The Sonya Looney Show

Today's guest is the most impressive Dr. Dave Vago. I first found Dr. Vago in the Ten Percent Happier Meditation app that I use.  In the app, there are several different meditation instructors and courses with educational videos before you get started.  I found a course called "Meditation and the Brain" in the app and I was immediately drawn to it.   I took a deeper look into Dr. Vago and I learned that he is a cognitive neuroscientist and is the research director for the Osher Center of Integrative Medicine at Vanderbuilt University Medical Center.  He also maintains an appointment as a research associate in the Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory (FNL) at Harvard.  If you're not impressed yet, he held the position of Senior Research Coordinator for the Mind & Life Institute and is currently a Mind and Life Fellow, supporting the Mind and Life mission by advising on strategy and programs.  He's worked with John Cabot Zinn and even the Dalai Lama.   Some of his work includes studying brain scans of meditat

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I wanted to share some of my favorite apps.   Noislii TrainerRoad  Happiness Planner and Five Minute Journal Ten Percent Happier Meditation App  Follow Up.CC for Gmail Toggl Airtable Snapseed Flux Listen Now

It's a miracle that John Joseph McGowan isn't dead or in prison.  He's escaped AR-15 gun shots from cocaine dealers, managed to just miss being arrested while AWOL, and instigated many fights himself while he was a crackhead with a violent streak. It's hard to imagine that a human could have endured so much adversity in his life and even more inspiring, come out the other side helping change peoples' lives for the better.  JJ's early days began with being sexually and physically abused in foster homes as a young child.  He ended up homeless living in burnt out buildings in the streets of New York City selling drugs and committing robberies and acts of violence in the 1970's.  After being incarcerated as a juvenile, he was given the option to spend 4 years in the Navy instead of go to prison.  His drug and alcohol addiction did not end, nor did his fighting habits.  He even was smuggling drugs from Jamaica on his naval ship.  After getting in a fight on his ship, he was arrested, but a tooth infection sent him

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week's episode, I want to talk about a technique I discovered that helps with rumination. You know- when something is bothering you and then you can't stop thinking about it. Or when someone really pisses you off and you can't stop thinking about how angry you are, what you should have said, etc. I learned this technique in one of the mindfulness meditations I practice, but I use it all the time during my day- I think that's why you practice it in meditation! It's easiest to learn the technique using meditation before applying it to your life, but you can do it however you like.  To start, put 5 minutes on your timer.  Sit somewhere and start counting your breaths.  It's guaranteed that all sorts of thoughts will start flooding in.  When they do, label the type of thought. If "what am I having for dinner?" pops up- label it Planning If "Did reme

I'm super excited about today's guest: Caitlin Landesberg formerly Caitlin Looney.  We aren't sure if we are related but if our interest in business, endurance sports and beer are any indication, then I'd say we are sisters!  I love today's special story because it's one of transparency, inspiration, hard work, and courage. Caitlin is a former college tennis player turned trail runner.  Caitlin was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease rendering her unable to consume gluten. That meant her favorite post-run beers were off the list.  She couldn't find a good tasting gluten free or gluten removed beer, so she took it upon herself to learn how to brew her own beer. Outfitted with a homebrew kit that was a gift from her husband and a can-do attitude, she got started.  What happened next was as she calls it "a happy accident."  Her recipes became wildly popular and in high demand. She founded her company, Sufferfest beer that was beer for athletes. Upon inspection, I found that the beer had delicious twists to like

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  I originally had a different topic queued up for today's Crush It Monday, but in the middle of my race over the weekend, I realized that the way I think about pain during a race or during an interval workout might be helpful.  It's something I've had to work on. You've probably heard the quote "Get comfortable with being uncomfortable."  Of course, that quote extends far past just the discomfort of exercise. So this weekend I did a 2 day mountain bike race in Squamish, BC.  I've been trying to stay more local and go to races I can drive to in order to prevent burnout from too much time on airplanes (and save money). That means that I've been doing races that are shorter than my normal 50-100 mile mountain bike races.  The races I've been doing have been under 3 hours.  I still prefer longer races and my true talent is in the longer races, but I'm proud

If you're an endurance athlete, you've probably thought about altitude.  I grew up in Albuquerque, NM and lived in Colorado for my 20s. I never thought about altitude training until I did the highest mountain bike race in the world in 2011.  The race was a 10 day race in Nepal called the Yak Attack that topped out at 17,769'.  I admit I still wasn't fully acquainted with the data of training at altitude.  I knew how dangerous the symptoms of acute mountain sickness or altitude sickness could be.  In fact, it was my primary fear for tackling this race and wanting to be the first woman to ever finish.  You can watch my TED Talk about it.  I started spending a lot of time in BC in 2013 and eventually moved in 2014.  That also meant I moved from living at altitude my entire life to 1,000' where I still live.  Racing in Colorado became a problem- I could only race in third gear.  It was frustrating.  I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about potentially prepping for altitude and used myself as a guin

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about intensity.  More specifically, I want to talk about a quote I heard. I can't remember exactly where I heard this quote, but I wrote it down and recently found it.  I think it might have been from a Sharon Salzberg meditation, but I am not sure. It said, "We count on intensity to feel alive instead of stillness" Wow.  How many of you can relate to that statement?  I definitely can.  I'm an excitement junkie. I love doing things at a fast pace. I like being busy and having tons of plans and projects but as I have found out on more than one occasion, it can also lead to overwhelm and burnout.  When I heard this quote, it hit home.  I do admit to feeling most alive when I'm out doing and pushing.  My biggest challenge is to slow down. To be still. To avoid filling empty minutes or seconds with something else and to just be. 

What secrets are your body trying to tell you? How do you know if you should keep pushing or if you should rest?  If you listen to the podcast where our unifying theme is about high performance living, then I think you'll love today's topic.  It's about measuring strain and recovery.  There's a great deal of research uncovering biomarkers to give insight to your sleep, recovery, and HRV (heart rate variability).  Today's guest is the CEO and Founder of the wildly successful and rapidly expanding company, WHOOP.  His name is Will Ahmed and if you listen to WHOOP Podcast, you're familiar with Will and WHOOP's mission.  Their goal is to unlock human performance by monitoring heart rate 24/7, creating smart algorithms to gauge the stress on your body, prevent overtraining, provide an individualized in depth analysis of sleep, and help contribute to the broader picture of not just athletic performance, but life performance. WHOOP's software uses sleep, HRV, and real time heart rate that is measured 100 times per s

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  This week, I want to talk about happiness.  More specifically, I want to talk about what you are linking your happiness to.   The biggest problem is we often assign contentment to the end point of a goal. I'll be happy (or content) when I save $10,000 or I'll be happy when I lose 5 lbs, I'll be happy when I win a race, I'll be happy when I go on vacation.  I'll be happy when I buy a house.  The first problem is that our happiness is outcome based.  We'll only be happy if we achieve a certain result.  The second problem with this is that even if you do achieve the outcome, your brain will rapidly recalibrate to a new normal.  We've all progressed and met goals that we thought would make us happy, but when we get there, it's often not as amazing as we had hoped or we don't feel that contentment we were hoping for. We also look at other people who have mor

How to find a stage race, how to train for a stage race, how to pack for a stage race and SO much more! This one has been a long time coming! I've done over 35 stage races in 15+ countries around the world in the last decade. I've had a lot of success and I wanted to share everything I know with you!  Thanks for submitting all of your questions! Get my Travel Pack list for free. Enter your email and under "comments for  me," type Travel Pack List.   Topics Discussed in the Podcast  types of stage racing: XC, XC Endurance Enduro solo vs team stage races how to build a training plan for a stage race mental strategies for stage race prep sports nutrition tips recovery tips for stage racing what to expect day to day at a stage race what I carry during a stage race Listen Now   Episodes Mentioned w/Stage Race Advice Stage racing as a duo or a team (and Brasil Ride)  w/Gordon Wadsworth All about the Cape Epic: how I trained, how I packed, how the race logistics worked Sudety Challenge in Poland: both my expe

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start. Today, I want to talk about doubt. There are so many times and in different areas of our lives where we have self-doubt.  The thought - "What if I'm not good enough?'  Sport is the easiest example, but it can happen any time.  It can be doubt in your own capability accepting a role at work, it can be doubting a decision you made, or doubt that you're doing the right thing. Doubt and self-confidence are linked.  Nobody is perfectly confident all the time and every single person experiences doubt, no matter what their level of accomplishment may be.  In my experience, focusing on negative thoughts are what lead to doubt.  Overthinking leads to doubt. And sometimes, self-doubt leads to giving up. I'll use a simple example.  I did a race called the Nimby Fifty in Pemberton over the weekend. I was afraid before the start because conditions were going to be da

I'm really excited about today's topic. It's something I have spent a lot of time researching and putting into practice.  A few years ago, I read a book called Mindset by Carol Dweck.  It was about the concept that things like talent or intellect are not fixed.  You've probably heard the term "growth mindset" if you've been listening to this podcast.  Someone with a growth mindset ultimately believes that they are capable at improving at anything if they work at it.  In fact, research in neuroplasticity or the ability to rewire your brain proves that we can not only improve at anything, but actually change how your brain works. Growth mindset is something I often talk about in my keynote speeches.  Some examples.  People with a fixed mindset tend to give up when they are frustrated, don't like taking on bigger challenges because they are afraid of failure, and tend to not take criticism very well.  People with a growth mindset say things like, "I didn't get that result yet, but I just need to keep working at

Mark Manson is a NYT best-selling author, blogger, and entrepreneur.  You may have seen his bright orange first book, The Subtle Art of Giving a F*ck.  It has sold nearly 8 million copies and has been #1 in 13 countries- pretty much one of the most successful books in our recent history.  Mark is about effective self-help and his demeanor is humble and funny.  Mark has written articles for CNN, BBC News, Business Insider, and more. We talked about how he started his blog in 2007, and how it has blown up to helping literally millions of people.  This episode is all about his new book that just launched this week: Everything is F*cked. The book goes into why, despite living in one of the greatest time periods in history, we still feel like we aren't enough, that things are really hard, and why we feel isolated.  At this moment in history, when we have access to technology, education and communication our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, so many of us still feel hopeless. Diving into interesting research and st

If you're a cyclist and you enjoy reading about cycling or listening to podcasts about cycling, you have probably heard of Molly Hurford. Molly is like my soul sister- she even married a Canadian guy (Peter Glassford) and moved to Canada!  She is the author of 4 books, the creator of TheOutdoorEdit.com, a coach, co-host of the Consummate Athlete podcast, a badass cyclist and runner, writes for several popular mainstream magazines like Outside Magazine and most recently: her latest book Shred Girls just came out! Her mission is to get girls and women to embrace wellness and adventure. Molly is a self proclaimed comic book nerd and always wanted to create her own superheroes.  She always had the idea of Shred Girls percolating in the background and brought it to life.  The first book, Lindsay's Joyride, is a middle grade read about how a group of girls get into BMX, find their inner superpowers, and is guaranteed to teach the readers about the confidence that you can gain from participating in sports.  Topics

Brenda Davis is one of the top authorities and dietitians in plant-based nutrition.  As the co-author of the incredibly comprehensive book, Becoming Vegan, a Vegetarian Hall of Famer, author of x books, an expert in reducing the world's Type II Diabetes problems with Plant-Based Diets. She teaches lifestyle medicine courses all over the world, has been flown by the prince of Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia to consult on diet.  A highly sought after speaker traveling several times per month to speak and pretty much the vision of health and fitness, Brenda is amazing.  And I think it's pretty clear that I like her alot! Brenda first came on the show 2 years ago and was my very first podcast episode I ever recorded.  We became friends from that day forward and I'm always inspired by how Brenda lives her life. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Why keto diets are dangerous How to eat for weight loss Rice and arsenic The final verdict on gluten Should you buy organic grains Everything you need to know about iron as

Brad Stulberg is no stranger to my podcast. This is actually the third time I've had him on the show!  He's the co-author of two books: The Passion Paradox and also Peak Performance., a consultant and coach on topics like burnout, resilience, self-awareness, long term goal setting strategies, the linkage between mental health, wellbeing, and performance and so much more.  He also write about human performance in his regular column in Outside Magazine, or in publications like the New York Times, Thrive, Sports Illustrated, and more.  He is my favorite person to follow on Twitter because he always has insightful and actionable information. In this episode, we got to go deep into his new book with co-author Steve Magness. The book is called The Passion Paradox and it is right up our alley you guys.  We are told that a life of passion is important - that we need to find our passion and pursue it at all costs. But passion can become a curse, leading to endlessly chasing achievement or the next thing.  This book is

Paula Woodward is a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  In addition to her impactful life experiences, she has also spent time China with rotations in many medical departments, a lot of educational experience in Psychology, and a passion for personal development.  I first found Paula when my friend who was suffering from a "hard to treat" skin condition started drinking some Chinese herbs and was seemingly cured.  Another friend was struggling with Post-Partum depression and was using acupuncture to help her symptoms. Both friends had experienced amazing life improvements and had been seeing the same Chinese Medicine Doc: Dr. Paula.  I'm a generally curious person and love trying new ways of self-care, so I went to see Paula for no symptom in particular.  What I did notice after my first treatment was that I was able to fall asleep on the table (daytime sleeping never happens for me) and I felt more calm for days up to weeks post treatment.  I got curious about acupuncture for some of my more frustrating

The Cape Epic is an 8-day Mountain Bike Stage Race across the terrain surrounding Capetown’s greater mountains.  The Cape Epic is touted as the “World’s Premier Stage Race,” attracted around 2000 people each year.  There are several distances of stage races, and the Cape Epic certainly focuses on endurance with most stages taking 5+ hours. This was my second trip to South Africa and my first time racing the Cape Epic. I raced the UCI Women’s Category with teammate and fellow stage racing veteran, Catherine Williamson.  Catherine has raced 60+ stage races and 2019 was her 7th Cape Epic.  She and I knew each other from previous stage races, but this was our first time teaming up. Image: Sportograf Image: Sportograf   I was really happy with my experience, and also happy with my fitness despite sub-optimal preparation. The heat training I did (if you missed the podcasts, we did a 2 part series on it) worked like a charm.  I also got stronger as the race went on which is always a great feeling. I don’t always

Dan Waldschmidt is about action.  From a young age, he believed in extreme effort.  So much so that he pushed himself over the edge and found himself holding a gun to his own head.  Contemplating suicide got Dan to turn his life around and focus on what really mattered.  Dan is an accomplished speaker, best selling author of the book Edgy Conversations, an ultra-runner, and a podcast host. His goal is to help people get unstuck, make decisions, and take extreme action. He has been published in places like Business Insider, Forbes, Vanity Fair, and CNBC.    Topics Discussed in the Podcast  How to stay motivated to exercise on business trips  Having Accountability The Power of Choice How to make the right decision for you What Extreme Behavior means Finding Your Brokenness Turn your thoughts into action and stop making excuses “The Difference Between Success And Failure Is Usually Just An Excuse You Are Making Right Now.” -Dan Waldschmidt Listen Now     Links Get his book for free: Edgy Conversations