Medley

In-person mindfulness courses help improve mental health for at least six months

Details: Published: Saturday, 29 July 2023 07:49

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Adults who voluntarily take part in mindfulness courses are less likely to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression for at least six months after completing the programs, compared to adults who do not take part, a new analysis pooling data from 13 studies has confirmed.

University of Cambridge researchers looked at participants of group-based and teacher-led mindfulness courses, conducted in person and offered in community settings.

Everyone's brain has a pain fingerprint -- new research has revealed for the first time

Details: Published: Friday, 30 June 2023 04:50

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New research has revealed everyone's brain has a 'pain fingerprint' that varies from person to person.

The University of Essex-led study, in collaboration with the neuroscience of pain group at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, found fast-oscillating brain waves linked to brief pain and touch can differ widely in scans.

Half of world's largest lakes losing water

Details: Published: Tuesday, 23 May 2023 12:44

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Lake Urmia in Iran was once the world’s second largest salt lake, but since 1998 its area has shriveled by more than 90 percent.

Climate change, human consumption and sedimentation contributing to decline

More than 50 percent of the largest lakes in the world are losing water, according to a groundbreaking new assessment published today in Science . The key culprits are not surprising: warming climate and unsustainable human consumption.

The Mona Lisa in Paris

Details: Published: Tuesday, 02 May 2023 09:17

Compiled by Jan Nicolaas Kind - Brazil

[Came across this incredible photo and short write up on Instagram and felt I had to share it with the readers in the category MEDLEY. Although currently Paris is not as described by Harvey Stein, due to the many demonstrations, it is to be hoped it will soon return to its majestic beauty. JNK]

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Harvey Stein is a professional photographer, teacher, lecturer, author, and curator based in New York City. He currently teaches at the International Center of Photography and has taught in several undergraduate and graduate photography programs.

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Positive experiences in close relationships are associated with better physical health, new research suggests

Details: Published: Sunday, 23 April 2023 08:19

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Social relationships influence physical health, but questions remain about the nature of this connection. New research in Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that the way you feel about your close relationships may be affecting the way your body functions.

Previous smaller-scale studies have examined the connection between relationship conflict or satisfaction with stress levels and blood pressure. The new research examines the effects of positive and negative relationship experiences on the body, as well as how these experiences and health outcomes change from day to day.

The House of the Heart

Details: Published: Sunday, 02 April 2023 11:57

Dara Eklund -- USA

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It may be a small house with few windows and doors. It may be too open, too ready and anxious for a passing footstep or would-be intruder. It may be dull and suspicious or contriving. The house of a thousand secrets is the human heart. That house, which thought by thought and deed by deed we daily build, can expand as large as the great Universe itself, or contract until its dweller lives fearfully and painfully isolated from its surroundings.

Call and Response

Details: Published: Thursday, 30 March 2023 15:31

Ananya Sri Ram – USA

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The evenings at Krotona in Ojai, California often take on a magical effect. As the sun sets in west, the mountains reflect the fading glow, turning a beautiful pink hue. The light in the air grows dimmer, and a stillness begins to descend. It feels like the divine is pulling a warm sheet over everything, calming the physical world and readying it for sleep. One is transported into a bed of quiet. And then the owls begin their song.

Five precepts of Buddhism may be linked to lower depression risk

Details: Published: Thursday, 12 January 2023 11:06

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Study suggests the moral practice may buffer known links between high stress levels and depression

A new study suggests that people with high levels of neuroticism and stress may be at greater risk for depressive symptoms, but those links could be buffered for people who observe the five precepts of Buddhism -- a fundamental system of ethics for the religion's followers. Nahathai Wongpakaran of Chiang Mai University, Thailand, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on November 30, 2022.