This book provides a clear guide on how to identify and correct muscle imbalances that cause pain, offering a safe and personalized yoga practice. It includes illustrated sequences of yoga postures and emphasizes the importance of hydration, stretching, and proper yoga poses to improve body imbalances.
In 'The Willpower Instinct,' Kelly McGonigal explains the science behind self-control and provides practical strategies to enhance willpower. The book is based on her 10-week course at Stanford University and covers topics such as the physiology of self-control, the role of stress and dopamine, and techniques like meditation and breathing exercises to improve willpower. McGonigal breaks down willpower into three categories: 'I will' (doing things that improve your life), 'I won’t' (avoiding things that undermine your health and happiness), and 'I want' (focusing on long-term goals). The book offers experiments and challenges to help readers apply the theories in their daily lives and improve their overall health, happiness, and productivity.
In 'The Joy of Movement,' Kelly McGonigal draws on insights from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology to show how movement is intertwined with basic human joys such as self-expression, social connection, and mastery. The book highlights stories of people who have found fulfillment and belonging through various forms of exercise, from running and walking to dancing and weightlifting. It illustrates how movement can create happiness, meaning, and connection, and serves as a powerful antidote to modern mental health issues. McGonigal also explores topics like the runner's high, exercise addiction, the impact of music on workouts, and the benefits of exercising outdoors, emphasizing the role of movement in our happiness and humanity.
We equate the new year with potential energy. It's an opportunity to re-evaluate one's trajectory. A permission grant to chart a new course of self-discovery.
In truth, every moment presents a window for reinvention. But January always provides heightened urgency to inventory how we spend our precious time, focus our intention and deploy our energy.
Extrapolating on themes explored with Chadd Wright, today we balance out the warrior alpha-male vibe with some feminine wisdom, courtesy of Kelly McGonigal, PhD.
A health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University who specializes in understanding the mind-body connection, Kelly is a pioneer in the field of 'science-help,' translating insights from psychology and neuroscience into practical strategies that support personal well-being and community connection.
There’s a decent chance you caught her amazing 2013 TED Talk, How To Make Stress Your Friend. A viral hit with over 21 million views, Kelly makes the case that social connection is both a natural instinct and a source of resilience in times of stress.
Or perhaps you’ve read one of her many amazing books, The Upside of Stress, The Willpower Instinct, or The Science of Compassion -- all of which are based on classes Kelly has previously taught at Stanford.
Fresh off the press and the framework for today’s conversation is her latest work, The Joy of Movement. A love letter to physicality (motivated in part by the dance, yoga, and group exercise classes she has been teaching for two decades), it's an evidence-based primer on how movement can serve as an antidote to depression, anxiety, and loneliness -- the modern epidemics of our time.
Although we touch a bit on willpower and stress (the subjects explored in her previous books), this conversation focuses on what exactly happens when we move our bodies.
But movement isn't just about fitness. It's not about the treadmill or StairMaster. And it has nothing to do with weight loss or six-pack abs.
Instead, movement is about something far more important. It's fundamental to being human. And a powerful path to that which we seek most -- happiness, hope, connection, and courage.
Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology, today we discuss why movement need not be a chore, but rather a source of joy. A source of self-expression. A vehicle for cooperation and social connection. A tool for mastery. And for some, even an instrument for self-transcendence.
Whether you're an experienced ultra marathon runner, a CrossFit enthusiast or a couch potato with a new year's resolution to finally get your heart rate up, Kelly is here to help deepen our collective understanding of how movement can create more meaning, pleasure, positivity and intimacy in our daily lives.
You can watch it all go down on YouTube.
Kelly is fantastic. And this conversation is a perfect way to embrace the new year enthusiastic about the body's potential to quite literally change everything about how we experience ourselves and our communities. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange as much as I enjoyed having it.
Peace + Plants,
Rich
The Rich Roll Podcast 
