Q & A with Dr. B. – Would you describe in more detail how your teaching evolved from teaching self-discipline to Mindful Biology and Loving Self-Care?

Dr. Larry Berkelhammer

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly Q&A column, I post questions from students and from people who attend my presentations along with my answers.

Here is this week’s question:

QUESTION: Would you describe in more detail how your teaching evolved from teaching self-discipline to Mindful Biology and Loving Self-Care?

ANSWER: Mindful Biology helps people appreciate their bodies on a much deeper level. In turn, that results in them wanting to take better care of themselves. Self-discipline is not a term you would use to describe a mother’s motivation to care for her newborn. Rather, her motivation, catalyzed in part by oxytocin and other endogenously produced chemicals, is the result of deep love, appreciation, and natural instincts to care for her infant. The mind can learn to develop a deep love and appreciation for its body. Once that is established, the mind will naturally want to go to great lengths to care for the precious body. In this way, love and appreciation are far greater motivators for self-care than self-discipline.

This website is offered as a free public service, supplying information that has been found helpful to certain people living with chronic health challenges or issues related to wellbeing. No treatment is offered on this website. The advice is general, and may or may not apply to your individual situation, and is not a substitute for psychotherapy or medical treatment.

If you would like to ask me something, you can type your question in the comment box below. An answer to your specific question may not necessarily appear in this column. The reason for that is I wait until I get a certain number of related questions, then I pick one that covers them all and I answer that one.