Mind and Body

Did you know? The average person complains once per minute during a typical conversation. While it may feel good to complain — otherwise known as “venting” — as one is voicing burdens that have been weighing them down, research shows the habit isn’t healthy. This is because the brain loves efficiency and doesn’t want to work harder than it has to. In result, repeated behavior — such as complaining —…

By Janet M. Gibson | The Conversation Amusement and pleasant surprises – and the laughter they can trigger – add texture to the fabric of daily life. Those giggles and guffaws can seem like just silly throwaways. But laughter, in response to funny events, actually takes a lot of work, because it activates many areas of the brain: areas that control motor, emotional, cognitive and social processing. As I found…

For centuries, yogis have been expressing the incredible benefits meditation can provide. More recently, meditation has become a more mainstream means of treating anxiety and stress, as deep breathing has been proven to calm the nervous system and reduce our heart rate. Avid meditators or individuals who practice breathing techniques typically report that such practices have the ability to silence or slow down the mind. This begs the question: How…