A few years ago, Maya gave a commencement address to graduates of the Juilliard School of Music’s pre-college program. In honor of commencement season, with students around the world embarking on the next chapter of their lives, we’re sharing it again. In it, Maya gives lessons she’s learned about embracing life’s unexpected changes.

A few years ago, Maya gave a commencement address to graduates of the Juilliard School of Music&rsquo;s pre-college program. In honor of commencement season, with students around the world embarking on the next chapter of their lives, we&rsquo;re sharing it again. In it, Maya gives lessons she&rsquo;s learned about embracing life&rsquo;s unexpected changes.

What happens when life doesn’t go according to plan? In this award-winning podcast, cognitive scientist Dr. Maya Shankar explores how we experience change and strategies we can use to better navigate moments of upheaval.

Maya’s life took a dramatic turn when an injury ended her career as a violinist and inspired her to study the science of change.

Named Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year, A Slight Change of Plans features deeply personal stories and scientific insights about who we are and who we become in the face of a big change.

Past guests include Kacey Musgraves, Brené Brown, Ruby Bridges, Amanda Knox, Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth and more.

Whether it’s a sudden pivot or a slow transformation, each episode reveals how change can give us an opportunity to reimagine who we are and unlock greater possibility.

You can follow Maya on instagram @DrMayaShankar and read her free newsletter at changewithmaya.com.

 

Get early, ad-free access to episodes of A Slight Change of Plans by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. 

Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus

What happens when life doesn&rsquo;t go according to plan? In this award-winning podcast, cognitive scientist Dr. Maya Shankar explores how we experience change and strategies we can use to better navigate moments of upheaval.
Maya&rsquo;s life took a dramatic turn when an injury ended her career as a violinist and inspired her to study the science of change.
Named Apple Podcasts&rsquo; Best Show of the Year, A Slight Change of Plans features deeply personal stories and scientific insights about who we are and who we become in the face of a big change.
Past guests include Kacey Musgraves, Bren&eacute; Brown, Ruby Bridges, Amanda Knox, Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth and more.
Whether it&rsquo;s a sudden pivot or a slow transformation, each episode reveals how change can give us an opportunity to reimagine who we are and unlock greater possibility.
You can follow Maya on instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmayashankar/?hl=en">@DrMayaShankar</a> and read her free newsletter at&nbsp;<a href="http://changewithmaya.com/" data-stringify-link="http://changewithmaya.com" data-sk="tooltip_parent">changewithmaya.com</a>.
&nbsp;
<hr>
Get early, ad-free access to episodes of A Slight Change of Plans by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/join-pushkin">Pushkin.fm</a>. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.&nbsp;
Subscribe on Apple: <a href="http://apple.co/pushkin">apple.co/pushkin</a> Subscribe on Pushkin:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/join-pushkin">pushkin.fm/plus</a>

A Slight Change of Plans

Maya’s Advice to New Grads

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/a4132b17-5036-4f3e-a4af-b44f001d634f/transcript

Neuroscientist Amir Levine studies attachment styles – how comfortable we feel with emotional intimacy and how sensitive we are to disruptions in our relationships. For decades, scientists have believed that this wiring is fixed and largely determined by our early childhood experiences. But research by Amir and others in the field has upended this view. 

This week Amir shares with Maya how we can learn to shift our attachment orientation no matter our starting point and bring out our most secure selves. 

Check out Amir’s latest book, “Secure: The Revolutionary Guide to Creating a Secure Life,” and take this quiz on attachment styles to learn more about your own. 

Also, A Slight Change of Plans wants to hear from you! 

What helps you navigate moments of uncertainty? Maybe it was advice someone gave you, a mantra you now repeat, or something surprising you discovered in your own moment of transition. Share your reflections with us in a voice memo and tell us why those lessons have stayed with you. 

You can email your voice memo to slightchange@pushkin.fm or leave us a voicemail at (646)397-8557. You may be featured in an upcoming episode.

Neuroscientist Amir Levine studies attachment styles &ndash; how comfortable we feel with emotional intimacy and how sensitive we are to disruptions in our relationships. For decades, scientists have believed that this wiring is fixed and largely determined by our early childhood experiences. But research by Amir and others in the field has upended this view.&nbsp;
This week Amir shares with Maya how we can learn to shift our attachment orientation no matter our starting point and bring out our most secure selves.&nbsp;
Check out Amir&rsquo;s latest book, &ldquo;<a href="https://amirlevinemd.com/books/secure/" data-airgap-id="11">Secure: The Revolutionary Guide to Creating a Secure Life</a>,&rdquo; and take this <a href="https://amirlevinemd.com/attachment-style-quiz/" data-airgap-id="12">quiz on attachment styles</a> to learn more about your own.&nbsp;
Also, A Slight Change of Plans wants to hear from you!&nbsp;
What helps you navigate moments of uncertainty? Maybe it was advice someone gave you, a mantra you now repeat, or something surprising you discovered in your own moment of transition. Share your reflections with us in a voice memo and tell us why those lessons have stayed with you.&nbsp;
You can email your voice memo to&nbsp;<a href="mailto:slightchange@pushkin.fm" data-airgap-id="13">slightchange@pushkin.fm</a> or leave us a voicemail at (646)397-8557. You may be featured in an upcoming episode.

Why We Crave Closeness — and Run From It

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/797109fd-5e78-48ea-a9f5-b4db00e10b33/transcript

Professional violinist Vijay Gupta grew up performing on the world’s biggest stages in order to fulfill his parents' dreams for him. But the pressure to play perfectly became too much, and over time he lost his love of the violin.

Then Vijay started performing in homeless shelters and mental health clinics, where audiences wanted something very different from him: not perfection, but connection. 

This week, Vijay joins Maya to share how those experiences rekindled his passion for music, and gave him the courage to walk away from his parents’ dreams towards his own.

Check out Vijay’s new book, “Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation,” and learn more about his work with Street Symphony at StreetSymphony.org.

For Fun: Watch young violinists Vijay and Maya on PBS’s Reading Rainbow in 1996, “Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin.”

For more episodes like this, we recommend our conversation with Shira Gabriel, “Why Experiencing Awe With Others Feels So Magical.”

Professional violinist Vijay Gupta grew up performing on the world&rsquo;s biggest stages in order to fulfill his parents' dreams for him. But the pressure to play perfectly became too much, and over time he lost his love of the violin.
Then Vijay started performing in homeless shelters and mental health clinics, where audiences wanted something very different from him: not perfection, but connection.&nbsp;
This week, Vijay joins Maya to share how those experiences rekindled his passion for music, and gave him the courage to walk away from his parents&rsquo; dreams towards his own.
Check out Vijay&rsquo;s new book, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/vijay-gupta/restrung/9780306835988/" data-airgap-id="11">Restrung: A Memoir of Music and Transformation</a>,&rdquo; and learn more about his work with Street Symphony at <a href="http://streetsymphony.org/" data-airgap-id="12">StreetSymphony.org</a>.
For Fun: Watch young violinists Vijay and Maya on PBS&rsquo;s Reading Rainbow in 1996, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iTor9-2WVI" data-airgap-id="13">Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin</a>.&rdquo;
For more episodes like this, we recommend our conversation with Shira Gabriel, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/a-slight-change-of-plans/why-experiencing-awe-with-others-feels-so-magical" data-airgap-id="14">Why Experiencing Awe With Others Feels So Magical</a>.&rdquo;

Leaving the Life You Trained For

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/0e328222-c0d8-4914-82c9-b4cf001ef709/transcript

Here’s a preview of another Pushkin podcast, one that explores many of the topics we cover here on A Slight Change of Plans: grief, jealousy, anger, and awe. It’s called Death of an Artist. 

In February 2024, celebrated children’s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and deeply in love. As much a love story as one about death, it begs the question: what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them?

Journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael’s letters—as one married couple trying to understand another. Told through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael’s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers’ deaths and the final words they left behind.

Search for Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

Here&rsquo;s a preview of another Pushkin podcast, one that explores many of the topics we cover here on A Slight Change of Plans: grief, jealousy, anger, and awe. It&rsquo;s called Death of an Artist.&nbsp;
In February 2024, celebrated children&rsquo;s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and deeply in love. As much a love story as one about death, it begs the question: what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them?
Journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael&rsquo;s letters&mdash;as one married couple trying to understand another. Told through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael&rsquo;s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers&rsquo; deaths and the final words they left behind.
Search for Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at <a href="http://pushkin.fm/plus" data-airgap-id="10">pushkin.fm/plus</a>.

Petra Mathers and Her Michael | From Death of an Artist

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/59ddf769-0ddf-4ef6-a096-b4c201549555/transcript

Maya’s Advice to New Grads

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