Live Well Be Well with Sarah Ann Macklin | Health, Lifestyle, Nutrition

This week I'm joined by David Rock, neuroscientist, author and founder of the NeuroLeadership Institute, and someone who has spent 28 years answering one of the most fascinating questions in science:Why do we do what we do? And how can understanding our brain change everything?
We explore human behaviour, the neuroscience of threat and reward, and what it really means to work with your brain rather than against it.
Dr. David Rock coined the term neuroleadership and is the Co-founder and CEO of the NeuroLeadership Institute (NLI). The Institute is a 23-year-old cognitive science consultancy that has advised over 50% of the Fortune 100.  With operations in 24 countries, the institute brings neuroscientists and leadership experts together to make organisations better for humans through science.
What we explore together:
Why the brain is always making a threat or reward decision 

What the SCARF model is and why it explains almost every difficult human interaction

Why being interrupted feels physically painful and what your brain is actually doing

How insights really work in the brain and why your best ideas come when you stop trying

Why one negative comment can override dozens of positive ones and how to rewire that

What sleep, glucose and rest actually do to your ability to think clearly

Why status is one of the most powerful forces driving human behaviour and how to work with it

Love, Sarah Ann 💛
My book 'Healthy Shouldn't Be This Hard': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Shouldnt-Be-This-Hard-ebook/dp/B0G1DHNRV5
This episode is sponsored by:NOWATCH: The compassionate health tracker Connecting body and mind with unique stress recovery insights so you can live fully today👉 15% off with code LWBW15 at https://nowatch.com/
The Great British Veg OutHow to support your gut, energy, and hormones by eating more — not less.👉 https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/p/t…
Reset Your HealthIf your body feels off after stress, travel, or burnout — this is where to start.👉 https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/s/r...
👉 Practical beats perfect. Here's a free 5-recipe PDF I use to support energy and stress during busy weeks.https://sarahannmacklin.com/5_free_recipes
👉 If this resonates, you can join the thousands who read The Compassionate Cure each week.https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Let's be friends!
📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahannmacklin/
📹 Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@livewellbewellsarah
🐦 Twitter: https://x.com/SarahAnnMacklin
📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livewellbewellpodcast
💌 Newsletter: https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:55 How David discovered the brain's threat and reward system
06:08 Why we avoid bad things more than we seek good ones
09:00 What happens to your brain when you're overwhelmed
12:02 Brain fog — what it actually is and why it happens
14:58 The prefrontal cortex and why it matters so much
18:00 Why being interrupted is so disruptive to the brain
20:54 The difference between direct experience and narrative thinking
23:49 How to shift your brain into a better state
27:02 The science of insight — where great ideas really come from
29:47 Why your best thinking happens away from your desk
33:02 How much information the brain can actually handle
36:02 The negativity bias — why bad news hits harder than good
38:57 One negative comment vs dozens of positive ones
42:08 What happens in the brain when someone fails
44:58 How to spot where your attention really goes
47:57 Why rest is not optional for a high performing brain
51:08 Sleep, glucose and what they really do to your thinking
54:06 When you can't switch off — what the brain needs
57:07 Why doing nothing feels so hard — and why it matters
60:00 The SCARF model — status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, fairness
62:52 Why inequality triggers such a strong brain response
66:04 The neuroscience of emotion and why it matters
69:08 Humour, connection and the brain

This week's Live Well Be Well Moment with Cindy Gallop, advertising icon, entrepreneur and founder of Make Love Not Porn.
We delve into Cindy's three step filter for online dating, how she accidentally started dating younger men, and why she built the world's first social sex video sharing platform and what it has done for couples' relationships.
My book 'Healthy Shouldn't Be This Hard': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Shouldnt-Be-This-Hard-ebook/dp/B0G1DHNRV5
This episode is sponsored by:
NOWATCH: The compassionate health tracker Connecting body and mind with unique stress recovery insights so you can live fully today.
👉 15% off with code LWBW15 at https://nowatch.com/
More from me: The Great British Veg Out How to support your gut by eating more, not less https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/p/t…

Reset Your Health If your body feels off after stress, travel, or burnout, this is where to start! https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/s/r...

Free 5-recipe PDF for busy weeks https://open.substack.com/pub/sarahma...
Join thousands reading The Compassionate Cure → https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Let's be friends!
📷 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarahannmacklin 📹 Subscribe https://youtube.com/@livewellbewellsarah?si=UbuuWvMjAcTkELPN 
📱 TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@livewellbewellpodcast?_r=1&_t=ZN-96iOW29jTRm

This week's Live Well Be Well Moment with Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard professor and New York Times bestselling author.
We delve into the science of staying in love — why love is nothing like a business problem, the neurochemistry that keeps couples bonded, and the three things Arthur recommends every couple starts doing today.
My book 'Healthy Shouldn't Be This Hard': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Shouldnt-Be-This-Hard-ebook/dp/B0G1DHNRV5
This episode is sponsored by:

NOWATCH: The compassionate health tracker Connecting body and mind with unique stress recovery insights so you can live fully today.
👉 15% off with code LWBW15 at https://nowatch.com/
More from me: The Great British Veg Out How to support your gut by eating more, not less https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/p/t…
Reset Your Health If your body feels off after stress, travel, or burnout, this is where to start! https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/s/r...
Free 5-recipe PDF for busy weeks https://open.substack.com/pub/sarahma...
Join thousands reading The Compassionate Cure → https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Let's be friends!
📷 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarahannmacklin 
📹 Subscribe https://youtube.com/@livewellbewellsarah?si=UbuuWvMjAcTkELPN 
📱 TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@livewellbewellpodcast?_r=1&_t=ZN-96iOW29jTRm

This week I'm joined by Arthur C. Brooks, Harvard professor, bestselling author and one of the world's leading experts on the science of human happiness, and someone who has spent his life answering one of the most fundamental questions we all ask and what does it actually mean to live well?
We explore happiness, meaning, love and what the science really says about building a life that feels worth living.
Arthur Brooks is a professor at Vanderbilt University and senior fellow at Harvard Business School. He is the author of 16 books including three number one New York Times bestsellers. He has spent decades studying happiness not as a feeling but as a skill and teaching people how to practise it.
What we explore together:
Why happiness is not a destination and what the arrival fallacy is really costing you
The four idols your brain tells you will make you happy and why they never do
What the neuroscience of love actually looks like and the two things that keep couples bonded
How the failure journal works and why writing down your disappointments makes you happier
Why meaning and happiness are not the same thing and which one actually lasts
What it means to love and be loved and why Arthur believes that's the whole answer
Love, Sarah Ann 💛
My book 'Healthy Shouldn't Be This Hard': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Shouldnt-Be-This-Hard-ebook/dp/B0G1DHNRV5
This episode is sponsored by:
NOWATCH: The compassionate health tracker Connecting body and mind with unique stress recovery insights so you can live fully today
👉 15% off with code LWBW15 at https://nowatch.com/
The Great British Veg Out
👉 https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/p/t…
Reset Your Health
👉 https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/s/r...
👉 Free 5-recipe PDF: https://sarahannmacklin.com/5_free_recipes
👉 The Compassionate Cure: https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Let's be friends!
📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahannmacklin/
📹 Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@livewellbewellsarah
🐦 Twitter: https://x.com/SarahAnnMacklin
📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livewellbewellpodcast
💌 Newsletter: https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:59 Arthur's personal journey and finding purpose
05:59 How grief can be a doorway to meaning
09:07 Why knowing everything doesn't make you happy
15:04 What Stoicism teaches us about happiness
20:57 The four idols — money, pleasure, power, fame
23:57 Why the four idols are a dangerous trap
33:00 Arthur's worst day and what it taught him
38:57 The arrival fallacy
42:03 The neuroscience of dopamine
48:00 The failure journal
54:07 The neuroscience of love — oxytocin, touch and eye contact
57:03 How to keep connection alive long term
65:58 Why the silent treatment is so damaging
72:02 How your emotions are made in the brain
78:00 Finding meaning beyond achievement
87:08 Where Sarah is two years on
93:00 What saved Viktor Frankl
98:28 Final thoughts on living well and being well

This week's Live Well Be Well Moment with Ruby Wax, comedian, author and mental health advocate.
We delve into two of the most extraordinary moments of Ruby's career, interviewing OJ Simpson and being humiliated by Bill Cosby on camera and what she would do completely differently today.
My book 'Healthy Shouldn't Be This Hard': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Shouldnt-Be-This-Hard-ebook/dp/B0G1DHNRV5
This episode is sponsored by:
NOWATCH: The compassionate health tracker Connecting body and mind with unique stress recovery insights so you can live fully today. 👉 15% off with code LWBW15 at https://nowatch.com/
More from me: The Great British Veg Out How to support your gut by eating more, not less https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/p/t…
Reset Your Health If your body feels off after stress, travel, or burnout, this is where to start! https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/s/r...
Free 5-recipe PDF for busy weeks https://open.substack.com/pub/sarahma...
Join thousands reading The Compassionate Cure → https://sarahmacklin.substack.com/
Let's be friends!
📷 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarahannmacklin 📹 Subscribe https://youtube.com/@livewellbewellsarah?si=UbuuWvMjAcTkELPN 
📱 TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@livewellbewellpodcast?_r=1&_t=ZN-96iOW29jTRm