Your Mind On Podcast

We spend most of our Monday mornings from the neck up. By 9:00 AM, most of us have already spent hours calculating, planning, and worrying—leaving our physical selves behind in the rush. We carry that mental "buzz" in our shoulders, our jaws, and our breath without even realizing it. In this Mindfulness Monday exercise, we are hitting the manual reset button. This isn't about "fixing" how you feel...

For nearly a century, the world viewed autism through a "flat-earth" lens—a mystery to be solved, or worse, a "deficit" to be cured. But what if we’ve just been using the wrong maps? In this episode, we move beyond the clinical fog of the "refrigerator mother" era and into the high-fidelity reality of the Intense World Theory . We explore the staggering neurobiology of the "high-resolution" brain—...

Who is winning the argument in your head right now? On a typical Monday morning, your mind can feel less like a peaceful sanctuary and more like a crowded room. To-do lists, 'what-ifs,' and that low-level hum of anxiety can sometimes drown out the voices of your presence and capability. In this week's Mindfulness Monday mini-episode, we dive into a timeless story about the battle that wages within...

"You are not a broken version of 'normal.' You are a high-performance version of 'different.'" In this episode, we peel back the layers of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to move beyond the "moral defect" myths of the past. We explore the fascinating neurobiology of the "Dopamine Chase" and the evolutionary history of the nomadic hunter, reframing ADHD as a specialized operating sy...

Welcome Mindfulness Monday! I will be releasing these short 5-10 minute episodes each Monday to help power you through your week. Some weeks it will be a motivational story, some will be mindfulness and relaxation exercises. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or episode suggestions! Website: www.yourmindonpodcast.com Email: hello@yourmindonpodcast.com Instagram: @yourmindonpod...

In this episode of Your Mind On , host John Shaw explores the complex evolution of nostalgia—from its 17th-century roots as a fatal medical "plague" to its modern role as a vital psychological resource. We dive into the biological mechanisms behind the "Reminiscence Bump," the unique power of sensory triggers like scent, and the critical distinction between restorative and reflective nostalgia. Fi...

Welcome to Mindfulness Monday! I will be releasing these short 5-10 minute episodes each Monday to help power you through your week. Some weeks it will be a motivational story, some will be mindfulness and relaxation exercises. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or episode suggestions! Website: www.yourmindonpodcast.com Email: hello@yourmindonpodcast.com Instagram: @yourmindon...

 Have you ever felt like you were operating on a different "social OS" than everyone else? In this episode of Your Mind On , we’re pulling back the curtain on Camouflaging and Masking . While we all adjust our behavior to fit in sometimes, for the neurodivergent community, this "social survival kit" often comes with a staggering biological bill. We dive deep into the clinical research behind the...

Welcome to Mindfulness Monday! I will be releasing these short 5-10 minute episodes each Monday to help power you through your week. Some weeks it will be a motivational story, some will be mindfulness and relaxation exercises. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or episode suggestions! Website: www.yourmindonpodcast.com Email: hello@yourmindonpodcast.com Instagram: @yourmindon...

For a long time, we were told the brain was like a concrete sculpture—once it dried in your twenties, that was it. Any cracks or chips were permanent. But what if that “old dogma” was completely wrong? In this episode, we’re diving into the incredible world of Neuroplasticity . From the "Father of Neuroscience" to the singing brains of canaries, we explore how our minds are actually dynamic, livin...

Welcome to the first mini-episode of Mindfulness Monday! I will be releasing these short 5-10 minute episodes each Monday to help power you through your week. Some weeks it will be a motivational story, some will be mindfulness and relaxation exercises. Please feel free to reach out with questions, comments, or episode suggestions! Website: www.yourmindonpodcast.com Email: hello@yourmindonpodcast....

What does it actually mean to "be a man" in today's world? In this episode, we step outside the traditional "Man Box" to explore how societal expectations impact men’s mental health, relationships, and self-worth. We dive deep into the history of hegemonic masculinity , the psychological "pillars" that often keep men isolated, and why the bravest thing a man can do is dismantle the idea that vulne...

Episode Summary: Have you ever witnessed an emergency and wondered why nobody was moving to help? Or perhaps you've found yourself frozen in a crowd, waiting for someone else to take the lead? Today, we dive into the "Paradox of the Crowd." We explore the tragic history of the Kitty Genovese case, the psychological mechanics of "diffusion of responsibility," and why our brains are hardwired to loo...

Have you ever scrolled through social media and felt like everyone suddenly became a licensed therapist? From "setting boundaries" and "healing trauma" to calling an ex a "narcissist," clinical terms are everywhere. But is this surge in psychological jargon actually helping us connect, or is it making things "pretty messy"? In this episode, host John Shaw takes a deep dive into the world of "thera...

Do you ever feel like a can of soda that’s been shaken to its max, right on the verge of exploding? Or as Bilbo Baggins once famously said, "like butter scraped over too much bread"? In this week's episode, host John Shaw dives into the world of mindfulness—a topic that has become a major "buzzword" in the last decade but actually finds its roots in ancient practices. We’re moving past the "hippy-...

Have you ever sat in a meeting and felt like you and your coworkers were speaking entirely different languages? Whether it’s the "no-nonsense" boss, the fiercely independent Gen Xer, the purpose-driven Millennial, or the boundary-pushing Gen Z intern, our generational backgrounds shape how we show up at work more than we realize. In this episode of Your Mind On , we’re diving deep into the "Great...

Have you ever felt like you’re the only one in your life who knows how to get things done? Or maybe you’ve noticed that your mood is entirely dependent on how the people around you are feeling? In this episode, we’re peeling back the layers on codependency . It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it actually look like in our daily lives—especially at work or in our closest relati...

In this episode, we pull back the curtain on one of the most talked-about yet misunderstood topics in modern psychology: Narcissism. Moving beyond the cold, clinical definitions, we explore how narcissistic personality disorder actually shows up in our daily lives—from our kitchens and office cubicles to our closest relationships. We dive deep into the psychology and neuroscience behind the disord...

Have you ever left a conversation feeling more confused than when you started? Like you had to apologize for something you didn't even do? That nagging feeling that you're "too sensitive" or "remembering things wrong" might not be a flaw in your memory—it might be a sign of something much more calculated. In this episode, we’re diving deep into the anatomy of gaslighting. We explore the origins of...

In August 1971, a makeshift prison in the basement of Stanford University became the site of one of the most controversial studies in the history of psychology. Intended to last two weeks, the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was halted after just six days as the boundary between "role" and "identity" dangerously dissolved for both guards and prisoners. In this episode of Your Mind On , host John...

Have you ever felt like you were a passenger in a car where someone else was slamming on the gas and then the brakes, but you were the one getting the speeding tickets? In this episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on one of the most complex and misunderstood conditions in psychology: Bipolar Disorder. We’re moving past the casual "mood swing" labels to explore what it’s actually like to live be...

In this episode of Your Mind On , we peel back the Hollywood curtain on forensic psychology. While shows like Criminal Minds and Bull have popularized the image of the "heroic profiler" and the "psychic trial consultant," the reality of the field is often far different—and sometimes far more dangerous. We break down what forensic psychologists actually do, from competency evaluations to high-stake...

In this episode, we peel back the layers of one of the most common—and often most misunderstood—ways we categorize human behavior: Introversion vs. Extroversion . Host John Shaw moves beyond the simple "shy vs. life of the party" stereotypes to explore the fundamental psychological and biological truths that drive these personalities. Rooted in the pioneering work of Carl Jung and enhanced by the...

In this episode of Your Mind On , we dive into one of the most transformative inventions of our time: Artificial Intelligence. While AI offers incredible convenience and innovation, we have to ask—what is the cost to our mental health? Join host John Shaw as he explores the emerging phenomenon known as "AI Psychosis" or "LLM-induced psychological destabilisation." We examine how specific AI behavi...

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is arguably the most chilling, controversial, and misunderstood condition in psychology. Hollywood loves to exploit it, but what is the truth behind the fragmented self? In this deep-dive episode, we cut through the sensationalism of films like Split and historical cases like Sybil to explore the complex reality of DID. We separate the clinical facts from the f...