The Link between Physical Fitness and Happiness: Simple Strategies for Improved Mobility: Incorporating little movements into your daily routine can improve vital signs and mobility, leading to greater happiness. Built to Move offers ten tests and practices for assessing and improving physical fitness, without the need for formal exercise.
Physical fitness is linked to happiness. If your body is in pain or has mobility issues, it can impinge upon your happiness. Simple ways to keep your body durable and improve mobility can be done outside of formal exercise periods. Kelly and Juliet Starrett, the authors of Built to Move, suggest ten tests and ten practices to assess and improve vital signs. These vital signs improve mobility, which in turn will lead to a happier life. Starting with little movements and working up to what works for your body can be a great way to transition to a more active lifestyle. There are many opportunities throughout the day to move and improve your mobility, without even needing to get sweaty.
Simplifying Movement Behavior and High Performance Principles for Everyday People.: Kelly and Juliet Starrett aim to bring health and fitness principles to everyday people, helping them manage stress, be durable in their bodies, and be ready for whatever life throws their way physically. Their approach is geared towards making health and fitness accessible to all.
The fitness industry has failed to make health and fitness accessible and applicable to the majority of people, resulting in worsening health metrics. Kelly and Juliet Starrett aim to simplify complex movement behavior and bring high performance principles to everyday people. Their goal is to help people make sense of their lives, be durable in their bodies, manage stress and be ready for whatever life throws their way physically. They believe that everyone, regardless of their interest level in fitness and health, cares about their health and that the principles and practices of high performance can be applied to everyday people. Their approach is geared towards making health and fitness accessible to all.
Re-imagining Fitness as a Capability-based Approach: To prioritize and integrate various physical behaviors, people should focus on re-imagining fitness as a capability-based approach, using vital signs as objective benchmarks for self-assessment, and gradually improving inputs and outputs.
People are confused about the messages being sent by the fitness industrial complex and are unsure of what to prioritize and how to fit those things into their busy lives. Misrepresented ideas about fitness as a one-hour chunk and the culture's influence on health behaviors have added to the confusion. To address this, people need to re-imagine what physical practice looks like, where they can integrate behaviors that all contribute to a more capable body and brain. It is essential to have objective benchmarks like vital signs for self-assessment, which can be managed at home across physical behaviors and mobility assessments. Re-empowering people with vital signs as benchmarks can provide a better understanding of inputs and outputs and help in improving their health.
Fundamentals of Performance Improvement for Everyone: High performance can be achieved by implementing scalable and accessible practices in our daily lives. Focus on basic practices, test and retest to see the difference in overall performance. Democratize health and fitness for everyone.
The authors of the book have worked with high performers and have tested and retested basic practices with them that can improve overall performance. These practices are scalable to everyday people and can help them understand their physical capacity. The authors have waded through information overload and have figured out the fundamentals and most important things that actually matter. They believe that everyday people can implement these practices in their regular lives and improve their health and fitness. To democratize health and fitness, we need to focus on practices that scale and are accessible to everyone. It's important to focus on basic practices that we can test and retest to see a difference in overall performance.
Achieving optimal health by focusing on physical and behavioral vital signs.: Exercise alone is not enough for physical well-being, it's important to focus on other vital signs including mobility, sleep, breathing, and nutrition to live a holistic life and achieve optimal health.
While exercise is important, it's not enough to ensure physical wellbeing. The other 23 hours in the day are just as crucial. People in blue zones with lower morbidity and mortality rates focus on living a holistic life by incorporating practices like being in strong communities, walking around, and eating whole foods. The book 'The Ready State' proposes 10 tests to determine physical vitality, which are interconnected with each other. It's a combination of physical vital signs like mobility, as well as behavioral vital signs like sleep, breathing, and nutrition. One physical vital sign is the sit and rise test, which measures a person's ability to move through their environment the way they were meant to. It's essential to be aware of all these vital signs and how they influence each other to achieve optimal health.
Assess Your Future Movement with This Easy Test.: Sitting on the ground independently reflects your future ability to move. Practice regularly to improve hip range of motion and overall movement, which can prevent the need for a nursing home.
Sitting on the ground is an easy test that can show how well you will move in the future. If you cannot get up and down off the ground independently, you might end up in a nursing home. This test does not require full hip or ankle range of motion, and anyone can do it. You can practice by slowly working your way to achieving the position, and spending time sitting on the floor in a range of positions. Watching TV in the evenings and naturally moving from position to position can help buffer sitting on the ground, ultimately improving your hip range of motion and overall movement capacity.
Practicing Mobility for Increased Pain Relief and Functionality: Regular practice of getting up and down off the floor and holding a seated position for 30 minutes can improve mobility and decrease pain, making daily movements and physical activities easier and more enjoyable.
Practicing getting up and down off the floor and sitting for 30 minutes a day can increase mobility and decrease pain, and can be done at home without the need to go to a class. Sitting on the ground should be a non-political conversation and a safe position that should be valued. Muscles and tissues are like obedient dogs and exposure to fundamental positions and shapes can make your body feel better. Mobility means being able to move your body freely without pain and achieving physical capacity is very individual. Practicing mobility can help with physical activities like gardening, meditation, mountain biking, and skiing.
The Importance of Maintaining Hip Range of Motion for Long-Term Physical Abilities.: Incorporating simple practices like breathing, walking, and exercises that expose the tissues to their full range of motion can help maintain hip mobility and prevent common ailments like low back pain, hip arthritis, and joint replacements. Being mindful of hip mobility in our daily life can keep us physically capable and reduce our risk of developing painful ailments.
Maintaining hip range of motion is crucial for maintaining physical abilities and preventing common ailments like low back pain, hip arthritis, and joint replacements as we age. Cultures that require more range of motion for daily activities have lower rates of these ailments. We can maintain hip range of motion through simple practices like breathing, walking, and exercises that expose the tissues to their full range of motion positions. Practicing these skills helps us maintain our physical abilities throughout our lives. It's easy to neglect these practices in our modern sedentary lifestyle, but being mindful of our hip mobility can lower our chances of developing painful ailments and keep us physically capable.
Why Walking is the Key to Improved Health and Well-being: Walking is a simple, accessible behavior that can not only improve physical health by aiding in weight management, reducing chronic pain, and aiding in sleep, but also lead to mindfulness and breath practice, improving mental well-being.
Walking is a universally useful behavior that allows the body to decongest and clear waste through muscle contraction. It is also accessible to most people and can help manage weight throughout a lifetime. Even short walks can be beneficial, especially for those with chronic pain or persistent pain. Walking can also lead to mindfulness or breath practice, and can accumulate non-exercise activity fatigue, which aids in falling and staying asleep. Most people walk about two to 3000 steps a day, and smartphones have built-in pedometers to track steps. Making walking a regular part of daily life can improve overall health and well-being.
The Importance of Non-Exercise Activity for Better Health: Moving more throughout the day by taking short bursts of activity can lead to better health and longevity. Walking at least 8,000 steps a day can reduce all cause mortality by 50%, and adding an additional 5,000 steps on top of everyday activities can be achievable and beneficial.
The goal is to encourage people to move more throughout the day and not just rely on one hour of formal exercise. Walking at least 8,000 steps a day can reduce all cause mortality by 50% and can be achieved through short bursts of activity throughout the day. The 10,000 steps goal was originally a marketing scheme and can feel unattainable for many people. Being intentional about accumulating an additional 5,000 steps on top of everyday activities can lead to better health and longevity. An important point to note is that non-exercise activity is core to better health, and is independent of exercise which is why exercise is kept separate from the book.
Small Movements, Big Benefits: Why Walking is Crucial for Overall Health and Balance: Walking doesn't have to be a big task. Incorporating short walks into your daily routine can have many benefits, including better sleep, digestion, and balance. These behaviors are important at all stages of life, and can reduce fall risk as we age.
Little chunks of movement like walking after meals, taking short walks during breaks, and having walking meetings can add up to significant health benefits, including better sleep, digestion, and balance. These behaviors can be applied to people of all ages, including children. The Old Man Balance Test is a great way to assess and improve balance, which becomes increasingly important as we age. Looking at all the things leading up to sleep, such as total movement during the day, is crucial for optimizing sleep and overall health. Making small changes like accumulating steps and prioritizing movement can have a big impact on our well-being, and even reduce fall risk for the aging population.
Improving Balance through Simple Exercises: Practice balance exercises daily to improve and maintain this essential skill. Start small with simple activities like standing on one leg, and incorporate balance exercises into daily routines to prevent falls and maintain stability.
Balance is an innate skill that can be trained and improved with practice. Simple daily exercises like standing on one leg, putting on socks and shoes while balancing, and the SOLEC test can help improve balance and prevent falls, especially in older populations. Waiting until balance is severely affected may be too late. Balance is a use it or lose it skill, as seen with the example of Kelly's mom who lost the ability to ride a bike due to lack of balance. Incorporating balance exercises into daily routines, like brushing teeth, can help maintain and improve this skill. Visual cues play a big role in balance, which is why losing them can lead to difficulty in balancing.
Maintaining physical balance and proper nutrition for optimal health.: Practicing simple balance exercises and prioritizing protein intake can benefit one's physical fitness, regardless of dietary habits influenced by culture and ethics.
Balance is an important aspect of physical health, and incorporating simple practices can help maintain it both now and as we age. These practices can include simple balance exercises like standing on one leg, using a slack block, and scoring them through tests. Nutrition is also a vital part of physical fitness, and while there are many diets out there, it's essential to prioritize the intake of protein regardless of the eating habits followed. Juliet and Kelly Starrett have also emphasized that they are agnostic about the way people eat, and various factors like culture and ethics shape everyone's dietary choices.
The Importance of Balance between Healthy Eating and Social Connections: Incorporating fruits and vegetables in a diverse diet is crucial for overall health, but sacrificing social connections and dining experiences for extreme weight loss is not worth it. Connection and community are essential health habits that should not be overlooked.
Incorporating more whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, is essential for a healthy diet. Eating 800 grams of fruits and vegetables every day can decrease all-cause mortality and morbidity. A diet with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, protein sources, fermented foods, and whole milk dairy products is universal among all cultures and has been followed since the dawn of man. Getting extremely lean may mean sacrificing social connections and dining experiences, which are essential for human beings to commune and connect. Feeling good in one's body and being able to engage in physical activities are more important than having shredded abs. Connection and community are crucial health habits that should not be sacrificed in the pursuit of an ideal body composition.
A Holistic Approach to Nutrition and Wellbeing: By prioritizing nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables and consuming adequate protein, individuals can fuel their bodies effectively. Additionally, optimizing sleep based on individual needs and goals can promote overall wellbeing.
The approach to nutrition in the discussed book is expansive, creates space for people to enjoy food with family and friends, and does not restrict certain foods as other diets do. The recommended practice is to eat 800 grams of fruits and vegetables a day, with no limits on which foods to choose. The protein recommendation is to consume 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight to preserve lean muscle mass. These guidelines can help people realize that they may have been under fueling with unhealthy, nutrient-poor foods and prompt them to fuel their body effectively. In terms of sleep, it's a personal choice, and the book focuses on providing tools to optimize sleep based on individual needs and goals.
The Importance of Sleep and its Impact on Overall Health: Getting at least seven hours of quality sleep is crucial for good health. Tracking sleep can provide insights, but prioritizing habits like food intake and caffeine consumption can improve the quality of sleep, which is the foundation for better health.
Getting seven hours of sleep is the minimum due diligence required for our bodies to maintain good health. Most people get less than six hours of sleep and suffer from chronic pain, poor body composition, and physical discomfort. Therefore, it is important to track your sleep and aim for at least seven hours of sleep every night. Sleep is a keystone habit, meaning it is the foundation for all other habits that contribute to better health. While tracking sleep provides interesting data and insights, it is the quality of sleep that matters most, and people should prioritize factors like food intake and caffeine consumption that impact the quality of sleep.
The Importance of Sleep and Breathing Practices for Optimal Performance and Productivity: Prioritizing adequate sleep is crucial for optimal performance. Breathing practices like soft tissue mobilization can improve CO2 tolerance and reduce the frequency of breathing, allowing for better sleep and productivity.
Getting adequate sleep is essential for optimal performance and productivity. Olympians sleep for at least nine hours, and it's important for both adults and children to prioritize sleep. We should avoid devaluing and bragging about not sleeping. Many people have high levels of non-exercise fatigue, which can help them fall asleep and stay asleep, and the accumulated sleep pressure might strictly limit the intake of alcohol. Breathing practices like the Body Oxygen Level Test can help improve CO2 tolerance and reduce the frequency of breathing. An important practice to encourage good breathing is soft tissue mobilization work, which creates space in the body to breathe comfortably.
Incorporating Nose-Only Breathing Practice into Daily Activities for Improved Diaphragm Function: Even small intentional breathing practices during daily activities like walking or warming up can improve overall health. Prioritizing nose-only breathing and breath holds can enhance diaphragm function and ventilation.
Incorporating nose-only breathing practice into daily activities like walking or warming up for a workout can improve diaphragm function and overall ventilation. It also helps to add breathing practices during mobility work, which can compound the benefits. While it may be difficult to find an hour for breathing practice, prioritizing intentional breathing practices throughout the day can lead to tangible improvements in overall health. The Starretts suggest taking a ten-second inhale, holding it as long as possible while walking, and then breathing only through the nose. Mouth breathing can lead to shallow breathing and decreased ventilation, and using breath holds while walking can improve access to diaphragm function.
An Owner’s Manual for Your Body | Juliet and Kelly Starrett
Recent Episodes from Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris
I Just Did A 10-Day Silent Meditation Retreat With Joseph Goldstein. Here’s What I Learned
Meditation retreats are the object of much intrigue and even suspicion. So today, we’re going to take you inside a 10-day silent meditation retreat that Dan recently did with his teacher, Joseph Goldstein. You’ll also hear from Senior Producer, Marissa Schneiderman, who was fresh off a retreat of her own, with meditation teachers Alexis Santos and Andrea Fella.
In this episode we talk about:
- The ups and downs of retreats
- Some famous Buddhist listicles, including the five hindrances
- The importance of repetition
- We’ll hear snippets of Joseph answering Dan’s questions
- We find out what “cowboy dharma” is
- What it feels like to wear shit colored glasses
- How to stop getting caught in a mind trap
- And lastly, we listen to voicemails and answer audience questions!
Related Episodes:
#377. A More Relaxed Way to Meditate | Alexis Santos
#327 Uprooting Your Delusions | Andrea Fella
How to Take Risks (an Experimental Episode) | Marissa Schneiderman
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Modern Life Numbs You. Here’s The Neuroscience Of Waking Up | Tali Sharot
It’s so easy, especially these days, to numb out. To get bored. To move through life on autopilot. There is even a scientific term for this: habituation.
Today we’re talking to a researcher who co-authored a new book about the neuroscience of habit and how to wake up again. To make things exciting. Or as she says, to “re-sparkle”.
Tali Sharot is a professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London and MIT. She’s written several books including The Optimism Bias and The Influential Mind. Her latest, co-written with Cass Sunstein, is called Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There.
In this episode we talk about:
- What habituation is and what’s going on in the brain when it happens
- How it negatively impacts the joy we feel in life – and inversely – how it can make us stop noticing the bad stuff
- Key strategies for disrupting habituation and introducing change and variety into your life
- The interesting relationship between creativity and people who habituate slowly
- How habituation impacts our relationships
- Why it’s important to break up the good experiences, but swallow the bad whole.
- How to wake up from a “technologically induced coma”
- How people emotionally habituate to dishonesty and lying
- And lastly, we talk about the dangers of habituating to a slow, incremental rise in tyranny – and how dis-habituation entrepreneurs can help
Related Episodes:
#345 How to Change Your Habits | Katy Milkman
Making and Breaking Habits, Sanely | Kelly McGonigal
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A Reformed Skeptic Leads A Loving-Kindness Meditation | A Meditation Party Retreat Bonus with Dan Harris
Recorded live at the Omega Institute, Dan leads us through a loving-kindness meditation, followed by discussion with retreat co-leaders Jeff Warren and Sebene Selassie.
For more information on the next upcoming Meditation Party retreat, including scholarships available for BIPOC participants, visit Omega Institute.
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How to Avoid the Toilet Vortex of Anxiety | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
We also talk about: whether it is possible to be a failed meditator; grief versus mourning; and meditation tips for parents.
Sebene Selassie is a writer, teacher, and speaker who leads meditation, creativity, and nature-based practices for personal & collective liberation. Using ancient wisdom and modern science mixed with her own relational and relatable style, Sebene helps spiritually curious people explore the profound and sacred truth of belonging. She is trained as a meditation teacher, an integral coach, a practitioner of Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy for Complex Trauma (IFOT), and is a licensed hiking guide in New York State. She has taught classes, workshops and retreats online and in person for almost fifteen years. Sebene is a devoted student of mystic traditions, including astrology, and writes the popular newsletter Ancestors to Elements. Her first book, You Belong: A Call for Connection, is published by HarperOne.
Jeff Warren is a meditation instructor and writer, known for his dynamic and accessible style of teaching. He is the co-author of The New York Times best-selling Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, founder of the nonprofit Consciousness Explorers Club, and co-host of the Mind Bod Adventure Pod. Jeff's Do Nothing Project streams for free every Sunday night on YouTube; his guided meditations reach millions of people through the Ten Percent Happier and Calm apps, as well as through his Substack, Home Base.
Jeff’s mission is to empower people to care for their mental health, through the realistic, intelligent and sometimes irreverent exploration of meditation and personal growth practices. As someone with both ADHD and bipolar, he is big on destigmatizing mental health issues, and championing a neurodiverse outlook on life and practice.
Tascha Schumann is a Buddhist Lama, writer, visual artist, co-host of The Mind Bod Adventure Pod, and Juno-nominated recording artist whose work has been streamed many millions of times around the world.
Related Episodes:
How to Stay Calm No Matter What’s Happening | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
Meditation Party: The “Sh*t Is Fertilizer” Edition | Sebene Selassie & Jeff Warren
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I Just Went Through A Career Earthquake. Here’s What I Learned About Anger, Insomnia, And Bouncing Back | Dan Harris
In which Dan gets candid about a major life struggle, the practical takeaways, and a big new project.
In this episode:
- Dan shares news about what’s next for him
- His strategies and lessons from a big career change including how to deal with conflict, anger and insomnia
- What he's learned about the power of self-compassion, the value of failure and how to gain perspective when you need it most
If you'd like to be a member of Dan's new community but a subscription isn't affordable for you, write to free@danharris.com, and we'll hook you up, no questions asked.
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Your Sleep Questions, Answered | Donn Posner
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Kryptonite for the Inner Critic | Kristin Neff
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How And Why To Avoid The Siren Call Of Cynicism | Dr. Jamil Zaki
This Stanford psychologist has evidence that being a cynic is bad for your health, and offers a non-corny alternative.
Dr. Jamil Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. He’s the author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, and his new book is called Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.
In this episode we talk about:
- What cynicism is, and why it’s so appealing
- His own history as a “recovering cynic,”
- How to know if you yourself are a cynic
- A step-by-step guide to start developing the “hopeful skeptic” mindset
- How to get better at disagreeing with other people, including some rules of engagement
- And how to encourage kids not to become cynical
Related Episodes:
How (and Why) to Hack Your Empathy | Jamil Zaki
Reversing the Golden Rule | Jamil Zaki
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Exploring What It Means To “Pay Attention” | A Meditation Party Retreat Bonus With Jeff Warren
Recorded live at the Omega Institute, Jeff guides us through two different approaches to being attentive to our experience — followed by a discussion with Dan and Sebene.
About Jeff Warren:
Jeff makes meditation and practice accessible to diverse audiences in order to help people live more fulfilled and connected lives. He’s taught meditation to suspicious journalists, US Army cadets, burned-out caregivers, Arizona cops, formerly-incarcerated youth, virtuoso popstars, distractible teens, and every other conceivable demographic of freethinker, including squirmy six-year old kids. He tries to do this in a way that’s rigorous and clear and adventurous. You can find out more about him at jeffwarren.org.
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A Buddhist Recipe for Handling Turmoil | Kaira Jewel Lingo
We all know that change is inevitable and impermanence is non-negotiable. But somehow it can feel surprising, maybe even wrong, when we personally hit turbulence. The Buddha had a lot to say about this, and so does our guest.
Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher who has a lifelong interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice. Having grown up in an ecumenical Christian community where families practiced a new kind of monasticism and worked with the poor, at the age of twenty-five she entered a Buddhist monastery in the Plum Village tradition and spent fifteen years living as a nun under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She received Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh and became a Zen teacher in 2007, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Today she sees her work as a continuation of the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh as well as the work of her parents, inspired by their stories and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King Jr. on desegregating the South.
In addition to writing We Were Made for These Times: Skilfully Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption, she is also the editor of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children. Now based in New York, she teaches and leads retreats internationally, provides spiritual mentoring, and interweaves art, play, nature, racial and earth justice, and embodied mindfulness practice in her teaching. She especially feels called to share the Dharma with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, as well as activists, educators, youth, artists, and families. Her newest book, co-written with Marisela B. Gomez and Valerie Brown, is Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation.
In this episode we talk about:
- waking up to what’s happening right now
- trusting the unknown (easier said than done)
- A Buddhist list called the five remembrances
- how gratitude helps us in times of disruption
- And accepting what is (and why this is different from resignation or passivity)
Please note: There are brief mentions of domestic violence, abuse, the suffering of refugees, and war in this episode.
Related Episodes:
3 Buddhist Strategies for When the News is Overwhelming | Kaira Jewel Lingo
How to Keep Your Relationships On the Rails | Kaira Jewel Lingo
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The Science of Handling Uncertainty | Maya Shankar
Cognitive scientist Maya Shankar talks about how to get comfortable with uncertainty in an ever-changing world.
It seems like a design flaw in our species that we live in a world of constant change yet most of us are not comfortable with uncertainty.
In this episode, we talk to Maya Shankar about how to get better at dealing with change and to stop seeking what scientists call “cognitive closure.”
Shankar is a former Senior Advisor in the Obama White House, where she founded and served as Chair of the White House Behavioral Science Team. She also served as the first Behavioral Science Advisor to the United Nations, and is currently a Senior Director of Behavioral Economics at Google. She is the host of the Pushkin Industries podcast A Slight Change of Plans, which was named Best Show of the Year in 2021 by Apple.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why humans are so uncomfortable with uncertainty and change
- What a behavioral scientist actually does in the world
- Why even the host of a podcast about change isn’t immune to the uncertainties of life
- The benefits of cultivating a more malleable sense of self
- Why humans are such bad forecasters
- The importance of auditing yourself when you’re undergoing a big change
- How to take advantage of big reset moments
- The concept of cognitive closure and why encouraging an open mind can make us more resilient
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/maya-shankar-466
Where to find Maya Shankar online:
Website: mayashankar.com
Social Media:
Books Mentioned:
- The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
- Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
- Stumbling on Happiness
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Stop Turning The Miraculous Into The Mundane | Bonus Meditation with Pascal Auclair
This is the first time you’ve ever been here, now. Pascal invites you to discover the vivid and mysterious experience of this new moment.
About Pascal Auclair:
Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997, sitting retreats in Asia and America with revered monastics and lay teachers. He has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California, where he is now enjoying teaching retreats. Pascal teaches in North America and in Europe. He is a co-founder of True North Insight and one of TNI’s Guiding Teachers.
To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Rediscover the Familiar.”
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Related Episodes
How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make and Keep Friends | Dr. Marisa G. Franco
Did you know that having friends can make you less depressed? One survey found that the average American had not made a new friend in the last five years but 45% of people said they would go out of their way to make a new friend if they only knew how.
Our guest today, Dr. Marisa G. Franco, has written a bestselling book about how understanding your own psychological makeup and attachment style can help you make and keep friends. Franco is a psychologist and a professor at the University of Maryland. Her book is called Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make–and Keep–Friends.
This is episode three of a four part series in which we are doing some counter programming against the typical Valentine's Day fair.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why friendship is undervalued in our society (while romantic love is overvalued) and why this is damaging on both a societal and individual level
- The impact of technology on our relationships as explained by something called “displacement theory”
- The biological necessity of social connection and the devastating physiological and psychological impacts of loneliness
- Attachment style and its relationship to our friendships
- What you can do to make friends, including being open or vulnerable (without oversharing)
- How to reframe social rejection
- The importance of generosity
- How to handle conflict with your friends
- The difference between flaccid safety and dynamic safety in your friendships
- When to walk away from a relationship
- How to make friends across racial, gender, and socioeconomic lines
- How to deal with social anxiety
- And how our evolutionarily wired negativity bias can impact the process of making friends
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/marisa-g-franco-561
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Does Mindfulness Actually Make You Happier (or Better) at Work? | Prof. Lindsey Cameron
People have mixed feelings about the popularization of mindfulness and meditation over the last 10 or 15 years with some referring to it as “McMindfulness.”
The critiques can be worthy and the mainstreaming of meditation and mindfulness also have helped millions of people upgrade their lives. One of the many areas where mindfulness and meditation have made inroads of late is the workplace.
All sorts of employers are offering their teams access to meditation via apps or in-person training. But does this stuff actually work? Does it really make you happier at work or better at your job? And what techniques produce which benefits?
Professor Lindsey Cameron is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Management. Her research focuses on mindfulness as well as the future of work. She has a 20 year practice, having studied and taught primarily in the Vipassana and non-dual traditions. In her prior career, Professor Cameron spent over a decade in the US intelligence and in diplomatic communities serving the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
In this episode we talk about:
- What companies mean when they talk about mindfulness at work
- What the mindfulness at work research says and how Prof. Cameron parses the results
- The ways mindfulness helps us counteract our inherent biases and stereotypes
- Which specific practices are most beneficial, depending on the situation
- Prof. Cameron’s tips for integrating small mindfulness moments into our everyday routines
- Where she stands on the whole “McMindfulness” debate
- Prof. Cameron’s research into the gig economy — and how, paradoxically, an Uber worker can feel a sense of autonomy and freedom even though the work is ultimately being dictated by an algorithm
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/lindsey-cameron-577
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Meditation Party: The “Sh*t Is Fertilizer” Edition | Sebene Selassie & Jeff Warren
Today’s episode is the first in an experimental new series called Meditation Party.
Dan takes listener calls with fellow meditators Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren and get candid about their practices and dealing with life
Sebene Selassie is based in Brooklyn and describes herself as a “writer, teacher, and immigrant-weirdo.” She teaches meditation on the Ten Percent Happier app and is the author of a great book called, You Belong. Jeff Warren is based in Toronto and is also a writer and meditation teacher who co-wrote the book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics with Dan Harris. Jeff also hosts the Consciousness Explorers podcast.
Call (508) 656-0540 to have your question answered during the Meditation Party!
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sebene-selassie-jef-warren-553
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Jerks at Work | Amy Gallo
This is the third installment in our Work Life series. In other episodes, we cover topics like imposter syndrome, whether mindfulness really works at work, and whether you should actually bring your whole self to the office.
Today's episode is one that many of us struggle with: interpersonal conflict at work. Our guest is a true ninja on this topic. Amy Gallo is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about interpersonal dynamics, difficult conversations, feedback, gender, and effective communication.
Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review and the author of a new book, Getting Along, How to Work with Anyone, Even Difficult People. She's also written the The Harvard Business Review Guide to Dealing With Conflict, and she cohosts the Women at Work podcast.
In this episode we talk about:
- Why quality interactions at work are so important for our professional success and personal mental health
- Why Gallo believes one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to dealing with difficult people in the workplace
- Why avoidance isn’t usually an option
- What the research tells us about work friendships
- Why we have a tendency to dehumanize people who have more power than us
- Why passive aggressive people can be the most difficult to deal with
- The provocative question of whether we are part of the problem when work conflict crops up
- And, a taxonomy of the eight different flavors of difficult coworkers, including the pessimist, the victim, the know-it-all, and the insecure boss — with tactics for managing each.
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/amy-gallo-576
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Could This Practice Improve Your Sleep, Sharpen Your Mind, and Decrease Unhealthy Cravings? | Kelly Boys
Today we’re taking a run at something that is simultaneously a contemplative cliché and also a deeply desired psychological outcome: getting out of your head and into your body. So many of us want an escape route from the spinning, looping, fishing narratives and grudges in our head and our guest today has some very practical suggestions to help us do that.
Kelly Boys is a mindfulness trainer and coach. She has helped design and deliver mindfulness and resilience programs for the UN, Google, and San Quentin State Prison. She is also the author of The Blind Spot Effect: How to Stop Missing What's Right in Front of You
Today we’re going to talk specifically about a type of meditation that Kelly teaches called Yoga Nidra, which has been shown to help you sleep, improve your working memory, and decrease cravings.
In this episode we talk about:
- The difference between Yoga Nidra and mindfulness meditation, and how Kelly seeks to combine them
- The value of being able to both observe and high-five your demons
- Working with our “core beliefs” about ourselves and the world
- The calming power of drawing your attention to the back side of your body throughout the day
- Working with “opposites” as a way to get unstuck in difficult moments
- What Kelly means by the blind spot effect
- Setting intentions
Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/kelly-boys-531
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