It’s called the Reptilian Brain because reptiles have brains that only have these functions. This part of our brain is like the life support system - it keeps our body alive and makes sure our organs are working.
Research tells us that when we’re really angry we’re reacting from this part of the brain – have you ever thought after something has happened “Why did I do/say that?” or not remembered doing/saying something?

This is the part of our brain that makes us similar to other mammals. This part is where we experience our emotions, memories, habits, and attachments. We experience our “gut feeling” here too.
Fight and flight modes happen when we’re using this part of our brain and we operate on auto pilot. This means we have rigid reactions to events, because we’re not able to think things through and make choices about how we respond.
In this part of our brain we’re able to practise and use coping strategies to deal with our emotional responses to events. Practising being aware of how we feel keeps us operating in this part of our brain and quietens our Reptilian Brain responses.

This part controls our seeing, hearing, talking, and thinking. It is where we can sort things, organise, use logic, and rationalise to make decisions and solve problems. All of the things that make us human.
Recognising, opening and calming our emotions helps us to keep the neo-cortex part of our brain active. We can control the way we think - it will take information, learning and practice when we’re in the neo-cortex part of our brain so that it can become easier to do. Becoming more mindful means we’re able to stay online in this part of our brain even when things aren’t going so well in the moment.