Episode Details

Calming the mind sounds simple, right? And yet most of us would rather do almost anything other than sitting quietly with our thoughts. In this episode, Dr. Aimee Prasek and Dr. Henry Emmons dig into the science of Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs), the surprising research on just how much we think, and the powerful practice of the observer self: the part of your mind that can step back, see what's happening, and choose differently. This episode makes the case that our relationship with our own minds might be the most important resilience work we do.

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Full transcript here

Sources and Notes for our Element of Resilience:

• Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life.
• Joy Lab Episodes referenced:
  • Last episode: From Surviving to Thriving: The Science and Soul of Resilience (ep. 263)

• Chemistry of Calm (Dr. Emmons' book referenced in this series)
• Dr. Catherine Panter-Brick- Yale faculty page
• Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives
• Annual Research Review: Positive adjustment to adversity -Trajectories of minimal-impact resilience and emergent resilience
• Adaptive growth of tree root systems in response to wind action and site conditions.
• Brain meta-state transitions demarcate thoughts across task contexts exposing the mental noise of trait neuroticism.

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