What’s going on here?
Every person should have the opportunity to flourish, whatever that looks like for them. But a major barrier to human flourishing and achieving our collective potential is lacking health.
I’ve spent two decades as a mitochondrial psychobiologist exploring the basis of health through the biology of energy. My lived experiences—grief, love, injuries, fatherhood, and leadership—have taught me a deep truth: We Are Energy.
An energetic view of ourselves unlocks new possibilities to bridge scientific disciplines, to live more sustainably, and to flourish.
You don’t have to be a scientist or a physician to understand the posts and stories shared here, or to learn how you can incorporate new insights about energy into your own life.
The Science and Experience of Energy—TSEE is for everyone.
On this Substack, we share what we’re learning on this journey:
New scientific papers, the untold backstories behind them, and why they matter.
Insights that bridge physics, mitochondrial biology and the human experience, including some co-written posts with my partner, biophysicist Nirosha J. Murugan, other outstanding colleagues, and guest writers.
Reflections on the evolution of scientific culture and medicine, including some of my personal experiences related to energy that inform our science.
Ideas and stories from amazing people who I had the chance to speak with while working on the upcoming ENERGY book.
We publish two new posts per week (Tuesday, Thursday),
and share a weekly digest email newsletter with
Subscribers weekly (Saturday).
What We believe
This newsletter is born out of a movement. A socio-scientific movement of change.
Reductionist approaches have yielded tremendous insights by illuminating mechanisms and parts of diseases. Now many of us now feel called to help that scientific approach evolve towards a more holistic, systems-oriented perspective that embrace energetic principles, interconnectedness, and lived human experiences.
This isn’t about abandoning what works—it’s about integrating reductionist models into a broader paradigm where we approach nature energetically and with humility. By weaving together the science of energy and the human experience, we can co-create a new science: Healing Science. With a compelling framework, the brilliant scientific community can deploy its creativity and rigor to lead this integration, bridging disciplines and perspectives to move through this new stage of evolution.
We started this Substack because our science and our culture need a new framework.
What’s next is an energetic view of life: a first-principles view of living organisms as energetic systems, grounded in science while honoring our individuality and the lived experiences that allow each of us to heal and transform—to flourish.
Join the movement
Together, we are building a bridge between the science and experience of energy to change how we live, heal, and relate to one another. This Substack is a piece of this vision that helps connect and engage people who want to contribute to this movement.
With science as our structure and energy as the point of consilience, we weave meaningful experiences into our inquiry to discover deeper truths about ourselves, our health, and the things that move us.
Together, we can nurture a healthier, more sustainable culture where each person has the opportunity to reach their full potential—to flourish.
Welcome.
About Martin
I direct the Mitochondrial Psychobiology Group at Columbia University in New York.
Our lab has integrated mitochondrial biology, bioenergetics, and aging science with psychosocial sciences, contemplative practices, and mitochondrial medicine into a rigorous interdisciplinary research program. In the ENERGY book, I share what I have learned about energy—through science and via lived experiences—and how a scientifically-informed, energetically-inspired view of health has changed my life. I hope it can touch your life and those you love as well. As we develop the Energy and Healing Institute ⎸ EHI, we partner with visionary leaders, domain experts, and outstanding communicators to support the cultural and scientific transformation toward a healthier, more compassionate, and sustainable world.
You can learn more about our research, and about what moves me here.
