Most of us don’t consciously choose our reactions—we get swept up by old programming and stress. This article shares a simple process taught and facilitated by Dr. Lorne Brown in his clinical practice that helps patients shift from reactivity into presence so they can experience more peace, joy, and calm in daily life. Dr. Brown also explores this process with experts from around the world on the Conscious Fertility Podcast, where he highlights practical tools and wisdom for creating calm, resilience, and transformation.

Dr. Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, said that between stimulus and response lies our greatest freedom: the ability to choose. Inspired by his insight, this principle can be seen as the heart of transformation—because when we transform, we don’t just change our reactions, we open the door to more peace, joy, and calm in our lives.

But here’s the truth: when something happens, it’s not that we consciously weigh two options. Instead, one of two things unfolds:

• We unconsciously, habitually react from old programming, or

• We consciously choose to respond from presence.

If it were a real choice, most people would consciously respond. But in reality, what happens first is almost always unconscious, habitual reactivity. It’s lightning fast—like a superhighway—shaped by subconscious beliefs and patterns. We filter the world through this programming, so our reactions feel automatic and inevitable.

We Are Meaning-Makers

Most of these reactions aren’t truly “ours.” They come from layers of past experiences—our upbringing, culture, even family patterns passed down through generations. All of this gets imprinted in the nervous system and shows up as automatic responses.

So when something happens, the situation itself is neutral. But the subconscious immediately gives it to us—and here’s the key—we are meaning makers. We don’t experience the event as neutral; we instantly give it meaning. And the meaning we give it isn’t objective—it’s filtered through the lens of our subconscious programming, our old beliefs, our conditioning.

That’s why two people can face the same event and experience it completely differently. The situation is the same, but the meaning each gives it is unique. And it’s usually this meaning—not the event itself—that triggers fight-or-flight, survival mode, or emotional reactivity.

How to Interrupt the Story and Stop Reacting in the Moment

This is where NAC (Notice, Accept, Choose Again) becomes transformative. Taught and facilitated by Dr. Lorne Brown, NAC is a process designed to help patients stay present, interrupt unconscious reactivity, and consciously create new patterns.

• Notice: This is the first and also important step. When patients notice they’ve been triggered or swept into an old story, they’ve made the unconscious conscious. In that moment, they begin the process of becoming present. Simply noticing starts to bring awareness back and creates the opening for the next step—acceptance.

• Accept: This is where the real work begins. In his clinical practice, both in person and remotely, Dr. Brown facilitates energy psychology sessions that provide patients with tools and practices to support this step. Acceptance requires both intention and skill. Patients know when they’re not accepting because they feel it in the body: tension, stress, or what Chinese medicine calls qi stagnation. But when true acceptance occurs, resistance drops, and flow and receptivity return. Many patients notice a visceral change—a sense of expansion in the chest, relief, or freedom.

• Choose Again: From this grounded state, patients can consciously choose a new response. With practice, these choices begin to reshape subconscious programming and beliefs.

Rewiring Your Defaults

Practicing NAC regularly helps rewire the nervous system. Old, unhelpful patterns fade, while new, consciously chosen ones become the natural default.

Here’s the beautiful paradox:

• Our first unconscious reactions were never really chosen; they were imprinted.

• But through NAC, patients can create new unconscious patterns—ones aligned with who they truly want to be.

And this is what patients often report when they put NAC into practice: certain events that used to trigger strong reactions no longer activate the body. Intellectually, they may still dislike the event, but they are no longer thrown into an emotional or somatic response. The body stays calm; the mind remains present. This allows them to remain whole-brained and resourced, so they can consciously choose how to respond. That’s how you know the old program has been fully rewired and a new program laid down—when the trigger itself no longer triggers.

So if we’re going to go on autopilot (and we all do), why not let it be into patterns consciously created?

That is the freedom Frankl pointed to: the power to choose our response. And it’s the intention of NAC: a practice to help patients stay present, metabolize stress, and live with more peace, joy, and flow.

If you’d like to experience the NAC (Notice, Accept, Choose Again) process directly, Dr. Lorne Brown offers energy psychology sessions both in person at Acubalance and remotely online. These sessions give patients practical tools to interrupt old patterns, release reactivity, and create space for greater peace, joy, and resilience in daily life. To learn more or to book a session, contact Acubalance today.

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