279 | Ellen Langer on Mindfulness and the Body

<p>For those of us who are not dualists, the mind arises from our physical bodies -- mostly the brain, but the rest of the body has a role to play. And yet it remains tempting to treat the mind as a thing in itself, disconnected from how the body is doing. Ellen Langer is a psychologist who is one of the foremost researchers on the idea of mindfulness -- the cognitive skill of paying to one's thoughts, as well as to one's external environment. Her most recent book is <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705365/the-mindful-body-by-ellen-j-langer/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health</em></a>. We talk about how our state of mind can effect the functions of our body, sometimes in surprising ways.</p> <p>S<em>upport Mindscape on </em><a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Patreon</em></a><em>.</em></p> <p>Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/06/17/279-ellen-langer-on-mindfulness-and-the-body/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2024/06/17/279-ellen-langer-on-mindfulness-and-the-body/</a></p> <p>Ellen Langer received her Ph.D. in Social and Clinical Psychology from Yale University. She is currently a professor of psychology at Harvard University. She is also an artist with multiple gallery exhibitions. Among her awards are a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Liberty Science Center Genius Award.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.ellenlanger.me/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Web site</a></li> <li><a href="https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/ellen-langer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Harvard web page</a></li> <li><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0%2C21&amp;q=ellen+langer&amp;btnG=" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Google Scholar publications</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ellen-J.-Langer/author/B000APFZIW" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amazon book page</a></li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Langer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></li> </ul> <p><br /></p>