In this week's episode you will learn about: 

⦾ Ways of deflating fear

⦾ How rituals can increase or decrease anxiety & fear

⦾ Snapping out of depression

⦾ Reducing anxiety via ritualized collective movements

Award-winning author, Dean Sluyter (pronounced "slighter") has taught natural methods of meditation and awakening since 1970. A grateful student of Eastern and Western sages in several traditions, Dean has completed numerous pilgrimages and retreats in India, Tibet, Nepal, and the West. He is known for conveying authentic teachings in forms that are relaxed, accessible, and down-to-earth. When not writing or teaching, he narrates audiobooks, administers the Awakening Prison Art project, makes music, and happily tools around the streets of Santa Monica on his Vespa.

Book: Fear Less: Living Beyond Fear, Anxiety, Anger, and Addiction

Martin Lang obtained his Ph.D. at Masaryk University in 2016 for a dissertation on the effects of ritual behavior on anxiety and social bonding. He has worked at the Anthropology Department at the University of Connecticut and the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Currently, he works on the evolutionary underpinnings of ritual commitment signaling; on the cultural evolution of moralistic gods; on the role of music and synchronous movement in human cooperation; and the relationship between ritualized behavior and anxiety.