In one of our favorite conversations, Dr. Jud Brewer joins us to explore the habit of anxiety, mindfulness practices to heal addiction, and what we can learn from the brains of the world’s most advanced meditators.

About Our Guest: Dr. Jud is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist and New York Times best-selling author. He’s the director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, where he also serves as an associate professor, as well as the executive medical director of behavioral health at Sharecare Inc.

Dr. Jud is also the author of The Craving Mind and Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind. 

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You  can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

2:00: What got Jud from psychiatry to studying mindfulness?

5:45: Addiction and the structure of habits. 

10:15: Mindfulness as a treatment for addiction. 

14:00: Liking without wanting.

19:45: Habit formation and reward-based learning.

24:00: Awareness, and honoring your experience.

26:15: Curiosity.

28:10: The “habit” of anxiety. 

32:00: Anxiety’s habit loop.

34:45: The true purpose of worrying.

39:00: Generalized vs. acute anxiety. 

41:00: Anxiety and performance. 

46:20: Practices for unwinding from anxiety.

54:45: Learning from the brains of experienced practitioners. 

1:03:30: Recap

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