Videos
7 Steps To Aligning With Your Soul Purpose
The Living Matrix
The Living Matrix — The Science of Healing, continues in the genre of What The Bleep. It uncovers new ideas about the intricate web of factors that determine our health. There are interviews with a group of dedicated scientists, psychologists, bioenergetic researchers and holistic practitioners who are finding healing potential in new places. Tapping into the power of information, Leaders in science are examining the body through the lens of quantum physics. They’ve discovered that we’re far more than biochemical machines. Instead, our cells are senders and receivers of information, controlling our health in ways we never imagined.
Click here to watch on full screen
Click here to watch on full screen
Click here to watch on full screen
Click here to watch on full screen
Here are some of our favourite TED talks
The riddle of experience vs. memory
Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy — and our own self-awareness.
An Internet without screens might look like this
Designer Tom Uglow is creating a future in which humanity’s love for natural solutions and simple tools can coexist with our need for information and the devices that provide us with it. “Reality is richer than screens,” he says. “We can have a happy place filled with the information we love that feels as natural as switching on lightbulb.”
Deep under the Earth’s surface, discovering beauty and science
Cave explorer and geologist Francesco Sauro travels to the hidden continent under our feet, surveying deep, dark places inside the earth that humans have never been able to reach before. In the spectacular tepuis of South America, he finds new minerals and insects that have evolved in isolation, and he uses his knowledge of these alien worlds to train astronauts.
How my mind came back to life — and no one knew
Imagine being unable to say, “I am hungry,” “I am in pain,” “thank you,” or “I love you,” — losing your ability to communicate, being trapped inside your body, surrounded by people yet utterly alone. For 13 long years, that was Martin Pistorius’s reality. After contracting a brain infection at the age of twelve, Pistorius lost his ability to control his movements and to speak, and eventually he failed every test for mental awareness. He had become a ghost. But then a strange thing started to happen — his mind began to knit itself back together. In this moving talk, Pistorius tells how he freed himself from a life locked inside his own body.
How I stopped the Taliban from shutting down my school
When the Taliban closed all the girls’ schools in Afghanistan, Sakena Yacoobi set up new schools, in secret, educating thousands of women and men. In this fierce, funny talk, she tells the jaw-dropping story of two times when she was threatened to stop teaching — and shares her vision for rebuilding her beloved country.
What really matters at the end of life
At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it’s simply comfort, respect, love. BJ Miller is a palliative care physician at Zen Hospice Project who thinks deeply about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients. Take the time to savor this moving talk, which asks big questions about how we think on death and honor life.
How the mysterious dark net is going mainstream
There’s a parallel Internet you may not have run across yet — accessed by a special browser and home to a freewheeling collection of sites for everything from anonymous activism to illicit activities. Jamie Bartlett reports from the dark net.
A story about knots and surgeons
One day, Ed Gavagan was sitting on the subway, watching two young med students practicing their knots. And a powerful memory washed over him — of one shocking moment that changed his life forever. An unforgettable story of crime, skill and gratitude.
What does the future hold? 11 characters offer quirky answers
Sarah Jones changes personas with the simplest of wardrobe swaps. In a laugh-out-loud improvisation, she invites 11 “friends” from the future on stage—from a fast-talking Latina to an outspoken police officer—to ask them questions supplied by the TED2014 audience.
Remember to say thank you
In this deceptively simple 3-minute talk, Dr. Laura Trice muses on the power of the magic words “thank you” — to deepen a friendship, to repair a bond, to make sure another person knows what they mean to you. Try it.
A few talks about the importance of sleep
How to succeed? Get more sleep
In this short talk, Arianna Huffington shares a small idea that can awaken much bigger ones: the power of a good night’s sleep. Instead of bragging about our sleep deficits, she urges us to shut our eyes and see the big picture: We can sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness — and smarter decision-making.
Why do we sleep?
Russell Foster is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he asks: What do we know about sleep? Not a lot, it turns out, for something we do with one-third of our lives. In this talk, Foster shares three popular theories about why we sleep, busts some myths about how much sleep we need at different ages — and hints at some bold new uses of sleep as a predictor of mental health.
One more reason to get a good night’s sleep
The brain uses a quarter of the body’s entire energy supply, yet only accounts for about two percent of the body’s mass. So how does this unique organ receive and, perhaps more importantly, rid itself of vital nutrients? New research suggests it has to do with sleep.
Why it’s time to forget the pecking order at work
Organizations are often run according to “the superchicken model,” where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn’t what drives the most high-achieving teams. Business leader Margaret Heffernan observes that it is social cohesion — built every coffee break, every time one team member asks another for help — that leads over time to great results. It’s a radical rethink of what drives us to do our best work, and what it means to be a leader. Because as Heffernan points out: “Companies don’t have ideas. Only people do.”
The art of first impressions — in design and life
Book designer Chip Kidd knows all too well how often we judge things by first appearances. In this talk he explains the two techniques designers use to communicate instantly — clarity and mystery — and when, why and how they work. He celebrates beautiful, useful pieces of design, skewers less successful work, and shares the thinking behind some of his own iconic book covers.
How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings
An epidemic of bad, inefficient, overcrowded meetings is plaguing the world’s businesses — and making workers miserable. David Grady has some ideas on how to stop it.
Why Startups Succeed (Or Not)
Bill Gross has founded a lot of startups, and incubated many others — and he got curious about why some succeeded and others failed. So he gathered data from hundreds of companies, his own and other people’s, and ranked each company on five key factors. He found one factor that stands out from the others — and surprised even him.
What does my headscarf mean to you?
What do you think when you look at this speaker? Well, think again. (And then again.) In this funny, honest, empathetic talk, Yassmin Abdel-Magied challenges us to look beyond our initial perceptions, and to open doors to new ways of supporting others.
Magical houses, made of bamboo
You’ve never seen buildings like this. The stunning bamboo homes built by Elora Hardy and her team in Bali twist, curve and surprise at every turn. They defy convention because the bamboo itself is so enigmatic. No two poles of bamboo are alike, so every home, bridge and bathroom is exquisitely unique. In this beautiful, immersive talk, she shares the potential of bamboo, as both a sustainable resource and a spark for the imagination. “We have had to invent our own rules,” she says.
Second Chances
At TEDxIronwoodStatePrison Richard Branson spoke about the importance of a second chance in people’s lives. I’ve been proposing an way to reduce prisoner recidivism for some time. Hopefully, it’s time is getting close. See my blog Reducing Prisoner Recidivism for more explanation.
Nature.Beauty.Gratitude
Nature’s beauty can be easily missed — but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.
The happy secret to better work
We believe that we should work to be happy, but could that be backwards? In this fast-moving and entertaining talk, psychologist Shawn Achor argues that actually happiness inspires productivity.
How I fell in love with quasars, blazars and our incredible universe
Jedidah Isler first fell in love with the night sky as a little girl. Now she’s an astrophysicist who studies supermassive hyperactive black holes. In a charming talk, she takes us trillions of kilometers from Earth to introduce us to objects that can be 1 to 10 billion times the mass of the sun — and which shoot powerful jet streams of particles in our direction.
Why the buildings of the future will be shaped by … you
“Architecture is not about math or zoning — it’s about visceral emotions,” says Marc Kushner. In a sweeping — often funny — talk, he zooms through the past thirty years of architecture to show how the public, once disconnected, have become an essential part of the design process. With the help of social media, feedback reaches architects years before a building is even created. The result? Architecture that will do more for us than ever before.
How To Land On A Comet
This really is “rocket science”. As manager of the Rosetta mission, Fred Jansen was responsible for the successful 2014 landing of a probe on the comet known as 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In this fascinating and funny talk, Jansen reveals some of the intricate calculations that went into landing the Philae probe on a comet 500 million kilometers from Earth — and shares some incredible photographs taken along the way.
Why do ambitious women have flat heads?
Dame Stephanie Shirley is the most successful tech entrepreneur you never heard of. In the 1960s, she founded a pioneering all-woman software company in the UK, which was ultimately valued at $3 billion, making millionaires of 70 of her team members. In this frank and often hilarious talk, she explains why she went by “Steve,” how she upended the expectations of the time, and shares some sure-fire ways to identify ambitious women …
Everyone has an important story
Dave Isay (in a clear case of nominative determinism) opened the first StoryCorps booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003 with the intention of creating a quiet place where a person could honor someone who mattered to them by listening to their story. Since then, StoryCorps has evolved into the single largest collection of human voices ever recorded.
Love letters to strangers
Hannah Brencher’s mother always wrote her letters. So when she felt herself bottom into depression after college, she did what felt natural — she wrote love letters and left them for strangers to find. The act has become a global initiative, The World Needs More Love Letters, which rushes handwritten letters to those in need of a boost.
A magical search for a coincidence
Small coincidences. They happen all the time and yet, they pass us by because we are not looking for them. In a delightfully subtle trick, magician Helder Guimarães demonstrates with a deck of cards, a dollar bill and a stuffed giraffe.
The History Of Our World in 18 Minutes
Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet. This is “Big History”: an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline. (If you rename his “thresholds” to “days” you have the first chapter of Genesis.)
My father, locked in his body but soaring free
In 2011 Ronnie Cahana suffered a severe stroke that left him with locked-in syndrome: completely paralyzed except for his eyes. While this might shatter a normal person’s mental state, Cahana found peace in “dimming down the external chatter,” and “fell in love with life and body anew.”
The Thing Is, I Stutter
Megan Washington, one of Australia’s premier singer/songwriters reveals her secret problem. Since childhood, Megan has been afflicted with a stutter which has hampered her ability to communicate. Except when she sings.
Carrot Clarinet
Linsey Pollak turns a carrot into a clarinet using an electric drill, a carrot and a saxophone mouthpiece, and plays it all in a matter of 5 minutes.
Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend
Stress doesn’t kill you – your belief about it does. There are many health and social benefits to having stress in your life.
My philosophy for a happy life
Sam Berns is a Junior at Foxboro High School in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Sam was diagnosed with Progeria, a rare, rapid aging disease, at the age of 2. While not allowing himself to be defined by his disease he has a fulfilling life. In this talk he shares the attitude which enables him to do that – which we can all emulate.
Do You Live For Your Resume Or Your Eulogy?
Within each of us are two selves, suggests David Brooks in this meditative short talk: the self who craves success, who builds a résumé, and the self who seeks connection, community, love — the values that make for a great eulogy. (Joseph Soloveitchik has called these selves “Adam I” and “Adam II.”) Brooks asks: Can we balance these two selves?
This ties in with my model of the Material & Spiritual axes in my talk Finding Your Life Purpose above
Answering the Final Question: Am I Dying?
Matthew O’Reilly is a veteran emergency medical technician on Long Island, New York. In this talk, he describes what happens when he tells the truth.
I am the son of a terrorist. Here’s how I chose peace.
Zak Ebrahim was just seven years old when his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His story is shocking, powerful and, ultimately, inspiring.
How To Live With Passion
In this beautiful talk Isabel Allende shares her perspective on aging and how to live a life of passion (and her erotic fantasy about Antonio Banderas).
Simon Sinek on the importance of knowing your WHY
Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers …
Martin Rees: Is This Our Final Century?
Speaking as both an astronomer and “a concerned member of the human race,” Sir Martin Rees examines our planet and its future from a cosmic perspective.
Graeme Sait on the importance and impact of humus
If you eat, drink and breathe this is a very important talk. It takes 20 minutes, has some very simple ideas and will make a huge difference to your life, your childrens’ and the planet.
Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man
Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value — and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.
Jill Bolte Taylor: My Stroke of insight
Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness –- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.
Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation
Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don’t: Traditional rewards aren’t always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories — and maybe, a way forward.
Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity
Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses — and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius. It’s a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk.
Chris Jordan: Picturing excess
Artist Chris Jordan shows us an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. His supersized images picture some almost unimaginable statistics — like the astonishing number of paper cups we use every single day.
Chris Jordan: Picturing excess
Artist Chris Jordan shows us an arresting view of what Western culture looks like. His supersized images picture some almost unimaginable statistics — like the astonishing number of paper cups we use every single day.
The Shift Movie
The world is changing. Is this the eve of destruction or the dawn of a brave new world?
5 Ways To Misery
Effective Strategies For A Miserable Life