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The Science of Stress and How Our Emotions Affect Our Susceptibility to Burnout and Disease

I had lived thirty good years before enduring my first food poisoning — odds quite fortunate in the grand scheme of things, but miserably unfortunate in the immediate experience of it. I found myself completely incapacitated to erect the pillars of my daily life — too cognitively foggy to read and write, too physically weak to work out or even meditate. The temporary disability soon elevated the assault on my mind and body to a new height of anguish: an intense experience of stress. This experience, of course, is far from uncommon. Pre-modern medicine, in fact, has recognized this link between disease and emotion for millennia. And then French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes came along in the seventeenth century, taking it upon himself to eradicate the superstitions that fueled the religious wars of the era by planting the seed of rationalism. But no researcher has done more to illuminate the invisible threads that weave mind and body together than Dr. Sternberg writes: Related:  HSH306 - People, Health and PlaceMental health

Federal Labor promising consultation through 'Indigenous assemblies' would fix remote jobs program Updated about 11 hours agoWed 10 Apr 2019, 10:13pm In a small tin shed in the remote Arnhem Land community of Weemol, six men, including 37-year-old Justin Moore, try their best to be enthusiastic about making coffee tables and graveside crosses out of old wooden pallets. "We don't have electricity in this little shed. We only have one hammer between us," he said. They are required to work here, for four hours a day, in order to get the dole under the Federal Government's Community Development Program. The Government touts the program as its plan transitioning 32,000 job seekers into work in 1,000 remote communities in five states. But their supervisor, John Dalywater, is scathing about what CDP offers. "There's no training at all for the boys. "What we want is a course like welding, to give us new skills so we can encourage other boys to come and work," Mr Moore said. Participant Hebrew Kelly said: "I used to have a full-time job, with good wages, but now I'm just doing an activity.

How ‘extinction neurons’ help us block out our worst memories A new study examined how the effects of fear-related memories can be silenced in the brain. Forming new and positive "extinction memories" can help to silence fearful memories.The study found that the hippocampus plays a significant role in "extinction training." Memories associated with traumatic events can cause unexpected problems in everyday life. A woman with a phobia of dogs might experience a rush of fear when she happens to find herself right next to a dog without a leash in the park. In cases like this, a psychologist might recommend exposure therapy, in which people with specific fears are voluntarily and incrementally exposed to the very things they fear. Scientists have long associated a part of the brain called the amygdala with fear. The study was published April 1 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Social anxiety: How to rewire your confidence and be a better communicator This video file cannot be played.

Anaïs Nin on Love and Life, Illustrated By Maria Popova I believe that most things worth knowing about life can be learned from the sixteen volumes of diaries that Anaïs Nin (February 21, 1903–January 14, 1977) began keeping at the age of eleven and continued until she died at seventy-four — things that have to do with why emotional excess is essential to creativity, why inviting the unknown helps us live more richly, how our objects define us, personal responsibility, the elusive nature of joy, writing, and the meaning of life. But most enchanting of all are the timeless insights on love and life that Nin — a woman who made her own rules for living as expansively as possible in a society that kept trying to contain her — spilled into the pages of her diaries. Over the past couple of years, those have come to life in a series of collaborations from the Brain Pickings artist series, as I’ve asked artists and illustrators to capture some of my favorite highlights from years of reading Nin’s diaries.

Virtual Sense of Place: Terrain.org and the Online Nexus of Literature and Environment - Ecological Media Position by Simmons B. Buntin Whether virtual or actual, what drives strong community and a sustainable nexus between the built and natural environments is sense of place. The purpose of this interactive position statement is to explore sense of place in the context of ecological media — for e-zines like Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments that work at the nexus of literature and environment, and otherwise. Begin by choosing a question below: Explore sense of place: My Story The origins of Terrain.org and Ocotillo Design. Definitions Place and sense of place definitions. Sense of Place as Indicator Gauging sense of place, locally and in the context of ecological media. Virtual vs. actual: Yes Virtual can replace actual, and maybe it should. No Virtual cannot replace actual, and it shouldn't, anyway. Explore (and define) the future of Terrain.org: Scenario 1 Business as usual? Scenario 2 A future envisioned? Scenario 3 We don't know what we don't know, but what kind of way is that to exist?

Measurement of Well-Being | Health and Happiness The World Health Organization’s definition of health clearly underscores the importance of well-being: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Well-being is a broad construct that encompasses multiple dimensions, which can essentially be divided into two large domains: objective and subjective well-being. As a result, various scales and indices have been developed to measure both domains. For a non-exhaustive list of relevant articles on well-being, click here. Objective well-being Many countries and private institutions are interested in knowing the well-being of their member constituents. For a non-exhaustive list of examples measuring objective well-being, click here. Subjective well-being Subjective well-being is characterized by the individual’s internal subjective assessment, based on cognitive judgments and affective reactions, of their own life as a whole. Prepared March 2017

Bertrand Russell on Immortality, Why Religion Exists, and What “The Good Life” Really Means By Maria Popova Bertrand Russell (May 18, 1872–February 2, 1970) is one of humanity’s most grounding yet elevating thinkers, his writing at once lucid and luminous. There is something almost prophetic in the way he bridges timelessness and timeliness in contemplating ideas urgently relevant to modern life a century earlier — from how boredom makes happiness possible to why science is the key to democracy. But nowhere does his genius shine more brilliantly than in What I Believe (public library). Published in 1925, the book is a kind of catalog of hopes — a counterpoint to Russell’s Icarus, a catalog of fears released the previous year — exploring our place in the universe and our “possibilities in the way of achieving the good life.” Russell writes in the preface: In human affairs, we can see that there are forces making for happiness, and forces making for misery. It is difficult to imagine anything less interesting or more different from the passionate delights of incomplete discovery.

Topophilia and Topophils | PLACENESS, PLACE, PLACELESSNESS The cover of my tattered, well-used 1974 edition of Yi-fu Tuan’s Topophilia. The Various Inventions of TopophiliaThe word topophilia, which literally means love of place, was popularized by Yi-fu Tuan, a human geographer in his book Topophilia: A Study of Environmental Perception, Attitudes and Values, published in 1974. He apparently thought he had coined the word because he refers to it as a neologism that includes all of “the human being’s affective ties with the material environment” (p.93). The first use seems to have been by the poet W.H. So tophophils are lovers of place, and I suppose I must also be sort of intellectual “topophil” because I have devoted so much energy to writing about place. A few years later Gaston Bachelard, the French phenomenologist, gave topophilia a slightly different and methodological meaning in The Poetics of Space. A Google search in fall 2015 indicated that topophilia, is currently experiencing a diverse resurgence of interest.

Concepts of Mental and Social Wellbeing Social wellbeing, or the lack of it, is familiar to public health professionals in the context of social and income equality, social capital, social trust, social connectedness and social networks. These concepts are set primarily in the context of social policy and social interactions at community or societal level. Mental wellbeing, as previously defined, includes another aspect of social wellbeing - good relationships with others on a one-to-one, small group or family level. All these aspects of social wellbeing are known to have a profound effect on mental health and wellbeing individually and collectively. Mental wellbeing includes the capacity to make health and happiness enhancing relationships with others. People with mental wellbeing are also generous, wise and compassionate. Mental and social wellbeing are thus closely interrelated but distinct concepts, which often appear muddled together in the literature.

A Rap on Race: Margaret Mead and James Baldwin’s Rare Conversation on Forgiveness and the Difference Between Guilt and Responsibility By Maria Popova NOTE: This is the first installment in a multi-part series covering Mead and Baldwin’s historic conversation. You can read Part 2, focusing on identity and the immigrant experience, here. On the evening of August 25, 1970, Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901–November 15, 1978) and James Baldwin (August 2, 1924–December 1, 1987) sat together on a stage in New York City for a remarkable public conversation about such enduring concerns as identity, power and privilege, race and gender, beauty, religion, justice, and the relationship between the intellect and the imagination. They talked for seven and a half hours of brilliance and bravery over the course of the weekend, bringing to the dialogue the perfect balance of similarity and difference to make it immensely simulating and deeply respectful. MEAD: There are different ways of looking at guilt. MEAD: The kids say — and they’re pretty clear about it — that the future is now.

Sense of Place | Healthy Active by Design The term “sense of place” describes how a person feels about a place and their relationship with that place. These feelings are related to the physical characteristics of the environment and are developed over time. The physical setting, activities undertaken within that setting, and attachment come together to create a sense of place. [1] Specifically, people are drawn to and want to be part of places to which they have positive feelings. Key attributes that contribute to ‘place making’ include: [1] Access and Connections: Pedestrian-friendly and well-connected, permeable street design Accessible using a range of transport options Connected to nearby destinations, attractions and the wider area Uses and Activities: Convenient for both local daily living activities and larger organised events Facilitates a range of activities Used during different times of day and throughout the year Comfort and Image: Sociability:

Ministers may advise on how much sleep people need Image copyright Damir Khabirov / Getty Images Ministers are reportedly planning to issue guidance on how much sleep people should be getting every night. The recommendations are expected as part of a series of proposals aimed at improving public health in the UK. According to a leaked draft of the plans seen by The Times, up to three in four adults do not regularly get at least seven hours sleep per night. It warns that making do with less has been linked to a range of physical and mental health problems. Ministers are now planning to review the evidence - according to the draft, problems associated with lack of sleep include an increased risk of obesity, strokes, heart attacks, depression and anxiety. It also suggests that sleep deprivation can hinder recovery from illness and surgery. One idea being considered is for the health service to introduce "protected sleep time" for patients, when they are not disturbed unless there is a good clinical reason.

The Silent Music of the Mind: Remembering Oliver Sacks By Maria Popova I was a relative latecomer to the work of Oliver Sacks (July 9, 1933–August 30, 2015), that great enchanter of storytelling who spent his life bridging science and the human spirit — partly because I was not yet born when he first bewitched the reading public with his writing, and partly because those early books never made it past the Iron Curtain and into the Bulgaria of my childhood. It was only in my twenties, having made my way to America, that I fell in love with Dr. Sacks’s writing and the mind from which it sprang — a mind absolutely magnificent, buoyed by a full heart and a radiant spirit. His intellectual elegance bowled me over, and I felt a strange kinship with many of his peculiarities, from the youthful affair with iron — although the 300-pound squats of my bodybuilding days paled before his 600 pounds, which set a state record and earned him the moniker Dr. The artwork is available as a print and I am donating all proceeds to the Oliver Sacks Foundation.

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