Ep. 16 with Dan Siegel, M.D. : The Nature of the Mind

My next guest is Dr. Dan Siegel, he received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his medical education at UCLA. Dr. Siegel is the executive director of the Mindsight Institute and founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is one of the founders of interpersonal neurobiology and has lectured for the King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, His Holiness theDalai Lama, Google University, and London’s Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

Dr. Siegel has published numerous book, many which became New York Times bestsellers. my personal favorites are the mindful therapist and the handbook of interpersonal neurobiology. His 2 latest publications include intraconnected and Personality and wholeness in therapy. He played a major influential role in my life and remains a great colleague and I’m proud to say, my friend.

In this episode we begin by defining the mind through the lens of science. We then discuss differences between the mind, the self and consciousness, further diving into how our understanding of the self diminishes our experience. Usefulacronyms and the origin stories to many of the ideas central to his thinking were revealed in this episode. When talking to Dan, Meditation, quantum physics, neuroscience, psychology and mathematics are seamlessly knit togetherto bring about the nature of mental life. Finally, we end on exciting rapid fire questions to better understand who Dan is as a person. If any of these topics sound interesting to you. Feel free to skip around.