Be honest: how many self help books do you own? Do you actually feel any better as a result? In our earnest quest to take care of ourselves, to live happier and more meaningful lives, it can be too easy to let others set the bar for our success. Is this a mistake?
Enter Dr. Amitha Kalaichandran who recently wrote an op-ed in the Globe and Mail calling self help books the gateway drug to a trillion-dollar industry. In this week’s episode, we talk about the potential dangers of biohacking and how charisma gets mistaken for integrity.
The most powerful teacher we can access in our quest for healing is our own inner authority. We just need to use it to critically appraise the information in front of us—and to build our wellness tool kit.
About Dr. Amitha Kalaichandran:
Dr. Amitha Kalaichandran is an epidemiologist, physician, writer, speaker, and health-tech consultant. She's a proud alumna of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Toronto. She has also completed Fellowships in Integrative Medicine from the University of Arizona and Journalism from the Munk School of Global Affairs. As a contributor to the New York Times since 2017, Amitha covers a diverse range of topics, from health and wellness to medical education in publications as varying as the Washington Post, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Wired, and The Atlantic. Her first book, On Healing (Random House) will be published in 2023.
On this episode we chat about:

How to build a wellness tool kit that’s reflective of our individual needs and rooted in critical thinking/science
Why sleep hygiene, nutrition, and stress management also deserve a place in medicine
The health benefits of social connection and the implication of community on our physical health
How the self-help industry takes advantage of trauma survivors or the financially distressed
Why there’s potential for danger in the tech bro biohacking phenomenon
The fact that ostensible health leaders are essentially just glorified marketers—and HOW to discern whether or not they’re reputable…or just charismatic
Dealing with the grief of a seemingly ongoing pandemic…and why Dr. Kalaichandran says we should allow ourselves to cry (tip: it calms our sympathetic nervous system!)
Why healing is not choosing between either Western medicine OR a holistic practice, like meditation, it’s both.

Learned something new? Have questions?
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Connect with Dr. Amitha Kalaichandran:
Website: http://www.dramitha.com
Instagram: @dramithamd
Twitter: @DrAmithaMD