In a world of constant noise, speed, and digital overwhelm, how do we reclaim our inner stability and thrive?
This week on The Flourishing Edge, Ashish Kothari welcomes Emma Seppala, Yale School of Management faculty member, bestselling author of Sovereign and The Happiness Track, and pioneering researcher in well-being science.
Together they explore what it truly means to be sovereign—to live with awareness, agency, and mastery over one’s mind and emotions—even amid the chaos of technology, AI, and nonstop change. Emma shares groundbreaking research on breathing, intuition, and emotional regulation, revealing how ancient contemplative wisdom meets modern neuroscience to help us flourish in work and life.
💫 Key Topics & Insights
What “Sovereign” Really Means:
Reclaiming inner mastery in an age of distraction, self-criticism, and external noise.
Why self-awareness—not self-judgment—is the foundation for resilience and performance.
The Science of Self-Compassion:
How harsh self-talk lowers creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence—and how awareness and kindness to self reverse it.
Technology, AI & the Age of Uncertainty:
Why constant stimulation erodes intuition, and how stillness, silence, and mindful discernment safeguard our humanity.
→ “AI can inform us, but only intuition can guide us.”
The Power of Intuition & Alpha States:
Neuroscience behind gut wisdom and creativity: relaxed minds in alpha-wave mode generate breakthrough ideas.
How to train intuition through rest, presence, and trust in your inner knowing.
Sovereign Relationships:
Why the most loyal teams and cultures are built on care, not control.
The two simple leadership moves:
1️⃣ Make people feel seen, heard, valued, appreciated.
2️⃣ Model calm self-awareness through your own meditation or reflective practice.
Sovereign Emotions & Healing Trauma:
Adults suppress; children feel and release. Emma explains how emotional endurance and courage transform leadership presence.
→ “Feeling is not weakness—it’s wisdom.”
The SKY Breath Meditation Breakthrough:
Emma’s landmark research at Yale and Stanford showing that the SKY (Sudarshan Kriya Yoga) breathing practice:
Rapidly reduces PTSD symptoms in veterans
Normalizes anxiety responses for up to a year
Outperforms standard therapy for emotion regulation
Prevents burnout in college students
Proven pathways to emotional sovereignty and nervous-system healing.
Daily Practices for Sovereignty:
🌞 Morning: Yoga + SKY Breath + Meditation (≈ 1 hr)
🌅 Evening: 30 min silent meditation
🌳 Nature immersion & walking daily
🙏 Gratitude for life’s simple privileges
💻 Strict boundaries with technology & news
💞 Service mindset—leave everyone feeling better than before they met you
💬 Memorable Quotes:
“Self-awareness, not self-criticism, is the key to unlocking your potential.” — Emma Seppala
“We can’t stop the waves of change, but we can learn to master the inner ocean.” — Ashish Kothari
“Feeling is not weakness—it’s wisdom. Sovereignty begins when you allow yourself to feel.” — Emma Seppala
🪷 About the Guest:
Emma Seppala is a psychologist, researcher, and faculty member at Yale School of Management. She is the author of Sovereign and The Happiness Track, and Science Director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, and TIME. Emma’s research bridges neuroscience, psychology, and ancient contemplative practices to help individuals and organizations thrive.
🔗 Connect with Emma on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmaseppala/
🌻 About the Host:
Ashish Kothari is the founder of Happiness Squad, author of Hardwired for Happiness, and creator of the Flourishing Edge Podcast, where science-based practices meet soulful leadership to help people live, work, and lead with joy, health, love, and meaning.
If this conversation sparked your curiosity about reclaiming your own sovereignty, share the episode with a friend or teammate who’s ready to flourish too.
Subscribe to The Flourishing Edge Podcast and leave a review to keep spreading science-backed tools for living and leading with purpose.
__________________________________________________
Happiness Squad Website: https://happinesssquad.com/
Ashish Kothari: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashishkothari1/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@MyHappinessSquad
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/happiness-squad
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myhappinesssquad/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhappinesssquad
Transcript
Ashish Kothari:
Welcome to The Flourishing Edge, the podcast where we share weekly tips on making flourishing your competitive edge. I’m Ashish Kothari, your host, and each week we dive deep with flourishing experts, changemakers, and executives to share best practices that help unlock higher performance through science-based interventions.
Let’s step together into the edge of what’s possible and live, work, and lead with more joy, health, love, and meaning.
Emma, it is so lovely to have you with us. I know it’s been a long time coming, and I’m excited that we’re recording this together.
Emma Seppälä:
Thank you, Ashish. It’s really nice to be here.
Ashish Kothari:
I’ve been a huge fan of your work for a long time. We also share a spiritual lineage through The Art of Living and the SKY meditation research you’ve done. I loved your book Sovereign. While it’s been out for a bit, it feels more relevant today than ever.
Let’s start there. What does it mean to be sovereign in today’s world, and what personal and professional moments led you to write this book?
Emma Seppälä:
It’s incredibly easy right now to be swept away by everything coming at us—media, accelerating lives, belief systems, behaviors that keep us trapped and unhappy.
Many people don’t realize how self-critical they are. When I ask groups of executives how many are self-critical, nearly everyone raises their hand. They believe it helps them improve, but the data shows the opposite. Self-criticism harms resilience, emotional intelligence, creativity, decision-making, well-being, physical health, and sleep.
We confuse self-awareness with self-criticism. You need awareness, not judgment, to reach your full potential.
On top of that, we cope with discomfort by scrolling, drinking, overworking, over-exercising, or avoiding emotions altogether. These behaviors become addictions that lock us into stress, anxiety, and depression cycles.
Sovereignty is about awareness—becoming conscious of how we’re living—and then reclaiming control and mastery over how we choose to live our lives.
Ashish Kothari:
That resonates deeply. In my work on hardwiring happiness, self-awareness is foundational. Without it, nothing else becomes possible. Much of our suffering is psychologically created by our own stories.
You also emphasize that the only constant today is change—and the speed of change is overwhelming. Unless we master our inner world, we don’t stand a chance of thriving externally.
Emma Seppälä:
Exactly. These ideas are ancient, rooted in contemplative traditions from India, China, and East Asia. Yet Western education largely ignores them.
We live in a time of extreme speed, stimulation, and overwhelm. The more intense the world becomes, the more we need counterbalancing practices—meditation, silence, going inward—to maintain equilibrium. Otherwise, we’re constantly being psychologically whiplashed.
The beauty is that we can reclaim sovereignty through these practices.
Ashish Kothari:
Technology—especially AI—has accelerated this uncertainty. People feel powerless, especially in middle management. How do practices like stillness, mindfulness, and wisdom help humans navigate this moment?
Emma Seppälä:
Inner stability builds resilience and creativity. We’re most innovative when the brain is relaxed—when it’s in an alpha-wave state. That’s why people get their best ideas in the shower or while walking in nature.
If you’re laid off or facing change, this state helps you see new possibilities and make better decisions. AI is a tool, not a substitute for human wisdom or intuition. Without inner clarity, it can do real harm.
Ashish Kothari:
That’s where intuition becomes critical—questioning what we see, challenging our biases, and trusting our inner compass.
Emma Seppälä:
Exactly. We’re wired for intuition, but schooling trains it out of us by over-prioritizing rational thinking. Creativity is intuition.
Research shows that for complex decisions—career moves, relationships, life changes—gut feeling often leads to better outcomes than overthinking. The military has studied intuition for decades because it saves lives.
Sovereignty is reclaiming access to that inner knowing and balancing it with rationality, not replacing one with the other.
Ashish Kothari:
You also talk about sovereign relationships—helping people feel seen, heard, and valued. Research consistently shows this matters more than money.
Emma Seppälä:
Absolutely. Loyalty isn’t bought with compensation—it’s built through genuine care. A mentor who believed in you creates loyalty that lasts a lifetime.
Workplace relationships directly impact physical health. A toxic relationship with a boss increases the risk of heart disease. Our bodies don’t distinguish between personal and professional threat.
Ashish Kothari:
Another pillar you explore is sovereign emotions.
Emma Seppälä:
Most adults were never taught what to do with emotions. We suppress them, and they leak out in unhealthy ways—damaging relationships and culture.
Sovereignty means having the courage to feel. Children feel emotions fully and move on. Adults suppress emotions for decades.
Breathing practices like SKY meditation help regulate the nervous system and move through trauma. I’ve seen veterans overcome PTSD through these tools—often faster and more effectively than traditional therapy.
Ashish Kothari:
Your research on SKY breath meditation was groundbreaking.
Emma Seppälä:
After 9/11, I struggled with anxiety and found mindfulness alone wasn’t enough. Breathing practices transformed my life.
Later, working with veterans, we found SKY breath meditation significantly reduced PTSD symptoms—often within a week. Follow-ups showed lasting nervous system regulation months and years later.
We replicated these findings at Yale with stressed undergraduates. The breathing group showed the strongest mental health benefits.
These practices work because they address both mind and physiology.
Ashish Kothari:
As we close, you live this work fully. What personal practices keep you grounded?
Emma Seppälä:
Daily yoga, SKY breath meditation, and meditation—non-negotiable. Time in nature every day. Gratitude and perspective. Strong boundaries with technology and news. And service—treating everyone I meet with kindness and care.
Ashish Kothari:
Emma, thank you for your wisdom, your research, and your humanity. Your work gives people the tools to move from victimhood to sovereignty and flourishing.
Emma Seppälä:
Thank you, Ashish. It’s been a joy.
Ashish Kothari:
Thank you for joining us on The Flourishing Edge. If today’s conversation inspired you, share it with someone ready to flourish. Subscribe, leave a review, and stay connected. Until next time, keep learning, practicing, and growing into your fullest potential.
