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PYP 148: Marc Schoen, PhD, on Surviving Our Survival Instinct and Defeating Bad Habits

marc-schoenTrue confession: I usually multitask while I eat, despite telling other people not to. I read, I Facebook, I talk on the phone, I create presentations, and so on. I rationalize it very well: I'm busy, I can still chew slowly (note to self: “BS!”), and this is the last time.

And luckily, I tell myself, it's no big deal.

Marc Schoen, PhD, assistant clinical professor at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine, disagrees. And after reading his absolutely amazingly important and helpful book, Your Survival Instinct is Killing You, he's convinced me.

[powerpress]

A pioneer in mind-body medicine (he researched and developed an “innocuous” breathing technique because he wasn't allowed to bring hypnosis into the hospital when he started practicing in the 1980s), Dr Schoen has spent his life exploring stress, pressure, performance, and maladaptive habits.

And what he's shared in his book, and with me in today's podcast interview, is really important.

Because it shows what we're missing when we rely solely on cognitive or environmental approaches to changing our bad habits.

Essentially, he argues, we have become victims of our own survival instincts – the “fight or flight” response that allowed our ancestors to become instantly aroused by danger and respond to it effectively – combined with a modern lifestyle in which even the possibility of discomfort is interpreted as an enemy spear slicing through the air in our direction.

In other words, good luck talking sense to your overeating self when it interprets hunger as an immediate threat to existence. You can keep all this stuff out of your pantry, but when the alarms go off and your life is about to end, you'll do just about anything to get a hit of donut or pizza or burger.

The short answer is to become comfortable with discomfort. That's why, in my experience, the people who shift to a healthy plant-based diet and stick with it for years are the same people who take up ultra-running or CrossFit or start a business or put themselves in the face of ever increasing challenge and discomfort.

It's not just the calories you burn training for a 50k. It's the tolerance for discomfort that you cultivate that will allow you to resist temptation when you can't avoid it.

And that's why my multitasking during meals is so dangerous. Every time I do it, I'm reinforcing the fact that I can't even handle the discomfort of being understimulated. And that's why I'm never ever going to do it again!

In our conversation, we covered:

  • the definition and function of the survival instinct
  • the “COZY paradox” (the more comfortable we try to make ourselves, the worse we feel)
  • how discomfort triggers the survival instinct, and why modern life is such a mismatch to our hard wiring
  • why cognitive approaches to behavior change often can't take us the last mile
  • the function of “benign masochism”
  • the tyranny of the microwave – how it all began
  • the rainbow metaphor of fear
  • the power of being vulnerable in relationship
  • the fascinating function of the insular cortex of the brain
  • why the “shhh” sound is so calming
  • a short and simple breathing technique that can de-stress us in 45 seconds
  • and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Your Survival Instinct is Killing You, by Marc Schoen, PhD

MarcSchoen.com

Stressproofing Retreat, led by my martial arts instructor and science writer Glenn Murphy, based partly on Dr Schoen's work (last couple of days to register)

Glenn Murphy and I (mostly Glenn) talk about stress on the Bregman Leadership Podcast

Email for a free audio of the Schoen Breath Technique:

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Gratitudes

Big thanks to Plant Yourself Podcast Patrons Kim Harrison, Lynn McLellan, Anthony Dissen, Amy Good, Elizabeth Clifton, Dominic Marro, and Brittany Porter. And to my tech guru, Amnon Nissan who spent half an hour talking me through some audio issues.

Announcements

Check out my online TV show, Triangle Be Well. This week I answer questions from listeners, some of whom wonder about protein requirements and building washboard abs.

I can help you navigate the medical system and adopt a healthy lifestyle

I'm available for one-on-one consulting and coaching to help you navigate the medical system, make informed decisions, take control of your health destiny, and achieve true wellness and not just medical management of disease.

Ask your questions or share your feedback

Comment on the show notes for this episode (below)
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Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive amazon gift certificates from your actions on such links.

Dr Howie Jacobson

This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).

My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.

Here are three gigs that I do:

1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation

I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high  performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.

At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.

My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.

2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance

I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.

We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.

The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.

3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams

I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.

So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.

You CAN Change Other People!

Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.

What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.

Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.

 

Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

Gratitudes

Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

Disclosure

This post may contain amazon affiliate links. I may receive compensation from your actions on such links. It don't cost you a dime, tho.

2 comments on “PYP 148: Marc Schoen, PhD, on Surviving Our Survival Instinct and Defeating Bad Habits

  1. Thank You says:

    Another great and informative podcast. Keep up the great job Howard!

    1. Thank You says:

      And Thank You 🙂

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