For this fifth episode of Club Bonheur, we had the pleasure of welcoming Albert Moukheiber .
Clinical psychologist and doctor in cognitive neuroscience, Albert supports patients but also students when he teaches clinical psychology at the University of Paris 8. Speaker, author of “ Your brain plays tricks on you ” published by Allary, he is also the founder of Chiasma , a structure that focuses on critical reasoning and mental flexibility.
In this podcast, Albert dissects the mechanisms of our brain and gives us the keys to learning to relax in the face of all our goals. Food, sport, self-care, how to keep perspective on your routine and your goals, how to sort through all the advice and information that the media gives us and how not to become obsessed with your well-being?
While nutrition is one of the subjects where we have the most opinions, it is nevertheless the one about which we learned the least, being younger. So how did our brain form all its opinions and beliefs?
Indeed, several factors come into play:
- Social norms, the food available in the environment where we grow up,
- The link of diet with self-image , as for many of us, the pressure to be thin,
- And health issues , for some the need to protect themselves from illness.
Opinions are largely formed socially, in the groups in which we evolve.
Sorting out our motivations, before sorting out our foods
Before sorting through all the advice and information that we are given, it is important, first, to understand their motivations. Why want to eat healthily, why reduce gluten, why take up yoga and meditation? Albert advises starting by listening to yourself more, and thus finding the real reason that pushes us to sort things out.
Protect yourself from social media information
According to Albert, “social media can create a kind of social illusion like an optical illusion.” Nutrition remains a discipline that is still ambiguous, with many uncertainties. Everyone works differently. Some dietary restrictions, diets, will work for some people, and for others not. It is essential not to use the personal experience of certain people as a test to decide who you are.
Orthorexia or the obsession with eating well
People suffering from orthorexia put significant pressure on their well-being (eating well at every meal, doing meditation every morning, drinking 1.5L of water per day, etc.), it is an injunction to imperfection. In trying to get better, they become sick. Today, orthorexia is a source of stress and anxiety for 5 to 10% of the population.
“It is essential to ask yourself if what you want to do is possible. There is no point in putting such pressure on yourself, you have to learn to see things at their true size.”
Albert's advice for creating a new positive habit :
- Maybe force yourself a little at first,
- Share, get involved and motivate yourself together,
- Start with achievable goals,
- Understand the impacts that this habit will cause.
And to conclude this episode, Albert shares his advice with us through our “Tonic Quiz” (quick questions-quick answers):
- A book to recommend : “Demian” by Hermann Hesse
- An activity to relax : Do nothing for 10/20 minutes a day
- The secret to a rested brain : Rest
- A statistic : 50% of people are average
- A habit to integrate into your daily life : Try to change your mind every day
- A habit to remove from your daily life : Try to be right once a day
- The next guest of Club Bonheur : A person from Chiasma
- One last piece of advice : Don't follow advice too much, advice is not a rule
Good listening !
Listen to the episode on your favorite platform.
