mindramp

My "Qualongevity" goal is to flourish and enhance my quality of life as I age.  But, what do I mean by quality of life? How will I know when I am flourishing?  How will I measure the quality of my life.?

In this episode, I suggest that the state of flow - that state when we are so absorbed in an activity that time stands still - might be a good measure of quality-of-life. My life will be worth living if I can still engage in activities that activate a flow state. The more time I spend in the flow state, the higher my quality-of-life. 

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Neuroscientist Richie Davidson 's research on well-being indicates that positive plastic changes to our brain occur around four dimensions of experience, each of which contributes to our ability to flourish. 

AWARENESS, CONNECTION, INSIGHT AND PURPOSE

in this episode I review Davidson's definition for each dimension and explore how they can aid us to flourish as we age. 

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Dr. Richie Davidson 's work offers a framework for the cultivation of well-being. 

Davidson's extensive research  suggests there are four key domains that are central to the subjective experience of well-being. Further, and importantly, each area  can be strengthened through training. 

We can learn flourish by learning to enhance our: 

• Awareness
• Connection 
• Insight 
• Purposed 

Dr. Richie Davidson is best known for his groundbreaking work studying emotion and the brain. His research is broadly focused on the neural bases of emotion and emotional style as well as methods to promote human flourishing, including meditation and related contemplative practices. He is a friend and confidante of the Dalai Lama, has studied the brains of highly Buddhist monks, and is the worlds leading expert on how meditation makes both short-term and long-term changes to our brains.  

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In the previous episode I introduced the hemisphere hypothesis put forward by British scholar Iain McGilchrist. The hemisphere hypothesis posits that the two hemisphere of our brains have unique, largely incompatible, ways of relating to the world.

The right hemisphere can be characterized as our sensual mind and the left hemisphere as our conceptual mind.  We get confused, conflicted and alienated when our conceptual mind dominates and makes us lose our connection with our sensory mind.

In this episode I want to share my version of a story that McGilchrist uses to illustrate the relationship between our two hemispheres. It dramatizes his observation that things go wrong when collaboration between the hemispheres breaks down and the conceptual mind (LH) dominates.  McGilchrist's  story is called The Master and His Emissary, which is also the name of his 2009 book that introduces the hemisphere hypothesis.  

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Why do we struggle with life, and with old age in particular?  

I believe that the hemisphere hypothesis, as explained by British scholar Iain McGilchrist, offers a fertile framework for thinking about why we suffer mental conflict and confusion. Just as important, it offers guidelines about what we can do to limit our suffering. 

The basic idea of the hemisphere hypothesis is that the two hemispheres of our brain  provide us with two very different ways of relating to the world. One perspective can be characterized as direct experience (sensory) and the other perspective as conceptual.  One experiences the world as it is, the other creates ideas and concepts about the the reality we experience.

When the two perspectives collaborate with each other, our minds work magnificently.  Too often, however, our conceptual mind dominates and suppresses the perspective of the sensory mind. When this happens we live in a world of concepts and lose direct touch with reality. To flkourish, we need to restore collaborative balance between these two perspectives

Learn more about the hemisphere hypothesis and how it influences our ability to flourish in this episode.  

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How can we flourish in old age? 

This new series of podcasts from MINDRAMP strives to answer that  question. My starting premise is that our mind determines how we  cope with the challenges and opportunities we  face as we age.  

Certain ways of thinking cause us to struggle and suffer.  Others mindsets make it easier to flourish. The obvious conclusion is that we should get rid of unhelpful mental states and make greater use of  healthy states of mind. But, just how do we make these positive mental adjustments? 
 
I'll look for answers in the  teachings of ancient wisdom systems, such as Buddhism, shamanism and mysticism. And, I'll explore new insights made possible by radical advancements in fields of study like positive psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, pharmacology,  and technology.  I'm particularly interested in exploring what these systems of knowledge have to say about unusual states of mind such as flow, mindfulness, equanimity, awe, ecstasis and transcendence. 

I'll share the questions that bug me, and the different lines of research I pursue in search of satisfying answers.  And, from time to time,  I'll report on my efforts to manage my own mind. What am I doing to escape  negative mindsets? How am I working to cultivate healthy  states of mind? How is it going.

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To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on how your environment affects your brain health and your ability to flourish. Enriched environments are protective, while impoverished environments are risky. 

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To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on how good medical care supports the health of your body and brain , and therefore your ability to flourish, as you age. 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on how good sleep habits contribute to brain health. 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on ingestion, taking substances into our bodies that can either  protect and strengthen our brains, or weaken them 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on Stress Management

We evolved to have a stress response to alert us to danger.  An acute, short-term stress response is beneficial - as long as we can let go of the stress and return to a normal state of being. Stress becomes toxic when it is chronic and unrelieved. Much of our modern stress is psychological in nature. To flourish, we need to learn how to manage our psychological stress. 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on Social Engagement. 

We are social beings and flourish when we have a sense of belonging and can engage in nurturing social relationships. Conversely, we suffer and undermine our well-being when we are exposed to toxic relationships. 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on Mental Stimulation. 

You can stimulate your brain by engaging in mental activities that are: 

• Novel
• Challenging
• Complex
• Creative
• Meaningful 

Support our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. 

This episode focuses on Physical Exercise and Movement. 

There are five aspects of movement that must be addressed: 

• Aerobic exercise
• Strength training
• Flexibility
• Posture 
• Balance. 

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To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode introduces the brain health side of the equation. 

There are eight behavioral and lifestyle areas that, together, have a profound impact on the health of your brain and your ability to flourish as you age.  We now call these eight areas the "Behavioral Roots of Brain Health."

• Physical Exercise
• Mental Stimulation
• Social Engagement
• Stress Management
• Good Diet
• Good Sleep 
• Good Medical Care
• Enriched Environments 

You can prevent or slow cognitive decline and dementia by adopting a risk management approach:
a) reduce your exposure to risk factors associated with each behavioral root and ,
b) engage reguarly with the protective factors associated with each area.  

For the risk management approach to be successful you need to follow the rule of the Four Cs

• Causes - address the root causes of cognitive decline, not the symptoms
• Combinatorial - the 8 areas have a synergistic affect; each one must be addressed
• Customized - each brain and life is different so interventions must be customized to the individual. 
• Continual - the behaviors must be integrated into your lifesyle and practiced on a continual basis. 

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Why do all beginning artists draw stick figures? Why is it so difficult to draw an accurate picture of what we see? 

The reason, I believe, is that unskilled artists draw  concepts of what they see rather than drawing what they actually see. Their conceptual brain dominates and prevents the sensory brain  from guiding the drawing.  

Skilled artists have learned to suppress this  impulse to draw concepts and instead focus on sensory details. This is what I believe art teacher Betty Edwards discovered and explained in her influential book Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain.  

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In this reading of an article I wrote for 3rd Act Magazine I suggest that equanimity is a key to aging well. I draw a distinction between what might be called standard equanimity - remaining even-tempered in the face of both pleasure and pain - and what I'm calling "transcendent equanimity."  

Transcendent equanimity is a state of mind that not only accepts the mysteries of life, it celebrates them.  

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In the introduction to the 25th anniversary edition of her  important  book, MINDFULNESS (1989), Harvard psychologists Ellen J. Langer makes the following observation.

“In the 1970s, as social psychology was experiencing what was called ‘the cognitive revolution,’ studying the kinds of thoughts people were having, I began to wonder whether people were thinking at all. Decades of research later, I have found that the answer is a resounding ’NO.’  Mindlessness is pervasive. In fact I believe virtually all of our problems - personal, interpersonal, professional, and societal - either directly or indirectly stem from mindlessness.”

Mindlessness is just as prevalent today, in 2023, as it was 50 years ago. What can we do about it? In this podcast I review Langer's prescription for overcoming mindfulness and learning to think more mindfully. 

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Dan Cohen is the Johnny Appleseed of personalized music. While the fabled Appleseed traveled the country planting apple seeds, Cohen travels from coast to coast bringing iPods, headphones and customized music playlists to people with dementia. Cohen's work was featured in the award winning documentary ALIVE INSIDE. 

I spoke with Dan about how he got started in this mission to promote the benefits of music for people who are institutionalized. We discussed the amazing successes he has witnessed and the surprising disappointments he has faced.  Dan concludes this episode by describing his three goals for the future of personalized music.

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Learn how to  create and use  personalized music to promote physical and spiritual healing for you and your loved ones. 

Dan Cohen has championed the use of personalized music for people with dementia, in fact, personalized music does wonders for anyone who is institutionalized. Dan has seem dramatic evidence that listening to one's favorite music - often music from one's childhood - has a magical affect on people's moods and even their physical well-being. But, the therapeutic power of personalized music only works if we have access to our our favorite tunes when and where we want to listen. 

In this episode Dan suggests that we all consider taking time now to  putting together our own music playlist, so that is available if and when we need it.  Further, we should help our loved ones to put together lists of their favorite music. Dan the ins and outs of compiling your own personalized music playlist. 

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