Do you know your brain?

She has driven around the world on her own, written two books and has now moved to Ballito to help people build a relationship with their brains. Annette Jahnel originally lived in Cape Town and said she had it all – the shoes, the house and the money – but something was missing.

“I realised I was missing my purpose,” said the tall, model shaped blonde with the vibrant personality who is originally from Germany.

Janhel sold everything, bought a little delivery van dubbed “the wish mobile” and decided to drive around the world in search of her purpose.

“I decided to give this trip one year. I started in Germany and just drove east towards China. On my way, I asked men over 35 to write their wish on the car. You see, as much as women don’t want to know it, men still run the world, so I wanted to know what these men were thinking. Turns out they all wish for the same things as us – peace, love and no hunger.”

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She slept in 169 beds, lived on carrots and Oreos and drove everywhere, alone.

“I stepped out of comfort zones I did not even know were comfort zones. As I went further east, I realised what it feels like to be illiterate looking at the cyrillic alphabet in Bulgaria. Then I got to China and could not even understand the numbers. I remember standing at a till, holding my money out to the teller because I had no idea how much I had to pay. It was so dis-empowering.”

Crossing all these borders and being thrown into a different scenario in every country started doing something interesting to her brain.

“My brain changed, it was a journey of the mind.

“I realised that we have blinkers on our brains and block out what we cannot handle. In countries where I understood nothing, I was a lot more aware, my senses were alert and I took in everything I saw or heard. Back in a country where I understood everything, I felt myself shut out things I did not need or want to know.”

Jahnel threw herself into the topic of the brain and how to connect to it properly. She spoke to neurologists and read studies. Now, she wants to share her knowledge.

“Everything we do starts as a thought in our brains. Understanding how our brain works is the first step to understanding why we think as we do and therefore act as we do. I have learnt exercises to help you control emotions and your life by building that essential relationship with your brain that will help you understand and use it better.”

Take the first step to creating a new relationship with your brain at Jahnel’s first Essential Saturday workshop at the John Platter Wine Cellar, Simbithi Country Club on February 24 from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

Tickets cost R500 per person and R50 will go to Bloom School.

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