Mindfulness to Meaning with Professor Norman Farb

“Choosing the meanings that are consistent with the life that we would ideally like to live is the heart of the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory.”

In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with Professor Norman Farb. He is a professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He’s best known for his research on the neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. He studies the mental habits that determine our sense of well-being. He is also a co-founder of the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory (MMT). MMT hypothesizes that the reason why mindfulness is effective is because over the long term it can change the foundational interpretations or meanings that we have about ourselves, the world, and the future.

Dr. Farb and Dr. Joe spoke about:

• How mindfulness meditation changes our sense of self and how this plays out in the brain
  
• Our brain’s default mode network and its role in well-being
  
• The importance of balancing routine and creativity
  
• The role of mindfulness in helping us break out of rigid ways of thinking and being
  
• The meaning and relevance of Eudaimonic well-being
  
• And how psychedelics fit into all of this