How to Be a Practical Optimist (with psychiatrist Sue Varma)

This is a special episode from our archives: In 2018, shortly after we launched The goop Podcast, Gwyneth sat down with her own mom, actress Blythe Danner. The two opened up to each other about old boyfriends, what it was like acting together, things they'd approach differently at this stage of their lives, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The founder of Brown Girl Therapy and the author of But What Will People Say? joins Cleo Wade to talk about belonging, family, and identity. Kohli examines her own experiences as a child of South Asian immigrants, and the pressure to present different versions of herself across different cultural contexts. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sue Varma, author of Practical Optimism, served as the first medical director and attending psychiatrist at the World Trade Center Mental Health Program, treating civilian and first-responder survivors in the aftermath of 9/11. She shares how her work there led her to develop a framework for practical optimism. She explains what it means to be a practical optimist (and why it's different than blind optimism), ways for moving forward if you're feeling stuck, and how small intentional changes have the power to impact our physical and emotional health. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Legendary author Anne Lamott discusses the many ways love can transform us. She shares how she learned to break free from perfectionism, the spiritual value of crying, the mantras that help ground her in self-love, and her new book Somehow. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Katara McCarty is the founder of Exhale, an app focused on the mental wellness of Black women. Today, she shares her personal life story with Gwyneth. They talk about how McCarty’s work has been informed by a unique survey she conducted in 2023. And what it means to hold space: “I think that holding space takes acknowledging the fullness of the person you’re holding space for,” McCarty says. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gwyneth is joined by Lisa Mosconi, author of The Menopause Brain. Mosconi is an associate professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine and the director of its Women’s Brain Initiative and the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program. Today, Mosconi explains how hormonal shifts during perimenopause and menopause can impact cognitive health and shares some of the clinical trials and brain-imaging work her lab is doing to better understand this stage of life. They about the foods that can support brain health at any stage of life and Mosconi’s perspective on why menopause can be seen as an opportunity, particularly from an evolutionary standpoint. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, we’re sharing a conversation from our last In goop Health summit. Kim Little is a software developer, lifelong meditator, and cofounder of Moments of Space, a new meditation app that teaches an eyes-open technique. Little joined Gwyneth onstage to talk about how we can find deep connection throughout the everyday. (GP uses the eyes-open technique during her walks and has found it so beneficial that she’s recently come on as a co-owner and community director at Moments of Space.) At the end of their conversation, Little shares three ways to approach the eyes-open method and guides us through a live meditation. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The author of Conscious Grieving: A Transformative Approach to Healing from Loss joins Cleo Wade to discuss how we go about rebuilding a life, or finding wisdom in grief. They talk about how men and women often process their emotions differently, and why it can be difficult to acknowledge loss and to sit with our grief. "We have to start by just being in it, and it's actually the hardest thing because everyone tries to move out of it as quickly as possible," says Bidwell Smith. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cleo Wade is joined by Corey Keyes, author of Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down. In today's conversation, Keyes explains how he measures the states of languishing and flourishing, and what we get wrong about mental health. And he shares the personal story of his own search for meaning, which sparked his research all the way back in 2002. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gwyneth is joined by the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of Supercommunicators to talk about the art and science behind meaningful conversation. Duhigg explains the three types of conversations, what makes certain ones work, and the traits of highly effective communicators. He also shares a few tools for reframing difficult conversations and his most important tip for moving past small talk. And at the end, GP shares the dinner-party question she likes to ask to build connection. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices