Hi there! I'm Jen Stover
And WELCOME to the Human Infusion Project.
Therapy and coaching can be so dang expensive these days! And for many, that can be a huge barrier to getting the guidance and support that's they're seeking. And to add to that, if we're working towards sustainable change on a larger scale in any sector, then we can't only focus on the wealthy. We need more people learning how to become more emotionally centered, flexible thinkers and using their core values as guideposts for how they live. So that's the ultimate reason the The Human Infusion Project was born - to counterbalance the rising costs of therapy, coaching and mental wellness support, so we have more people in healthy relationships and effectively supporting unifying social change.
I'm not a scientist, coach or therapist. Someone called me a personal growth strategist one time. But I mostly try to be a mentor and live by example for the perspectives and strategies I share and ask you to consider. My personal mission is use my skills, education and everything I've studied, self-applied and found helpful in the last 27 years to guide people from a wider range of resource levels to strengthen, moderate and integrate their brain and emotional nervous system. That way more of us can experience the benefits of calm, confidence and connection in their lives and relationships.
Through simplified, high-value, low-cost short-courses and presentations, I'm giving more people access to essential information about how their brains and bodies work, as well as what you can do to get them working in your favor.
MY STORY
I've been interested in how humans interact, from both a scientific and psychological perspective, for most of my life. Thanks to my mother, I grew up with a love of people, and a growing interest in science and nature. I was raised on Christian principles but grew distant in my practice as dogma became polarizing and non-inclusive. I also grew up in a household of alcohol addiction and codependency. So at the age of twenty-two, I began my initial deep dive into self-discovery. Over the next thirty years, as my layer-by-layer internal transformation layer, I simultaneously continued to pursue my love of science.
I initially gravitated towards physical science and healthcare. And so completed my advanced degree in Physical Therapy and spent the next twenty years specializing in neuromuscular physiology - studying and applying knowledge of how the brain operates the physical body, to clients suffering from stroke, spinal cord or back injury.
I value servant leadership and enjoyed my practice for many years, guiding clients towards self-empowerment by gaining physical control over their bodies and lives. And over time, I became an expert in my field. But becoming an expert wasn't enough. I found myself losing motivation, chronically tired and not having much left for my personal life or marriage. So, after twenty-two years of practice, I stepped away from the medical field - a result of slowly accumulating burnout, and the adrenal fatigue that comes with unexamined emotional wounds that were still lurking in the corners of my mind.
(my husband and I out exploring in nature - a favorite part of our lifestyle)
WHY THE FUSION of SCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY and SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHY?
I spent the next five years, doing intensive personal growth work, recovering and reshaping myself from the inside, out. And I have worked with some excellent therapists along the way. But I wanted to accelerate my growth, do more and go beyond what I gained in my one-hour, bi-weekly sessions. Fortunately, due to rapid technical advances, the field of neuroscience had also been seeing rapid growth. Scientists now have the ability to see and monitor how the brain operates thought, emotions and their effect on human behavior. The language of 'Possibility' had now become 'Science'. I was fascinated and began to systematically study everything I could in modern brain science, applied psychology, 12-step work, the physiology of emotional trauma, emotional intelligence, modern leadership and even Buddhism.
I was surprised to find parallels between seemingly unrelated topics. And once I understood how my brain-body actually worked, I immediately started putting together a plan to make some comprehensive and integrative changes. I wasn't looking for a complete overhaul - I've got some good stuff up there in the ole' bean. I simply wanted to feel calmer more often, improve the quality of my marriage and reconnect to who I was at heart.
But as I began sifting through all the scientific research and psychological theory associated with personal development, I found much of its description to be overly academic, often too technical, impractical and hard to understand. I also found that although there were many approaches to personal development in the separate fields of applied psychology, practical neuroscience and spiritual philosophy, there was nothing that synthesized the strengths and commonalities that all three of these areas contribute to the human experience. So I returned to self-discovery work, isolated out what was no longer serving my current life and went to work retraining my stress response system and strengthening weakened areas of my brain. But this time, I used comprehensive strategies that I learned from the study of science, psychology AND spiritual philosophy.
(our rescue 'son' Quincy - a source of daily joy in our lives)
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WITH A 'KICK'
Throughout my work, I've also discovered that the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is often deeply misunderstood. EQ is often described as the ability to identify, understand and manage emotions. But that's where many educators, coaches and mindset practitioners fall short. Emotions are essential to whole-brain use and living an integrated and comprehensive human life. In order to do that, not only do we need to identify, understand and manage our emotions, but we need to learn to integrate them WITH our intellect, in order to come up with comprehensive, whole-brain solutions that make the most sustainable impact.
None of us are robots or emotionless Vulcans (for you 'Trekkies' out there). Emotions are not a negative human feature that we need to 'break', tame or 'wrestle with' to control. Emotions need to be skillfully utilized and artfully infused into our intellectual doings and goals. Yes, our baseline emotional response needs to be moderated, differentiated and managed. But managed in a way that our brains don't just turn out technical and financially profitable solutions, but instead operate more as a whole, producing more comprehensive and socially impactful solutions - solutions that not only technically advance our species, but are humane and promote social harmony along the way. This is whole-brain integrated living. And it can be a very powerful experience.
THE HUMAN INFUSION DIFFERENCE
In order to make this essential information more accessible to the general public, I worked for several years to simplify the research and make it more relatable. I don't use high-dollar media and my videos aren't fancy or professional. They're simple, practical and relatable. Like I aim to be. And they represent in part, a shift in a thinking-pattern that the Human Infusion Project wants to encourage - that valuable learning in the field of personal development doesn't need to come only from academic or licensed professionals. We can learn from each other, as well. And it doesn't have to cost you a fortune. So I leave the high-tech stuff to pros. The Human Infusion Project is a grass-roots mission.
So in my presentations, I use stories from my own experience to illustrate how the brain and emotional nervous system is conditioned in childhood and can get stuck in a patterns that stop serving us as adults. My intention is to share what I’ve learned from countless researchers, educators and clinicians across many fields of expertise, in a way that unifies and consolidates their knowledge in practical and functional ways.
And, as a result of the guidance, education and wisdom of many of these brilliant people, I aim to share a series of practical tools and functional methods that I've found to simply and effectively strengthen your whole brain, recenter your emotional nervous system and then use both as a tool to express and amplify our core values. To me, this is the true definition of Emotional Intelligence.
And finally, in these short-courses and presentations, I also share what I'm still learning and using in my own life and marriage right now. I share how we navigate change and new experiences as a couple, how I'm successfully interrupting old patterns and how I'm creating a life that more accurately reflects who I am at my core.
So that's my story. If you are someone who likes to see a resume of achievements and 'doings', go here. Otherwise, please take full advantage of any information on this site or in the online classes that will guide you in learning to regulate your emotional response system, strengthen and integrate your whole brain, improve your relationships and access a new source of drive.
We need more people like you out there! So let's begin by getting your brain and body operating in a state where they can amplify who you really are.
I'm in your corner,
Jen
