Comfort Zones

In this episode of Just Call Jenna, Jenna explores the truth behind comfort zones and why what feels safe isn’t always what helps us grow. Our brains are wired to favor predictability, creating familiar patterns and routines that conserve energy and protect us from uncertainty. But when we begin asking for something new—through prayer, intention, or personal growth—we’re often required to step beyond those familiar patterns. That discomfort isn’t necessarily a warning sign; sometimes it’s simply the nervous system encountering something it hasn’t learned to recognize as safe yet.

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Jenna connects neuroscience with spirituality to show how peace can exist even in the middle of change. Through repetition, mindfulness, meditation, gratitude, and small acts of courage, we can teach the brain that unfamiliar doesn’t mean dangerous. Growth doesn’t require one giant leap—it happens through hundreds of small choices that gradually expand our comfort zone. The episode challenges listeners to stop waiting for certainty, trust that peace can travel with them, and take one brave step toward the life they’ve been asking for.

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Welcome back. Today I'm going to talk about comfort zones. Now, one of the questions I always ask myself is, is this the brain's safe place or my soul's prison? Your comfort zone was designed to keep you alive, not designed to help you thrive. Comfortable feels predictable, that's what your brain loves. But to thrive, we need to push outside of our comfort zones and learn and grow to become the future us.

“Your comfort zone was designed to keep you alive, not designed to help you thrive.”

Your brain is a prediction machine. The more it can predict, the less energy it uses. to be efficient and needs to be adopted. So what does that really mean? The brain wants you to do things over and over again. It's less energy for the brain. Your brain uses about 20% of your body's total energy. So the less energy it has to use to do tasks or complete your life to go about its day and run all the processes that it does. It needs to make shortcuts, neural pathway shortcuts That helps it run more efficiently to conserve energy to devote to other tasks.

It's weird to think about, but your brain is processing everything your body has to do: breathing, digesting. All these things that feel automatic that it has to do. That's all part of your brain doing its job. But it also has to think. So not just problem solve, but tell my hand to move, tell my eyes to blink. Tell my food to digest, all of these things. So it's doing a lot and the faster it can do things, the more efficient The less energy it has to use to do things, the more it can devote to other tasks. And it is designed to be super efficient.

So I think if you understand that It allows you to understand that it wants you to stay in your comfort zone. It doesn't want you to learn anything new. Essentially, to keep you safe. Stay here, do what's predictable over and over and over again. So I think thinking about that, you have to understand that your subconscious is processing millions of pieces of information and your conscious energy can only process a fraction of that. So to conserve energy, your brain loves a routine. It wants things to be routine and predictable.

Routines will build neural pathways based on repetition or neuroplasticity. That's how you're gonna learn new habits or repeat, repeat, repeat. The more you repeat a thought, a emotion, a behavior, the stronger that pathway will become. I love something that Joe Dispenza says when he talks about like a sled on a snow covered hill. If you take a sled down a snow covered hill, fresh snow, there is no pathway. The sled goes down fresh power and it makes a path. Well, the fastest way to go down the hill becomes that pathway every time. until it's worn out that there's no other pathway to go.

Your brain is much like that. If you think about the pathway, there is no pathway, but you walk it, you make it And after you walk that pathway a hundred times, suddenly it's the only pathway that's visible. The familiar becomes effortless, even if the familiar pattern includes stress or anxiety instead of joy and peace. You have to think about that and take a little accountability. Am I living the life I want to? If not, what am I repeating? What is my comfort zone that I'm staying stuck in?

“The familiar becomes effortless, even if the familiar pattern includes stress or anxiety instead of joy and peace.”

Yes, there's a little bit of accountability. You gotta push through that a little bit, but your brain says, I know this is safe. Not because it's good or bad for you, but because it's predictable and repeatable. Whether that's survival Or whether that's joy and peace and growth, your brain will allow you and feel safer in your nervous system to repeat things, whether that be survival or thrival, that part is your accountability.

Your comfort zone may feel peaceful to you. You might think it is. But true peace actually doesn't come from staying where you're at because it's comfortable. It's about going somewhere new, allowing you to step into future you, becoming someone who Peace actually comes from knowing that wherever life leads you, you can take that calm with you. Your brain can learn it. Your heart already knows it. Your soul knows that it wants to grow, but your brain wants you to stay where you're at. So use a little bit of faith. Step a little bit into that. But Understand that your brain can learn.

“Peace actually comes from knowing that wherever life leads you, you can take that calm with you.”

90% of what you think tomorrow will be what you're thinking today. So start changing your thoughts now so your tomorrow's can be better. And By next week you'll start to see the difference. But I think we live in this society where we expect everything to be now, now, now. Well, I said the mantra, I did the affirmation, I meditated today and went to yoga. Why isn't my life changing? Well, did you step outside of your comfort zone? Did it become sustainable? Or did it do something you did one time?

Now, congratulations on doing it one time, but going to yoga six months ago or Going to a yoga class just so you can hang out with your friends and not really enjoy the peace and the breathing that goes along with it? Are you really stepping out of your comfort zone? Or are you letting that become predictable? The life you're praying for actually begins with. With one brave step outside of your comfort zone.

“With one brave step outside of your comfort zone.”

So like that yoga class, okay, you're showing up, putting on your clothes, driving to your class, and showing up For that. Okay, maybe the step you take today is when you're laying down in Shivasana, you're just gonna breathe and let your mind wander. But take that one baby step outside of your comfort zone and start thinking about how you can grow. Your brain is going to predict what is going to happen next.

My comfort zone now is way bigger than it was before the life and death experience But I had to learn to recover that and understand that I can handle what comes my way. And I learned a lot. And that's the point of me having this podcast. and helping you all because I want you to enjoy a peaceful life and a calm life and a life that you want to live without having to survive death Right? Stroke. Zero stars, do not recommend. Please don't do it. I do not recommend that you go that route.

I would rather that you just listen weekly and start to figure out where you can plant the little seeds and take the baby steps outside of your comfort zone to step into future you. Where do you want to be in three to five years? I mean think back three to five years ago. That you probably never even dreamed of the life that you're living now. Now if your life is exactly the same as it was three to five years ago Time to definitely stretch your comfort zone.

But again, your brain is going to want to stay in a safe place. And I always ask myself, is this my brain's safe place or my soul's prison because I don't want to get stuck. I think naturally we want to keep expanding, keep growing, keep getting better. And you have to take some accountability for that. But stretching your comfort zone is so highly important to that.

“And I always ask myself, is this my brain's safe place or my soul's prison because I don't want to get stuck.”

Remember, your brain is designed to keep you safe by predicting. So make that comfort zone bigger. Let your brain take on new things and let that settle in and become comfortable. And then you can stretch to the next step but don't try to go from a to z maybe just how do I get from a to b and then let me hold a and b for a good amount of time now I can add c and before you know it z is gonna get here But trying to go from A to Z all the time, that's exhausting work and your brain's not gonna like that at all.

The spiritual twist is that the spirit doesn't operate from predictability. So while the brain does, your spirit or your soul doesn't. When we pray or meditate, We ask the universe for something. We're asking for growth. Growth almost always feels uncomfortable. They're called growing pains for a reason. I think it's, you know, like a leap of Faith or maybe you gotta walk by faith or a little delulu to believe in something outside of yourself.

Faith is not certainty, which is what the brain wants. It wants predictability so your brain and your soul or your brain and your heart they're not in alignment that way because faith is not certainty it's about taking a Step before you see the path clearly. I did that with this podcast, y'all. I had no rhyme or reason why this came together. I just took a little Step of faith.

“Faith is not certainty, which is what the brain wants.”

Back earlier this year, 2025, when I started thinking about this, I was like, okay, let me come up with a game plan of what I'm gonna do. Had no rhyme or reason. This was a leap of faith. It's still a leap of faith to show up every week, put this thing together and put it out there to help all of you. That's kind of the point. It took a leap of faith. I had to believe this was going to be successful when I had absolutely no reason.

Now, thank you all for the success. and listening, sharing, liking, subscribing, all of those things help a girl out, so I really appreciate it. It usually feels terrifying when you take a leap of faith It usually does. It's terrifying to the nervous system. Your brain cannot predict. It doesn't know what to do.

But your soul talks differently than your brain. Your brain is efficient How do I repeat and keep you safe? But your soul says to go and your brain says, stay where you're at. This is what happens in the comfort zone or the status quo. Neither thing is right or wrong. It's simply trying to accomplish. Different goals like your brain and your heart, right? Your comfort zone versus your growth. Neither thing is wrong. They're just trying to accomplish different goals They have a different goal outcome that they're trying to achieve.

Your brain prefers you to stay safe and predictable. Your soul wants to grow and become a bigger, badder version of you. Now, one is trying to protect your past and rationalize. The other is fighting you into a future that you prefer. What does future you do?

“Peace is not the absence of change.”

Peace is not the absence of change. It's just It's not. It's understanding that you're gonna be okay. Many people I talk to believe that peace come from the status quo or staying where you're at. Neuroscience actually shows something completely different.

As you repeat, practice calming your nervous system through breathing, meditation, gratitude journaling, mindfulness, however you want to do that, you strengthen the actual neural pathways and connections in your brains associated With emotional regulation. This is peace. So you practice it. You don't just have it. It is actually something that you practice and become better at. You start making those pathways and becoming someone who. Peace is actually a learned state. It's not something we find Externally outside of ourselves.

“Peace is actually a learned state.”

It's not running off to a retreat, which I love and I've done a few, but I think it's learning that that's not outside ourselves. It's something that we train our brains to return to That's neuroplasticity at work. It's making those pathways become your comfort zone. One of the things that I learned when I was learning how to journal, um which I'm still not great at because I can't write well, but One of the things they say is when you get stuck in journaling or like a writer's block, if you're sitting at a table, like say you're sitting at the dinner table, you're sitting in this chair. Just move to this chair.

You literally switch everything in your brain by seeing something different and sitting in a different position. So I went through that when I was doing a writing exercise where I got stuck sitting in one chair and I took the advice and just moved to the other. seat and it was a miracle how everything just flowed back out. It was like I moved the chair and that block I had was just gone So I think that that's what I mean by it's a learned state. You have to understand where you're comfortable and be willing to change one small thing.

Changing the seat at the table was a lot less risky than getting up and going to a whole different place in the house. So I'm not saying make huge changes, but you have to take some accountability to be willing to change something. If nothing changes then nothing changes. If you don't like where you're at in life, this might be a heavy season, but if you start making some moves to stretch your comfort zone And practice it the next season of your life, you can thrive more because you've grown that comfort zone.

“If nothing changes then nothing changes.”

You are able to do more then than you are now. And you do that by practicing this skill Not because someday you're just gonna wake up and be good at it. Some people do that and don't compare yourself to them. You are in a season that you're in now. But you know what you're comfortable with and what you're uncomfortable with. Be willing to push that boundary just a little bit. So as the season changes You can become a better version of you in the next one.

Again, think about where you were five, ten years ago. That you probably couldn't even dream of the life you're living now. So imagine you in five to ten years. You're gonna look back and go, hey, me now, you today, can't even dream of what future you is gonna feel like. But to be in the most peaceful, best place, why not set yourself up for success? Just push the boundary a little bit.

Sit in a different chair. Drive a different route to work. Practice doing things that stretch your comfort zone Get comfortable with it. I'm not saying go out there and all of a sudden jump off a bridge. I grew up in a generation where, you know, oh my friend did this. Well, if your friend jumped off a bridge, would you too? I'm not saying go jump off the bridge But driving a different route to work, getting up on the different side of the bed, brushing your teeth with a different hand, these are all things that you can manage They're gonna feel uncomfortable.

Your brain doesn't know the difference really between that and jumping off a bridge. It still wants to predict what's safe, but get comfortable doing things a little bit differently. You will stretch your comfort zones and find yourself in the future being the best version of you you can be. Again, peace is a learned skill. Start teaching it now so that you don't wake up because In five years, five years is coming whether you like it or not. Do you want to look back in five years and be exactly where you're at today? Or do you want to be further down that path? You gotta start doing something about that today Or you will be where you are. Again, if nothing changes, nothing changes.

Every moment that you're choosing, calm over panic, curiosity over fear. or love over judgment. You are rewiring your brain. You're stretching your comfort zone. One of my favorite reminders in my life is that peace is not found in perfection. I grew up trying to think everything had to be perfect and I had to control everything. and make it perfect.

“Peace is not found in perfection.”

Peace is not found in perfection. It's found when we stop resisting what is. There's a little bit of radical acceptance that you just have to accept things are the way they are, whether you like them or not. Your brain is gonna not like anything that's not predictable. You wanted X and you got Y. Your brain's gonna hate that But peace is not found in the perfection or getting what we want.

Your surrender is not giving up, it's letting go of the illusion that we can control every outcome Sometimes you just have to accept I'm okay with the fact that I've done the best I can do and the outcome's gonna be what it is. That's kind of peace, right? It's not the perfection. It's I did the best I could do and maybe that wasn't perfect. Maybe there was a way to improve it. And I'm gonna learn so that if I ever come up with this again, I know what to do and I'm prepared to predict what's gonna happen next.

“Your surrender is not giving up, it's letting go of the illusion that we can control every outcome”

But surrender is not about resisting what is. It's not about, hey, I don't like this, so I'm gonna change it. Sure, if you can do that, I recommend it. But I think it's about just accepting it may not be perfect and I've done the best I can do and I'm okay with that. Even if If I would like the outcome to be different, I am willing to surrender that I've done the best I can do, and that's that.

Spirituality actually meets us where control ends. That's one of I think the biggest illusions in faith. So it it's often where your miracles begin. So like that surrender or that acceptance, it's often meaning where your control ends I mean, I'm not a control freak, but you're doing it, Ron. I think that that's something to think about. Like I'm a massive control freak. It's very hard for me to let go.

Everybody's got different things that we're good and bad at. But me not controlling everything and releasing control and surrendering to I've done the best I can do and I accept that, that's extremely hard. I used to be so controlling I needed to control how this was Done, how the dishes were done, how the laundry was folded, it was exhausting. Probably part of what led to my stress poisoning. But I think understanding that spirituality meets you where your control ends that radical acceptance or that surrender that I've done the best I can do and I'm willing to accept.

“Comfort zones don't disappear overnight. They just don't, but they do expand over time.”

Comfort zones don't disappear overnight. They just don't, but they do expand over time. So again, thinking about where you're at now and where you want to be. To have that dream or that goal that you have, you're going to have to stretch your comfort zone and take some accountability of that. How are you gonna do that?

Every courageous conversation, every healthy boundary you set, every application for a dream job you might submit, every single Every single walk you take, every meditation you complete, every affirmation you say, you're teaching your brain that I survived this uncomfortable thing. So that's how you're going to expand your comfort zone by those little baby steps to just stretch it. Don't go beyond your means. Sure, if you can and you want to stretch that far, great.

But it is actually truly more important that you sustain what you're stretching your comfort zone to do than just Taking a big leap of faith one day and never doing anything again. It's more about what you repeat over time that is going to teach your brain you're safe. That's how you're going to train yourself on that skill of peace Your nervous system will learn by each one of those baby steps, this isn't dangerous. And what seemed impossible becomes normal to you. And that's how transformation happens in your life.

Sure, if a leap of faith is great, a big leap You know, one giant step for mankind. Great. By all means. If you're the kind of person who can do that and sustain it, highly recommend it. For me, it was easier to teach my brain little by little It's often not that giant leap. And while that does happen, outliers happen. It's usually hundreds of tiny moments in the boring, mundane, day-to-day life That stretch everything.

So let me give you a simple practice. What if you just ask yourself three questions today? Just ask yourself these. Do it in the shower, do it driving or work, wherever you can ask yourself. Where am I choosing familiar over fulfilling? What am I choosing that's easy and repeatable versus what I would dream to do? Ask yourself that. Where am I choosing familiar over fulfilling?

What is one small action I can take that my future self would be? grateful for? What is something I can do today that me in five to ten years will thank me for? Can I trust that peace travels with me instead of waiting for that outcome? Can I trust that I have it now versus waiting for it external?

You can take one small step, not 10. I mean, sure, if you want to take 10 every day and you're that adventurous, by all means, but just take one small step outside of your comfort zone If all you do is ask yourself those three questions in the shower, I'm proud of you. That's a big thing you can do today for future you. And that's super simple.

Just ask yourself, where am I choosing familiar over fulfilling? What is one small action that I can take today that my future self would thank me for? And can I trust That peace travels with me instead of waiting for it to come. Can I trust that I have it now? If all you do is ask yourself those three questions in the shower on your commute to work, I'm proud of you. That's one small step you can take today to stretch your comfort zone.

Thanks for joining me today. Remember, karma's real, energy is contagious. Check your vibes.

I now have my workbook available for purchase on my website. Justcalljenna.online .

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