Episode Overview

Title: How Technology is Hijacking Our Minds with Mindless Labs
Host: Michael Chernow
Guests: Chris (Mindless Labs co-founder), Mental Health Advocate (Mindless Labs team)
Date: November 19, 2025

This episode explores how technology, especially smartphones and social media, impacts our mental health, routines, and ability to be present. Michael and the Mindless Labs team examine personal boundaries around tech, effective well-being habits (like breathwork and meditation), the spectrum of mental health, and their mission to break mental health stigma and accessibility barriers. The conversation is a candid mix of practical strategies, personal stories, and reflection on what it means to live well in the age of distraction.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Technology's Impact on Mental Health

• Opening Thoughts
  • Michael opens strong:

    “The most distracting, painful, penetrating thing in our lives today that impact mental health is cell phones and technology.” — Michael Chernow [00:00]

• Tech Addiction & Presence
  • The group discusses the omnipresence of smartphones and the challenge of being present, especially with family.
    • Michael shares a pivotal moment with his son, realizing the consequences of being distracted by his phone. [20:38–23:07]
  • Michael announces his commitment to move to a minimalist phone (Light Phone 3), removing apps and internet access:

    “I am fully 100% addicted to my phone... Imagine if I could take all of the time I spend on my phone and channel it towards my wife and children...” — Michael Chernow [31:43–33:34]

• A Double-Edged Sword
  • Chris frames technology as both positive and negative, referencing how phones can help or hinder:

    "Everything we have has, like, some greatness and it has the shadow. ... How do we mitigate the shadow? How do we integrate the two?” — Chris [46:00]

2. Social Media, Boundaries, and Content Consumption

• Setting Boundaries
  • The Mental Health Advocate describes strict personal boundaries with social media, including deleting apps and curating a positive feed:

    “I only follow people that are uplifting... If it’s taking away from your kids, well, what’s the bigger picture here?” — Mental Health Advocate [24:16–26:47; 00:12–00:47]

• Information Diet and Emotional Health
  • Drawing from years in broadcast news, the Mental Health Advocate shares the importance of post-work rituals to shed negative energy, paralleling the need for boundaries with both news and social media. [25:00–26:10]

3. Human Condition & Timeless Struggles

• Chris contextualizes tech-driven mental health challenges within the broader human experience:

  “The problems we’re dealing with is the human condition that we’ve been dealing with for thousands of years... Each generation has something to overcome, and ours certainly has to do with technology.” — Chris [00:47–01:34; 26:50–29:47]

• He links ancient anxiety and modern anxieties, quoting Seneca:

  “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” — Chris [29:00]

4. Mindless Labs: Mission & Resources

• Breaking Barriers to Care
  • Mindless Labs combines an app and apparel line to destigmatize mental health while making resources accessible and free.
  • They focus on breaking three main barriers: access, cost, and stigma. [03:53–04:42]
• Most Popular Resources
  • The Anxiety Survival Guide and various breathwork practices are among the app’s most used resources. [06:38–07:56]
  • Chris explains the “crazy calm” breath and practices for vagus nerve stimulation as particularly effective. [07:15]

5. Breathwork, Therapy, and Exploring Modalities

• Breathwork as a Tool for Mental Health
  • Michael describes his transformative experience with somatic breathwork (rebirthing), including emotional breakthroughs and visionary moments:

    “The very first breath work session I ever did... one of the greatest moments of my life. I saw my dead father who told me he loved me for the first time ever in a breath work.” — Michael Chernow [12:17–14:52]

  • Breathwork offers psychedelic-level healing without substance use, which is significant for those in recovery.
• Rituals for Transitioning Roles
  • Michael shares his practice of doing breathwork in the driveway to shift from "entrepreneur energy" to "present dad":

    “If I do both [box breathing & double inhale, long exhale], back to back, I am like baseline... ready to just be a dad.” — Michael Chernow [21:08–24:13]

• Trying Modalities through an App
  • Mindless Labs enables safe exploration of breathwork, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and more via the app, aiming to lower intimidation and provide at-home access before seeking in-person guidance. [16:20–18:49]
• The Value of In-Person, Human Connection
  • Chris affirms that app-based practice is a helpful intro, but nothing replaces real human connection in therapy. [18:30–18:58]

6. The Power of Routine and Structure

• Essential Habits
  • The importance of sleep, movement, nutrition, and daily rituals in mental health is emphasized.
  • Mental Health Advocate:

    “Movement is a non-negotiable because I know what happens up here if I don't move my body.” [50:17]

  • Chris:

    “Getting control of your sleep is really one of the number one things you can do to help your mental health ... meditation every morning ... is just incredibly powerful.” [50:49–54:12]

• Honesty about Struggle and Consistency
  • Both guests acknowledge how hard it is to maintain habits—even when they know what works.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We are living our lives way more through other people than in our own heads. And that is cannot be healthy.” — Michael Chernow [31:42]
• “Phones get the best life ever. They get the most attention—they get to experience things before we even do.” — Michael Chernow [41:06]
• “Almost every technology that we come across is going to have a shadow side and it’s going to have this light.” — Chris [46:00]
• Michael’s Admission:

  “I made a promise to myself that I would never be on the phone at my kid’s games. … Last Saturday...I was on my phone and Finn goes, ‘Dad, Dakota just scored a goal.’ And I missed him scoring the goal. … I lied...and it just has been eating me.” [42:15–44:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:34 — Tech’s Distracting Power & Human Condition Framing
• 03:20–04:42 — Mindless Labs Launch & Mission to Break Barriers
• 06:38–07:56 — Most Popular App Resources: Anxiety Guide & Breathwork
• 08:14–14:52 — Michael’s Breathwork Transformation Stories
• 18:58–21:08 — Transition Ritual: Breathwork Before Entering Home
• 24:13–33:34 — Social Media, Tech Addiction, & Minimalist Phone Discussion
• 41:06–44:25 — Missing Life Moments Due to Phone Distraction
• 49:01–54:12 — The Power of Routine: Sleep, Movement, Meditation

Takeaways for Listeners

• Technology is a powerful force—useful but also deeply distracting and impactful on mental health and presence.
• Setting smartphone and social media boundaries is crucial; small rituals (like driveway breathwork) can have big impacts.
• Mindless Labs aims to normalize mental health care through accessible, stigma-busting platforms and resources.
• Honest self-assessment and willingness to change, even when uncomfortable, is at the heart of well-being.
• Simple habits—sleep, movement, breathwork, and meditation—are the real tools for daily stability in a distracting world.

Episode ends with plans for a Part Two—listeners can look forward to continued deep dives into habit, ritual, technology, and what it means to live well.