WEBVTT - Headspace x Dr. Maya Shankar: Understanding Change

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin. Hey there, Maya here. I've been working on a

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<v Speaker 1>special collaboration with the podcast Radioheadspace from Headspace Studios. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day this week, I'll be guest hosting their episodes. We

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<v Speaker 1>discuss everything from how to pivot gracefully when life gets

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<v Speaker 1>in the way of our best laid plans, to how

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<v Speaker 1>to stay motivated when we're trying to reach our long

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<v Speaker 1>term goals. It was a chance for me to reflect

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<v Speaker 1>on what I've learned about change over the course of

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<v Speaker 1>my life career, and while making a slight change of plans.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to share the first episode in the sequence

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<v Speaker 1>with you now. I hope you enjoy it and you

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<v Speaker 1>can hear the rest of the week's episodes on Radioheadspace

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to podcasts. Sat Hi, I'm doctor Maya Schunker,

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<v Speaker 1>your guest host for the week. Welcome to Radioheadspace and

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<v Speaker 1>to Tuesday. Today we're going to talk about the impact

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<v Speaker 1>big changes can have on our self identity. We'll explore

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<v Speaker 1>why we're so attached to the labels we give ourselves

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<v Speaker 1>and that other people give us, and how seeing our

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<v Speaker 1>identities is more malleable can help us weather the storms

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<v Speaker 1>that life inevitably sends our way. My grandmother had played

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<v Speaker 1>the violin in an Indian classical tradition growing up, and

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<v Speaker 1>when my mom immigrated to this country in the nineteen seventies,

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<v Speaker 1>she brought my grandmother's violin with her, and I remember

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<v Speaker 1>one day she went up to the attic and brought

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<v Speaker 1>the violin down, and she had only meant to show

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<v Speaker 1>it to me, but I immediately took to the instrument

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<v Speaker 1>and asked my mom for a pint sized violin of

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<v Speaker 1>my own. I immediately was on the fast track to

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<v Speaker 1>trying to become a concert violinist. When I was nine

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<v Speaker 1>years old, I started studying at the Juilliard School of

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<v Speaker 1>Music in New York, and when I was a teenager,

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<v Speaker 1>the violinist It's a Perlman asked me to be his

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<v Speaker 1>private violin student. And then one day my dreams ended

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<v Speaker 1>in a moment, I had a sudden hand injury, after

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<v Speaker 1>which doctors told me I could never play the violin again.

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<v Speaker 1>And what I realized in that moment was that my

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<v Speaker 1>identity was tethered to the violin, to being a violinist,

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<v Speaker 1>and so when I lost the ability to play, I

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<v Speaker 1>really do feel like I lost a considerable part of myself,

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<v Speaker 1>and I wasn't really sure how to think about who

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<v Speaker 1>I was or who I could be without it. There's

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<v Speaker 1>a concept in cognitive science called identity foreclosure, and it

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<v Speaker 1>refers to the fact that we can lock ourselves into

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<v Speaker 1>a very specific identity in adolescence, but that actually can

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<v Speaker 1>persist well into adulthood. And looking back, I absolutely fell

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<v Speaker 1>prey to identity foreclosure. I was first and foremost a violinist,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think one thing that helped guide me through

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<v Speaker 1>that transition was to start to see my identity as

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<v Speaker 1>more malleable, as something that could change over time. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think my best friend along the way was having

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<v Speaker 1>an open mind, being exploratory, talking to other people about

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<v Speaker 1>what their passions were, just trying to see a world

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<v Speaker 1>outside of the violin which had been my world for

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<v Speaker 1>so long. One lesson that I learned from my own

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<v Speaker 1>experience losing something that I loved that I want to

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<v Speaker 1>share with listeners is to try and think about the

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<v Speaker 1>features of the pursuit that you like and to attach

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<v Speaker 1>your identity to those features rather than the thing itself.

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<v Speaker 1>So when I reflect on what it is that I

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<v Speaker 1>loved about playing the violin. I realized that, ultimately was

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<v Speaker 1>human connection that really got me to light up. I

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<v Speaker 1>could go on a stage in front of thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>strangers and I had the ability to make them feel

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<v Speaker 1>something they had maybe never felt before, and that was

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<v Speaker 1>such a powerful feeling. It's when I realized, Okay, it's

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<v Speaker 1>human connection that really makes me tick. I was able

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<v Speaker 1>to find that trait in other pursuits, even when I

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<v Speaker 1>lost the ability to play the violin. I found it

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<v Speaker 1>as a cognitive scientist and studying the science of what

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<v Speaker 1>it means to be human and to connect with other people.

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<v Speaker 1>And I found it with my podcast, A Slight Change

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<v Speaker 1>of Plans, which is all about forging deep human connections

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<v Speaker 1>with guests that I invite onto my show. So I

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<v Speaker 1>would urge listeners who are going through an unexpected change

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<v Speaker 1>or a turbulent time to ask themselves, what is my

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<v Speaker 1>through line If I strip all of the activities that

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<v Speaker 1>I engage with down to their core, what still exists

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<v Speaker 1>and try to find that trait in as much of

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<v Speaker 1>what you do as you can. That's all for today.

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<v Speaker 1>Next time, I'll talk more about what happened after my

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<v Speaker 1>career as a violinist ended and how we can forge

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<v Speaker 1>new paths when life just doesn't turn out the way

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<v Speaker 1>we hope it would. Thanks for listening, I'll see you

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<v Speaker 1>back here soon.