THRIVING MINDS PODCAST

At the Fizz symposium I was lucky to meet Maria Bernard from the Heart Foundation. She is a nutrition expert. She is going out into the Pacific Islander community to give lectures and educate people about how much sugar is in sugary beverages. Learn a simple strategy. Look up the serving size, multiple by the amount of sugar in the drink and divide by 5 and you have the number of teaspoons. The av...

The symposium addressed all things that sugar is doing to our overall health. They are using a multipronged approach to address how to reduce sugar consumption in New Zealand. There are three things that look the most promising are introducing a tax on sugary beverages, having water only schools and raising awareness about how much sugar is in food and drinks at the grass roots level. It was a fan...

This is a special episode that begins my journey to interweave the tapestry that connects thousands of years of ancient practices and teachings with modern neuroscience. I have found a beautiful intersection between the two areas that offers a powerful way to learn different techniques that retrain the mind and open the heart. Jemma Rivera is the founder and director of Jing Life. From a dance, pr...

Dr Fiona Simpson is a Senior Research Fellow at The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Brisbane, Australia.  She grew up in the Highlands of Scotland, where she was the top of her class, at the same time, she was working 3 jobs to keep the family home afloat. Her father died at the age of 10 and left her mother clinically depressed. At the time, there was no help for a woman left to ra...

From the Hope to Recharge Podcast with Matana Poupko Jacobs. Brain health from a Neuroscientist’s mind and heart. Prof. Selena Bartlett. She was raised, studied and worked for many years in Australia and then made a career change which led her to the western shores of the United States. Originally a pharmacist Selena spent many years developing drugs to treat illnesses. In 1989 her younger sister,...

Dr. Selena Bartlett has agreed to once again visit with us at Hope to Recharge podcost. Today we will hear more expansively about the amazing concept of neuroplasticity. The intention of the Hope to Recharge podcast is to bring hope and community to those who are personally struggling with depression and anxiety or has a loved one who is struggling with depression and anxiety. Each week we will he...

This podcast brought me to tears. "We see the world not as it is but as we are" from Demi Smith. She has managed to win a full scholarship to the University of California Davis. Her mother Emily is one of the strongest women I have ever met. She sacrificed her dreams and worked more than three jobs at any one time to get her children a better life. Demi is her youngest daughter and in th...

This is such a beautiful episode. We are shining a light on Emily Jones. She is a third year student at The University of Queensland. She moved from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane. Once upon a time she was afraid to meet new people and live in a new City. Everyday she now faces her fears and anxiety and teaches her brain to sit with the discomfort. From this practice she discovered joy, health and...

This is a powerful story for anyone struggling. The key is to want to change. We discuss the moment she decided to change. We call this lighting the pilot light and finding the spark inside to make it happen. In this episode, we talk about Eating Disorders and overcoming them. Laura Chamberlain is a Recovery Coach for endED House (END eating disorders). Laura battled Anorexia Nervosa for a number...

Sobia Zafar is a life and business strategist, helping successful women live, love and lead wholeheartedly. She wants you to own your brilliance and let it shine for all to see.  The power of waking up with gratitude to be alive is one idea to make your day a little better. Sobia has worked with the United Nations and Fortune 100 companies on transformational projects and has created international...

In this next series, I am interviewing Women on the Rise. What it took, how they got there and how they stayed and managed a family or not. We are putting female voices into science, business and entrepreneurship that ends up shining a light on people's strength, courage and resilience when faced with obstacles. We talk neuroscience, brain health, fitness, travels, success and failures, tips...

In the next series we focus on young amazing women making huge leaps in science while navigating challenges, like raising a family, coming from poverty and imposter syndrome. The stories are amazing. We are putting female voices to scientific discoveries and resilience. At the same time, you will be on the cutting edge of breakthroughs in health and resilience.  In this episode, you will meet Dr J...

It is near impossible to make rational decisions when we are stressed out. This is because stress is processed by the emotional part of the brain and it shuts down the prefrontal cortex. It is in this part of the brain that we pause and take in information and think about it and decide what to do with all the information. There is a simple test to see how well your prefrontal cortex is faring. In...

It has often be said that we are the sum of the 5 people we hang around with. Take a quick look and see how you are modelling their behaviour. Humans have evolved quite a sophisticated system in the premotor cortex, that allows us to mirror each other. It is thought this is why human language developed so rapidly compared to other species. Test it out and see. Try smiling at someone and see what h...

The brain can be rewired to love again. First ourselves and then others. I have come to see that love, especially, between the ages of 0-3 years old can solve a lot of mental health problems. The good news, we can learn how to love again and be loved. It is not possible to go back in time or change our past,  we can use neuroplasticity and learn to hug or smile, no matter what age we are. This epi...

Do you find yourself procrastinating, overeating or feeling low. I will do it tomorrow. I will binge watch just one more episode on Netflix. One more chocolate can't hurt. The longer we sit and this can lead to decreases in dopamine levels in places that drive motivation and reward. The longer we sit the harder it is to get moving again. Keeping ourselves pushing out small amounts of dopamine...

I really really hate cold showers and did not think I could ever have one. I was the person that had the shower at maximal heat. I made myself start the Wim Hof course. It became very clear I was totally wrong and after a few days of training myself - there I was standing in a cold shower for 2 minutes. Like most things in life, as soon as I thought I knew something I was wrong. Wim Hof and his me...

The other day I was in a women’s change room after a swim. I overheard two people going over their problems, each reinforcing the other, talking about how they hated their jobs, how forgetful they were becoming, medical problems, going out less etc. The phrase that kept popping up: “Well this is the natural progression of things”. I wanted to scream from the rooftop: “STOP, NO. NO. NO!” Stop shapi...

KICKSTART NEUROPLASTICITY: SAY Yes to NO It sounds simple but it is not easy. Start where you feel your greatest resistance. For example, I really really hate cold showers and did not think I could ever have one. I was the person that had the shower at maximal heat. I made myself start the Wim Hof course. It became very clear I was totally wrong and after a few days of training myself - there I wa...

We could spend a whole life seeking to know who we are. But this may not be possible with current technology as our brain's wiring patterns have aspects that can be found in my great grandparents, whether it is my taste for certain types of foods, lack of musical talent or mathematical expertise. Some of the brain circuits share features in mushrooms and bacteria. I will never know whether my...

It all starts from the minute we wake in the morning. It sets up the brain and the mind for the rest of the day. Mind training has been known for centuries and its benefits are the subject of hundreds of books. Why is it that many of us still struggle to do the simplest of techniques that can help us have a greater ability to handle stresses, negative emotions, and letting go of things we have no...

The Thriving Minds podcast is dedicated to make daily life a little bit better. It is education and tips to free the mind, body and spirit using neuroscience. Neuroscience, brain imaging and the technology revolution have come together to allow us to see inside the brain, and are providing tools and knowledge that allow us to see that the brain can be trained like it is a muscle. Professor  Selena...