Did you know that you have a nerve that runs from your brain stem to nearly all of your organs, that helps you shift from fight to flight, to freeze? Well, my guest this month, Dr. Stephen Porges, originator of the Polyvagal Theory, certainly does. Together we discuss the importance of this nerve in your mental health, or ill-health, and how autonomic nerve system regulation undergirds much of the way we feel.

https://a.co/d/fXjacXM

In Episode 51, I speak with Anson Whitmer, co-founder of the men’s mental health app, Mental. We talk about Anson’s graduate research, depression in men, mental health culture, how the mental health app can provide a comfortable space for men, the multitude of things that effect mental health, what bonding looks like in men, the usefulness of cold water, Anson’s personal interest in mental health, rates of suicide in men, the future of AI coaching, the AI infrastructure of Mental’s coaching models, and more.

https://www.getmental.com/

In this episode of the podcast, I chat with Oren Jay Sofer about his brand new book, Your Heart Was Made For This. Oren is a teacher of buddhist mindfulness and author of the previously featured Say What You Mean, which appeared on the podcast as Episode 23. In this episode, we discuss:

• Oren’s motivation for writing the book
• The external expression of the dharma
• The benefits and skill of renunciation
• How equanimity is not about managing expectations, but instead about being more fully with reality, i.e. enthusiasm is not in conflict with equanimity 
• The merits of marrying equanimity with beginners mind
• How formal practice creates opportunities in the present moment
• The value of ritual according to the buddha 
• Judaism and relationship to the sacred

https://www.orenjaysofer.com/

https://a.co/d/drecH1G