HRV biofeedback training with the Oura ring to lower stress, anxiety and improve performance

I don’t meditate.

Let me explain why. I didn’t end up studying neuroscience by accident. I got into neuroscience because I was fascinated about the performance of our brain and body. I started meditating relentlessly when I first discovered it at the age of 19. Contrary to popular belief, meditation was anything but relaxing. It only bought to the surface the destructive and self loathing thought patterns that up till then only ran under the surface.

Thus began the excruciating process of observing the mind to weed out negative thought. Thoughts are like seeds which grow roots deep within the body. Mindset, positive psychology and shifting focus was never the answer because the mind was never the problem. To address the problem I had to get to the root cause itself — why was I having negative thoughts in the first place?

I got into neuroscience because I wanted to understand why meditation only worked sometimes or was it simply a matter of practice. Fast forward 20 years and people are surprised when I say I don’t meditate. They ask, how do you stay so calm? Why are you always relaxed? Why don’t you have a ritual, routine or practice!