The Science and Practise of Happiness

Uploaded on Jul 1, 2011

Is happiness a skill? Modern neuroscientific research and the wisdom of ancient contemplative traditions converge in suggesting that happiness is the product of skills that can be enhanced through training and such training exemplifies how transforming the mind can change the brain. 

Kent Berridge, Richie Davidson, and Daniel Gilbert speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival

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• Music

  • "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Dick Hyman (iTunes • eMusic)

• Category

  • Science & Technology

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  • Standard YouTube License

Link: https://youtu.be/MDTi2_PHiiM

Living with a sense of purpose

Conclusion:

A sense of purpose in life also gives you this considerable advantage:

"People with a sense of purpose in life have a lower risk of death and cardiovascular disease."

The conclusions come from over 136,000 people who took part in 10 different studies.

Participants in the studies were mostly from the US and Japan.


The US studies asked people:

• how useful they felt to others,
• about their sense of purpose, and
• the meaning they got out of life.

The Japanese studies asked people about ‘ikigai’ or whether their life was worth living.
The participants, whose average age was 67, were tracked for around 7 years.

During that time almost 20,000 died.
 
But, amongst those with a strong sense of purpose or high ‘ikigai’, the risk of death was one-fifth lower.

Despite the link between sense of purpose and health being so intuitive, scientists are not sure of the mechanism.

Sense of purpose is likely to improve health by strengthening the body against stress.

It is also likely to be linked to healthier behaviours.

Dr. Alan Rozanski, one of the study’s authors, said:

“Of note, having a strong sense of life purpose has long been postulated to be an important dimension of life, providing people with a sense of vitality motivation and resilience.

Nevertheless, the medical implications of living with a high or low sense of life purpose have only recently caught the attention of investigators.

The current findings are important because they may open up new potential interventions for helping people to promote their health and sense of well-being.”

This research on links between sense of purpose in life and longevity is getting stronger all the time:

• “A 2009 study of 1,238 elderly people found that those with a sense of purpose lived longer.
• A 2010 study of 900 older adults found that those with a greater sense of purpose were much less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
• Survey data often links a sense of purpose in life with increased happiness.

No matter what your age, then, it’s worth thinking about what gives your life meaning.”



Read More:

Find out what kinds of things people say give their lives meaning.

Here’s an exercise for increasing meaningfulness

And a study finding that feeling you belong increases the sense of meaning.

The study was published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine (Cohen et al., 2015).




A sense of purpose in life
Link: http://www.spring.org.uk/2015/12/here-is-why-a-sense-of-purpose-in-life-is-important-for-health

Ginger Baker film maker Jay Bulger

When filmmaker Jay Bulger named his latest documentary Beware of Mr. Baker, he wasn’t exaggerating. The film begins and ends with its main character, legendary rock drummer Ginger Baker, attacking Bulger and breaking his nose with a metal cane. Known for his work in bands like Cream and Blind Faith – and, notoriously, for his drug use and temper – Ginger Baker largely disappeared from the music scene in the mid-1970s. But, surprisingly enough, his dramatic life carries on to this day. In the documentary, Bulger puts Baker’s otherworldly talent and tragic flaws on full display.



















Ginger Baker Is Still Alive (And Legitimately Dangerous) - Soundcheck:



http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/267942-ginger-baker-still-alive/



'via Blog this'



Soundcheck® is WNYC’s destination for music fans to discover their ongoing personal soundtrack. It features insight from musicians, journalists and tastemakers, listener-created content, a blogger bullpen and daily Gig Alerts, plus in-studio performances representing what’s new and compelling in New York City. 

The Neuroscience of Happiness

Uploaded on Jul 1, 2011

Is happiness a skill? Modern neuroscientific research and the wisdom of ancient contemplative traditions converge in suggesting that happiness is the product of skills that can be enhanced through training and such training exemplifies how transforming the mind can change the brain. 

Kent Berridge, Richie Davidson, and Daniel Gilbert speak at the Aspen Ideas Festival

.

• Music

  • "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Dick Hyman (iTunes • eMusic)

• Category

  • Science & Technology

• License

  • Standard YouTube License

Link: https://youtu.be/MDTi2_PHiiM

BE MINDFUL NOW

LOST

Stand still.
The trees ahead and the bushes beside you Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still.
The forest knows Where you are.
You must let it find you.




An old Native American elder story rendered into modern English by David Wagoner, in The Heart Aroused - Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte, Currency Doubleday, New York, 1996.

AWAKEN TO THIS DAY

SANSKRIT PROVERB

Look at this day, for it is life, the very life of life.

In its brief course lie all the realities and verities of existence, the bliss of growth, the splendor of action, the glory of power.

For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today, well lived, makes every day a dream, a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day

*PICTURE: Detail of an illustration prepared for the print version of this story.

(Neal Cresswell/Neal Cresswell for The Globe and Mail)

LINK:  http://www.ask.com/web?l=dis&o=10150&qsrc=2869&q=globe%20and%20mail%20birthday%20neal%20cresswell

Is day dreaming good for you?

Neuroscience As each day passes, the pace of life seems to accelerate -- demands on productivity continue ever upward and there is hardly ever a moment when we aren't, in some way, in touch with our family, friends, or coworkers. While moments for reflection may be hard to come by, a new article suggests that the long-lost art of introspection -- even daydreaming -- may be an increasingly valuable part of life.


SOURCE:
http://goo.gl/r1DUw

http://wisciblog.com/2012/07/04/is-day-dreaming-good-for-you/

Mindfulness in Mental and Physical Health

The science of mindfulness has been gaining wide acceptance over the last 5 years. You might say mindfulness has reached its "tipping point"  where the idea acts on society like a virus would.  Suddenly everybody 'gets it'.

Jon K-Z has spent more than 30 years introducing mindfulness to the medical profession. He encouraged skeptical and reactionary medical practitioners to teach patients to use MBSR (mindfulness based stress relief) for managing chronic pain, stress and negative emotions.  His efforts have gained credibility for MBSR and brought mindfulness into mainstream medicine.  

The wide acceptance of mindfulness is illustrated byCongressman, Tim Ryan joining the effort and writing a book:

"A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit" 

Book Description

"All across America, people are running faster and faster yet falling farther behind. The economy struggles, wars rage on, and every week brings news of another environmental disaster. Despite this bleak outlook, strands of quiet hope and confidence are emerging. 

People are beginning to face challenges in a new way: they are slowing down, paying attention, and becoming aware of their inner resources.

Based on the timeless practice of mindfulness, the natural capabilities of our brains and minds, and the core American values of self-reliance, determination, and getting the job done, 
this new way is affecting every sector of our society. 
In A Mindful Nation, Congressman Tim Ryan connects the dots between what’s happening in the classrooms, hospitals, boardrooms, research labs, and military bases across the country. 

He explores the scientific findings that support the beneficial effects of mindfulness and shares powerful stories from the field, showing how this simple practice is helping schoolchildren improve their ability to learn, veterans heal from trauma, and CEOs become more effective leaders. 

Ryan also provides practical tips for how to incorporate mindfulness into your life today.

A Mindful Nation paints a picture of emerging solutions that benefit both you and society as a whole, showing us that there is something we can do, right here and right now. 

With a hard-nosed understanding of politics, government budgets, and what it takes to get something done,
Ryan combines a practical approach with a hopeful vision for how mindfulness can help reinvigorate the American Dream."

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Nation-Practice-Performance-Recapture/dp/1401939309

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 Published on Feb 12, 2013



 The role of consciousness in mental and physical health

Becoming Conscious: The Science of Mindfulness

Many of us go through daily life on autopilot, without being fully aware of our conscious experience.

Neuroscientists Richard Davidson and Amishi Jha join clinical mindfulness expert Jon Kabat-Zinn to:

1 - explore the role of consciousness in mental and physical health, 

2 - how we can train the mind to become more flexible and adaptable, and 

3 - what cutting-edge neuroscience is revealing about the transformation of consciousness through mindfulness and contemplative practice.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The New York Academy of Sciences

This event is part of The Emerging Science of Consciousness Series, which brings together leading experts from various fields to discuss how the latest research is challenging our understanding of the very nature and function of consciousness in our daily lives.


http://www.nourfoundation.com/conscio...


Category--Science and Technology

License - Standard YouTube License

Source: http://youtu.be/5TeWvf-nfpA video

Nour Foundation
http://www.youtube.com/user/NourFoundation?feature=watch

Marcel Proust WAS a neuroscientist?

Was Proust really a neuroscientist?

Psychologist and novelist Charles Fernyhough calls it “one of the most famous passages in modern literature” – the scene when the narrator in Marcel Proust’s  À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu sips on tea thick with crumbs from a madeleine cake, and memories from his childhood come flooding back. It has become the archetypal depiction of what psychologists refer to as an “involuntary memory”.

This capacity for sensory experiences to trigger powerful memories, seemingly beyond our wilful control, has come to be known as a “Proustian moment” or a “Proustian memory”. 

Based on the madeleine episode and other scenes, Evelyne Ender wrote that Proust “anticipat[ed] later discoveries” in memory research. 

Jonah Lehrer, in Proust was a Neuroscientist, wrote that “We now know that Proust was right about memory.”

But how realistic was Proust’s depiction of involuntary memory really?  A new paper by Emily Troscianko compares the portrayal of the madeleine episode against the latest findings from the cognitive neuroscience of memory.

Here’s what Troscianko says Proust got right. One reason smells and tastes can be so evocative is because they are paired with a particular situation, often repeatedly (and also often outside of awareness), and then not experienced again for many years. This fits with the fact the Proustian narrator tasted a tea-soaked cake that he used to enjoy regularly at his aunt’s in Combray as a child, but which he had not tasted for a long time.
Another fact about memories that wash over us is that they tend to arrive when we’re tired or distracted. Again, this matches the madeleine episode, in which the narrator is “dispirited after a dreary day”.


Continue reading on Research Digest

Source:

http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/marcel-proust-neuroscientist/