either succumb to the norms and do things because everybody else is doing it, or you follow your own path.

And that means criticism, judgment, all sorts of things from your family, from society, from everybody else.

What's wrong with them? They're not choosing this, they're not doing that.

And so you really have to build up your boundaries and be strong and you have to know why you're doing what you're doing.

And I think that from me, that drive has always been so strong that I never could do it any other way.

I always have to follow that inner light.

And so I think it's somewhere within that and all the decisions we made is our identity and who we are as a human being.

Okay, so we all want to live good lives and so often we turn to science to help us out along the way.

For better health, state of mind, relationships and more, I love science.

I'd even consider myself a bit of a research nerd, a citizen scientist.

And I run a separate organization that is focused on researching work and life.

But I've also come to realize there is a place for answers, ideas and practices that are softer, maybe less provable in the lab yet.

Equally, if not more powerful in their ability to serve as a source of healing and solace and grace and possibility.

And some sense of spirituality is often a part of this, which begs the question, do we really have to choose between science or spirituality?

Or are they actually incredibly complimentary to each other?

And is there even some science that suggests spirituality is a really good and important thing?

That's where we're going today with my guest, Dr. Anna Yusum, psychiatrist, best-selling author of Fulfilled, How the Science of Spirituality can help you live a happier, more meaningful life.

And the founder of the Mental Health and Spirituality Center at Yale, who argues that there is a real place for spirituality at the Good Life table.

And Anna's unique blend of traditional psychiatry and spiritual wisdom explores some fundamental questions, things like, what does it really mean to live authentically?

Where can we truly find guidance along this journey?

And how can we achieve some balance between our own needs and the needs of the collective in a world that often pulls us towards self-focus and not always in the most constructive way?

Raised between Moscow and Chicago, Anna was shaped deeply by her mathematically gifted mother's spiritual curiosity that blossomed under the shadow of secrecy in the restricted USSR.

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