Ask HN: Activity and reading to move through mid-life crisis?

Any recommendation of activities and reading for someone who is apparently going through a mid-life crisis, aside from seeing a therapist and doing more exercises?

I have some vague idea of what I would like to achieve for the rest of my life (mostly intellectual stuffs such as studying General Relativity), but there is an invisible wall standing between them and what my mind is at the moment. I also think I should setup some other goals such as family (already have a baby son) but my mind is not particularly interested in that part. Maybe it will reveal itself when time passes.

I'm also interested in any experience of anyone who apparently had a mid-life crisis but managed to go through it more or less without too much damage to themselves and their families.

Thanks.

A good meditation for me comes after at least 30 mins of solid yoga, and then sitting in padmasana (or something similar, siddhasana, whatever keeps your body locked and spine erect) and silence. Then just breathe slow and relaxed and listen to what comes from inside of you.

I found Eastern Orthodoxy, which is the perfect marriage between Christianity and mysticism. My whole life has been healed as a result of becoming (and continuing to struggle to be) an Orthodox Christian.

My life was a mess and my family was almost beyond hope. I was quickly falling towards divorce and despair. I heard about Orthodox Christianity through a few different avenues around the same time and I thought "what else do I have to lose?" I have not regretted the decision to go to church.

1) There's a biological component where happiness follows a U curve. Mid 40's tends to bottom out on happiness then steadily increases. Useful to know since riding it out is a viable strategy. [1]

2) This translation [2] of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations is powerful as a daily reminder that no matter the year or station in life, the struggles are universal. Focusing on what's in your control and "knowing thyself" goes a long way towards fighting overwhelm.

3) Modern hypnotherapy is worth studying and possibly doing a session or two with a skilled practitioner. It's basically a shortcut for hacking into your subconscious and un-sticking negative loops without needing to spend years in therapy talking about the past. It's gained popularity in high performance communities, CEOs, athletes, etc. But important to know the more modern version is different than hypnotherapy from 10+ years ago. It's also not stage hypnotherapy. Much more like lucid dreaming where you're still completely aware. I particularly like Marisa Peer's Rapid Transformational Therapy. Her books [3] are worth reading. I can connect you with RTT practitioners or coaches if you're interested. I've worked with a few.

[1] (random link, but useful article) https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/scientists-just-discovered-mi...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Au...

[3] https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Yourself-Better-Lie-Transformati...