You're Already Awesome. Just Get Out of Your Own Way!: Judson Brewer MD, Ph.D. at TEDxRockCreekPark

[@TheRevelegendEMG]

"Reality is so much more delicious than our concept of it" Absolutely brilliant talk!

[@joshaustin9119]

Was just about to repeat that. Your comment was the first i saw

[@jochemstoel]

You can stop thinking by thinking to yourself "I wonder what my next thought is going to be!" and then listening for an answer.

[@boxman7124]

Smoked a pack a day for 35 years haven't had one in four days. Powerful information.

[@dorothyyam5663]

Cannot explain how it feels when such huge topics of life and thought are epitomized into a speech and scientifically verified. I love you neuroscience.

[@jasongravely7217]

Neuroscience is the best!

[@janfox4597]

Just watched this again, and I'm not bored. I think the reason is that Jud is obviously enjoying his talk as he gives it. I can feel the fun of the bike. I can feel the fun and excitement about his finding flow. I can feel his excitement about his work. That's the trick of a good TEDx talk. It makes us FEEL on top of making us THINK. Great job!

[@masonstevenr]

This feels so true to how I got off my 15 year addiction to cigarettes. Great speech!

[@jamesgrey13]

Get out of my way, self!! **punches self in the face** No! YOU get out of MY way!!

[@fran-yt4ok]

Drama queen;)

[@SRDhain]

Hes right about meditation and flow..ive been doing it for years and you really feel the difference. But part of the effect of flow is NOT wanting to go fir or do everything and anything all the time. You're more focussed in flow, and more chilled out. At the very least, you just cut through the work with minimal strain, cause it mostly feels great doing it. Practice and letting go, are everything.

[@scorpionicdecline]

I feel like in the flow when I'm drawing, totally feels like nothing exists, don't even see what Im drawing . Great speech!

[@giorgigudiashvili4876]

This guy is the first who thinks I'm awesome.

[@revanonarsi579]

and im the second, you're awesome man !!☺☺

[@RealJonNewton]

And they won't be the last

[@mohammedjibunoh1215]

Guess that makes 5, you should make it number 6 :) FYI your the most important one, you got this! No you really do :)

[@hatemramadan6978]

Of course you are awesome

[@Navtaoy]

You are awesome

[@cfroi]

The flow state is essentially daoism in Chinese Philosophy. Daoism's core is purposeless, which is the core of all living beings. If we drop our stubbornly scheduled mind and forget the purpose, our body, our imagination and our will power will entangle by themselves. In such, we become free and flow like water. Naturally, beautifully, like water, like all life forms.

[@spokenenglishwithtatieng4k730]

Totally so. Thanks for sharing, and reminding that life is breathing through us as well as living us.

[@LuhRen]

The part about resistance to a behavior being the reason we have a hard time stopping said behavior makes so much sense. I realized that after relapsing from the longest I've been sober that all I was focused on was staying sober and trying to resist my urges that they eventually caught up to me. I learned I need to be involved in other things so I won't have to resist, it just comes naturally.

[@Ronnie7X]

Trust your body to do what it's supposed to

[@dianecwilliams86]

Thank You Dr. Brewer, I loved your clear explanation of getting in our own way. I wrote, "SHOULDS! DON'T COUNT". Showing how we get in our own way when we are forget that nature will do what nature is supposed to do. Man has a choice. If man can get out of his way by eliminating most Shoulds we can grow, learn and find the flow in our connected, yet individual Spirit. Shoulds, stop the flow. Must, Do and Did are all predisposed to Flow. Aloha Works

[@JDubeta]

A HUGE thank-you to you Mr. Judson Brewer! I'm grateful to have come across this TedTalk and I found some of your articles published with the Huffington Post as well, and I look forward to seeing, hearing and reading more. Best regards.

[@AlmaSdance]

"Reality is so much more delicious than our concepts of it." Amazing presentation! I experience flow when I belly dance and sometimes it is magical and even ecstatic. But if while dancing I move into my head doing ego-thinking I may even fall

[@sebghatullahjalali8958]

His book, Unwinding Your Anxiety, saved me from a lot of suffering.

[@jebe-s3s]

It's brilliant. This person saved my life. Several times. Thank you Judson!

[@ozlemdogan8923]

Since studying positive psychology I have been applying flow and mindful present moments of breathe work and experiencing the state of FLOW can't be described in words to people who have never experienced this before. All I can say to anyone considering this, it will change your life for the awesome. Don't listen to my words as they won't make you a believer, honestly practice this over and over again.. short bursts and within such a short amount of time you will have found the right key to unlock your door and boom, euphoria.. there is no more life changing moment than this experience! This experience will turn you into an addict, doing whatever you can for your next natural high!!! 💥💥💥🙏🏼👌🏼

[@TECHGUY2K8]

Since I live alone I tend to over think 80% of the times and since that became a routeen its been interrupting my studies . its like I will be studying my work and all of a sudden I am in my mind years in the future in my own reality thinking about how much I have accomplished and within that time I am soo happy ... but the reality is I havent even done like 20% of my task .... its kinda frustrating I keep getting in my own way .....

[@drWar]

Yes. Meditators can go into flow while meditating. Writers while writing, artists while arting. I think it may be generally easier to get to while doing something physical because you're focusing on your body and what it's doing, but the actual flow state is achieved through the mind.

[@EGGAndCoProductions]

God I wish I knew how to turn off my thoughts, I've experienced flow plenty of times but the problem is trying to get it stops you from getting it, and if you do get it, as soon as you realize your in it, you're back out.

[@mrjames7587]

It just takes practice. If you quickly bring your attention back to what you’re doing, fearlessly, you can keep it for longer and longer. Also, it’s more of an allowing than a trying, you’re definitely right about that. I’ve rewired my brain to heal a number of physical, mental, emotional m and psychological issues and being in flow is the most healthy, healing state there is - I’ve had lots of practice 😊

[@Ray2311us]

Ahs Ahs don’t fish in the wrong waters. Surely try to keep your waters that you swim in closed off because people will react impulsively to have you believe what they believe of you to be.

[@iamripoff]

If you do any sort of meditation such as a meditation retreat this is one of the things you'll learn and come across. The second you focus on "it"... "it" goes away

[@consciouscommunity3897]

Yes I've also worked in cessation for years and those smokers taught me so much about how to quit every behavior I've ever wanted to stop and some I didn't even know I had ❤️ great talk from a year of meditation I feel like I changed my whole life!

[@Lalala-d9e]

totally agreed!

[@SleepWales]

Best Ted Talk I have ever seen. Wonderful.

[@danimontana100]

What Brewer is saying is Zen Buddhism, that's it! The moment of now is what matters the most. When "IT" comes up don't act on it, instead LIVE IN IT, TASTE IT, CHEW IT AND ENJOY IT, until the next moment comes.eckhart tolle and wayne dyer were the once who made Zen comprehensible for me. The Book of Tao Te Chingf is a good start ( free pdf ) on line.

[@christinemolnar3328]

Love the story about the participant who discovered the difference between thinking about the breath verses feeling it. Reminds me of the JKZ quote: "Mindfulness. It's not what you think!" So when can the average consumer have the opportunity of "being with" this neurofeedback tool to wake him/her up when not being with actual experience through the senses?

[@MsBigjohn123]

You are a gifted teacher - thank you!

[@ZosiaSamosiaOo]

I just found out yesterday there is going to be a talk and a movie series on the notion of mindfulness in one of the schools of psychology in my city... Is it a coincidence that I stumbled upon this video today or is it a sign? Now I really think I should go.

[@tonyraven540]

+Gore Blaster - pain cannot be avoided - we cannot conquer it. The best we can do is acknowledge it like any other sensation and move on. I speak from experience.

[@LifesMike]

I paused this then went and accomplished so much in one day. Now I'm watching the other half.

[@amywjn]

Accidentally discovered something like this. I was very very very upset & left the house to cool down, went to a nearby lake & walked along the shore on big rocks, walking very fast. Best way to describe it, one wrong step; fall on hard rocks, no time to think just a lot of reacting. (Not the smartest idea) However, after that my anger was absolutely & totally gone, which would have normally taken awhile to go away. Made a mental note to do something like this, maybe a bit safer when my emotions get the best of me.

[@zugrath16]

Finally, a TED-talk worth watching!

[@smyasir0]

WOW, just WOW ! BRILLIANT ! i have no words .... this guy and his work is OUT OF THIS WORLD !

[@kimaldunate]

Is flow another way for being "in the zone"?

[@MrVentura]

***** Yes.

[@Gijhoao]

Wouldbang

[@braytonc6574]

Wouldbang

[@armandomuniz8600]

indys m like

[@SlicedSlappy]

Yes you knew this

[@aumesh100]

Through the entire audio, I could not get to understand much but just two things. 1. Don't try to over consciously do any of the activities but just do them with usual mindfulness n you will end up doing them better. I suppose this is what he was trying to explain through that athelete example. 2. Meditation: Meditation is a gradual process which brings change in our thoughts n focus over the time though we would face resistance in the beginning. Any comments on what I understood?

[@hehehe1991able]

I feel AWESOME.. thank you.. man i cant get enough of these TEDx videos

[@fccoz8348]

This describes me me completely. When i was young i was so sharp, now i overthink and get caught up in my own thinking.

[@GroudFrank]

Noticed this when I play a tennis game on my Android phone. When I focus and try to think 1 or 2 steps ahead of my opponent or when I try to hit the perfect shot I end up not playing my best. When I let my mind wonder and daydream while playing my performance is much, much better. I've noticed this with some other games I play as well. When I'm at my best at these games is when I'm not too focused on playing the game itself.

[@sal191_]

Groud Frank I noticed this too

[@biomew6506]

Well said

[@pepecohetes492]

I experience this from time to time in my design job, and sometimes I have felt it as well doing chemistry or math problems way back in college...that is when I got my best grades.

[@donellmecca.booker5969]

that flow state is how i got hooked on skate boarding

[@jeffreycwalker]

Well done in summarizing a lot of solid science in ten minutes and making it accessible. Keep on rolling!

[@joejones8146]

Outstanding! To feel the breath works so well

[@honeycomb1149]

Thank you, vexento.

[@Anthony_in_Bloomington_Indiana]

Here's the thumbnail version: You will mess up a project or your performance in a sport by over thinking what you are doing. Researchers call this analysis paralysis. On Public Radio I've heard time and again that a person can mentally juggle 5 to 7 things in a short span of time, at the most. The more things you have to focus on, the less attention you give to each thing. Humans are really bad at multi-tasking. So to do your best, DON'T MULTITASK! The bane of Americans is overwork--and the ruin of any work is a divided interest. Concentrate-concentrate. One thing at a time. -- Mark Twain, Letter to Orion Clemens, May 12, 1880

[@davidluftig4276]

As an experienced "practicer" yes practicer... "doing it", doing it again, and "I" want to do it again are oxymoron's. You (I) can observe it or not. Every time "I" have said, "Wow... this is great"...and "how am "I" doing this... the moment/flow is shattered. "perfect practice or high level practice " allowing -myself/one's self- to just be (there) is the challenge and the reward. (humbly ... being in my own head/anxious is a huge issue, in-spite of knowing better, & regularly experiencing flow (being in the moment). PS "it" is not an "it"(it = some "thing" that is perceived (miss-perceived ) as having a begining middle and end , an inner and outer a prior or posterior (after) .(Part of a Sanskrit shruti to remind oneself to wake-up- "no inner, no outer, no prior no posterior...That Is...! (thatness)"

[@herodotus63]

Absorbing and to the point. Good use of imaging, content and delivery.

[@daniel-stopsurvivingstartl589]

Coming back to the actual topic, new challenges may excite you. But after a little while, you get exhausted. At the same time, your learning slows down. Everything appears to be the same as yesterday. You meet the same person and do the same work. Nothing is as exciting as it was in the beginning. All the efforts you have been pouring in seem to be worthless. Some people give up saying, "this doesn't suit me." You start searching for new areas and new topics. Something ‘new’ is what motivates you. However, people with perseverance continuously track their progress in a single field. They make actual progress, and this is what motivates them. They do not mind how many documentaries they’ve watched, or how ahead they are compared to other people.

[@GodBeyondGods]

Its great to see that modern science is catching up with what Buddhism has known for over 2,500 years.

[@johnhartman3398]

I love "flow" connected with neurology. First exposed to "flow" in theological seminary in 1980.

[@NewSchoolCrap]

Getting cought up in your own thoughts is like a deer in headlights go with the flow brooo

[@MindlessTube]

But you cannot not think. Trying to think of not thinking is still thinking so makes no sense

[@Ray2311us]

The judge needs a judge

[@eeoo2062]

I have the volume all the up (on most of these ted videos) and still have a hard time understanding them. Please when you upload a video, just increase the general volume. Thank you

[@eeoo2062]

doubt it but thanks for your insight

[@pompomzassou]

It's not your speakers. I had to increase it way higher than usual as well.

[@Joeyblannn]

i had no issues

[@jenricecoach]

Nice job, Judson! Thanks for framing meditation in an accessible way. Nice jacket.

[@Frederick0220]

This dude's the new breed. Great stuff!

[@Dylan-jf5tu]

this guy's attire, is getting in his way.

[@sushainable]

Makes sense .. this is precisely The Power of Now - Eckhart tolle

[@fmhemmer]

Excellent. Wondering about a practical neuro feedback mechanism for helping to train individuals in this skill... 9 minutes later - Wow!

[@zthestory791]

This happens when I play video games and it gets really critical. I'm not playing the person on the screen I'm in the screen trying to prevent the terrorists from planting. As crazy as that might sound it actually happens a fair amount. I know it happened, I can look back and reflect on what happened but I can't fully understand why I felt so "in" the moment. Of course immersion plays a key part in this equation and having 7.1 surround sound doesn't hurt but being so in a moment you feel at one with it is an awesome feeling.

[@theideagirlsays]

this was really interesting, i meditate alot and had no idea it would benefit my brain so much! cool graphs and results.

[@TheZGALa]

Brilliant! Thanks.

[@jancheema6776]

Enjoyed & THANK U FOR SHARING. Nj-usa

[@jasonuren3479]

'The reason you want to be better is the reason why you aren't.' Alan Watts

[@iyanttahowellmd]

I like this doctor! Thanks for this helpful information 🌟

[@pvs242ful]

Hey, so I went to Gabor Maté's video. I loved it. It seems to me that he's largely saying the same thing that Judson is saying. I think they are both encouraging us to find and love ourselves... and that our compassion for ourselves will likely open us to compassion to others as well.

[@mariah.thecreativethinker]

Awesome! This is just what I needed to hear. Just flow :)

[@bluebotlivingston6016]

Thank you so much, one of the best talks

[@Goremachine]

The problem is when painful body sensations come up, people are not going to stay with such feelings if they can avoid them.

[@CindieOgata]

Sometimes painful body feelings are somatic symptoms of a deeper unease.

[@shauna_kelly]

This is great!

[@andersoncameron771]

Love This

[@jirayunakplien4595]

This gettle man does Ted Talk 2 Times! what an amazing person

[@melissahouse1296]

Yep. spot on. i needed to hear that, thankyou.

[@gabrielgagne3850]

I was inside flow just last night.

[@riffmaj7]

+Gabriel Gagne does she sell insurance : ) !

[@carlaraimer718]

🙏💜🙏 thank you

[@JamesBailey13]

Thank you for sharing. Is it possible to flow and learn at the same time? Or can you learn how to flow? Hum?

[@TheKibeer]

Yep. Allan Watts and Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now plus the magnetic resonance.

[@MindlessTube]

It's mainly just a Buddhist philosophy I still don't understand what they mean by the now how are you not in the now we can only be in the now and I was the only things I have no clue what they mean

[@roxypickering3245]

accessible, useful, accurate- nice job. thank you

[@Toomuchfakeinthisworld]

Brooo this is so good

[@JesseNickelltheFourth]

So cool! Thank you for doing this research!

[@evaclaz]

wow, this is so true

[@amandeeep09778]

Great talk 🙂

[@PorcusorulDePaste]

start feeling your breath more an more often, just feel it,how you breath in and out, your lungs, the little pause between breathing in and out, expecialy when you are stressed, make a habbit from it, it will help you to be more present in what you do, more productive, and much much more, put the simple act of being aware of your breath in front of everything else, and see the results :)

[@plankton50]

Loved this talk!

[@sybcg]

Very nice thanks for sharing.

[@BlueSkies360]

Thank you.

[@SuperTruthful]

I watched the race with LOLO...she lost that race because instead of focusing on finishing the race, she started looking at her self on the tv screen and fell over the hurdles....she had it and she screwed herself up.

[@kimpenberthy2366]

Great job, Jud!

[@larrswomback5823]

We have all experienced moments in our lives where everything just comes together in some almost magical way --whether playing music, participating in a sport, or just getting totally absorbed in a project. These moments are timeless, effortless, completely free of worry....Really? must be nice

[@jasongravely7217]

Must be nice? Have you ever played music and gotten into flow? It’s not that difficult if you actually sit down to do it for fun. Same with exercise, meditation, and sports.

[@erinholly8841]

this is amazing.

[@tallulahwonders2816]

Whoop whoop when I heard salida.

[@orourkeb40]

really awesome talks!

[@tbmole]

Good job Jud!

[@jonmarcmondor]

Fav Ted speech yo

[@theparadigmshift74]

I like how it said my name before the video started

[@JDubeta]

How do you even consider "thumbs-downing" this?!... Apparently 49 people really enjoy getting in their own way still and remaining stuck there.

[@grubbymanz3928]

I agree with this somewhat, I use mindfulness in combating extreme OCD with Patients and it definitely is a powerful tool for sitting with but not submitting to the urge to compulse. I meditate as well, I have experienced flow states in a variety of ways: I play improvised music where I lose myself, downhill skiing, meditation, psychedelics etc. I love doing these things, however I also like getting caught up in my own abstract bullshit thinking too honestly, it's interesting. I can sit there and just think my ass off, and really get wrapped up in it, totally fused with the thoughts, with no awareness of them as thoughts, very little awareness of my surroundings, and even very judgmental- but a lot of the times what kicks out of this intense default mode activity is an idea for something I want to create- or an interesting question. Mindfulness and metacognition is valuable as a toolbox, but sometimes getting lost in mental review, with all kinds of thinking going on automatically connects dots and most of my creativity comes out of that thought-cacophony.

[@seeker0851]

Mindfulness does not prevent creativity because mindfulness is not about suppressing thoughts. It is about allowing anything to come up in your mind, but being aware of whatever comes up. Therefore, when one is practicing mindfulness, there is more ‘space’ for a creative thought to come up than when one is lost in distressing, fantasizing or repetitive thoughts.

[@grubbymanz3928]

that's a nice theory but for me that's not the case. When I am mindful of my thoughts or feelings I have a certain distance from them, and have likely slightly disengaged my default mode network, my amygdalic activity is feeding into my prefrontal cortex, etc, which for me in practice has led to a reduction of my personal type of creativity, which probably kicks out from heavy non-distanced ruminating, perhaps from the default mode neurological framework.

[@grubbymanz3928]

I don't do it with patients, I doubt it would be helpful with the population I work with. however if you look up the good friday experiment through dr. timothy leary, through Oliver Sacks through the numerous experiments done in the last few years with psilocybin (look up The Trip Treatment, in the new yorker) not only do therapists use the drugs recreationally, as people do, they are in fact administering the drug to patients in the most hallowed halls of modern medicine, like at Johns Hopkins, using it to help trauma cases and the terminally ill. So what you are saying is wrong in every possible way it could be. www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/trip-treatment

[@ThePeople090]

I got flow when i caught a cobra ( I'm a reptile enthusiast ) for the first time!!!

[@poppyorangeflower]

Yes we know we're already awesome. The problem is that the world is not awesome enough for us. Every year we grow we become heavier with burden and culture and sadness and grief and apathy. Everything is actually really underwhelming... so built-in and hardwired and predicable and just... meh.

[@travis8106]

You haven't seen enough of the world

[@poppyorangeflower]

Travis Clement I've lived in four continents, each for an extended period of time. I don't think my experiences are especially limited.

[@KTlevine07]

I really understand what you mean. But I also agree with Travis Clement too to an extent. However, i think its less of seeing enough of the world, and more of amercing yourself in awesome people. I myself feel so socially constrained within my society because i don't feel like I'm around the right people. I'm just finishing off my undergraduate university degree and the first thing I'm going to do when I move back home is to join a meditation class. (along with other numerous activities that will support me in an overall calmer/enjoyable existence) Every time I think about the future being joyous and free, I get this overriding butterfly sensation in the pit of my stomach, the prospect of this joyful/peaceful existence giving me so much excitement. I want to be able to feel that way in present life, not about a future prospect. I want to feel awesome.

[@EdensEchoes]

The world is an awesomely beautiful place with an infinite amount of things to do. The only reason you think the world is no awesome enough is because you have fooled yourself into believing that it isn't awesome enough. Don't rely on the outside world to make you happy. You need to change your perception of the world in order to be happy. Just meditate and you will start to see just how complex and beautiful the universe is. I don't have to do anything to be in complete bliss. Just feeling life itself is enough for me. Meditate long enough and you'll probably change your way of thinking, and you'll be amazed at how much you're perception will change. It will feel like a different universe - only that it isnt different at all.

[@faradaydefan5463]

Petit Orenji _"I've lived in four continents, each for an extended period of time."_ If you were living, you wouldn't be such a grief stricken pessimist. Thus I think it would be more accurate to say that you _survived_ on four courtinents.

[@lacyMindsetConsulting]

I loved the video

[@elmando26]

Have you ever been walking down a flight of stairs just fine, then looked down at the steps and almost tripped? A task that you are expert at, but think about it too much and you can mess up.

[@Ray2311us]

Amanda Hague Have you ever had the stairs MOVE on you? That’s when you have issues.

[@DennisHelstrom]

Matthew 5:48 Jesus gave not a commandment but a complement. "Be ye perfect in the flow"???

[@daquonperry6019]

Thats powerful