Do you sometimes feel stuck in the way that you feel or the habits that fill your days? Dr. Shauna Shapiro is a clinical psychologist, author, TEDx speaker, and mindfulness expert who is passionate about neuroplasticity, or our brain’s ability to change. The feelings of not being enough or self-critical thoughts are hardwired into our brains, but when you are able to pay attention with kindness and curiosity instead, you can start to change your brain for the better.
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Neuroplasticity tells us that change is always possible. Shauna has created daily practices to increase your happiness set point and is here today to share the science behind mindfulness. Everyone from Google to LinkedIn has sought out Shauna’s expertise, and you too can embrace her practices to start living a happier life.
Science tells us that the only way to increase our happiness is through internal changes, not external ones. By training your brain to search for kindness, compassion, and happiness, you will automatically start to look for the good in every situation and realize your interconnectedness to the world around you.
When you care about yourself, you take care of yourself, and through becoming your own ally you can allow yourself to take a different pathway and heal more completely. Your past doesn’t have to impact your future happiness, and with Shauna’s help, you can shift from doom and despair to hope and positivity.
Are you ready to start choosing practices that help you live a healthier life, connect with the love that is inside of you, and grow your happiness muscle? Share your daily self-love rituals with us in the comments below.
In This Episode
- Learn about neuroplasticity and why it means an eternal possibility of change
- Practices that can help you change and train your brain to become happier
- Explore the difference between mindfulness and meditation and how to embrace them
- Specific ways that you can support your health and soothe yourself out of loneliness
- How to practice mindfulness when parenting or dealing with chronic pain
- The importance of becoming your own ally instead of your worst critic
Quotes
“When we shame and judge ourselves it actually shuts down our capacity to learn, which inhibits our ability to change. And so when we judge ourselves for a behavior that we don’t want to continue, we actually lock ourselves into that very pattern.” (3:36)
“No matter what has happened to you, no matter what your past, no matter what mistakes we have made, no matter what our current circumstance is, it’s never too late to change.” (8:46)
“Even though external changes, winning the lottery, getting the new Tesla, whatever it is, external changes don’t change our level of happiness. Internal changes can. Happiness can be trained because the very structure of our brain can be modified.” (13:26)
“When I start to feel afraid or lonely, instead of pushing it away or instead of judging myself or instead of spiraling into gloom and doom, I meet it with kindness. I say ‘oh sweetheart you are feeling really lonely right now’, and I soothe myself, that I can be my own ally, that’s such a radical perspective, to actually be on your own team.” (25:55)
“When you start planting these seeds of kindness, of joy, of gratitude, they grow bigger. They change our brain.” (34:29)
Links
Good Morning, I Love You by Shauna Shapiro
The Power of Mindfulness Shauna Shapiro TedX Talk