The One You Feed | Personal Growth, Emotional Resilience & Purpose

I was lucky enough to catch Emiliya Zhivotovskaya near the end of Camp GLP and we were able to sit down in her small room on the floor, holding microphones and have this conversation. I think we were both very tired after a great weekend at camp. She had delivered numerous workshops, emceed the Talent Show and was feeling under the weather to boot. Nonetheless it was a wonderful and warm conversation. Enjoy!!

At the age of 5, Emiliya and her family fled from Kiev, escaping the fall of Communism and the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. She found herself in a new land, faced with challenges completely foreign to the average kid growing up in a New York suburb. Then, 9 years later, she faced yet another tragedy, the sudden loss of her brother as he ran to save his fiancé from drowning and lost his life in the process of saving hers. And years later, the loss of her mother.

From this place of deep challenge, she could have turned to the dark side. She could have given up, blamed the world and walked away from joy. From happiness. From possibility. Instead, she found awakening, strength and a renewed sense of gratitude. She discovered within herself a wellspring of resilience and a relentless desire to understand where this came from and how to bring a similar lens to others. She was determined to help others flourish.

Her exploration quickly developed into a lifelong quest, leading her to study psychology at Long Island University, then get her masters degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania under the guidance of the legendary founder of the science, professor Martin Seligman. Graduating summa cum laude, she has gone on to found the Certification in Positive Psychology program at the Open Center and head up her own endeavor, The Flourishing Center. Emiliya is also currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine at Saybrook University, where she is also on the graduate faculty. (Curriculum Vitae)

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya is widely acclaimed for her striking ability to share the transformative power of positive psychology, deliver actionable and specific strategies that yield tangible, measurable results. And share these ideas in a wonderfully engaging and entertaining way.

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya Homepage

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya Facebook

Emiliya Zhivotovskaya Twitter

Certificate in Positive Psychology created by Emiliya Zhivotovskaya

Kino MacGregor

Strand of Oaks

Mike Scott of the Waterboys

Todd Henry- author of Die Empty

Randy Scott Hyde

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Jonathan Rottenberg is a leading researcher in the area of emotion and psychopathology, where he has focused on major depression. He is author of the  book, The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic. The book is a new look at depression. Depression is discussed as an evolutionary adaptation that has gone wrong in our current culture. Depression is not thought of as a deficiency, or a lack of something. Instead he looks at depression through the lens of mood.

He edited Emotion and Psychopathology: Bridging Affective and Clinical Science, published by the American Psychological Association. Since receiving his PhD degree from Stanford University, he has been at the University of South Florida, where he is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Mood and Emotion Laboratory. His work has been generously funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health and he has authored over 35 scientific publications, including many in the top journals in psychology and psychiatry. His work has received national and international media coverage, reported in outlets such as Science News, Scientific American, and the The New York Times.

• The One You Feed parable.
• Depression as an evolutionary adaptation.
• Mood theory versus the defect theory of depression.
• That in our society incidence of depression is growing.
• The evidence for an evolutionary view of depression.
• How the purpose of depression is to help us disengage from activities that are not fruitful.
• How the defect theory of depression has no way to account for the growth of depression.
• How key human tendencies such as language and goal setting can exacerbate depression.
• The human tendency to make meaning out of everything and the role this can play in depression.
• The role of rumination in depression.
• Persistence of low mood is a key indicator in long term depression.
• His personal battle with depression.
• The three things that seed low mood: Events, Temperaments and Routines.
• The emotional set point theory.
• How living in a culture so obsessed with happiness is partially responsible for the epidemic of depression.
• Social media and the role it plays in depression.
• The inability to tolerate a little bit of depression can create a crisis where someone comes to question the whole path of their life.
• The goal of evolution is survival, not happinesss.
• Using medicine for depression as a step on the path.
• Having higher standards for depression sufferers.
• Using depression as a bridge to a better life.
• Three useful approaches to depression: meditation, cognitive therapy and acceptance.
• How these approaches all turn down the volume on the meaning making machine.
• Emotional context insensitivity.
• Depressed people react less to negative stimulus than non-depressed people.
• Anger can be a useful tool in getting out of depression.
• Depression can be caused by over attachment to goals, not under attachment.

Jonathan Rottenberg Home Page

Buy The Depths on Amazon

Came Out of the Dark Campaign

Jonathan Rotttenberg on Twitter

Jonathan Rottenberg on Facebook

Kino MacGregor

Strand of Oaks

Mike Scott of the Waterboys

Todd Henry- author of Die Empty

Randy Scott Hyde

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Chris Grosso is an author, independent culturist, spiritual aspirant, recovering addict, speaker, and professor with en*theos Academy. He writes for Origin magazine, Mantra Yoga + Health magazine and created the popular hub for all things alternative, independent, and spiritual with TheIndieSpiritualist.com. Chris continues the exploration with his debut book titled The Indie Spiritualist. 

The Indie Spiritualist

Chris Grosso on Twitter

Chris Grosso on Facebook

Buy The Indie Spiritualist Book

Kino MacGregor

Strand of Oaks

Mike Scott of the Waterboys

Todd Henry- author of Die Empty

Randy Scott Hyde

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices