Kimberly Yam | Huffington Post, March 2015 Image courtesy of Sherman Padgett A senior prank is often an opportunity for high school students to make some mischief. That’s why North High School Principal Sherman Padgett in Wichita, Kansas, wasn’t so willing to take a bucket that a student offered him last Wednesday. “No way,” Padgett…
Christopher Keyes | Outside Online, February 2015 “What’s new?” Lately, this polite attempt at small talk has been my kryptonite. It may seem benign and friendly, but to me it sounds vaguely like a challenge. As in: Is your life interesting or not? I’ll mentally scroll through recent days, only to see a blur of…
Catharine Paddock | Medical News Today, September 2014 Staff working in offices designed to be lean and devoid of greenery, are happier and more productive when those environments are enriched with plants, say researchers who conducted the largest field study of its kind. The new study suggests that a green workplace helps office workers be more…
P.C. Watkins, J. Uhder., & S. Pichinevskiy This study looked at the gratitude 3-blessings treatment and its effectiveness on improving subjective well-being. For one week, subjects practiced either gratitude 3-blessings, pride 3-blessings, or memory placebo, daily. Results showed that: Subjects had significantly enhanced well-being if they had practiced the gratitude 3-blessings treatment, versus the other practices…
Beth Kuhel | Huffington Post, February 2015 Managers are perpetually searching for new and better ways to increase productivity and engagement of employees. While conventional reward systems for hard work and achievements show appreciation for those who are adding value to your team, these programs may not be enough to inspire people to contribute more…
Inner IDEA Meditation is an approach to training the mind, similar to the way that fitness is an approach to training the body. But many meditation techniques exist. So how do you learn how to meditate? “In Buddhist tradition, the word ‘meditation’ is equivalent to a word like ‘sports’ in the U.S. It’s a family…
Alison Keane This paper, Mindfulness-just think about it: A different mental approach combats stress, advocated that legal professionals who practiced mindfulness experienced a reduction in stress. The research chose to focus on legal professionals because of the proven high-levels of stress that they face, often leading to depression, anxiety, divorce and substance abuse. Mindfulness was defined as “the capacity to pay…
Emma M. Seppälä Ph.D. | Psychology Today, September 2014 Many of us have heard of meditation’s benefits. We may have even tried meditation once or twice. And many of us will have found it hard and concluded that “meditation is not for me.” But wait! Did you know there are many forms of meditation? There are…
Karen Lawson, MD | University of Minnesota, February 2015 Emotions that are freely experienced and expressed without judgment or attachment tend to flow fluidly. On the other hand, repressed emotions (especially fearful or negative ones) can zap mental energy and hope and lead to health problems, such as high blood pressure or digestive disorders. Therefore, it’s…
Golle J, Mast FW, Lobmaier JS This study examined the relationship between emotional expressions and what we find attractive. Researchers conducted two experiments to test the link between happy expressions and attractiveness. First, participants were asked to pick the most attractive person from two simultaneously presented pictures of mophed faces with varying expressions of happiness and attractiveness. Then, participants…
