My ultifave person and favourite neuroscientist Dr Richard (Richie) J Davidson and my fave meditation teacher Dr Cortland Dahl have a life-changing new book out, ‘Born to Flourish.’ I listened to all 8 ½ hours of the audiobook over four days and absolutely loved it! In it, they share that flourishing is a trainable skill, innate within us all, and they give us the tools for how. People can flourish not just when they are happy or achieving, but also in the midst of adversity.
In 2019 I was going through a dark night of the soul and was introduced to Richie’s work on ‘Altered Traits – The Science of Meditation’, empathy and compassion and pain. It saved my life. I drew Richie and Cort in my Rainbow Bubbles of collective Effervescence Original ByShi Portrait style and wrote to them and Richie wrote back! Astonishing.
In the 1990’s The Dalai Lama asked Richie to study compassion, kindness and wellbeing with the same rigorous scientific tools they currently used to study fear, anxiety, and trauma. Ever since he has studied wellbeing with MRI’s and EEG’s etc, and founded the Center for Healthy Minds at The University of Wisconsin, Madison and the nonprofit organisation Humin.
Cortland Dahl works with Richie at the Center and Humin and is an amazing meditator and teacher. He overcame extreme anxiety about public speaking in his teens to now speak publicly professionally. He and Richie have a podcast on Substack, ‘Dharma Lab,’ and an app for mindfulness training, the ‘Healthy Minds Program App’.
I identify with Cort and the monks in Richie’s studies. After 30+ years of wholeheartedly resting (resting with no stimulus) for several hours every day while in constant pain from severe fibromyalgia, I have a similar response to pain stimulus and don’t react with fear. Medical appointments, ME/CFS #MillionsMissing campaigns and applying for NDIS disability support all focus on what’s wrong with you. Focusing on the love, light, beauty, wonder, awe and connection in life instead of the traumas helps me through. I don’t have to wait until I am well to be able to flourish.
The good news is, you don’t have to meditate several hours every day to benefit. Richie and Cortland have discovered powerful evidence of lasting, brain-altering benefits from just five minutes of meditation a day. They give you the tools to incorporate mindfulness into your daily habits. Like brushing your teeth, only nourishing your mind. It’s easier than you may think, and flourishing is infectious!
The world is going through a mental health crisis, with loneliness being as dangerous to longevity as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. ‘Born to Flourish’ teaches easy steps to turn this around to live a life of love and compassion, meaning, purpose and not just momentary happiness, but long lasting contentment. The book outlines four main skills of flourishing: awareness, connection, insight and purpose. Flourishing is possible for us all, and ‘Born to Flourish’ gives us the tools to change our lives for the better. There is real hope!
The audiobook ‘Born To Flourish’ came out in Australia on Audible on Tuesday 24 March, and the paper book will be in stores on Tues 31 March, 2026.