life improvement

TwitterFacebook
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20707-braintraining-games-stop-depression-before-it-starts.html

Brain-training games stop depression before it starts - health - 01 November 2011 - New Scientist

It may be possible to stave off depression before it even appears using brain-training software so simplistic in its design that even the psychologist testing it once bet it wouldn't work. Ian Gotlib 's group at Stanford University, California, studies girls aged 10 to 14 years whose mothers suffer from depression. Such girls are thought to be at higher-than-normal risk of developing the condition themselves , in part because they may inherit their mothers' tendency to "amplify" unpleasant information. Although none of the girls has yet experienced a depressive episode, Gotlib has found that their brains already overreact to negative emotional stimuli – a pattern they share with their mothers and other depressed people.
Mornings are underrated. I consider them fundamental for the whole diurnal experience. What you do in the very first moments of your morning will fundamentally and inexorably shape your entire day. Most of the time you spend your mornings by routinely performing some habits, on auto pilot. Hence, your days will routinely unfold towards you, the same way day after day, on auto pilot. Consciously inserting your intentions in these very first moments will have a huge effect. http://www.dragosroua.com/33-ways-to-start-your-day/

Start Your Day in 33 Different Ways

How to Become an Early Riser

Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I rarely went to bed before midnight, and I’d almost always sleep in late. I usually didn’t start hitting my stride each day until late afternoon. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/
http://lifehacker.com/399895/top-10-conversation-hacks Click to view A whole lot more than just words passes between people who are talking, so a few simple conversational skills can help you recognize what's really being said and help you lead the discussion your way. Learn how to read body language and facial expressions, de-code euphemisms, ask sensitive questions, criticize constructively, get what you want in negotiations, cut off chatterboxes, and more with our top 10 conversation hacks. Photo by PhillipC . 10. Feign sincerity with eye contact and repetition. When you're just not feelin' it but you've got to look like you are, the Wired How-to wiki suggests ways you can feign sincerity .

Top 10 Conversation Hacks

21 Habits of Happy People - Global One TV

We’ve all seen people who are always happy – even amidst agonizing life trials. I’m not saying happy people don’t feel grief, sorrow or sadness; they just don’t let it overtake their life. The following are 21 things happy people make a habit of doing: 1. Appreciate Life Be thankful that you woke up alive each morning. http://www.globalone.tv/group/gratitude/forum/topics/21-habits-of-happy-people%26title%3DThe%2BArticle%2BTitle
When we were young life was easier, right? I know sometimes it seems that way. But the truth is life still is easy. It always will be. The only difference is we’re older, and the older we get, the more we complicate things for ourselves.

60 Ways To Make Life Simple Again

http://www.marcandangel.com/2010/11/01/60-ways-to-make-life-simple-again/
Editor’s note : This is a guest post from Todd Goldfarb at the We The Change blog. Meditation is the art of focusing 100% of your attention in one area. The practice comes with a myriad of well-publicized health benefits including increased concentration, decreased anxiety, and a general feeling of happiness. Although a great number of people try meditation at some point in their lives, a small percentage actually stick with it for the long-term. This is unfortunate, and a possible reason is that many beginners do not begin with a mindset needed to make the practice sustainable. The purpose of this article is to provide 20 practical recommendations to help beginners get past the initial hurdles and integrate meditation over the long term:

Meditation for Beginners: 20 Practical Tips for Quieting the Mind | zen habits

http://zenhabits.net/meditation-for-beginners-20-practical-tips-for-quieting-the-mind/

The benefits of meditation - MIT News Office

Studies have shown that meditating regularly can help relieve symptoms in people who suffer from chronic pain, but the neural mechanisms underlying the relief were unclear. Now, MIT and Harvard researchers have found a possible explanation for this phenomenon. In a study published online April 21 in the journal Brain Research Bulletin , the researchers found that people trained to meditate over an eight-week period were better able to control a specific type of brain waves called alpha rhythms. “These activity patterns are thought to minimize distractions, to diminish the likelihood stimuli will grab your attention,” says Christopher Moore, an MIT neuroscientist and senior author of the paper. “Our data indicate that meditation training makes you better at focusing, in part by allowing you to better regulate how things that arise will impact you.” http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/meditation-0505.html