I’ve been employing these techniques for several years now, and they seem to have led to a marked increase in the quality of my experience of the world. Of course, it’s can be tough figure out whether a relationship is correlative or causal. This is especially true when it comes to one’s internal experience, and I’m sure that the introduction and elimination of other habits also contributed to my experiential elevation.

That said, these seven techniques are, to me, backed up by a lot of solid evidence. This evidence includes that derived from personal experience, from the anecdotes of others…

Few podcast episodes have changed view of reality, and the quality of my day to day state of mine, like this one. In it, Tim Ferriss interviews the legendary Czech psychiatrist Stan Grof.

Grof is famous for using alternative methods of therapy to unlock and release deeply held emotions and trauma in his patients. One of these methods is a system Grof and his wife developed, known as Holotropic Breathwork

During a Holotropic Breathwork session, patients breath deeply and rapidly for two and a half hours while listening to stimulating music. In the podcast episode with Ferriss, Grof claimed that…

Perhaps everything is exactly as it should be, and the fact that it doesn’t seem so is due to our limited perception.

Out of all activities, reading perhaps best epitomizes the phrase “double-edged sword.”

Scientists tell us what matter does. Artists and athletes show us what we can do with matter.

Why are you so interested in figuring out how you got messed up? Why you have the neuroses that you do? Who cares why you are the way you are? Wouldn’t you rather know how you can become the way you want to be?

The fact that you’re not…

In October of 2020, I spent six and a half days in total darkness.

The experience was nothing short of profound. While I tried not to go in with many expectations, there was certainly a large part of me that wanted visions, emotional and physical releases, and insights into the nature of reality. I got all three massive amounts. Below, I’m going to talk a little bit about my experiences in the darkness, and give a few pointers to anyone looking to do their own darkness retreat.

This is a very abridged summary, as much of what I went through…

Throughout history, there have been a large number of geniuses who displayed profound deficiencies. Beethoven was terrible at just about everything aside from composing and playing music. Newton was incredibly anti-social. In his younger years Richard Branson could barely read. So much of life is about finding your niche.

If you struggle to pay attention in class, you can take a pill to help you focus. But before you do so, you might want to consider the possibility that you’re simply taking the wrong class.

If an all knowing entity appeared before you and said that it would answer ten…

Link to the Study - Iron Deficiency in Children With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Key points:

• Evidence suggests that symptoms of ADHD may be caused by low iron levels.
• In the study, normal children and children diagnosed with ADHD had their serum ferritin levels tested. The group of children with ADHD showed significantly lower levels than the normal group, suggesting that low iron might be a cause of some symptoms of ADHD.
• This means that, in some cases, dietary interventions may be able to reduce or eliminate the need for ADHD medication.

Excerpts:

• “Iron deficiency causes abnormal dopaminergic neurotransmission and may…

Link to the Study: Loving Kindness Meditation Slows Biological Aging in Novices

Notes:

• This study provides evidence that certain forms of meditation can have positive effects at a cellular level.
• Loving kindness meditation is a form of meditation in which the meditator directs loving thoughts towards others or themselves. A common form of living kindness meditation involves visualizing another person, and thinking thoughts such as: “may you be happy, may you strong, may you be healthy.”
• Biological aging is often measured be observing telomere length. Telomeres are caps that exist on the ends of chromosomes, and shorten as we age…

The clothes you wear. The songs you play. That which resonates with your being. Express it, so the others with whom it resonates can see the connection you share.

Would you rather have ten deep friends or one hundred acquaintances? Would you rather be a master at one instrument, or reasonably good at four? Would you rather be fluent in two languages, or able to scrape by in five?

Much of life comes down to finding the balance between repetition and novelty. Between depth and breadth.

Should I read a new book, or reread a book I’ve already read?

Could…