Untangle, The Podcast From Meditation Studio

Today I’m excited to interview not only the amazing Dan Harris..but — bonus, I interview his 9 yr.old son Alexander at the end of the show. I actually wanted to find out if Dan walks the talk and, indeed, spoiler alert, he does. It was fun to see that his son shares his sense of humor. Very funny. Alexander says he's Dan's emotional support animal when he travels with him. And definitely thinks Dan is a hippie. Hmmm. I think of Dan as part comedian, part meditation or self help guru and part real guy who shares all the messy stuff that shows up in his life. The stuff most of us hold inside. And while it’s the 10 year anniversary of 10% Happier…he’s actually, he says, now more like 40% happier.  Dan’s books, podcast and meditations have helped so many people. I love when he talks about his twin demons…anger and self centeredness and shares how he copes. OR the toilet vortex — a term his friend gave him for when we go down the rabbit hole of rumination.  We discuss what has motivated him to up level his happine

Today’s guest, Adam Pearce, has a heartbreaking personal story that has humbled him and changed his life. It’s also taught him patience, resilience and hope — and perhaps given him a deeper experience of love. Most importantly, he’s learned the gifts that come from accepting what IS — especially when it’s out of our control.  In 2009, his brother, Kevin Pearce, one of the top snowboarders in the world (competing against Shaun White and often winning) had a tragic accident while training. This happened as he was heading into the Olympics. It left Kevin with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) which changed the course of his life, and Adam's life as well. Adam shared how he kept going despite sadness and uncertainty - and how both he and Kevin had to reframe their mindset to help the healing process. One doctor told Kevin he would need to find a way to ‘love your brain.’ This ultimately became the name of the foundation they formed to help others with TBI. Meditation, yoga, compassion and connection…are all at the h

Super excited about today’s guest… Rob Dube…a dear friend, brilliant entrepreneur, author and all around pretty phenomenal human. His new book is co authored with Gino Wickman, the creator of the Entrepreneurial Operating System and author of the book, Traction. Their new book is called SHINE, the 10 disciplines for maximizing your energy, impact and peace. It’s THE handbook for type an entrepreneurs who want to begin looking inward, finding more balance while being successful at life and at work. Their premise is that their drive often takes a toll on their teams, personal relationships and even their health. It’s all about finding that delicate balance between our internal and external worlds. Rob shares how they define true self, how to make decisions based on love not fear, and the 10 disciplines that have worked for many entrepreneurs.  As always, we’re Untangle, the podcast from Muse, the brain sensing headband dedicated to unlocking your brains potential and revolutionizing health AND Meditation Studio

Today's encore episode is hosted by Ariel Garten. Dr. Lisa Mosconi is a neuroscientist, Alzheimer’s researcher, nutritionist, and author of "Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power." Listen as she shares the easy ways we can supercharge our brains through what we eat and drink. Check out Choosemuse.com/meditationstudio for free meditations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Alex Auerbach is a Sports Psychologist and Director of Wellness and Development for the basketball team, Toronto Raptors. Before working with the Raptors, he was the Director of Clinical and Sports Psychology for the University of Arizona. He’s a huge fan of Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy —also called ACT — for optimizing both the performance and mental health of athletes. He works with athletes on self-awareness, and emotional regulation and helps them understand and even name and ground their often difficult feelings. Mindfulness is a core pillar in all his work. He shares some of the great research that’s been done suggesting that mindfulness can lead to optimal performance and, possibly, to the all-important flow state. There are so many stressors in the life of a professional athlete — and these tools are a great way to help manage stress and tension as well as being more resilient to the ups and downs that are a natural part of life. Check out Choosemuse.com/Meditationstudio for f

In todays encore episode, join Muse co-founder Ariel Garten as she interviews Jim Kwik is a celebrity brain trainer who teaches tools and techniques to optimize your brain to learn and remember. Jim works with Elon Musk, Jim Carrey, and Richard Branson--among many others! He shares his brain-enhancing learning and memory techniques with Ariel and with all of us. As always, we’re Untangle, the podcast from Muse, the brain sensing headband dedicated to unlocking your brains potential and revolutionizing health AND Meditation Studio the five star app. Check out all the free meditations at choosemuse.com/meditationstudio.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This was such a fun interview — our guest today is Dr. Robert Waldinger, a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, a practicing Psychiatrist, Zen Master and author of the book The Good Life, Lessons from the Worlds Longest Scientific Study on Happiness. This study, which began in 1938, reveals what it takes to build a good life. What does that exactly mean, I wondered…fulfilling, satisfying, meaningful, happy? All of it. There's no one size fits all. BUT…the one thing that was consistent? Relationships. All kinds of relationships. The quality of the social connections that we make throughout our lives means everything. He says…Human connection is our superpower. Good relationships help us get through life’s inevitable challenges, and they keep us happier and healthier. and the research shows that they actually help us to live longer. Robert reminds us that we should pay attention to the things that we really care about…the things and people that energize us. AND pay attention to the things and peop

Today's encore episode is with the lovely Daphne Rose Kingma, best selling author of 12 books, primarily on love and relationships. Her books have sold more than a million and a half copies and been translated into 16 languages. The San Francisco Chronicle called her the love doctor. In this episode, I was excited to ask her my many questions on love and relationships, but I also asked several from our listeners who shared them with me before the interview. Here’s a preview of some of the questions she answered…. What are the biggest challenges people have in relationship? How would you define falling in love or even just love? Does marriage require a leap of faith or is it a choice or what? Why do some relationships work and to others not so much. I truly believe that loving others is one of the greatest gifts we have and relationships are a mirror into what we each need to learn in our own lives. But as Daphne clearly said…relationships are not for sissies.  Resource: Daphnerosekingma.com Check out Choosemu

Today we’re doing a special episode of Untangle to celebrate — and explore — the many ways we look at LOVE. I wanted to explore this topic because it’s a word that holds so much meaning for so many of us. And yet, it can be defined in many many different ways as you’ll hear today. For some it guides how we live our lives, how we make our choices. For some it’s something we fall in — as in falling IN love when we meet someone we want to be with. Some say, it’s an energy— you just feel it, it can’t be explained. Others describe it as a feeling of intimacy or desire or even as a deep sense of empathy. One guest said it’s not a feeling…it’s an ability.  In this episode I ask a number of our former Untangle guests two questions. How do you define love AND How does love express itself in your life. I found these questions difficult to answer myself…so was curious what we’d find. I’m beginning to accept the fact that we all see things a little or perhaps a lot differently. And that is just fine.  In our mini episode

Dr. Marisa Franco is a New York Times bestselling Author, Professor, Psychologist, and self-proclaimed friendship expert. Marisa discusses the science of connection — and the importance of platonic friendships. Her new book is called Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends. She believes friendship is the single best action a person can take to live a longer life, take the edge off depression, flourish and even revitalize a marriage. She challenges the notion that friendships should be at the bottom of the relationship totem poll. Her mantra is — Never stop cultivating friendships and connections. She gives us many reasons to prioritize platonic love and bring more friends into our life, nurture the ones we already have and keep building community. If we do these things, we’ll always be surrounded by love —whether or not we choose a romantic relationship. Check out choosemuse.com/meditationstudio for hundreds of free meditations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap

Today’s guest is amazing! Anese Cavanaugh is an award winning Speaker, Author, Teacher, Strategic Advisor and Thinking Partner for many innovative organizations and individuals. She’s also the CEO of Active Choices, a strategic advisory and training company. Today we get to the heart of many of the ideas she has shared in her books (see below), and we dive into her proprietary approach to leadership called Intentional Energetic Presence. The bottom line…how we show up in the world MATTERS, regardless of whether you’re at work or at home. It matters. Your intentions energy and presence can have a positive OR negative impact, depending on the choices you make. She unpacks why we need tools and practices for self awareness, honest reflection and for being more present and intentional so we can create the most positive and impactful experiences and relationships. I love this quote from one of her books: “We create our experience in every moment, contract or expand, repel or invite, fear or love, abdicate or lead.

Encore from 2020. Still (very) Relevant! Guest Host is Ariel Garten. Learn how to create any habit you want! By celebrating even the smallest changes as victories, you can rewire your brain to tackle your year's challenges successfully. Dr. BJ Fogg is an American Social Scientist and Author who is a research associate and adjunct professor at Stanford University. He founded the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University, where he directs research and innovation. In addition, he teaches industry innovators how to use his models and methods in Behavior Design. The purpose of his research and teaching is to help millions of people improve their lives.  At Stanford, BJ was an appointed Lecturer and Consulting Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, where he taught classes from 1997 - 2014. He has also been a Lecturer and Social Science Research Scholar at the Graduate School of education from 2001 to the present. Learn more about BJ Fogg at www.bjfogg.com and read his book, "Tiny Habits". Che

Today’s episode is one that I hope will make you smile.  Our guest is Jennifer King Lindley, a wonderful writer and researcher. Jennifer’s book, Find your Joy, is a perfect way to kick-start the year. It’s a beautiful guided journal with some simple, but important practices to inspire more joy in our lives. She’s integrated some research based interventions with prompts and practical tools.  Today, she discusses a few of her favorite practices from the book with themes like cultivating more self compassion, awe and savoring daily pleasures, practicing forgiveness, reigniting play and expressing gratitude in some new ways. I really like the way she made all of this very accessible. This is like having a self care first aid kit for boosting joy. Resource: Find Your Joy (self care journal) at all major booksellers. Jenniferkinglindley.com Check out choosemuse.com/meditationstudio for hundreds of free meditations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest, is Marisa Handler. Marisa was on Untangle a year ago, and she's back because so many of us loved her ideas on Creativity (with a big C) and how it can emerge in our lives in so many different ways.  She is a writer, singer, songwriter and she teaches creativity, meditation, and transformation at Stanford University, Spirit Rock Meditation Center and California Institute of Integral Studies. She’s also a Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie. Today we talk about what it means to be creative — how life itself is an unfolding of the creative process and there’s always creative potential; how doing our best creative work helps us to find our voice AND how our obstacles can be a gift as we uncover their meaning. She shares how we can stay open to new ways of seeing things, engage creatively with our limits and edges by staying curious. You’ll also hear some of her thoughts on our shadows, dreams and visions.  Marisa’s 9 month creative coaching program starts January 18, so get in touch with her if

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness, habits and human nature. She’s a highly acclaimed writer, known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas—with levity and clarity. She’s the author of many bestselling books, including her breakout memoir, The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her most recent book is Life in Five Senses.  She’s also host of the popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin, and founder of award-winning Happier app, which helps people track their happiness-boosting habits. TO kick off 2024 we invited Gretchen to talk with us about how we can inject more happiness into our lives and how we can cultivate new habits with greater ease. She challenges us to make our ’24 for 2024’ list to identify our aims for the year. There’s no one right way to make your list—you might create different categories, follow a theme, choose all fun item

Chris Winter is a neurologist, sleep specialist, and author of the book, "The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It." He explains why we’re a culture of poor sleepers and how we got that way, and includes five things we can do to improve our sleep right now. Spoiler alert: an attitude change might be the best tactic of all. • Understand how sleep works and the ways in which food, light, and other activities act to help or hurt the process • Learn why sleeping pills are so often misunderstood and used incorrectly—and how you can achieve your best sleep without them • Incorporate sleep and napping into your life—whether you are a shift worker, student, or overcommitted parent • Think outside the box to better understand ways to treat a multitude of conditions—from insomnia to sleep apnea to restless leg syndrome and circadian sleep disorders • Wade through the ever-changing sea of sleep technology and understand its value as it relates to your own sleep struggles  Encore. Resource: The Slee

New! This interview is for anyone…all of us…who’ve ever felt the sting of loss. Our guest is Gina Moffa, Clinical Social Worker and Author of the new book, “Moving on Doesn’t Mean Letting go. A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss.” Gina is wise, compassionate, and passionate about this very complicated topic.  We discuss how difficult loss can be — especially in a culture where we’re encouraged to stay strong and keep our feelings to ourselves.  But, she says, “we don’t have to choose between falling apart or staying strong while grieving our losses. The art of living lies in the fine mingling of letting go and holding on." Grief hurts whether it’s the death of someone you love, the end of a friendship, a breakup, or an ambiguous loss. We all experience it. And even though it's one of the most universal human journeys, grieving isn't something most of us know how to do. It can be isolating, confusing, and profoundly painful. Gina gives us a toolkit, if you will, to wade through these difficult feelings. We are

Today's guest is Oren Jay Sofer. Oren teaches Mindfulness, Meditation and Nonviolent Communication in secular and Buddhist contexts. He holds a degree in comparative religions from Columbia University and is deeply engaged as a certified trainer in Marshall Rosenbergs' work in Nonviolent Communication. His first book, Say What You Mean, offers valuable approaches and practical tools for communicating, and for handling the most difficult conversations. His new book, Your heart Was Made For This, combines his decades of training in Nonviolent Communication, Buddhism and Contemplative Practice and applies this wisdom to many of the pressing issues we face today…climate chase, oppression, anxiety, burnout…more.  He offers us clarity and strength to meet life’s immense challenges with courage and balance. His book offers ways for us to strengthen our hearts and nourish the qualities that can help to transform the world.  Resources: Orenjaysofer.com Choosemuse.com/meditationstudio: Free meditations! Learn more abou

Today's guest is Dr. Emeran Mayer, a Distinguished Research Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology, and Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. He is a world-renowned gastroenterologist and neuroscientist with 35 years of experience in the study of clinical and neurobiological aspects of how the digestive system and the nervous system interact in health and disease. We discuss his bestselling book, The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health. The book combines neuroscience with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome with lots of insights on the biological link between the mind and the digestive system. He shares the science behind the mind-gut communication pipeline…and discusses how we can harness the power of this connection to take charge of our health and listen to the innate wisdom of our bodies. Our favorite quote: “The time has come for us to empower ourselves to be the engineers of our own interna

Today’s guest is Dr. David Spiegel. He is Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine all at Stanford University School of Medicine.  Dr. Spiegel has more than 40 years of clinical and research experience studying stress and health, pain control, sleep, hypnosis, and more. He’s published thirteen books on these and other topics.  In this interview, we talk about Hypnosis. Why are some people are more susceptible than others? What’s the difference between hypnosis and self hypnosis? How can we use hypnosis for sleep, stress, anxiety, depression, stress, phobias, pain or trauma? When I asked him for a simple definition of hypnosis he said "hypnosis is simply a state of highly focused attention. It's like looking through the telephoto lens of a camera, what you see, you see with great detail, but you're less aware of the context." I found his insights and the tools he offered extremely