Personal Psyche
I listened to a podcast from Dr. Huberman on the way to my summer house. It felt like something productive to pass the time. I did cultivate a few interesting ideas from there. Generally, I find it fascinating how Huberman breaks down neuroscientifically simple concepts on others' podcasts, but this time he was not the one doing the talking.
The podcast was a conversation of Huberman's with Dr. James Hollis, a Jungian psychoanalyst, which was very absorbing. They spoke about meaning and the ups and downs of trying to find it. The main idea being that one needs to listen to their psyche in some way. If you are not doing something meaningful from the point of view of your psyche then chaos ensues in your body.
I started thinking and realised that I am rather all over the place – my meaning is yet to be determined. I am still tipping my toes in different pools of activity. That being said, based on Dr. Hollis' ideas I am doing some things right, my body still listens to me rather well, for now.
In the dialogue also came up the concept of the shadow. The underlying darkness in our subconscious. The things we supposedly are not in control of, but have to accept and learn to live with.
What I found most entertaining and educational was how all of the topics in the podcast were interrelated, they all had some strings attached to one another. For example, they also spoke about the stimulus-response loop which can be useful to get work in but can also be detrimental to getting in touch with oneself and exploring the shadows and subconscious.
This directly impacted me – I meditated on the bus. Well, I simply did a breathing exercise promoted by Huberman himself. It consists of taking a full breath of air (through the nose), then taking a small gasp on top of that and finally breathing slowly out of your mouth.
Another idea is to not use your devices last thing at night and first thing in the morning. Just letting your brain take its time to wind up and down. In the podcast, they even suggested journaling your dreams in the morning to get a better grasp of one's subconscious. The way I implemented it is that I read a book before going to bed and do basic hygiene and breakfast in the morning without touching my phone. It feels slow and it is supposed to.
I seldom even take the time to listen to a podcast, it just is a bit slow (even if I listen to it at 1.8x speed). Furthermore, it is an investment of time and I have not had many idle commutes like the one to my summerhouse to fill. That being said, if you have any podcast recommendations I am all ears – there are absolute gems to be found.
This Week's Recommendations:
Was shown this song a week ago. Cannot put a finger on what it is about it that just feels right. For my electronic music brain especially – there is no drop, barely any drums just vocals and melodies. It's just lovely. Have a listen!
🎧 Dr. James Hollis: How to Find Your True Purpose & Create Your Best Life:
This, as mentioned, was the main inspiration for this small article.
Hope you enjoyed today's post, till next week!
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