The FitMind Podcast: Mental Fitness, Neuroscience & Psychology

In this episode, psychologist Adam Dorsay, PsyD, explores the importance of human connection and its impact on well-being. He introduces the four types of connection and examines their role in resilience and life satisfaction.

The discussion highlights the science behind relationships, the role of vulnerability in building meaningful bonds, and the value of awe in deepening connections. Dr. Dorsay provides practical insights for fostering connection in personal relationships, work, and the natural world, offering strategies to enhance purpose and well-being.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind

Website: www.fitmind.org

Show Notes

0:00 | Introduction to Dr. Adam Dorsay

1:45 | 4 Types of Connection

10:02 | Neuroscience of Connection

21:09 | How to "Know Thyself"

25:44 | Vulnerability & Courage

29:24 | Connection to the World

39:50 | Amazement & Awe

49:00 | Connect to Your Work

59:59 | Effective Communication Strategy

In this episode, Dr. Shamil Chandaria, an expert in consciousness, neuroscience, and AI, shares insights from his work on human experience and the intersection of technology and well-being.

He discusses the Bayesian brain theory and the free energy principle, explaining how the brain constructs reality by predicting and updating perceptions to reduce uncertainty and surprise.

Chandaria also explores how meditation helps break habitual thought patterns, offering a deeper awareness of how the brain shapes our experience and revealing profound insights into consciousness.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind

Website: www.fitmind.org

Show Notes

0:00 | Introduction to Dr. Shamil Chandaria

3:38 | Spiritual Awakening in Human Flourishing

4:31 | How the Brain Predicts Reality - Bayesian Brain Explained

9:26 | AI & the Human Brain

21:33 | Free Energy Principle in Wellbeing

37:30 | Befriending Difficult Emotions

43:30 | Boundless Awareness

54:00 | Effortless Action

57:17 | Psychedelics & Bayesian Brain

1:07:29 | Default Mode Network & Predictive Processing

1:13:12 | Gamma Brain Waves in Long-Term Meditators Research

Stanford psychologist Fred Luskin, PhD, discusses the science of forgiveness, emphasizing the need to process grief as a foundation for emotional healing.

He explores practical ways to teach forgiveness to children and how adults can approach societal challenges with acceptance and meaning.

Luskin also introduces his 9 Steps to Forgiveness, a research-based framework for releasing resentment and fostering gratitude, offering listeners actionable tools for resilience and well-being.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.org

Show Notes

0:00 | Introduction to Dr. Fred Luskin

3:23 | Link to 30 Days of Meditation, Science & Bliss course: https://bit.ly/30-day-course

3:33 | Forgiveness is the Forgotten Step

5:44 | Forgiveness Defined

12:30 | Resolving Grievances

16:22 | Choosing Where to Put Your Attention

18:50 | Grief Precedes Forgiveness

26:40 | Power of Forgiveness Anecdotes

38:40 | 9 Steps to Forgiveness

46:11 | Revenge is a Life Well Lived

51:49 | Repainting Your Life Picture

59:02 | Modeling Forgiveness for Children

1:06:00 | Forgiveness of Global Issues

1:10:40 | Next Steps

In this episode, Dr. Andrew Litchy recounts his journey from life as a monk to becoming a naturopathic doctor.

He shares his insights on how meditation helped him manage ADHD and how it has become integral to both his personal life and professional practice.

The conversation spans topics from the daily life of a monk and the experience of ordination to practical tips on integrating mindfulness into a busy life.

Dr. Litchy also discusses practical strategies for training the mind in a hectic world and provides top wellness tips, making this episode a rich resource for anyone interested in meditation and holistic health.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.org

Show Notes

0:00 | Introduction to Andrew Litchy

9:02 | ADHD in Meditation

12:18 | How Meditation Clicked

13:25 | Straight Mindful Vipassana

19:05 | Jhanas Defined

23:42 | Experience of Ordaining as a Monk

27:40 | Day in the Life of a Monk

45:25 | From Monk to Med School

47:20 | Study on Meditation and HRV

55:20 | How to Train the Mind in a Busy Life

1:02:14 | Sticky Notes

1:10:17 | Homebase for the Mind

1:13:32 | "Waking From the Dream"

1:21:10 | Time Is a Construct

1:25:44 | Meditation Training for Children

1:31:05 | Top Wellness Tips

1:36:40 | Most Common Problems Treated in a Naturopathic Doctor's Office

How does the mind shape our reality? What happens when the conceptual mind turns off?

The answers might be found in the depths of meditation.

Doug Kraft has delved into the complexities of the mind from various perspectives: as a psychotherapist, writer, minister, meditation teacher, and through the lenses of bio-energetics and neuroscience.

In this episode, we discuss consciousness and the mind's role in constructing our reality. We explore how to train our brains to achieve lasting contentment.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.org

SHOW NOTES

0:00 | Introduction to Doug Kraft

1:20 | Home Retreat Experience

8:15 | Dependent Origination

14:23 | What is Consciousness?

23:31 | How the Mind Constructs Reality

36:24 | The Man Who Lost $100,000

45:04 | Exercise for Glimpsing Deep Awareness

47:48 | Practice Insight - Redirecting Attention

LINKS

• Doug's website: https://easingawake.com/
• Doug's retreat talks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DutrLDZo1Yk&t=2403s

How does the brain work at its deepest levels? And to what extent can we radically upgrade it, creating neuroplastic changes?

Ruben Laukkonen, PhD is a cognitive neuroscientist, contemplative, speaker, and poet.

His eclectic background includes competing semi-professionally in Muay Thai Kickboxing, founding two businesses (including the first online market for bitcoin in Australia), and intensive meditation training.

Dr. Laukkonen is currently a principal investigator and lecturer at Southern Cross University and holds honorary fellowships at VU Amsterdam and The University of Queensland. He uses methods such as behavior, neuroimaging, machine learning, and phenomenology to empirically investigate some of the rarest states of human consciousness.

This episode is a full tour of the mind, including a deep dive into some of those rare states of consciousness and what they reveal about achieving the highest levels of human happiness.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

SHOW NOTES

0:00 | Introduction to Ruben Laukkonen, PhD

2:02 | Early Experience

10:45 | How the Mind Makes Itself

22:18 | Predictive Processing & Agitation

25:30 | Why There's Always Something Wrong

31:28 | Chain of Causality in the Mind

36:00 | The Mind Rebuilding After Deepest Levels of Meditation

38:25 | Meditation for Reconditioning the Mind

52:06 | Doing Nothing Very Well

53:14 | Stages of Meditation & Predictive Processing

1:08:28 | Cessation & Awakening Research

1:17:12 | Jhanas - Stages of Deconstruction

1:24:22 | Rapid Fire Questions

LINKS

• https://rubenlaukkonen.com
• https://fitmind.com/give

Delson Armstrong is a meditation teacher and author of A Mind Without Craving.

He trained for extended periods in the Himalayas and mastered several systems of yoga, including the ten levels of samadhi (meditative states of absorption). Delson has recently collaborated with leading neuroscience research labs interested in studying his brain.

On this episode, we discuss how to conquer a craving mind, cessation and its benefits, the unique way he experiences his inner world, and the studies being done on his brain.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

SHOW NOTES

0:00 | Intro to Delson Armstrong

1:30 | A Mind Without Craving

7:25 | Experience of “No Self”

15:40 | Awakened Mind = Supreme Happiness

20:40 | Daily Life After Awakening

26:03 | Meditation Brain Study

30:15 | Cessation - What Is It & Benefits

34:24 | Experiencing How the Mind Works

37:43 | Deconditioning a Wandering Mind

48:11 | Rapid Fire Questions

LINKS

Delson Armstrong Website: https://delsonarmstrong.info/

Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center: https://www.dhammasukha.org/

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/delson

A Mind Without Craving via Suttavada Foundation: https://www.suttavada.foundation/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/a-mind-without-craving.pdf

Dr. Anna Abraham is a psychologist and neuroscientist who investigates creativity and how we can optimize this key trait. She's also a leading scholar on the study of human imagination.

On this episode, we discuss the key ingredients of a creative mind, how to become more creative, and how the brain can tell the difference between real and imaginary worlds.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

SHOW NOTES

0:00 | Intro to Anna Abraham, PhD

1:44 | Imagination More Important Than Knowledge?

4:45 | Imagination Defined

7:53 | How We Experience Real vs. Imaginary Worlds

17:20 | Fiction Crossing Into Reality

21:35 | Overlap of Memory & Imagination

29:28 | Ingredients of a Creative Mind

42:08 | Ways to Build Creativity

48:35 | Predictors of Creativity

58:12 | Rapid Fire Questions

Nick Littlehales has been an elite sport recovery coach for nearly a quarter-century and is the bestselling author of Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps... and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind.

On this episode, we uncover the common myths and misunderstandings about sleep. We also discuss the circadian rhythm, chronotypes, polyphasic sleep, and treating sleep as recovery.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

SHOW NOTES

0:00 | Intro to Nick Littlehales

1:42 | Sleep Tips

3:45 | Becoming a Sleep Coach

7:28 | How the Pros Optimize Sleep

9:38 | What to do Before You Sleep

19:36 | Understanding Circadian Rhythm

26:10 | Polyphasic Sleep: Importance of Naps

28:58 | 7 Key Sleep Recovery Indicators

37:27 | How to Improve Sleep

43:54 | Microrest

45:20 | Rapid Fire Questions

Donald Hoffman, PhD is a cognitive scientist and author of The Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes.

He is currently a professor at UC Irvine, where he studies consciousness, visual perception and evolutionary psychology.

On this episode, we "take the red pill" and hear Dr. Hoffman's theory on why reality is not what it seems. He explains this complex topic by comparing reality to a user interface.

We discuss many topics, such as his mathematical theory of consciousness, questioning beliefs, and how the mind forms new mental models.

FitMind Neuroscience-Based App: http://bit.ly/afitmind Website: www.fitmind.com

Show Notes

0:00 | Introduction to Donald Hoffman, PhD

2:23 | Why Reality Isn't as It Seems

7:30 | Reality as a User Interface

13:51 | Adapting to Evolving Technology

16:06 | Creating New Mental Models

18:31 | Moving Beyond Spacetime

23:06 | Consciousness is Fundamental

25:26 | Ancient Wisdom & Science of Consciousness

30:00 | Conversation with the Dalai Lama (starting at 54:40)

30:15 | Reality Transcends Concepts

36:39 | Questioning Beliefs

38:56 | A New Worldview

45:04 | Mathematical Theory of Consciousness

45:39 | Rapid Fire Questions