Good morning and welcome to Mindful Mondays. This week, I have some big news: we’ve hit 100 subscribers!
Thank you for reading and subscribing. Together, we can level up our mindfulness practices and create a healthier, wiser, more compassionate world.
Since last week, I’ve received a lot of positive feedback about the Tim Ferriss Show episode I shared featuring Chris Palmer, MD. In case you missed it the first time around, Dr. Palmer is developing a new theory of mental illness based on “brain energy” or metabolism, and although the research is in its early stages, he’s had some fantastic successes treating cases of severe mental illness through diet and lifestyle changes.
When I posted about the podcast episode on Twitter, it was retweeted by both Dr. Palmer and Tim Ferriss, and went semi-viral!
If you’re not already following me on Twitter (and you want to brave what is currently the Wild West of the internet) you can do so here.
Chris’s Writing
The Bear Carries Its Own Medicine: This week, I wrote about a trip to Taos Pueblo with friends, and a lesson I learned from a Native American elder there about our capacity to heal. This essay focuses more on storytelling and less on practical psychology and neuroscience based “tips.” Let me know what you think of it by replying to this email or commenting on Substack.
Articles of Interest
The Science of City Beauty: I’ve long lamented that we, as a society, seem to have given up on making beautiful buildings. On a recent visit to San Francisco, I was struck by the loveliness of a street of Victorian houses and how much they seemed to lift my spirit, compared to the plain, utilitarian boxes that make up so much of our modern cityscapes. Enter: Melissa Menke. I met Melissa through Write of Passage, the online course I recently completed about writing online (I can thank WoP for the existence of this newsletter). Melissa was one of the course mentors. In this article, she shares how fractals, trees, and beauty affect public health and wellbeing, including mental health. I encourage you to check it out and to subscribe to Melissa’s Substack if you’re interested in the future of healthy cities.
5 Principles for More Excellence With Less Angst: This article from executive coach Brad Stulberg shares some evidence-based ways to be your best, at home and work, without burning out. Thanks to Corey Wilks, Psy.D. (another Write of Passage mentor) for sharing this in his own newsletter.
A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind: This now-classic paper from Science (one of the top three scientific journals) shows that the less present we are, the less happy we are. Interestingly, this is true even when we’re thinking “happy” thoughts—it’s still better to be in the present, even if we’re doing something mundane like washing dishes.
Podcast of the Week
Science-Based Tools For Increasing Happiness: In this recent episode of the Huberman Lab Podcast, Dr. Huberman provides an overview of the literature on positive psychology, the discipline that studies human happiness and flourishing. One of the main themes of this episode is the difference beween so-called “natural” and “synthetic” happiness (not what it sounds like) and how we can maximize our personal wellbeing even when life circumstances aren’t cooperating.
Quote of the Week
“A person of integrity is grateful & thankful. This gratitude, this thankfulness, is advocated by civil people. It is entirely on the level of people of integrity.”
—The Buddha, Kataññu Suttas
That’s it for this week. Have a great day and a happy Thanksgiving holiday to those in the U.S.
Cheers,
Chris Cordry, LMFT
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Congrats on 100 subs. This is just the beginning!