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

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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 »

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

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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 »

Rediscovering Radical Wholeness with Philip Shepherd: PYP 326

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Philip Shepherd is the author of Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Presence and the Ordinary Grace of Being.  I was introduced to Philip's work by my friend and teacher Mark Leuchten. About 12 pages into Radical Wholeness, I felt my entire worldview shift. Some of the cultural blinders that had blocked my understanding of wholeness were revealed, and I began to understand where I was in conflict with myself, and why, and what I could start to do to harmonize myself. I needed to know more. Read more »

How to Really Change Habits with Kevin Davis: PYP 320

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Kevin Davis is a WellStart Health “Supercoach,” and co-leader of the WellStart Health Coach Training Academy.Today we talk about his story, from being the “fat kid” in high school, to getting into bodybuilding and embracing extreme keto, to a traumatic car crash that led to years of agoraphobia, to his plant-based journey and healing of anxiety.With that as background, we cover the WellStart Health Attainment Model, the pyramid infographic that serves as a roadmap of change.If you’re a coach, or are trying to change your own habits, this will be a valuable model to help you diagnose and overcome obstacles. Read more »

Andrew Taylor on Taking Radical Steps to Breaking a Food Addiction: PYP 307

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Andrew “Spudfit” Taylor was tired of being out of shape, obese, and sick. An olympic hopeful in his teens, he had let his fitness and health slip away as his commitment to kayaking waned but his addictions to food persisted. His depression, largely fueled by the thought that he was far away from the person he wanted to be, always kept him returning to the trough for another supersized hit of vegan junk food. His relevation - and the spark of his transformational year of eating nothing but potatoes - was that he was treating food like an alcoholic treats booze. And so he would have to quit food. Read more »

Harnessing Positive Emotions to Defeat Bad Habits with David DeSteno: PYP 292

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Why do 92% of New Years' Resolutions fail, one year on? Why has the current cultural obsession with grit and willpower failed to move the needle on our behaviors? And why do long-time Buddhist monks demonstrate more self-control than the rest of us? Today's guest, David DeSteno, PhD, has been studying these and related issues for a long time. David is a psychology superstar, and I was amazed when he agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to chat. He's a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, where he directs the Social Emotions Group. Read more »

Becoming a Brave Athlete with Simon Marshall and Lesley Paterson: PYP 262

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Lesley Paterson, the "Scottish Rocket," is a three-time world champion in off-road triathlon, an Ironman triathlon champ, a professional mountain biker, an athletic coach, and a world-class slinger of profanity. Simon Marshall, her husband, is a sport and exercise psychologist at San Diego State, performance psychologist for BMC Racing, and a self-described "mid-pack endurance athlete." Together, Lesley and Simon comprise Braveheart Coaching, a service that gets athletes performing to their potential in spite of the "3-pound lump of crazy" that lives in their cranium. Read more »