Gretchen Rubin is the New York Times bestselling author of several books about happiness, habit and human nature. Her books, including The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, Happier at Home, and The Happiness Project, have sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide. Gretchen also has a popular blog and podcast, called Happier. Previously, she received a law degree from Yale and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.  Topics in this episode include happiness engineering, how to make and break habits, why habits are highly personal and Gretchen's four tendencies framework, willpower, and the effects of clutter on the mind.   FitMind App: http://bit.ly/afitmind  Website: www.fitmind.com

Dr. Jay Sanguinetti is a scientist and technologist trained in philosophy, neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. Jay's SEMA Lab is researching ways of using noninvasive brain stimulation to enhance cognitive function and wellbeing. For example, he's working with one of the world's best-known meditation masters, Shinzen Young, to create a neuromodulation device for augmenting mindfulness meditation practice. Topics in this episode include how noninvasive brain stimulation works, neural changes associated with mindfulness, and a rare disorder that led to some fascinating scientific breakthroughs.   FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind  Website: www.fitmind.com  

Dr. Andrew Hill is a neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and biohacker. He's the Founder of Peak Brain Institute, a brain fitness center, and Lead Neuroscientist at TruBrain, a nootropics company. Dr. Hill holds a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCLA and is best known for his mission to bring the brain-hacking technology of neurofeedback into mainstream practice. His community-oriented company Peak Brain Institute teaches brain-training from a fitness perspective and uses EEG neurofeedback and QEEG brain mapping designed to help people enhance cognitive performance. Topics in this episode include neurofeedback, a NASA study on cat brains, how brainwaves work, debunking the stoned ape hypothesis, the "god spot" in the brain, aging well, altered states of consciousness, brain gyms, the future of neuroscience technology, and why Elon musk may be wasting his time trying to get to Mars.  FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind  Website: www.fitmind.com

Dr. Erik Won is a Harvard-trained doctor and the President of Wave Neuroscience, a biotechnology company developing innovative solutions for mental disorders like PTSD. Dr. Won served as a U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 and became CTO of medical at Boeing before joining Wave Neuro. He also has an MBA and has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals. In this episode, we talk about the tragedy that led to Dr. Won's interest in treating PTSD, unpack a promising technology called magnetic e-resonance therapy (MeRT), and discuss the future technology in this field. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com  

Dr. Tucker Peck is a meditation teacher, clinical psychologist, and founder of Drugfreesleep.com. He holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology with a focus on the scientific study of meditation’s effects on the mind, brain, and body. Tucker began training in meditation in 2005 and has studied with Sharon Salzberg of the Insight Meditation Society and Dr. John Yates of Dharma Treasure, a previous guest on The FitMind Podcast. Tucker was awarded a research grant from the Mind and Life Institute, which he has used to study the effects of meditation on the sleeping brain. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

Donald Hilton, MD is a neurosurgeon and internationally recognized expert on the neuroscience of pornography. Dr. Hilton is currently listed in Best Doctors of America and serves as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Neurology at UT Medical School. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology from Lamar University and cum laude with a medical degree from UT. In this episode, we discuss the magnitude of the porn problem, the neuroscience of porn addiction, and potential solutions to the issue on both personal and society-wide levels. Explicit Content Warning: Includes detailed descriptions of pornographic acts. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

Sean Fargo is the Founder of Mindfulness Exercises, where he has taught meditation to some of the top executives in the world at companies like PG&E, Reddit, and DocuSign. Sean is a meditation instructor at Google and advisor to technology startups like Elevate Labs and WellBrain.io. He was formerly a Buddhist monk for two years and worked at the famous Spirit Rock Meditation Center with Jack Kornfield and other world-renowned meditation teachers. In this episode, we talk about how he went from being an international businessman to becoming a monk with no possessions, the details of his training as a monk, why he decided to leave and reenter the western world, and how to deal with difficult emotions. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist with the 7th most viewed TED talk of all time, titled "My Stroke of Insight." She's been named by Time Magazine on a list of the 100 most influential people in the world and was the first guest on Oprah's SoulSeries show. Dr. Taylor founded the nonprofit Jill Bolte Taylor Brains, Inc. and is the national spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center. She received a PhD with postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience. She's also the author of the bestselling book My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientists' Personal Journey. In this episode, we talk about the brain hemorrhage that led to her stroke of insight and one of the most viewed TED talks of all time, her tips for taking control of our brains, how to switch from doing mode to being mode, becoming your best self, and how consciousness works. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

4x USA Memory Champion Nelson Dellis tells us how to remember (and forget) anything. Nelson Dellis is an American memory champion, mountain climber, and consultant. He has won the USA Memory Championship four times and is an official Grandmaster of Memory (for which you must: memorize 1,000 random digits in one hour, memorize the order of 10 decks of cards in 1 hour, and memorize the order of one deck of cards in less than two minutes). Nelson runs a nonprofit, Climb 4 Memory, which helps combat Alzheimer's disease, co-founded Memory League, and authored Remember it!. As a memory athlete, he has broken several memory records, including memorizing a shuffled deck of cards in 63 seconds and memorizing 339 digits in 5 minutes. Nelson has been featured in documentaries, programs, and shows like Today, The Dr. Oz Show, and Nightline. In this episode of The FitMind Podcast, we discuss how memory works, tips for improving your memory, creating a memory palace, how to learn a language fast, speed reading and how to remember what you read, the future of brain training, his favorite brain foods, and how to forget bad memories. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

Michael Taft is a meditation teacher, bestselling author, and podcaster. He teaches meditation at top tech firms like Google and is a core faculty member of Wisdom Labs in San Francisco and an official advisor to the Therapeutic Neuroscience Lab. He has served as editor-in-chief of Being Human and long-time editorial director of Sounds True. Having meditated in various traditions and techniques from Zen temples in Japan to yogi caves in India, Michael has a ton of experience (over 35 years) in training his mind. He also interviews top teachers on his popular podcast Deconstructing Yourself. In this episode, we talk about Michael's journey to the east and through advanced meditation practice, worldviews and frameworks for understanding the mind and meditation, the trials and potential pitfalls of adapting ancient methods for a modern context and the future of meditation in the West, and his general advice for finding the right meditation practice and refining it And if you enjoy this podcast with Michael, which I think you will, then I encourage you to check out his books The Mindful Geek, Nondualism, and Ego. FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com