Howard Rankin, Ph.D on ”Falling to Grace: The Art and Science of Redemption”

“The one who falls and gets back up is so much stronger than the one who never fell” Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/BkGLDGqmfUU On the episode you will learn: ✔ How a personal story from Howard Rankin, can help all of us reach our highest levels of potential. ✔ The power of honesty and truthfulness with relationships. ✔ Why seeing the "spirit" in others is so very important. ✔ The steps we can expect to take if a "Fall" happens so we can recover quickly and gracefully. ✔ The importance of rising above our "primitive brain" when dealing with difficult situations. ✔ What happens to our physical and mental health if we hold "trauma" within. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, for EPISODE #229. I’m Andrea Samadi, author, and educator, with a passion for learning, understanding difficult concepts, and breaking them down so that we can all use and apply the most current research to improve our productivity and results in our schools, sports environments, and modern workplaces. Today we are welcoming Howard Rankin back for the 4th time to the podcast, to cover his newly released book, Falling to Grace.[i] Before reading Howard’s book this month, I had no idea of his story. I saw his book come out in April, on his birthday and knew we would have him back on the show to discuss it, knowing it would be full of thought-provoking lessons, but I had no idea just how personal, and deep his story would be. If you recall, Howard Rankin first appeared on the podcast this time last year for EPISODE #146[ii] where he taught us “How Not to Think” and that our thinking is full of cognitive biases. While reading this new book, I found myself asking a question, that he would answer later in the book, showing me that it’s easy to jump to a conclusion but that we should all be aware of the “limitations of our thinking.” This book also brought to light that we are all “spiritual beings having a human experience” and the importance of seeing the spirit in everyone, and treating them without judgment as we never know what their internal struggles might be.  We learned from Dr. Marie Gervais on EPISODE #214[iii] on her book The Spirit of Work that there’s a shift when can see someone’s spiritual side, and can also connect science to everything that we do. If you have ever looked at someone and noticed their spirit, you will know exactly what I mean. I’ll never forget the first time I looked at someone and saw them shining brightly, seeing their potential that they were unaware of. They were sitting in front of me, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget, and was probably one of the reasons why I do what I do today. We all have tremendous potential within us, and this podcast was designed to help us to become aware of it, then use it.   But sometimes things happen in our life that make us question the direction we are going, but there is always a way around life’s obstacles. Howard’s book shows us that we can move beyond anything and connect our internal struggles to the most current brain research, in this quest to move towards redemption and healing. I knew Howard lost his license as a psychologist and that it was important to cover, but I didn’t know how…which didn’t really matter to me. None of us are exempt from the story Howard will share—no one is exempt from Falling, in our personal or professional lives, but if we do, will we know how to Fall to Grace, with the lessons Howard shares for us? Howard’s story of tremendous loss and pain hold lessons we can all benefit from, especially if we want to reach our highest levels of productivity and achievement in this thing we call life. And if there’s something inside holding us back (like Howard will share) or anything else that might be bothering us, internally—that there is a way around it, to what he calls redemption—and it’s available for anyone who wants to do the work to achieve it. “We can be redeemed only to the extent to wh