No matter how old we are, we should live "an intentional life." Doesn't that sound right? We should make the most of our longevity, live deeply with meaning and purpose as we age.  Old age shouldn't just happen to us, we should intentionally turn it into a great adventure of discovery and fulfillment. But does this mean we must continue to struggle?   Must a  life of intension be a life spent in tension? What if my goal is to increase my peace-of-mind and equanimity? I wrote an article on this topic for the summer edition of 3rd Act Magazine. called The Tension of Peace of Mind. This episode is a reading of that article. I think the article offers an interesting prelude to my upcoming podcasts. My plan for 2024 is to focus on Mental Flourishing. I believe we can maintain, or even enhance our quality-of-life in old age by doing a better job of managing our states of mind.  The podcasts will explore mindsets that, I believe, can diminish my/our tension about growing old and dying, and give us the peace of mind to savor our mature years. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode introduces the brain health side of the equation. There are eight behavioral and lifestyle areas that, together, have a profound impact on the health of your brain and your ability to flourish as you age.  We now call these eight areas the "Behavioral Roots of Brain Health."Physical ExerciseMental StimulationSocial EngagementStress ManagementGood DietGood Sleep Good Medical CareEnriched Environments You can prevent or slow cognitive decline and dementia by adopting a risk management approach:a) reduce your exposure to risk factors associated with each behavioral root and , b) engage reguarly with the protective factors associated with each area.  For the risk management approach to be successful you need to follow the rule of the Four CsCauses - address the root causes of cognitive decline, not the symptomsCombinatorial - the 8 areas have a synergistic affect; each one must be addressedCustomized - each brain and life is different so interventions must be customized to the individual. Continual - the behaviors must be integrated into your lifesyle and practiced on a continual basis. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on Physical Exercise and Movement. There are five aspects of movement that must be addressed: Aerobic exerciseStrength trainingFlexibilityPosture Balance. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on Mental Stimulation. You can stimulate your brain by engaging in mental activities that are: NovelChallengingComplexCreativeMeaningful Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on Social Engagement. We are social beings and flourish when we have a sense of belonging and can engage in nurturing social relationships. Conversely, we suffer and undermine our well-being when we are exposed to toxic relationships. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on Stress ManagementWe evolved to have a stress response to alert us to danger.  An acute, short-term stress response is beneficial - as long as we can let go of the stress and return to a normal state of being. Stress becomes toxic when it is chronic and unrelieved. Much of our modern stress is psychological in nature. To flourish, we need to learn how to manage our psychological stress. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on ingestion, taking substances into our bodies that can either  protect and strengthen our brains, or weaken them Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on how good sleep habits contribute to brain health. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on how good medical care supports the health of your body and brain , and therefore your ability to flourish, as you age. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

To flourish as you age, you need to keep your brain as healthy as possible, and you need to manage your mental states. This episode deals with the brain health side of the equation. There are eight Behavioral Roots of Brain Health  that, if addressed together, can help you to keep your brain healthy and flourish as you age. This episode focuses on how your environment affects your brain health and your ability to flourish. Enriched environments are protective, while impoverished environments are risky. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the nation’s second highest court, has ruled unanimously that Trump is NOT immune from prosecution, nor is he above the law. They explained every aspect of their decision in a 67-page document. To make it easier for everyone to have access to this important decision, and to understand how the U.S. Court of Appeals came to their decision, I've recorded three of the four main sections of the  US Court of Appeals Ruling. The IS TRUMP ABOVE THE LAW? series of  podcasts offers a reading of the following sections of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling: Section I - Background Section III - Executive ImmunitySection IV - Double Jeopardy Principle & Conclusion. For the sake of time I did not record Section II which discusses why the U.S. Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to make a decision on this matter.   The Supreme Court apparently feels compelled to have the final say on Trump’s immunity claims and will hear oral arguments during the week of April 22 on a single question: "Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office." It will be interesting to what basis the Supreme Court uses for their decision - the law or politics. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the nation’s second highest court, has ruled unanimously that Trump is NOT immune from prosecution, nor is he above the law. They explained every aspect of their decision in a 67-page document. To make it easier for everyone to have access to this important ruling, and to understand how the U.S. Court of Appeals came to their decision, I've recorded three of the four main sections of the  US Court of Appeals Ruling. The IS TRUMP ABOVE THE LAW? series of  podcasts offers a reading of the following sections of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling: Section I - Background Section III - Executive ImmunitySection IV - Double Jeopardy Principle & Conclusion. For the sake of time I did not record Section II which discusses why the U.S. Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to make a decision on this matter.   The Supreme Court apparently feels compelled to have the final say on Trump’s immunity claims and will hear oral arguments during the week of April 22 on a single question: "Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office." It will be interesting to what basis the Supreme Court uses for their decision - the law or politics. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Learn two suggestions for getting into the flow state. In the previous episode we suggested that the state of flow could be a good measure of qualty-of-life. The more time we spend in the flow, the greater our quality of life. So, how can we find more flow in our lives? Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, the father of flow, found that the flow state arises when there is a dynamic interplay between challenge and resources (skill).  We need to challenge ourselves and we need to develop the skills and resources needed to meet those challenges. Steven Kotler, who studies peak performance in the flow state, has found that finding flow is a process that has four stages. Two stages, struggle and release, come before the actual flow state. And one stage, the involves recovery and renewal, comes after the flow state. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

A while back I wrote an article for 3rd Act Magazine that explored how equanimity is a key to flourishing as we age.  In this podcast I revisit the article and add some   perspective. I suspect that aging will be much easier for me if I adopt an even-minded attitude towards the challenges and opportunities of my aging process.  Even better, I am more likely to flourish if I can cultivate what I call "transcendent equanimity," which is a blissful embrace of the wonders of existence.  Transcendent equanimity seems to occur during mystical and psychedelic experiences, which evoke a sense of unity with existential forces that diminishes individual self-absorption. I suggest that you pay particular attention conditions associated with transcendent equanimity that also promote flourishing. These include mysticism, letting go, intellectual humility, "presencing," and awe,Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Mystical experiences have a core set of characteristics that seem to promote mental wellbeing and flourishing. People who have mystical experiences, including psychedelic trips, report feeling a profound unity with something vast and deeply meaningful. This unity with “the divine,” (or whatever you want to call it) is accompanied by a diminished focus on ego-centric concerns.  The minds of people who have had a mystical experience seems to be altered for the better. What can mysticism teach us about flourishing and mind management? Can we train our minds to be more open to mystical revelations? Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

I’m interested in mystical and psychedelic experiences because they seem to evoke radically altered states of mind that are akin to spiritual awakening. They enable people to feel more at peace with the flow of existence and are often a portal to feelings of bliss. What's not to like about all that?  So, mysticism and psychedelics could be seen as forms of mental management that can help us to flourish as we age.  In this episode I summarize previous episodes, discuss a couple of my own experiments with psychedelics and evoke Aldous Huxley’s characterization of psychedelics trips as journey’s to the “antipodes of the mind.”Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Buddhist scholars suggest that the "Self" is an illusion and that awakening to the revelation of "No Self," leads to greater happiness and peace-of-mind. Just what are they talking about? The idea of No-Self makes more sense to me if I put the idea in the context of the hemisphere hypothesis, the recognition that the two hemispheres of the human brain provide us with two, radically different ways of relating to life.  The right hemisphere  gives us direct experience in the moment. The left hemisphere creates virtual simulations of life including, importantly, our sense of self,  our "ego." I believe our ego - the story we tell about ourself - is the "Self" that Buddhists feel is illusory.  We can be  happier, therefore, if we spend less time caught up in the illusory stories about life and  more time simply experiencing life.  Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Neuroscientist Dr, Jeff Darling and I discuss various aspects of aging, including" Why is the topic of aging of interest to a young neuroscientist?How to define aging.the "wear-and-tear" hypothesis of aging.What is inflammageing?How to age successfully?Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

Are men's and women's brains different. Yes!  The brains of men and women are more alike than they are different, but there are differences.  Not better, or worse, but different. Neuroscientists, Dr. Jeff Darling and I discusses a range of topics related to  sex differences in the brain , including; Why it is important to study sex differences in the brainHow women's brains differ from men's.The effect of hormones on  brain developmentMenopauseSex differences and drug developmentWhy the study of sex differences is controversial.Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.

A mystical experience, similar to the "enlightenment" described by Buddhists and other contemplative practices, involves a disillusion of self and a sense of unity with something grander than ourselves.  We  describes this something-grander-than-ourselves, in various ways - as God, as Tao, as the natural order and so on.  In this episode we explore the following topicsCommon characteristics of a mystical experienceIain McGilchrists hemisphere hypothesisAn account of a mystical experience from Clare Booth LuceIntroverted and Extroverted types of unityThe power of metaphors: "The Kingdom of God," as an exampleNo Self: the disillusion of self. Mathieu Ricard and Wolf Singer's book Beyond The SelfDifferent approaches to enlightenment, Buddhist, mystical and hemisphericUnity with God (etc.) is a process of becoming. Support the showSupport our work to promote creative aging. Subscribe to the MINDRAMP Podcast.