How To Escape Your Brain's Default Mode Network | Zindel Segal and Norman Farb

How To Escape Your Brain's Default Mode Network | Zindel Segal and Norman Farb

From 10% Happier with Dan Harris by 10% Happier

April 20, 2026 · 1h 5m · Episode 1129

About this episode

This episode discusses how to escape the brain's default mode network through sensory practices with experts Zindel Segal and Norman Farb.

Using your senses to reduce overthinking, turn down the voice in your head, and get out of what these scientists call "the house of habit." Dr. Zindel Segal is Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders at the University of Toronto Scarborough and a cofounder of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Professor Norman Farb, PhD , is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, where he directs the Regulatory and Affective Dynamics laboratory. Together, they are the co-authors of Better In Every Sense: How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life . In this episode we talk about: How the brain's default mode network is essential to our survival but also can keep us stuck in rumination and overthinking Segal and Farb's simple practice of "sense foraging" and why they say it can help break patterns and thoughts that aren't serving us The differences and the similarities between sense foraging and mindfulness Related Episodes: Depression and Anxiety: Your Old Enemies, Your Best Friends | Zindel Segal — Ten Percent Happier Gretchen Rubin on: How To Use Your Five Senses To Reduce Anxiety, Increase Creativity, and Improve…

People in this episode

Host: Dan Harris

Guests: Zindel Segal, Norman Farb

Topics covered

  • default mode network
  • overthinking
  • mindfulness
  • sense foraging
  • mental health

Keywords

  • default mode network
  • overthinking
  • sense foraging
  • mindfulness
  • mental health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Toronto Scarborough, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, University of Toronto Mississauga

Books & works: Better In Every Sense: How the New Science of Sensation Can Help You Reclaim Your Life

More episodes of 10% Happier with Dan Harris

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the 10% Happier with Dan Harris podcast page.