#329 How to Break Your Anxiety Habit | Judson Brewer

To mark the one year anniversary of the week in March of 2020 when Covid fundamentally altered our lives, we’re launching a special two-part series. Today, we’re going to be talking about anxiety, which has been spiking during the pandemic. My guest is Dr. Jud Brewer, a psychiatrist and deep dharma practitioner who argues that anxiety is a habit, one that you can unwind. Then, next Monday, we’ll talk to Nicholas Christakis, who is not only a doctor but also the head of the Human Nature Lab at Yale, about when the pandemic will end, and what this ordeal has revealed about our species. But today it’s anxiety with Jud Brewer. 

Some of you may know Jud from the Ten Percent Happier app, where he teaches a mindful eating course. He’s also been on this show several times. He is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. He’s got a number of apps that use mindfulness to treat addiction, including Eat Right Now, Craving to Quit, and Unwinding Anxiety. He also has a brand new book, called Unwinding Anxiety. In this interview, we talk about: how exactly mindfulness can be harnessed to deal with anxiety; what is anxiety anyway, and why does he view it as a habit? And we publicly debate something we have been privately discussing: is there any level of stress or anxiety that is healthy?

One more thing: We are looking for a podcast marketer. If you love this show, marketing, and building relationships, we would love to have you on the team to help us grow Ten Percent Happier and our future shows. Please apply at https://www.tenpercent.com/careers.

Where to find Judson Brewer online: 

Website

Social Media:

• Twitter 
• Facebook 
• Instagram
• YouTube

Book Mentioned:

• Unwinding Anxiety

Apps Mentioned:

• Unwinding Anxiety
• Eat Right Now
• Craving to Quit

Other Resources Mentioned:

• Thomas Borkovec
• The GAD-7
• The DSM
• The Rescorla Wagner Model
• Dipa Ma
• Jack Kornfield
• The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
• Yerkes-Dodson Law
• Hans Selye
• Louis J Muglia, MD, PhD
• Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Additional Resources:

• Ten Percent Happier Live: https://tenpercent.com/live
• Coronavirus Sanity Guide: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide
• Free App access for Frontline Workers: https://tenpercent.com/care