Calm Clarity: How to Use Science to Rewire Your Brain for Greater Wisdom, Fulfillment, and Joy Kindle Edition

This is the first time I felt compelled to write a review, and that is because I found Due Quach’s Calm Clarity to be an incredibly helpful book and think it will resonate with and help many different types of readers. I have read many books about meditation, mindfulness, spirituality, Buddhism, brain science and all sorts of self-hacking, and Calm Clarity presents these and other concepts in a unique way that are very easy to understand, relate to and implement, and are extremely useful and helpful.

Due’s story is fairly well-known now, in part after she wrote about her painful time at Harvard University (search ‘Poor and Traumatized at Harvard’) which quickly went viral. After achieving success and trappings as a consultant and in private equity, she embarked on a spiritual journey, after getting a glimmer of how, by, ‘hacking’ her brain and body, she could not only tame her inner demons, but increase her levels of contentment and happiness.

One thing I found unique and really liked was the way Due approached everything she encountered as a skeptical scientist; even though she has no formal training, she explains the neuroscience in ways that are totally accessible to the reader. While many people write about how meditation changes your brain, for example, Due explains to the reader the exact changes that are taking place in the various areas of the brain, in a way that makes sense. Having this understanding makes it much easier for me to stick to my meditation routine, where in the past I would skip a session if inconvenient. Having Due vet her experiences via the science made me feel much more comfortable.

Due breaks down the emotional states of our brains into Brain 1.0 (Inner Godzilla), Brain 2.0 (Inner teen wolf), and Brain 3.0 (Inner Sage), which is where we want to be. She gives very concrete tips to help us identify which brain is in the driver’s seat, and very practical tips as to how to activate Brain 3.0. One thing I found very useful was Due’s observation that every day she (like all of us) slips into Brain 1.0 and 2.0. Hearing her say that gives great comfort, as many of us tend to have a goal of eliminating Brain 1.0 forever, for example. Knowing that this is not possible, and is a human condition, makes her advice on how to recognize the states, and move up to Brain 3.0 all the more relevant and valuable.

Of all the books I have read, I find I have a few that I keep on my desk and often will pick up and re-read. Calm Clarity will be on top of the stack.

By sharing her traumatic and amazing journey, Due skillfully weaves in science to help us all understand meditation and mindfulness. Often times mindfulness and meditation is explained in a fluffy way New Age way that may feel a bit confusing and unsubstantial to people. By creating a collective framework based on Due's eclectic and wide range of interest (business, science, economy, religion, and spirituality) and connecting the mind states of Brain 1.0 (freeze-flight-fight), Brain 2.0 (gratuitous reward seeking), and Brain 3.0 (higher self) to science, Calm Clarity makes mindfulness and meditation accessible and doable to everyone.

First is understanding that there is a lot of things to being human through a scientific lens. Yes we struggle and sometimes beat ourselves up because we either perceived ourselves to be "bad" or "good" along with our upbringing and conditioning. However as humans, there is also a scientific component: we all have amygdala, basal ganglia, pre-frontal cortex, etc. In having all these we can be triggered or we can learn to recognize the various Brain 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 mindsets, accept who we are gently, and release the stories we have been telling ourselves. Due's story is especially powerful given her traumatic Vietnamese refugee and West Philly upbringing, lack of belonging and PTSD at Harvard, workaholic and reward chasing business career, transition to a revealing year in India via meditation retreats, yoga retreats, meeting spiritual teachers, and the finding of Calm Clarity. Science is sprinkled along the way by clinical studies and insights from leading researchers, along with the mechanisms and interconnections of the body, brain, feeling, thoughts, and emotions.

Second is the practice. Sometimes as a newbie to meditation there seems so many ways to practice (eyes open? eyes close? sitting on chair? sitting on floor? walking? laying down? what?!?), Calm Clarity gives very simple, practical, and applicable exercises making it easy to apply. Meditation range from breathing exercise, walking, eating, compassion, body scan, and many more. The instructions are clear and as you go through it, you seem common themes: slowing down, allowing the space to recognize thoughts and let them go, and being gentle with yourself. Doing these exercises by myself is easy the first few times but it seems like doing it with a community during the Calm Clarity live programs may help us understand deeper and also work with others interested in mindfulness and meditation.

Finally is the mystical things. Due comes to accept her mystical self (who sees auras and visions) despite her practical, logical, and no bullshit perspective efforts into mind hacking, meditation, and mindfulness. It was really interesting to learn of her framework about humanity, "collective soup", and higher selves. It must taken a lot of courage to share all these woo-woo things when she started her journey eschewing it. I'm thankful that she shared and am curious to see her journey as Calm Clarity continues to help other be their higher selves with greater wisdom, fulfillment, and joy. Thanks for sharing your story!

I am very impressed with how the author has collected and woven together a lot of different scientific studies on mindfulness to present a coherent resource on the science behind different mindfulness practices, while at the same time, respecting and reflecting the more ancient and spiritual backgrounds that they come from. It's not easy, but I think, necessary. There are also some very pinpointed and practical exercises that the book offers, some are reflective writing exercises, others are meditation exercises, but all of it is with the goal of learn how to access and live from our "higher selves."

The idea of the "higher self" was also this fluffy notion that made sense, but kinda airy-fairy and hard to pin down even as an idea -- but in this book, Miss Quach manages to scientifically identify the neurological phenomena of this "higher self," which, I think is a great breakthrough itself. Highly recommend this book if you're into self-development or mastery, mindfulness, leadership, and brain-science