Today’s episode is one that I hope will make you smile. Our guest is Jennifer King Lindley, a wonderful writer and researcher. Jennifer’s book, Find your Joy, is a perfect way to kick-start the year. It’s a beautiful guided journal with some simple, but important practices to inspire more joy in our lives. She’s integrated some research based interventions with prompts and practical tools. Today, she discusses a few of her favorite practices from the book with themes like cultivating more self c...
Jan 16, 2024•44 min
Today’s guest, is Marisa Handler. Marisa was on Untangle a year ago, and she's back because so many of us loved her ideas on Creativity (with a big C) and how it can emerge in our lives in so many different ways. She is a writer, singer, songwriter and she teaches creativity, meditation, and transformation at Stanford University, Spirit Rock Meditation Center and California Institute of Integral Studies. She’s also a Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie. Today we talk about what it means to be...
Jan 08, 2024•45 min
Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness, habits and human nature. She’s a highly acclaimed writer, known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas—with levity and clarity. She’s the author of many bestselling books, including her breakout memoir, The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies, which have sold millions of copies in more than thirty languages. Her most recent book is Life in Five Senses. She’s als...
Jan 01, 2024•55 min
Chris Winter is a neurologist, sleep specialist, and author of the book, "The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It." He explains why we’re a culture of poor sleepers and how we got that way, and includes five things we can do to improve our sleep right now. Spoiler alert: an attitude change might be the best tactic of all. • Understand how sleep works and the ways in which food, light, and other activities act to help or hurt the process • Learn why sleeping pills are so of...
Dec 26, 2023•38 min
New! This interview is for anyone…all of us…who’ve ever felt the sting of loss. Our guest is Gina Moffa, Clinical Social Worker and Author of the new book, “Moving on Doesn’t Mean Letting go. A Modern Guide to Navigating Loss.” Gina is wise, compassionate, and passionate about this very complicated topic. We discuss how difficult loss can be — especially in a culture where we’re encouraged to stay strong and keep our feelings to ourselves. But, she says, “we don’t have to choose between falling ...
Dec 19, 2023•53 min
Today's guest is Oren Jay Sofer. Oren teaches Mindfulness, Meditation and Nonviolent Communication in secular and Buddhist contexts. He holds a degree in comparative religions from Columbia University and is deeply engaged as a certified trainer in Marshall Rosenbergs' work in Nonviolent Communication. His first book, Say What You Mean, offers valuable approaches and practical tools for communicating, and for handling the most difficult conversations. His new book, Your heart Was Made For This, ...
Dec 12, 2023•57 min
Today's guest is Dr. Emeran Mayer, a Distinguished Research Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology, and Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. He is a world-renowned gastroenterologist and neuroscientist with 35 years of experience in the study of clinical and neurobiological aspects of how the digestive system and the nervous system interact in health and disease. We discuss his bestselling book, The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Ou...
Dec 05, 2023•45 min
Today’s guest is Dr. David Spiegel. He is Professor and Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director of the Center on Stress and Health, and Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine all at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Spiegel has more than 40 years of clinical and research experience studying stress and health, pain control, sleep, hypnosis, and more. He’s published thirteen books on these and other topics. In this interview, we talk about Hypno...
Nov 28, 2023•56 min
Guest Interviewer: Ariel Garten. Encore episode. Could “energy healing” be real? Do phenomena like manifestation really work? If it does, could we possibly understand how? Dr. Shamini Jain, scientist, and clinician at UCSD, shares her amazing studies of the biofield, and the evidence she and other colleagues have that demonstrates that this might be more real than we thought. Check out hundreds of free meditations on Meditation Studio App. Go to Choosemuse.com/meditationstudio Learn more about y...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Todays guest is Hersch Wilson, an Interesting guy with many passions, but none more important than being with and learning from the dogs in his life. His new book, Dog Lessons: Learning The Important Stuff From Our Best Friends shares his insights on the powerful presence of dogs in our lives and the transformative lessons they can teach us about love, loyalty, grief, and more. Along the way, he was also a volunteer firefighter and wrote an award winning book called "Firefighter Zen, A Field Gui...
Nov 14, 2023•46 min
Today’s encore episode is with Martha Beck, a PhD, Harvard-trained sociologist, world-renowned coach and New York Times bestselling author. She has published nine non-fiction books, one novel, and more than 200 magazine articles. She’s also known as Oprah’s Life Coach . Her most recent book, The Way of Integrity, Finding Your Path to Your Your True Self, is an Oprah book club selection and a NY Times best seller. In The Way of Integrity, Beck presents a process that anyone can use to find a sens...
Nov 07, 2023•48 min
Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. She was also recently appointed as Dean of NYU’s College of Arts & Science. In her book, Good Anxiety, Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion, she used new and established neuroscience to share how we can harness our fears to feel better, think better, and do better. We discuss why anxiety is so misunderstood and how we can turn it into a superpower. Much ...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr
Guest Interviewer: Ariel Garten, Muse Co-founder. Encore. Dr. Adrian Owen, a renowned neuroscientist, discovered that individuals in a persistent coma could still communicate- and he went one step further and listened to what they wanted to say. He’s also performed the largest sleep and cognition study in the world, and demonstrated why brain training apps are bunk, and what we can do to sleep better and improve our own conscious function. Dr. Owen is a Professor at The Brain and Mind Institute,...
Oct 24, 2023•49 min
Todays guest is Mitra Manesh. She is a senior mindfulness educator at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, best known for her storytelling and innovative teachings. Mitra is also the creator of the Mindful Attentionist Coaching (MAC) program — an inside-out deep dive into what she calls a life of choice and wellbeing. In this interview, she’s shares her wisdom on everything from how to be an attentionist to how to be in relationship with others. A little definition to get started: She defin...
Oct 17, 2023•1 hr
Today’s guest is Dr. Ellen Hendriksen. This is her second appearance on Untangle to share her expertise on all issues related to anxiety. She’s a clinical psychologist who focuses on releasing anxiety so that you can be more of your authentic self. Ellen serves on the faculty at Boston University's Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders and is the author of How To Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety. Her scientifically-based, zero-judgment approach has been featu...
Oct 10, 2023•55 min
Guest Interview with Ariel Garten. Did you know that the way you breathe can energize or relax you? That a simple hack can help with snoring and sleep apnea? That your lung volume can relate to your longevity, and that your lung volume can be expanded with simple exercises? James Nestor takes us on a fascinating trip into the breath, explains how and why different breath techniques work and will transform each breath you take for the better. His Book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art explor...
Oct 03, 2023•47 min
Today’s guest is Ian Andersen, cofounder of the Sunnyside app, Sunnyside is an app designed to help individuals discover and adopt a more mindful approach to drinking so they can reach their own personal goals. It’s focused exclusively on moderation and mindfulness, not sobriety. Ian and his business partner, founder Nick Allen started this company because they wanted to support people to find a balanced approach to drinking. One that would help them be healthier and more aware. In this intervie...
Sep 26, 2023•42 min
Today’s guest is Dr. Rick Hanson — a Psychologist and NY times Best Selling author of several books, including the book we discuss in this interview “Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence." He shares how we can hardwire our brains for happiness using practices that help us cultivate and experience the good in our lives while reducing our natural negativity biases. He shares why is it easier to ruminate over hurt feelings, negative feelings rather than t...
Sep 19, 2023•40 min
Today’s guest is Judson Brewer, a Psychiatrist, Neuroscientist and Author who specializes in the field of mindfulness and addiction. He is widely recognized for his work on understanding the mechanisms of craving and developing effective strategies to overcome addictive behaviors. One of his notable contributions is his research on the "Hunger Habit." He discussed this in his book, The Hunger Habit: Why We Eat When We're Not Hungry and How to Stop. The Hunger Habit is a concept that explores the...
Sep 12, 2023•50 min
Today’s guest is David Nichtern, a senior Buddhist teacher who has been practicing and teaching meditation for over 40 years. He is also a highly regarded, award winning composer, producer and guitarist, as well as the founder of two record companies. David has recorded and played with Stevie Wonder, Jerry Garcia, Paul Simon and many others. And to round out his background, he’s also a business consultant and author of the book, Creativity, Spirituality and Making a Buck — which is what we discu...
Sep 05, 2023•49 min
Today’s guest is one of my favorites of all time. When I first interviewed Parker Palmer, the writer, teacher, poet and all around wise and soulful human — it was near a birthday that was giving me some pause as I was feeling the weight of time passing. I felt such a rush of pure humanity from listening to his words. It was the best birthday gift. The book we discussed is called On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old. It’s one of 10 amazing books that he’s authored. He says ...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Andrés González is a Puerto-Rican American teacher, author, and musician. He has taught yoga and meditation to diverse populations worldwide for twenty years and is a Co-Founder of the Holistic Life Foundation, founded in 2001. Andrés is a certified Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and maintains a B.S. in Marketing and an MBA from the University of Maryland. His teaching and music center around the liberation of marginalized individuals and communities through personal...
Aug 22, 2023•39 min
Sarah Stein Greenberg is Executive Director of Stanford University's d School (Design School) and is the author of the book, “Creative Acts for Curious People. How to Think, Create and Lead in Unconventional Ways’’. A quote from the book sums it up: “In an era of ambiguous, messy problems, as well as extraordinary opportunities for positive change, it’s vital to have both an inquisitive mind and the ability to act with intention. This book is filled with ways to build those skills with resilienc...
Aug 15, 2023•50 min
Ben Angel, author of "Unstoppable, A 90-Day Plan to Biohack Your Mind and Body for Success" shares how his early depression and lack of energy led him to ‘find solutions’ he never imagined would make him feel better. He made it his mission to explore alternatives beyond medicine and ‘self-help.’ His journey paid off! He talks about how you can close the gap between where you are and where you want to be, and shows us how to get fired up and focused with some tools that may have the power to chan...
Aug 08, 2023•47 min
Monique Billings is a professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. She was drafted into the WNBA in 2018. She shares her personal story about growing up with a strong family foundation, her meditation practice, her commitment to self-care, and her healthy routines. She has an amazing inner compass and an ability to follow her gut, her intuition, and her spirit. All of this makes her a great player...and a great human. Learn more about your ...
Aug 01, 2023•34 min
Today’s guest is Katy Milkman, Wharton University Professor and author of the national bestseller, How to Change, The Science of Getting from Where you are to Where you Want to Be. The book was named one of the top 8 books for healthy living in 2021 by the NY Times. Katy has devoted her career to the study of behavior change, inspired by the fact that 40% of premature deaths are due to behaviors and habits we can actually change. She discusses the importance of understanding the barriers that st...
Jul 25, 2023•48 min
Kristin Neff is an expert and pioneer in the field of self-compassion. Her most recent book is called Fierce Self Compassion: How Women can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim their Power and Thrive. She discusses how self-compassion allows us to be tender with ourselves in difficult situations, but also that it sometimes needs to be fierce — like the mama bear energy that comes from a place of love, service, and a desire to reduce harm. We must, she says, act courageously to protect ourselves f...
Jul 18, 2023•43 min
Today’s guest is Richard Hawkes, thought leader, change expert, author and Founder & CEO, of Growth River — an international consulting firm. His book is called Navigate the Swirl, 7 conversations for Business Transformation. He specializes in helping organizations and individuals scale and grow. In fact, he was my executive coach over 15 years ago and a big reason I made some pretty important changes in my life at that time. What I liked about this discussion was all of the connections I st...
Jul 04, 2023•46 min
10% Happier Author and Former ABC News Anchor Dan Harris joined us in the early days - almost 6 years ago on Untangles 7th episode. In this interview he shared the story of how he came to believe that Meditation is, in fact, a way for all of us to be at least 10% happier, and a great way to tame the monkey mind or as he says, get centered again when you’re wayward thoughts are yanking you around. He’s funny and honest, and shares how meditation has helped him handle conflict and everyday annoyan...
Jun 27, 2023•40 min
Dr. Epstein is a family physician, palliative care Dr., author, researcher, and teaches communication and mindful practice in medicine. His book, Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity explores how the foundations of mindfulness can help clinicians expand their capacity to provide high-quality care, and how doctors, patients, and their families can more collaboratively and mindfully approach medical decisions. He shares how the practice of mindfulness in medicine helps support a deeper u...
Jun 20, 2023•43 min
