Increase in cerebral blood flow of right prefrontal cortex in man during orgasm Abstract The functional anatomy of human emotional responses has remained poorly understood, mainly because invasive experiments in humans are unacceptable due to ethical reasons. The new functional imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography and single photon emission computed tomography have made it possible to study the neurophysiology of living humans non-invasively. We studied the regional cerebral blood flow with semi-quantitative 99mTC-HMPAO single photon emission computed tomography in eight healthy right-handed heterosexual males during orgasm. The results showed decrease of cerebral blood flow during orgasm in all other cortical areas except in right prefrontal cortex, where the cerebral blood flow increased significantly (P < 0.005). Keywords Single photon emission computed tomography; Man; Orgasm; Prefrontal cortex
Emotional Energy In this discussion we will discuss energy focus and manipulation. How you utilize this information and what you do with it, is solely on you. I am simply providing information to help people understand how it works and to get you started on whatever path you choose to walk upon. So lets start with the basics, some definitions of what kind of energy we will be working with, and some other important terms that will be essential in understanding this discussion. Definitions Energy is the capacity of a physical system to perform work. Energy is a property or characteristic (or trait or aspect?) Prana is the notion of a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and vital energy. Prana is the life force or vital energy, which permeates the body and is especially concentrated along the midline in the chakras. Prana is the life sustaining energy centered in the human brain; the first of the five airs of Ayurvedic philosophy; the life force governing inspiration and the conscious intellect.
UAE workplace: 6 simple ways to be happy at work Many in the UAE workforce are over-worked and over-stressed, and in such a scenario, being a happy person is not easy. Take the case of Penny Oscar, a British national working in Dubai. She’s in the PR industry and believes it is very difficult to be happy at work if the atmosphere is not conducive. “In our industry, we are always trying to keep everybody happy – the clients and the media – and whilst doing, so we become the most unhappy ones. Most of us here work long hours. We don’t even have time to talk to people besides work with pressure building by the hour. If you are in the same boat as Oscar, and believe there is no light at the end of the tunnel, it would be best to move on but if you can’t for various reasons, then try to salvage the situation even if you believe it’s the worst office in the entire world you are in. And while there is no magic wand that will make workplace woes disappear completely, bigger problems can be made lighter if we try a bit harder. #2 Always B +ve
Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training Abstract Although research has found that long-term mindfulness meditation practice promotes executive functioning and the ability to sustain attention, the effects of brief mindfulness meditation training have not been fully explored. We examined whether brief meditation training affects cognition and mood when compared to an active control group. After four sessions of either meditation training or listening to a recorded book, participants with no prior meditation experience were assessed with measures of mood, verbal fluency, visual coding, and working memory. Both interventions were effective at improving mood but only brief meditation training reduced fatigue, anxiety, and increased mindfulness. Keywords Mindfulness; Meditation; Cognition; Working memory; Mood; Attention; Meta-awareness Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc.
Why You Should Take Stress More Seriously | Healthy Living Stressed out? That could be dangerous. Photo: Troels Graugaard/Getty ImagesIf you’re someone who frequently declares, “I’m so stressed!” then you might want to pay attention to this: Your risk of heart attack could be double that of folks who don't think they're stressed, according to a new study. More on Shine: The Best Steps to Keep Your Stress in Check The findings, by French researchers and published Wednesday in the European Heart Journal, showed that people who believe that they are stressed—and that the stress is affecting their health—have more than twice the risk of heart attack as those who don’t feel that way. More on Yahoo! “This indicates that individuals' perception and reality seem to be connected pretty well,” lead author Herman Nabi, of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, told Yahoo! While the findings may have merit, they offer “nothing new,” according to Dr. Bottom line: Find what’s calming for you and stick with it.
Writing - for health and happiness? 17 August 2013Last updated at 01:11 GMT By Cathy Edwards Health Check, BBC World Service There are risks and benefits to sharing your emotions online Decades of research have shown that writing down your emotions has concrete health benefits - even helping wounds heal. High-profile coverage of cyberbullying might make sharing your deepest emotions online sound like a bad idea, but when it comes to the risks and benefits of writing online, advice is mixed. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for example, suggests questions about social media are included in visits to the doctor, a move prompted by worries about cyberbullying, internet addiction and sleep deprivation. On the other hand, blogging about health problems has been shown to improve feelings of social support, especially when that support is lacking from family and friends. Traumatic experience Exploring the connection between well-being and writing down your emotions goes back decades. 'Emotions bottled up' Professor Laura A.
Fight or Flight" To produce the fight-or-flight response, the hypothalamus activates two systems: the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. The sympathetic nervous system uses nerve pathways to initiate reactions in the body, and the adrenal-cortical system uses the bloodstream. The combined effects of these two systems are the fight-or-flight response. When the hypothalamus tells the sympathetic nervous system to kick into gear, the overall effect is that the body speeds up, tenses up and becomes generally very alert. If there's a burglar at the door, you're going to have to take action -- and fast. The sympathetic nervous system sends out impulses to glands and smooth muscles and tells the adrenal medulla to release epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) into the bloodstream. At the same time, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) into the pituitary gland, activating the adrenal-cortical system.
Yoga At Home - HAPPINESS IS... Yoga and I have an on and off relationship. My desire to practice comes in waves and I'll go months on a yoga high, then completely burn out. Not because I've stopped enjoying it. But because of the time it takes to find a class that fits into my schedule, drive there, find parking, etc. So now, I'm trying yoga at home, using YogaGlo's online classes. I'm not sure why I hadn't done yoga at home before. iPad or laptop. 5 Profound Insights On Success From A Wharton Prof Devoted To Understanding It If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. --Henry David Thoreau Last summer, Parade magazine and Yahoo! Finance jointly surveyed 26,000 Americans and discovered that nearly 60% of them fully regretted their career choices. That’s an incredibly sad statistic, of course--especially when you consider that job satisfaction has become the most critical factor to a person’s sense of well-being and overall happiness with life. So how is it that so many people have found themselves in careers that leave them feeling empty and unfulfilled? “I think that for a lot of these people,” says Shell, “they hadn’t thoughtfully defined what success would look like in their own terms before pursuing work that aligned more closely with family, social or cultural expectations. Shell speaks from experience. Here’s what I found to be five of the author’s most profound and helpful insights:
Personality Disorders Foundation Summary: What Are the Personality Disorders? This summary of the personality disorders was produced by the former Personality Disorders Foundation and is based upon the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM IV. Additional separate sections on the ICD description of each individual personality disorder are also available from the submenu at the side of the page. What are Personality Disorders? Personality Disorders are generalized, inflexible patterns of inner experience and behavior. Personality Disorders are among the least understood and recognized disorders in both psychiatry and general medical care. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994), organizes personality disorders into three groups, with three or four disorders per group: Eccentric Personality Disorders: Paranoid, Schizoid, Schizotypal Individuals with these disorders often appear odd or peculiar, and show these patterns by early adulthood and in various contexts (e.g., work, home, social situations).
Mindfulness meditation for the treatment of chronic low back pain in older adults: A randomized controlled pilot study Received 8 August 2006; received in revised form 12 April 2007; accepted 30 April 2007. published online 02 June 2007. The objectives of this pilot study were to assess the feasibility of recruitment and adherence to an eight-session mindfulness meditation program for community-dwelling older adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and to develop initial estimates of treatment effects. It was designed as a randomized, controlled clinical trial. Participants were 37 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older with CLBP of moderate intensity occurring daily or almost every day. Participants were randomized to an 8-week mindfulness-based meditation program or to a wait-list control group. Baseline, 8-week and 3-month follow-up measures of pain, physical function, and quality of life were assessed. .004) and SF-36 Physical Function (P .03). Keywords: Aged, Low back pain, Mindfulness, Meditation, Randomized, Controlled trial
Negative Emotions Are Key to Well-Being A client sits before me, seeking help untangling his relationship problems. As a psychotherapist, I strive to be warm, nonjudgmental and encouraging. I am a bit unsettled, then, when in the midst of describing his painful experiences, he says, “I'm sorry for being so negative.” A crucial goal of therapy is to learn to acknowledge and express a full range of emotions, and here was a client apologizing for doing just that. In my psychotherapy practice, many of my clients struggle with highly distressing emotions, such as extreme anger, or with suicidal thoughts. In fact, anger and sadness are an important part of life, and new research shows that experiencing and accepting such emotions are vital to our mental health. Meaningful Misery Positive thoughts and emotions can, of course, benefit mental health. Eudaemonic approaches, on the other hand, emphasize a sense of meaning, personal growth and understanding of the self—goals that require confronting life's adversities. Adler and Hal E.