posted them where? thank you, mark. on our app, 10% happier. smoking dope? i don t know if there s any research that s gone into that, but one of your i don t want to name any names, but his name is alfonzo pena, one of your stage managers over here if i wrote a book about this, that would be my only advice. yes, smoke dope. what about medication. is that going to help? i do think meditation works really quickly. it s not you know, because you actually you and your lovely wife to be, karen, helped me write the book. a lot of people don t know this, but this is one of my closest friends over here. you re not nothing either. i don t view meditation as some magical woo woo metaphorical fix, it s brain exercise. and when you exercise your body, your heart gets stronger and you get more limber. and when you exercise your brain, you get less yanked around by your emotions. we feel helpless and angry and
unbearable cross position, with a group of practitioners, hoping to float off into into. sort of cosmic group. you don t have to wear anything special, pay fees, it is brain exercise, there is an enormous amount of science that says it can boost your immune system, lower your blood pressure, and re-wire key parts of your brain. studies at harvard says it grows gray matter in the area of self-awareness, and reduces the areas associated with stress. i want to do it. keep your eyes closed. you can t do it laying in bed. you can. there are many ways to do it. i m going to give you the basic. eyes closed. focus on the part of your body where you feel your breath most prominently. your belly, chest, nose, you are
coincidently peter jennings my boss had faith in america. book. that ultimately led me to meditation which i always thought was uniquely ridiculous. turns out it s very simple. it s brain exercise and there is a lot of science that says it s good for your blood pressure. what did it do for you? made me 10% happier which is a bit of a tongue in cheek title. mostly what it did for me is create a different relationship to the voice we have in our head. the voice that has you reach in the fridge when you are not hungry. has you. compulsions. compulsion but even just the daily chatter. the mind is constantly commenting wanting, not wanting, judging, and now i can look at that voice with a reaganesque to mondale there you go again. how hard is it to do that? what kind of a discipline is it to do that? a lot of people can t do it. they can t calm themselves down. five minutes a day. it s hard to calm the mind but so is anything that s working. do you sit there and say
coincidently peter jennings my boss had faith in america. book. that ultimately led me to meditation which i always thought was uniquely ridiculous. turns out it s very simple. it s brain exercise and there is a lot of science that says it s good for your blood pressure. what did it do for you? made me 10% happier which is a bit of a tongue in cheek title. mostly what it did for me is create a different relationship to the voice we have in our head. the voice that has you reach in the fridge when you are not hungry. has you. compulsions. compulsion but even just the daily chatter. the mind is constantly commenting wanting, not wanting, judging, and now i can look at that voice with a reaganesque to mondale there you go again. how hard is it to do that? what kind of a discipline is it to do that? a lot of people can t do it. they can t calm themselves down. five minutes a day. it s hard to calm the mind but so is anything that s working. do you sit there and say
i m worried about this, but it s not me right now, what is your best advice based on all the things you ve researched for keeping the brain healthy? do you have a dr. small top list? well, i do. i mean, first of all, if you re concerned about it, do see the doctor, because a lot of times there are treatable illnesses. and even if it is alzheimer s disease, there are symptomatic approaches. but lifestyle is very important. genetics is only part of the story, and there is compelling evidence that regular physical exercise, a good diet, lowering stress levels and learning ways to compensate for age-related memory decline can have a big impact on people s lives. you know, and you mentioned this a little bit, but i always tell people based on some recent data that exercising and maintaining, you know, good heart health, is crucial to brain health as well. in fact, if you can find 30 minutes to work out, that might be better for your brain than doing 30 minutes of brain exercise. would y