95: Lean into Clean with Jarvis Smith and Harvard neuroscientist Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam95: Lean into Clean with Jarvis Smith and Harvard neuroscientist Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam
UK Health Radio Podcast
Jarvis Smith talks with Harvard neuroscientist Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam about how meditation practices like Inner Engineering and Samyama relate to brain health, mood and ageing. The conversation blends rigorous research with lived practice, offering a practical look at how short daily meditations might shift stress, attention and joy.
55:16•20 May 2026
Harvard Neuroscience, Meditation and a Younger Brain with Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam
Episode Overview
- Regular practices like Inner Engineering can lower stress, anxiety and depression within weeks, while gradually raising energy, positivity and awareness.
- Meditation shifts the brain into relaxed alertness, increasing alpha and theta waves and helping people experience flow states in everyday life.
- Guided meditations such as Isha Kriya and Miracle of Mind can be an easier entry point for beginners who struggle to ‘stop thinking’.
- Biomarkers like brain-derived neurotrophic factor and endocannabinoids may increase with intensive retreats, supporting mood and brain health.
- Long-term practice is linked with better attention, richer relationships and a sense of joy that goes beyond short-term pleasures.
““Meditation is very fundamental to look at ourselves in a very deeper way. It’s almost turning a light on within your body.””
How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation between host Jarvis Smith and Harvard neuroscientist and anaesthesiologist Dr Balachundhar Subramaniam leans hard into that question through the lens of meditation, brain health and human potential. You’ll hear Dr Subramaniam explain how a 14-year journey, sparked by his curiosity about consciousness under anaesthesia, led him to combine hard neuroscience with yogic practices from Sadhguru and the Isha lineage.
He talks about measuring brain waves, blood biomarkers and even biological brain age in people practising Inner Engineering, Samyama and guided meditations like Isha Kriya and the Miracle of Mind. For anyone rebuilding life after alcohol or other addictions, the findings he shares might feel very relevant: reduced stress, anxiety and depression within weeks; rising energy and motivation; better relationships; and a stronger sense of joy rather than short-lived pleasure.
As he puts it, “Meditation is very fundamental to look at ourselves in a very deeper way. It’s almost turning a light on within your body.” Jarvis brings his own 15 years’ experience with Inner Engineering, asking the kind of practical questions someone new to meditation might have, like whether you’re supposed to ‘stop thinking’ and what’s really happening in the brain.
Dr Subramaniam explains relaxed alertness, flow states, alpha and theta waves, and how practices can boost brain‑derived neurotrophic factor and natural endocannabinoids, support mood and potentially keep the brain younger by several years. The tone stays warm and down‑to‑earth, with plenty of laughs about “mental diarrhoea”, phone scrolling and partners being able to tell when you’ve skipped your practice.
If you’re sober or cutting back and looking for a concrete, science-backed way to steadier moods and more meaning, this chat offers a very approachable starting point. Could seven minutes of guided meditation become part of your daily recovery toolkit?
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