Podcasts about peak mind

Send us a textWhat if technology could help you understand and manage your emotions better? Dr. Alicia Mckoy, founder and CEO of PeakMind, takes us on a fascinating journey through the intersection of neuroscience, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence in the quest for better mental wellbeing.The human brain processes emotions through chemicals like dopamine, oxytocin, and adrenaline, triggering our fight, flight, freeze, or relaxation responses. Understanding this complex system is crucial for managing our emotional states effectively. With stress contributing to 60-80% of disease according to health organizations, Dr. Mckoy's work couldn't be more timely. She introduces us to concepts like ultradian rhythms—natural 90-minute cycles when our brains are optimally prepared for focus and learning—and explains how traditional school and work schedules often conflict with these natural patterns. Schools that have restructured around these rhythms have seen remarkable improvements in student performance.Perhaps most exciting is Dr. Mckoy's pioneering work with virtual reality therapy. This "rehearsal therapy" allows people to practice stressful situations or experience calming environments while measuring biometric responses. The emergence of "VRX" (virtual reality prescriptions) represents a groundbreaking shift in healthcare, with doctors now prescribing VR experiences alongside or instead of traditional medications.For those without access to advanced technology, Dr. Mckoy offers practical strategies anyone can implement: identifying your main stressors, noting where you feel stress physically, developing advance response plans, and prioritizing quality sleep.Sign up for the weekly newsletter here to get up to date news on AI for Kids: https://aidigitales.com/newsletterResourcesHer books:Be Well at WorkCreating a New Culture for your WorkplaceCDC – Coping with Stress Learn about healthy ways to manage stress for kids and adults.Support the showHelp us become the #1 podcast for AI for Kids.Buy our new book "Let Kids Be Kids, Not Robots!: Embracing Childhood in an Age of AI"Social Media & Contact: Website: www.aidigitales.com Email: contact@aidigitales.com Follow Us: Instagram, YouTube Gift or get our books on Amazon or Free AI Worksheets Listen, rate, and subscribe! Stay updated with our latest episodes by subscribing to AI for Kids on your favorite podcast platform. Apple Podcasts Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Other Like our content, subscribe or feel free to donate to our Patreon here: patreon.com/AiDigiTales...

418. Why You Can't Pay Attention—And How to Get It Back with Dr. Amishi Jha Director of Contemplative Neuroscience and Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami, Dr. Amishi Jha joins us to discuss how we can cultivate and develop our attention in a way that allows us to maximize the meaning, fulfillment, and joy in our lives.  -The three types of attentional systems –and how we use them in our daily lives; -Why attention is a limited resource – and how to make the most of it; -Why multitasking is a myth; and -A mindfulness practice to fuel your attentional capacity in just 12-minutes. Dr. Amishi Jha, PhD is Director of Contemplative Neuroscience and Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami. She leads research on the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion, resilience, and performance in education, corporate, elite sports, first-responder, and military contexts. In her national bestseller, Peak Mind she shares her discoveries on how attention can be trained for optimal performance and well-being.  For the Peak Mind book, go to: https://amishi.com/books/peak-mind For the Peak Mind Interactive app, go to: https://peakmind.media/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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TakeawaysThe return to center is crucial for personal growth.Our outer world is a reflection of our inner state.Unplugging from digital noise can restore inner peace.Nature and community play vital roles in grounding us.We must be aware of where we give away our power.Practices like meditation and walks help maintain balance.It's important to reconnect with ancient wisdom.We are interconnected with nature and each other.Creating from a place of agency is empowering.Identifying personal rituals can enhance self-awareness.Chapters00:00Welcome Back to Peak Mind01:01The Principle of Return to Center05:01Navigating Challenges and Finding Agency08:47Unplugging from Digital Noise11:12Reconnecting with Ancient Intelligence

TakeawaysThe transition from 'Peak Mind' to 'Resonance' reflects a deeper exploration of the heart.Personal experiences shape our understanding of connection and loneliness.Emotional health is crucial in today's fast-paced world.We live in a time of unprecedented technological change.Loneliness can be more profound when surrounded by others.Identifying people as either 'batteries' or 'black holes' helps in managing relationships.We are all unique incarnations with our own songs to sing.Ancient wisdom offers valuable insights into modern challenges.Interdependence is a fundamental aspect of human existence.The journey of self-discovery is essential for personal growth.Chapters00:00The Shift from Peak Mind to Resonance02:46Exploring the Journey of the Heart06:02Navigating Loneliness in a Connected World08:53The Music of Relationships: Batteries vs. Black Holes11:47The Interdependence of Humanity14:52Sharing Wisdom from a Spiritual Journey

Check out Kimberly Snyder and her work: https://mysolluna.com/about/kimberly-snyder/Get the The Hidden Power of the Five HeartsIG Follow: @_kimberlysnyderSupport Our Sponsors:Upgraded Formulas: https://www.upgradedformulas.comTry their Magnesium for deep sleep and upgraded hormonal support!  Highly recommendcode peak for discount! Leela Quantum: https://leelaq.comcode peakmind for discount!TakeawaysThe heart has its own intelligence and can guide us.Heart coherence can lead to improved emotional and physical health.There are five stages of the heart that we can navigate.Practicing heart coherence can enhance our intuition and decision-making.Emotions significantly influence our physical health and well-being.Heart coherence practices can be simple and quick to implement.The heart is a powerful broadcasting station for love and peace.Integrating heart wisdom can unify various aspects of wellness.Coherence training can help us remain centered amidst life's challenges.The heart's electromagnetic field extends beyond our physical body, influencing others.ChaptersChapters:00:00 Opening Heart Coherence Practice05:14Introduction to Heart-Based Wisdom11:31The Five Stages of the Heart23:24Tuning into Heart Intelligence30:39Heart Coherence Meditation Practice39:35Integrating Heart Wisdom into Wellness50:57Conclusion and Resources

Meditation: an ancient practice with brain health benefits proven by modern science. Whether you're focusing on your breathing to quieten peripheral distractions or using mindfulness to rebalance your emotional reactivity to everyday stresses, practicing meditation can spark long-term neuroplastic changes that will help you feel more attentive and calm in everything you do. In ‘Your Brain On... Meditation', we explore: • How meditation alters your brain chemistry and ‘retrains' your broader nervous system • The neuroscience of attention and focus, including your default mode and salience networks • Using mindfulness to break phone addiction, reduce stress, improve relationships, and practice self-care • The studies which highlight the long-term cognitive benefits of meditation • How we can all make time for meditation, no matter how busy our schedules • The limitations and risks of meditation apps Joining us for this important conversation are three fantastic guests: DR. AMISHI JHA, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami, a pioneer in the study of mindfulness and attention, and the author of the acclaimed book ‘Peak Mind' DR. CLIFFORD SARON, a neuroscientist and Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Mind and Brain at the University of California, Davis, renowned for his work on the neurobiological effects of meditation DR. HELEN LAVRETSKY, a Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and a leading researcher in geriatric psychiatry, who has extensively studied the effects of meditation and yoga on mental health and aging ‘Your Brain On' is hosted by neurologists, scientists and public health advocates Ayesha and Dean Sherzai. Drs. Ayesha and Dean are now welcoming patients via the Brain Health Institute: https://brainhealthinstitute.com/ ‘Your Brain On... Meditation' • SEASON 3 • EPISODE 4 — LINKS Dr. Amishi Jha: Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062992155/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr= On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amishipjha/  On Twitter: https://x.com/amishijha  Dr. Clifford Saron: Center for Mind and Brain: https://mindbrain.ucdavis.edu/people/clifford-saron  Dr. Helen Lavretsky: At UCLA: https://www.uclahealth.org/providers/helen-lavretsky Study on yogic meditation for dementia caregivers: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3423469/

Share this episode: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/380-the-roots-of-attention Sam Harris speaks with Amishi Jha about attention and the brain. They discuss how attention is studied, the failure of brain-training games, the relationship between attention and awareness, mindfulness as an intrinsic mental capacity, the neurological implications of different types of meditation, the neural correlates of attention and distraction, the prospects of self-transcendence, the link between thought and emotion, the difference between dualistic and nondualistic mindfulness, studying nondual awareness in the lab, the influence of smartphones, the value of mind wandering, and other topics. Dr. Amishi Jha, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she cofounded in 2010. She received her PhD from the University of California, Davis, and did postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University. Her work has been featured at NATO, the World Economic Forum, and the Pentagon, and she’s been covered in The New York Times, NPR, Time magazine, and Forbes. With grants from the Department of Defense and several private foundations, she leads research on the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion, resilience, and performance. Dr. Jha’s national bestseller, Peak Mind, describes her work with a variety of high-demand groups, from special forces, elite athletes, and first responders, to teachers, business and medical professionals, and students. Her forthcoming app, Pushups for the Mind, will be available to U.S. military service members in the fall of 2024, and for public release in early 2025. Website: https://amishi.com/ Twitter: @amishijha Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Our guest today says that for 50% of our lives, we are not paying attention to what we're doing.In today's fast-paced, technology-driven world, many of us are coming to terms with the fact that our capacity for paying attention is laughably weak. Our work, mental health, and relationships suffer because of it. But what if there was a tried-and-true way to change this, something like “push-ups for your brain?”Neuroscientist Amishi Jha has dedicated her career to studying this question, and the results are in. In this episode, she describes the practice of mindfulness meditation - why it can work for everyone (not just the spiritual folks), and how it only takes 12 minutes each day to reach one's “Peak Mind.”Show NotesResources mentioned this episode:Peak Mind by Amishi JhaSimilar No Small Endeavor episodes:Naomi Shihab Nye: The Life Changing Benefits of Paying AttentionCharles Duhigg: The Power of HabitKristin Neff: The Power of Self-CompassionDacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your LifePDF of Lee's Interview NotesTranscript for Abridged EpisodeJOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live showsSubscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.comSee Privacy Policy: Privacy PolicyAmazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Our guest today says that for 50% of our lives, we are not paying attention to what we're doing.In today's fast-paced, technology-driven world, many of us are coming to terms with the fact that our capacity for paying attention is laughably weak. Our work, mental health, and relationships suffer because of it. But what if there was a tried-and-true way to change this, something like “push-ups for your brain?”Neuroscientist Amishi Jha has dedicated her career to studying this question, and the results are in. In this episode, she describes the practice of mindfulness meditation - why it can work for everyone (not just the spiritual folks), and how it only takes 12 minutes each day to reach one's “Peak Mind.”Show NotesResources mentioned this episode:Peak Mind by Amishi JhaSimilar No Small Endeavor episodes:Naomi Shihab Nye: The Life Changing Benefits of Paying AttentionCharles Duhigg: The Power of HabitKristin Neff: The Power of Self-CompassionDacher Keltner: How Awe Will Transform Your LifePDF of Lee's Interview NotesTranscription LinkJOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live showsSubscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.comSee Privacy Policy: Privacy PolicyAmazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris Key Takeaways  A “peak mind” is a mind that has access to its full attentional awareness You must develop an awareness of the current state of your mind so that you can negotiate what is best to do next, based on that awareness Focus is the brain's orienting system; focus is like using a flashlight in a dark room When you think you are multitasking, you are just task-switching The data suggests that the advertised benefits of meditation can be achieved with about 12 minutes of meditation per day, done 4-5 days per weekThe goal of meditation is not to end mind-wandering, but to create a different relationship with it Allowing the mind to wander for some periods can be very beneficialRead the full notes @ podcastnotes.orgHow to stay focused, fight distraction, and function at your peak.Dr. Amishi Jha is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. Dr Jha is the author of the national bestseller, Peak Mind. In this episode we talk about:What peak mind isWhy meta awareness is important to practice and achieve peak mindThe suite of mindfulness-based attention training practicesWhy humans developed attention in the first placeUsing the flashlight and floodlight metaphors to help us understand different types of attentionThe mental pushup for attention: focus, notice, and redirectThe attention benefits for high stress populations who engage in contemplatives practicesMultitasking vs. monotaskingThe real life and death consequences of confirmation biasPart of the reason why we may be experiencing a crisis of attention Giving our mind the freedom to choose where it goes nextRelated Episodes:Why You Can't Pay Attention - And How to Think Deeply Again | Johann HariSign up for Dan's weekly newsletter hereFollow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTokTen Percent Happier online bookstoreSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelOur favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular EpisodesFull Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/amishi-jha-rerun-2023See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How to stay focused, fight distraction, and function at your peak.Dr. Amishi Jha is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. Dr Jha is the author of the national bestseller, Peak Mind. In this episode we talk about:What peak mind isWhy meta awareness is important to practice and achieve peak mindThe suite of mindfulness-based attention training practicesWhy humans developed attention in the first placeUsing the flashlight and floodlight metaphors to help us understand different types of attentionThe mental pushup for attention: focus, notice, and redirectThe attention benefits for high stress populations who engage in contemplatives practicesMultitasking vs. monotaskingThe real life and death consequences of confirmation biasPart of the reason why we may be experiencing a crisis of attention Giving our mind the freedom to choose where it goes nextRelated Episodes:Why You Can't Pay Attention - And How to Think Deeply Again | Johann HariSign up for Dan's weekly newsletter hereFollow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTokTen Percent Happier online bookstoreSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelOur favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular EpisodesFull Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/amishi-jha-rerun-2023See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this podcast I wanted to share my experience with meditation for mountain biking. I've been meditating in some way since I was first introduced to it through a Tai Chi class I took in college and I've found it to be a powerful tool in helping me perform better. You can also read a summary article from the notes for the podcast below… Meditation is one of those words that elicits a pretty mixed reaction from people when you bring it up. Some people are totally into it, some people think it is a bunch of nonsense and some people think it might have some benefits but don't know what to do or where to start. For those of us who grew up in the 80's and 90's, it has undergone a bit of a cultural shift over the years. Seen for a long time as one of those things that hippies did that had no real world value, it has been studied and found to have a lot of benefits for health, mindset and performance. Meditation is something that I have been using in various ways since I was 19. I got introduced to it through a random Tai Chi class that I took during my first year of college along with some of the philosophy behind it. As I became a strength coach and started to study more about how the human body works and how to improve its performance I came across a lot of ways to train and harness the power of the mind. While sports psychology and meditation aren't the exact same thing, there are a lot of similarities and both have been used over time to train people to perform in high stress situations. Meditation has also been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve mood and lower stress. And while breathwork and meditation aren't the same thing, there are also a lot of crossover practices and, at its core, meditation is about using your breathing to help control the mind. For the 40+ year old mountain biker I think that having a meditation practice is as important as strength, cardio and skills training, meaning that if you need to cut back on something else to find time for it then it is worth it. As little as 12 minutes a day has been clinically shown to make a difference. My goal in this podcast is to give you a broad overview of meditation practices and some practical tips on how you can start using it as part of your training program. I use meditation in 2 ways - to train my attention and to visualize high stress situations I want to perform well in. The first thing I recommend you start with is using mediation to train your attention. With this method you want to find something to focus your attention on like your breathing, an object or a sound. I recommend using your breathing since it is also a great way to train your breathing and work in some breathwork. To do this you would get set up in a comfortable position - you can be sitting or lying down, just make sure that you are in a position you won't need to move to stay comfortable in. You don't have to but I recommend also closing your eyes to help you focus on your breathing. Set a tempo where your exhale is even with or slightly longer than your inhale.  I find that 4-6 and 5-5 breathing work well. Simply follow your breathing and count off the tempo in your head or using a timer. Feel your breath going into the belly and filling the lungs from the bottom to the top and then feel the breath reversing and being pushed out. If your mind wanders then just bring it back - this will happen and is part of the process. You could also focus on an object like a flame or you can focus on a sound/ mantra like “om”. What you will find is that it is tough at first to sit there and not have your mind wandering around and you will constantly be having to bring it back to your breathing (or other focal point). With practice this will happen less and your ability to recognize it and bring your attention back will be more automatic. You can create even more of a breathwork challenge by adding in pauses to the top and bottom of the breath, creating Triangle and Box Breathing patterns. This will also help to improve overbreathing and CO2 tolerance by purposefully breathing less than normal, which also creates a slight rise in CO2. On the trail this will help you to focus your mind when it matters the most and give you a way to use your breathing to help control anxiety in the moment. This can also help you with entering and staying in the flow state since outside thoughts and distractions are a hindrance to it. Another way to use meditation is to combine it with visualization. To do this you would want to start out with 5-10 minutes of regular meditation/ breathwork to help you enter into a calm and relaxed state of mind. Once you have done this you can start to visualize anxiety producing situations while focusing on staying calm and using your breathing to help you. If you start to lose control and feel yourself getting tense and anxious then stop the visualization and go back to focusing on your breathing and relaxing. For example, if you are nervous about competition you can visualize yourself getting ready for and going through the steps leading up to the start of the race (most athletes report the lead up to competition is actually more stressful that competing so I find that this is what you want to focus on). Another example would be if you have a trail or section of trail that is extremely challenging or if you have a new feature/ obstacle that you want to do. You can also extend this practice to things off of the bike like public speaking or having a difficult talk with your boss or wife/ husband. As you can see, meditation is an extremely valuable tool for us both on and off the bike. It isn't complicated and it doesn't have to take a lot of time for you to see results. Some good books to check out on this subject are Peak Mind by Amishi P. Jha and Psyche by Jud Biasiotti.  Another great book on the training mindset is The Book of Five Rings by Myamoto Musashi. In it he talks a lot about the need to combine meditation with physical training in order to reach your goals. Meditation is something that people have been using for thousands of years and with modern science we have some answers as to how it works. But it is still something that you have to make time for and do. I promise you, though, that the effort is well worth it. If you are interested in learning more about how to use breathwork and how to get the most out of your meditation practice then check out my Guide To Better Breathing for MTB. In it you'll learn how to assess your breathing and ways you can improve it, along with practical tips on how to use better breathing on the trail to improve your cardio along with how to use it to help you prepare for competition. I hope this podcast has inspired you to start your own breathing/ meditation practice, let me know if you have any questions I can help with. Until next time… Ride Strong, James Wilson

Experience the multitude of benefits that come with life without alcohol:Check out James and his work:https://www.jamesswanwick.comFeedback: @michaeltrainer @jamesswanwickGet Upgraded:Momentum Shake: https://www.momentumshake.comUnleash the power of nutrition with our carefully crafted Momentum Shake, a dynamic blend designed to kickstart your day and keep you moving with vitality. Packed with essential nutrients, this delicious shake is your go-to source for sustained energy and optimal performance.  Elevate your momentum, elevate your life! Upgraded Formulas: https://www.upgradedformulas.comUpgraded Formulas, where wellness meets precision. We believe in optimizing your health through cutting-edge formulas that deliver targeted, science-backed solutions. Whether you're seeking enhanced energy, improved focus, or overall vitality, our formulas are meticulously crafted to elevate your well-being. Join us on a journey to a healthier, more vibrant you, as we redefine what's possible in nutritional supplementation. Welcome to a new era of precision and potency – welcome to Upgraded Formulas. Unveiling the Dark Side: Exploring the Negative Effects of Alcohol[Physical Health]Liver Damage: Alcohol is processed by the liver, and excessive drinking can lead to conditions like fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.Heart Issues: Chronic alcohol use can contribute to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and an increased risk of heart disease.Weakened Immune System: Alcohol suppresses the immune system, making the body more susceptible to infections and illnesses.[Mental Health]Depression and Anxiety: Alcohol is a depressant that can exacerbate existing mental health conditions and lead to the development of depression and anxiety.Cognitive Impairment: Chronic alcohol use may impair cognitive function, affecting memory, attention, and decision-making.Increased Risk of Substance Abuse Disorders: Alcohol abuse is often a precursor to more severe substance abuse disorders.[Social and Personal Impact]Relationship Strain: Excessive drinking can strain relationships with family and friends, leading to isolation and social withdrawal.Legal Consequences: Driving under the influence and other alcohol-related offenses can have severe legal consequences, including fines, license suspension, and even imprisonment.Financial Strain: Maintaining an alcohol habit can be expensive, leading to financial difficulties and potential job loss.[Public Safety]Accidents and Injuries: Alcohol impairs coordination and judgment, contributing to an increased risk of accidents and injuries.Domestic Violence: Alcohol abuse is linked to an increased likelihood of domestic violence incidents, impacting both individuals and families.[Conclusion]It's crucial to recognize and understand the negative effects of alcohol, not to demonize it, but to encourage responsible drinking and promote awareness of the potential consequences on physical and mental well-being, relationships, and society as a whole.Thank you for joining us on this insightful journey. Remember, knowledge is a powerful tool, and being informed about the effects of alcohol empowers us to make healthier choices. Stay tuned for more thought-provoking discussions on Peak Mind.

Title: Exploring the Connection Between Spirituality and Creativity with MAEJORShownotes:In this episode of Peak Mind, Michael Trainer sits down with the incredibly talented artist and producer, Maejor. With Grammy nominations and billions of listens to his songs, Major has made a significant impact in the music industry. But his journey took a profound turn when he was diagnosed with cancer, leading him to explore the healing power of music. Maejor shares his insights on creativity, the arts, personal transformation, and the importance of creating music that resonates on a deeper level. Get ready for an extraordinary conversation with Major on this week's episode of Peak Mind.Highlights: How Maejor reevaluated his purpose, using his music for immediate healing impact, not waiting for the future.The power of sound frequencies and their ability to affect our consciousness and well-being.The transformative power of music and its ability to transcend language and cultural barriers.The importance of being open to different perspectives and understanding that healing comes from within.Episode Timeline:00:06:35 - Questioning the status quo in creativity00:13:23 - The unpredictability of artistic resonance00:19:47 - Artists should embrace versatility00:22:10 - Sound frequency can affect consciousness00:27:14 - Music unlocks hidden aspects of ourselves00:33:02 - Embrace the present, surrender expectations00:43:02 - Choose positive energy and forgiveness00:54:43 - Consider how your art is received01:03:12 - The power of sound and tuning.01:10:49 - Importance of intention and guidance01:14:14 - Seek advice from experienced individuals01:20:07 - Embrace challenges and redefine successConnect with Maejor:InstagramTwitterFacebookConnect with Michael Trainer:PEAK MIND | Michael Trainer on InstagramPEAK MIND | Michael Trainer on YouTubeResources Mentioned: Simplyo3Leela Quantumcode: PEAKMIND for discount 

This conversation is an incredible resource for those of us who are feeling the effects of mental, emotional and physical depletion. Michael is an incredible thought leader and social entrepreneur who focuses on building movements for global impact. He is the co-creator of Global Citizen, an annual music festival dedicated to ending world poverty, as well as the producer of the One World #TogetherAtHome campaign, raising $127.9 million for COVID-19 response. Michael is also the founder of Peak Mind, a platform to connect thought leaders with the communities they inspire. He shares wisdom from his diverse spiritual studies and experiences that can help listeners develop daily routines and techniques to center themselves, such as meditation, breathwork, chanting and utilizing the power of music. Michael and Serena also discuss how to effectively work through challenges like anxiety. This discussion offers ancient traditions and modern approaches that are useful for anyone's own well-being and personal growth. (00:00) Intro (01:45) Serena's core practices for finding her center (05:44) Michael shares his daily routines like gratitude, grounding, and energizing practices. (10:35) Lessons from overcoming CV: Michael shares his personal experience with CV protocols and boosting immunity naturally. (13:22) Techniques for recentering: They explore effective methods for recentering during times of stress, anxiety or feeling unbalanced. (16:08) The power of sound: Michael talks about the benefits of chanting, mantras and how sound shifts states of being. (19:14) Expressing energy safely: A discussion of movement practices like capoeira, haka and containers for healthy release. (22:31) Michael expands on the importance of working with plant medicine in a sacred way under the guidance of experienced healers and elders. He cautions against a casual approach. (1:04:22) The role of CBD. Michael shares his perspective on CBD and how it can be helpful when used carefully alongside other wellness practices. (1:10:03) Valuing ancient wisdom: Michael discusses how traditions like capoeira can foster reconnection to culture and community as means of finding balance. He emphasizes integrating wisdom from the past.

Michael is a social impact entrepreneur who co-created Global Citizen which has helped to raise billions of dollars for programs serving the world's poorest people, as well as the creator of the Peak Mind podcast. In this episode, Michael discusses the importance of being “authentic to our note” and how it ripples out in unforeseen ways when we create from this powerful place. Connect with Mike at peakmind.org   For more information on The Great Mother's products, check out TheGreat.Mother on Instagram   Check out our newly updated page instagram.com/positive_head   Care to play a game with the youniverse? Ask the universe the episode you would most benefit from hearing next and click positivehead.com/game.    Download The Golden Key audio or e-book at GoldenKey.Gift with the Code: POSITIVEHEAD   Text Brandon to receive regular golden nuggets of wisdom at 310.564.0750  

My next guest is business performance coach Dr. Jared Sinclair and I'm super excited to have him on the show. Before he started helping people, their businesses and organizations reach higher levels of excellence, Mr. Sinclair was an active Marine, serving his country in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a retired San Diago, California Police Officer and also holds a doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership. So he maybe hasn't had a hockey journey, but he's definitely had an eventful life journey and we're going to hear all about it.  I know the reason Mr. Sinclair and the Sinclair Performance Institute came into my life, and that's so he can pass on his knowledge, his success formula that he's been teaching to a wide variety of clients, representing many different sectors in the business world and he's here to pass on that information to you. It doesn't matter if you're an actor, realtor, musician, mathematician, nonprofit founder, piano extraordinaire, entrepreneur, professional athlete or just a regular "Joe" trying to make today a little better than yesterday, the formula is pretty much the same across the board. If you want to go from average to good, to great, there are success intangibles you need to know about and learn and that's exactly what Dr. Jared Sinclair is going to be discussing with me here today. Thanks for stopping by and Enjoy the Show!! To learn more about Dr. Jared Sinclair please visit the below To book a discovery call - https://www.sinclairperformance.com/ Podcast - https://performancecollective.simplecast.com/ The book he referenced during the interview - Peak Mind by Amishi P. Jha https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Mind-Attention-Invest-Minutes/dp/B08V5KFRM5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11B0RV4TRX60H&keywords=peak+mind&qid=1688135074&sprefix=peak+mind%2Caps%2C729&sr=8-1 For more information regarding Coach Lance Pitlick Largest Online Data-Base Off-Ice Stickhandling, Passing, and Shooting Drills https://www.onlinehockeytraining.com/ In-person lessons with Coach Lance https://www.sweethockeycoach.com/

Hello and welcome back, everybody. We have an amazing guest today. This is actually somebody I have followed, sort of half known for a long time through a very, very close friend, Shala Nicely, who's been on the show quite a few times, and she connected me with Dr. Ashley Smith. Today, we are talking about happiness and what makes a “good life” regardless of anxiety or of challenges you may be going through.  Dr. Ashley Smith is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. She's the co-founder of Peak Mind, which is The Center for Psychological Strength. She's a speaker, author, and entrepreneur. She has her own TED Talk, which I think really shows how epic and skilled she is.  Today, we talk about how to be happy. What is happiness? How do you get there? Is it even attainable? What is the definition of happiness? Do we actually want it or is it the goal or is it not the goal? I think that this is an episode I needed to hear so much. In fact, since hearing this episode as we recorded it, I basically changed quite a few things. I will be honest with you, I didn't actually change things related to me, but I changed things in relation to how I parented my children. I realized midway through this episode that I was pushing them into the hamster wheel of life. Ashley really helped me to acknowledge and understand that it's not about success, it's not about winning things, it's not about achievement so much, while they are very important. She talks about these specific things that science and research have shown to actually improve happiness.  I'm going to leave it at that. I'm going to go right over to the show. Thank you, Dr. Ashley Smith, for coming on. For those who want to know more about her, click the links in the show notes, and I cannot wait to listen back to this with you all. Have a great day, everybody.  Kimberley: Welcome, Dr. Ashley Smith. I'm so happy to have you here. Dr. Ashley: I am excited to be here today. I've wanted to be on your podcast for years, so thank you for this. Kimberley: Same. Actually, we have joint friends and it's so good when you meet people through people that you trust. I have actually followed you for a very long time. I'm very excited to have you on, particularly talking about what we're talking about. It's a topic we probably should visit more regularly here on the show. We had discussed the idea of happiness and what makes a good life. Can you give me a brief understanding of what that means or what your idea about that is? Dr. Ashley: Yeah. Oh, this is a topic that I love to talk about. When I think about it, I have a little bit of a soapbox, which is that I think our approach to mental health is broken. I say that as someone who is a mental health practitioner, and I really love my job and I love working with people and helping. But what I mean by that is our traditional approach has been, “Let's reduce symptoms. Let's correct the stuff that's ‘wrong' with someone.” When it comes to anxiety or depression, it's how do we reduce that? And that's great. Those are really important skills, but we've got this whole other side that I think we need to be focusing on. And that is the question of how do we get more of the good stuff. More happiness, more well-being. How do we create lives that are worth living? That's not the same as how do we get rid or reduce anxiety and depression. In the field of psychology, there's this branch of it called Positive Psychology. I stumbled on that 20 years ago as a grad student and thought, “This is amazing. People are actually studying happiness. There's a science to this.” I looked at happiness and optimism and social anxiety and depression and how those were all connected. Fast forward, 15 years or so, I really hit a point with my professional life and my personal life where I was recognizing, “Wait a minute, I need more. I need more as an individual. The clients I work with need more. How do we get more of this good stuff?” This is the longest preamble to say, I did a deep dive into the science of happiness and learned a lot over the years, and I want to be really clear about a couple of things. When we talk about happiness, a lot of people think pleasure. “I want good experiences, I want to enjoy this.” That's a part of it, this positive emotion that we all call happiness or joy. But that's only a piece of it. There's actually this whole backfiring process that can happen when we chase that. If I'm just chasing the next pleasant event, what that actually does is set me up to not have a happy life. Think about it. I mean, I love chocolate, and if I eat that unchecked because it brings me pleasure, at some point, it's going to take a toll on my health. What does that actually do to my well-being and happiness?  What was really interesting getting into this area was, it's not just this transient state of pleasure or enjoyment, but they're the other factors that contribute to a good life. It's things like relationships. It's things like meaning and purpose. It's engagement. It's achievement even. It's these things that are not always pleasant in the moment, but that really contribute to this sense of satisfaction with life or contentment with life. I think it's really important that we need to be looking at what are the ingredients that really make a good life.  WHAT IS CONSIDERED A GOOD LIFE?  Kimberley: I love this, and I love a good recipe too. I like following recipes and ingredients. It's funny, I'm actually in the process of getting good at cooking and I'm realizing for the first time in my life that following instructions and ingredients is actually a really important thing, because I'm not that person. First of all, what is a good life? When I looked at that, I actually put it in quote marks. What is a good life? What do you think? You explained it; it's not chasing pleasure. We know that doesn't work, otherwise, you just buy a bunch of stuff you don't want and behave in ways that aren't helpful. Not to also villainize pleasure, it's a great thing, but what would you describe as a good life? Dr. Ashley: On the one hand, it's the million-dollar question. Philosophers and scientists and religious leaders and all kinds of people have been trying to answer that question for eons. I don't know that I have it nailed down. I think I'm humble enough to say I have my own ideas about it. To me, what makes a good life, it's really when the way we spend our time lines up with what's important to us, when we're living in accordance with our values to use some psych buzzwords, but when we're doing the things that really matter. I think also part of a good life is having daily rhythms and lifestyle habits that support us as biological creatures. I want to contrast that with the demands of modern life, which are that we should be productive 24/7, that we should be multitasking. People sacrifice sleep and movement and leisure time and stillness. I think all of that compromises us. It impacts us on a neurological level. Our brains are part of our system. If we're not taking care of our system, they're not going to function optimally. That gets in the way of a good life.  When we're sacrificing relationships, when I look at all of the research, when I look at my own experience, a huge component of a good life is having quality relationships. Not quantity, quality. Trusting ones that are full of belonging and acceptance that are two-way support streets, those are really important. I think a lot of times, modern life compromises that. We get pulled in all of these other directions. Kimberley: Yeah. Oh my gosh, there's so many things. I also think that anxiety and depression pull us away from those things too. You are anxious or you're depressed and so, therefore, you don't go to the party or the family event or the church service. That's an interesting idea. I love this. Tell us about this idea of meaning. How do we find meaning? I'll just share with you a little bit of my own personal experience. I remember when I was actually going through a very difficult time with my chronic illness and I know I was depressed at the time. It was the first time in my life where I started to have thoughts like, “What's the point?” Not that I was saying I was suicidal, but I was more like, “I just don't understand why am I doing all this.” I think that that's common. What are your thoughts on this idea of the meaning behind in life? Dr. Ashley: That's a fantastic question. I have a vision impairment, so I'm legally blind. It's a really rare thing and it's unpredictable. I don't know how much sight I will lose. Ultimately, the doctors can't tell me there's no treatment options. It's just I go along and every so often, there's a shift and I see less. For me, I hit that same point you were talking about back in 2014 when I had to stop driving. I was anxious and I would say depressed and really wallowing in this, “What does this mean for my life? I can't be independent. People aren't going to associate with me personally or professionally when they see this flaw.” It was a dark point. For me, that's when I went back to the science of happiness when I finally got tired of being stuck and I realized my anxiety skills and my depression skills. They're helpful and I practice what I preach, but it wasn't enough. And that's really what propelled me back into this science of happiness where I figured, you know what, someone has to have done this.  I did come across this theory of well-being called the PERMA factors. These are like the ingredients that we need. I'm getting back to that because the M in this is meaning. With this, the PERMA factors, P is positive emotion. That's the pleasure, the joy, the happiness. Cool. I know some strategies for boosting that. E is engagement. Are you really involved and engaged in what you're doing? Are you present? Are you hitting that state of flow? R is the relationships, A (skipping ahead) is achievement, but M is this meaning, and it's a hard one to figure out.  I remember then, this started what I was calling my blind quest for happiness where I started to think about, what do I need to do? How do I experiment? How do I live a happy life despite these cards I've been dealt? We don't get to choose them. You've got a chronic illness, I have a vision impairment, listeners have anxiety and depression, and we get these cards. I think of it like if life is a poker game, we don't get to choose the cards we're dealt, but by golly, we get to choose how to play them, and that's important. I think a lot of times people can turn adversity into meaning. For me, I'm now at a point where it's not that I don't care about my vision, it's just I really accepted it. It is what it is, it's going to do what it's going to do, and I'm focusing on the things I can control. That has given me a sense of meaning. I want to help other people live better lives. I want to help other people crack the code of how our brains work against us and how do we play our cards well. If we go to all of this, “meaning” is really just finding something that's bigger than you are, finding something to pursue or contribute to that's bigger than you. I think when we look at anxiety and depression, the nature of those experiences is that they make us very self-involved. I mean, people with anxiety and depression, in my experience, have giant hearts, tons of empathy, but it locks our thinking into our experience and what's going on in these unhelpful thoughts.  When we can connect with something bigger than us, it gets us outside of that.  If I go back to grad school, writing my dissertation was decidedly not a fun experience. Would I do it again? Yes. Because it was worth it on this path to my reason for being—helping people live better lives. Sometimes I think when we have this meaning, this purpose, this greater good, it helps us endure the things that I want to say suck. Kimberley: You can say suck. Dr. Ashley: Yeah. That's where it's not just about how do I get rid of anxiety or depression. Sometimes we can't. Chronic health conditions, anxiety is chronic. My vision is chronic. I'm not getting rid of this, but how do I live a good life despite that? I think there are a ton of examples throughout history and currently of people doing amazing things despite some hardship.  Kimberley: Yeah. I love this idea. It's funny, you talk about being outside yourself. When I'm having a bad day, I usually go, there's like a 10 minutes' drive from us that looks over Los Angeles. If let's say I'm having a day where I'm in my head only looking at my problems, and then I see LA, I'm like, “Oh honey, there is a whole world out there that you haven't thought about.” I'm not saying that in a critical way, just like it gives me perspective. Dr. Ashley: I think that's so important, to realize there's so much more. When it does shrink our problems, all of a sudden, it's manageable. Kimberley: Right. Let's talk about just one more question about meaning. I'm guessing more about people finding what's your why and so forth. What would you encourage for people who are very unhappy, have been chasing this idea of reducing anxiety, reducing depression, chasing pleasure, and feeling very stuck between those? Let's say I really have no idea what my meaning is. What would be your advice to start that process?  Dr. Ashley: Experimentation. I think experimenting is a lifestyle that I wish everyone would adopt, because what happens is we want to think. We are thinkers. That's what our minds were designed to do. That's awesome and sometimes it's really helpful, but I don't think we're going to think our way into passion or meaning or a good life. I think we have to start trying things. What will happen, if you notice, is your mind is going to have a lot of commentary. It's going to say, “That's dumb. That's not going to work. Who are you to try that? You can't do that.” It's all just noise that if we look at what is it doing, it's keeping you stuck. With the experimentation, I'm just a big fan of go try it. Whether you think it's going to work or not, you don't know. We want to trust our experience, not what our mind tells us. Trust your actual experience.  For me, I remember getting my first self-help book. It was actually called Go Find Your Passion and Purpose. Because I was at this crossroads, I had been doing anxiety work for a long time, had plateaued, and was feeling a little bored, and that coincided with the stopping driving. My whole personal world was just in disarray and I was like, “I'm going to go hike part of the Appalachian Trail while I can. While I do that, I'm going to find my purpose in life.” I did not find it, but it was an experiment. I go and I get this experience and I can say, “Okay, I'm not going to be someone who does a six-month hike. I made it four days. Awesome.” But go and experiment with things. I never thought that I would really want to write and I started a blog, and that has turned out to be such a positive experience. Prior to that, my writing experience had been very academic where it was a chore. Now, this is something I really enjoy, or talking to people.  I would say experiment and continue to seek out those new experiences. One, seeking out new experiences helps on the anxiety side because you're continually putting yourself into uncertain and new, so your confidence level is going to grow, your tolerance for not knowing grows, and your tolerance for awkward grows. That's my plug for go try new things, period. Somewhere along the way, you're going to find something that sparks an interest or that sparks this sense of, “Yeah, this is me.” Notice that. I know you talk a lot about mindfulness, we need to notice what was my actual experience, not what did my head tell me. What did I actually feel? And keep experimenting until you find something. I think that's really the key. Kimberley: I love that you said your tolerance for awkwardness. I think that is a big piece of the work because it is a big piece. We talk about tolerating discomfort, tolerating uncertainty, but I think that's a very key point, especially when it comes to relationships, which I know is one of the factors. Tolerate the awkwardness is key. Dr. Ashley: Yeah. I think it's huge. I've been seeking out new experiences since 2017. This is going to be my New Year's resolution. It was such a transformational experience over the course of the year that I've just continued it, and I'm trying to get everybody to join me because it's such an expansive practice. I think it's great for anxiety and depression, it's great for humans, it's been great for me on this quest for a good life. But with this, it means I have put myself into some awkward situations on purpose. Sometimes I know going into it, sometimes I don't.  I went to this one, it was called Nia. I practice yoga. That's cool. That's very much in my comfort zone. This was yoga adjacent, but it was also an interpretive dance with sound effects. You had to make eye contact with people and dance in these weird ways. I distinctly remember having this conversation with myself when I showed up, “What did you just get yourself into?” And then it was immediately, “Okay, you have two choices here. You can grit your teeth and hate the next hour, or you can embrace the awkward and dance at a three. Because she said, you can dance at a one, itty bitty, at a two or at a three and really go for it.” That for me was my, “All right, let's just do this.” I embrace the awkward, and that was a turning point. That was amazing. And then now, when I think about good life, I feel like so many doors are opened because I'm not afraid of, “This is going to be awkward.” It's going to be and you're going to be okay or it's going to make a hilarious story. I said, “Go for it.” Kimberley: You're here to tell the story. I love it. You didn't die from awkwardness. Dr. Ashley: No. Kimberley: Can you tell me about the P? Can you go through them and just give us a little bit more information? Because I think that's really important. Dr. Ashley: Yeah. I love this theory because you can think about it as like, how are my PERMA factors doing? When you're low, raise them. You know that those are the ingredients for a good life. The P is positive emotion. That is, we do need to spend time in positive emotional states. The more time we're in the positive emotional states, the better compared to the negative ones like anxiety or sadness, or anger. Now that said, we know if we try to only pursue pleasure, it's going to backfire. If I'm trying to avoid anxiety, I'm actually going to get more anxiety. But this is where behavioral activation comes in. Do things that are theoretically enjoyable and see if it puts you in a positive state. Again, theoretically enjoyable, because if you're in the throes of depression, nothing feels enjoyable, do it anyways. And then notice, did it bring on a pleasurable emotional state? Cool. We want to do those things.  E is engagement. This is when people talk about finding flow or being in the zone. These are the activities that you're fully engaged in it. Self-consciousness goes away. You lose track of time because you're just in it. We know that the more consistently we are able to put ourselves in states of flow, the higher our well-being tends to be. Athletes will talk about this a lot. When they're on the field, they're in the zone. Musicians, artists. But there are other ways to do this. This is a place for me personally, I didn't know. I was like, “Well, okay, great. I need E, I need engagement. What puts me in a state of flow?” It took experimentation and noticing. For me, writing does it. Web design, I'm not techy, but when I start to do design projects, I get in that state of flow. It has to be this perfect apex, this perfect joining of skill and pleasure, like enjoyment. If it's too easy, you will not go into a state of flow. That's just the P. If it's too hard, we go into a state of stress or anxiety, so that's not flow. We have to be right on the cusp of our skillset. It's hard work, but we're into it. That's the E. R is relationships. We need quality relationships where we are being open, where we are being vulnerable, we're really connecting with other people. That is huge. I mean, if we look at what's the best predictor of life satisfaction, it's quality relationships. This also is doing things for other people. Altruism, ugh, I love this side note. The act of kindness thing hits on three different factors. It feels good to do something good for other people. If you want a mood boost, go do an act of kindness. That reliably boosts our mood. It also improves relationships and it can tap into that meaning. I love that as just a practice.  The M we talked about, that's meaning. And then the A, that's achievement for achievement's sake. As humans, it feels good to conquer goals. It feels good to accomplish things. And that contributes to our well-being independently of the positive feelings that we get from it, or the meaning in the relationships or the engagement. I'm also a really big fan of set goals and then crush them. It can be silly little things like, I'm going to hold my breath for two minutes. Okay, cool. That's a silly little thing, but then it feels good to do it. Or it could be something huge like crossing those bucket list things off your list. Kimberley: You know what's funny around achievement? I've got a couple of questions, but first I want to tell you your stories. Last year, I was struggling to do a couple of things that were really important to me for my medical health. I found an app called Streaks. Have you heard of Streaks? It's a $5 app. But when you do the action, and for me it was taking my medicine, it does this little spiral and then it's like, “You've done this for three days in a row.” And then tomorrow you click it and then it says, “You've done it for four days in a row.” You would think that the benefits of taking my medicine would be enough. But for me, it's actually knowing I get that little positive reinforcement of like, “Look at me, I've taken my medicine for 47 days in a row, or now are like 300 days in a row.” I don't think I deserve a medal for being able to take my medicine. But for me, that little bit of reward center on the achievement was a huge shift for me. And then it became, how many days did you practice your Spanish in a row? Even like, how many days did you do your Kegels? I've got all of the streaks happening and it's really incredible how that little achievement piece does boost your mood. Dr. Ashley: Yeah. But what I love about this is you're also talking about how to hack the system. We're talking about our brains and this is the stuff that just lights me up, because oftentimes our minds will say, “Well, you should just take your medication. You should just do these things.” Well, that's not how it works. There's a million reasons why we don't do the things we know we should do. But can we figure out how to hack the system? Yeah. Our brains love streaks. They love streaks.  it taps our reward centers, like you're saying, and so let's use the tools that work. That got you if your goal is to take your medication consistently. Using our brain's glitchy wiring to our own advantage is something that's huge. That did it. And then it does feel good. And then you get some momentum going and then you create a habit around that and it's fantastic. Kimberley: Yeah. What about those who are overachieving to the point that it's bringing their happiness down? What would we do there?  Dr. Ashley: Yeah. I think that's a great question and it's something that comes up a lot, especially when we look at anxiety and perfectionism. At least the way I think about it is coming back to what's driving this. Is this being driven by fear? Is this being driven by values? For me, I almost think of it as—I'm going to try to make sense with it—is it the -ing or the -ed? Meaning, the doING (I-N-G) or the -ed as in I did this past tense. What I mean by this is, I notice for me when I'm approaching something, say a big goal, like I want to write a book this year. If I can approach that from a place of, “I am doing this because this is important to me, I feel driven to get this message out into the world,” the -ing, the process of doing it, that feels like it's going to boost my wellbeing when I start to get pulled into the thoughts of the outcome. I'm going to write this book and how many people are going to read it and is it going to sell? I'm really looking at all of this, and underneath that is fear. What if it doesn't sell? What if people judge it? What if they think it's stupid? Then I'm focusing on the outcome, kind of when it's done. That I think is actually going to detract from my well-being because it's not coming from a valued place; it's coming from this feared place.  A lot of times with overachieving, we're chasing this other people's expectations or we're chasing this promise of happiness. When you do this, then you'll be happy. It's not going to work like that. It may be for a moment and then the bar just changes again. Now you've got another target. We have to come back to this, I think the process or the journey. Are you doing this because it matters to you, or are you doing this because some sort of fear is compelling you?  Kimberley: Right. I'm just asking questions based on the questions I would've had when I was struggling the most. I remember hearing something that blew my mind and I actually want your honest opinion about it. I remember I used to chase happiness, like you talked about, even though I was doing all these things. I was doing all these things, but there was that anxious drive behind it. I remember hearing somebody saying life is 50/50. Even though you're doing all these things, you're still going to have 50% great and 50% hard. For me, that was actually very relieving. I think I was caught in and I think a lot of people experienced this like, “Okay, I'm at 50%, how can I get to 55? How can I get to 56?” What are your thoughts on also accepting that you won't be happy all the time, or what are your thoughts on balancing this goal for happiness or this lifelong playfulness around happiness?  Dr. Ashley: I agree with you completely. I think we have this cultural myth that we should be happy all the time. If you're not happy, there must be something wrong. You're doing something wrong. It sets up even this idea that being happy all the time is possible. It isn't. If we look at, again, happiness, what people mean by that is a pleasurable or enjoyable state, an emotion that we like. Humans are wired. Two-thirds of our emotions would be under that negative category. Just by the way we're wired, we're more likely to have negative emotions, and they're just messengers. They're just designed to give us information about a situation. Some of them are going to be dangerous, so we're going to feel anxious. Or we're going to lose something we care about, so we're going to be sad. We're going to mess up, so we're going to feel guilty. It's unrealistic to expect to not have those emotions. I think that is a hundred percent something that we need to work on, just accepting happiness all the time is not possible and pursuing it is like playing a rigged game.  The other thing, you know how on the anxiety side we talk about facing fears because then you habituate or you get used to them. But that habituation process happens on the pleasurable side too. This is why when we chase happiness, we end up on this hedonic treadmill where it's, “Oh, I'm going to go buy this thing. And then I'm going to feel really happy,” and you are. And then you're going to habituate. Your body goes back to baseline so that happiness fades. If you're looking to an external source, you're going to get caught up in this always chasing something bigger and better, not sustainable.  I like to look at happiness as the side effect of living a good life. Do the things that we know matter. Take care of your health and wellbeing. Sleep, eat well, move your body, practice mindfulness, the PERMA factors that we talked about, and live in line with your values. If you're doing those things, happiness is the side effect of that. Kimberley: To make that the goal, not happiness the goal.  Dr. Ashley: Yeah.  Kimberley: I think that's very, very true. Again, for me, it was a massive relief. I remember this weight falling off of like, “Oh,” because I think social media makes it so easy to assume that everyone is just happy, happy, happy content, to feel all the things. It was delightful to be like, “Oh no, everyone's got a 50/50.” Dr. Ashley: Exactly. When we know that's normal, then all of a sudden, you can accept it. Like, I'm anxious for now, I'm sad for now. To do that, it does keep us from piling on extra. I have this saying that I love, “Just because life gives you a cactus doesn't mean you have to sit on it.” A lot of times, we sit on it because we're ruminating or I don't want to feel this way and we're fighting it. And that's just amplifying it and making it a lot harder. When we can say, “Oh, this is where I'm at today. I'm still going to choose to do the things that I know are good for me, that are part of me, living a good life by my standards or my terms,” that's going to be the side effect, is I'm going to end up with more happiness down the road, but not chasing it in that moment. Kimberley: I love this. Thank you for coming on and talking about this. I think this has been enlightening and so joyful to have these conversations. I feel a little lighter, even myself, after chatting with you, so thank you. Tell me how people can hear from you, get in touch with you, learn about your work. Dr. Ashley: Yeah, absolutely. I have a blog that I publish every week, so if you're interested in that, you can subscribe at PeakMindPsychology.com/subscribe, o you can just check out all of the blog posts. That's probably the best way to follow me and follow my work. I also have a TEDx Talk that came out pretty recently and you can watch that as well. It's called Is Your Brain Deceiving You, and talk a little bit about learning to play my cards well. Kimberley: I love the TED Talk. Congratulations on that. It was so cool.  Dr. Ashley: Thank you.  Kimberley: Thank you again for coming on. This has been just delightful. Really it has. Dr. Ashley: I appreciate you having me.

In this episode, I talk about my experience with meditating for 50 days in a row, including increased focus and calm, I talk about the reasons I finally started meditating and discuss the book Peak Mind by Dr. Amishi Jha, which explains that 12 minutes 5 days a week of meditating seems to be the key to increased focus. Action item: try to meditate! You can use the free version of the Calm App, Headspace, a You Tube video, or just put on a timer! Start with 3 or 5 or even 1 minute, and remember that you will lose focus and get distracted constantly, and that is OK!

"Pay attention to your attention." Amishi P. Jha came to her pathbreaking work studying the neuroscience of mindfulness and attention when, as a young professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, she lost feeling in her teeth. She had been grinding them as a profound stress response to burnout from her responsibilities as a wife, mother, and tenure-track professor. Knowing from her academic work that the brain can change, she told herself at the start of summer, “before I quit my own career, let’s see if I can get my own brain to change.” She had just heard a talk about the power of meditation to change brain images from another neuroscientist. And although she had grown up in a Hindu family, born in the Indian city of Gandhi’s ashram – where meditation practice was “in the air” – she had never discussed it or practiced it (and her scientific mind had earlier dismissed some spiritual practices from her youth). But that summer, determined to see if she could change her brain, she bought a book by Jack Kornfield, Meditation for Beginners, with an accompanying CD. “I committed to reading a chapter each day and doing one of the practices, probably between eight and fifteen minutes. Within a couple of months, I was more present, more engaged. It got me thinking that there was something about doing this thing every day that was reacquainting me with my life. … Instead of being foggy and distracted, I was aware and connected. So I thought to myself, hey, wait a minute; I study attention. I need to figure out how this works.” She went to look at the scientific attention literature and found almost nothing.  So she decided to “put mindfulness meditation to the test and research it rigorously in the lab.” This was in 2004, “before mindfulness was even a thing in our popular culture, and people in my department warned that I’d be committing career suicide by researching this topic,” she recalls. She launched the first-ever study to offer mindfulness training tools to active-duty military service members as they prepared for deployment. What she has discovered is that without intervention, attention is compromised, and attentional lapses increase. Yet, with mindfulness training, attention can be strengthened and protected. As one of the first scientists to research the links between mindfulness and attention, she is known for her pioneering mindfulness work with soldiers, firefighters, medical trainees, and others for whom attention is a matter of life and death. With her book, Peak Mind, she has started bringing her healthy-attention message to parents, CEOs, accountants, teachers, managers—essentially anyone whose work and decision-making feels like life and death. Jha studies how we pay attention: the process by which our brain decides what's important out of the constant stream of information it receives. Both external distractions (like stress) and internal ones (like mind-wandering) diminish our attention's power, Jha says -- but some simple techniques can boost it and train it for greater focus and less distractibility. "Pay attention to your attention," Jha says in a TEDx talk that has more than 5 million views. Jha is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami, and Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative. Working with the U.S. Army and others in extremely high-stress occupations, Jha uses functional MRI, electroencephalography (EEG) and other neurobehavioral measures to study how the brain pays attention, the mental effects of stress, and ways to optimize attention.  In addition to her own published body of research, her work has been featured in many outlets including TED.com, NPR, and Mindful Magazine. In addition, she has been invited to present her work to NATO, the UK Parliament, the Pentagon, and at the World Economic Forum. She received her PhD from the University of California–Davis, and received her postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University in functional neuroimaging. She studies the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion and resilience. Acknowledging the tension between offering mindfulness tools (founded on Buddhist principles of nonviolence) to active military, Jha recalls her own Gandhian roots: “Nonviolence is part of my core philosophical thread. Yet nonviolence does not mean inaction. It doesn’t mean you do nothing. Sometimes what you do to reduce violence and suffering is take action. ,,, [I]f a soldier has a machine gun that can destroy an entire village, I want to make sure that person has the capacity to really know what they’re doing and have full control over their faculties, to be able to withhold as appropriate, not be reactive. So a super soldier in many ways is one that can control when to not pull the trigger, not to just pull the trigger.” Please join Stephanie Nash and Birju Pandya in conversation with this researcher using her gifted scientific mind for action to help reduce suffering.

Prenuvo is an MRI scan that takes an hour and gives you profound insights on your current health, it is one of the most powerful tools I have encountered for optimal health.  They can detect over 500 different types of disease including stage 1 cancers.  I highly recommend getting a scan!  It can change your life!  I am not getting paid for this, nor am I paid if you get a scan, however they are graciously offering my community $300 off their scan:Use code "Peak Mind" for $300 off your scan or call and mention Peak Mindhttp://www.prenuvo.com/PEAKMIND

Simplify Your Sales and Business meetings. Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She has over 36 years of marketing, sales, and leadership experience. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  Lisa coaches leaders on simplifying sales and business meetings with fun and interesting 3-word topics to create a conversation and inspire your sales team.   Episode 181,  7 Powerful questions to ask yourself about this year! We are days away from the new year. I think it is so important that we pause and reflect on the year. The time of year to reflect and gain perspective on what you discovered, learned, and connected to you.   Questions can help design the new year! Taking that time to pause and reflect is so powerful. I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts "On Purpose"  by Jay Shetty, where he shared seven powerful questions you can ask yourself before the year ends.    The questions help you get a clear insight into how this year went, the ups and downs, the special moments, and the things you might want to do away with or carry into next year. I spent time answering the seven questions over the holidays and thought you might find them helpful.     7 Powerful questions to reflect on and end the year with confidence.   What is the challenge that you've overcome this year?   What was something difficult you did or a breakthrough? Maybe something was holding you back, and you did it. It doesn't have to be significant. A follow-up question is, what did you learn from it? What did it teach you or your takeaway? I Experienced Vertigo. I woke up with the room spinning and not able to stand up. I had a strange ear infection that caused it. My takeaway from experiencing Vertigo is that I have compassion for those dealing with this all year. It reiterated to me that our health is everything!   What's a surprise you dealt with this year? Something you were not expecting. The reason is that studies show that reflecting on how you have overcome past challenges helps you process negative experiences in the future. You gain confidence that you navigated through a challenging experience, which will help you face future setbacks. Our dog Dakota passed away unexpectedly. I realized how much joy and happiness our fur kids give us. How heart-connected we are to our pets. How much unconditional love they give us every day.     What is something you bought this year? A tangible thing you bought this year that you love. What did you invest in for yourself? What did you spend money on that made you happy? Something simple I bought was Vurio joggers. Life-changing comfort, and I highly recommend them. Something else I bought was golf lessons. Thank you, Ashley, from Golf Tec, for helping me perfect my golf swing and putting stroke. I shot several times in the 70s because of our sessions. Let's celebrate what we spend money on that makes our lives more enjoyable.    What's the best book/podcast you read/listened to? My favorite book of the year was Peak Mind by Amishi Jha. She teaches you how to find your focus in a world of distractions. My favorite podcasts are On Purpose with Jay Shetty and Dare to Lead by Brene Brown. They teach valuable lessons about health, relationships, leadership, and how we impact others. I love these podcasts because they open my worldview and make me think about my life.   What are your blind spots for next year? We maybe go into recession next year. What can you do today to help you? It enables you to prepare versus avoiding what could happen next year. I know I can't control the economy, but I can control my Behavior and attitude daily. I want to focus on what is possible for our sales team and me. I want to support them. I would also add health again. What can you do each day to live a healthy life?   What made you the happiest this year? It is crucial because we tend to focus on challenging times and lose sight of happy ones. When we actively seek out these happy moments and celebrate them, they connect to our hearts and become points of inspiration in our lives.   The Bengals made it to the Superbowl, which made me happy. Hikes in the woods with Liv and our fur kids. Time with each other talking and appreciating the sounds and smells of nature. Our girl's trips to Hocking Hills and dinners together made me happy. Days of laughing, connecting away from the day-to-day demands. The time spent connecting with these fantastic ladies brings me happiness and gratitude. Who's the person you couldn't have gotten through this year without? From a work perspective Christine Mello, with whom I co-manage the team. I can't imagine this past year without her: her wisdom, support, in it together, and friendship. My wife, Olivia, is so important to me. Liv deeply knows me and my heart. She supports my vision of becoming a better version of myself. Life is better with Liv! It's great to reflect on those who love you profoundly and impact your life. They may not even realize the impact they had on your year. Maybe call or write them a note saying how grateful you are for them.   These questions, I hope you gain insights into the past year. Thought-provoking questions to verify the challenges you overcame because it gives you strength to overcome future challenges. The surprises you dealt with, so you will be better prepared for future surprises. What you spend your money on will remind you where to invest your money. What brought you joy and happiness? What book or podcast you listen to will help you continue your journey of personal growth. Knowing your blind spots prepares you for the future. What made you happy this year is a great reminder to keep doing those things and keep prioritizing those things. Who's that person that you couldn't live without this year?    I am so grateful to you. Thanks for sharing your time with me. I hope you will take the time to reflect on the past year and all you have experienced, learned, overcome, and inspired you.   If you think someone could benefit from this episode, share it, rate it, or subscribe for Free on Itunes or Spotify, so you don't miss out on the next three-word podcast. Learn more about Simplifying Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com. To learn more about Jay Shetty, http://jayshetty.me

National Police Association

¡ATENCIÓN! Este episodio estará disponible sólo por 5 días.  Espero que pueda obtener la información que necesitas y que con ello puedas empezar a reconsiderar la meditación y el mindfulness como parte de tu vida diaria.  Te dejo la liga para inscribirte al evento y no te pierdas los regalos y las sorpresas: bit.ly/quieroaduenarmedemimente  Adicional, puedes descargar aquí el #ebook para comenzar a cultivar #autonomíaconsciente : bit.ly/workbookmm.  ¡Nos vemos mañana! Si quieres aprender más del tema de hoy, te recomiendo el libro de Peak Mind de Amishi Jha

In this month's episode, we again pull back the curtain for a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to be a BookNet staff member. CataList Project Coordinator Vivian Luu, Project Manager and Retailer Liaison Tim Middleton, and Senior Software Engineer Tom Gerrard join this episode to tell us what they do, their favourite part of the job, and what they do when they're not working. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/11/29/podcast-behind-the-scenes-again-at-booknet) Further reading/listening -Podcast: BookNet behind the scenes: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/8/31/podcast-booknet-behind-the-scenes - BNC CataList: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/catalist - The Legend of Drizzt series by R.A. Salvatore: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Drizzt - BNC BiblioShare: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/biblioshare - BNC SalesData: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/salesdata - Peak Mind by Amishi P. Jha: https://bnccatalist.ca/viewtitle.aspx?ean=9780062992154 - The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong: https://bnccatalist.ca/viewtitle.aspx?ean=9780676974669

Your chance to experience what other are enjoying each work day for 10 mins - 6:40am pst. Get your membership and join us!!! It's only $1 per day MIND RESET MEDITATION With DR. CARLA MICHELLE Registration Link

On the 11th episode of Enterprise Software Innovators, hosts Evan Reiser (Abnormal Security) and Saam Motamedi (Greylock Partners) talk with Mel Crocker, Chief Information Officer at Air Canada. As the largest airline in Canada, Air Canada is responsible for tens of millions of passengers every year, flying to destinations across the globe. In his nearly five years at the company, Mel has overseen a range of digital transformation initiatives. Today, he joins the show to share how technology deployment is enhancing the customer experience and his insights on AI, data, and the future of air travel. Quick hits from Mel:On AI helping optimize airplane maintenance processes: "Picture how are you going to track all of your inventory, watch what happens throughout a year, and then preposition the parts where they're probably most needed as time goes on, such that if you do have to cancel an aircraft, you can either fix it very rapidly or if you have to delay a flight, you can fix it very rapidly. or at the very least you've got another aircraft somewhat available. When you're running a complex network, you don't have planes all over the place. That becomes almost unsustainable. You've got to be incredibly thoughtful about maintenance and things like that. That's where we absolutely throw a lot of AI at to try and get very smart at this."On future forms of air travel: "There's no doubt you've seen eVTOL, these electric vehicles or electric vertical takeoff and landing technologies. On a small scale, I think that's quite real. I think people are going to be able to order a flight in the same way that they order an Uber, then go from point A to point B through the air versus on the ground. I don't think it's that far from reality now. There's a lot of companies pushing hard on this, I think it's real."On the complexity of air travel logistics: "We hold some love for rocket scientists, they got to figure this out. It's a one-time, you take off from here, you fly to the moon, you slingshot around, you come back. Well if you think about it, try and do that with 240 aircraft that are going to various destinations. You have to coordinate the passengers with their bags, ideally, then you've got to follow all the regulations from all the different countries to make sure you're not breaking any of those and then right in the middle of it, Russia attacks Ukraine and you have to change your network on the fly and make all this happen. Some days I wish I worked for NASA, it'd be a lot simpler."Recent book recommendation: Peak Mind by Amishi Jha --Like what you hear? Leave us a review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.Find more great lessons from tech leaders and enterprise software experts at enterprisesoftware.blog.Enterprise Software Innovators is produced by Josh Meer, Luke Reiser

You won't do your best work when you are constantly stressed or chronically anxious. That is what Dr. Alicia E. Mckoy discovered as she worked with companies throughout 26 different states. Employees were unwell since balancing work with life is hard. Her solution: A well-being technology that can help employees thrive and be well. This technology is called Peak Mind (joinpeakmind.com) Join us as we discuss overcoming chronic stress, best practices for well-being, and Alicia's journey to founding a tech startup. Find out more about the Learned Opportunity Podcast at danieleccles.com/podcast or you can follow us on Instagram @learnedopportunity For Career Consulting. Podcast Consulting, Public Speaking, or Media Requests, visit DanielEccles.com

In this episode, I define what meditation is, talk about my own (sparse) experience with it so far, give some examples of why it is "good" for us (think improved attention, emotion control and decreased anxiety/depression?). I give a couple of examples of different kinds of meditation and an action item for you all and for me: Try to meditate just 3 minutes each day this week! The book I mention is called Peak Mind, by Dr. Amishi Jha.

Whether you're a pro athlete or in a high-performance field, the pressure to be perfect can be overwhelming. We'll talk to Red Sox player Alex Verdugo about how he has developed his own strategies to stay at the peak of his game – physically and mentally. We'll then talk to an expert Dr. Amishi Jha, PhD, about research-driven methods from her book, Peak Mind that are proven to help people face high-pressure situations head on — no matter what field they're in.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Out of the Clouds, Anne interviews generalist (or jack of all trades) Salman Ansari, also known as the Quick Brown Fox (@DareToRant). The talented writer enjoys wearing many different hats — he is a startup founder, a CTO, a web & iOS engineer, a teacher, an illustrator and DJ, among other things. The two of them start off by talking about Salman's early career, how he ended up leaving Canada to relocate to California to become a startup co-founder, and the importance of meaningful relationships when making bold career moves. Salman explains how a couple of courses, and the popular success among his friends of his blog in college, called Dare to Rant, set him up to start writing online. Salman shares that he discovered that writing essays helped him synthesise the knowledge he was acquiring. Anne then leads him to talk about one particular piece, ‘The Polymath Playbook', which went viral after being tweeted by Tobias Lütke, CEO of Shopify. Salman reflects on how his  personal story (which he almost deleted) had resonated with his readers more than the mental models he'd written about.The two of them geek out about why stories are so fundamental to us as humans, what it means for our inner and outer communication and how to best package ideas so they are easier for readers to consume. Salman is currently working on a book of fables, which he is illustrating as well, so he spends a bit of time telling Anne how that project came about and the importance of having a community who gets to ask ‘what happens next' supporting us when things are getting hard. On that note, he also discusses how to figure out when procrastination is at play or whether we just need to continue to work on a piece. A few years ago, Salman suffered a burnout and he shares how he created a space for himself with meditation.Then they discuss at length how mindfulness combined with journaling and walking were complementary resources that, in his words, made it impossible for him to gaslight himself, thereby enabling him to make the hard choice to walk away from a job he no longer loved doing. A wide-ranging, inspiring and profound interview, happy listening!  ***You can find Salman at https://salman.io/On twitter @ https://twitter.com/daretorantOn Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/salmanscribbles/On Youtube @https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRy_uuWSw_z0g_xav4ZUA0Q/videos?view=0&sort=pSalman's blog is https://salman.io/blog/and you can read the Polymath Playbook here https://salman.io/blog/polymath-playbook/David Perell - https://perell.com/Write of Passage course - https://writeofpassage.school/Seth Godin's blog - https://seths.blog/Writing in Community, the Akimbo course - https://akimbo.com/writingincommunityWill Storr's book, The Science of Storytelling - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43183121-the-science-of-storytellingRobert McKee's book, Story - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48654.Story?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=PjTpcJtnyL&rank=1Amishi Jha's book, Peak Mind - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55200359-peak-mind?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=P738uo7wz4&rank=1The Little Prince, book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157993.The_Little_Prince?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=wgzPcETJAK&rank=1Elizabeth Gilbert's book Big Magic - https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/books/big-magic/The talk by Elizabeth Gilbert Anne and Salman talk about - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSsMjI1OcgMThe course 'Psychology for Writers'Rest by Alex Soojung-Kim  Pang - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29502354-restAndy's notes - https://notes.andymatuschak.org/About_these_notesThe Spotify playlist of Out of the Clouds's guests answering: what song best represents you - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Viqm1uiiHtM5Y0FwTCtFR?si=1d27a0529d65454a*** If you enjoyed this episode, click subscribe for more, and consider writing a review of the show on Apple Podcasts, we really appreciate your support and feedback, thank you  so much for listening! For all notes and transcripts, please visit Out Of The Clouds on Simplecast - https://out-of-the-clouds.simplecast.com/  Sign up for Anne's email newsletter for more from Out of the Clouds at https://annevmuhlethaler.com. Follow Anne: Twitter: @annvi  IG: @_outoftheclouds 

Sometimes it seems our focus is everywhere except where we need it to be, and with the many demands on our attention in the office and at home, it can be difficult to decide where and how to direct our limited energies. How do we hone our attention skills to improve productivity and relish the present moment — all at once? In this episode, Kendall Kazor, part of Google's People Development team, interviews Dr. Amishi Jha, a psychology professor and director of the Contemplative Neuroscience UMindfulness Initiative at the University of Miami and a leading expert on focus and attention. They're joined by mental performance coach Lauren Johnson. Together, they discuss key takeaways from Jha's bestselling book “Peak Mind,” and teach us how to train our awareness for peak performance. Follow Amishi on Twitter @amishijha and get a copy of her book Peak Mind, and learn more about her latest research at amishi.com Follow Lauren on Twitter @_laurenjohnson_ and sign up for her Mid-Week Mindset Newsletter. Full Transcript: https://bit.ly/3QB1I9m DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions expressed by the guest speakers are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Google, Inc. Google does not endorse any products or technology presented by the guest speakers.

Back in the 1960s, doctors were not yet aware that physical exercise could improve cardiovascular health. Flash forward to today and scientists are proving that with the right mental training, we can change the structure of our brains resulting in improved memory, strengthened focus, better decision making, and even reduced stress and anxiety.Many of these studies have been conducted on groups of people who work in what are identified as “High-Demand” professions including soldiers and athletes. We know that the practice of law easily falls into this high-demand designation, so today we have brought in an expert to educate us on how we can integrate brain training into our lives in the same way we use a regular exercise program to strengthen our bodies. Dr. Amishi Jha is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California–Davis and postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University. Dr. Jha's work has been featured at TED, NATO, the World Economic Forum, and The Pentagon. She has received coverage in the New York Times, NPR, TIME, and Forbes. She is also the author of the national bestseller, Peak Mind, Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention.This podcast has been approved by The Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Department for 1 hour of General CLE credit including 1 hour of Mental Illness CLE credit. Course #­­5975.REFERENCED RESOURCES:Amishi.comamishi.com/books/peak-mind

Research shows we are missing 50 percent of our lives.  Why? Because we aren't paying attention.  From the constant buzz of your phone and the lure of your media feed to your unrelenting, all-encompassing, and ever-growing mental to-do list – the demands on your attention have never been so severe.   In PEAK MIND, Dr. Amishi P. Jha reveals remarkably easy-to-adapt, flexible, 12-minute-a-day exercises to lift the mental fog, declutter the mind, and strengthen focus so that you can experience more of your life.  Acclaimed neuroscientist, Amishi P. Jha, PhD, has dedicated her life's work to understanding the science of attention at every level – from brain imaging studies in a lab to field testing soldiers, athletes, students and firefighters.  Her work has been featured at TED, NATO, the World Economic Forum and The Pentagon. 

The theme of this practice is Meditation - borne from reading "Peak Mind" by Amishi Jha. Recorded live at All Y'All Yoga in Tampa, FL.

In PEAK MIND, Dr. Amishi P. Jha reveals remarkably easy-to-adapt, flexible, 12-minute-a-day exercises to lift the mental fog, declutter the mind, and strengthen focus so that you can experience more of your life. Acclaimed neuroscientist, Amishi P. Jha, PhD, has dedicated her life's work to understanding the science of attention at every level – from brain imaging studies in a lab to field testing soldiers, athletes, students and firefighters. Her work has been featured at TED, NATO, the World Economic Forum and The Pentagon.KPOV High Desert Community Radio is a listener-supported, volunteer-powered community radio station that broadcasts at 88.9 FM and online at www.kpov.org. KPOV offers locally produced programs and the most diverse music in Central Oregon.Listen live and learn more: www.kpov.org. Connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/kpovbend

Today we are talking about Mindfulness and the science that lets us know how it works and how we can understand it better so that it may work better for us.  I will be sharing what I learned from Dr. Amishi Jha's new book - “Peak Mind  - Find Your Focus - Own Your Attention - Invest 12 Minutes a Day”. Amishi says in her book that “Mindfulness is the capacity to be PRESENT: to take in an experience without elaboration, judgment, or reactivity allowing us to absorb, learn and discern so much more clearly and effectively than we would otherwise.” This masterful definition set the stage for what compelled me to dive deep into this topic and to begin a practice of mindfulness to sharpen my mind.And the mindfulness practice - being present in the moment - allows us to give each experience the attention it deserves.  And when we do this we can live with a “Peak Mind” as Amishi puts it. The peak mind allows us to live fully in the face of all of our ups and downs, the joys and the sorrows, the pleasure and the pain.  This mindset allows us to be more resilient - more adaptable.  Dr. Amishi Jha website:https://amishi.com/ Mindful Moment with Teresa McKee Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-mindful-moment/id1441828050 

Simplify Your Sales and Business meetings. Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She has over 35 years of marketing, sales, and leadership experience. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  Lisa coaches leaders on simplifying sales and business meetings with fun and interesting 3-word topics to get your sales team motivated and inspired.   Episode 146, Why we all need a flashlight!   I have a question for you? Have you found yourself juggling multiple projects and finding it hard to focus? Do you have trouble remembering things or situations?  How do you prioritize which task to complete first?   I will share a few things I learned that you might find helpful to help you focus. I was listening to Brene Browns Podcast Dare To Lead. Her guest was Dr. Amishi Jha. A neuroscientist and author of Peak Mind's bestseller talks about attention, focus, and concentration. She shares how Three parts of our mind work together to direct our focus, widen, and make us receptive to incoming information.   Ever wonder why you choose to remember some things and forget other things?    My Twin sister Lynn and I just celebrated a birthday. We were sharing childhood experiences. She remembers everything, and I had a hard time recalling it. She remembered more about certain situations because she was paying more attention than I was. What I have come to realize through the book Peak Mind is that the first step to memory is attention. It's a process called "Press record," This idea is that we need to pay attention to have it go into long-term memory.    So, What is Focus? It's our attention!   Have you ever experienced driving down the expressway, listening to your favorite radio station, and suddenly seeing red headlights? Then we quickly turn down the music for just a second to figure out what's going on." Why do we do that? Because this situation has your attention - your focus! As if turning down the music is going to change the situation.    You become alert, and you're receptive. If something does happen, you can take action fast because you're ready for it; you're in a readied state. I learned that the definition of attention is prioritizing some information over additional information; focusing is about prioritizing some content over other content. Alerting is about focusing on the present moment now. What is important is right now.   So, what happens when we multitask? Multitasking is not a thing. What we do in the brain is something called "task-switching."    A great metaphor is that a flashlight represents where you focus. We don't have flashlights; we have a flashlight. And what you say when you say multitasking, it's like, I got four flashlights, I got them pointing in all these different directions at once. That is not how it works. You may have several focuses, but only one of them will have your singular focus first.    For example, I can walk and talk simultaneously; walking doesn't require any attention if I have a deep conversation with somebody because the brain is programmed to walk. So, I can speak effortlessly or think because I am not trying to figure out how to walk. But now, if I put myself on a ledge or a cliff, and I said, "Alert -pay attention," suddenly I am in a different situation because now, that very automatic act of walking requires my attention.    So multitasking is a myth because it's impossible when we think we're doing multiple things at once. We are only engaged in one task at a time. Then we disengage in the task, move into the other task, then disengage, and then move it again, so we're doing task switches repeatedly.   The attention system exists to solve one of your brain's biggest problems: there is far too much information in the environment for our brain to process fully. Our brain uses attention to filter out both the unnecessary noise and chatter around us and the background thoughts and distractions that constantly come up to the surface of our mind.   All-day, our attention system is in action: In the office, in meetings, while we are driving, the five windows you have opened on our computer, your phone with multiple texts, all those distractions.   Attention is so powerful and is our "Brains boss" because attention guides how information gets processed in our brains. We become challenged by the constant stream of information we ask our brains to process. At times, we feel overwhelmed and distracted, which no one likes this feeling. So what can you do?    It is all about Mindfulness! We take a deep breath and focus our Flashlight. We pay attention to present-moment experiences without reacting. We have to focus our attention on what's happening at that moment.   So, the first step is to point your Flashlight to something, focus, direct your attention. The second step is to notice, "Where am I right now? Where is my mind?" If your mind begins to wander away, you can't clear it because stuff will come up, so give yourself a break if you've noticed your mind has strayed away. Find your Flashlight and bring it back.   Follow these three words to focus when you feel like your attention is getting pulled in multiple directions. Focus, Notice, Redirect your attention, and shine your Flashlight to where you want your attention to go!    If you think someone could benefit from this episode, share it, rate it, or subscribe for Free at Itunes or Spotify, so you don't miss out on the next three-word podcast.   Learn more about Simplifying Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com.   To hear Brene Brown's podcast with Dr. Amishi Jha click below: https://brenebrown.com/podcast/finding-focus-and-owning-your-attention/    

Check out our sponsors: ButcherBox: Sign up at ButcherBox.com/impact Future makes one on one training available to our audience for just $19 Go to https://tryfuture.co/impacttheory Sign up to crush your fitness goals!My amazing and talented wife Lisa is releasing her new book Radical Confidence, which you can preorder - and get the bonuses she's created for you - at radicalconfidence.com. When you read this book, Lisa will teach you 10 No-BS Life Lessons to become the hero of your own life and take MASSIVE bold action to achieve your potential!When you are committed to hitting major goals, experiencing life on the next level, and showing up as a better version of yourself, being able to focus becomes a critical skill. Being able to give your full attention to what matters in the moment is necessary whether your focus is work or involves being present in a conversation. Amishi Jha is a professor of psychology at University of Miami and author of the new book, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day. She is unpacking why your wandering mind isn't as big a problem as you think, how memories are formed and stories are ultimately created and stitched together to create our version of reality. If you're struggling with being distracted, the different types of practices Amishi shares will give you a place to start immediately!Check out Amishi Jha's book, Peak Mind: https://www.amazon.com/Peak-Mind-Attention-Invest-Minutes-ebook/dp/B08THNJ978 SHOW NOTES:0:00 | Introduction to Amishi Jha0:52 | Why Mind Wandering Happens4:13 | Memories and Neural Configuration13:20 | Assigning Meaning to Dreams16:20 | Accurate or Altered Memories21:11 | Nostalgic Story Making 28:53 | Risky Story Making34:31 | Break Story Mode39:34 | Developing Meta Awareness47:06 | Constructing Reality53:07 | The Power of Mindfulness1:02:07 | How to Practice Being Mindful1:11:14 | Types of Mindfulness Practice1:17:01 | Why Positivity Doesn't Work1:24:27 | Loving KindnessQUOTES:“There is no objectivity in the way we remember. There's no point of that. The point of memory is to support our actions in the future.” [20:14]“My caution regarding stories is in our drive, in our desire to make something have meaning, [..] I may lose some aspect of what is useful and what is true.” [29:58]“When we take an observational stance, we can actually see the structure of the story, and that is very powerful.” [38:57]“In your pocket at all times, is the ability to let it go.” Tom Bilyeu [57:02]“Unless we are actively keeping the contents of our conscious experience, refreshed and rewritten moment by moment, they will fade away.” [58:36]Follow Amishi Jha: Website: https://amishi.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AmishiPJha Twitter: https://twitter.com/amishijha Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amishipjha/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amishi.jha

Dr. Amishi Jha is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. She serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California–Davis and postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University. Dr. Jha's work has been featured at NATO, the World Economic Forum, and The Pentagon. She has received coverage in The New York Times, NPR, TIME, Forbes, and more. In this episode, Eric and Dr. Amishi Jha discuss her new book, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 minutes a DayBut wait – there's more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It's that simple and we'll give you good stuff as a thank you!Dr. Amishi Jha and I Discuss Peak Mind and Attention Training and...Her book, Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 minutes a DayDefining "peak mind" and the distinction between thinking and doingThe doing mode and being modeThe being mode is being observant and receptive to what is happeningWisdom is both reflection and actionThe different modes of the brain and their functionsHow we prioritize information based on our goals that then guide how we interact with our mind and environmentHow our attention itself isn't the problem, but rather how we monitor our attention that is problematicThe effectiveness of 12 minutes of a mindfulness practice every dayS.T.O.P. practice: Stop, Take a breathe, Observe, ProceedUnderstanding our framework and how we can reframe and deframe our experiences The problem with positive psychology tactics when you're depletedHow negative feelings or conflict is an opportunity to observe and course correctThe various microstates of the mind and their contingency on our next thoughts and actionsDr. Amishi Jha Links:Amishi's WebsiteTwitterInstagramFacebookExplore the science behind weight loss and partner with your healthcare provider for a healthy approach to your weight management, visit truthaboutweight.comWhen you purchase products and/or services from the sponsors of this episode, you help support The One You Feed. Your support is greatly appreciated, thank you!If you enjoyed this conversation with Dr. Amishi Jha you might also enjoy these other episodes:Stolen Focus and Attention with Johann HariHow to Focus and Accomplish Goals with Emily BalcetisSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Dr. Amishi Jha joins the conversation. Dr. Amishi Jha is the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami. With grants from the Department of Defense and several private foundations, she leads research on the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion, resilience, and performance. Dr. Jha recently published her first book, Peak Mind, and her work has been featured in many outlets including TED.com, NPR, and the Armchair Expert podcast. She has been invited to present her work to NATO, the UK Parliament, the Pentagon, and at the World Economic Forum. Keith begins the episode with a courage reflection practice. Then, he and Dr. Jha discuss: 5:20 - How Dr. Jha understands, trains, and studies attention.11:20 - How social media can hijack our sense of autonomy and choice. 13:41 - Three factors that cause attention to fail. 17:30 - The surprising truth about what stress inoculation training in the military and sports preseason camps can do to attention and well-being. 28:00 - How mindfulness is more than just another "mental skill."37:35 - How Dr. Jha's attention training is structured. Social Media Mentioned:Twitter: @mindfulsportdoc, @amishijhaInstagram: @mindful_sport_podcast, @amishipjha, @umindfulnessYouTube: Mindful Sport Performance Podcast Websites Mentioned: https://amishi.com/www.mindfulsportperformance.org www.enduromind.comRemember to rate our podcast and subscribe to our YouTube Channel! Very much appreciated, Keith & Tim

Flashlight(based on content) - intense focus on one thing Flood light(alerting system)time - broader picture of focus, allows whatever comes up, in the now, something may happen be ready for it. Executive Control - whiteboard(working memory) manager, selecting based on your goals, inhibiting irrelevant information References Dr. Amishi P. Jha, PHD - book: Peak Mind - youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpsMXLsUZM Dr. Gabor Mate - book: Scattered Minds

Dr. Amishi Jha, PhD is Director of Contemplative Neuroscience and Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami. Prior to her current post, she was an Assistant Professor at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her B.S in Biological Psychology from the University of Michigan, her Ph.D in Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience) from the University of California–Davis, and her post-doctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University in functional neuroimaging.With grants from the Department of Defense and several private foundations, she leads research on the neural bases of attention and the effects of mindfulness-based training programs on cognition, emotion, resilience, and performance in education, corporate, elite sports, first-responder, and military contexts.In addition to her own published body of research, her work has been featured in many outlets including TED.com, NPR, and Mindful Magazine. In addition, she has been invited to present her work to NATO, the UK Parliament, the Pentagon, and at the World Economic Forum. In her book, Peak Mind, she shares her discoveries on how attention can be trained for optimal performance and well-being.

Dr. Amishi Jha, professor of psychology and Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative joins us this week to discuss what mindfulness is and how we can take steps in order to incorporate it into our lives.Follow Dr. Jhahttps://amishi.com/ Follow Us:Instagram: www.instagram.com/candicekayla/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/CandiceKayla Website: www.candicekayla.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dr. Amishi Jha is a neuroscientist and professor of psychology at the University of Miami. Amishi joins the Armchair Expert to discuss growing up as an Indian-American in Chicago, why she started studying neuroscience, and her new book "Peak Mind". Amishi and Dax talk about what percentage of the brain we actually use, how people use confirmation bias to write their own story, and the power of attention on our perception of the world. Amishi explains how she manages her nervousness and anxiety, what the study of mindfulness actually is, and how she defines attentional rubber necking. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Donna Gabriel talks with neuroscientist, Dr. Amishi Jha, who provides her expert perspective on the influence of stress on attention, working memory, and learning and discusses how mindfulness can foster cognitive resilience, which is critical in healthcare. Additionally, Dr. Jha shares her thoughts on how mindfulness might be incorporated into clinical education.During this episode, you will learn about:  The power of attention and the science behind why our minds wander What flashlights and whiteboards have to do with attention and working memory The effects of stress on long-term memory and consequences for healthcare The role of mindfulness in cognitive resilience and its practical application in healthcare  Dr. Jha's upcoming book, Peak Mind, available for purchase in October 2021 Med-IQ is a leading provider of clinical and risk management education, consulting services, and quality improvement solutions, empowering individuals at every level of the healthcare delivery system with the knowledge they need to continuously improve provider performance and patient outcomesThis information is intended to provide general information (or education). It is not intended and should not be construed as legal or medical advice.Music and lyrics:  Nancy Burger and Scott Weber 

This episode's Insight segment centers around the topic of common perceptions about veterans in the media and in our community. Our guest interview is with Clinical Psychologist Dr. Emily Rademan from Peak Mind Consulting and the Resource of the Week features the Pikes Peak Workforce Center.

My guest today is Michael Trainer, a biohacker and social impact entrepreneur making a huge difference in the world. He is the co-creator of Global Citizen, a movement dedicated to ending extreme poverty. He’s also the creator of Peak Mind, which brings together thought leaders to inspire a new vision of leadership. As you can …

My guest today is Michael Trainer, a biohacker and social impact entrepreneur making a huge difference in the world. He is the co-creator of Global Citizen, a movement dedicated to ending extreme poverty. He’s also the creator of Peak Mind, which brings together thought leaders to inspire a new vision of leadership. As you can …