Untangle, The Podcast From Meditation Studio

Dr. Ellen Hendriksen is a clinical psychologist whose focus is on helping millions of people calm their anxiety so they can be their authentic selves. She serves on the faculty at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and is the author of the book we discuss today, How to Be Yourself: Quiet the Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety. In this episode, we talk about the fear of being judged or rejected, and how to manage our somewhat distorted (and often annoying) thoughts. We’ve heard this before…your thoughts are NOT always true. Ellen talks about many ways to quiet the inner chatter that takes us down a rabbit hole and prevents us from living life to its fullest. She shares how we can actually rewire our brains through our behavior and how to truly be our best. It’s not easy…but she has lots of small steps we can take. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Adrian Owen, a renowned neuroscientist, discovered that individuals in a persistent coma could still communicate- and he went one step further and listened to what they wanted to say. He’s also performed the largest sleep and cognition study in the world, and demonstrated why brain training apps are bunk, and what we can do to sleep better and improve our own conscious function. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you lie awake at night, unable to sleep? What if the entire process of sleep was easy, even enjoyable? Dr. Chris Winter, neurologist and sleep medicine specialist, shows us how to re-think a good night's sleep. He offers insights both for adults and for parents dealing with “poor sleeping” kids. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Hammond is The Co-founder of Friends of the High Line…the organization that lead the effort to build an elevated park on an abandoned railway line in Manhattan. I was intrigued by his story and his ted talk and by the fact that he’s not that different from the rest of us, but had the passion and hutzpah to help turn an abandoned steel industrial structure with wildflowers into a world-class park and tourist attraction in NYC. He started by simply trying to preserve it and ended up raising over $300 mm to turn it into something incredibly unique to the city. This interview is about his personal story and, ultimately, how he also became a Vedic meditation teacher. You can visit the Highline in NYC from below 14th street all the way to 34th street on the west side. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sarah Stein Greenberg is the author of a new book called “Creative Acts for Curious People. How to Think, Create and Lead in Unconventional Ways’’. A quote from the book sums it up: “In an era of ambiguous, messy problems, as well as extraordinary opportunities for positive change, it’s vital to have both an inquisitive mind and the ability to act with intention. This book is filled with ways to build those skills with resilience, care, and confidence”. Sarah is the Executive Director of Stanford University’s d School or Design School. The tools and exercises in the book are a gift to the rest of us who’ve not yet had the opportunity to go through their programs designed to spark creativity, foster connection, and solve problems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Epstein is a family physician, palliative care Dr., author, researcher, and teacher of communication and mindful practice in medicine. His book, Attending, Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity explores how the foundations of mindfulness can help clinicians expand their capacity to provide high-quality care, and how doctors, patients, and their families can more collaboratively and mindfully approach medical decisions. He shares how the practice of mindfulness in medicine helps support a deeper understanding and connection between clinicians and patients, how we can flourish and be more resilient in the midst of uncertain situations, and how healthcare professionals can more skillfully cope with the discomfort of ambiguity. He also discusses his hope that the human aspects of medicine can become at least as important as the technical aspects of the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Could “energy healing” be real? Do phenomena like manifestation really work? If it does, could we possibly understand how? Dr. Shamini Jain, scientist, and clinician at UCSD, shares her amazing studies of the biofield, and the evidence she and other colleagues have that demonstrates that this might be more real than we thought. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Manifesting what you want in life is a tantalizing prospect. Danette May shares her amazing story of how her mindset, process, determination…. and some manifestation, made profound changes in her life. She shares her process of how to shift your own mind to manifest what you want. In the following episode, we explore what might be going on scientifically in the experience of manifestation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Toni Bernhard is an author who has written 4 books on issues related to coping with physical and emotional pain and illness. The book we discussed today is called “How to Be Sick. A Buddhist Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers.” Her companion guide is an amazing resource of coping tools. Toni has been living with a viral infection for 20 years and, as such, lives with pain and fatigue every day. She was previously a Law Professor at UC Davis until her life took this unexpected turn. Her books share her personal story but are also compilations of the wisdom and tools that have helped her cope with the physical and emotional challenges she continues to face. I found her to be uplifting, graceful, honest, and wise as she shared how she has navigated and accepted her life journey…for better and for worse. You’ll hear how illness can be a metaphor for life and how we can all handle the mix of joys and sorrows that we inevitably face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm

On the 20th anniversary of 9-11, we share the inspiring story of 9-11 survivor Kushal Choksi. In this uplifting episode, we learn how meditation took Kushal from 9-11 to new possibilities of purpose, meaning, and joy. He inspires us to helpful perspectives on finding purpose and liberation in the difficult things we all encounter in our lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ben Angel, author of "Unstoppable, A 90-day Plan to Biohack your Way to Mind and Body Success", shares how his early depression and lack of energy led him to ‘find solutions’ he never imagined would make him feel better. He made it his mission to explore alternatives beyond medicine and ‘self-help.’ His journey paid off! He talks about how you can close the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and shows us how to get fired up and focused with some tools that may have the power to change our lives forever! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leah Weiss is a Ph.D., MSW, researcher, lecturer, consultant, and author of the book. How We Work: Live Your Purpose, Reclaim Your Sanity, and Embrace the Daily Grind.  Leah is also the co-founder of a company focused on workplace health called Skylyte. She’s best known for her teaching at Stanford's Graduate School of Business and her groundbreaking work with Stanford's Compassion Cultivation Program (conceived by the Dalai Lama). She’s an expert in workplace anxiety, burnout, resilience and offers a multitude of ways to support our mental health. Leah shares several practical tools for finding our purpose AND aligning our goals and values so that we can live our best life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Want to know how to have the unflappable mindset of a Navy Seal? Our guest, retired Navy Seal “Iron Ed” Hiner, was in charge of creating and designing advanced training for Seal teams and crafted some of the highest performing individuals on earth. He has trained thousands of Seals to perform at their peak under grueling conditions and gives insight into how to train your mental and physical skills to handle the toughest things life throws at you and barely even feel pain. And, surprisingly, to do it with emotional grace and compassion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lodro is a Tibetan Buddhist and author. His most recent book is called Take Back your Mind: Buddhist Advice for Anxious Times. He’s also the author of 6 other meditation books including The Buddha Walks into a Bar and Love Hurts. Lodro has several meditations on the Muse app and has been teaching meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for 20 years. Whether inside or outside of meditation, it’s best not to chase after the thoughts that create strong emotions and anxiety. This is often considered the ‘second arrow’ and is filled with the ongoing stories we tell ourselves. This can be like throwing fuel on a fire. He offers tools, practices, and ideas to help us understand ourselves and tend to our minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nahko Bear is a wildly popular musician and activist whose indigenous ancestors come from Puerto Rican, Filipino, Mohawk, and Apache roots. His lyrics sing of hard truths and optimism for a better world. In this episode, Ariel Garten has the pleasure of speaking and singing with him just 3 days after his new album "Take Your Power Back", released. He shares his startling life story and raw perspective on the world as they played his songs and talked through the stories behind them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yale Psychology Professor Laurie Santos taught "Psychology and the Good Life" first in spring 2018 in response to concerning levels of student depression, anxiety, and stress on campus. It became the most popular class in Yale's history. Next, Coursera offered the course online, calling it "The Science of Well Being" and, to date, over 400k people have taken it. Laurie Santos has definitely hit a nerve. The good news is that we have a lot more control over our happiness levels than we think. Laurie talks about how to put the science of happiness and well-being to work in our own lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that the way you breathe can energize or relax you? That a simple hack can help with snoring and sleep apnea? That your lung volume can relate to your longevity, and that your lung volume can be expanded with simple exercises? James Nestor takes us on a fascinating trip into the breath, explains how and why different breath techniques work, and will transform each breath you take for the better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Fred Luskin is the Director and Co-founder of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project and the author of several bestselling books including "Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness". He dives into what science tells us about the healing powers and medical benefits of forgiveness. Dr. Luskin explains why you don't have to forget, or even feel good, about 'the incident’ in order to forgive, but we do have to change the story we tell ourselves about the inciting grievance. It’s good stuff for those of us who might hold a grudge or two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we learn about Mindful sex. Our guide is Jessica Graham mindfulness teacher, actor, and author of “Good Sex” A fun, sensitive, and informative guide that shows you how to bring mindfulness into sex for a bigger, richer, and more present life. We also look at how to use mindfulness to unwind some of the difficulties we can have with sex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kristin Neff is an extremely well-regarded expert and pioneer in the field of self-compassion. Her most recent book is called Fierce Self Compassion: How Women can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim their Power and Thrive. She discusses how self-compassion allows us to be tender with ourselves in difficult situations, but also that it sometimes needs to be fierce — like the mama bear energy that comes from a place of love, service, and a desire to reduce harm. We must, she says, act courageously to protect ourselves from harm and injustice — and to motivate necessary change in ourselves and society. Her message…women can be fierce and tender. Best quote from the book: "Tender Self-Compassion harnesses the energy of nurturing to alleviate suffering while fierce Self-Compassion harnesses the energy of action to alleviate suffering." We need both. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices