I go back about 35 years in the do-good PR and communications field and have spent much of the last decade working to build awareness of specific ways contemplative practice can facilitate deep social and environmental change. So I’m heartened by the surge of mainstream media coverage of mindfulness in the past year or so—and at the same time concerned…
Janine was the biggest bully in my elementary school—and she was assigned to the desk next to mine in fifth grade. Short and obese with cropped black hair and bulging black eyes, she wore a constant sneer beneath her olive complexion. We were complete opposites: I loved school and excelled in it; Janine hated it and did poorly. I wore…
By Anneli Rufus In a recent study, people were asked to choose between winning a small prize immediately and larger prizes they would have to wait several weeks to claim. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 70 percent chose the smaller-sooner prize. But follow-up questioning revealed that those who chose to wait treasured their rewards more highly than those who claimed their prize immediately—even…
There’s no denying that intoxicating, all-consuming high you feel when you first fall in love. You have a goofy smile on your face and your friends notice you glowing from the inside out. But it’s not all rainbows and butterflies for everyone: Some people find that love is all-consuming. For them, being in love is like being on cocaine—literally! Indeed, love…
If you asked my college roommate to rate my neatness on a scale of 1 to 10, she’d probably say 12. I was Felix Unger to her Oscar Madison, and as much as she drove me crazy with her messiness, I’m sure my extreme tidiness drove her even crazier. So she would’ve been shocked if she’d seen the state of…
Summer is synonymous with love, romance, and joy. We celebrate the abundance of Mother Earth. This is a time to reach high and aim high. The summer solstice is a celebration of the longest day of the year and marks the height of the waxing season: a time of fertility of nature. Think of this as a time of being…
By Sarah McKay, Ph.D. Two early-morning long blacks. A lunchtime flat white (especially if I’m near a cafe). And sometimes a sneaky pick-me-up afternoon espresso. Time to come clean. That’s a typical day for me. I guess to many of you, that might seem like way too much caffeine. But, I’m not too concerned, because it turns out that neuroscience has produced some research suggesting…
