Access to Inspiration

In episode 98, Berit Lewis shares her personal story of how she arrived at her area of interest in helping people over 50 in their later years of life. Berit talks about how she found a passion for psychology, mindfulness and learning to regulate her physical sensations as a way to manage her thoughts and emotions. This theme of primary and secondary suffering is also brought up, with Berit suggesting that our caveman brains naturally try to keep us safe but not thrive.

Berit Lewis is the owner of Thriving Life, offering workshops, courses and retreats in mental well-being. As well as being an experienced and accredited Mindfulness Teacher, she holds a BA (Honours) in Psychology, a MSc in Vitality and Ageing and a MA in Communication and has carried out Mindfulness Based Vitality & Ageing research in cooperation with Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and Leyden Academy of Vitality and Ageing in the Netherlands. Berit is Danish and lives in the Netherlands with her Welsh husband and two teenagers.

Connect with Berit Lewis on LinkedIn : Facebook :
Blog and Newsletter on Substack: Ageing Upwards
Book: Ageing Upwards – a mindfulness-based Framework for the Longevity Revolution

Key Quotes

• I would describe mindfulness in one word - awareness.
• Research shows that we do tend to become much more mindful when we get older.
• I see it as a physical sensation that is feeding into a thought that is feeding into emotions.
• It's that awareness about how we are controlled by our innate genetic wiring in order to keep us safe, and that's not always good for our wellbeing.
• I've always had a passion for learning.
• Instead of being the emotion, or the thought, it's about stepping back and saying, I'm having the thought - that it's a passing thing that comes and goes and not get caught up in it.
• We are so much in our heads. I think it's very important that we take pauses to step back and just notice what's going on.

This series is kindly supported by Squadcast –the remote recording platform which empowers podcasters by capturing high-quality audio and video conversations. Find out more at squadcast.fm

Read the transcription for this episode on www.accesstoinspiration.org and connect with us:

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Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)