Misty Copeland on The Art of Resilience — Lessons from a Barrier-Breaking Ballet Dancer

10 July 2024 - 1 hour 8 mins
Podcast Series Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais

Today, we've got a really special conversation for you.

Our guest today is a real trailblazer… A boundary breaker in the world of ballet… An incredibly special human… She went from living in motel rooms to performing on the world’s biggest stages… She is the legendary Misty Copeland.

Misty’s journey from living in motel rooms to becoming the first African American female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre is nothing short of inspiring.

Misty started ballet at the late age of thirteen and rose to perform lead roles in iconic productions like Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. During her meteoric rise, she was also featured on the covers of Time, ESSENCE, and Women's Health. 

Mis...

1 hour 8 mins

Series Episodes

The Psychology of Inner Peace | Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Playing

The Psychology of Inner Peace | Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation and author of Notes for the Journey Within, joins Dr. Michael Gervais to share how much stress is actually useful, what he means when he says success is exhibiting your limitation, and why he believes peace is a state you return to rather than one you build.

33 mins

30 September Finished

The Psychology of Pain | Dr Tom Walters Playing

The Psychology of Pain | Dr Tom Walters

Dr. Tom Walters, board-certified orthopedic physical therapist, strength and conditioning specialist, educator, founder of Rehab Science, and author of Rehab Science: How to Overcome Pain and Heal from Injury, joins Dr. Michael Gervais to explain the difference between pain and injury, how fear and language shape the pain experience, and what to do when something hurts.

1 hour 17 mins

23 September Finished

The Psychology of Motivation | Dr. Masud Husain Playing

The Psychology of Motivation | Dr. Masud Husain

Dr. Masud Husain, clinical neurologist, neuroscientist, Professor of Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, Editor-in-Chief of the journal Brain, and author of Our Brains, Our Selves, winner of the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize, joins Dr. Michael Gervais to explain how the brain builds motivation, what happens to a person when that system fails, and why he believes the self is not set in stone.

1 hour 44 mins

16 September Finished

The Psychology of The 10 Commandments| Jamie Metzl Playing

The Psychology of The 10 Commandments| Jamie Metzl

Jamie Metzl breaks down the question behind his new set of ten principles, what happens when you read the original ten commandments literally, and why values collapse under pressure without the skills to hold them.

1 hour 16 mins

9 September Finished

The Psychology of Menopause | Tamsen Fadal Playing

The Psychology of Menopause | Tamsen Fadal

Tamsen Fadal, Emmy Award-winning journalist, menopause advocate, executive producer of the documentary The M Factor, and New York Times bestselling author of How to Menopause, joins Dr. Michael Gervais to explain what menopause actually is, why its symptoms are so often mistaken for anxiety or depression, and what women, partners, and leaders can do with better information.

58 mins

2 September Finished

The Psychology of Fighting Dementia | Dr Tommy Wood Playing

The Psychology of Fighting Dementia | Dr Tommy Wood

Dr. Tommy Wood, physician and neuroscientist, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the University of Washington, and author of The Stimulated Mind, returns to Finding Mastery to join Dr. Michael Gervais on what we can do today to minimize our chances of developing dementia, how much of the risk is modifiable, and the three buckets he sorts every risk factor into.

1 hour 18 mins

26 August Finished

Recommended

No Account

Subscriptions to podcast series are only available to users with an account. Sign in or register to subscribe and access your subscriptions.

Register Sign in

Woops!

Error text.