As we like to point out, we have no clue who is on our guest list when we start the podcast.  Luana brought three people we've spoken with before, and they wanted to weigh in on the same topic that was talked about last week - that is, how to get out of a negative mindset, as well as how to treat the negative impacts of football or drug abuse on the brain.
In this case, Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft who created the brain institute stopped by.  When Jennifer and I first met Paul it was some years ago - and is in the film TALKING TO PAUL ALLEN, JUNIOR SEAU AND DAVE DUERSON (Free on Youtube).  In that film, we detail how these three individuals wanted to tell us that "Joe Namath has cured his CTE using oxygen therapy."
 
No other way to put it - we were not aware of that in any way shape or form. And after their third visit to talk about it - I learned that indeed Joe was telling people that his oxygen therapy had likely cured his CTE.
So I tried to clarify that what he had come through to tell us, was that Paul is suggesting "from the flipside" that oxygen therapy would be valuable in treating depression or brain trauma.
As noted, in the research of Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, he's shown that meditation can "change the shape of the amygdala, the regulator of serotonin in the brain - the regulator of emotions.
I highly recommend people take a look at this research if it's something they're working on. Davidson has demonstrated that meditation can "cure or alleviate symptoms of depression."  Worth examining.
Then there were two other friends who stopped by - one was Bill Paxton whom I knew for decades, and has shown up often in our book BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE where we interviewed him extensively about his journey. But also the film TALKING TO BILL PAXTON is now available on Amazon where I had three different mediums ask Bill the same questions on the flipside and he answered them all the same - including one session where I was not present.
Finally, Charles Grodin is and was a dear friend, and for Jennifer to say that he was the source of the voice that I heard this morning (saying "HELLO" so loudly it woke me up) and my wife woke me up yesterday with this poking of my foot - saying "someone had poked her three or four times in the night."
Again - it's a way of demonstrating that they still exist. Neither my wife nor I suspected that it was someone we knew - and I had planned to "ask the question during the podcast" if the time arose that I could ask it... and sure enough, it was brought up without me prodding, and Jennifer said that "something happened to Sherry as well" which was accurate.
Anyways, a long way of saying our loved ones are not far away. Just allow that they know what we're doing, they know that it's okay to chat with us, they know that we will disbelieve that it really is them, but if one is listening to this podcast, it's likely because they would like to be able to converse with a loved one.
Jennifer is doing a wine and spirits group this weekend in Santa Ynez, near Solvang - so if one is in the neighborhood check it out.
Another mind bending session with the flipside.