How to Have a Good (and Healthy) Day with Caroline Webb: PYP 344

Posted by

Caroline Webb is the author of the wonderfully entertaining and useful How to Have a Good Day, which is basically a cookbook of how to be an effective human in the world. She is an executive coach, economist, and speaker, and the book comes out of her extensive knowledge of behavioral science and its application in the real world. How to Have a Good Day has influenced my own health coaching so much, I wanted to talk with Caroline specifically about applying her tools and "recipes" to the challenges around improving diet and lifestyle. Read more »

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

Posted by

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. Read more »

Normalizing Plant-Based Eating with Gwyn Whittaker: PYP 341

Posted by

Gwyn Whittaker is a change-maker, and for the past several years she's deployed her considerable "get-it-done" skills to the plant-based movement. Whittaker is CEO of Greenfare Cafe in Herndon, Virginia, which is the only 100% whole-food, plant-based (WFPB), organic restaurant either of us has ever heard of. (If you know of one, please let me know in the comments section so I can give it a shout-out!) Read more »

stephen-porges

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

Posted by

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. Read more »

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

Posted by

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.  Read more »