Anne Kertz Kernion on Nature, Habits and Creativity

Subscribe on your favorite platform: Anchor | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Overcast | Stitcher | Amazon Music | RSS |

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Consider supporting our content directly. You can also leave a review on your platform of choice. Thanks for listening!

Anne is the owner/artist of Cards by Anne, an inspirational greeting card company founded in 1986. Anne's cards, hand-designed in calligraphy and ink, are available online (cardsbyanne.com) and hundreds of stores.

For fourteen years, Anne taught “Cross-Cultural Understanding of Religious Meaning” at Carlow University; for seven years, she taught courses ranging from Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Nutrition, to World Religions and Ethics at a local community college.

Her new book, “Spiritual Practices for the Brain: Caring for Mind, Body, and Soul, was published by Loyola Press in October. Her first book, "A Year of Spiritual Companionship," was published by SkyLight Paths in 2016.

Currently, Anne is a frequent lecturer and retreat leader, presenting topics that combine neuroscience, positive psychology, and spirituality to groups across the US and Australia. A former Division 1 athlete, Anne teaches a weekly yoga class at a local retreat center and enjoys biking and hiking. She and her husband, Jack, have 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren.

Anne’s most recent book: Spiritual Practices for the Brain: Caring for Mind, Body, and Soul

Show notes:

[00:04:16] What is Anne's Background? 

[00:06:57] Combining Science with Christian Religion

[00:10:23] Creating frameworks for others to build off 

[00:11:49] Placebo effect

Definition - a beneficial effect produced by a placebo drug or treatment, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that treatment.

The power of the placebo effect - Harvard Health

Placebo effect - Latest research and news

[00:12:46] Cornerstone habit

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Keystone Habits: The Simple Way to Improve All Aspects of Your Life

[00:15:42] Reframing activities to make it more approachable

[00:17:57] Habit Stacking 

Habit Stacking: 17 Small Productivity Habits

[00:19:20] Technologies impact on us

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

Joe Jackowski on The Dangers of Social Media

Watch The Social Dilemma

[00:21:42] Shinrin Yoku - Forest Bathing

The Benefits of 'Forest Bathing' | TIME

[00:23:11] Awe Walks

What Are "Awe Walks?"

[00:25:01] Nasal Breathing - Andrew Huberman

Dr. Andrew Huberman - Breathing Exercises for Optimized Brain Performance

Huberman Lab

[00:26:45] Nature to help refocus or when feeling overwhelmed

Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols and Céline Cousteau

[00:28:59] My Octopus Teacher

Watch on Netflix

My Octopus Teacher | Official Trailer | Netflix

[00:32:23] How light affects the brain

‎Huberman Lab: Master Your Sleep & Be More Alert When Awake | Episode 2 on Apple Podcasts

Light & Sleep: Effects on Sleep Quality

[00:34:57] The health of the forest

The Social Life of Forests

[00:37:45] How do you know where to put your focus? 

[00:38:52] Advice to young people 

Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

[00:41:33] Generalization

Range by David Epstein

[00:46:34] Enthusiasm 

[00:47:21] Creativity 

Creativity: The Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

[00:50:22] Expanding on meditation

[00:51:43] Training the brain

[00:59:22] Favorite Books and Authors

David Whyte - Consolations 

Mary Oliver

Thomas Merton (Wikipedia)

Bonus Commencement Speeches

This Is Water - Full version-David Foster Wallace Commencement Speech

Fred Rogers’ commencement address at Marquette University

George Saunders Commencement Speech 2013

Anna Quindlen | 2017 Washington University Commencement Speech

[01:00:48] A belief or behavior that has most improved your life?

[01:01:42] If you had a giant billboard what would it say? 

[01:01:58] Where to connect with Anne?

Recent podcasts you might enjoy:

Featured
Joe Jackowski on Apotheosis and The Parodies
Joe Jackowski on Apotheosis and The Parodies

Today on the podcast, we are joined by Joe Jackowski. Joe is a Marine Corps veteran and current graduate student at Vanderbilt University in the Cognitive Psychology in Context program. His primary interest is meaning in life, which broadly extends to problems in ethics, A.I., and culture.

In this episode, we sit down to discuss his first long-form article on his new sub stack, Apotheosis: A Philosophy for Influencers

Joey and Drew on Few Will Hunt
Joey and Drew on Few Will Hunt

"Everybody wants to eat, but Few Will Hunt."

Today on the podcast with Joey Bowen and Drew Beech, co-founders of the apparel brand and community Few Will Hunt.

Joey and Drew spent their daily commutes through the gritty streets of Philadelphia on the phone for a year straight.

On these calls, they talked about business and life — especially the trends of self-entitlement and shortcut-seeking they witnessed in society.

These trends made them feel alone in an ever-softening world. “Are we the only ones that still believe in the power of hard work?” Drew asked. Joey responded, “It’s like we say at my hunting cabin — everybody wants to eat, but few will hunt.”

This statement perfectly summed up their frustrations with society. It became their mantra.

Jordan Criss on Fulfillment, Imposter Syndrome, Procrastination and Eulogy Virtues
Jordan Criss on Fulfillment, Imposter Syndrome, Procrastination and Eulogy Virtues

On this podcast episode, Jordan Criss returns for a long-overdue discussion on Life and Fulfillment. We start the conversation with the idea that most people are actively disengaged with what they spend most of their time. From there, we cover imposter syndrome, healthy habits, procrastination, and focusing on what matters most to you regardless of the current outcome. Life is about playing a long game. Toward the end of the conversation, I was reminded of a book called The Road to Character. One of the core messages is to think more deeply about the eulogy virtues than resume virtues since modern life is more focused on the latter. In the end, each of us has to figure out what fits best for our life; no matter what, it will be a process. The faster you embrace the process, the less painful it will be. So with that, I pass this off to the listener. What else can we explore if you've encountered the mentioned sources, your own experiences, or any other related ideas?

Karlee Owens on Natural Movement, Spirals and Listening to Your Body
Karlee Owens on Natural Movement, Spirals and Listening to Your Body

Coach Karlee is a movement coach who teaches her athletes to move their bodies as nature designed: strong, secure, pain-free, and forward. Utilizing slow-motion video assessment, she can assess, address, and correct pattern errors that are causing pain and/or hindering performance goals. With a background in soccer, endurance running, and strength and conditioning, Karlee takes an intense passion for competition and athletics into her coaching style to help build mentally and physically capable athletes, regardless of age, gender, sport, or background. She prioritizes foundations for durability through awareness and integration of pain-free movement practices to maximize performance and longevity. Are you ready to unlock your INNER ATHLETE?

Recent blogs you might enjoy:

Featured
Archetypes: The Green Lion and the Unicorn
Archetypes: The Green Lion and the Unicorn

In one of his most influential works, Psychology and Alchemy, Carl Jung argues that alchemy was far more than a failed science. Instead, it was an undifferentiated mix of object and subject. Alchemy was chemistry insofar as it was a science, and it was a psychological practice…

In Pursuit of Goggins
In Pursuit of Goggins

For many, David Goggins is seen as inhuman or, as he has said, uncommon amongst the uncommon, sure that is true. But I look at it a little differently. If he can forge himself into something extraordinary, why can't I? Why can't the person next to me? In this video, I discuss what it means to be In Pursuit of Your Greatness.

Archetypes: The Bull
Archetypes: The Bull

For an agricultural society, life is a cycle of deaths and rebirths. In the spring, the farmer places the seeds of his crops into the soil. Time moves forward. Storms roll over the fields and define the space between heaven and earth…

Finding Purpose and Meaning in an Overwhelming World
Finding Purpose and Meaning in an Overwhelming World

The recently released film Everything Everywhere All At Once is one of the most fascinating and well-executed films I've seen in a long time! The film explores ideas from the multi-verse, purpose, and meaning in life. So let's tap into another version of ourselves and see what we learn from themes in the film.

Check out the Feeding Frenzies! A weekly collection of something worth listening, reading, watching, and thinking about!

Featured
Could We Engineer Spider-Man’s Powers?
Could We Engineer Spider-Man’s Powers?

With the upcoming release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, I started thinking about an idea. How far away are we from being able to engineer Spider-Man.

Sure we can escape into sci-fi territory very fast, but what technology or research is being done that could plausibly get us to a Spider-Man-like ability set. In this Feeding Frenzy, we take stock of research being done to bring the powers of Spider-Man to our world.

Noah Feldman, Haptic Glove, and Avoiding Stupidity
Noah Feldman, Haptic Glove, and Avoiding Stupidity

In this edition, we have a podcast from Noah Feldman on the Tim Ferriss Show. Worth reading is an introduction to the Reality Lab at Meta (Facebook) and research into the haptic glove to better interface virtual reality. Then, as always, a few more ideas worth your time.

Metabolic Health, The Future of Trucks and Arcane
Metabolic Health, The Future of Trucks and Arcane

This edition was a pretty exciting week! There are two podcasts worth listening to this week. The first one is with Dr. Casey Means on the WHOOP podcast talking about metabolic health. The second podcast is with Steve Viscelli talking about the future of trucking and autonomous drive. Worth is a regenerative medicine breakthrough repairing a spinal cord injury in mice, and as always, a few other ideas worth your time!

Paul Conti on Trauma, Thinking Systems and The Goiania Incident
Paul Conti on Trauma, Thinking Systems and The Goiania Incident

In this edition, we have a podcast with Dr. Paul Conti on the Tim Ferriss show, sharing how trauma affects us and how we can heal from it. Next, worth reading is an excerpt from Think Fast and Slow about the two types of thinking systems. Finally, a video on The Goiania Incident is worth watching, one of the worst nuclear exposure accidents.

HealthErich WenzelAnne Kertz Kernion, Podcast, Nueroscience, Positive Psychology, Spirtuality, Habits, Creativity, Generalists1 Comment