Mental Health

The Joy of Movement with Kelly McGonigal: PYP 364

February 3, 2020

Kelly McGonigal is one of my favorite science/personal-development/psychology teachers and writers. And in a testament to her versatility and breadth of interests, her print books are in three different sections of my library: habits and behavioral science (The Willpower Instinct); stress (The Upside of Stress); and exercise/movement (The Joy of Movement, her latest work.) Her audio course, The Science of Self-Compassion, is both a scientific tour de force and a big-hearted hug from a caring friend.

She manages a rare writerly and scholarly trick: to adhere to the evidence while letting her own humanity flow through every page.

Which is just to say, I had to deal with major Fanboy vibes when I connected with her via Skype.

We are Our Own Healers with Benjamin Alter, ND: PYP 342

October 1, 2019

Benjamin Alter, ND, treats his patients as if they actually have the power to heal themselves.

This power introduces a wonderful and frustrating messiness into the scientific pursuit of truth. It’s hard to control for. It’s hard to randomize for. And it’s hard to replicate.

In fact, science has dealt with this messiness by, at best, pretending it doesn’t exist, and at worst, actively denigrating people’s subjective experiences of illness and healing.

In our conversation, Ben and I talk about his definition of health, and how it connects to freedom.

Stephen Porges, PhD, on Safety as the Most Important Thing: PYP 340

September 17, 2019

For my money, Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory has done more to improve our ability to heal and grow and thrive as a civilization than any other scientific breakthrough of the past 50 years.

Its advances over prior understandings of the human nervous system, psychology, and experiences of states like well-being, happiness, and love – are profound. Paradigm-shifting. And, unlike a lot of theory, incredible practical and applicable to our everyday lives.

Learning from Sacred Plants with Amber Antonelli and Anthony Esposito: PYP 338

September 4, 2019

Amber Antonelli and Anthony Esposito run the Awaken Your Soul iboga retreat center in Costa Rica.

Iboga is the name of a plant native to Gabon and neighboring West African countries that acts as a psychedelic, or as Amber and Anthony put it, a “teacher plant.”

“It Turns Out Willpower Doesn’t Exist” with Jud Brewer, MD PhD: PYP 337

August 27, 2019

Jud Brewer is Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, and a second-time guest on Plant Yourself.

I wanted to catch up with Jud to find out how his academic research and public writing had migrated into the world. What is the state of mindfulness-based health improvement? Does he have data on how his approach compares to current best practices, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for smoking and other addictions.

Overcoming Depression with Linda Carney, MD: PYP 329

July 2, 2019

Linda Carney, MD, returns to the podcast to talk about a wholistic approach to treating depression.

It turns out that while adverse childhood events, genetics, and traumatic life circumstances all contribute to the onset and severity of depression, we do have choices and tools and strategies to prevent and recover from this debilitating mental condition.

We can change our thoughts patterns, for example.

And – and this is even easier and more straightforward – we can improve our diets.

The Martial Art of Tech-Proofing with Glenn Murphy: PYP 322

May 14, 2019

Our lives have changed dramatically since 2007, when the first iPhone was introduced.As today’s guest, Glenn Murphy, points out, if we handled any other object over 1000 times a day, we would be considered severely OCD, or addicted, or certainly life-impaired in some way.Yet that’s exactly how many times most of us reach for our smartphones in a typical day.And this behavior pattern is not just weird – it’s damaging to our productivity and mental health.

Banishing Loneliness Through Mindful Acceptance with Emily Lindsay: PYP 316

April 2, 2019

Emily Lindsay, PhD, is lead author of an uber-important scientific paper on how to mitigate loneliness through mindfulness and acceptance training. Lindsay is a research scientist in the Psychology Department at University of Pittsburgh who studies how mind-body practices like mindfulness and meditation affect our physiology and ultimate health outcomes. It’s an important field of study, because negative mental and emotional states can be terrible for our health.

Healing through Hypnosis with Grace Smith: PYP 290

October 2, 2018

When Grace Smith resolved to quit smoking in 2011, she began with the most common approaches: nicotine gum, the patch, going cold turkey (is there a vegan equivalent to that phrase?).

When a single hypnotherapy session led her to quit that same day, she turned from a skeptic into a avid promoter.

How to Engineer an Epic Transformation with Adam Sud, Joseph Alexander, Ken Lander, and Josh LaJaunie: PYP 285

August 28, 2018

I had the great privilege of moderating a panel discussion at Engine 2’s Plant-Stock event, held this year in Black Mountain, NC, over a weekend in August. The topic was, “Transformation and Recovery from Addiction.”

The Joy of Movement with Kelly McGonigal: PYP 364

We are Our Own Healers with Benjamin Alter, ND: PYP 342

Stephen Porges, PhD, on Safety as the Most Important Thing: PYP 340

Learning from Sacred Plants with Amber Antonelli and Anthony Esposito: PYP 338

“It Turns Out Willpower Doesn’t Exist” with Jud Brewer, MD PhD: PYP 337

Overcoming Depression with Linda Carney, MD: PYP 329

The Martial Art of Tech-Proofing with Glenn Murphy: PYP 322

Banishing Loneliness Through Mindful Acceptance with Emily Lindsay: PYP 316

Healing through Hypnosis with Grace Smith: PYP 290

How to Engineer an Epic Transformation with Adam Sud, Joseph Alexander, Ken Lander, and Josh LaJaunie: PYP 285

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