We are sensing the world around us all the time. We often do not recognize the information picked up by our bodies. Do you want to extend your thinking beyond your brain? Do you want to learn how to use your body to enhance your use of information in the world around you? In this episode of “Your Life in Process,” Diana discusses why and how to expand our thinking beyond our brain with acclaimed science writer, Annie Murphy Paul.

About Annie Murphy Paul

Annie Murphy Paul is an acclaimed science writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Scientific American, and The Best American Science Writing, among many other publications. Her latest book is The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, published in June of 2021 and selected as an “Editors’ Choice” by the New York Times Book Review. She is also the author of Origins, named by the New York Times Book Review as a “Notable Book,” and The Cult of Personality, hailed by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker as a “fascinating new book.” Her TED Talk has been viewed more than 2.6 million times. Annie is a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellowship, the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship, and the Bernard L. Schwartz Fellowship at New America. A graduate of Yale University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she is currently a Learning Sciences Exchange Fellow at New America.

Key Takeaways

• We can often get so in our heads that we forget we have a body. Begin to extend your mind by noticing your own physical body and internal sensations.
• Gestures and body language are essential parts of transmitting and receiving messages with others in our lives.
• When we explore pieces of nature outside of our minds with our bodies, we feel restored, creative, and connected.

Related Resources

• Download Your Daily Practice for this episode
• Find out what kind of Striver you are and get your free Skillful Striving Toolkit
• Follow Annie Murphy Paul on Twitter
• Learn More about Annie Murphy Paul
• Read The Extended Mind
• Learn More about InsightLA

Diana’s Events

• Reserve your spot in Diana’s Reset and Restore Retreat in Costa Rica in 2023!
• Sign up for Diana’s From Striving to Thriving Summit!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

Connecting With Diana

Thank you for listening to Your Life in Process! Subscribe to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts. If you have any questions or feedback you can contact Diana by email podcast at yourlifeinprocess dot com or leave Diana an audio message at (805) 457-2776. Follow Diana at YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thank you to the team Craig, Angela Stubbs, Ashley Hiatt, and Abby Diehl. Thank you to Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Remember when you become psychologically flexible, you become free.

Episode Segments

• [00:01] Introduction
• [01:56] About Annie Murphy Paul
• [07:04] Thinking With Our Body
• [09:49] Thinking With Interoceptive Awareness
• [16:39] Thinking With Gesture
• [21:56] Thinking With Natural Spaces
• [27:40] Diana’s Upcoming Events At ACBS World Conference
• [28:18] Cognitive Offloading
• [33:45] Thinking In Our Work Spaces
• [38:57] Thinking With Experts
• [40:56] The Value of Social Cognition
• [43:08] The Group Mind
• [46:39] Your Daily Practice