🪷 Wisdom and Contemplative Insights--Ancient lessons for modern wellbeing

• It all starts now. A short video with voice over from philosopher Alan Watts. The message is powerful-- I started my Neuroscience of Wellbeing (NoW) with this video every time to help orient the students to central themes of wellbeing. The only time to change is now, whether you are coming from. In now, you have agency. IT ALL STARTS NOW.

• The Legend of the Two Wolves. A beautiful, well produced video. It reminds us that we have agency, options. But what we practice and attend to is ultimately who we become and determines our path. Beautiful. So worth 3 and a half minutes.

• A Chinese Farmer Story. An animation with narration from an Alan Watts' lecture. I love this story. To me, I have experienced this so many time. "The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity. And it is really impossible to know what is good or bad...". Many of our "fortunes" turn out to be curses; many of our curses turn out to be blessings. The story is not real. Take a step back, breath, and realize that the story is ever ongoing.

• Recovering Clarity of Mind. Spotify podcast. While coming from a Taoist perspective, this podcast aligns well with concepts from modern neuroscience regarding how the brain constructs our reality, and how in this knowledge, we can shape, rather than be prisoner to, our mental world. The neuroscience perspective on why our brains construct the realities they do, read my articles on Medium here, here, and here.

🧠Foundations of the Brain--Your brain, explained

• Your Brain: Perception Deception. An excellent NOVA PBS video covering the science of how we perceive and construct our reality. Many top scientists contribute to this documentary.

• Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality. A TED talk by neuroscientist Dr. Anil Seth. Thought provoking.

🌊 Stress, Emotion, and Mental Health--Mastering Your Inner World

• You aren't at the mercy of your emotions--your brain creates them. Dr. Lisa-Feldman Barrett talks about the constructive nature of emotions in this TED talk.

👁️ Attention, Mindfulness, and the Nature of the Mind--Focus, presence, and clarity

• The Power of Mindfulness: What You Practice Grows Stronger. A TED talk by Dr. Shauna Shapiro on how mindfulness can help improve our lives.
  

🏃🏽‍♀️ Movement, Sleep, Nutrition and the Body--Body rhythms that boost wellbeing

• The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise. A motivating TED talk by Dr. Wendy Suzuki.
  

❤️ Meaning, Values, and Relationships--Living with purpose and connection

• Don't Chase Happiness. Become Antifragile. An excellent Big Think talk by Dr. Tal Ben-Sharar. A provocative view of why chasing happiness fails and the concept of post traumatic growth.
  

🚀 The Science of Thriving--Practical strategies and insights to flourish

• The Surprising Science of Happiness. A TED talk by Dr. Dan Gilbert who reveals many surprising insights about happiness. Dr. Gilbert is one of the authors of this well known paper, A Wandering Mind Is An Unhappy Mind.

• Goal Setting is a Hamster Wheel. Learn to Set Systems Instead. A Big Think talk by Dr. Adam Alter.

The Thrive Toolkit

This page is a curated collection of videos, podcasts, articles, and guided practices that expand on the ideas provided on this website. Think of it as a field guide — a place to explore the science, philosophy, and practices that support sustained wellbeing. It’s an evolving, organized map for continued learning and practice.

I am working on this now, so please check back often.