Imagine if as a college student in 1939 you had agreed to be part of a study dedicated to unlocking the secrets of a life well-lived. Imagine if from that moment on, for as long as you lived, you were poked and prodded with virtually every medical test and psychological tool at the researchers’ disposal. Imagine if 267 of your classmates agreed to do the same thing. Then imagine, over the course of seven decades, as your whole group was studied throughout college, World War II, careers, marriages, and divorces, through parenthood and grandparenthood and into old age, what kind... Read full article »

I know this sounds crazy but over the course of my latest project – My Year of Living Mindfully – I spent more than $30,000 on scientific tests. I'm often asked why I went to such lengths to get objective measures to see what, if anything, changed as a result of my daily mindfulness training. And my answer is simple. Because I believe that science matters. You can read a piece called Why I Stopped Looking for Miracles and Started Reading Science to get the full story on this, but in essence, it wasn’t until I was in my late... Read full article »

One of the first things many of us become aware of when we first start mindfulness training is the presence of an incessant inner mean voice, which criticises and judges everything we do. But what is the purpose of this constant bombardment of self-criticism? Although having an inner critic can be helpful (I know mine forces me to be a better mother, a better friend, and a better journalist) the problem is, left to its own devices, self-criticism can cause measurably destructive effects, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders. This week's episode is an interview with the self-compassion... Read full article »

If you're interested in learning how your brain works and how to use that knowledge to make healthy changes in your life, then this week's podcast is for you. This episode is my extended interview with Dr. Judson Brewer, who is an Associate Professor and the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. As an addiction psychiatrist and neuroscientist who studies how we form unhealthy habits and routines, he's researching mindfulness-based techniques to help us change for good.     ALSO AVAILABLE ON:   SOMETHING YOU WANT TO KNOW? If you have a question for my... Read full article »

After listening to this week's podcast, I suspect that you won't be able to stop yourself from taking a moment to reflect on what really matters to you the most in life, on what is truly important to you... and why. This episode is with Professor Michael Steger – a world-leading expert in finding meaning in life. He's the Founder and Director of the Center for Meaning and Purpose at the University of Colorado. Among other things in the interview we discuss: Why feeling that we have more meaning and purpose makes us biologically healthier The new research showing that... Read full article »

When I interviewed Matthieu Ricard, the world-famous French cellular geneticist-turned Buddhist monk, I remember thinking, whatever he’s on, I want some. I was struck by how the 71-year old (whose busy schedule involves international speaking tours and writing deadlines for his best-selling books, as well as overseeing 200 humanitarian projects) could possibly juggle everything and still seem so… well... happy. Matthieu has earned a place in popular media as the ‘happiest man on earth’ after neuroscientists published a series of seminal experiments involving his brain. I drove home from my interview with him thinking, could it be possible for me,... Read full article »