THRIVING IN TIMES OF STRUGGLE

Comments? Send me a text message. Neuroscientist Robin Carhart-Harris has developed the "Entropic Mind Hypothesis" that suggests our minds operate along a continuum of conscious states ranging from organized and even rigid on one end to the opposite extreme of disorganized, even chaotic at the other.  Carhart-Harris suggests that our minds work best when they are in the middle of the con...

Comments? Send me a text message. Buddhist philosophers say that our "Self" is an illusion and that we can be much happier once we recognize this hallucination and learn to live without a Self. What does this mean? I think the Buddhists mean we need to escape from the dictates of our EGO. But, what would life without an ego be like? Can we exist in the real world without an ego? The stor...

Comments? Send me a text message. On July 11, The New York Times' editorial board called on voters to reject Donald Trump's reelection bid, stating that the former president is "unfit to lead" a second term. It is an important statement that should be read, or listened to, by anyone interested in the well-being of our country.  The NYT Editorial Board builds its argument around...

Comments? Send me a text message. One of the huge issues facing the nation is whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for alleged crimes committed during and after his term as President of the United States?  Is Donald Trump - or anyone else - above the law?  On the face of it the answer seems obvious. In the United States no one is above the law, not even Presidents. But, Trump is disputi...

Comments? Send me a text message. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the nation’s second highest court, has ruled unanimously that Trump is NOT immune from prosecution, nor is he above the law. They explained every aspect of their decision in a 67-page document.  To make it easier for everyone to have access to this important ruling, and to understand how the U.S. Court of App...

Comments? Send me a text message. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the nation’s second highest court, has ruled unanimously that Trump is NOT immune from prosecution, nor is he above the law. They explained every aspect of their decision in a 67-page document.  To make it easier for everyone to have access to this important decision, and to understand how the U.S. Court of A...

Comments? Send me a text message. As I continue to investigate how to flourish as I age, I find that the "Hemisphere Hypothesis," does a good job of defining mental changes I need and want to make. In broad terms, it will be easier to flourish  when I learn to quiet my thinking mind and instead operate more consistently out of my experiential mind. And, I find the practice of meditation...

Comments? Send me a text message.  We are emotional illiterates. We have limited vocabularies to describe the subtleties and nuances of our moods, feelings and emotions. As a consequence, we find it hard to explain our feelings or to understand the feelings of others.   We can start building our emotional literacy by defining  the differences between affect, feelings and emotions. We can then work...

Comments? Send me a text message. In this episode I focus on two aspects of creativity, making the points that creativity is a dynamic dance between novelty and routing and that creativity is a multi-phased process that requires the use of multiple mindsets and divergent cognitive functions.  I discuss the hemisphere hypothesis and suggest that we can keep our aging minds nimble and  adaptive if w...

Comments? Send me a text message. To improve our happiness we need to quiet the incessant internal chatter of self-criticism, self-sabotage, self-blame,  self-pity, self-aggrandizement,  and the other  forms of neurotic self-absorption that plague us.  To flourish we need to quiet our "monkey mind." There is good evidence that these neurotic manifestations of "Self" arise from...

Comments? Send me a text message. This episode is the first of a two-part focus on a specific brain network known as the Default Mode Network (DMN).  In part one I discuss how the DMN undermines our happiness and our sense of well-being. I make the case that to improve our happiness, we need to recognize when the DMN has taken over our mind and then learn to replace it with a more mindful state-of...

Comments? Send me a text message. Buddhist scholars suggest that the "Self" is an illusion and that awakening to the revelation of "No Self," leads to greater happiness and peace-of-mind. Just what are they talking about?  The idea of No-Self makes more sense to me if I put the idea in the context of the hemisphere hypothesis, the recognition that the two hemispheres of the hum...

Comments? Send me a text message. I’m interested in mystical and psychedelic experiences because they seem to evoke radically altered states of mind that are akin to spiritual awakening. They enable people to feel more at peace with the flow of existence and are often a portal to feelings of bliss. What's not to like about all that?  So, mysticism and psychedelics could be seen as forms of me...

Comments? Send me a text message. Mystical experiences have a core set of characteristics that seem to promote mental wellbeing and flourishing. People who have mystical experiences, including psychedelic trips, report feeling a profound unity with something vast and deeply meaningful. This unity with “the divine,” (or whatever you want to call it) is accompanied by a diminished focus on ego-centr...

Comments? Send me a text message. A while back I wrote an article for 3rd Act Magazine that explored how equanimity is a key to flourishing as we age.  In this podcast I revisit the article and add some   perspective.  I suspect that aging will be much easier for me if I adopt an even-minded attitude towards the challenges and opportunities of my aging process.  Even better, I am more likely to fl...

Comments? Send me a text message. Learn two suggestions for getting into the flow state.  In the previous episode we suggested that the state of flow could be a good measure of qualty-of-life. The more time we spend in the flow, the greater our quality of life. So, how can we find more flow in our lives?  Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, the father of flow, found that the flow state arises when there is...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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 o...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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 flo...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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 Connecti...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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...

Comments? Send me a text message. To increase our healthspan as we age  we need our brains to be as healthy as possible.  MINDRAMP has developed the Behavioral Roots of Brain Health to help identify risky behaviors that should be avoided and protective behaviors that should be adopted.  To flourish, we need more than a healthy brain. We also need a nimble and well-trained mind that can adopt benef...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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...

Comments? Send me a text message. The Flourish As You Age series of podcasts  focuses on mind management, but I wanted to take one episode to give you a quick review the Behavioral Roots of Brain Health. A healthy brain is the foundation for a well-functioning mind. Our minds work better when they are supported by body and brains that are healthy, robust and resilient.  In this podcast, I'll...

Comments? Send me a text message. 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 envir...