DeepSummary
Dan Harris interviews Dr. Zindel Segal and Professor Norman Farb, authors of the book 'Better in Every Sense'. They discuss the brain's default mode network (DMN), which is essential for survival but can also keep us stuck in rumination and overthinking. Segal and Farb introduce their practice of 'sense foraging', which involves using the senses to reduce overthinking and get out of the 'house of habit' that the DMN represents.
The authors explain that sense foraging is different from mindfulness meditation as it has a lower barrier to entry and can be done anywhere without much infrastructure. By shifting attention to our senses and being receptive to sensory experiences, we can toggle out of the DMN and create space for change and growth. They also discuss how shutting down our senses can make us more vulnerable to depression.
Segal and Farb provide nine simple rules for sense foraging, such as ubiquity, immersion, and accepting the concrete sensory world. They argue that while the DMN evolved for survival, it is agnostic to our well-being, and sense foraging can help us update our models of the world and accept change and impermanence.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The brain's default mode network (DMN) is essential for survival but can trap us in rumination, habits, and limited perspectives that don't serve our well-being.
- The practice of 'sense foraging' involves purposefully shifting attention to sensory experiences as a way to toggle out of the DMN and create space for change, growth and new perspectives.
- Sense foraging is distinct from but related to mindfulness, with a lower barrier to entry as it can be done anywhere without formal practice.
- Shutting down our capacity for sensory awareness makes us more vulnerable to depression and other forms of suffering.
- While the DMN evolved for survival, it is 'agnostic' to our well-being - sense foraging can help update our mental models to accept change and impermanence.
- The authors provide 9 'rules' for sense foraging, such as ubiquity, immersion, receptivity and avoiding forcing outcomes.
- Sense foraging creates a 'toggle' between habitual thought patterns and sensory presence, without requiring active problem-solving.
- Practices like sense foraging that balance 'order and chaos' are key to flourishing rather than just surviving or languishing.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “The DMN's mental routines evolved to help us survive long enough to reproduce, but they are agnostic when it comes to our individual well being.“ by Norman Farb
- “Languishing is a term that actually was popularized during the COVID epidemic to suggest a state in which people are just getting by. Not a lot of satisfaction, not a lot of engagement with what they're doing, but surviving difficult circumstances.“ by Zindel Segal
- “Sense foraging is going to sound a lot like the John Kabat Zinn definition for mindfulness, but focusing specifically on sensation. So it's going to be paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally, to something sensory that you can notice right now.“ by Norman Farb
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Episode Information
Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris
Ten Percent Happier
6/5/24
Using your senses to reduce overthinking, turn down the voice in your head, and get out of what these scientists call "the house of habit."
Dr. Zindel Segal is Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders at the University of Toronto Scarborough and a cofounder of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Professor Norman Farb, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, where he directs the Regulatory and Affective Dynamics laboratory.
In this episode we talk about:
- How the brain’s default mode network is essential to our survival but also can keep us stuck in rumination and overthinking
- Segal and Farb’s simple practice of “sense foraging” and why they say it can help break patterns and thoughts that aren’t serving us
- The differences and the similarities between sense foraging and mindfulness
Related Episodes:
Depression and Anxiety: Your Old Enemies, Your Best Friends | Zindel Segal
Why You Can’t Pay Attention - And How to Think Deeply Again | Johann Hari
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