Renowned neuroscientist Dr. Norman Farb and clinical psychologist Dr. Zindel Segal reveal how to break out of negative patterns by engaging your senses.

For many of us, daily life has stopped making sense. Super-efficient routines that once served us well now stress us out. Patterns of judgment and negative thinking lead to downward emotional spirals. For others, life has simply lost its spark. Where does change come from when habit lets you down?

Whether we’re struggling with a problem, a bad habit, or life in general, we often think we need to be resilient by “toughing it out” or “trying harder.” But when we do that, our brains double down on the thinking patterns that got us stuck in the first place—even when they clearly aren’t working for us. Fortunately, the science of sensation provides the key.

In Better in Every Sense, neuroscientist Norman Farb and clinical psychologist Zindel Segal explain that the brain has two networks—the rapid problem-solving (habit) network and the sensory network, which is devoted to fresh insight. By tuning into new and everyday sensations—from the feeling of our feet on a crowded street to the sound of birdsong in the park—we can engage the sensory network. When we’re stressed or stuck, we can pause to notice and feel the dynamic, vibrant world around us and boost our resilience, well-being, health, and creativity wherever we are, in the moment.

Grounded in decades of scientific research and filled with simple exercises and practical mental techniques for mastering “sense foraging,” Better in Every Sense explores the power of sensory experiences to liberate us from our ruts and dead ends—and help us successfully handle all of life’s challenges.

Norman Farb is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, where he directs the Regulatory and Affective Dynamics laboratory and the Psychedelics Studies Research Program.
 
Zindel Segal is Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders at the University of Toronto. He co-developed mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a psychological treatment that prevents relapse in clinical depression on par with antidepressant medication.