DL Ep.29: Daniel Goleman on Practicing Before Life's Challenges

About this episode

Daniel Goleman discusses the importance of practicing meditation and emotional intelligence in facing life's challenges.

Dr. Richie Richard Davidson, Cortland Dahl, Dan Goleman Discussion Chapter Summary: 00:05:51 — Dan Goleman returns from India and meets Richie Davidson at Harvard00:06:38 — Studying meditation in academia when the field dismissed it00:07:11 — Their careers diverge: journalism at the New York Times and neuroscience research00:08:08 — The Mind & Life Institute and first meetings with the Dalai Lama00:09:20 — Paul Ekman’s surprising transformation after meeting the Dalai Lama00:12:03 — Richie’s quiet strategy: exposing scientists to contemplative practice00:13:09 — The birth of a new generation of contemplative scientists00:14:37 — Cort Dahl discovers meditation research in graduate school00:16:10 — Jon Kabat-Zinn teaching yoga in a Harvard Square basement00:17:35 — “The after is the before for the next during” — meditation changes baseline states00:18:43 — The breakthrough 2004 meditation brain study00:20:26 — The Dalai Lama’s lifelong assignment to study and share these practices00:21:47 — Shifting psychology from pathology to human flourishing00:26:09 — Emotional intelligence as a path to well-being00:31:16 — Why practice—not theory—is what actually changes people00:32:37 — Cort…

People in this episode

Guest: Daniel Goleman

Topics covered

• meditation
• emotional intelligence
• contemplative science
• human flourishing
• psychology
• well-being

Keywords

• meditation
• emotional intelligence
• Dalai Lama
• contemplative practices
• psychology
• well-being
• Richie Davidson
• Cortland Dahl

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, Mind & Life Institute, Harvard, Harvard Square

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