Being Well Podcast: Deconstructing Yourself with Michael Taft

29 Aug Being Well Podcast: Deconstructing Yourself with Michael Taft

Posted at 22:05h in Achieving Your Goals Podcast, Podcasts, Therapy and Counselling Podcast by
Michael Taft

Today Forrest and I talked with meditation teacher, bestselling author, and podcaster (and our good friend) Michael Taft about moving from the spiritual to the secular and back again, ego dissolution, and how we can create ever-better versions of ourselves, while also discussing what goes into making “a self,” and how can we bring together the many aspects of who we are.

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About Our Guest: Michael is a meditation teacher, bestselling author and neuroscience junkie. He’s been practicing meditation for over 35 years, and is the author of several books, including The Mindful Geek.

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Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:30: Michael’s journey from the spiritual to the secular to back again

5:00: LSD, yoga, and Shinzen Young

8:30: Reconciling the spiritual and the secular

15:45: What is “deconstructing yourself?”

20:45: Ego dissolution and panic

25:00: “Spiritual emergencies” and cautions around mindfulness

29:20: Psychedelics and seeing the ego as an object

31:00: Practices that help people see the empty nature of the self

34:00: Key teachings for life’s long road

45:00: A message to your younger self

47:00: Recap

Support the Podcast: We’re now on Patreon! If you’d like to support the podcast, follow this link.

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Dr. Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and expert on the impact of toxic narcissism. She is a Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and also a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg.

The focus of Dr. Ramani’s clinical, academic, and consultative work is the etiology and impact of narcissism and high-conflict, entitled, antagonistic personality styles on human relationships, mental health, and societal expectations. She has spoken on these issues to clinicians, educators, and researchers around the world.

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Dr. Stephen Porges is a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, and Professor Emeritus at both the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Maryland. He is a former president of the Society for Psychophysiological Research and has been president of the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences, which represents approximately twenty-thousand biobehavioral scientists. He’s led a number of other organizations and received a wide variety of professional awards.

In 1994 he proposed the Polyvagal Theory, a theory that links the evolution of the mammalian autonomic nervous system to social behavior and emphasizes the importance of physiological states in the expression of behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders. The theory is leading to innovative treatments based on insights into the mechanisms mediating symptoms observed in several behavioral, psychiatric, and physical disorders, and has had a major impact on the field of psychology.

Dr. Porges has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers across a wide array of disciplines. He’s also the author of several books including The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-regulation.

Dr. Bruce Perry is the Principal of the Neurosequential Network, Senior Fellow of The ChildTrauma Academy, and a Professor (Adjunct) in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and the School of Allied Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. From 1993 to 2001 he was the Thomas S. Trammell Research Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and chief of psychiatry at Texas Children's Hospital.

He’s one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of trauma in childhood, and his work on the impact of abuse, neglect, and trauma on the developing brain has impacted clinical practice, programs, and policy across the world. His work has been instrumental in describing how traumatic events in childhood change the biology of the brain.

Dr. Perry's most recent book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, was released earlier this year. Dr. Perry is also the author, with Maia Szalavitz, of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, a bestselling book based on his work with maltreated children, and Born For Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered. Additionally, he’s authored more than 300 journal articles and book chapters and has been the recipient of a variety of professional awards.

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Sharon has authored 10 books, and is the host of the fantastic Metta Hour podcast. She was a contributing editor of Oprah’s O Magazine, had her work featured in Time and on NPR, and contributed to panels alongside the Dalai Lama.

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