It’s brain science – not rocket science. Although they’re built from complex mixtures of chemicals and nerve cells, our brains aren’t that difficult to change. Our everyday habits, interactions with other people, and even our diets can potentially rewire the brain. In fact, just by focusing on the words on this site, you could be […]
Can empathy change the brain’s response to pain?
As a psychologist, empathy is obviously important. When people feel like they’re getting compassion and understanding, they are much more likely to make the changes that up until now have felt all too scary. But can empathy change our experience of pain? Does it have any impact upon how the brain responds to pain? Researchers […]
Does fat help or harm the brain?
Well, it depends. There are many foods that can benefit brain power, including foods that contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. But what about foods that might harm the brain? Well, that’s also fat . . . . . . but of a different kind. The risk in this case is of developing dementia, […]
Unanimous: How We Knew This Was the One
For three years now (and counting), the staff and I have had a holiday tradition – one that seems to have become a favorite for all of us. We pick a charity to receive half the proceeds from our Holiday Special, and in the last blog I told you the three groups we’d narrowed it […]
One of My Favorite Office Traditions
We’re not too tied to tradition in this office. We’re actually always pushing ourselves to try new things. But there’s one annual tradition that I appreciate an awful lot. Every year, around mid-December, we gather the staff to choose a charity for our Holiday Special. And what always encourages me is the industrious and thorough […]
The Goal that Means the Most to Us
Being a preacher’s daughter, I grew up well-acquainted with a number of Bible verses, the oft-quoted and obscure alike. But one passage that’s resonated more and more with me over the years is Matthew 25:40: In as much as you take care of the least of these, you take care of me. I come from […]
Mindful Kids: How Mindfulness Meditation Can Change the Classroom
We got a lot of heartfelt responses to our last blog post about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Judging from the words of comfort, it’s clear that the community of Newtown, CT is still in our thoughts and prayers. Reading through the comments, I noticed that a number of people mentioned a need […]
Our Hearts Go Out to Sandy Hook Elementary
How can this keep happening? That was my immediate thought upon hearing the tragic news of this latest school shooting that took place yesterday in my home state of Connecticut. The unthinkable has happened again, this time at an elementary school – 26 dead, 18 of them children, at the time of this writing. The […]
The Power of Mindfulness Meditation – Helping to Ease the Effects of Chronic Conditions
Chronic health problems, by definition, don’t go away quickly (or at all). And when we can’t help patients heal, the next best thing might be helping them cope. Enter mindfulness meditation. Jillian Simpson, RN, and Tim Mapel, senior lecturer at New Zealand’s Eastern Institute of Technology, wanted to find out whether mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) […]
The Power of Mindfulness Meditation – Changing How We Look at the Present
It can happen anytime, anywhere, to every one of us. And perhaps the most maddening thing about it is that there’s nothing we can do to speed its progress when we want it – or stop it from happening when we don’t. I’m talking about change . . . . . . and often the […]