Passion Struck with John R. Miles
Kari Leibowitz on How to Overcome the Winter Blues | EP 554
Thu, 02 Jan 2025
In this transformative episode, John sits down with Dr. Kari Leibowitz, a Stanford-trained health psychologist and mindset science expert, to uncover the secrets to thriving during winter's toughest days. Dr. Leibowitz's groundbreaking research, detailed in her forthcoming book "How to Winter," reveals practical strategies to embrace the cold, dark months and find joy and resilience in the process.Discover how Dr. Leibowitz's time living above the Arctic Circle taught her powerful lessons on joy, connection, and thriving during the Polar Night. Learn evidence-based techniques to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), maintain positivity, and build a resilient mindset that helps you navigate life's metaphorical winters with grace and strength.Link to the full show notes: https://passionstruck.com/dr-kari-leibowitz-overcome-the-winter-blues/Call to Action: Don't let winter bring you down! Tune in for valuable insights and actionable tips that will empower you to find light in the darkness and strength in adversity. Whether you're preparing for the literal challenges of winter or facing personal struggles, Dr. Leibowitz's wisdom will inspire and guide you.Sponsors: Rosetta Stone: Unlock 25 languages for life at “ROSETTASTONE.com/passionstruck.” Prolon: Reset your health with 15% off at “ProlonLife.com/passionstruck.” Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at “MINT MOBILE dot com slash PASSION.” Hims: Start your journey to regrowing hair with Hims. Visit hims.com/PASSIONSTRUCK for your free online visit. Quince: Discover luxury at affordable prices with Quince. Enjoy free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/PASSION. In this episode, you will learn: How a positive mindset influences physical and mental well-being. Evidence-based techniques for thriving during winter. Insights from Arctic cultures on flourishing in darkness. Practical ways to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.). The importance of rest, intention, and deliberate choices for resilience. Connect with Dr. Kari Leibowitz: https://www.karileibowitz.com/For more information on advertisers and promo codes, visit Passion Struck Deals.Join the Passion Struck Community! Sign up for the Live Intentionally newsletter, where I share exclusive content, actionable advice, and insights to help you ignite your purpose and live your most intentional life. Get access to practical exercises, inspiring stories, and tools designed to help you grow. Learn more and sign up here.Speaking Engagements & Workshops Are you looking to inspire your team, organization, or audience to take intentional action in their lives and careers? I’m available for keynote speaking, workshops, and leadership training on topics such as intentional living, resilience, leadership, and personal growth. Let’s work together to create transformational change. Learn more at johnrmiles.com/speaking.Episode Starter Packs With over 500 episodes, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. We’ve curated Episode Starter Packs based on key themes like leadership, mental health, and personal growth, making it easier for you to dive into the topics you care about. Check them out at passionstruck.com/starterpacks.Catch More of Passion Struck: My solo episode on 4 Inspiring Ways to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Action My episode with Art Markman on How to Unlock Unstoppable Success Watch my episode with Israa Nasir on How to Break Free From Toxic Productivity Catch my interview with Adrian Brambila on 21 Brutal Money Lessons You Need Now Listen to my conversation with BJ Fogg on How Tiny Habits Can Transform Your Life My solo episode on Reinvent Yourself: The Journey from Ordinary to Extraordinary If you liked the show, please leave us a review—it only takes a moment and helps us reach more people! Don’t forget to include your Twitter or Instagram handle so we can thank you personally.How to Connect with John:Connect with John on Twitter at @John_RMiles and on Instagram at @John_R_Miles. Subscribe to our main YouTube Channel here and to our YouTube Clips Channel here. For more insights and resources, visit John’s website.Want to explore where you stand on the path to becoming Passion Struck? Take our 20-question quiz on Passionstruck.com and find out today!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What can we learn about thriving in winter?
Coming up next on Passion Struck. There's an intimacy in the darkness and an intimacy to being warm when it is cold that I think can really foster connection. I think conversations can deepen and it's a sense of being closer together because who do you do that with? Who are you with in the warmth and the light when outside it's cold and dark? Those are usually people you feel very close to.
Welcome to Passion Struck. Hi, I'm your host, John R. Miles, and on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself.
If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays. We have long form interviews the rest of the week with guests ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become passion struck. Welcome to episode
554 of the Passion Struck Podcast and the very first episode of 2025. As we begin a brand new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on what this time represents, a chance for renewal, growth, and setting intentions for the journey ahead.
Whether you're a longtime listener or joining us for the first time, I am so grateful to have you here as part of this incredible community focused on living with purpose, passion, and bold intentionality. If you're new to the podcast, welcome. with over 550 episodes designed to help inspire transformation. We've curated episode starter packs to help you dive right in.
Whether your focus is leadership, mental health, or personal mastery, you can find them on Spotify or at passionstruck.com slash starter packs. And if you're looking to take these lessons even further, sign up for my live intentionally newsletter at passionstruck.com. It's packed with weekly insights, challenges, exercises, and tools to keep you inspired.
And as we start this new year, let's reflect on the empowering conversation from earlier this week with Shira Gill. Shira's insights on simplifying our lives and creating systems that align with our values provided the perfect blueprint for starting 2025 with clarity and intention. If you've missed it, I encourage you to go back and listen.
It's a practical guide to cutting through the noise and focusing on what truly matters. Today, I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Carrie Leibowitz to the show. Carrie is a Stanford-trained health psychologist, Fulbright scholar, and leading expert in mindset science. Her groundbreaking research examines how our mindset profoundly influences our health, well-being, and ability to navigate challenges.
Carrie's book, How to Winter, Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days, is a transformative guide to finding joy and meaning during life's toughest seasons, both literal and metaphorical. Her work is rooted in her time living above the Arctic Circle, where she studied how people flourish during the polar night. a two-month period without sunlight.
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Chapter 2: How does mindset influence our well-being?
And watching people go through this experience and be surprised by it is it's a really powerful practice that I think leads you to ask, OK, what else could I do? What else have I been telling myself that I can't enjoy, that actually maybe I just need to gear up a little bit and go out and face, and I might have a really good time.
Thank you so much for sharing that. Carrie, for those who are like me and they don't experience harsh winters and they're tuning into this episode, how can they apply the lessons from your book in their lives still, especially during difficult or transitional periods?
Totally. So I think even if you don't experience a really harsh winter, unless you live really on the equator or in Hawaii, you're going to experience these seasonal fluctuations in darkness. And so I think really working with the darkness is a very powerful practice, right? So it's almost a cliche to be like,
light some candles in winter and you won't be depressed and obviously it's not quite that simple but really lighting candles with the intention of welcoming the darkness of embracing the darkness of creating a cozy atmosphere that is only possible when the sun is setting earlier that really changes the meaning of darkness and so
really at its heart, all of these strategies for embracing winter, all of the sort of components of cultivating a positive wintertime mindset are about asking yourself, what are the opportunities here? What is better at this time of year? And you can ask yourself that wherever you live.
If you live somewhere that is really hot in the summer, then there might be a lot of things that are actually better at this time of year. And so I think that is really, the key transformative question that when you're faced with a challenge, when you're faced with difficulty, asking yourself, what is the opportunity here? It doesn't mean you have to like the thing that's happening to you.
Doesn't mean you have to be grateful for it, but we're all gonna experience things outside of our control that we wish were not happening and meeting them with, okay, what's the opportunity here? Are there opportunities to connect? with myself or my loved ones or my social support network? Are there opportunities to make positive life changes?
Are there opportunities to practice going into a period of rest and rejuvenation and contemplation? Whatever it is, that idea of looking at the darkness and saying, what is the opportunity here? I think really changes the way that we experience the challenge and difficulties that are going to come for all of us at different points in our lives.
Well, thank you so much for sharing that, Carrie, and for being a guest. What is the best way for listeners to get in touch with you?
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Chapter 5: What lessons can be learned from Arctic cultures?
The fact that I could start to implement whether dietary or lifestyle interventions in my own life that might not with 100% certainty prevent me from ever developing a condition like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease, but could, according to the best available evidence, lower or minimize my risk for these conditions, well, that was a really powerful call to action for me.
What if I could get this information out to the public at large that, hey, these conditions which we tend to assume are inevitable, dare I say, natural aspects of aging or inherited, if none of those are in fact the case, and we can actually take steps today to improve our odds 10, 20, 30 years down the line, well, then that was something that I felt really inspired to do.
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