The Neuroscience of Flourishing: Four Practices for Turning Stress and Anxiety Into Clarity and Calm | Richard Davidson and Cortland Dahl
3/30/20261 hr 7 min
The Dalai Lama's longtime collaborator on achieving fundamental okayness, transforming daily annoyances, and rewiring your brain.
Richard J. Davidson, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also the Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds and Founder of the non-profit Humin.
Cortland Dahl, PhD, is a scientist, author, translator, and meditation teacher for the Tergar community.
Davidson and Dahl's latest book is Born to Flourish. They also author the Substack newsletter, Dharma Lab.
In this episode we talk about:
- What it really means to flourish
- How difficult emotions like anxiety, fear, or grief can coexist with well-being
- Why flourishing is a trainable skill set, not a personality trait or a self-improvement project
- An introduction to the Healthy Minds Framework and its four pillars: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose
- Why short, informal "micro-practices" can be just as effective as formal meditation
- How to cultivate purpose
Related Episodes:
- How a Buddhist Monk Deals With Anxiety | Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
- The View of American Turmoil from the Other Side of the World | Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
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Clips
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First 90 secondsDan Harris· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This is the Ten Percent Happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. [upbeat music] Hey, hey, how we doing? So today, we're gonna talk about some quick and simple practices from neuroscience and Buddhism designed to rewire your brain, change your genes, transform the annoying little tasks you have to do every day, and boost your overall okayness quotient. I've got two guests today. My guests are Richard Davidson, PhD. Everybody calls him Richie. In my view, Richie is truly a historic figure. He's the neuroscientist who pioneered the research into what meditation does to your brain. He's a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also founded an incredible center called The Center for Healthy Minds. Richie has a new book called Born to Flourish, which he co-authored with my other guest today, Courtland Dahl, PhD, who is a scientist, author, translator, and meditation teacher. In this conversation, we talk about what it really means to flourish, how difficult emotions such as anxiety, fear, or grief can actually coexist with well-being, why flourishing is a trainable set of skills, not a personality trait or a self-improvement project. We get an introduction to the Healthy Minds