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Dr Rangan ChatterjeeDr Rangan Chatterjee

Neuroscientist: If You Feel THIS, You're Living the Wrong Life (Unlock The One You're Meant For)

This episode is brought to you by: WHOOP: Visit https://join.whoop.com/livemore to get up to 10% off all memberships until December 19th BON CHARGE: Save 25% off sitewise until 31st December https://boncharge.com VIVOBAREFOOT: Get 15% off your first order https://bit.ly/4iG2II4 What is intuition? What happens when we die? And, how does trauma get stored in our bodies? These are just a few of the fascinating themes I explore in today’s episode with returning guest, Dr Tara Swart. Tara is a neuroscientist, a former medical doctor & psychiatrist, a lecturer at MIT, an executive coach and author of 2 books, including her very latest The Signs: The New Science of How to Trust Your Instincts In this episode, Tara shares her own personal story about love, loss, and learning to trust herself again, after the death of her husband, Robin. This life changing experience left her questioning her deepest beliefs as a scientist, when in the midst of her grief, she started noticing unusual signs that she felt - she was unable to ignore. At first, she was sceptical, but these moments gradually helped her reconnect with her intuition in ways she never expected. In our conversation, we explore: - What intuition really is and how to start accessing it again - The gut-brain connection, and how emotions, trauma, and even grief can be stored (and released) in the body. - The practical tools and techniques that helped Tara - and can help you - rediscover your own intuition, including journaling, creative practices and nature - How to gently challenge your beliefs and open yourself to possibility (even if, like Tara, you’re sceptical at first). - Reflections on what science can and can’t explain - and why sometimes, believing in something greater (be it love, the universe, or connection itself) can be a healing force. - How to help your children (or yourself!) grow up with a stronger trust in their inner wisdom, without fear or ridicule. We also talk about the disconnection that many of us feel in the modern world, the transformative power of nature and the many different ways in which humans try to make sense of death. This is a raw, honest and thought-provoking conversation that I’m certain will leave you feeling inspired and eager to rediscover your own inner wisdom. #feelbetterlivemore Connect with Tara: Website https://www.taraswart.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drtaraswart/ Twitter https://twitter.com/TaraSwart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSourceDrTaraSwart/ Tara’s books: The Signs: The New Science of How to Trust Your Instincts US https://amzn.to/4901bZW UK https://amzn.to/3Yg4TbL The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain US https://amzn.to/44hFqlJ UK https://amzn.to/48CLF4Y #feelbetterlivemore #feelbetterlivemorepodcast ------- Order MAKE CHANGE THAT LASTS. US & Canada version https://amzn.to/3RyO3SL, UK version https://amzn.to/3Kt5rUK ----- Follow Dr Chatterjee at: Website: https://drchatterjee.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drchatterjee Twitter: https://twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drchatterjee/ Newsletter: https://drchatterjee.com/subscription DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Dr. Rangan ChatterjeehostDr Tara Swartguest
Dec 17, 20251h 22mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. RC

    It's pretty clear that modern life is disconnecting us from so many truly important things.

  2. TS

    Mm-hmm.

  3. RC

    One of the things it's disconnected us from is our intuition.

  4. TS

    Mm.

  5. RC

    So I want us to start off by asking you what is intuition-

  6. TS

    Mm-hmm

  7. RC

    ... and what are some signs that we can look out for in our own life that might indicate we're disconnected from our own?

  8. TS

    Okay. So intuition, I've come to call it hidden wisdom, because you can't recall everything you've experienced in your life, but you pick up life lessons, and you lay down patterns of behavior and pattern recognition from those memories that you're not sort of conscious of. And I think I would've said to you before that, um, through the process called Hebbian learning, these patterns get pushed deeper and deeper into the brain, into the limbic system, the brain stem, the spinal cord, and even into the gut neurons, and that's why it's often called gut instinct, right? Um, but there's new evidence through, through the serotonin hypothesis that shows that trauma doesn't only exist in the PTSD circuits of the brain. Through the action of serotonin, your blood products, your plasma, and your blood, the capillaries are constricted or dilated by the serotonin, and that changes the nature of nutrients and oxygen going into the tissues of your muscles, your fascia. And so the hypothesis says that that's one way that trauma is stored in the body. You know, Bessel van der Kolk's work-

  9. RC

    Mm-hmm

  10. TS

    ... The Body Keeps the Score. So the new hypothesis is that hidden wisdom or intuition is also stored in, in patterns that are held in the tissues of your body. So it's a bit like saying, you know, your mind isn't just in your brain, it's embodied, it's everywhere.

  11. RC

    Mm-hmm.

  12. TS

    And for example, if you practice yoga, you would y- understand that really well. Um, so yeah, just like trauma can be stored in the body, intuition can be stored in the mind, the brain, and the body.

  13. RC

    And in terms of the things that we can look out for in our own life-

  14. TS

    Mm-hmm

  15. RC

    ... that might indicate-

  16. TS

    Mm-hmm

  17. RC

    ... we're not accessing our intuition as much as we might want to-

  18. TS

    Mm-hmm

  19. RC

    ... are there any things that we can look out for to go, "Actually, you know, I struggle to make a decision. I'm constantly stressed," or whatever it might be-

  20. TS

    Mm

  21. RC

    ... you know, what would you say are signs that people can use themselves to try and sort of figure that out?

  22. TS

    So I think there's a few ways I could approach this. One is, if you keep repeating the same kind of, um, you know, patterns in your decision-making and your behavior, in your relationship dynamics, then you're probably not evolving your intuition and learning from potential mistakes. I think another thing, 'cause I talked about yoga being the union of the mind and the body, is that we're very cut off at the neck, and we, you know-

  23. RC

    Mm

  24. TS

    ... very much separate our mind and our body. So if you're overthinking, if you're anxious, if you're very, you know, rigid in your thinking, if you rely way too much on logic and rationality when it, you know, feels wrong in your gut kind of thing, I think those are really good signs. And you mentioned stress, so of course, because of the gut-brain connection, if our gut microbiome isn't in good condition, that can actually cloud access to our intuition and, and lead to what's called brain fog, and that's like a, a two-way thing.

  25. RC

    Yeah. When I think about stress, and I think about intuition, I think about a relationship that perhaps goes both ways. So when you're chronically stressed, of course-

  26. TS

    Mm

  27. RC

    ... it's very hard to-

  28. TS

    Mm

  29. RC

    ... look inwards and access-

  30. TS

    Mm

Episode duration: 1:22:26

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