A Layman’s Guide to Mindful Meditation “Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings.” ~ Rumi Here’s the thing: we all know we should meditate, right? Even conventional doctors are informing us about the huge benefits of meditation. But how do we go about doing it exactly? When it comes down to it, meditation can be as simple, or as complex, as we want it to be. All of life is a moving meditation. So if our goal is to achieve presence with the vibration of the universe, and presence is about being in the moment and familiarizing ourselves with the current state of our mind-body-soul, then how do we actually do it? We do it by finding a sacred “place” to “perform” our meditation. The main purpose for resonating with this sacred vibration is to nix the overreach of the Ego. Resources: Samadhi
ORB: The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies Learning how to learn Yes, that's the title of my new MOOC, or rather the latest MOOC I'm studying. 'Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects' started this week through Coursera and UC San Diego, and it's already a bit of a mind bender. For the most part, MOOCs teach you about a given subject, be it Dutch poetry, advanced Mandarin, beginner-level javascript etc, but this one teaches you about learning itself. Will I see my knowledge increase exponentially as the course goes on? Will I suddenly unlock that other 90% like Scarlett Johansson's character in that awful new Luc Besson film, Lucy? We're only on day two, and already there's talk of the Pomodoro technique, Diffuse thinking and the million billion synapses we have kicking around our grey matter. If the techniques I learn on this short course (it's only four weeks) make a noticeable difference to my ability to learn new information - and recall it - then it's well worth my time.
Caffeine - a powerful and addictive drug | Mind-Body Self Help Caffeine is a potent drug. So each time you drink tea, coffee, cola or cocoa you are giving your body a ‘hit’ of caffeine. Along with nicotine and alcohol, caffeine is one of the three most widely used mood-affecting drugs in the world. If you have more than two or three caffeine drinks per day this is likely to be affecting your moods and your physiology – and in a more powerful manner than you might expect. Caffeine is not harmful – but overuse of caffeine could be. What is caffeine? It is a potent and quick-acting drug which produces an effect similar to the stress response in our bodies. Caffeine research New research into the effects of caffeine continues appear every few months and these reports frequently contradict one another – depending on who did the research, how many people were evaluated and, of course, who funded the research… So the definitive word on caffeine has not yet been agreed Reported effects of caffeine On the other hand… Sources of caffeine Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms
ENH-531/ST372: Magnolia grandiflora'Bracken's Brown Beauty': 'Bracken's Brown Beauty' Southern Magnolia Edward F. Gilman and Dennis G. Watson2 Introduction This cultivar of the native North American evergreen tree with its large, beautiful, saucer-shaped, fragrant flowers was selected for its dense, uniform growth habit and beautiful brown-backed leaves. Figure 1. Middle-aged Magnolia grandiflora 'Bracken's Brown Beauty': 'Bracken's Brown Beauty' Southern Magnolia [Click thumbnail to enlarge.] General Information Scientific name: Magnolia grandiflora Pronunciation: mag-NO-lee-uh gran-dih-FLOR-uh Common name(s): 'Bracken's Brown Beauty' Southern Magnolia Family: Magnoliaceae USDA hardiness zones: 7A through 10A (Fig. 2) Origin: native to North America Invasive potential: little invasive potential Uses: specimen; street without sidewalk; screen; espalier; tree lawn 4-6 feet wide; tree lawn > 6 ft wide; highway median Availability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the tree Figure 2. Range Description Height: 30 to 50 feet Spread: 15 to 20 feet Crown uniformity: symmetrical Foliage
Three Simple Strategies for Learning Anything Better It was eighth grade. I was sitting alone in the corner outside the dean’s office. In trouble. Again. It’s not that I was a wild child. “Mr. Of course I wasn’t paying attention. “That’s right,” I answered. Ms. “Mr. “I like to read,” I answered. Ms. I stared coolly. Ms. That was why I was in Ms. Science has shown that the brain has two fundamental modes of learning—focused and diffuse. That was that. Today, some forty years later, Ms. How did I do it? I enlisted in the Army straight out of high school, because it was one of the few jobs I could get that would actually pay me to learn another language. I decided to turn my attention to studying math and science. Learn when to stop. When I first began to study math and science seriously, I made the mistake of forcing myself to sit and work on a problem until I figured it out. By sidestepping the race to the finish line, I had the time to practice and repeat. Slow down, back up, repeat. Don’t procrastinate. I did it. Dr.
Towards a De-biased Social Psychology: The effects of ideological perspective go beyond politics. | funderstorms Behavioral and Brain Sciences, in press; subject to final editing before publication This is a commentary on: Duarte, J. L., Crawford, J. T., Stern, C., Haidt, J., Jussim, L., & Tetlock, P. “A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel.” — Robert Frost Liberals may be too open-minded for their own (ideological) good; they keep finding fault with themselves and this article is a good example. Duarte et al. argue that our science would be better if more “conservatives” were included in the ideological mix. In any case, we shouldn’t wait for conservatives to arrive and save us. Politics is the least of it. Examples are legion. Personality and abilities are heritable. Human nature is a product of evolution. The Fundamental Attribution Error is, as we all know, the unfortunate human tendency to view behavior as stemming from the characteristics — the traits and beliefs — of the people who perform it. REFERENCES Kenrick, D.T., & Funder, D.C. (1988). Like this:
Landscaping | Walter Reeves: The Georgia Gardener Clematis – Best Ones for Georgia When you want the best plant, it’s great to have a local expert. Lyndy Broder is an internationally known clematis expert in Georgia. She recommends the following: C. Poison Ivy Oil – How Long is it Potent? Copied from A couple of weeks ago, Sharon Barnes asked a question on this listserv about the fate of poison ivy during composting. Loblolly Pine – Origin of the Name My friend Dan C. contributes this: Having grown up in Florida, I had certainly heard of a loblolly pine, but never thought about the name. Crapemyrtle – Pruning One of the most confounding arguments I face is whether and how to prune crapemyrtles. My friend Daryl Pulis and I share a common passion. Fall was a fragrant time around the chicken farm where I grew up. The caladium is a plant that has not yet achieved its full landscape potential. “It sounded like a bunch of popcorn popping in my yard” said my friend Maureen.
Increase Brain Power Increase Brain Power Keeping the brain healthy and Increasing Its Power Expanded brain function equals enhanced performance If the brain can function better and faster, it will. A healthy brain naturally seeks to operate as efficiently as possible. If you expand brain capacity and connections, the brain will take advantage of the new resources every time it faces a processing task. Researchers have been astounded at cases where portions of a patient’s brain were damaged or surgically removed following disease or stroke. Application: LearningRx training primarily concentrates on increasing and strengthening brain function and efficiency. Increase Brain Power — ProgressBig, fast changes are important The brain has the potential to expand — and do so quickly. The brain recognizes big change as important change. Application: LearningRx training recognizes the capacity for big, fast changes. The training is designed to stimulate motivation. Keep Reading! 1 Ratey, MD, J.
Cognitive neuropsychology An introduction Cognitive psychology is the scientific investigation of cognition, that is, of all mental abilities: perception, attention, learning, memory, processing of spoken and written language, thinking, reasoning and belief formation (Coltheart, 2002). It assumes that cognition can at least in principle be fully revealed by the scientific method, that is, individual components of mental processes can be identified and understood. These individual components of mind are mental modules, and thus contemporary cognitive psychology often assumes the modularity of mind (Fodor, 1983). Any theory about any domain of cognition will therefore be a theory about (a) what the modules are of the system by which performance in that domain is accomplished, and (b) what the pathways of communication between these modules of the system are; that is, a theory about the functional architecture of the system. Characteristic features of cognitive neuropsychology Inferences from double dissociation 1.
Venomous Snakes of Georgia All of the snakes on this page are VENOMOUS!!! If you ever encounter one please leave it be and walk away. They do not want to hurt people!!! Southern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix) Florida Cottonmouth/Water Moccasin (Agkistrodon pisvivorus conanti) Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) Canebrake Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus atricaudatus) Eastern Coral Snake (Micrurus fulvius fulvius) Dusky Pigmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri)