Episode 123: Neuropsychologist and PEAK MIND Author, Dr. Amish Jha
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Release Date: 12/22/2021
Episode 241: My Life Lately: Fall 2025 Update
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: It’s been a while since I’ve done a solo episode, and this felt like the right moment to sit down and share a little life update. A lot has changed for me this year — some of it amazing, some of it challenging, and plenty of it somewhere in between. In this episode, I’m talking about what day-to-day life looks like right now, how I’m finding my footing in a new season, and the little shifts that are making a big difference. Think of this as us catching up over coffee — honest, a little messy at times, and hopefully a reminder that none of us have it all figured...
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Re-Release Episode 206: What To Eat When You’re Exhausted
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: You know those days when you wake up tired, and before you know it, you’re reaching for coffee, donuts, chips, anything to keep going? You’re not imagining it—and you’re definitely not lacking willpower. When you’re running on empty, there are real changes happening in your body that make cravings stronger and energy harder to manage. In this episode, we’ll unpack what’s really going on when exhaustion hits, why your body asks for quick fixes, and how to work with those signals instead of feeling like you’re fighting against them. I’ll share practical...
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Re-Release Episode 137: Little Game Changers: Hanger Management
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: In this solo episode of The Drama-Free Healthy Living Podcast, we’re talking about something we’ve all dealt with but don’t always know how to manage: hanger — that fiery mix of hunger and irritability that can completely throw off your day. I’m sharing some of my favorite tools from my book, The Little Book of Game Changers: 50 Healthy Habits for Managing Stress & Anxiety, to help you understand what’s really going on in your body and why your mood, energy, and focus can take a hit when you go too long without eating or lean on foods that don’t keep you...
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Re-Release Episode 152: The Overthink-Proof Plate—3 Formulas For Healthy Eating
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: In this solo episode, I’m walking you through one of my favorite tools for simplifying healthy eating. Instead of obsessing over numbers or feeling paralyzed by food rules, I’m sharing an easy way to build balanced meals and snacks without the stress. I call it the Overthink-Proof Plate—a flexible, judgment-free framework I’ve been using with clients and patients for years. You’ll learn simple formulas that support steady energy, better moods, and fewer blood sugar crashes. We’ll talk about what a “balanced” plate actually looks like, how to stop...
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Re-release Episode 160: How To Make A Loneliness Game Plan
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: Loneliness doesn’t always show up with warning signs. Sometimes it’s loud. Other times, it’s that quiet urge to fill an online cart you don’t need, or the weird heaviness of a free weekend with nothing on the calendar. In this solo episode of The Drama-Free Healthy Living Podcast, let’s talk about the very human experience of feeling disconnected—and what to actually do about it. I’ll walk you through my go-to “Loneliness Game Plan,” a set of simple, practical steps to help you manage those tough moments without spiraling into habits that leave you...
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Re-release Episode 166: Making Time For Movement When You Feel Like You Have No Time
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: It’s easy to tell ourselves we’ll move “when things calm down.” But let’s be honest—life rarely slows down on its own. In this solo episode, I’m breaking down the all or nothing mindset that keeps so many of us from moving our bodies in a way that actually feels supportive. Whether you're in a busy season, feeling low on energy, or just trying to figure out how movement can realistically fit into your day, this is your reminder that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful. We’ll explore why movement is more than a tool for physical health. It’s a...
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Episode 240: Grounded in Change: Simple Ways to Care for Yourself in a New Season of Life
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
Episode Description: Transitions—big or small—have a way of shaking up everything we thought we had figured out. In this solo episode, I’m opening up about a deeply personal season of change—from healing after surgery to embracing motherhood through surrogacy after a long and challenging fertility journey. I’m not just sharing the milestones—I’m talking about the messy middle, the identity shifts, and what it really means to stay grounded when everything around you is changing. If you’ve ever felt like you’re supposed to “have it all together” in the middle of a life...
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Episode 239: The MIND Diet: A Scientific Approach to Enhancing Brain Function w/ Maggie Moon
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
📌Make sure to check out Maggie’s new book ‘The MIND Diet: A Scientific Approach to Enhancing Brain Function’ 📌 Also check out The United States of Arugula 👉 In this episode of the Drama Free Healthy Living, Maggie Moon, a Columbia University-educated, culinary school-trained registered dietitian, and bestselling author, shares her journey and expertise in nutrition focused on brain health. We delve into the principles of the brain health focused diet, which combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets tailored to enhance brain function. The discussion covers...
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Episode 238: EVVY: Empowering Women through Data-Driven Health Solutions w/ Priyanka Jain & Kate McLean
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
📌Get innovative & effective vaginal healthcare, powered by our state-of-the-art vaginal microbiome test: check out EVVY 📌EVVY on Instagram 👉In this episode of the Drama Free Healthy Living Podcast, host Jess Cording dives into women's health with Priyanka Jain, co-founder and CEO of Evvy, and Kate McLean, Evvy's lead medical director. The discussion focuses on the disparities in women's healthcare and how Evvy aims to address these gaps through pioneering research on the vaginal microbiome. Priyanka and Kate explain how Evvy's innovative testing and data analytics...
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Episode 237: The Ambition Trap: How To Stop chasing And Start Living w/ Amina AlTai
Drama-Free Healthy Living With Jess Cording
📌Make sure to check out the new book ‘The Ambition Tramp: How To Stop Chasing and Start Living’ 👉In this episode of the Drama Free Healthy Living Podcast, host Jess Cording welcomes business and career coach Amina AlTai to discuss her new book, 'The Ambition Trap: How to Stop Chasing and Start Living.' Amina shares her personal journey from burnout to becoming a holistic career coach, the signs our bodies give when it's time to pivot, and the difference between happiness and contentment. She also delves into topics like perfectionism, the passion tax, and actionable steps to...
info_outlineI’m so glad you’ve joined me for a truly fascinating conversation with Dr. Amishi Jha. Dr. Jha is a professor of psychology at the University of Miami where she serves as the Director of Contemplative Neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative, which she co-founded in 2010. Dr. Jha received her Ph.D. from the University of California–Davis and postdoctoral training at the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center at Duke University.
Dr. Jha’s work has been featured at NATO, the World Economic Forum, and The Pentagon. She has received coverage in The New York Times, NPR, TIME, Forbes, and more.
Her book, PEAK MiND: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day, covers the crisis of attention, how to tap into the brain’s attention system for peak performance, how to combat our addiction to thinking, and how to develop “mental armor” against anxiety, distraction, and bias.
I loved my conversation with Dr. Jha and while there is so much to take away from what she shared, here are some of my favorite highlights:
- Want to improve the way you are or how you do something? Learn to focus on the granular components of the outcome you want and with time, you’ll will yourself to achieve it;
- Vulnerabilities such as stress, threat, and negative mood hijack attention and degrade attention, so paying attention to your attention is one of the most beneficial practices you can do in order to befriend your own mind;
- Remember that thoughts are not facts, so if you find yourself overwhelmed with feelings of stress or anxiety, be mindful and pay attention to what is happening in your body and mind;
- Though our society has come to associate multitasking with something desirable, it truly isn't';
- Just as we’ve come to think of exercise as an important component of self-care, mindfulness training should also fall into a daily practice;
- Healthy living is holistic living, paying attention to all of the aspects that being human entails: psychological well-being, social connections, physical well-being, and connection to something bigger.
Want to learn more about Dr. Jha and her work? You can connect with her via her website (http://amishi.com), Twitter (https://twitter.com/amishijha?lang=en), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amishipjha/?hl=en), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amishi.jha), and her book PEAK MiND: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day (https://amishi.com/#preorder).