The Power of Mindset: How Your Thoughts Transform Your Physical Health & Why Embracing Uncertainty Is The Key To Wellbeing with Dr Ellen Langer #537

Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Health & Fitness, Medicine, Alternative Health, Mental Health

4.8 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2025

⏱️ 144 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week's guest has spent over 50 years conducting ground-breaking research showing that your thoughts have a profound impact on your body. Dr Ellen J. Langer is Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and widely known as the 'mother of mindfulness’. She is the recipient of three Distinguished Scientists awards and the author of twelve books, including her very latest, The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health. In our conversation, we discuss how our mindsets directly affect our physical health, why much of what we attribute to ageing may actually be a consequence of our beliefs and the real meaning of mindfulness. We also explore whether as a society, we need to rethink the concept of work-life balance, with Ellen suggesting that we should instead focus on "work-life integration," where we find interest and joy in whatever we're doing. She also shares a powerful technique that has helped many patients with long term conditions like MS, Parkinson's and chronic pain and she outlines a refreshing approach to decision making: instead of trying to make the "right" decision, we should choose and then "make the decision right". This is a powerful conversation that reminds all of us that we have a lot more control over our wellbeing than we might initially think. Ellen is a wonderful human, full of knowledge, expertise and passion - and the ideas she shares have the power to transform your health, longevity and happiness. Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Thanks to our sponsors: https://www.thriva.co https://drinkag1.com/livemore Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/537 DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The world teaches people that life is stressful, work is stressful.
0:06.0	So then people are told seek work-life balance,
0:10.0	which means this bad has to be bad,
0:13.0	and now we need to have some fun in our lives
0:16.0	so we can tolerate all of these necessary bad things.
0:20.0	I think that's a major mistake.
0:22.5	We shouldn't seek work-life balance because that says the bad has to be bad,
0:27.7	but rather we should have work-life integration.
0:30.9	That no matter what we're doing, there's a way of doing it that can be interesting,
0:36.2	if not simply fun, no matter what.
0:39.7	Hey guys, how you doing?
0:41.5	I hope you're having a good week so far.
0:43.6	My name is Dr. Rongan Chatterjee, and this is my podcast.
0:48.1	Feel Better, Live More.
0:52.2	This week's guest has spent over 50 years conducting groundbreaking research, showing that your thoughts have a profound impact on your body.
1:04.0	Ellen J. Lange is Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and widely known as the Mother of mindfulness. She's the recipient of three
1:13.5	distinguished scientists awards and the author of 12 books, including her very latest, The Mindful
1:20.3	Body, Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health. In our conversation, we discuss how our mindset directly affects our physical health,
1:30.9	why much of what we attribute to aging may actually be a consequence of our beliefs
1:36.2	and the real meaning of mindfulness.
1:39.2	We also explore whether as a society we need to rethink the concept of work-life balance,
1:46.0	with Ellen suggesting that we should instead focus on work-life integration,
	...

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