All In on Health

“Self-Brain Surgery® is like ten years of therapy in five minutes.”

🧠 Paid Subscribers: Scroll to the bottom for this week’s video self-brain surgery training. I give you an operation to take this week’s letter into daily practice!

Hey friend,

We talk a lot here about mental health, the difference between the mind and the brain, and how integrating neuroscience and faith can radically transform our lives. But this month, we’re going all in on optimizing our physical health.

The bottom line is that you can’t have an optimally healthy brain if you don’t follow best practices for taking care of the rest of your body. We can’t avoid all the illnesses, diseases, and traumas that happen in our lives, but we can certainly do a lot to help our bodies function as well as possible.

I wouldn’t be a very good brain surgeon if I told my patients that they only needed to work on brain health and they could ignore everything else, would I? In the same way, self-brain surgeons who want their minds and brains to function as well as possible also need to practice being good doctors for their whole bodies.

It turns out that the Bible has said this all along. Our theme verse for August is Romans 12:1 from The Voice translation:

“Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship.”

Notice what Paul is calling you to: offer your body. Not just your spirit or your inner life, your actual physical bodies. That includes your brain, of course, but it also includes your heart, your muscles, your gut, your nervous system, your sleep, your movement, and everything else that makes up the physical you.

Then, just one verse later, Paul shifts to the mind:

Romans 12:2 (The Voice)
”Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.”

This is one of the clearest places in Scripture where we see the beautiful distinction between body and mind. Many well-meaning teachers go straight to verse 2 and talk about renewing the mind and neuroplasticity. But here’s the precise truth: neuroplasticity is a brain process. It’s the brain’s God-designed ability to reorganize and rewire itself based on what we repeatedly think, do, and experience. It is a mechanism of the body, specifically the physical brain, not the mind itself.

The order in Romans 12 matters. We renew our minds (verse 2) so we can properly offer our bodies as living sacrifices (verse 1). Your mind is the real you, the willful, conscious part that is in charge. The brain is the incredible physical interface the mind works through. When your mind is renewed by God’s truth and surrendered to him, it can direct the brain (through neuroplasticity) to help the whole body function better. That’s mind-over-brain in action. That’s self-brain surgery applied to your physical health.

This year for All-In August, we’re going to live this out practically.

We’re keeping it focused and tactical:

• This week: The big picture of why whole-body health matters to God and to your brain, plus your simple starting protocol.

• Brain health: How to give your brain the best possible environment (and why it affects everything else, including mental health).

• Cardiovascular health: The direct heart-brain connection and why caring for your heart is caring for your mind.

• Musculoskeletal and spine health: The surprising power of strength training for brain health, dementia risk, bone density, hormones, and mental well-being.

• Gut health: The enteric nervous system; your “second brain” and third major nervous system and how it influences mood, inflammation, and immunity.

• The mind directing the whole body: Woven through every letter and especially at the end is how Self-Brain Surgery principles turn good intentions into lasting, worshipful change.

Every week you’ll get clear thought biopsies, scripture anchors, and practical operations you can start immediately.

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. You just need to start with intention.

Here’s your simple protocol for this week:

1. Daily Thought Biopsy: Pause once a day and ask, “What story or resistance am I carrying right now about taking care of my body?” Name the lie, then replace it with the truth of Romans 12:1 that your body is invited to be a sacred offering that brings God pleasure.

2. One Daily Surrendered Action: Choose one small, intentional thing each day that honors God with your body. It might be a walk, a better sleep boundary, a more mindful meal, saying no to a comforting numbing behavior, or a few minutes of nervous system regulation. Do it as worship, not as self-improvement.

3. Weekly Review: Once this week, take five minutes to ask yourself, “Where did I see my renewed mind showing up in how I treated my body?” Thank God for the mercy that makes this possible.

That’s it. Three simple, repeatable moves. We’ll build on them as the month goes on.

This isn’t about guilt or trying harder. It’s about responding to God’s mercy with worship, offering him the bodies he gave us, in partnership with the minds he is renewing. And it’s about discovering that the same God who calls us to this also designed our brains with the exact mechanisms we need to answer that call well (see Philippians 2:13).

Even for you. Even now.

If you’re ready to get All In with me this August, hit reply and simply say “I’m All In” or tell me one area where you’re feeling the nudge. I’ll be praying for you and walking through every letter with you.

Share this with a friend who needs this invitation. We’re not doing this alone.

Next week we dive into brain health as the foundation.

In the meantime, realize that living this way is not work, it’s worship.

If this resonates, share it with someone who needs it.

You can get the training you need to master self-brain surgery in my new book. You can go even deeper in The School of Self-Brain Surgery.

The good news is, you can start today.

Be sure to check out the archive of previous posts if you missed last week’s letter.

Dum spiro spero (While I breathe, I hope),

Lee

II Timothy 1:7, “For you were not given a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.”

From the banks of the North Platte river on Moon River Ranch in Nebraska, USA

Disclaimer: This letter is for informational purposes only. It contains general information, drawn from my experience, research, and best practices. It is not health care advice, and is not intended to replace the counsel of your health care provider. Consult your provider before starting any new treatments or making changes to your health routine. This message does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship between us.