The Joy Reset: Rewiring our Brains and Discovering our Capacity to Cultivate Joy. With Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald
Untangle2 Joulu 2025

The Joy Reset: Rewiring our Brains and Discovering our Capacity to Cultivate Joy. With Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald

Our guest today is Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald, Trauma researcher and Author of the book, "The Joy Reset: Six Ways Trauma Steals Happiness and How to Get It Back.” Her book isn’t just about finding joy; it’s about rewiring our brains and rediscovering our power to cultivate joy EVEN in the darkest moments of life.

She describes the barriers that keep us from accessing joy—hypervigilance, emotional numbing, fear of loss, conditioning, guilt, and shame—and then defines ways to tap into positive emotions that can become the very foundation of psychological resilience.

In our interview she shares some exercises that make joy, hope and gratitude both bite-sized and accessible and how they can show up even in our toughest moments.

I love how she weaves neuroscience into her exploration of trauma and joy, explaining how our brains are biologically wired to both adapt to trauma and heal from it. And…good news…we ARE always biologically capable of joy.

Quote from her website: "Joy does not exist only in the moments that are free of pain. In fact, the brightest, tiniest, most important pieces can only be found in the dark. I want to teach you how to harness and amplify the power of that glinting magic–because this sustainable, endless light source will do more than help you get through your darkest, scariest, loneliest times."

As always, we’re untangle, the podcast from Muse the brain sensing headband that helps to transform your brain. Use promo code untangle 15 at choosemuse.com for your discount.

Resource: https://www.drmcmcdonald.com/

Thanks, as always, to our sponsors. Rula. Quince. Born Shoes.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jaksot(572)

Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools: A Transformation Story of Inner City Kids. With Adres Gonzales, Ali Smith and Atman Smith

Mindfulness and Meditation in Schools: A Transformation Story of Inner City Kids. With Adres Gonzales, Ali Smith and Atman Smith

Andrés González is a Puerto-Rican American teacher, author, and musician. He has taught yoga and meditation to diverse populations worldwide for twenty years and is a Co-Founder of the Holistic Life F...

22 Elo 202335min

Creative Acts for Curious People. How to Think, Create and Lead in Unconventional Ways. With Sarah Stein Greenberg.

Creative Acts for Curious People. How to Think, Create and Lead in Unconventional Ways. With Sarah Stein Greenberg.

Sarah Stein Greenberg is Executive Director of Stanford University's d School (Design School) and is the author of the book, “Creative Acts for Curious People. How to Think, Create and Lead in Unconve...

15 Elo 202346min

Want to Be Unstoppable? Get Fired Up and Focused with Tools that May Change Your Life Forever. With Ben Angel.

Want to Be Unstoppable? Get Fired Up and Focused with Tools that May Change Your Life Forever. With Ben Angel.

Ben Angel, author of "Unstoppable, A 90-Day Plan to Biohack Your Mind and Body for Success" shares how his early depression and lack of energy led him to ‘find solutions’ he never imagined would make ...

8 Elo 202343min

A Personal Story of Growth, Self-Care and Finding Balance. With Monique Billings

A Personal Story of Growth, Self-Care and Finding Balance. With Monique Billings

Monique Billings is a professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. She was drafted into the WNBA in 2018. She shares her personal story about gr...

1 Elo 202331min

Can you Harness Kindness and Self Compassion to Speak Up, Own your Power and Thrive? To Be Tender and Fierce? With Kristin Neff

Can you Harness Kindness and Self Compassion to Speak Up, Own your Power and Thrive? To Be Tender and Fierce? With Kristin Neff

Kristin Neff is an expert and pioneer in the field of self-compassion. Her most recent book is called Fierce Self Compassion: How Women can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim their Power and Thrive. ...

18 Heinä 202339min

How and When Does an Organization or Individual Know That It's Time for Change? And How do We Navigate This? Can you Recover from Bad Decisions? With Richard Hawkes

How and When Does an Organization or Individual Know That It's Time for Change? And How do We Navigate This? Can you Recover from Bad Decisions? With Richard Hawkes

Today’s guest is Richard Hawkes, thought leader, change expert, author and Founder & CEO, of Growth River — an international consulting firm. His book is called Navigate the Swirl, 7 conversations for...

4 Heinä 202342min

How a Panic Attack Drove Former News Anchor to Meditation. With Dan Harris.

How a Panic Attack Drove Former News Anchor to Meditation. With Dan Harris.

10% Happier Author and Former ABC News Anchor Dan Harris joined us in the early days - almost 6 years ago on Untangles 7th episode. In this interview he shared the story of how he came to believe that...

27 Kesä 202337min

Can Mindfulness Save (or help!) the Healthcare System? With Dr. Ron Epstein

Can Mindfulness Save (or help!) the Healthcare System? With Dr. Ron Epstein

Dr. Epstein is a family physician, palliative care Dr., author, researcher, and teaches communication and mindful practice in medicine. His book, Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity explore...

20 Kesä 202339min

Suosittua kategoriassa Terveys ja hyvinvointi

unicast
voi-hyvin-meditaatiot-2
psykopodiaa-podcast
rss-hanna-tikander
tiedenaiset-podcast
rss-pitaisko-erota
vakeva-elama-viisaampi-mieli-vahvempi-keho
rss-narsisti
puhu-muru
terapiassa
junnut-pelissa
meditaatiot-suomeksi
rss-kuumilla-aalloilla
aamukahvilla
selviytyjat-tarinoita-elamasta
rss-pt-paahtio
paaasia-podcast
paritellen
rss-uplevel-by-sonja-hannus
rss-kyykkya-ja-kuoharia