Infants on Thrones

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

Cassian Andor didn’t just escape a crash — he landed in the middle of a fractured rebellion, where mistrust, fear, and instinct rule the day.
In this episode, we explore the early chaos of the Rebel Alliance through the lens of the human brain: the survival-driven basal ganglia, the emotional currents of the limbic system, and the emerging wisdom of the neocortex.

You'll meet the Maya Pei Brigade — not just a group of bickering rebels, but a mirror of your own nervous system under pressure.

Guided by a binaural beat soundscape (think: a bacta tank for your brain), we dive into how hope survives through the chaos, how awareness can strengthen fractured alliances within, and why embracing your own shadows is the ultimate act of rebellion.

Dedicated to my sister — and to anyone learning how to trust their own fragile, powerful thread of hope.

Because the rebellion isn't just out there.

It's inside you.

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

When Cassian Andor climbs into a TIE fighter he’s never flown before, you feel your shoulders tense. You know he’s going to survive—this is a prequel, after all. But your body doesn’t care. That dissonance? It’s limbic resonance. And it’s just the beginning.

In this premiere episode of Accidental Therapy, Glenn Ostlund breaks down how Andor Season 2 uses cinematic storytelling to activate your nervous system—blurring the lines between what you think and what you feel. You’ll explore:

• Why your brain can’t always calm your body
• The evolution of fear through the basal ganglia, limbic system, and neocortex
• Cassian Andor as a model of nervous system mastery
• The Force as a metaphor for emotional regulation
• Nightmares, trauma echoes, and felt experience as emotional reality
• How to become your own inner rebel alliance through mindfulness and Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Whether you're a therapist, a Star Wars fan, or someone simply trying to breathe more deeply in a chaotic world, this episode is for the Nia inside all of us.

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

Lights In: An Open Invitation to Meditate on the Value of Human Experience (and Soothe Your Nervous System Big Time While You're At It)

I’d like to invite you into a space I’ve been creating for my own wellness—Lights In, a free guided meditation series that blends sound and reflection to explore the nature of existence and the value of life itself.

This series is inspired by Lights On: How Understanding Consciousness Helps Us Understand the Universe, the new Audible docuseries by Annaka Harris.

In Lights In, I reflect on that question—not just how consciousness helps us understand the universe, but how it helps us understand ourselves: our internal balance, our mental health, and the pathways to deeper well-being.

Each meditation is designed to support your parasympathetic nervous system—the body’s natural mode for rest, repair, and restoration. Using binaural beats, Solfeggio frequencies, and neural entrainment, the series gently guides you through calming brainwave states while inviting a more intimate connection with your own felt experience.

I often like to think of it as an audio Rorschach inkblot, carefully designed to encourage you to reflect upon the kaleidoscopic imprint of life upon the fabric of your mind.

What I’m doing is not trying to convince people to see things my way—

I’m trying to create this audio space for you to really engage with your own thoughts, reactions, and responses…

To have this be a tool for healing and self-discovery.

That’s how I use it for myself.

You can explore it here:

https://lights-in.transistor.fm/

It’s a free resource. Something I made for myself. And something I’d love to share with you.

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

In this special meditation episode, Glenn Ostlund invites you into a deep, sensory exploration of consciousness, inspired by Lights On by Annaka Harris. What if your ability to hear—right now, these very words—is the end result of a long, intimate chain of living transformations? What if each one of those transformations is a kind of felt experience—not by you, but by the microscopic, responsive parts of you that make hearing possible?

Using the metaphor of a fireman’s bucket brigade, Glenn guides you through the journey of a single sound wave as it’s passed from molecule to membrane, from ancient bone to fluid spiral, from hair cell to brainstem, all the way to the thalamus—the gatekeeper of meaning—and beyond. It’s a meditation on what it feels like to be the parts of you that listen before you’re even aware of it.

Layered with binaural beats and structured brainwave entrainment, this 60-minute guided meditation is part of Glenn’s Lights In project—an experiential, meditative response to the philosophical and scientific questions posed in Lights On. It’s designed to slow you down, soothe your nervous system, and open up space for curiosity and wonder about the nature of felt experience and the mystery of consciousness itself.

So take a breath… and listen.
Because this is what the thalamus whispers to you…
every time you hear something that matters.

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

Today Glenn shares the opening meditation from the Lights In series—sparked by Annaka Harris’s Lights On—you’re invited to slow down and gently explore the layers of consciousness that exist beneath thought.

With the support of soothing binaural tones designed to encourage neural entrainment and inner stillness, this reflection guides you into the quiet intelligence of your body: the soft signals, the wordless awareness, the subtle shifts in breath and sensation that often know… before you do.

Consider this an audio Rorschach Ink Blot, designed to allow you to explore the imprint of life upon the fabric of your mind.

There’s nothing to solve. Nothing to force. Just a space to rest, notice, and reconnect with the deeper current of awareness already flowing within you.

Let this be an invitation to listen—not just with your mind, but with your whole self.

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

There is just no easy way to say this...

Glenn Ostlund's Psychology Today Profile

You are invited to join us all in solving a mystery.

A man named Dow signed up for a mysterious clinical trial called The Abacus Project.  It uses advanced technology to explore the very nature of reality. Dow has written 18 letters describing his experience with this project. This is letter 6.

Joining the Letter 6 mystery sleuthing team this week are the insights of physicist David Tong, anthropologist Victor Turner and cognitive psychologist Merlin Donald. 

Kind of. 

In a learning out loud AI Puppet Show kind of way.

Let's play.