Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” On this episode we will cover: ✔ Brain Fact: DID YOU KNOW THAT "95% of the decisions we make take place in our subconscious mind?" (Deane Alban). ✔ A review of EP #207 with Greg Link with his tips to INTENTIONALLY create a legacy, reading a book a week. ✔ Applying the 7 Levels of Awareness to our Daily Life to Be INTENTIONAL With the Life We Create. ✔REMINDER: To see and recognize the "spirit" in everyone. What does this mean to you? On today’s episode we will be diving into this quote…to see how much of our life we really do have control over. At the end of this episode I hope to show that with being intentional about every action we are taking, that we don’t leave anything up to chance, and that we can in fact, create an exciting life, and future, without relying on chance or luck, and there’s magic in the creation process, that illuminates the fact that there’s much more to who we are. I am not just my name, Andrea Samadi (or the human being you see), there’s a spiritual side to me, and there’s a spiritual side to you. Do you see it? Do you see the spiritual side in others? Once you see it, you won’t be able to see anything else, and I hope we can all begin to see the “spirit” in each other. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast where we bridge the gap between theory and practice, with strategies, tools and ideas we can all use immediately, applied to the most current brain research to heighten productivity in our schools, sports environments and modern workplaces. I’m Andrea Samadi, (and I hope by now you see I’m more than just my name, and that you know the “why” behind this podcast without me saying it each week. With that in mind, for this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I want to go back to EP #207[i] with my dear friend Greg Link, the cofounder of CoveyLink who worked directly with Dr. Stephen Covey for many years, with our episode on “Unleashing Greatness with Neuroscience, SEL, Trust and the 7 Habits.” On this episode, Greg opened up with the quote I read at the start of this episode, from his back porch in Sedona, Arizona, reminding me just how much the 7 Habits connected to the brain, social and emotional learning and to this magical thing we call life. It was an extraordinary opportunity to speak with Greg on this day, as he hadn’t spoken publicly for almost a decade, since I saw him last, and when I got the prompting to ask him to come on the podcast, there was no way I was going to ignore it, or worry about whether he would say no, or not. Just a reminder, for those who haven’t listened to episode #207 (go back and check it out—here’s the link to the YouTube interview[ii]) but I met Greg Link when I worked in the motivational speaking industry, when he was brought to help some of the speakers to gain more traction, and solve some of their problems with his experiences. Greg had recently skyrocketed Dr. Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People book that sold over 40 million copies since its first publication, and many leaders in the industry were looking to learn from his success. On this episode, Greg gave us a running list of the books that influenced his life, and urged us to do the same to leave a powerful legacy behind. As we are now in the final weeks of Q3 in 2022, I’ve focused the past few Brain Fact Fridays on Building a Stronger 2.0 version of ourselves, so we can all get a running start to 2023, and when I was interviewing Greg Link, I knew it was going to be an epic interview that I would refer back to often. I just didn’t know how powerful it was going to be at the time, but looking back now, connecting the dots backwards, after just a few months, this episode now has over 1100 downloads. I knew after we recorded that episode that I’d need to do a follow up and be sure to highlight his Legacy Building Activity. With that in mind, for

“Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream. I dream that someday all teachers will teach students how to think rather than make them think. I dream that all students will understand how their brains work and use the knowledge to be successful and excel in whatever endeavor they choose.” Arizona School Administrator, Jeff Kleck Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/2pDRrOOcX5s On this episode we will learn: ✔ About the educator who inspired Andrea to move in the direction of neuroscience in 2014. ✔ How he became interested in neuroscience, introducing Andrea to Carol Dweck and David A. Sousa. ✔ The moment of truth when Jeff met Andrea and gave her feedback that changed the direction of her work. ✔ How to handle criticism, and move forward even when it's difficult to hear. ✔ After 40 years in education, Jeff Kleck shares brain-based strategies he's used with students, athletes and his own children. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results using the most current brain research to inform our decisions. Our guest today is someone I’ve mentioned often on this podcast, but one day, I realized that I know very little about the person who encouraged me to pivot in the direction of neuroscience, back in 2014. Every interview I’ve ever done, someone always asks me “How did you end up doing a podcast on the topic of neuroscience?” and I tell the same story about how an educator urged me to go in this direction many years ago. I’m very intentional about the people I ask to come on the podcast. They are usually someone who is making an impact in the field of health, wellness, and education in some way, or has had an impact on my direction, and the work I’ve been doing over the years and while creating the questions for Dr. Ginger Campbell, who’s well known for her podcast Brain Science[i], I stopped to think for a moment about how on the earth I ended up where I am today and I thought about our next guest. I never ignore those flashes of insight that interrupt me while working, as the connections I’ve made over the years are the only reason I am here today, working in this field of educational neuroscience, and so very passionate about it, with the incredible opportunity to think, learn and create every day. And I wouldn’t have had the courage to move in the direction of Neuroscience, without the guidance of our next guest, Jeff Kleck,[ii] who is now the principal at Valley Christian School in Phoenix. I look forward to talking neuroscience with Jeff, someone I’ve not seen since he helped me to create my second book, Level Up: A Brain-Based Strategy. On today’s episode #246, we’ll be speaking with Jeff Kleck, and see if I can fill in the blanks of where his passion for neuroscience began, what he’s doing now to help educators understand how their brain impacts learning, and what he thinks of the future of educational neuroscience in our schools, sports and workplace environments. Let’s welcome my mentor to this field of educational neuroscience, Jeff Kleck. Intro: Welcome Jeff! It’s incredible to see you again. Was it 2014 when we met last? Maybe 2015? Somewhere back then… Jeff, I reached out to you, as I mention in the back story that I never ignore those flashes of insight that come while working, and I was writing Dr. Ginger Campbell’s interview questions, and for a moment, I was stumped. How on the earth did I get here, asking the host of the top neuroscience podcast questio

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I’m Andrea Samadi, and launched this podcast just over 3 years ago, with a vision to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and help all of us (whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace) to understand the most current brain research, and how to use it, for improved productivity and results. On this episode we will cover: ✔ That we are all unique and our brain makes us this way. (Chantel Prat, Ph.D) ✔ If we want to change ourselves in any way, this change must involve our brain. (Chantel Prat, Ph.D). ✔ We can change our brain for the better, by repeatedly taking action towards our goals, and strengthening our “roads” or neural pathways.✔ We can also change our brains for the worse. (Dr. Andrew Huberman) ✔ As human beings, our job is to help people realize how rare and valuable each of us really is. (Chatel Prat, Ph.D). For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I want to leverage off something we’ve been talking about on the past few episodes, that we are all unique, and our brain makes us this way with “a pattern of connectivity as unique as our fingerprints.” (Deane Alban). Have you ever wondered “what makes you unique from others? Or why you do things a certain way?” I certainly have wondered this, and I think back to the days I worked in the motivational speaking industry and when discussing how change occurs, we went straight to the importance of understanding our paradigms, or habitual behavior and that if we want to experience change, we would need to change these habits, that began with changing our thoughts, feelings and actions, to attain the newly desired results. But now I see that there’s a simple answer to why we are unique, or do things in a certain way. I recently came across Chantel Prat’s book, The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours[i] and I thought back to last week’s Brain Fact Friday, and EP 244[ii] where we looked at how we are all unique, and it’s our brain that makes us this way, and I wondered what we could learn from Chantel’s book, that just came out last month, to help us to figure out who we are, with our brain in mind. I haven’t finished reading her book yet, but the answer to “why we do what we do” stems from the fact that “my brain makes me this way.” (location 34, The Neuroscience of You, Prat). Prat tells the story of when she first realized this to be true, when she took a course that described the famous story of Phineas Gage, who was a railway worker who made an error that caused an iron spike to blast through his left cheek and out the top of his head, and this essentially changed the personality of Phineas Gage. For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I’m taking this AHA moment from Chantel Prat’s The Neuroscience of You to help us to understand ourselves on a deeper level. “If you change your brain, you change the person.” I could think about this one for the next year! I’m always looking for ways that we can improve our productivity and results, (and change ourselves for the better) and it would make sense to me that if we want to change ourselves in any way, that this change must take place in the brain, which will change the person. How exactly do we change our brain? Chantel Prat tells us that we can soak our brain in cortisol by increasing our stress levels, and this in fact will change our brain. But that’s not the change I’m looking for. Or we can shrink our brain with the research that Dr. Andrew Huberman[iii] provided for us on his eye-opening podcast episode on “What Alcohol Does to Your Body, Brain and Health” which is also not the answer I was looking for. Or we can repeatedly take certain actions to strengthen the neural pathways or “roads” in our brain, and with time, these pathways strengthen, making whatever we are learning simpler, and easier to perform. This is getting closer to the change I’m hoping we all can att

“If we have very strong beliefs about something, evidence to the contrary could be sitting right in front of us, but we may not see it because what we perceive is entirely different.” (Dr. Joe Dispenza, speaker, researcher and author who is passionate about the fields of neuroscience, epigenetics, and quantum physics, pushing the limits of possibility). On this episode we will cover: ✔ How to change our perceptions, or what we believe, using the most current brain research. ✔ That we each have a pattern of connectivity in our brain as unique as our fingerprint. ✔ How each person, with a unique brain, learns and behaves differently, based on how it's wired. ✔ 2 Strategies to improve health, well-being, productivity and resiliency, by measuring your personal fitness metrics. ✔The importance of accepting other people's differences. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I’m Andrea Samadi, and launched this podcast just over 3 years ago, with a vision to bridge the gap between theory and practice, with strategies, tools and ideas we can all use immediately to take what we know (our current knowledge) and apply what we know to the most current brain research for new results, and heightened productivity in our schools, sports environments and modern workplaces. Like Dr. Dispenza, I believe in pushing the limits of what’s possible, and hope this podcast helps those who tune in, to do the same. As I’m writing this episode, it’s September 1st and I can’t believe how fast time flies. If we think back to the start of this year[i], we looked at how to make 2022 our best year ever, with what will we change, or do differently this year, to attain NEW results and I wonder, have YOU “thought in a wildly different way than you previously have been to get to the next level of what YOU are doing?” (Grant Cardone). If the answer is YES, then congratulations, you’re well on your way to new conditions and circumstances in 2023, but if the answer is “not yet” then let’s see what else we can do, together, using neuroscience to challenge our perceptions and change our old habits and behaviors, for new results, with our health in mind. Changing our Perceptions, of What We Believe: For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, and EPISODE #244, I wanted to look at how exactly we create behavior change, using science to challenge our old beliefs. How can we change our perception or what we believe? To do this, we will go deeper into EP #239, where we looked at “Building a Stronger 2.0 Version of Ourselves”[ii] where we picked something that we wanted to change, with the bigger picture of what this change would mean, using our motivation based on our values, holding our focus on what we wanted to change, with a 90-day plan to make this change stick. But, what if we see the evidence, (we know that whatever it is we want to change is bad for us), we really want the change, but there’s nothing compelling enough for us to make this change, like Dr. Dispenza’s quote said. “If we have very strong beliefs about something, evidence to the contrary could be sitting right in front of us, but we may not see it because what we perceive is entirely different.” (Dispenza) Our beliefs (old habits and behaviors) will override the desired behavior change. Which leads me to this week’s Brain Fact Friday. DID YOU KNOW THAT: “Your brain has a pattern of connectivity as unique as your fingerprint?”[iii] This episode is not about swaying you to believe what I believe, but to have you challenge your own beliefs, knowing my brain is different from your brain, and see if you can look at something from a different point of view, while I’m doing the same. Just like Dr. Ginger Campbell told us on our last EPISODE #243, as the host of the longest running podcast on Neuroscience, she acknowledges that what she’s learned over the years is that everyone will have their own beliefs and perceptions about things, and since our brains are all

Our guest today, Dr. Ginger Campbell has been running her Brain Science Podcast[i] since 2006, and anyone who studies the topic of Neuroscience would have come across her work, as a pioneer, where she launched her podcast all those years ago because she believes that “understanding how our brain really works is essential for being a good citizen in the 21st Century.”[ii] Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/W6QeFM6-9lI On this episode we will learn: ✔ Podcast Hall of Fame, 2022, Dr. Ginger Campbell, host of the Brain Science Podcast: Why an MD began podcasting. ✔ Why Dr. Ginger believes that understanding our brain, is essential for being a good citizen in the 21st Century. ✔ Top lessons she has learned from hosting the Brain Science Podcast since 2006. ✔ What is that feeling of certainty? ✔ Where does intuition come in, and can we trust it? ✔ Is interoception (listening to what we feel in our body) reliable? ✔ What about solving our problems in our dreams? Is this reliable? ✔ What about premonitions? Can we trust them? ✔ Why do emotions make our memories stick? ✔ Things to consider with our thinking? We think, therefore we are wrong? ✔ How to distinguish neuroscience from pseudoscience? ✔ Dr. Ginger's thoughts on neuroscience in the field of education. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results using the most current brain research. On today’s episode #243, we will be speaking with Dr. Virginia “Ginger” Campbell, MD, who is a physician, author and science communicator who was just inducted into the 2022 Podcast Hall of Fame. She also runs the podcast Books and Ideas, that includes more diverse guests including science fiction writers. Dr. Campbell spent over 20 years as an emergency physician in rural Alabama, and in 2014 she went back to the University of Alabama in Birmingham where she completed a Fellowship in Palliative Medicine which is an approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex and often terminal illnesses. She now practices Palliative Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama and enjoys sharing her passion for science—especially neuroscience. When I was referred to Dr. Campbell for this interview, I almost jumped out of my chair and wrote back quickly, knowing how timely our conversation would be as I was editing our recent interview with physician and neurologist, Dr. Douyon. I know that Dr. Ginger will open our eyes even further to help us ALL to connect the dots with our brain, as it relates to our health and wellbeing. Let’s welcome Dr. Ginger Campbell, and get right into her thoughts about Brain Science, and see what we will learn from her deep and vast experience to help us to all take our understanding of the brain, and our health, to new heights. Welcome Dr. Ginger! Thank you for joining me today. INTRO: So, Dr. Ginger, from my email to you, I’m sure you know that I’m a follower of your work as a pioneer not only in the podcasting world, but as someone who has successfully been helping people to understand how their brain works (which is why we launched this podcast. Can you tell us where your career began, what need did you see, and how did you find your way to podcasting in those early days when I’m sure you needed to understand how to create your own code and website? Q1: Dr. Ginger, now that we have an understanding of your background, I wanted to begin our questions today by telling you how honor

“Many of the most significant public health challenges faced today have a behavioral component. To change individuals’ behavior, we need to understand and change the brain.”[i] From Professor Huda Akil, a Syrian-American neuroscientist Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast. I’m Andrea Samadi, and launched this podcast just over 3 years ago, with a vision to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and help all of us (whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace) to understand the most current brain research, and how to use it, for improved productivity and results. On this episode we will cover: ✔ Why we must understand our brain, in order to change our behavior. ✔ 2 Brain Facts learned from Dr. Andrew Huberman's most recent podcast on "The Effects of Alcohol on the Brain and Body" ✔ Why Chronic Disease Prevention means thinking with our brain health in mind. ✔ 4 Steps to change our behavior with our brain in mind. For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I wanted to tie our past few episodes together, starting with EPISODE #239 where we talked about “Using Neuroscience to Build a Stronger 2.0 Version of Ourselves.”[ii] On this episode we looked at how we can change our identity by reviewing our self-image. We looked at where our self-image is formed (in the front of our brain) and how people who have stronger pathways in this part of the brain, will have higher, long-term self-esteem, which I think we can all agree would help us to move forward, towards this newer, stronger, 2.0 version of ourselves. Then we looked at the concept of Praxis, or integrating our beliefs with our behaviors, as a way to step into this brand new 2.0 version of ourselves where we can become an entirely NEW person, overriding our old identity, building a new image of our self, over time, with hard work and persistence. Then, physician and neurologist, Dr. Philippe Douyon[iii] advised us with his experience of facing 2 kidney transplants, that the power for health and happiness, really is in our own hands, but he gave us a sense of urgency, telling us that we only have ONE brain, ONE body and ONE life. If we really want to improve ourselves in any way, everything points back to understanding what’s happening with this organ that controls everything that we do. Next week, we will be speaking with Dr. Ginger Campbell, MD, who was just inducted into the 2022 Podcast Hall of Fame. Dr. Ginger has been running her Brain Science Podcast[iv] since 2006, and anyone who studies the topic of Neuroscience would have come across her work, as a pioneer, where she launched her podcast all those years ago because she believes that “understanding how our brain really works is essential for being a good citizen in the 21st Century.”[v] When I think about why we launched this podcast, where we look for leaders around the world who are using the most current research, to help us to all see that success, health and happiness is possible for all of us, when we do things a certain way, and I would say, that this certain way, is with our brain in mind. Not to say that this way (with our brain in mind) is the only way to accomplish success, but if we are going to look at our life, and we only have a short time here to do whatever it is that we want with our time, I think to live up to our full potential, it’s important to remember that we only have one brain, and to be aware of what helps it, or hurts it. Dr. Douyon’s company mission: “One brain, one body, one life” makes me think seriously about the consequences of every action I’m taking. While I enjoy every interview I’ve ever done, something magical happens when all of our episodes begin to thread together with a common theme, and I think that Dr. Douyon noticed the lights turning on in our interview. It’s starting to sink in. To change an individuals’ behavior, we need to understand and change the brain. Which leads me to this week’s Brain

Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, with a special episode, recorded for Podbean’s Wellness Week. When I first launched this podcast, in June 2019, using Podbean as my host, of course, it was a bit by chance, as I had just purchased a new template for my website that had a podcast theme, and the developer who helped me to build the site said “you can delete the podcast section if you don’t want to host a podcast” and I thought about it for a minute, and was already conducting interviews for the programs and services I was offering in my membership area, so I told him, “let’s just keep it” and I went over to Google and searched for “what is an RSS feed” and “how to launch a podcast.” I had no idea at that moment just how powerful that one decision would be, leading me to launch something that would connect me to leaders around the world, be downloaded in over 100 countries, become my biggest learning opportunity I’ve ever had, and open up many doors, all from just one decision. I also started this podcast because I saw a serious need in the area of social and emotional learning that was being implemented in schools around the country and the world, but many educators didn’t know the best way to begin their implementation. We all know that “success in life, and in college and career specifically, relies on student’s cognitive, (the core skills your brain uses to think, read, remember, and pay attention) social and interpersonal skills, (including the ability to navigate through social situations, resolve conflicts, show respect towards others, self-advocate and learn how to work on a team with others) and emotional development (including the ability to recognize and manage one’s emotions, demonstrate empathy for others and cope with stress)” but what are these skills, and what exactly is the best way to implement them?[i] In the corporate world, these skills aren’t new, but they are “newly important” and of high urgency to develop in our future generations. A recent survey showed that 58 percent of employers say college graduates aren’t adequately prepared for today’s workforce, and those employers noted a particular gap in social and emotional skills. This is where our goal with this podcast began—to close this gap by exploring six social and emotional learning competencies as a springboard for discussion and tie in how an understanding of our brain can facilitate these strategies. Hence the title of the podcast, Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning. If we want to improve our social, emotional and cognitive abilities, it all starts with an understanding of our brain. Season 1: Consists of 33 episodes that begin with introducing six the social and emotional competencies (building a growth mindset, making responsible decisions, becoming self-aware, increasing social-awareness, managing emotions and behavior and developing relationships) along with an introduction to cognitive skills that I call Neuroscience 101 where we introduce some of the most important cognitive strategies, or the core skills your brain uses to think, remember and pay attention. CONTENT: In this season, you will learn about understanding your mind vs your brain, mindfulness and meditation, the 3 parts of your brain, achieving peak performance, and improving awareness, mindsight, rewiring your brain for happiness, and experiential learning. We interviewed Ron Hall from Valley Day School who talked about how he launched his neuroeducation program into his school, Jennifer Miller on “Building Connections with Parents and Educators,” Helen Maffini on her Mindful Peace Summit and “Launching Mindfulness and Meditation in our Schools,” Greg Wolcott on “Building Relationships in Today’s Classrooms,” 14 year old Adam Avin on “Improving Our Mental Health in Our Schools,” Clark McKown from xSEL Labs on “SEL Assessments” and how we can actually measure these skills, Sam Roberts on her experience of “Win

“Finally, we have an expert in the field of neuroscience and neurology, who breaks down the complex concepts and demystifies the workings of the brain, while putting the power back in our hands. Through his thoughts and reflections on neuroplasticity and neuroinfluences, Dr. Philippe Douyon, a physician and neurologist, unlocks the true power of the brain to help us heal and reach our full potential.” Dr. Sidor, Quadruple board-certified Psychiatrist who reviews the book of our next guest, Dr. Philippe Douyon. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/qYUR3CAN1VQ On this episode we will learn: ✔ How Dr. Douyon came up with a unique approach to life when it comes to health and chronic disease, or any serious health challenge that might be thrown our way. ✔ What he learned from overcoming kidney failure, Covid, dialysis and from undergoing a successful kidney transplant. ✔ What he noticed was missing from medical school that was important to help patients heal and recover. ✔ Why positive thinking is crucial for overcoming illness and for our overall health and wellbeing. ✔ How he did dialysis "his way." ✔ His thoughts of the impact of alcohol and other unhealthy food/drink on the brain? ✔ His Pyramid of Neurological Health vs Our 5 Health Staples. ✔ How to help people make the decision towards health, one step at a time. ✔ His tips for health and wellness that we can all benefit from. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results using the most current brain research. On today’s episode #241, we will be speaking heart to heart with Dr. Philippe Douyon, a board-certified neurologist who has a unique outlook of approaching life, when it comes to health and overcoming chronic disease, or any serious challenge that might unexpectedly be thrown our way, taking us by surprise. Not only has Dr. Douyon's philosophy helped countless patients with medical, neurological, and mental health disorders, but it's the same philosophy that he used himself to overcome kidney failure, Covid, dialysis, and undergo a successful kidney transplant. He is the author of the book, Neuroplasticity: Your Brain's Superpower[i], that focuses on how to use our brain's ability to adapt and learn to heal to overcome life’s serious challenges. He also has an online course called Take Charge of Your Brain[ii] that teaches us how our lifestyle choices, directly influence our brain and health. I’m not going to hold back with my questions, as I’m certain that the research is loud and clear, that many neurological disorders (that we’ve been talking about on this podcast), like Alzheimer’s, dementia, stroke, or Parkinson’s disease, can be prevented with lifestyle changes. What I love about Dr. Douyon’s work, is that everything he shares about health and wellbeing is what I learned years ago in the personal development industry, that he now matches with the most current brain research. Concepts like: Our thoughts do matter when it comes our mental and physical health and well-being. How to STOP victim mentality (poor me thinking) especially when it comes to our neurological makeup. How to increase our levels of success, even when we’ve lost hope with our health. As a board-certified neurologist, Dr. Douyon shows us how we can in fact take charge of our health, with our brain in mind. He believes that success in life and business starts in the brain and is on a mission to spread his empowering message that we CAN rewir

“We have a brain for one reason and one reason only -- that’s to produce adaptable and complex movements. Movement is the only way we affect the world around us… I believe that to understand movement is to understand the whole brain. And therefore it’s important to remember when you are studying memory, cognition, sensory processing, they’re there for a reason, and that reason is action.” From neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/wiSPswItU70 On this episode you will learn: ✔ How Trent McEntire discovered a way to "unlock" his brain through movement, and change his life forever. ✔ How his discovery impacted his ability to go from a struggling reader, to someone who enjoys reading books. ✔ How he took his discovery and created a brain-training program for students, athletes and anyone struggling with a neurological disorder. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results, with our brain in mind. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, a student, or in the modern workplace. On today’s episode #240, we will be speaking with Trent McEntire, from Fire Up Your Brain™[i] where you can see the Brain-Based Training Programs that he developed by chance (for kids, seniors and athletes) when he stumbled across the answer to something that unblocked his brain, through moving the body, leading him to develop The Fire Up your Brain Program™, unleashing his mission to help others around the globe with this discovery. We just heard from Joshua Gillis on EPISODE #238[ii] about how important movement is for “unblocking” the brain, especially with athletes, so when I read Trent’s story, I was blown away with how our last episode, helped me to make sense of how Trent’s invention could possibly “Fire Up Your Brain” since we just learned about how some simple movements that Joshua created, had a profound impact on world-class athletes, who had almost given up hope of getting better. Then I read his story, and it caught me off-guard a bit. From looking at Trent’s videos, and even the pictures of him on his website, I would guess he was a retired pro athlete of some sort, who had invented something that made a difference for his team, and extended this tool for kids and seniors, but there was much more to his story than meets the eye. Trent was born with a mild form of Cerebral Palsy, and experienced pain and stiffness every day from the time he was a child. Now my mind is going back to our recent episode with Ashok Gupta[iii], where he created an advanced brain retraining program to help people relieved chronic pain by breaking the vicious inflammation loop, and I wonder how Trent was able to move past his pain, using his love for sports and repair his own body. I’ll put Trent’s BIO in the show notes, but think he will tell his story in a way that we will all feel the heart behind the Fire Up Your Brain Program™, and participate with Trent’s mission to spread the word of his work. Let’s meet Trent McEntire, and learn how we can Fire Up Our Brain, unlocking us to new heights in school, sports and the workplace. Welcome Trent, thank you for meeting up with me today to take us behind the story of this incredible invention you’ve created to Fire Up Our Brains. I’m going to guess that you are still in Michigan? INTRO Q: Trent, if you were able to look at the back story I wrote, you will have seen that I wouldn’t have guessed that you had overcome so much in your past, including the pain and

“It doesn’t matter how hard we work, or how many hours we put in, if OUR Paradigm (or mental program that has exclusive control over our habitual behavior) does not change, the results will ultimately remain the same, year after year.” Bob Proctor, from the Paradigm Shift Seminar. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I’m Andrea Samadi, and for this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I want to revisit how exactly we change our identity, to build a stronger, more resilient, 2.0 version of ourselves, by reviewing our self-image and self-belief that we covered on EPISODE #199[i] that had over 1300 downloads, showing me that you are just as interested in this topic as I am. In this episode we will discuss: ✔ What is PRAXIS (the application of a theory) and how can we use this idea? ✔ What is our self-image vs our self-esteem? ✔ How is our self-image/identity formed? ✔ How do we identify gaps or areas we can improve? ✔ How can we change our self-image/identity? ✔ Can our confidence levels be seen by others? ✔ Can we predict a person’s self-esteem levels (or what they think of themselves) by looking at their brain? ✔ 4 Steps to create a 2.0 version of YOU! What is PRAXIS and How Can We Use it For Improved Results? This weekend I was thinking about life, and how we just get one shot to make it a meaningful one. I’m sure I’m not alone with this line of thinking, especially these days, when it comes to acknowledging how fragile life really is. Earlier this month, I lost another mentor—Mark Low, who was my neighbor in Toronto, who was the one who handed me “the” book that would change my life forever. You can read the story I’ve told often in the show notes[ii] but for this episode, after thinking about how precious life is, and all the lessons I’ve learned from the many mentors along the way, there was one profound lesson that stood out to me, that I want to tie into this episode that I’ll dedicate it, to my neighbor, Mark Low. When I first went to work in the motivational speaking industry, back in the late 1990s, I was hired by my neighbor, Mark, to help with administrative tasks, that eventually moved into sales, leading me to travel to each of the seminars and learn from all the speakers and connections made over the years and I talk about everyone I’ve learned from often on this podcast. In those early days, I would receive a paycheck from Mark’s company, that was called The Praxis Group. I remember looking at my check one day, and asking Mark “Hey, what does Praxis mean?” and he looked over at me from the desk on the other side of the room (we worked out of his parent’s basement back then, with our desks facing a wall that was covered in charts with our upcoming seminars, and he replied, “Andrea, it’s when you integrate your beliefs with your behaviors.” That’s was it. He just stopped for a minute and watched my face looking confused, and he added that “people really change when this happens and that they become an entirely new person” with this concept of Praxis. I looked up the definition that Miriam Webster[iii] gives today and it says that Praxis is the “practical application of a theory” or the “practice of an art, science or skill.” If you look up “becoming a better version of you” these days, the topic is still of high interest. I remember thinking “that’s incredible”, as I love everything about change, growth, or skill-building but looking back now, I’m sure it took me over 22 years to get the full understanding of the meaning of Praxis and how exactly we integrate our beliefs with our behavior to attain this sought-after change which happens when we repeat the new habits of what we want, over and over again. I had to dig a bit, but I did find an old

“We have seen that the brain grows by use and that the more you use it, the better it will function.” Glenn Doman, the creator of the Doman Method"[i] Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/KUF52WCNRxU I’d like to add, that the more we understand how our brain works, the more we will actually use it! On the episode we will explore: ✔ The work of Joshua Gillis, Neuro-Integrator, and the outstanding results he has been having with world class athletes from the world of ice-hockey, to skiing, and wrestling. ✔ Where his work with "unlocking blocks in the brain" began. ✔ What we should all know about our the evolution of our brain and why movement is critical for "unlocking" our true potential. ✔ An Intro to the Neuro Func APP used to improve sports performance, cognitive abilities, and behavioral intelligence. ✔ How to access the FREE sessions in the APP to try it out. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, a student, or in the modern workplace. On today’s episode #238, we will be speaking with Joshua Gillis[ii], who is on a mission to spread his groundbreaking knowledge in neuroscience to as many people as possible, and maybe even convince them to become a member of the small but growing, NOWLiving community. Before we get into WHAT exactly Joshua Gillis has discovered in this field, I’ve got to say that something about his work stuck out to me when his team contacted me. While preparing for interviews, I want to be sure the topic is in line with our season theme of brain health as it relates to learning, and Joshua’s work goes deep into the brain and learning, which I saw with some of his teachers and colleagues who included Glenn Doman (USA), Blythe and Godard (UK) and (I hope I’m getting this one right, as I’m not well versed in Russian) Svetlans Masgutova (RUSSIA). This is quite a powerful list, but the minute I saw Glenn Doman, my mind went back to 1999 when I was working in the seminar industry, and the speaker I worked for, opened the seminar with the work that Glenn Doman was doing in PA, helping children with special needs accomplish the impossible. If you’ve ever heard my story, in those early days after I left the teaching field, I was still trying to figure out where I was meant to be working, and I would write down anything important that caught my attention when it came to helping young people live up to the potential we know we all have. When the speaker told us about Glenn Doman’s work, where we took a young boy named Brendon, who was severely handicapped, and was told he would “just live his life like a vegetable” and with the method of using his brain and movement, they had this young boy up and running (and I forget the time frame) but that’s not what was important. It was the fact his life changed 180 degrees from what everyone expected of him. I thought the story was profound enough to write his name and phone number on the first page of my seminar notes, where we I was supposed to be learning about how our mind is connected to our earning potential. That weekend, I couldn’t stop wondering about what made such an impact for that young boy and it wasn’t difficult for me to find the notes I jotted down from that seminar. IMAGE 1: My first introduction to the work of Glenn Doman in 1999 led me to purchase all of his books, and raise my two children with the Doman Method. The problem with this #1 Best Selling Parenting Series was the

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. On this episode we will cover: ✔ The future of educational neuroscience. ✔ A mid-year look at our goals. ✔ How unresolved issues impact our brain and body. I’m Andrea Samadi, and for this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I wanted to tie in our interviews from this week with something we can all use right away. I thought about what my friend Kate is building with YungMash Collective that we covered on EPISODE #235[i]—a mentoring community for young adults ages 18-30 to learn how to apply the most current cutting edge neuroscience to their lives to solve problems with their brain in mind. When Kate’s Dad heard this interview, he told her “what a noble cause” which is exactly what Simon Sinek said to me when he heard of my mission to make an impact in the field of education. It made Kate’s day to have her Dad’s support with her project… Then I thought about Dr. Loretta Breuning’s Habits of a Happy Brain book that we just covered on EPISODE #236[ii] and I’m amazed at how new this topic of applying an understanding of our brain is, for improving our everyday life and results. Before this interview, I wouldn’t have thought about the serotonin boost that our mission would give both Kate and I, as Dr. Breuning taught us many things about how to increase our happy chemicals, and how serotonin increases when we have a sense of pride with our work, or social importance. IMAGE: From Habits of a Happy Brain by Dr. Loretta Breuning It’s only been recently that I began making the connection between the work we are doing here on the podcast, improving our results, and what our brain has to do with it all. We’ve mentioned in recent episodes that “the first academic departments devoted to studying neuroscience didn’t appear until the 1960s” (National Geographic) proving this is a relatively new field of study to glean strategies from, and guide us towards an improved life. Since we are now mid-year, in Q3 of 2022, I thought back to the beginning of the year, where we launched our 6 PART Think and Grow Rich[iii] book review on “How to Make 2022 Your Best Year Ever” and remembered that we opened each episode with a quote from Grant Cardone who said “In order to get to the next level of what you are doing, you must think in a wildly different way than you previously have been.” Leading me to These Mid-Year Thoughts: Are you thinking in a wildly different way than you did last year? What are you doing differently? What NEW results have you attained? Have you broken any records, or moved beyond where you’ve ever been before? Are you making an “effect” (which means a change) in the world? Have you stopped to integrate your NEW success into your current life? Remember, during our Think and Grow Rich book study, we said “it’s our DUTY or OBLIGATION” to win in 2022? Do you think you are winning? After thinking about these questions myself, I opened my email to see a note from Michael Thomas, the Director of the Centre for Educational Neuroscience at Birkbeck, University of London letting me know he has a new book coming out called Educational Neuroscience: The Basics[iv] that we will dive into a bit later this fall on the podcast. I had written Michael Thomas’ name on my desk last summer (June 2021) with a reminder for me to reach out to him after the interview with Professor and Canada’s Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Dr. Daniel Ansari, from EPISODE #138[v] on The Future of Educational Neuroscience. I knew Michael Thomas as a pioneer in the field and if it wasn’t clear to me 3 years ago, when we scratched down the name of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning as a podcast title, it’s clear as ice now, Educational Neurosc

The secret of being happy is accepting where you are in life and making the most out of every day…. Or is it? Is there a secret to happiness that we can uncover by looking into the chemicals in our brain? We will find this out today. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/6Sb8wAsvwQ8 On the episode we will explore: ✔ A deep dive into the four happy chemicals in our brain. ✔ How to move past old patterns, behaviors and stress response circuits in our brain, for new results. ✔ Healthy ways to increase our happiness neurotransmitters. ✔ Vicious cycles we should all be aware of, and ways to break these cycles. ✔ How to rewire a "low trust" brain and what we can learn from how monkeys build trust in others. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I’m Andrea Samadi, and on today’s episode #236, we have Loretta Breuning, the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute,[i] Professor Emerita of Management at California State University and the author of Habits of a Happy Brain[ii] and Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, Real Simple and numerous podcasts. Loretta helps people to build their power over their mammalian brain chemistry, reminding us that “happiness comes from chemicals we’ve inherited from earlier mammals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin levels. When you know how they work in animals, your ups and downs make sense. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behaviors, not to make us feel good all the time. But you can feel good more often when you understand nature’s operating system.” Let’s meet Dr. Loretta Breuning and learn together, how to retrain our brain to boost our serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels, for a happier and healthier life by understanding why these neurotransmitters are important for happiness to occur in the present moment of our lives. Welcome Loretta, thank you for coming on the podcast. We have been focused on our brain as it relates to learning, and when I saw your book, Habits of a Happy Brain I jumped to learn more about it, because who doesn’t want to learn more about our brain chemistry, especially when it comes to retraining our brain for happiness. INTRO Q: Can we start with where your interest in this topic began? How did you go from being a University Professor, to writing books about our brain chemistry and connecting us back to our “inner mammal” and how our brain is wired for survival? Q1: You mentioned something in another interview[iii], that I think is important for us to understand. You said “we are all wired by our early experiences because this is when we have the most neuroplasticity.” What should we all know about how our brains are wired, that makes us all unique, right down to the level of the neurons in our brain? Q1B: So, if we are to dive deeper into this, you know how we all have a trauma response, or when we are stressed, or experiencing overwhelm, we experience either fight (anger/irritability) flight (let’s talk about something else and avoid all of this) freeze (unable to move and disassociate), or fawn (where you keep the peace as a people please to avoid conflict)…all of these reactions hard-wired from our early experiences. I’m sure each of us, if asked, could think about which trauma response we use predominately. Once we are aware of our stress response circuit, what do we do with that? Is it enough to just pay attention to whatever it is that’s causing a reaction and notice if it’s really a threat to you, or if we can just move beyond it? Q2: When I think about happiness, I don’t usually think about what’s going on at the brain level (until reading your book). I’m thinking, I

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper." W.B. Yeats Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/-hQVyUdiBmk On the episode we will explore: ✔ Why Kate launched a Peer-to Peer Mentoring and Empowering Global Community for young adults, ages 18-30. ✔ Who is Masha, who inspired Yung Mash Collective? ✔ Why Kate felt a sense of urgency to launch this Foundation a few months after losing her daughter, Masha, to a rare form of Cancer. ✔ What neuroscience cannot explain--the spiritual side of losing someone in the physical world. ✔ Lessons Bob Proctor taught in his seminars about the beauty of death, dying and the spiritual realm. ✔ Why some people "feel" things. Are they real? ✔ Kate's vision for YungMash Collective as place for young people to find answers to their problems, from trained Certified Neurocoaches. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, a student, or in the modern workplace. On today’s episode #235, we are featuring return guest, Katherine Alexander-Dobrovolskaia who joined us last June, for our very first LIVE event[i] that we recorded from Hawaii. For today’s episode, we welcome Kate back where she will share how she has turned an absolutely heart breaking loss into something life-changing for others with the launch of YungMashCollective, a new peer-to-peer global mentoring and empowering community based on cutting edge neuroscience, after losing her daughter, Masha, to a rare form of Cancer this past March. Kate, who I met over 10 years ago in a community for those looking to learn how to apply the basics of neuroscience to our daily life, remained in close contact with me over the years, and she later joined Mark Waldman’s Neurocoaching Certification Program where we worked together to be sure we were both on track, completing the assignments. While it took me over two years to complete the course, Kate came into the program with a force to be reckoned with, motivating me to complete the lessons, so we could make use of the knowledge and certification program, to help others, with a sense of urgency. Kate completed her certification that first year, just before her daughter’s health began to decline. I’ll let Kate tell her story, and how she is using her Neuroscience Certification to help others with this new foundation that she launched, YungMash Collective, to honor her daughter, Masha, and her gift to help others with problems they were struggling with. Let’s welcome my dear friend Kate, from the UK, and hear how she has turned her heartbreaking personal journey around, with her understanding of the brain, and this new Foundation to help others. Welcome Kate. It’s always incredible to see you, especially face to face. INTRO Q: To begin, I just don’t have the words. Your story breaks my heart, as it would for any parent listening but especially for someone who saw everything happen first hand. Can you share what happened to your daughter, Masha, and orient our listeners to the why behind the YungMashCollective[ii]? Q1: I know as a parent, we want our children to excel out in the world with whatever it is they are doing, especially when it comes to helping others along the way. While I’m sure you knew of Masha’s many talents, were there some things you didn’t know until you met with her friends at the vigil that night? What did you learn from gathering Masha’s friends together and the power th

“If you do not make time for your wellness, you be forced to make time for your illness.” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/3u2sCwB_mSg Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, a student, or in the modern workplace. This month, you might have noticed that we are breaking into a new season on the podcast, Season 8, where we are focusing on brain health and learning with a look at how an understanding of our brain can have an immediate improvement on our life, as well as our future generations. If you have followed our past few episodes, you’ll recall me mentioning our guest for today, Ashok Gupta, who is a well-known Neuroplasticity "brain retraining" expert who has spent the last 25 years researching the effects of the brain and the mind on illness. He suffered from a condition called ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, around 25 years ago when he was studying at Cambridge University. Through neurological research that he conducted, he managed to get himself 100% better. He then set up a clinic to treat others, and published the well- known neuroplasticity “brain retraining” recovery program he created, known as the Gupta Program[i] in 2007. He has published several medical papers, interviews experts in the field himself, like his recent interview with Dr. Joe Mather, medical director of a well-known functional medicine clinic in England called the Ruscio (ru-show) Institute[ii], and is continually researching these chronic conditions. Recently, a randomized controlled trial was published showing the Gupta Program (that Ashok created himself) was highly effective compared to a control. The program now is used to support people with a wide variety of chronic illnesses, (like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia, among others that you can see listed on his website) and Ashok Gupta is now on a mission to research and support people with chronic illness through this drug free and revolutionary, integrated and holistic approach. When I was first introduced to Ashok and his brain-training program I thought of all the people I know personally who have had the frustrating experience of going to the doctor for something they know feels “off” in their body (whether an illness, or pain from an accident or injury” and the doctor says “there’s nothing physically wrong with them” and sends them off with a prescription for something (anti-anxiety medicine, or an anti-depressant) which doesn’t work, because it doesn’t come close to addressing the root cause. If you’ve ever wondered why our body seems to hold onto an old injury, or what’s at the root of chronic disease like fibromyalgia, that causes years of frustration, lack of focus in the workplace and decreased productivity, there is a solution, and the answer shockingly comes with an understanding of our brain. Let’s meet Ashok Gupta, and see how neuroscience is connected to chronic pain, and illness, and what he has seen from thousands of his patients around the world who use The Gupta Program. Welcome Ashok, thank you for coming on the podcast to share the years of research you have done in the field of chronic pain and illness. What part of the UK have we reached you today? INTRO Q: To begin, I want to start from the beginning of your story because it really is incredible to see what you have built. I have watched some of your recent podcasts that people can access in the show notes[iii] and everythin

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for increased results. I’m Andrea Samadi, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace, and release content to help all of us, specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity. This weekend, I heard a message from New York Times Best Selling author of the book, High Performance Habits, Brendon Burchard[i], that got me thinking about where we are right now in the world today. He said that while there might have been times during the Pandemic where we laid low, or held back in protective mode, the pendulum has swung the other way now, and that there is a high need for us ALL to be “more productive as a nation”[ii] as we enter this next phase of the economy, and showing up with our A-game is not just timely, but crucial. I know that listeners of this podcast are high performing, with learning new things at the top of your list, so with this in mind, for today’s EPISODE #233, I wanted to go back and review our TOP 12 Most viewed YouTube Video Interviews, as chosen by you, the listener, so we can all go back to the basics, and review some of the most important lessons learned on this podcast, since we launched just over 3 years ago. I used to love listening to radio icon, Casey Kasem’s American Top 40[iii] back in the 1980s on my clock radio when I was in high school, where he would leave you in suspense as he counted backwards, to the #1 song, but for this countdown, I will start with our #1 most listened to episode, with something I remember about each one, or the speaker, and a link that we can all use to revisit, and “Sharpen our Saw”[iv] as Dr. Stephen Covey would say, as we can go back and review these most listened to episodes with the 7th Habit. Since I keep an eye on the numbers of this podcast, whether it’s with the audio interviews, or video, I thought it was interesting that the Top 10 list holds 8/10 people who were in our early interviews, or the 1st 100 interviews, with 2 people who came in later, and rose to the top. While I think ALL interviews hold important lessons, let’s begin with our Top 12. Let the Countdown Begin… The #1 most watched interview, is our first interview with Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, EPISODE #77 on “Developing and Delivering High Quality, Distance Learning”[v] that we can all remember came right as parents and teachers were thrown unexpectedly into the world of online learning. Watch this interview by clicking here https://youtu.be/7nLe3P50j4Q and review their tips to help all of us succeed in this every changing world. Don’t miss their return to the podcast for EPISODE #161 with their new book with John Almarode, “How Learning Works”[vi] where they tie learning and the brain What I will never forget with both these interviews is the timing of them. I’m sure no one will ever forget just how disastrous it was bringing our children to at home learning, and by the time we got to revisit everyone, for EPISODE 161, we were right in the middle of the Pandemic, and I remember in the second interview, we ALL had terrible colds. None of us cancelled this interview, that we did at 6am PST but we all said prayers for family members who were struggling with COVID, and we covered the content, using all of our energy to do so. I do receive emails about 2 two specific interviews from Education Departments in different parts of the country who ask if they can use them as models for their students on best practices for interviewing as well as for the content provided, which brings me to think about the fact that regardless of how we are feeling before we have to pr

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for increased results. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace. For today’s EPISODE #232 and Brain Fact Friday, I wanted to stay on the theme of chronic pain and disease as we prepare to speak with Dr. Ashok Gupta[i] next week, a well-known Neuroplasticity "brain retraining" expert who has spent the last 25 years researching the effects of the brain and the mind on chronic pain and illness. I have so many questions for him, and hope you will tune into this next episode where I know he will answer everything, and give us all a solid plan for how to move forward to live healthier, more productive lives with our brain in mind. After posting last week’s Brain Fact Friday, where we looked at chronic pain and the brain, asking “is it all in our head” I received many messages, including one from cognitive neuroscience researcher John Harmon, from EPISODE #170[ii] who added to our post on LinkedIn, saying that “most neuroscientists who study pain say it IS in the brain. And beliefs about bodily pain -- such as "I think this treatment will reduce my pain" -- are (obviously) in the brain also. There is a very real physical connection between pain perception and one's beliefs, emotion, attitudes and the rest of the mind.” He sums this all up saying, “If the mind (including pain and thoughts and beliefs about it) = a set of functional neural networks, it’s easy to see how the mind can either amplify, or dampen, pain -- via the two sets of FNNs (functional neural networks) either amplifying, or working to dampen, one another.” This shows me something I’ve thought about for years—that it does matter what we think about. Which brings me to this week’s Brain Fact Friday. DID YOU KNOW THAT “Negative thoughts cause your brain to immediately release chemicals that affect every cell in your body, making you feel bad; while the opposite is also true—positive, happy, hopeful thoughts release chemicals that make you feel good. Your thought patterns can also have long-term effects. Repetitive negative thinking may promote the buildup of the harmful deposits seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and may increase the risk of dementia, according to a 2020 brain imaging study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.”[iii] (Dr. Amen, Your Brain is Always Listening. In the world famous physician Dr. Daniel Amen’s recent book that he published in the middle of the Global Pandemic, Your Brain is Always Listening, he affirms that it’s not just the thoughts we are thinking about our health and wellness that are damaging for us, but how we think about everything that we do. If Your Brain is Always Listening,[iv] it makes sense to me that it’s fed positive thoughts about our mental AND physical health just like what John Harmon said about “the real connection between pain perception and one’s beliefs, emotion, attitudes and the rest of the mind.” This is one reason why I don’t like sarcasm. I don’t think it’s funny at all to poke fun of yourself or another person for anything. I’m pretty serious about this, as it just hits a chord with me. If I ever hear someone putting themselves down in any way, I’ll mention it and say something like “well that’s not true” hoping it will switch that person’s mind from this practice that I didn’t realize until writing this episode could contribute to the risk of this person developing dementia later in life. It’s important what we think about whether it’s in rel

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for increased results. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace. For today’s episode, I wanted to look back over the past 3 years and cover the most asked question that I receive via email, which stems from EPISODE #120 from last April 2021, on “My Personal Review of the Fisher Wallace Wearable Medical Device for Anxiety, Depression, Sleep and Stress Management”[i] which remains our most listened to episode of all time. We do have all of our past interviews that you can watch on YouTube[ii] and I would like to review our Top 25 in the near future (as chosen by YOU) because this is one very powerful list, with some surprises, and others who have remained at the top of the list every time I look. Until then, I thought I’d answer the most asked question that comes in to me via email since it has to do with this most downloaded episode. It’s no surprise that EPISODE #120 of “My Personal Review of the Fisher Wallace Wearable Medical Device” has had over 5,500+ downloads since we know that there has been “a global increase in depression and anxiety with tens of millions of additional cases reported globally in 2020”[iii] and from the emails I’ve received, it’s clear that people are searching for answers. The question that I’ve answered the most since publishing that episode is: “Do you still use the Fisher Wallace Device that you reviewed last year? If so, why?” If you want to review our interview with Kelly Roman, the CEO of Fisher Wallace[iv] that markets this wearable medical device, that’s cleared by the FDA, for depression, insomnia and anxiety, I’ll link our interview from last February 2021[v] in the show notes and you can learn directly from Kelly Roman on why this device was described by Forbes as “one of four technologies innovating mental health.” But to answer this question: I absolutely, 100% still use the Fisher Wallace wearable device, every day for two 20 minute intervals. ***It’s important to note that this is not a paid endorsement of the product. When I interviewed Kelly Roman, I had not yet tried the device, and during the interview I mentioned that my brain scan with Amen Clinics showed signs of sleep deprivation,[vi] and I didn’t know how exactly I should fix that, other than “get more sleep.” At the end of the interview, Kelly offered to send me a device to try and see what I noticed, and I agreed. While the details of this interview I had to review to remember, I didn’t forget that I I didn’t plan on wearing the device past the trial period. I remember thinking “I’ll see what happens” and just couldn’t imagine that this device would become a part of my daily routine along with my morning meditation. ***Also, another important reminder that I am not a medical doctor, and none of the advice, ideas or strategies I offer on this podcast should be taken as medical advice. Back to the question…Do you still use the Fisher Wallace device, and why? When I went back and reviewed the interview myself, I remember that I had never heard of a wearable device that was designed for anxiety, depression and insomnia. Even though these devices are not new, Kelly Roman shared with me that they actually originated from Russia in the 1960s and were called “electrosleep” devices, yet I still had never heard of a device like this for home use. While I knew my sleep could use improving, I definitely didn’t suffer from insomnia, that neuroscientist Matt Walker dives d

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) aligning our lives to the most current brain research. This week's Brain Fact Friday will explore:✔ How neuroscience is a new field of study--where it began in academics in 1960, and where it is today.✔ How fMRI scans changed the way we can look at and study the brain.✔ Where advancements in neuroscience are going (in education and other sectors).✔ How fMRI scans can help us to learn more about chronic pain and disease. IMAGE CREDIT: PAGE 51 of National Geographic's June 10, 2022 Issue on The Brain: Discover the Way Your Mind Works. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher or student in the classroom, or in working the modern workplace. This season, Season 8 of the podcast, and our third year of creating content, I wanted to take a deeper dive into the importance of brain health since this 3 pound organ of remarkable matter that we all have, our brain, literally controls everything for us. We all have a brain, but it still boggles my mind that we were never taught how to use it. We have now entered this “new era of neuroscience”[i] where we are gaining a deeper understanding of what makes us human, and the latest breakthroughs in science that can propel us all forward in ways we never could without the latest discoveries in science. When we think about how new these concepts are, this topic is truly fascinating, and I can understand why there is so much interest in this podcast, along with others of the same theme. Who wouldn’t want to know the latest secrets of the brain, and how they are relevant to our daily life? This topic is a relatively new field of study, where the first academic departments that focused on studying neuroscience didn’t begin until the 1960s, and then “for the next 40 years, brain science was hyper-focused on establishing the basics like What is a neuron? How do brain cells communicate with each other? What are the brain’s functional areas that map onto behaviors?” (National Geographic, page 5) This solid foundation does help us to learn about different parts of the brain and uncover their functions, but I’m sure that you are like me, and have more questions that there are answers for when it comes to uncovering the mysteries within our brain. When fMRI scans came about in the early 2000s, this changed the way we could look at the activity within the brain, and advancements in our understanding took a fast track, going far beyond just what we could see looking at the brain through a microscope. I’ve mentioned it before on this podcast, that in the early days of studying neuroscience, we went from seeing research that was focused on different parts of the brain (like the amygdala or hypothalamus) to seeing entire networks in the brain as technology advanced. Studies became focused more on the neural pathways, or the interconnected brain, bringing to light that when we take an action, it’s not just one part of the brain we should consider, but the “immense networks of the brain working together, sometimes across blurred borders and multiple functions.” (National Geographic, Page 6, The Interconnected Brain). It’s taken some time (well, it’s taken over 60 years since those early academics began studying neuroscience) but we are now finally seeing positions in the field of education turn up in certain states where leaders like Dr. Lori Desautels[ii], an Assistant Professor at Butler University, just shared that in her state (Indiana) schools that were just a few years ago beginning to add social and emotional learning department heads,

“The one who falls and gets back up is so much stronger than the one who never fell” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/BkGLDGqmfUU On the episode you will learn: ✔ How a personal story from Howard Rankin, can help all of us reach our highest levels of potential. ✔ The power of honesty and truthfulness with relationships. ✔ Why seeing the "spirit" in others is so very important. ✔ The steps we can expect to take if a "Fall" happens so we can recover quickly and gracefully. ✔ The importance of rising above our "primitive brain" when dealing with difficult situations. ✔ What happens to our physical and mental health if we hold "trauma" within. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for EPISODE #229. I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. Today we are welcoming Howard Rankin back for the 4th time to the podcast, to cover his newly released book, Falling to Grace.[i] Before reading Howard’s book this month, I had no idea of his story. I saw his book come out in April, on his birthday and knew we would have him back on the show to discuss it, knowing it would be full of thought-provoking lessons, but I had no idea just how personal, and deep his story would be. If you recall, Howard Rankin first appeared on the podcast this time last year for EPISODE #146[ii] where he taught us “How Not to Think” and that our thinking is full of cognitive biases. While reading this new book, I found myself asking a question, that he would answer later in the book, showing me that it’s easy to jump to a conclusion but that we should all be aware of the “limitations of our thinking.” This book also brought to light that we are all “spiritual beings having a human experience” and the importance of seeing the spirit in everyone, and treating them without judgment as we never know what their internal struggles might be. We learned from Dr. Marie Gervais on EPISODE #214[iii] on her book The Spirit of Work that there’s a shift when can see someone’s spiritual side, and can also connect science to everything that we do. If you have ever looked at someone and noticed their spirit, you will know exactly what I mean. I’ll never forget the first time I looked at someone and saw them shining brightly, seeing their potential that they were unaware of. They were sitting in front of me, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget, and was probably one of the reasons why I do what I do today. We all have tremendous potential within us, and this podcast was designed to help us to become aware of it, then use it. But sometimes things happen in our life that make us question the direction we are going, but there is always a way around life’s obstacles. Howard’s book shows us that we can move beyond anything and connect our internal struggles to the most current brain research, in this quest to move towards redemption and healing. I knew Howard lost his license as a psychologist and that it was important to cover, but I didn’t know how…which didn’t really matter to me. None of us are exempt from the story Howard will share—no one is exempt from Falling, in our personal or professional lives, but if we do, will we know how to Fall to Grace, with the lessons Howard shares for us? Howard’s story of tremendous loss and pain hold lessons we can all benefit from, especially if we want to reach our highest levels of productivity and achievement in this thing we call life. And if there’s something inside holding us back (like Howard will share) or anything else that might be bothering us, internally—that there is a way around it, to what he calls redemption—and it’s available for anyone who wants to do the work to achieve it. “We can be redeemed only to the extent to wh

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher or student in the classroom, or in working the modern workplace. For today’s Brain Fact Friday, I wanted to revisit a topic that we have covered once already on the podcast, Heart Rate Variability or HRV. We covered an introduction to the importance of understanding HRV back in April of 2021 on EPISODE #125[i] on “What is HRV and Why is it Important for Tracking Health, Recovery and Resilience?” I wanted to go back to this episode and the basics of HRV because it’s such an important number to measure and understand “not just for health and recovery on a regular basis, but (for) resilience.” (Neurohacker.com) Recently, I found myself not being able to explain what it is, or knowing exactly how I can manipulate it for improved results, leading me to take a closer look at what it is, or go back to HRV Basics. What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Why is it Considered “the Most Important Biomarker--a measure that captures what’s going on in a cell at any given moment that can serve as an early warning system for your health?”[ii] Unless you have been training with a forward-thinking coach, you’re an elite athlete, or someone who has taken a serious interest in measuring their performance, most of us have not heard of, or really understand what exactly heart rate variability means. From the name, we can tell it has something to do with our heart rate. Maybe you’re like me and you measure your own HRV and have even studied it to see what exactly it is, but when it comes to explaining it to someone else, you just say when asked what it is “that it’s just an important number to know.” When I heard that Dr. Rabin, a board-certified psychiatrist and neuroscientist, would consider HRV to be “the most important biomarker for tracking health” I knew it was time to revisit HRV closely so that I could better understand it myself, and explain it to others with more confidence. I wondered: What is HRV again? Why is it the most important biomarker for tracking health, recovery and resilience? What tools can I use to measure it? Besides clean eating, sleep and rest, how else can I improve this important number? Can I dive deeper and look at my HRV, and see if I can manipulate a higher score by doing things a certain way when I’m experiencing high stress or having an off day? How can I stay motivated when life is difficult to keep pushing forward and have more high HRV days than low? REMINDER: WHAT IS HRV? After reviewing EPISODE 125, where we covered “What is HRV and Why is it Important?” I remembered that this number measures a person’s ability to bounce back from stress. Kristen Holmes and Emily Capodilupo from Whoop are HRV experts and they remind us on their most recent review of HRV that “it’s the timing between the beats of your heart and that the variability comes from the sympathetic side (where we take action) and the parasympathetic side (where we rest or digest).”[iii] BALANCING OUR PARASYMPATHETIC AND SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM: Our goal is to find balance between the two parts of our autonomic nervous system. When there’s balance, we will see a lot of variability, or a HIGH HRV that tells us that our nervous system is balanced and that “you have a lot of resources that are available and ready to use.” (Kristen Holmes/Emily Capodilupo, Whoop’s HRV 101 Podcast). This is why more and more athletes are using wearable devices like Whoop, or there’s

Welcome to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. When we understand how the brain works, we can be better equipped to help our students focus their attention and improve their results. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/jqRo1e30PkM I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and educator with a passion for learning specifically on the topics of health, wellbeing and productivity, and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is to our everyday life and results--whether we are a teacher in the classroom, or in the modern workplace. We have moved onto Season 8 of the podcast with a focus on our brain as it relates to learning, and today we have a case study, of someone who has been using the concepts she learned from self-study to create a brain-based program in her schools and community in India where they have already trained over 300 educators with her curriculum at the Institute of Cognitive Learning Sciences.[i] On the episode you will learn: ✔ How an ambitious, forward-thinking educator, has created brain-based K-12 curriculum in India. ✔ How Manjula learned the most current neuroscience research before seeking out a certification with Dr. Kieran O’Mahony. ✔ The differences Manjula saw with the US Educational System and India. ✔ How she plans to impact change in the classroom, one teacher at a time. Manjula sent me a message via my website, all the way from India, letting me know that she had listened to EPISODE #220[ii] with Dr. Kieran O’Mahony and Rich Carr on “Brain Centric Design” and she let me know she was a student of Dr. Kieron’s programs, and wanted to share what she was doing in India. I could tell that she was very excited about the work they were doing and so I wrote back quickly, and we set up a Zoom call to talk. I will let Manjula explain what she is doing with schools in India, the need she saw to change the way typical classrooms were operating by inspiring teachers, not forcing them to do something they didn’t want to do. She shared with me how she began to study neuroscience using as much free content as she could find online, (including our podcast) before she became certified, and began creating change one school at a time in India. When you meet Manjula, I’m hoping that she will inspire you to keep searching for those students who need a bit of a push to reach their full potential. She was told as a young girl that she was below-average in school, and felt disconnected with her grades, but as she grew older, she wanted to prove to herself (and others) that she did indeed have unlimited potential and the will to make significant change in her community. You can’t miss the fire in her spirit. Let’s meet Manjula from India, and see how she is using brain-based learning to inspire students in the classroom. Welcome Manjula, it’s wonderful to see you again. I’ve got to say, it was powerful meeting you yesterday on Zoom, and hearing about the work you are doing in India. INTRO Q: To open up, can you share your story and background. What is life like growing up, and going to school in India? Q1: How did you become interested in studying and learning about the brain? What resources did you learn from in the very beginning? Who have you been learning from? Q2: What training did you take after you began to see how brain-based education could help students and teachers in India? Q3: Who inspired you to reach for your highest potential in life? Q4: When did you see that change towards brain-based learning was needed? Q5: What did you notice about the differences between what family/school/student life is like in India vs the United States where you were learning your training? (values). Q6: Do teenagers in India do the

“As long as we dare to dream and don’t get in the way of ourselves, anything is possible—there’s truly no end to where our dreams can take us.” Hilary Swank On the episode you will learn: The Neuroscience behind ✔ Why our dreams are so weird, highly emotional and often forgotten. ✔ With a BRAIN STRATEGY you can use to improve your waking life, with your brain and sleep in mind. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #226 and Brain Fact Friday, we are going to dive deeper into the research of Dr. Baland Jalal, who has studied the phenomenon of sleep paralysis and dreams for the past decade, and see what we can learn from our brain, while dreaming. To do this, we are going to review what’s happening to the brain during sleep paralysis, and during our REM/dream state to see what we can learn from this understanding. I hope this will open up our level of awareness and help us to understand how our dream world can impact our everyday, waking world. What is Sleep Paralysis? Dr. Jalal and I discussed this terrifying experience in depth on our recent interview, episode #224[i] and most of us can relate to this experience, but wonder what it is, and why it happens, in addition to many other questions I had about dreams themselves. You can see Dr. Jalal’s lectures on this topic, where he explains what happens to our brain when we sleep and that we even see things we might say were ghosts. Now that I have heard Dr. Jalal’s explanation of what happens to our brains when we are dreaming, I definitely think of my brain now, when analyzing my dreams, with this new awareness. Which brings us to this week’s Brain Fact Friday where I want to explore sleep paralysis, why dreams are so weird, and why are they highly emotional, and do this, with our brain in mind. SLEEP PARALYSIS DID YOU KNOW that during REM sleep (when we dream) there’s a part of the brain in the brain stem that paralyzes the body to keep us (and our sleeping partner) safe[ii] and another part of our brain (the cortex) that’s responsible for our perceptual awareness. Occasionally, we can wake up when we are still in REM sleep, and are perceptually aware, but unable to move as we are paralyzed. This is sleep paralysis, and can feel terrifying, if you have no idea what’s going on. I learned from Dr. Jalal that in this state we can also see what we think is a ghost, or which he explains is “an illusion that your brain creates” in the Temporal Parietal Junction (that’s close to our Occipital or Visual Lobe) that can project a sense of our self, outside of our body. Have you ever felt or seen something like this and thought it was a ghost? Seeing something like this, paired up with feeling paralyzed can be a terrifying experience as I told him in the interview, and he agreed, with his own sleep paralysis experience. Then, our brain doesn’t like the feeling of incompleteness and it will make up a story of what you are seeing. Dr. Jalal explains that in all of the years he has done this work, he has found that our cultural background can influence what we think we are seeing. It took me some time to make the connection, but the ghost I saw, was not far off from an 18th Century Englishman, or even someone wearing the outfits of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I did grow up with a photo of the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in my house, and this made me think it could have been the reason why my ghost was of British decent when I was actually in a house in Vancouver, Canada. My brain created this image from a past, cultural memory. WHY ARE DREAMS SO WEIRD? DID YOU KNOW that there’s a part of our brain called the Dorsolateral PFC[iii] (a reg

"Every child deserves a champion: an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be." Rita Pierson, Educator. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/feNGn-cpPP8 For returning guests, welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast for EPISODE #225 with a case study from someone I’ve mentioned before on the podcast, Elizabeth Mercado, from Ossining Union Free SD, New York, who you will see is a strong force with a goal to support ALL students, with the most comprehensive SEL plans that I’ve ever seen. I’ll be sure to link her plans and resources in the show notes for you to access and use it you would like, since her goal is to help all of us to move our students forward, with as much support as possible. This interview takes a look at SEL with an equity lens, with clear examples of how to begin, what to do, and what SEL looks like in her District. I do love hearing how people around the globe are implementing the ideas we share with you on this podcast (it really does help with new ideas and motivation) and Ellie Mercado, an Assistant Principal in Ossining, NY, let me know that she was inspired by what she was learning to support her students and staff. Little did I know just how much she would inspire me, with her story and thorough SEL plans that I think everyone in education could benefit from. You will see in this interview that I made more connections with her story, that I think is important to share with everyone here, because just one new piece of information or motivation, can have a huge ripple effect on the world. A bit about Elizabeth Mercado: She’s an ENL immigrant student who came at twelve years old from the Dominican Republic without speaking English, to a poor neighborhood in the South Bronx, living in a 1500 sq feet apartment with 8 children ages 12 and younger and 4 adults, and experienced first-hand what it is to have challenges growing up and in school. This experience gave her an in depth understanding of the impact of how our cultural, racial/ethnic, linguistic, and economic backgrounds can impact our learning. This is why she’s passionate about being an educator and wants to create the best learning environment for her staff and students in the Ossining Community where many of them come from a similar background. She believes that ALL students can be successful. She is a middle school and early childhood assistant principal for the last seven years and one year as an elementary early childhood assistant principal whose goal is to provide her students with a safe, trusting and nurturing learning environment where they feel included, respected, supported; recognizing that every student and staff member has unique strengths. She believes it is important to be intentional about all that they do since it makes a difference: the images on the walls; pictures in the books, holidays recognized; accepting and celebrating all; promoting student agency, voice and choice is all critical so students feel that they belong. I hope that Elizabeth’s story inspires you, whether you are working in a school, or in some other capacity, to think of where to begin when looking at SEL through an equity lens. Let’s meet Elizabeth Mercado. Welcome Ellie, It’s incredible to meet you finally after all the support you have sent our way with the podcast. I’m so grateful that you reached out to us and shared your SEL implementation with us. I’ve never seen anything as thorough, with a clear way to begin and knew immediately that we needed to share your work on the podcast. Thank you for being here when I know time is always hard to come by. Intro Q: I’ve got to start and leverage off the emotions I felt watching your presentation with how you are implementing SEL with an equity lens at Ossining SD in New York[i], because your story shows exactly why SEL skills are important in our scho

“Dreams are one of the great mysteries of science. In their bizarre complexity, they can reveal deeper truths about who you are at the most basic level.” Researcher at Harvard University and the World’s leading expert on sleep paralysis, Dr. Baland Jalal Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/nE15JIqy5rU On the episode you will learn: ✔ Who is Dr. Baland Jalal, and how did he find his way to study neuroscience and sleep, becoming the world’s leading expert on sleep paralysis? ✔ How is Dr. Baland connected to Francis Crick, who discovered the double helix of the DNA structure and Dr. V.S. Ramachandran? ✔ What is sleep paralysis and what happens to the brain while this is occurring? ✔Why is the time just before we go to sleep and the time just before we wake up important for increasing our creativity or gaining insight? ✔ Are premonitions real, and can we access important information from our dreams? ✔Can we actually travel to places we have never been? ✔ What is lucid dreaming and how can we gain insight from what we see in these dreams? ✔Can lucid dreaming be beneficial for our waking hours? ✔What advancements in neuroscience do you think could help us in the future with our dreams? For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #224 (that was postponed from April due to our guest’s busy travel and work schedule) we are going to go beyond where we’ve ever gone before on this podcast, and cover some topics that you might have questions about, like I did, and I’ve found Dr. Baland Jalal[i], from Harvard, the world’s leading expert on sleep paralysis, who has published 48 peer reviewed academic papers as well as a book from Cambridge University Press, to answer our questions. We’ve covered dreams before, on EPISODE #104[ii], with Sleep Scientist Antonio Zadra and his book When Your Brain Dreams: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep but I left out some parts of the dream world that I thought might be too weird for this podcast, until I heard Dr. Jalal connecting the brain to our dreams, and this changed everything for me. I mentioned on EPISODE #211, that when I first was introduced to Dr. Jalal, his team sent me an email with his Harvard Bio and a write-up about his work on dreams but little did I know that his work would open my mind to places it’s never been before, as I began to explore sleep paralysis (something I’ve experienced—just once which was enough for me, I just had no idea there was a name for it), lucid dreams (that I flat out thought I was crazy for having), and learning how my brain operates while dreaming, which revealed more truths about who I am at the core than I knew before coming across Dr. Jalal’s work. I’ve gone on to study English scientist and professor of neuroscience, Mathew Walker and often tune into his podcast that’s all about sleep, the brain and the body[iii] to see how we can all learn more about ways to improve our sleep, which we all know to be one of our top 5 health staples. I did create this podcast to bring credibility to some of the concepts that used to be considered weird, but now, science and FMRI scans show why these practices that 20 years ago were not mainstream, are now commonly used in our schools and work environments. Before watching Dr. Jalal’s lectures, I don’t think I would openly talk about the experiences I’ve had with the dream world, but I thought if I’ve experienced these things, what if our listeners have also, wherever you are listening to this podcast in the world, and perhaps hearing from Dr. Jalal WHAT these bizarre things called dreams actually are, WHY we have them, and see if they can expand our self-awaren

Did you know that according to English scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology, Mathew Walker, the author of Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams that current research shows “that there appears to be a causal affect between sleep and our risk for Alzheimer’s Disease?” For this week’s Brain Fact Friday and Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #223 we are going to take some of the most noticeable lessons learned from our recent podcast with Dr. John Denboer, on “This is Dementia: Disrupting the Decline”[i] and see what we can learn from Mathew Walker’s most current research. This way, we can take a proactive approach to our sleep, optimizing our potential for learning, memory and retention, and see what we can learn about this devastating disease that affects “6.5M Americans, and is expected to double by 2050.” This topic goes hand in hand with our theme of Season 8 of our podcast: where our focus is on Brain Health and Learning with a look at How an Understanding of Our Brain Can Improve Learning in Ourselves (adults, teachers, workers) as well as our future generations of learners. On this episode we will cover: ✔︎What is the difference between Alzheimer's and Dementia ✔︎What the most current research says about the connection between Alzheimer's Disease and sleep. ✔︎11 risk factors that we can learn more about to mitigate Alzheimer's Disease. ✔︎A look at the 2 proteins that damage and change the brain. ✔︎What we can do right now to mitigate Alzheimer's Disease by understanding sleep and our brain. What is Alzheimer’s and What is Dementia? On our interview with Dr. Denboer, who has spent most of his career working with patients on disrupting dementia, we began our interview defining each of these terms, since many of us aren’t sure exactly what they are, and if we don’t know what they are, how can we be sure we are being proactive with preventing them? Dementia: is a general term for “decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life”[ii] and there’s not just one form of dementia. There’s Alzheimer’s, Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Mixed Dementia. Alzheimer’s is “a degenerative brain disease that leads to dementia symptoms and gradually worsens over time.”[iii] We opened up our interview with Dr. Denboer with a quote from Dr. Babak Nayeri, a clinical associate professor from the University of Arizona who said “Dementia is not an aging disease; however, it is the most common disease of the aging population.” (from the Netflix documentary, This is Dementia). “Though the greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s is increasing age, the disease is not a normal part of aging.”[iv] 11 Risk Facts of Alzheimer’s Disease One of America’s leading psychiatrists and brain health experts, Dr. Daniel Amen, who we’ve spoken often about on this podcast, believes that Alzheimer’s (that damages the hippocampus or memory center of our brain) and is responsible for “the disease-memory impairment”[v] is “a lifestyle disease similar to heart disease and type 2 diabetes and that our everyday habits contribute to our everyday risk.”[vi] Dr. Amen lists 11 risk factors that increase our probability for Alzheimer’s (with the acronym Bright Minds) and sleep is the S in this acronym. You can read the rest of the risk factors here[vii] but to review them quickly, they are: B: For blood flow problems R: For retirement and aging I: For inflammation G: For genetics H: For head trauma T: For toxins M: For mental health problems I: For immune system problems N: For neurohormone problems D: For diabesity (that seriously impacts brain health and memory) S: For sleep that we will dive deeper into today. Which leads us to this week’s Brain Fact Friday, that we opened up this episode with. Did you know that according to English scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology, Mathew Walker, that current research shows “that there

In order to learn something new, looking at something from a different perspective can shed some light. Today we are going to “See the world through a different lens” specifically with a new look at “Transformative SEL.”[i] Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/dY28tux0tq8 On this episode you will learn: ✔ How Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith of EmpowerED created a Framework for SEL when they noticed something was missing with Transformative SEL. ✔ How they envision empowering educators, youth and communities by strengthening the neural pathways to peace and resilience through mindfulness and social and emotional learning. ✔How you can work with Jason and Erec with their mission. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #222 we are going to look at SEL through a different lens with the work of Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith from EmpowerED Humanity[ii] whose work established in 2017 to provide educators, students, and communities a framework for life, leadership, and learning, focuses on fortifying the individual and increasing societal cooperation with a value-centered identity, human dignity, disrupting mindsets of fear/judgment with inquiry and compassion. Their Work Has 3 Pathways of Practice That: Build awareness and equanimity (mental calmness) Kindness and compassion towards self and others and Celebrate common humanity, breaking the walls of indignity (or that treatment that causes one to feel shameful). I spoke with Jason prior to our interview, as I know that the podcast guests I have chosen over the past 3 years have been addressing SEL as it relates to our brain and learning, but there was something missing that became apparent to me as we have not yet discussed diversity, equity and inclusion that are all important components of social and emotional learning. THEIR MISSION[iii] Empowering educators, youth and communities by strengthening the neural pathways to peace and resilience through mindfulness and social and emotional learning. Their framework, Empowered Humanity Theory focuses on fortifying the individual and increasing societal cooperation by centering a value-centered identity, human dignity, disrupting mindsets of fear/judgment with inquiry and compassion, and intentionally engaging in 3 Pathways of Practice: Practices that build awareness and equanimity Practices that build kindness and compassion towards self and others Practices that celebrate common humanity, and break the walls of indignity That also includes 3 Attitudes: 1) Establishing a value-centered identity 2) Cultivating mindsets of inquiry/compassion over fear & judgment 3) Navigating self and others with a dignity lens. They believe this framework fills a gap that we need at this moment to inspire us to empower humanity and affect the wellbeing of future generations in profound ways. It’s up to us to make the shift. Let’s meet Jason Littlefield and Erec Smith, and dive into their Framework to view SEL through the lens of human dignity and our shared humanity, to see where we could expand our awareness and close any existing gaps. INTRO: Welcome Jason and Erec, thank you for coming on the podcast today. Jason, when I saw your email and noticed how long you worked as an SEL Specialist, I thought that there must be something that you noticed was missing with the way that SEL was being implemented into our schools, and like we said in our email correspondence, your vision to empower humanity and affect the wellbeing of future generations in profound ways is important and timely. Before we begin with our questions to dive into this topic, I’ve got to say first that I was a bit nervous t

“Dementia is not an aging disease; however, it is the most common disease among the aging population.” Dr. Babak Nayeri, Clinical Associate Professor from the University of Arizona, from the Netflix Documentary, This is Dementia. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/-U-slBBIEIA On this episode you will learn: ✔ Who is Dr. John Denboer, what he built, and lost in his passion to help mitigate dementia. ✔ What Dr. Denboer learned raising funds for a high growth startup. ✔ What is the difference between Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia? ✔ What can we all do now to mitigate this debilitating disease. ✔ How a tattoo with personal and professional meaning motivates Dr. Denboer to keep moving forward with his work. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for EPISODE #221. For those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and workplaces. This month, we are breaking into a new season on the podcast, Season 8, where our focus will be on Brain Health and Learning with a look at How an Understanding of Our Brain Can Improve Learning in Ourselves (adults, teachers, workers) as well as our future generations of learners. If you’ve been following our podcast over the seasons, you will know that our content took the turn towards health and wellness around September 2020 with a BONUS EPISODE where we covered the Top 5 Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Strategies[i] after watching Dr. David Perlmutter’s Alzheimer’s The Science of Prevention Documentary.[ii] We took a closer look at Daily Exercise, Sleep, Eating a Healthy Diet, Optimizing our Microbiome, and Intermittent Fasting) as strategies we can all use to improve our brain health with the goal of preventing one of the most devastating degenerative diseases that affects “more than 5 million Americans (that is closer to 6 million now after reading our next guest’s book) and is the most common form of dementia, a term that describes a variety of diseases and conditions that develop when nerve cells in the brain die or no longer function normally.”[iii] This number has reached “over 80 million cases globally and is expected to double to be 150 million cases by 2050.”[iv] (Denboer). On today’s episode #221, we will be speaking with Dr. John Denboer, a former clinical neuropsychologist who specializes in early stage preventative medicine - including cognitive, physical exercise and nutrition – with a goal of slowing down the natural decline in patients with dementia. At peak, his practice served in the range of 10,000 patients in the US supported by over 100 employees. I listened to a recent podcast Dr. Denboer did with Graham Brown on the XL Podcast[v] and learned that while Dr. Denboer has a passion for disrupting Dementia (the umbrella for degenerative diseases likes Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s) that there have been many ups and downs in his start up journey as a pioneer in this field of health and wellness, disrupting Dementia. In today’s interview, I’ll ask him about the lessons he’s learned along the way, the importance of family, and to explain his mission to make a difference for dementia sufferers and their loved ones before the global numbers go from 55 million people living with Dementia to doubling these numbers in the next 20 years. ***Just to note that John Denboer is not a current licensed psychologist / neuropsychologist / doctor and cannot provide medical advice. While researching Dr. Denboer I did see some things online that made me wonder why he is not a current licensed psychologist, and if you know me, getting to the truth of something is important. Instead of sweeping what I saw under the rug, I will ask him directly to explain what happened, so we can cover his jou

"Your brain has a capacity for learning that is virtually limitless, which makes every human a potential genius." Michael J. Gelb Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/xP3lTXlwcPQ On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How did Rich Carr (radio and communications) go from working with Paul Allen (Microsoft Co-founder) to working with Dr. Kieran O'Mahony in the field of neuroscience? ✔︎ What's Missing with the Behaviorist Method (rewards/punishment) that's used in our schools and workplaces? ✔︎ What is the Brain-centric Design and how can it be used to accelerate results in ANY industry? ✔︎ What should we all know about our brains to demystify them? ✔︎ What should we all know about learning and the brain? ✔︎ What do YOU have in common with Jeff Bezos? ✔︎ How can YOU get involved with Dr. Kieran O'Mahony and Rich Carr with Brain-centric Design? Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, EPISODE #220! For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. My goal with this podcast to make the research applicable for all of us to use-whether we have a background in science, or not. On today’s episode #220, we have Rich Carr and Dr. Kieran O’Mahony whose pedagogic model, Brain-centric Design[i], is enjoying rapid acceptance in schools and businesses with high praise from different sectors including Nike executives who say that upon implementing these ideas, “their learners (athletes) not only understood their positions better, but also reached their goals faster” (Brain-centric Design, Praise, Michele Jordan, Fortune 100 Learning Director) from the Department of Defense, noted that “this process invites us to lean in and become interactive with our learning, enabling us to grasp topics quickly and most importantly with vastly greater retention.” (Ken Robinson, Department of Defense) The feedback from those in the classroom who have begun implementing these ideas follow suit, saying “Brain-Centric Design took the guesswork out of the classroom and highlighted the scientific reasons behind the success” (Ellen Thompson, Fortune 100 Learning and Quality Specialist) who highlighted how great it felt to “identify the positive traits of cognitive flexibility, social—emotional engagement and adaptive expertise” that she already possessed. Rich and Kieran’s model explains that while behaviorist pedagogy might sound like the best way for students to learn in the classroom, or for employees to be motivated in the workplace, that there’s a more effective way to learn with the brain in mind, and this is exactly why we cover the most current neuroscience research on this podcast. Who knew that learning the most current research in neuroscience would be so important to the world? I certainly didn’t when launching this idea just under 3 years ago this month, but it’s clear with the number of downloads we receive all over the world (in 168 countries now) that this is an important and timely topic for us all to pay attention to. As we are now moving into Season 8 of the podcast, with a focus on Brain Health and Well-Being as it relates to learning, Richard Carr and Kieran O’Mahony’s Brain-centric Design fits right in as they focus on the training and certification of Communicators, Coaches, and Educators to form a deep understanding in the pedagogy of their program: Brain-centric Design: The Surprising Neuroscience Behind Learning with Deep Understanding[ii]. Because their framework is aligned with how the brain processes information, and how people’s brain loves to learn, (especially something new) its inherent design places any learning space in a psychologically safe framework. They will

Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/naWMRm8tqck On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Hilary Decesare, who made her first million at 32, got involved with giving back and ended up on the TV Show, Secret Millionaire. ✔︎ How the story of Hilary's Mom, connected with Andrea and an untold story with her and Bob Proctor. ✔︎ What Hilary learned from leaving her home, and going into a poverty struck area in Long Beach, CA. ✔︎ What is the 3HQ™ Method to help people move from their head, to their heart, to higher self. ✔︎ How anyone can reLaunch their personal or professional life. ✔︎ How John Assaraf helped Andrea and Hilary to ReLaunch their life and business. ✔︎ How to begin, and join Hilary's book launch on June 9th. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #219, we will be speaking with an award-winning business expert, international best-selling author, host of “The reLAUNCH Podcast”[i] and “The reLAUNCH" on Voice America's Talk Show Network, Hilary DeCesare who I feel a connection to, even before we’ve met. This interview will be interesting for me to see how this connection unfolds during the interview, and if it becomes apparent. She’s a sought-after speaker, founder of The Relaunch Co., and previously one of Oracle’s top account managers worldwide, who brings fresh energy to industry leaders, CEOs, and solopreneurs. She holds a psychology degree and a range of certifications in her field, and has been featured on ABC’s hit TV series Secret Millionaire. Her insights have been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and mentioned in the Huffington Post, Yahoo, Market Watch, and others. As an innovator in neuropsychology as it relates to business and life, Hilary DeCesare has cultivated her experience to illuminate a heart-driven path to conquer today’s shifting landscape, re-imagining personal and professional success. When I received an email introduction to Hilary’s work, I noticed that she was on the TV Show, Secret Millionaire, that I’ve seen and find inspiring. I love seeing people give back after they have found their way in this world, and Hilary Decesare definitely has a purpose to help others find their way which is what her new book, and podcast are all about. I had no idea just how much Hilary’s work would connect with mine, with many parallels that I hope will become apparent in the interview. This is one of those interviews that I know how has the ability to completely transform someone listening. When ignoring her intuition resulted in fearing for her life at the edge of Niagara Falls, this award-winning Silicon Valley CEO and entrepreneur Hilary DeCesare was shocked into realizing she needed a deep reassessment of who she was and why. The answers surfaced where she least expected—her late mother. In RELAUNCH! Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life, Hilary immerses the reader in a world of neuroscience, to uncover a powerful secret that we all harbor: The 3HQuotient. This is the power to leverage the three H's—the Heart, the Head and the Higher Self. Stay tuned and learn some of the top lessons and personal stories from Hilary as well as from other experts like John Gray, John Assaraf and Jim Fortin. Let’s meet Hilary Decesare, and see what she can share to help all of us to see the silver lining of what’s happening in the world today, and for anyone out there, thinking of a reLaunch (maybe a new career path, or considering a new direction) this is her specialty. Welcome Hilary Decesare, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. Hilary, like you’ve said on your podcast, reLAUNCH, you mentioned how lucky you feel to get to speak to such incredible people like your last guest

This has been a tough week in the United States and while being interviewed on Tom Schimmer’s[i] educational podcast on Monday that focuses on learning, leadership, and life, he asked me what keeps me up at night related to education, and my answer to him was “school shootings” since they don’t seem to be going away. This was a day before the next mass school shooting would hit the news around the world. This has been a really tough week for everyone, in addition to the stress the world is already facing, and I’m sure those listening to this episode outside of the US can feel the turmoil, and have many questions. While I certainly don’t have all the answers, I do have some thoughts that I think can provide some insight and hope for those who tune in. After this incident, while working on releasing our next episode, nothing felt right to me as I was writing, and so I figured the best solution was to take a break from our usual episodes, and think of ways that we could use this platform to amplify the voices left behind (like Chey and Pav have done do well)[ii] and highlight those who have been working in the trenches, to provide solutions for those impacted by the events like we saw repeated this week. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and workplace environments. For today’s episode, #218, and this week’s Brain Fact Friday, we are going to look at how neuroscience can help us to understand what’s happening in our world today, with some strategies that we can all use to move us from a world of chaos, towards hope. Now this episode feels right to me. Before we take a look at these brain-based solutions, getting a bigger picture overview of the events that occurred this week is important. The k12 school shooting database lists some charts and graphs that provide visuals of this issue documenting “each and every instance a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property (in the US) for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, day of the week.” There’s a map that you can click on to see the incidents that have occurred by state[iii], and it’s eye-opening. Click on the link in the show notes and see for yourself. There wasn’t ONE state in the US that was exempt. You can see some that have less incidents, but country wide, you can see no one remains unaffected. There’s also another graph that shows some of the most recent and well-known incidents next to ones we might not all know by name, all the well-known incidents highlighted in red. We can see Columbine in 1999 with 13 people killed, Sandy Hook in 2012 with 26, Sante Fe 2018 (10), Parkland, Florida, 2022 (17) and now Uvalde, Texas with 21 killed this week. I share these numbers and visuals as a way to show that what Mathew Portell said is right on the mark. Moments of silence aren’t solutions. It’s time to speak up. But what exactly do we say? How can we “Seek to Understand?” when things are so horrible and abnormal? Dr. Covey’s timeless principles can help us all here. We must first Seek to Understand[iv], using Dr. Stephen Covey’s Habit #5. How do we understand such difficult tragedies in our world? The Brain of a School Shooter: This takes me back to the work of American Psychologist, Dr. Daniel Amen[v], whose work looking at the brain through SPECT Image Scans[vi] (that looks at blood flow and activity in the brain—where he looks to make improvements and further balance the flow to improve brain function) his work and scans weren’t widely accepted when he began years ago, but he now helps people who come to his offices across the country (from well-known sports athletes, to celebrities, to regular people) to look at their brain to get to

Did you know that “the shorter we sleep, the shorter our life will be?[i]” Professor Matthew Walker, The New Science of Sleep and Dreams On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ A review of the importance of sleep on our physical and mental health. ✔︎ How lack of sleep attacks the memory centers of our brain. ✔︎ 2 science-based strategies to improve memory and never forget anything ever again. ✔︎ Tips for how to use these strategies in your life for improved results. Have you ever said, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” or pushed through your work possibly doing an all-nighter, thinking that you’ll catch up over the weekend? The most current research shows that this is a really bad idea, as Matthew Walker, the author of the book, Why We Sleep, tells us that “lack of sleep attacks the hippocampus (where memory and learning take place) and increases the risk for various forms of cancer.”[ii] We have covered the importance of sleep on this podcast in many different places, including a BONUS episode in December 2020 where we talked about sleep as one of The Top 5 Health Staples[iii] we should all pay attention to, but Professor Matthew Walker reminds us that “as we are getting older, our learning and memory abilities fade and decline...and that a physiological signature of aging is that our sleep gets worse” which contributes to cognitive or memory decline. I don’t know about you, but as I’m going through the next 50+ years of my life, I’d like to have a sharp memory, in addition to a healthy body that can help me to do the things I want to do with work and family and when I find something that’s NEW and INTERESTING, I will share it with you, wherever you might be listening to this podcast, so it can help you in your personal and professional life. My hope is that today’s Brain Fact Friday makes us all think about how we can improve our sleep, memory and overall health as I share the most current research, and how I’m applying it for improved results and productivity. We are now nearing the end of Season 7 of the podcast on “Brain Health and Well-Being” and will begin Season 8 in June, on “Brain Health and Learning.” Having a theme for each season helps me to stay focused on the guests we bring on, as well as the questions I ask them. If there is a topic of interest to you, please send me a message[iv] and let me know. Today we are going to take a deeper look at the importance of sleep on our learning, memory and overall health, as we prepare to speak with the world’s leading expert on sleep paralysis, Dr. Baland Jalal, from Harvard University, who will help us to connect the brain to some of our weirdest sleep experiences, with the hopes that this connection can help us to all learn something new, and perhaps use some new strategies to make sleep a priority that will in turn improve our memory and learning in our waking hours. While researching for our next interview with Dr. Baland Jalal[v], I’ve been looking at what some of the leading experts have discovered about our dreams and sleep. I did explore what I was learning on EPISODE #211 on “The Neuroscience of Dreams: Expanding Our Self-Awareness”[vi] to open up the door for this interview and always want to remind everyone of EPISODE #104 with Antonio Zadra on “When Brains Dream”[vii] but today I want to highlight how our sleep is important for learning and memory consolidation, hoping the Dr. Jalal will deepen our understanding of our dream world, take some of the mystery out of what happens to our brain during sleep, and bring some strategies to the forefront that we can use to improve our productivity in the 16 hours of our waking day. So Why is Sleep So Important and Critical to Look at For Our Health, Well-Being and Productivity? Professor and Neuroscientist Matthew Walker, from the University of California, reveals a recent study with adults who got 6 hours of sleep vs 8 hours, and they noticed that in the “6 hours of sleep group, that certain genes were turned off (the

“The best way to predict YOUR future is to CREATE it.” Abraham Lincoln And what better way to create our own life than to have our very own built in compass. BOOK RELEASE DATE: Memorial Day. Stay tuned. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/tPFhP5mg-l4 On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Assistant Principal Dan Wolfe came up with a "moral compass" using the 5 SEL Competencies to help students and teachers navigate through difficult times. ✔︎ How to use the 5 SEL Competencies to stay on track. ✔︎ How to use Dan's Self-Assessment to see where our strengths and areas of improvement are. ✔︎ How to use a "Compass Check" to monitor our progress along the way. ✔︎ Insights and AHA Moments with using the 5 SEL Competencies as your "guide." For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and workplace environments. Today, on EPISODE #216, we will be speaking with Dan Wolfe, an Assistant Principal from Pasco County, Florida, on his new book Becoming the Change[i]: Five Essential Elements That Guide Us Towards Becoming Our Best Selves-- that is coming out before Memorial Day Weekend. Dan reached out to me via Twitter to let me know he was about to release a new book that was inspired by a blog he started on Social and Emotional Learning called “Our Moral Compass” that led to him starting the Become the Change Podcast[ii] where Dan focuses on the five areas of social and emotional learning that we have been focused on with this podcast. I’m always looking for unique ways to share these important SEL skills, and I loved what Dan has created with his book that compares SEL skills to a moral compass that can used to keep us on track with our life. Before the title of the book changed, it was going to called Our Moral Compass, and evolved to Becoming the Change. What caught my attention with Dan, BEFORE I had even read this book, was the original title. I wondered how he was going to use the SEL competencies to help us navigate through difficult times in our life. We all need a moral compass, and without this, we can veer off track very quickly. How do you navigate through life when times are difficult? Do you have your own built in compass that keeps you on track? I look forward to speaking with Dan, learning how he is using the analogy of a moral compass to help his students learn, navigate their way through the complexities of life, by understanding and apply SEL in our schools today. Let’s meet Dan Wolfe! Welcome Dan Wolfe, thank you for reaching out to me and sharing your new book, Becoming the Change. INTRO Q: Dan, what caught my attention with what you have created is not just the fact I can see that you have been immersed in teaching SEL for many years, which is clear from your blog and podcast, that I know is a lot of work on top of being an Assistant Principal and all that goes along with this full-time position. When I first saw your compass analogy, with the SEL competencies that we have been covering on this podcast since we launched, (we did add mindset to ours) but you’ve got the 5 Casel[iii] Competencies covered, it made me think of this powerful leadership activity I did many years ago involving a compass. I was dropped off in the middle of the woods with a cooler of food, (that I remember being very heavy) and a tent, (that was awkward to carry) and we had to navigate to our camp site using a compass. There had to have been at least 5 of us. This was years before I think Casel even came up with their 5 competencies, (or at least they weren’t online) but they were all apparent on this trek from where we were dropped off in the woods, to where we needed to go (our campsite) where we met up with all of the other groups

For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, originally from Toronto, now in Arizona, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/2GysauKi3Mc On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ The importance of Dr. Stephen Covey's 8th Habit-Finding Your Voice and Helping Others to Find Theirs. ✔︎ A look behind the scenes of The Chey and Pav Show-Where They Began and Where They are Now. ✔︎ What they have each noticed with their personal and professional growth hosting their podcast. ✔︎ Their vision for their NEW book "The Magnificent Microphone" ✔︎ What they learned from working with an artist with this book. ✔︎ How they intend this book to be used to connect with students whose voice is often left behind. ✔︎ How they use Easter Eggs (personal insights) to connect to their long-time supporters. With today’s episode, my goal is to show the importance of identifying, sharing and amplifying the voices that aren’t typically amplified. Dr. Stephen Covey reminds us that when he created the 8th habit, it was “not about adding one more habit to the 7, one that somehow got forgotten. It’s about seeing and harnessing the power of a third dimension to the 7 Habits (taking The 7 Habits beyond where they were before) that meets the central challenge of the new Knowledge Worker Age (requiring continual growth). The 8th Habit is to Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs.” After seeing this quote I had to ask Greg Link, who worked and partnered with the late Dr. Covey if I understood the real meaning behind this quote as I sensed it was deeper than I was grasping, and he said “He is likening finding your voice (the 8th Habit) as a next dimension fruit or outcome of mastering the 7 Habits. It’s an outcome or next level, opposed to another habit” which left a profound impact on me with this episode that features 2 well-known podcast hosts from my hometown, who are on a mission to help others to amplify their voice, with their podcast and NEW book series. This means that their mission will inevitably create many NEW opportunities (or fruits as Dr. Covey put it) that will impact many people, around the world, for many years to come. Today’s episode #215 is important to me (well, all the episodes are important) but this one touches the heart, mind and soul on a deep level, (as Dr. Marie Gervais reminded us to pay attention to in our last interview #214[i] on The Spirit of Work, to bring our whole selves to whatever it is we are doing) – and today’s episode does just that. Today we will be speaking with Chey Cheney and Pav Wander, from The Chey and Pav Show,[ii] a weekly podcast that centers around teaching insights, reflections and growth of Chey and Pav, two middle school teachers from Toronto, Ontario. They regularly comment on being JUST two teachers in a highly diverse community, who look to share best practices, favorite resources, mis-steps and setbacks from their teaching experiences. I’ve told them often they are far from “just” teachers, but are exemplary, legendary leaders, who are paving the way forward for many who have previously not been seen, or heard and were at risk of being left behind. They did outline the highlights of becoming published authors (and all that they learned from this experience) on their most recent podcast episode #110[iii] that I encourage everyone to tune into. Today’s episode we will look at their new picture book, The Magnificent Microphone[iv] that depicts a story of Chey and Pav, who in the picture book, are two keen and energetic elementary school students who often feel unseen and unheard at home and school. They always have vibrant ideas to share, but for some reason, they are alw

“Healthy workplaces are characterized by strong communication, mutual respect, and attention to work relationships” and “there’s no denying that work and workplaces are experiencing a crisis.” (Dr. Marie Gervais, whose newly released book, The Spirit of Work) is “a path to the enhancement of the soul.” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/md088Ynx0ek For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s episode #214, we will be speaking with Dr. Marie Gervais[i] the CEO of Shift Management Inc and the author of The Spirit of Work[ii]," where she offers a high-level yet approachable model in rethinking how we view and structure work. Her book delves into the fascinating relationship between people and work, combining ancient wisdom, modern science, spirituality, and real-world examples to share insights into developing a soul-sustaining workplace culture. She also has a podcast herself, The Culture and Leadership Podcast[iii] where she dives deeper into this topic. After releasing three interviews this year on workplace burnout, it’s been clear that workplaces around the world are indeed experiencing a crisis, as I’ve had many messages relating to individuals with their specific workplace struggle and Dr. Gervais highlights this new workplace problem in the beginning of her book when she shares that “statistics about workplace engagement, happiness and satisfaction have shown consistent decline and saw significant change since the event of the coronavirus pandemic.” (The Spirit of Work). If you are a leader, change-maker, or anyone looking to build a humane and sustainable system of work, and can see that something needs to change in today’s workplace, this interview is for you. I hope we can all learn some new perspectives to create happier workplaces where productivity and creativity soars by looking at how to build our future managers with skills that are based on what humans need to succeed and develop in our future workplaces. In today’s episode we will cover: The interconnections between science, business practices and sacred texts as they relate to work Find practical tools and workplace examples to apply to management as a soul-enhancing journey Rethink common but destructive workplace cultural assumptions To see ourselves as a spiritual being with thoughts and actions that have lasting effects This episode has already made me move from my thinking/intellectual mind, and see what we can learn together when we incorporate our spirit and soul into our daily work. Let’s meet Dr. Marie Gervais! Welcome Dr. Gervais! It’s wonderful to meet you. Thank you for coming on the podcast all the way from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada which I always consider my home country, because that’s where I grew up. Dr. Gervais, congratulations on releasing your new book, The Spirit of Work, that I watched you unbox[iv]. I know how exciting it is to put your heart, soul and mind into something and release it to the world. I related when you said that releasing this book was like pushing a bolder up a hill. How has this journey to release this book been for you? I’ve got to mention the story behind your episode, because there’s always so many twists and turns with creating content. While researching each guest for this podcast, I put a considerable amount of thought into what I wanted to ask, look for ways that what I want to ask is being mirrored in the world so our interview can help others for years to come, and I begin to connect with that person (I’d say on a soul level) in this research process. Something that’s never happened to me in all my years of content creation. While preparing for your interview, s

“Did you know that the brains of people who are chronically burnt-out show similar damage as people who have experienced trauma”[i] and that “burnout reduces the connectivity between different parts of the brain which can lead to decreased creativity, working memory, and problem solving skills?” (Vanessa Van Edwards). It’s incorrect to assume that burnout is just an emotional response to long hours or a challenging job. Instead, scientific evidence shows that burnout takes a profound physical toll that ripples well beyond our professional lives. For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I want to cover the importance of understanding how serious workplace burnout is at the brain level. After releasing our 3rd interview this season on work burnout, I realized just how important this topic is to you, the listener, with all the comments that came in to me this week on this topic. There is a serious need for us to ALL recognize when we have too much on our plate, so that we take immediate action without feeling like we are giving up on our company, ourselves, our goals or dreams. I also don’t want to discourage anyone from putting in the extra work, or effort that is required to reach the top of your industry, or whatever it is that you are working on that might require a push at this time, so, my hope with this episode is that we can find the right balance to get to wherever it is we are going, in one piece, so that we can enjoy life when we get there, and have enough energy left so that we can continue moving forward and attain new goals, reaching new heights and achievement along the way. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #213, “The Neuroscience Behind Work Burnout” we are going to look at what’s happening in the brain when we are under considerable workplace stress, so that we can recognize this often swept under the rug concept, and put some solutions into place immediately, to prevent the effects of this epidemic called burnout, with an understanding of what’s happening at the brain level. “Using cutting-edge techniques, integrative research teams are demonstrating that burnout is not just a state of mind, but a condition that leaves its mark on the brain as well as the body. Just as the impact of burnout that stifles healthy professional growth, emerging research shows that the chronic psychosocial stress that characterizes burnout not only impairs people’s personal and social functioning, it also can overwhelm their cognitive skills and neuroendocrine systems — eventually leading to distinctive changes in the anatomy and functioning of the brain.”[ii] Dr. Bessel van der Kolk[iii] (psychiatrist, author of the book The Body Keeps the Score[iv]) draws on more than thirty years at the forefront of research and clinical practice, to show the characteristics of the brain of someone who has experienced trauma and research now shows these characteristics are showing up in the brains of employees who are chronically burnt out. What to look for: Fear-Driven Brain: People who have experienced trauma (or are under chronic stress) will have a brain with enhanced threat perception (or see danger where others see things can be manageable). (Van der Kolk) THINK ABOUT THIS… If you are under chronic stress, do you see threat or danger often? For example—do you think others are out to get you? This could be that your threat perception has been enhanced from chronic stress and a signal for you to slow down. Unusual Outbursts or Increased Moodiness: Burnout Enlarges Our Amygdala (our emotional center in the brain) and can increase moodiness. (Vanessa Van Edwards). THINK ABOUT THIS… If you notice someone

Are you a doctor, attorney, high level manager, CEO or business professional in a high stress environment? And did you know that according to a recent Gallup Poll that teaching, and nursing are tied for daily stress? Teaching can be a lonely profession when educators lack support, training and strategies for classroom management, leading to lack of job satisfaction, disintegrating health, depression, and teacher attrition. Whatever profession you are in, we can’t escape the demands of everyday life, so on today’s episode we will cover new strategies for overcoming work burnout before it takes a toll on our health, job satisfaction, productivity, and motivation. Today, on EPISODE #212, we will be speaking with Dr. Sharon Grossman, otherwise known as the Burnout Doc who will provide us with a fresh perspective of an age-old problem, with tools and strategies that she has used on many of her own clients, to take the steps to prevent work burnout BEFORE it occurs. Watch this episode on YouTube here https://youtu.be/kDjQCyffiCk On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How we can recognize work burnout vs boredom or lack of challenge. ✔︎ Knowing how and when to set boundaries when the workload is too high. ✔︎ What to do the minute you feel "resentful" at work. ✔︎ What's at the root of work burnout. ✔︎ Tips for creating your ideal work environment. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. Today we are going to look at work burn out from a different angle. We did launch the year with Nick Jonsson on EPISODE #188[i] on “Strategies for Overcoming Stress, Anxiety and Depression in the Workplace” and Mood and Stress Expert Erika Ferzst on EPISODE #198[ii] on “Using Your Brain to Prevent Workplace Burnout” but I saw something different with our next guest and here’s why. Dr. Grossman sent me an email that went above and beyond ANY email I’ve ever received. She took a considerable amount of time not only create a VIDEO introduction to her work, but to let me know how the content on our podcast resonated with her and her work with stress management. She mentioned all of the ways that we would have a great conversation, as we dig deeper into our theme of Season 7 on “Brain Health and Well-Being.” I sometimes even forget myself what our theme is (even though I have a note on my computer monitor to remind me and keep me on track) but Dr. Grossman not only knew our theme, but how she could provide new insight and ideas into work burnout, with the brain in mind, and take our content to another level. What I didn’t know after her incredible introduction that caught me off guard as I began to read her book, The 7E Solution to Burnout[iii] is I realized that Dr. Grossman is not much different from anyone else, EXCEPT for the fact that she experienced work burnout herself, and noticed that she was not going above and beyond for her clients, so she created a system that she used herself, in addition to now sharing it with others, to impact change to combat work burnout and she wants to share he system with all of us. I can’t wait to dive deeper into some solutions for this issue that I’m sure many of you listening have faced in the past, if you aren’t experiencing it to some extent today, with some ideas of how an understanding of our brain can help us to better manage our mind while under stress. Let’s meet Dr. Grossman… Welcome, Dr. Sharon Grossman, thank you for such an engaging intro to your work that you sent over. You really did make a memorable impression. Way to set the bar high and create an immediate interest on a topic that I know you can see we’ve covered a few times on the podcast. INTRO Q: Dr. Grossman, can we begin wi

Everything you’ve got in your life is an expression of your level of awareness (Bob Proctor) and when you change your level of awareness, everything starts to shift. It’s fascinating. Today’s podcast I’m going to share how my awareness expanded as I began researching for an upcoming interview and what’s absolutely amazing about this experience, is that “once the mind has been expanded, it will never go back to its original state. Awareness is not something you lose.” (Bob Proctor). On this episode we will cover: ✔︎ Why lifelong learning is important for expanding our levels of awareness. ✔︎ What we all should know about dreaming and the brain. ✔︎ Review of our sleep cycle and REM sleep. ✔︎ Tips for remembering our dreams. ✔︎ Opening our mind up for new ways to improve creativity, business ideas, and sports training with our dream world. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #211, “The Neuroscience of Dreams: Expanding Our Self-Awareness” I’m going to cover how an understanding of neuroscience connected to our dreams, could open up doors of possibility in our lives. This topic is not one that I was planning on covering, but as my awareness expanded while researching for an upcoming interview, I thought back to when some other topics that many people perceived as “weird”, are now readily accepted in our schools and workplaces, and perhaps, as new research and studies evolve, this topic could provide us with a new way of creative problem solving, or ways to generate new ideas in the business world, or even a new tool for mental rehearsal in the sports world. Before we get into this episode, I do want to start out by thanking you, the listener for tuning in. While writing this episode, I woke up to an email from Anuj Agarwal, the founder of Feedspot, who ranks podcasts based on content, followers, and traffic, letting me know that we had made ranking for The Best 30 Neuroscience Podcasts.[i] For those who have listened to our earlier episodes, you’ll know that I didn’t set out to go in this direction of Neuroscience, (it wasn’t even on my roadmap) but we ended up here by chance, when an educator urged me to go in this direction almost 10 years ago. So to hit this achievement, in a relatively new field of study for me, without a background in science (other than the fact I did teach 9th grade Biology for a semester), it’s a true honor, and I’m beyond grateful to continue to host this podcast, and that you are finding these episodes as helpful as I am. This is the reason why I thought about launching this podcast in the first place—to show that anyone can learn and apply these skills, backed by science, whether you have a science degree or not. This cutting-edge research is important for all of us to know, understand and apply and I’ll be researching in this field anyway, so I figured, I might as well share what I’m learning on this platform. With our analytics, I can see where listeners are tuning in from by Country, and do appreciate all the messages you send to me on social media, letting me know that you listen and what you are learning. I can now put some faces to the downloads, as I got to recently meet Sarah Eaton, from Queensland, Australia, who works with the Australian Government, and Ellie Mercado from Ossining, NY working in the field of education with social and emotional learning among many others who tag me on posts, and let me know this information is helpful and important. We do have a Facebook Group[ii], if you do want to stay connected to others around the globe as well. Moving on now to this week’s episode, and Brain Fact Friday, where I want to make a connection to an

“If you don’t truly understand how your brain and body work, it will be more difficult to maximize your potential” (Dr. Jon Finn[i], author of the Best-Selling book, The Habit Mechanic[ii]) which took Dr. Finn over 20 years to write, and was not intended to be read once, and left on a shelf to collect dust. This book contains Dr. Finn’s life’s work, “where he’s trained and coached over 10,000 people: Global businesses, high-growth start-ups, individuals, elite athletes, coaches and teams, leading educational institutes, and families” to thrive and succeed in our challenging modern world. This book is exactly what I have been looking for, as it is full of practical and simple exercises in each section that we can all apply for immediate results, backed by science. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/CO-_znUut28 On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Dr. Finn, from Leeds, UK, took three psychology related degrees to inform his work with The Habit Mechanic and his Tougher Minds Consulting Firm. ✔︎ What Dr. Finn discovered made Roger Bannister's training more "efficient and effective" than his competitors. ✔︎ How he has used his Habit Mechanic Model to develop high performing sports teams. ✔︎ Simple and easy ways that we can all fine-tune our habit-building muscles. ✔︎ Strategies to teach others how to do the same. ✔︎ Unique visuals for improving time management, and overcoming obstacles. Dr. Finn, who founded the award-winning Tougher Minds Consultancy, and has three psychology-related degrees, has been working in the field of resilience, performance, and leadership science for over 20 years, and through his work, has uncovered WHY people fail, while trying their very best. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. On today’s EPISODE #210, we will explore Dr. Finn’s cutting-edge insights from psychology, behavioral science, neuroscience, and world champions that helps organizations develop “Habit Mechanics” and “Chief Habit Mechanics” (we will uncover the difference between the two) building resilient people, outstanding leaders, and world-class teams. I’ve been looking for a book that bridges the science with all of the strategies we’ve been covering on this podcast, and today we will connect the dots with theory, practice and results, as we ALL learn how to “fine-tune our brain, and supercharge how we live, work and lead.” Before we meet Dr. Finn, I have to give you a bit more of his background, because when reading his book, I was floored with how he connected the research to habit building, with examples that we can all understand and remember. Dr. Finn and his colleagues have a collective experience of over 100 years in helping people, leaders, teams and organizations build better habits. They have worked extensively in the highest levels of elite sport, advised the Government and think tanks, had their work featured in The Sunday Times, The Sunday Telegraph, People Management and T.E.S, published peer-reviewed papers and popular books within the area of performance psychology, and helped 10,000s of people be their best more often. His company, Tougher Minds work globally and I’ll include a list of the people, teams and organizations they have helped fulfil their potential in the show notes. – ING– Janus Henderson Investors– Aon– HSBC– Mercedes– Chaucer– John Deere Financial– The Professional Golfers’ Association– Premier League Football Managers– Deloitte– The Rugby Football League– The Scottish Golf Union– Yorkshire County Cricket Club– European Tour Golfers– Sky Sports– England Athletics– Rugby League Super League Head Coaches Let’s meet Dr. Jon Finn and uncover why traditional approa

On this episode we will cover: ✔︎ The importance of making mistakes and failing forward✔︎ How an understanding of the most current research can improve productivity and results in our schools, sports and workplaces✔︎ An important ingredient for change to occur✔︎ A review of past episodes to consider what change you could initiate in your workplace✔︎ Prepare for our NEXT EPISODE #210 with Dr. Jon Finn the author of The Habit Mechanic. “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”--American architect, systems theorist, author, inventor, philosopher and futurist, Buckminster Fuller This quote made me think of why we launched this podcast in the first place. Not to fight against all the models that we struggle with in our world today, but to offer solutions like Sir Ken Robinson[i] did with his thought-provoking case of creating an educational system that nurtures, rather than undermines creativity. If you haven’t watched Sir Ken’s TED talk in a while, I encourage you to go back to it (it’s got over 72 million views)—and you’ll see how the concepts he talks about are still as valid today, as they were in 2006. Sir Ken’s TED Talk reminded me that “all children have exceptional capacity for innovation” and that “creativity is as important as literacy” in our schools, but we tend to squander it. I could “ponder deeply” (Greg Link, EPISODE 207) about that for a while, and am always looking for ways to increase creativity and innovation for our next generation of students in the classroom. Sir Ken said something else that hit me on a deep level on his famous TED talk, as I sat at my desk, listening to his words, knowing that he’s been gone for some time, but he’s not really gone. His legacy lives on as he makes me think about his words and write this episode, making connections to past episodes and speakers, and sharing these thoughts with you, wherever you might be listening to this podcast. With one of his examples, he said “If you are not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original” when he shared a story of a four-year-old who wasn’t afraid to be wrong and then he brought it back to how school teaches us that mistakes are the worst things you can make. Making me think again-- Am I afraid of making mistakes? Not so much anymore, but take me back to 7th grade, being wrong in class (in front of everyone) probably would have prevented me from trying in the future without someone there to encourage the idea of failing forward, which is such an important concept for us to all learn early. With today’s episode on “The Neuroscience of Change” I’m hoping that we can all take Sir Ken’s advice, and be prepared to be wrong, with the hopes that it somehow moves us forward. Looking back and connecting the many dots over my career, I know I wouldn’t be here today on this podcast if an educator didn’t sit me down in his office, and show me where he thought I was wrong and could improve my work and career path with this understanding of simple neuroscience as the solution. But it did take action on my part without worrying about the outcome. We’ve got to be prepared to be wrong first, Sir Ken reminds us. What about you? Do you have ideas that you would like to move forward with—to impact change? Maybe in your school, or to be used in sports with athletes, or in your workplace? These episodes were created in the how-to format to generate ideas for all of us. I hope we can all ponder deeply about this, think about where we would like to see change, write down some thoughts and ideas, and see if these ideas can take us to somewhere new, somewhere we’ve never been before, as we make connections with the neuroscience of change. For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so tha

Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, EPISODE #208, I’m Andrea Samadi, author and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and today’s guest ties in perfectly to what we have been talking about on this podcast the past few months. Before I introduce him, I have to mention that he contacted me through LinkedIn and asked if I was looking for podcast guests. I always am and do have a running list of people I reach out to as our topic is specific, tied to how the most current brain research can help us to improve our productivity and results. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/rZ5s3MBa91I On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ Who is Blaine Oelkers, and why did it take 3 seconds for Andrea to notice something unique about his work? ✔︎ The mistake that 99.9% of people who read the book Think and Grow Rich make. ✔︎ What were in the "missing pages" of Think and Grow Rich that Blaine Oelkers discovered? ✔︎ What is the "secret" that we should all know, while studying Think and Grow Rich. ✔︎ Strategies to become crystal-clear with whatever it is that we want to create. ✔︎ How neuroscience supports what Napoleon Hill teaches in Think and Grow Rich. ✔︎ Simple strategies to break and form new habits. ✔︎ The importance of "cleaning" your mind. If you recall, our last episode with Greg Link[i], who partnered and worked with the late Dr. Stephen Covey with the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People mentioned how many of the principles that they used for success over the years took some time before they were accepted in the corporate world, let alone the K-12 school market, so when I come across someone who’s an expert, or even known as a Chief Results Officer, I want to know who they are, who and what and who they have studied, and how exactly they are getting these high levels of results that most of us want, but take such hard work to achieve. While researching our next guest, Blaine Oelkers[ii], a lifetime entrepreneur, a graduate of Purdue University and Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship program, I learned that he’s coached 1000’s of people with what he calls their Personal Implementation Plans (PIPs) elevating his clients to a higher level of productivity and results that he calls You 2.0, when I saw exactly what I was looking for. It's rare for someone to teach these success principles, without having studied with one of the “greats” at least for a period of time, so I always look to see where their love of self-improvement began. I will be sure to ask Blaine this question, but it became clear to me that he has a sound knowledge of the most influential success books when I saw that he has taught the book we covered to launch our year with, Think and Grow Rich, and has some tips to help us to be more effective while studying this book, along with some lost passages! At this point in my research, I ‘m beyond curious how he knows this top secret information and wonder if it has to do with the fact that he shared the stage with American author and entrepreneur, Jim Rohn. I suppose we will all have to find this out in the interview. Let’s meet Blaine Oelkers and see if we can kick our productivity up a notch and uncover where he learned these secrets for success from. Welcome Blaine. Thanks so much for reaching out to me. I’m not sure if you noticed that it took me about 3 minutes to write back to you that you were a perfect fit for the podcast! INTRO Q: I mention in the backstory that I’m always looking for people who can take our understanding of productivity and success to higher levels, and I have to open up with the question I was thinking the whole time I was researching you—where did your love for self-improvement begin, who did you study, and what do you think makes you stand out from others in this field—I saw it immediately. Q1: I opened the year with a 6-part series on Think and Grow Rich[iii] after studying this book for the past 3 years with Paul Marti

Have you ever felt “The Speed of Trust?” It’s the “shortest route to results” (Robert Allen, author of Multiple Streams of Income), and “the one thing that affects everything else you’re doing. It’s a performance multiplier which takes your trajectory upwards, for every activity you engage in, from strategy to execution.” Stephen R. Covey I felt “The Speed of Trust” from the moment I asked our next guest if he would come on the podcast, knowing full well that he hasn’t spoken on a podcast or radio show since around 2014, but I know that “when trust is high, communication is easy, instant and effective.” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/kCRjLyCKE40 On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ Who was behind the marketing strategy that took Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits Book to sell over 40 million copies worldwide (surpassing the popular Think and Grow Rich book) in 40 languages. ✔︎ How exactly did Greg Link come to meet and partner with the late Dr. Stephen Covey and what dots were connected as he looks back over his career now. ✔︎ How “Inspired Action” a term coined by Jack Canfield helped many leaders forge a path where no one had ever been before. ✔︎ What the Covey Organization learned from taking their book to Japan, and how they became the best-selling foreign business book in Japan. ✔︎ How Dr. Covey simplified the 7 Habits, and his vision for this book from the beginning. ✔︎ The challenges that Dr. Covey had as they began their work in the K-12 school market, how they overcame these challenges, and created The Leader in Me program. ✔︎ How they overcame daily obstacles they faced and used the 7 Habits to move forward. ✔︎ How he came up with the idea for the 8th Habit. ✔︎ How Greg’s expertise was recognized in the motivational speaking industry. ✔︎ Why Trust was a trait that was the center of The Speed of Trust, Smart Trust and their new book Trust and Inspire. ✔︎ What advice did Dr. Covey give Greg Link that changed his life, and how can you use this advice today? Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, EPISODE #207, I’m Andrea Samadi, author and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and today’s guest is someone I have mentioned often on this podcast. For returning guests, you’ll be able to figure it out quickly. For those who are new, welcome. This episode is very special to me in many ways—not just with the fact that I consider myself beyond lucky to have had the opportunity to have met some of the world’s most influential people at a time in my life (late 20s) when this influence was important for the direction that I would take, that would land me exactly where I am now, all these years later. While listening to today’s episode, my hope is that this story inspires you in some way, to take action with whatever it is you are working on as I take you on a trip that goes back over 20 years ago, with the lessons learned along the way highlighted, so that you can see how some of the top influencers in the world have faced challenge, had doubts, fears and worries, and even unthinkably difficult life challenges that they all had to overcome, just like you and me. What was unique with this opportunity that I had while working in the motivational speaking industry in the late 1990s, is that I was driven to keep in touch with many of the speakers who came in over the years, (as you can see from this podcast) and this platform allows us all to continue to learn and grow from them with what author Jack Canfield would call Inspired Action (that I’ll cover in a minute). Today’s guest, I know we can all learn from which is why I knew I had to ask him to share his experience on this podcast. If you think back to our final episode of The Think and Grow Rich book study, EPISODE #196[i] that we launched 2022 with, we opened with a quote from Bob Proctor, who said ““You can’t just THINK and GROW RICH, you’ve got to do something with those thoughts” and it reminded me of

Did you know that “trust is the highest form of human motivation? It brings out the very best in people. But it takes time and patience.” Stephen Covey For returning guests, welcome back, and for those who are new here, I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve productivity and results in our schools, and modern workplaces. Today’s EPISODE #206, is on a topic inspired by one of my early influencers, “The Neuroscience of Trust.” This episode came to me as I’m preparing for our next episode next week, with someone I have quoted often on this podcast, Greg Link[i], the co-founder of the Covey Leadership Center. Greg was the one who orchestrated the strategy that led Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, (1989)[ii] to become one of the two best-selling business books of the 20th century according to CEO Magazine, selling over 20 million copies in 38 languages. Greg created the marketing momentum that helped propel Covey Leadership Center from a start-up company to a $110-plus million-dollar enterprise with offices in 40 countries. You’ll need to tune into our next episode #207 to learn more from Greg Link’s incredible experience working with Dr. Covey, and with individuals and companies around the world, where Greg will share what qualities are important and integral for success for our students in today’s classrooms, and in our modern workplaces as we dive into our topic of “Unleashing Greatness with Neuroscience, SEL, Trust, and the 7 Habits.” While researching Greg, who I met when he came to work in the seminar industry in 2002, I was reminded of a topic that he thought was so important that he wrote a book about it with Stephen M.R. Covey (the son of the late Stephen R. Covey) called Smart Trust: The Defining Skill That Transforms Managers into Leaders.[iii] If you look up quotes from Stephen Covey on trust, you can see how important this skill was to him. He said, “trust is the glue to life” and “the one thing that affects everything else you’re doing. It’s a performance multiplier which takes your trajectory upwards, for every action you engage in, from strategy to execution.” The quote I like the most is where he says that “the first job of a leader—at work or at home—is to inspire trust. It’s to bring out the best in people by entrusting them” and what I learned from Greg and his book Smart Trust, is that “we have to extend trust to others, to get it back.” This seems counterintuitive, or not what we’d expect to hear, especially in a low-trust world, where many of us don’t want to be too naïve, and too trusting on one side of trust, or we don’t want to be too suspicious either, on the other side of trust. So how do we use Smart Trust, and find the right balance with this skill that transforms managers into leaders? If you read the book, you will see where Greg had a huge AHA moment with his relationship with trust, when someone extended trust to him. Leaders go first, they extend their trust to others, by walking their talk, by showing their character and competence (by doing what they say they will do) and watch how people respond around them (not with blind trust, but with Smart Trust) and you will be surprised that when you give trust, most often, you’ll get it back. Greg does mention cases where trust is not possible to be restored, like for those who invested their money with Bernie Madoff[iv] who was known for defrauding thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars over a time span of around 17 years, it would be difficult for trust to be restored in this case, but he affirms that “it’s possible to restore and regain trust”[v] and possibly even on a deeper level with time and transparency. Which brought me to wonder, where does trust exist in our brain? DID YOU KNOW T

Have you ever wondered WHO exactly YOU are? We are more than our name, our job title or perhaps how we are viewed in our personal lives. Whatever part of the world you are listening to this podcast from, today’s episode is going to stretch your mind, like it did mine, as we expand our field of view from our individual schools or workplaces to our cities, to go far outside of where we operate on a day-to-day basis to think on a different level than we usually think about ourselves, or those around us. We are going to use a brilliant article written by author, Chevening Alumnus (MSc in Psychology of Education--University of Bristol) and former National Geographic Learning Consultant, Andre Hedlund[i] called Learning Cosmos: A Voyage into the Learner’s Universe[ii] to help take our imaginations on a trip, where we will “consider the multitude of principles, theories and frameworks that address learning, and compare (them) to the expanding universe. Different spheres, each one influencing the others.” Watch this interview on YouTube with visuals here https://youtu.be/wsJ8NpYawdM On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Andre Hedlund compared learning to the Cosmos for a Macro vs Micro view of learning. ✔︎ How the 6 SEL Competencies compare to the Cosmos and Larger Universe. ✔︎ How Andre took the most current and well-known educational frameworks and theories and mapped them to the Cosmos for a deeper look at learning. ✔︎ How looking at something from a new angle (Macro vs Micro) can give you a new perspective, solve problems, and open your eyes to new possibilities. Today Andre will look at neuroscience and psychology and try to bring together principles about cognition, emotion, attitudes and beliefs, motivation, learning design, and context (many of the topics we have been talking about on this podcast for the past 3 years) into an illustration that resembles the universe so we can see how we fit into our world, from a different point of view, and Andre’s hope is that this “Learning Cosmos Angle can help students, teachers, schools, families and policymakers admire and reflect on the amazing universe surrounding our learners.” (Hedlund). Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, EPISODE #205, I’m Andrea Samadi, author and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and today’s guest is an expert in Education, the Science of Learning, Neuroscience, Psychology, Pedagogy, and the Methodology Behind how we learn. If you are interested in neuroscience and learning, which I’m sure you are, if you’ve been tuning into our podcast, I know this episode will expand your thinking, like it did mine, as we hear from Andre’s perspective why neuroscience alone cannot tell us how we learn. We must look at psychology and education for these answers, but next, he takes it a step further with an empowering, mind-boggling thought. Imagine this if you will… “The Cosmos is within us. We are all made of star stuff. We are a way for the Universe to know itself.” –Astrophysicist, Carl Sagan[iii] This quote opens Andre’s article, and it took me back to the day I was first introduced to this topic of neuroscience, before I knew how the brain and learning were connected. I had many questions. How on the earth (pun intended) is the learning connected to Cosmos? Wait, what is the Cosmos again? It’s been a while since I studied the planets and I never really got into Star Trek or those out of space shows. What does it mean when he says “the cosmos is within us?” I’ve been wrapped up in the brain for the past few years and had to look up what exactly this means. The funny part of researching and coming up with some questions for Andre to help us to dive deeper into this topic, was that I shared on LinkedIn that I was looking forward to this interview, as I spent Friday night reading Andre’s new book, The Owl Factor: Reframing Your Teaching Philosophy A Reflective and Practical Guide for Teachers and Trainers, a

Did you know that “from a neuroscientific standpoint, happiness is experienced in different ways depending on your state of mind?” Mark Waldman For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, and EPISODE #204, with all that is going on in the world, I wanted today’s episode to take a closer look at how we can all find happiness in our life, even during the most difficult times, and look at happiness through a neuroscientific lens. If we can do this, I am confident that we will all walk away from this episode with a way to generate happiness, with our brain in mind. Welcome back! I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and we launched this podcast almost 3 years ago, with the goal of taking the mystery out the science behind high performance strategies, so that we can all apply the most current brain research, to improve productivity and results in our schools, sports and modern workplaces. I became interested in success strategies to improve performance in the late 1990s while working with some of world’s top performers in the motivational speaking industry and saw immediately how important these skills were for our future generations. For those who have been with us since we launched, thank you for coming back, for listening, and supporting the podcast over the years. The topics we cover each week seem to be never-ending, as more research continues to be uncovered, each episode connects back to past episodes that you might remember from our earlier days. Bringing us to this week’s Brain Fact Friday. Did you know that “there are three distinct networks in the brain responsible for happiness? It hit me while recording our Top 10 Episodes of All Time[i] when psychologist Dr. Francis Lee Stephens said “no one ever comes to me saying my thinking is awful. They come with—I feel like garbage.” How do we look for happiness, or positive feelings when we “feel” like garbage? We covered The Neuroscience of Happiness way back in November 2019 on EPISODE #29[i] and I remember it being such an important topic, that I created a PowerPoint Presentation on YouTube[ii] to go along with this episode where we dove into the recipe for peak performance, with strategies to boost our serotonin levels to generate more happiness. We took a closer look at the neuroscience of anxiety, with ideas to calm our limbic, emotional brain. We were almost a year into the pandemic, and nothing has changed with the importance of mental health and well-being since we recorded EPISODE 29, but today, I want to look at happiness with the latest neuroscience research I’ve recently learned from Mark Waldman, adding a new perspective, hoping that whatever is going on in our lives, wherever you are listening from in the world, that you can look at happiness with this new lens, a neuroscientific lens, and see if the ideas I’ll share can help you today can generate more happiness in your life, as well as mine, as I put these strategies into practice right along with you. This week I learned that the latest neuroscientific research suggests there are three distinct networks in the brain that generate happiness. As we take a closer look at these three networks, I hope we can think of some NEW strategies to bring real happiness, into our day, with this new knowledge of the specific network of the brain that this feeling is being generated in. 1. Frontal Parietal Network: also called the Central Executive Network (CEN) or our Thinking Network that controls our everyday thoughts and memories about what happiness means to you. Waldman reminds us that these memories are “mostly based on old beliefs and memories of the past and that happiness is something that only occurs briefly in the present moment.” Remember: that your beliefs about happiness are embedded in the past, and that you can think back to old memories that made you happy, but this level of happiness won’t last forever. HOW DO WE GENERATE MORE HAPPINESS USING THE CEN: Have yo

"Whatever it is you are going after, you’ll do it when you believe it." Napoleon Hill Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/tsBpdG1DpaE On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ How Ryan O'Neill rose to the top of his field using specific success strategies that we've been teaching since the late 1990s. ✔︎ How Ryan used these principles to home-school his daughter and help her to create a successful future. ✔︎ The pathway from setting to achieving large goals-what to expect. ✔︎ Creating a new identity in the process-how to integrate your belief with your behavior. ✔︎ Overcoming obstacles and criticism and why what other people say or think doesn't matter. Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, EPISODE #203, with a Case Study of someone who did just that—he believed in his vision and rose to the top of his field but only once his family got there first. Welcome back. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and launched this podcast to bring the most current neuroscience research and success strategies directly to you, whether you are a teacher in the classroom, or looking for new ideas to improve productivity in your workplace, my goal is to bring the experts to you with clear strategies that we can all use to implement for immediate results. This week, I’m speaking with Ryan O’Neill, a Paranormal Researcher from Scotland, UK, who I met around 10 years ago, when he signed up to take our first certification program, where we taught the success principles in my first book The Secret for Teens Revealed[i] that turned into our Level Up Program[ii] for schools. Years before we narrowed our focus with teachers, we worked with individuals, all over the world (teachers, coaches, and parents) who were looking for a curriculum they could use whether it was to improve young people’s mindset with sports, in the classroom or with their personal lives. Many people who studied Bob Proctor’s work in the seminar industry, came our way, looking to narrow their focus with these timeless principles for young people. Ryan stuck out to me as unique, back then, as he signed up for the program to use the principles to help his children to learn these concepts. He knew that school wasn’t teaching them these important skills, and I still remember as he was going through each of the lessons with me, back then it was on Skype, he would then go on and teach the lesson to his daughter Tammy who was a teen at the time, just figuring out her life’s purpose. I remember she soared with these success principles that she saw her Dad taking seriously, and she did the same. She knew that these unique principles could help her to achieve high levels of success in her life, and she continues to use them to this day, as she’s put them on autopilot with her daily habits. His other daughter Rhian also became involved with this work, and did some voiceovers along the way that still exists in our work today. Ryan had such a strong belief in these principles, that he ended up helping us to create The Secret for Teens DVD program, that you can still find on Udemy.[iii] He was an integral part of our work in those early days when we were just starting out, as he had a keen mastery of seeing something that wasn’t yet there, and his belief was contagious, as he began checking off goal after goal that he had set out to achieve. I’ll get to the heights that Ryan has reached in his career using this skill of bringing his goals to completion with my questions, but when I saw how much he has achieved since those early days we worked together, I had to bring him on the podcast to feature his story as a case study so he can share how exactly he applied the success principles to achieve these outstanding results. Let’s meet Ryan O’Neill, from Scotland, UK, who has always been crystal clear of his life’s purpose “of researching, studying and sharing his open-minded discoveries, into a

“We teach what we most need to learn” Joshua Freedman Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/xE0F0l9tbqo Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, EPISODE #202, with someone I’ve been wanting to speak with since the early days of launching our podcast. He’s a specialist on emotional intelligence, with connections that link him to Daniel Goleman’s[i] earliest work, as the CEO and one of the co-founders of Six Seconds[ii], the global community growing emotional intelligence that began in 1997, around the time I had my AHA Moment and realized how important these skills are for our students in the classroom. He’s an educator, author of 5 books, researcher and parent, who translates the latest neuroscience of emotion into practical insights we can all use to connect, solve problems, lead, and live better lives. On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ What led Joshua Freedman, one of the leading experts of emotional intelligence in our schools and workplaces, to discover the SEL/Neuroscience connection in the late 1990s. ✔︎ How the 6Seconds.org SEL Model is different than ALL other models and why EVERYONE working with SEL must see this model. ✔︎ A simple 3 step approach to implement emotional intelligence in our lives, as well as our students in the classroom, or in the workplace. ✔︎ How to use our emotions as a guidance system and what to be aware of with certain emotions (like trust). ✔︎ How to get involved with 6Seconds.org with their FREE SEL resources, assessments, programs and services. Before I introduce you to this week’s guest, I’ve got to say that for someone who has spearheaded the movement of EQ in our schools and workplaces for over 3 decades, his humble and kind nature will show you that he practices what he teaches. Welcome back. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding and applying the science behind high performance strategies that we can use to improve our productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. My vision is to bring the experts to you, share their books, resources, and ideas to help you to implement their proven strategies, whether you are a teacher working in the classroom or in the corporate environment. Let’s get right into this topic, and meet this week’s guest, Joshua Freedman, the CEO of 6 Seconds, and dive into the field of emotional intelligence in our schools, sports and workplace environments. I know that after these questions, we will all look at “emotional intelligence” with a new lens. Welcome Joshua, it’s wonderful to meet you after all the years I’ve followed your work. Joshua, I don’t know if you know this, (or remember) as I know that you do many of these interviews, but when we first launched this podcast, I did reach out to you, and even had a spot on your calendar. You are the only interview to date that I wrote the week of, and said I needed more time to research you, because I didn’t feel fully prepared for the interview. Do you remember this by chance? What happened—I usually read each person’s book and come up with some questions on how their work applies to the field of SEL and neuroscience, but when I began to research you, I saw that where your work began, and realized I needed to think about your questions as one of the leaders behind the movement of this field of emotional intelligence, to bring more meaning to today’s discussion and make sure I didn’t leave anything out. A sincere thank you for speaking with me today and letting me thoroughly prepare the questions for you so we can go deep into this topic of how to get results with emotional intelligence. INTRO QUESTION: While researching your background, Joshua, I listened to some of your interviews[iii], and was surprised to see that your introduction to this field came in a similar way to mine. We were both first year teac

“Learn continually—there’s always one more thing to learn” Steve Jobs Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, for episode #201 on “The Lessons Learned from our Top 10 All-Time Episodes” as we reflect on the episodes that YOU chose to be the most impactful since we launched back in June 2019. For those returning, welcome back, and for those new, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding and applying the most current research that we can ALL use to improve our productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. I launched this podcast as a solution to bring these ideas directly to you. As we are now well into our 7th season, with a focus on brain health and well-being this year, it hit me while recording our 200th episode, that it would be helpful to take a look back and review the top lessons learned since launching this podcast over three years ago. There’s so much content that’s been covered, and while I can’t mention every episode, you can always go back and scroll through the website[i] and pick episodes that stand out to you when looking for something new to learn. I still listen to these older episodes, and always pick something of value from each one. Like we said as we recapped our 200th episode, we picked high quality guests intentionally, and the content reflects these high caliber speakers. What I Wish I Knew When We First Launched This Podcast: While preparing for this episode, I glanced at the top 10 all-time episode list (that I have included in the show notes) and a few things came to my mind that I thought would be helpful to share with this review. Before I get to the lessons learned from our top episodes, I wanted to share some lessons learned from the production side of things. Many people reach out to me asking questions about “how do you launch a podcast” or “what would you have done differently if you were to do everything over again?” There’s definitely ONE THING I would have done differently. If you scroll all the way down on our Podbean website to our first 6 months,[ii] you might see the downloads next to each episode are lower than you might expect up until December 2019. This is not just because we were starting out, (earlier episodes averaged around 300 downloads in the beginning, compared to 1,000 per episode now, but I’ll tell you one of the biggest errors I made launching this podcast, that impacted our numbers right from the beginning. If you look, next to each episode, you can see the number of downloads for that episode, and in the beginning, (episodes created in 2019) I saved the audio files in the M4A format which is the format that Camtasia (where I do my editing) defaults to, after saving an audio file. For those listening who don’t deal with audio files, think about it as one of those errors that you want to prevent others from EVER doing in the future. Who knew that Spotify, our third largest source of traffic, (with Apple Podcasts as our first, and Podbean, our host as second) only accepts MP3 audio files, so when setting up this podcast, I realized 6 months into it, that I had an error message on the connection to Spotify and zero downloads from this source? It took 6 months to notice this error because there’s a lot with launching a podcast, but a mistake like this had to be fixed sooner than later. To do this, we had to reformat all audio files from M4A format to MP3 for our podcast to appear on Spotify, and that meant that any episode created in 2019, was reset to zero. This was a huge lesson to learn, (when downloads are important for the spread of your podcast) but I’m glad we fixed it early on. If you are thinking of launching a podcast, be sure to record ALL audio files in the MP3 format. I wish I knew this in the beginning. There weren’t any other big AHA moments from the production si

All organizations start with WHY, but only the great ones keep their WHY clear year after year.”― Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action Watch the interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/hP854mDG9do On this episode you will learn: ✔︎ The vision for The Neuroscience Meets SEL Podcast, from Majid Samadi's eyes, watching the podcast grow from the early days when it was just an idea. ✔︎ Why SEL skills are important in today's classrooms, and Emotional Intelligence training in our corporate workplaces. ✔︎ How Andrea held her vision for interviewing high quality guests with an experience over 12 years ago, of running The Teen Performance Magazine. ✔︎ The TOP 3 Guests from Majid's point of view in the past year. ✔︎ How to monetize a podcast, and why this step is crucial to sustain any idea. ✔︎ The "behind-the-scenes" of this podcast, from someone whose office is next door to where all interviews are conducted. Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, for our 200th episode milestone, with a reflection back on “The Why Behind Our Podcast” which is the #1 question people ask me when I share that I host this podcast. I hope that we can all learn something about “why we do what we do” as we reflect back on the past 100 episodes (that covers 2021 and the beginning of 2022). I’ve asked a special returning guest from episode #1[i], Majid Samadi, senior regional sales director at Lexia Learning[ii], and my husband, to join me as we reflect back on “why we do what we do”, as Simon Sinek would say. Welcome back. I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding and applying the science behind high performance strategies that we can use to improve our productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. My vision with this podcast began 3 years ago, and I think it’s important to step back and take a look at “why” we began this podcast, since “the why” should be behind all of our work to keep us moving forward. As we think about “why” we do what we do, I hope that you reflect on why you do what YOU do, and see if you can gain insights from your why, to drive you to new levels of awareness, as we do the same. I chose Majid Samadi to join me on this episode, because he’s really good at launching big ideas, especially those ideas that have a clear “why” behind them. It was Majid who encouraged me to publish my first book, The Secret for Teens Revealed to put the ideas I learned from the seminar industry into writing, and when I mentioned that I was thinking about launching a podcast in early 2019, when my website had a podcast theme, his first words were “how can I help you to begin?” You would think that the person in our household who met Simon Sinek (me) would be his biggest fan, but Majid would be a much bigger fan of Sinek’s work than me. Every year he trains his sales team (at Lexia Learning—a company that provides structured literacy solutions and professional learning to students and educators across the country) on Sinek’s “The Golden Circle” so that his sales team launches their year with a clear why behind what they will be doing, to kickstart their year. I’m always looking for a new angle to think about “why we do what we do” and I recently saw Mathew Portell’s[iii] keynote speech at Butler University’s 6th Annual Educational Neuroscience Symposium and it opened my eyes to a new way to approach this episode. Mathew Portell, who is currently in his sixth year as principal of Fall-Hamilton Elementary, an internationally recognized innovative model school for trauma-informed practices in Metro Nashville Public Schools, opened up his keynote for the Neuroscience Symposium with a completely NEW way of looking at our why. At least it was for me. Before I bring Majid on, I wanted us to all think about why we do what we d

“All things are possible if you believe.”[i] “Our results are all based on our beliefs” “If we don’t like what’s going on outside, we’ve got to go inside, and change our beliefs.”[ii] --Bob Proctor Welcome back to the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, for episode #199 on “The Neuroscience Behind Self-Belief” that I want to dive into instead of the episode I was planning on writing this week, (a deep dive into David A. Sousa’s NEW Edition of How the Brain Learns), that I will release next week instead. For those new, welcome, I'm Andrea Samadi, author, and educator from Toronto, Canada, now in Arizona, and like many of you listening, have been fascinated with learning and understanding the science behind high performance strategies that we can use to improve our productivity in our schools, our sports, and workplace environments. My vision is to bring the experts to you, share their books, resources, and ideas to help you to implement their proven strategies, whether you are a teacher working in the classroom or in the corporate environment. Sometimes we must listen to what’s going on around us, and I got the message loud and clear this week, that made me pivot towards this topic of self-belief. This week I met my good friend, Patti Knoles, for coffee. We used to work together years ago when we both worked for Bob Proctor in the seminar industry, and although we live in the same state, it’s been a few years since we met up in person, but after the news earlier this month, we decided to meet and share some memories. Patti Knoles with her daughter, Jessica Knoles NOTE-- For those who follow this podcast and tuned into our final episode of our Think and Grow Rich Book Study[iii], you will know that my mentor, Bob Proctor sadly passed away earlier this month and I dedicated that final episode to him. After I released that episode, I knew I needed more time to just process everything and wasn’t finished. I wanted to stay open to what else I could cover, that would make an impact for everyone else who tunes in, while saying goodbye to the man behind the work that I do, so I just kept my eyes and ears open and went to meet Patti for coffee. Patti Knoles, is a quiet, yet fierce force behind many creative efforts with Bob Proctor’s seminars, since the late 1990s when I first met her. She’s a graphic designer by trade, but so much more than that. She’s a true visionary, with a talent of combining her creative ability, with her imagination and thoughtfulness, bringing something powerful out in her work. It was Patti who I asked to design the covers of my two books, because I wanted her talent to shine through with my work, which it did. The Secret for Teens Revealed[iv] that was published in 2008 won an outstanding book sales award, and the publisher funded my second book, Level Up[v] with this incentive that ended up helping thousands of teens globally to go after their dreams, and live the life they imagined.[vi] Think about this for a second. When we know what we want, we’ve got to start with writing it down. Writing causes thinking, thinking creates an image and this is where ALL ideas begin. Patti was able to take what I wrote down and turn it into an image that would later impact thousands of others around the world. Your ideas, or what you want to create, really do have the ability to change the world. I wonder if you believe that? When I met Patti for coffee, she had a bag, and a gift for me that I’ve got to say was the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received. To honor Bob’s legacy, Patti created coffee mugs that had a photo of Bob, saying “Live Like Bob” and on the side she inscribed “BE. DO. HAVE. GIVE.” which she had heard him say often. There was so much thought to this gift, but the icing on the cake came with the card that had a whole bunch of sayings that I know Bob said all the time, that have stuck in my head over the years. I’ve got the card and mug on my desk as a great reminder to