Archive for August, 2007
Fighting stress with food
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Ways to calm yourself by changing your diet
A recent article in The Times (the London one), pointed to the “calming” benefits of foods, based on a new branch of science called PNEI (psycho-neuro-endo-immunology) that examines the impact of [...]
Are people’s brains evolving to cope with a more hectic, faster-paced world?
Article suggests “mild ADHD” is the way of the future.
An intriguing article by Russell Shaw that suggests an increase in ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) among younger people might be due to an “evolutionary adaptation” to our increasingly fast-paced world.
The notion is that hours spent playing video games and the like might be shifting people’s [...]
Counting your days
A cautionary tale and an idea to get life into perspective
Here’s a fascinating story I came across.
Realizing that the future is limited for everyone, a man works out that he probably has only around 1000 weekends left to enjoy—assuming his life span is roughly average.
That’s a sobering thought, so he decides on a [...]
Why you are probably luckier than you may think
People nearly always have more good options than they think that they have. Whenever anything happens, you have a choice about how to respond. That’s your choice. No one can take it away.
Using your daily choices well can turn even an unpromising situation into a chance to enlarge your life and move towards your goals.
Let’s [...]
Slow Movement grows worldwide
What began as a protest against McDonald’s, then became Slow Food, has spawned an amazing range of incarnations
I have been amazed at the range of topics that are now being tackled via the idea of slowness: of taking your time to relish and enjoy life, instead of rushing through it as quickly as possible, with [...]
Following your natural rhythms can improve your working life dramatically
You may not be able to change your working hours, but even small changes elsewhere can provide important payoffs.
Gretchen Rubin at The Happiness Project has some good ideas for coping with scheduling problems at work, with a special emphasis on “that Monday-morning feeling” so many people suffer from.
Over the last few weeks, unrelated to [...]
Slowing down, living more simply
Simplifying your life can be a good way of reducing rush and stress
Yesterday, Zen Habits began a great article called Peaceful Simplicity: How to Live a Life of Contentment with this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh:
Whatever the tasks, do them slowly
with ease,
in mindfulness,
so do not do any tasks with the goal
of getting them over with.
Resolve [...]
Don’t give beliefs more influence than they deserve
A little skepticism is a healthy addition to your search for a slower, more meaningful life
Belief n. 1. an acceptance that a statement is true or something exists. 2. something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion or conviction. 3. a religious conviction.
Beliefs are important for three reasons:
They form the basis [...]
What makes teenaged children happy?
It’s probably not what you imagine.
One of the greatest benefits of slower living is the chance to spend time with those people who are most important to you. If you’re always hurtling around, rushed off your feet, there will be no time for anything but the tasks ahead of you. What kind of life is [...]
Siestas are good for you
Why feeling sleepy after lunch is natural in humans
I’ve never found it easy to avoid feeling sleepy after lunch, whatever I’m doing. Nor does it make sense to me for people to try to slog through a period of natural sleepiness, just because we’re obsessed with the idea of set working hours (They used to [...]
