On May 15, 2024, health and science reporter Matt Richtel conducted an interview with psychologist Emma Seppälä about her views on avoiding kneejerk decisions and coping with emotions. Seppälä, who holds positions at Yale and Stanford, is the author of “Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty and Chaos.” She argues that modern life saturates the brain with information and noise, prompting reactive and sometimes self-destructive behavior such as overeating or alcohol abuse.
Dr. Seppälä shared a personal experience from her college years to illustrate her point. She described overcoming an eating disorder by attending a Korean Zen meditation session, which led to a pivotal realization about emotional coping mechanisms. According to Seppälä, meditation helps improve self-awareness and emotional regulation, natural antidotes to compulsive actions.
The core argument of her book is that meditation and other practices like spending time in nature, unplugging from devices, and incorporating periods of silence, help build resilience and self-control. This, she asserts, enables individuals to navigate modern life's challenges without falling prey to destructive habits.