Mastering your mind: How mindfulness improves focus, compassion and mental wellbeing.
Dr. Ellen Choi helps you unlock the power of mindfulness.
What if we could adopt a simple practice that can build our mental strength and mental health at the same time?
In this conversation, Dr. Ellen Choi joined Dr. Greg to explore the science of mindfulness and its impact on performance and wellbeing. Drawing from her research and personal journey, she explained how mindfulness training can transform error‑prone, reactive habits into compassionate, intentional responses. The conversation covered practical meditation techniques, the neuroscience of attention, and the importance of aligning actions with values to live a meaningful, high‑performance life.
Dr. Choi bridges human physiology, psychological research and practical training. Unlike many mindfulness advocates, she approaches the practice as a scientist and organizational psychologist, rigorously testing its effects on stress, attention, errors and performance in real‑world environments.
Her background as a former commercial real‑estate professional, yoga teacher and meditation coach gives her a unique perspective on how mindfulness can be applied in high‑pressure workplaces.
She teaches that brief, consistent meditation can build mental strength, self‑awareness and compassion, enabling individuals to shift from reactive to responsive modes under pressure. Through her workshops and research she demonstrates that mindfulness is not just a calming practice but a performance‑enhancing skill that develops resilience and clarity.
In this episode, you’ll discover how to use mindfulness to help you notice when your mind is wandering and to gently return your focus to what matters most in your life.
High performers often struggle with stress, perfectionism and knee‑jerk reactions that undermine effectiveness. Dr. Choi shows that mindfulness training can build “legit mental strength”—a combination of self‑awareness, compassion and attentional control—that allows you to stay calm under pressure, learn from your mistakes and align your actions with your deepest values.
Your mind is a powerful tool for you and Dr. Choi can be your trusted guide to help you master it.
Key take aways:
Mindfulness training changes how we handle mistakes
Self‑criticism is the brain’s default, but we can train self‑compassion
Short, consistent meditation builds attention and equanimity
Switching between ‘default’ and ‘experiential’ modes matters for creativity
Pause before reacting
“Conceptually understanding what mindfulness is but not practicing mindfulness is like understanding what surfing is but never learning to swim. Meditation is a mental training technique that cultivates mindfulness.”
Today’s Expert Guest - Dr. Ellen Choi, PhD
Dr. Ellen Choi is an associate professor of human resources management and organizational behaviour at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. She is an organizational psychologist whose research examines how mindfulness training influences attention, emotion regulation, errors, authenticity, resilience and performance under pressure. Dr. Choi holds a PhD from the Ivey School of Business (2017) and an MSc from the London School of Economics (2012). Before entering academia she spent eight years in commercial real estate and became a yoga instructor and executive meditation coach, experience that now informs her research and teaching. She teaches courses on organizational behaviour, leadership and decision‑making and has delivered mindfulness workshops to corporate executives, lawyers, MBA students, police recruits and health‑care professionals.
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This podcast contains advice and information relating to health and wellness. It should be used to supplement rather than replace the advice of your doctor or another trained health professional. If you know or suspect that you have a health problem, seek your physician’s advice before embarking on any medical program or treatment. All efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained in this podcast / interview / article as of the date of publication. The author and publisher disclaim liability for any medical or other outcomes that may occur as a result of applying the methods suggested in this material.
