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Sean Carroll's Mindscape · June 17, 2024 · 75m
279 | Ellen Langer on Mindfulness and the Body
Ellen Langer on her research into psychological mindfulness (distinct from meditation-based mindfulness). Her Counterclockwise study showed that changing the environment to match a younger era actually reversed physical aging markers. Mind shapes body more than we assume.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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Langer: in her famous Counterclockwise study, elderly men who lived in an environment designed to replicate 1959 showed reversed biological markers of aging — improved grip strength, flexibility, cognition, and even appearance. The environment physically changed their bodies.
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Langer: her mindfulness (active noticing of novelty) and Buddhist mindfulness (non-reactive awareness) are different technologies with overlapping goals. Both combat habituation; they just use different mechanisms.
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