Whether it’s being picked last for softball after school or not getting invited to an important social gathering, being left out can cause a lot of emotional pain. Being excluded hurts. But what can you do about it? It’s just part of life, right? That answer wasn’t good enough for Dr. Paolo Riva and his […]
Changing the Brain with Meditation: What’s Sleep Got to Do With It?
When a busy day is done, and you’re finally tucked in bed and fast asleep, your brain gets a break from that seemingly endless daily barrage of stimulation. For researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that made for an ideal opportunity to take a look at brain waves in their most natural, uninfluenced state. They […]
Is There a Cost to Avoiding Conflict?
Dealing with conflict is seldom easy. That’s why, in the face of conflict, many people’s default mode is to try to minimize it or avoid it outright. But is there a cost involved when we shy away from confrontation? Tara Brach, PhD says that this kind of avoidance is actually a “false refuge.” She shares […]
The Brain on Long-Term Love
What activates the pleasure and reward centers of the brain, calms parts of the brain associated with fear and anxiety, and is available to anyone without a prescription? Long-term relationships. Researchers Bianca Acevedo, PhD and Arthur Aron, PhD took ten women and seven men who had been married an average of 21.4 years and did […]
Mindfulness and Self-Worth – What’s the Connection?
Feelings of unworthiness, shame, and self-hatred seem to show up all too often in daily life – we see it in our work, our families, and maybe even experience it ourselves. But there’s at least one person in the world who’s not especially familiar with such feelings. In fact, he didn’t even know the meaning […]