“Stress is a friend, but it can become an enemy if you don’t take care of it.” - Professor Sonia Lupien This episode of the Mindspace Podcast is dedicated to Bell Let’s Talk day, January 30th, 2019. Please share this post on social media (see instructions below) to contribute to mental health initiatives focusing on anti-stigma, care and access, research, and workplace health. In this episode, Dr. Joe talks with professor Sonia Lupien. Sonia is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Montreal. She is also the Founder and Director of the Centre for Studies on Human Stress. Sonia is a highly prolific research scientist, with dozens of publications in some of the top journals in her field. In recent years though she has directed some of this ambition to making her scientific discoveries more accessible to the public. For example, she set up a website to explain all of her lab’s findings in accessible language. She published Par Amour du Stress (the english version is called Well Stressed). And she appears regularly on local radio and TV. She also recently released a stress management iPhone app called iS.M.A.R.T., which was funded by Bell Let’s Talk. Sonia was generous enough to share with us one of her worksheets from her DeStress for Success program. You can download it here. It’ll come in handy during the podcast. In this episode, Sonia and Joe discussed: - The basics of stress physiology - The upside of stress and the importance of the stress mindset - How stress is impacted by social media - The link between stress and mental health - The strategies her research has identified as the most effective for reducing stress To help support the Bell Let's Talk campaign please share this episode on social media. And if you want to support the Bell Let's Talk campaign directly in other ways, on January 30th, Bell will donate 5 cents for the following actions: 1. Twitter: Every tweet and retweet using #BellLetsTalk and every Bell Let’s Talk video view on their Twitter page 2. Instagram: Every Bell Let’s Talk video view on their Instagram page 3. Facebook: Every use of the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame or every Bell Let’s Talk video view on their Facebook page 4. Snapchat: Every snap sent using the Bell Let’s Talk filter or every Bell Let’s Talk video view 5. Texts and Phone Calls: Every mobile and long distance call and text made by Bell Canada And finally, if you are struggling with stress in any way, please feel free to reach out to Mindspace for information on our therapies, mindfulness trainings, and workplace programs at mindspacewellbeing.com.

“I think that we can boil down well-being to two basic questions: How successful are you in moving towards your goals? And how well integrated are your various goals?” In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with professor Colin DeYoung. The purpose of the Mindspace podcast is to inspire well-being: to help us all move toward a healthier, more joyful, and more meaningful life, for ourselves and our communities. We are convinced that a scientific understanding of well-being provides a strong foundation for this pursuit and Colin is an exceptional guide to this area of science. Colin DeYoung is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. He specializes in the study of personality and its biological bases. He is well-known for his Cybernetic Big Five Theory, which provides a unifying theory for personality psychology and personality neuroscience. More info on Colin’s research can be found at deyoung.psych.umn.edu/. This episode is particularly relevant at this time of the year - it’s the beginning of 2019 and for many of us, it is a period of reflection - a moment to clarify our hopes and dreams for the next 12 months. The podcast today should align nicely with this state of mind as Colin talks a fair bit about the philosophical bases of well-being science. The conversation also addressed the impact of the following variables on well-being: - Personality - Habits - Values - Goals - Mindfulness meditation Colin and Joe speak about the Big 5 theory of personality and how it has surpassed the Myers Briggs approach to become the dominant model in personality science. If that discussion makes you curious about your own personality, you could get a report on your Big 5 profile by filling in a simple questionnaire. Which will soon be available on the Mindspace website.

“I would very much hope that the Canadian and the provincial governments would stop pussyfooting around, and start giving some real and concrete advice on how to use cannabis responsibly.” Dr. Claude Cyr is a family physician who has been practicing for over twenty years. He prescribes medical cannabis to his patients judiciously. He is a part time lecturer at the McGill University Department of Family Medicine and an associate researcher for the Quebec Cannabis Registry. He is widely considered a pillar in the medical cannabis community. In 2015, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, announced his intention to legalize cannabis. One year later, Claude founded Doctors for Responsible Access (DRA) to bring the medical community into the conversation of legalization. The DRA’s primary focus is on the potential negative impact that legalization could have on youth and the mentally ill. In this conversation, Claude provides a level-headed, balanced, and nuanced perspective on the benefits and drawbacks of legalization of cannabis. In this episode, Joe and Claude discussed: - The medical uses of cannabis - The potential benefits and drawbacks of cannabis on mental health - How to responsibly use cannabis - How to give advice to your teenagers on using cannabis - The medical potential of psychedelics

“Good leadership is, yes, about listening. It's about understanding. But it's also about creating contexts in which people can become activators and create new possibilities for themselves. I feel like I am succeeding when the people around me are fulfilled and engaged and self actualized.” In this episode of the MindSpace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with Kim Manning. Kim is a professor, researcher, and principal of the Simone de Beauvoir institute at Concordia University in Montreal. She is also a community organizer, an advocate for transgender rights, and a politician. After transitioning from her research in Chinese politics and Maoist ideology, Kim became involved in social action research, namely an advocate for transgender rights and the dignified treatment of that community. She began her journey because of a transformative experience she had with a gender nonconforming family member. That experience led her to play an integral part of passing Bill C-16, legislation which looks to extend Canada’s Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to protect gender expression and gender identity. Kim recently transitioned to a career in politics, which she sees as the pursuit of her highest purpose. She is currently running to be the federal Liberal party’s nominee in the Montreal riding of Outremont, where she feels she can best serve her community. To find out more about her political campaign, please visit kimmanning.ca. For more on her academic work, please visit her Concordia profile. Joe and Kim discuss: - Her personal experience with a gender nonconforming family member that inspired her to become an advocate for the transgender community - Her role in supporting Bill C-16 and confronting its critics, including Jordan Peterson, the U of T professor who got a lot of attention for his views on the Bill. - The excitement and challenges of her political campaign - How her family, her sense of purpose, her meditation practice, and even Zumba classes(!) help her maintain a modicum of balance in her crazy life.

Rob is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa. He specializes in the study of shyness, social withdrawal, and social anxiety in childhood. He is also the director of the Pickering Centre for Research in Human Development. He has published hundreds of journal articles and book chapters, as well as several books, including his most recent ones Quiet at School and the Handbook of Solitude. In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with professor Robert Coplan. They discussed:  - The characteristics of shyness as a temperamental trait - The extent to which shy children are vulnerable to mental health problems later in life and what interventions protect their development - Recommendations to parents for best supporting shy children - How parents should manage anxious adolescents’ academic performance anxiety and smartphone use

In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with Pascal Auclair about meditation and its role in cultivating well-being. They discuss:  - Pascal’s background and how he got into practicing and teaching meditation, including some interesting stories from long retreats he has sat. - His take on how meditation helps people live healthier and happier lives - explored through some practical examples from real life. What people can do to enjoy some of the benefits of meditation, even if they don’t have time for long, silent retreats. - Pascal’s perspective on the “secular mindfulness movement,” including some recent challenges from the scientific community, suggesting that all meditation teachers should develop greater sensitivity to the mental health problems that can arise in meditation. - The reason for his commitment to Social Justice in his practice and teaching.

Dr. Jean Twenge is a Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University. She is the author of more than 140 scientific publications and books including her most recent, iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. In this episode, Dr. Joe speaks with Jean Twenge about the impact of smartphones on adolescent mental health. They also discussed Dr. Twenge’s research on generations and what she has learned about iGen, her findings about the mental health problems this generation is facing and why she thinks it is associated with if not caused by their smartphone use, and what parents and professionals can do about these issues.

In this episode of the podcast, Joe interviews David Treleaven. David is a writer, educator, and trauma professional living in the Bay area, whose work focuses on the intersection of mindfulness, trauma, and social justice. He is quickly becoming an important figure in the mindfulness community, especially since the release of his book Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness. He received his master’s in counselling psychology at the University of British Columbia and a doctorate in East-West psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is currently a senior teacher with Strozzi Institute, which helps leaders embody skillful action and integrate personal and social transformation. In this episode, David tells Joe about the basics of how mindfulness can help with trauma recovery. They also spoke about some of the risks involved in using mindfulness unskillfully with trauma survivors. And they spent some time unpacking David’s claims that trauma is inherently political, and that mindfulness teachers ought to develop greater sensitivity to the social and political context of trauma.

In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe Flanders interviews his mentor, Dr. Patricia Rockman. Dr. Rockman is probably the Canadian authority on mindfulness teacher training and has a strong international reputation in this field. She has taught close to 150 Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) groups, trained dozens of mindfulness teachers through the certification programs at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto, and brought mindfulness to many organizations. She’s an associate professor with the University of Toronto and the Director of Education and Clinical Services at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies. In this conversation, Dr. Rockman tells Joe about what contemplative dialogue is, her work at the Centre for Mindfulness Studies, power and politics in the mindfulness field, what a good mindfulness teacher is, and how her students have influenced her life and practice.

In this episode of the Mindspace podcast, Dr. Joe Flanders interviews Dr. Willoughby Britton, Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr. Jared Lindahl, Professor of Religious Studies, both at Brown University. Joe and his guests discuss the emergence of contemplative neuroscience, Dr. Britton's critical stance on mindfulness research and the whole mindfulness movement, Jared's take on the importance of sensitivity to individual differences and cultural diversity in mindfulness and meditation, and finally they share their views on the potential adverse experiences that can occur while meditating.