The Living Experiment: Rethink Your Choices. Reclaim Your Life.

This week on The Living Experiment we’re talking about Suicide — the fact that it has become tragically more common in recent years, and some reasons we think that might be. We also talk about how we personally view suicide, and what we’ve learned about it in our own lives. We share expert insights about the signs that someone near you might be having suicidal thoughts, and what you can do if you have been experiencing those feelings yourself. We unpack some different viewpoints, and some suggestions for how to process the thoughts and feelings you might be having about this complex topic. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you expand your understanding about suicide, and to show up for others in ways that help you build compassionate, life-nourishing connections in your own world. Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/suicide/

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Orthorexia — an eating disorder in which a person becomes so obsessed with what they think of as “healthy” eating that they over-limit their diet and become unhealthy as a result.     Dedicated healthy eaters sometimes write off orthorexia as nonsense, seeing the diagnosis as just another way of marginalizing the sensible choices made by many not to consume certain types of foods they are sensitive to, or simply don’t want to eat.     But as we share here, orthorexia is a real thing — definitely not your garden-variety picky eating — and for some, it can become life threatening.     So we talk about what orthorexia is, the rigid thoughts and beliefs that can predispose people to suffering from it, and how you can steer clear of its grip.     We share some of our personal experiences and professional insights about this condition, and as always, we offer you some experiments to help you reconsider the attitudes you hold about food, and the healthy-eating

This week on The Living Experiment, we're talking about Fats — the role they play in healthy eating, and the fact that a lot of what we've been told about them is all wrong. From the healthy fats your body probably needs more of, to the inflammatory fats it most definitely does not, we share what we know about America's most misunderstood macronutrient. We explain why low-fat diets are generally not helpful for weight loss, and why saturated fats are not the dietary evil you've been led to believe. We look at the fascinating role fats play in metabolism, health, mood, mental function and more. And we help you pick better fats as often as you can. Finally, we offer you some experiments so you can reconsider the role that fat-rich foods play in your own life. Get full show notes and resources http://livingexperiment.com/fats/

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Supplements — why you can’t rely on pills and powders for all your nourishment, and why you still might want to take some anyway. We cover the value that both multis and targeted nutrients can have in filling dietary gaps, and why what works for your friend or partner might not work for you. We both share the supplements we take (or don’t), and we offer you some recommendations on the supplements that most of the smart doctors and nutrition pros we know suggest as basics. Finally, we offer some counsel on picking high quality products, and some recommendations for adjusting your own supplementation strategy in ways that work for you. Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/supplements/

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Imposter Syndrome — that disconcerting sense you may not be entirely worthy or qualified to be doing whatever it is you are doing, and that accompanying sense of dread that it’s just a matter of time before everybody else figures that out. Imposter syndrome is a well-recognized phenomenon that affects almost all of us at one time or another, and it can be a significant source of chronic stress. So here, we talk about our own personal experiences with imposter syndrome. We also share what we’ve learned through our professional explorations of it, and some expert strategies for not letting it get the best of you. From investigating your negative self-talk to overcoming your unconscious upper limits, we suggest ways of identifying and navigating through imposter syndrome. And of course, we offer you some experiments to help you evaluate the impact it may be having in your world. Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/imposter-syndr

This week we’re talking about How We See the World.  This episode started out as an answer to a listener question — and then morphed, evolving into a big rambling conversation about hope and doubt, energy and attention, agency and activism, and more. It became one of those conversations where you discover what you think and feel as you are saying it, and you have no idea what is going to come out of your own or the other person’s mouth until it does. It’s worth noting that within weeks of recording this episode, Dallas had what he described as a "mind-melting experience" that caused him to question virtually everything he thinks, so by the time this podcast goes live, he may or may not be willing to stand by all of his statements here. The point is, conversations about how we see the world are worth having, and having, again, and again, and again. So, here, we invite you into ours, and we leave you with experiments to help you start some conversations and explorations of your own. For full show notes and reso

This week on The Living Experiment, by listener request, we’re doing a special guest episode follow-up on the topic of Conscious Language, a subject we originally addressed way back in episode #66.    Joining Pilar this week is Cat Thompson. She’s the teacher and friend who originally introduced Pilar to the study of Conscious Language.    Conscious Language is about noticing and choosing your words with awareness. It’s also about recognizing that everything you say both reflects and influences your daily reality — your perspectives, beliefs, attitudes, energy, and intention.    Here, Cat shares her expert insights about how Conscious Language works, and about why it might be worth incorporating into your life.  Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/conscious-language-2/

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Libido — the nature of our drive for sensual and sexual contact, and the variables that can affect it, for better or for worse. We start from the assumption that a healthy libido means different things to different people, and that there is no "right" way to feel it, or do it. We explore some of the factors that influence libido, and the concerns that many people share about their own, from a lack or surplus of sexual desire to uncertainties about sexual performance. We talk about challenges of living in a society where sexuality is distorted by media and blunted by stress, anxiety, over-scheduling, shame, religious dogma, and more. We also talk about the physiological, biochemical role that healthy sensuality plays in supporting human health and happiness. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you get more comfortable with your sense of libido, and wherever it fits into your own life. Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment

This week on The Living Experiment, we're talking about Functional Medicine — a systems-based approach to addressing the fundamental causes of disease and distress. Both of us have been immersed in the functional medicine movement for years — Dallas as a practitioner and Pilar as a health journalist — and we both see it as a science whose time has come. Here, we talk about what functional medicine is, and why this science- and lifestyle-based approach represents such an exciting evolution in healthcare. We touch on the tools, methods, and philosophy that make functional medicine so different. We explore functional medicine's practical but revolutionary strategy for addressing chronic diseases of all kinds, from digestive disorders and depression to autoimmunity and Alzheimer's. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you assess whether functional medicine might hold promise for you and those you love. Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/functional-medicine/

This week on The Living Experiment, we bring you Part 2 of Pilar's conversation with New York Times best selling author and teacher, Geneen Roth. Geneen has been teaching and writing about conscious eating and living for the past 30 years. Her most recent book is This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide. Through keen observation, reflection, and some very funny asides, her work guides us to see our compulsions and self-sabotaging habits through more curious and self-compassionate eyes. It also helps us see the bigger picture of what we are doing here in the first place, and what we want to do with, as she says, "the breaths we have left." In Part 1, Geneen and Pilar covered all sorts of ground. Here, in Part 2, they pick up where they left off, talking about appetites, aging, beauty, creativity, mortality, and more. Geneen also shares a few of what she calls her "touchstones" — simple strategies for getting grounded, for warding off anxiety, and for evolving your own viewpoints. Finally, they offer some exp

This week on The Living Experiment, while Dallas is off on adventures, Pilar has a very special guest: Geneen Roth. Geneen has written close to a dozen terrific books, including Lost and Found: One Woman's Story of Losing Her Money and Finding Her Life and When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair. She  also teaches life-changing workshops all over the country. Most of Geneen's work explores the intricate, under-examined spaces between how we feel, think, act, and relate — to ourselves, to each other, and to the experience of being alive. In this interview, a far-ranging conversation that stretches over two full episodes, Pilar delves into Geneen's new book, This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide. It's a work so rich in wisdom, feeling, and funny insights that it's kind of hard to categorize, and even harder to contain. Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/messy-magnificent-1/

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Apologizing — the reasons it’s worth doing, and the art of doing it well. We explore the value a good apology can have in healing conflict and shame, and the reasons our well-intended apologies sometimes don’t go as well as we’d like. We talk about the characteristics of good and not-so-good apologies, about private apologies and public ones. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you evolve your own apologetic skills and sensitivities in ways that work for you.

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Friends — not the kind we call “friends” social media, but the real, meaningful, human kind we connect with in person. The kind we care about deeply. The kind we count on for hugs, empathy, perspective, emotional support and fun. In a world where many of us feel painfully pressed for time, we’re barely connecting with our romantic partners and close family members, much less making time to forge and maintain meaningful connections beyond the walls of our own homes. So here, we talk about the difference between various levels of friendship intimacy, and how relationships are deepened by time, proximity, shared experiences, vulnerability, and trust. We explore the essential role friendships play in defining our lives, and how to go about evaluating and evolving the friendships in your life now. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you give your own friendships a little more of the energy and attention they deserve.   

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Reading — its potential for informing and enriching our lives, and its potential for becoming an escapist habit. In a world dominated by a non-stop stream of mass media and clickbait, is there still a place in our lives for real, deep, intentional reading? Is reading a paper book or long-form magazine article the same as reading on screen, or listening to books on tape? Has the ability to read, and ready deeply, become endangered in our culture? We address all these questions and more. We also share the role that reading — particularly book reading — plays in our lives, and the reasons we both read as much as we do. Finally, we offer some guidance on making more discerning reading selections. And we suggest some experiments to help you reflect on how reading can enhance your wellbeing, your thinking, and your quality of life. We also happily announce our sponsorship by Experience Life magazine, and the special, discounted subscription offer and free e-ne

This week on the Living Experiment, we’re talking about “Dying” — the fact that it’s something we’re all going to do, and the fact we tend to live in denial of that fact, often to our detriment. The age-old advice to live each day as though it was your last might be inspiring, but it is also rather impractical. The truth is, most of swerve back and forth between repressing all thought of death to being confronted by it, and then feeling — fleetingly, that it’s something we really ought to give more thought. So here, we dive into the topic of death and dying. We share our take on our own mortality. We share some insights on how to live better by thinking, talking about, and planning for death in ways that work for you. Finally (no pun intended), we offer you some solutions to help you explore your own feelings about death in ways that help you live your own life with greater meaning, pleasure, and satisfaction.  Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/dying   We also happily announce o

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Noise — its many sources, its surprising impacts, and the options we have for relating to it more consciously. From the difficulty of escaping noise in our modern environments to the effect it can have on our health, happiness, and quality of life, we talk about the underestimated toll that noise can take on our bodies and minds. We explore the important role quiet spaces have in supporting our wellbeing, and the opportunities we have for regulating the noise in our midst. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you make more discerning choices about the kinds of noise you choose to tolerate — or eliminate — in your own world. P.S. We also happily announce our sponsorship by Experience Life magazine, and the special, discounted subscription offer and free e-newsletters now available to The Living Experiment listeners.   Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/noise

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Dating — it’s modern trials and tribulations, and the options we have for reclaiming it from the limiting realms of texting, swiping, and scrolling. In an era where face-to-face interaction is limited, and where an entire generation of people have lost track of real-life flirting, mingling, and conversational skills, many are bemoaning what they see as the sad state of dating, even as they are feeling constrained by its commoditizing conventions. So here, we make a case for challenging the superficial status quo, and for making romantic connections that respect the depth and humanity of all parties. We also offer you some experiments to help you experience more fun and satisfaction within your own dating world.   P.S. We also happily announce our sponsorship by Experience Life magazine, and the special, discounted subscription offer and free e-newsletters now available to The Living Experiment listeners.   Get full show notes and resources at: http://liv

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Anxiety — a condition that causes tens of millions of people to feel rattled by intrusive thoughts, oppressed by worries, or otherwise disquieted — sometimes to a disabling degree.   These days, anxiety has surpassed depression as America’s number one mental health disorder.   So here, we talk about a wide range of strategies proven to help, from nutritional interventions to self-calming techniques.    We explore the underlying reasons anxiety is giving so many of us so much trouble.  From the factors that have given rise to our high-stress society, to the implications of medicating anxiety’s symptoms rather than addressing its root causes, we invite you to consider the role anxiety may be playing in your own life, and the options you have for making it better.   We also offer some experiments to help you build your own collection of anti-anxiety skills.  P.S. We also happily announce our sponsorship by Experience Life magazine, and the special, discount

This week, on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Vacation — the benefits that regular breaks from work can have for our health, sanity and happiness, and the reality that most of us aren’t getting nearly enough of them. We look at some statistics that suggest many U.S. adults aren’t getting any paid vacation time, and many more aren’t making full use of the vacation time they have. We explore some of the reasons for that, as well the real costs to our health, wellbeing, and productivity. We also consider some strategies for making the most of the vacations you do take, and for navigating around some of the most common vacation mistakes. Finally, we offer you some experiments to help you begin making space and time for more satisfying vacations in your own life.   P.S. We also happily announce our sponsorship by Experience Life magazine, and the special, discounted subscription offer and free e-newsletters now available to The Living Experiment listeners.   Get full show notes and resources at: http://

This week on The Living Experiment, we’re talking about Judgment — the critical opinions we hold about ourselves and others, and the sometimes scathing assessments we make as a result.   From our natural tendency to disparage those who disagree with us, to the opportunities we miss when we make up our minds too quickly, we explore the territory between learning and judging, between connecting and distancing, between living in the questions and having all the answers.   We suggest some ways of moving from self-righteousness belief toward open-minded inquiry, and we offer you some experiments to help you soften the judger within yourself.   P.S. We also happily announce our sponsorship by Experience Life magazine, and the special, discounted subscription offer and free e-newsletters now available to The Living Experiment listeners.   Get full show notes and resources at http://livingexperiment.com/judgment/