Feeling Stuck? Here's How to Break Out of Negative Patterns, Build New Habits, Find Fresh Motivation. With Norm Farb and Zindel Segal.
Dec 17, 2024
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Join renowned neuroscientist Dr. Norm Farb and clinical psychologist Dr. Zindel Segal, both professors at the University of Toronto, as they dive into breaking free from negative patterns. They explore the concept of 'sense foraging' to enhance awareness and motivation. Discover the impact of neuroplasticity on emotional processing and the importance of engaging with sensory experiences. The conversation emphasizes balancing cognitive thought with sensory perception to foster personal growth and deeper emotional insights.
Outdated mental maps from past experiences can keep individuals stuck, hindering growth and adaptation to new challenges and relationships.
Engaging with sensory experiences through techniques like sense foraging can disrupt negative patterns and enhance emotional connections.
By prioritizing curiosity and embracing sensory information, individuals can find fresh motivation and develop new, productive habits in everyday life.
Deep dives
The Value of Everyday Luxury
A soft gray Mongolian cashmere sweater offers a balance of style, warmth, and affordability, making it a perfect gift during the winter season. This highlights the notion that luxury can be accessible, enabling individuals to treat their loved ones without a significant financial burden. In addition to cashmere sweaters, other luxury items such as gold jewelry, Italian leather handbags, and European linen sheets are also presented as ideal gifts. The overarching message is to celebrate gift-giving with high-quality items that don't come with steep price tags, encouraging people to redefine their approach to luxury.
Understanding Chronic Migraine
Chronic migraine affects individuals who experience 15 or more headache days per month, with each episode lasting four hours or more. The use of Botox, derived from botulinum toxin A, has shown promise in preventing headaches for individuals suffering from chronic migraines, demonstrating an average reduction of eight to nine headache days compared to only six to seven for placebo treatments. However, Botox treatments are not recommended for those with fewer than 15 headache days per month. It's important for patients to be aware of potential side effects and to communicate any serious symptoms to their doctors, ensuring they are treated safely and effectively.
Navigating Life Transitions with Mental Maps
Individuals often find themselves stuck in patterns of behavior due to outdated mental maps formed throughout their lives, which can hinder personal growth and adaptation. These mental maps, while initially useful for navigating challenges and relationships, eventually become limiting, making it difficult to explore new ways of thinking and acting. The podcast emphasizes the significance of disrupting these habits to face new experiences and challenges with fresh perspectives. Techniques like sense foraging are introduced as methods to break free from established patterns and relieve the anxiety associated with rigid routines.
The Role of Sensation in Emotional Well-being
Sensation plays a critical role in mental health, especially as many people become overly reliant on cognitive processes to navigate emotional landscapes. The tendency to operate within a 'default mode' of thinking can prevent individuals from accessing sensory experiences, which may lead to feelings of dissatisfaction or hollowness. By acknowledging and engaging with sensory information, individuals can foster a deeper connection with their emotions, enhancing their ability to self-regulate and adapt. Embracing a sensory-focused approach, instead of just relying on thoughts, can unveil new pathways for growth and emotional clarity.
Sense Foraging as a Tool for Discovery
Sense foraging is presented as a vital concept that encourages individuals to actively seek out and engage with their sensory experiences in everyday life. This approach prioritizes curiosity and openness over habitual responses, leading to moments of surprise and discovery. Practical exercises, like noticing previously overlooked details in one’s environment or trying new activities such as brushing your teeth with the non-dominant hand, can help recalibrate one's focus on sensation. By establishing a sense foraging mindset, individuals can cultivate a deeper connection to their sensory experiences, enriching their interactions and emotional responses.
Todays guests are Renowned Neuroscientist Dr. Norm Farb and Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Zindel Segal, co-authors of the book Better in Every Sense, How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life. Both are also popular professors at the University of Toronto.
In this interview, we talk about how often our old habits of behavior keep us stuck and let us down. Norm and Zindel discuss the mental maps we create throughout our lives and how these become faulty or dated and often prevent us from building new, more productive habits as we grow and evolve — as we face new adventures, relationships and challenges inc our lives. They share how we can break out of negative patterns, relieve anxiety associated with old ways of thinking, build new habits, and find fresh motivation by using a technique they call "sense foraging.” We explore feeling and sensing skills to zap us out of our default mode vs. thinking. It’s pretty interesting stuff.
As always, we’re Untangle, the podcast from Muse, the brain sensing headband dedicated to unlocking your brains potential AND Meditation Studio the five star app. Unlock 30 days of Meditation Studio for free at choosemuse.com/meditationstudio.