Research shows that most people complain once a minute during a typical conversation. Complaining is tempting because it feels good, but like many other things that are enjoyable -- such as smoking or eating a pound of bacon for breakfast -- complaining isn’t good for you. Your brain loves efficiency and doesn’t like to work any harder [...]
Exposure to blue light at night, emitted by electronics and energy-efficient lightbulbs, harmful to your health. Phone in the dark Until the advent of artificial lighting, the sun was the major source of lighting, and people spent their evenings in (relative) darkness. Now, in much of the world, evenings are illuminated, and we [...]
Point 3, 4 and 5 of this article connect directly to sufi teachings. Sufi masters regularly teach the importance of taking the means yourself, but leaving the outcome to God. Gratitude, as many who are familiar with sufism know, is one of the most integral parts of spiritual growth. Finally, the bigger picture is always [...]
Parents make hundreds of major and minor decisions every day for their children. What we choose to feed our kids falls into the 'major' decision category, but this often ends up being left up to ease and convenience. These convenience foods are loaded with a cocktail of chemicals. In small doses they may seem harmless, but they're cumulative [...]
Susan* bought her 6-year-old son John an iPad when he was in first grade. “I thought, ‘Why not let him get a jump on things?’ ” she told me during a therapy session. John’s school had begun using the devices with younger and younger grades — and his technology teacher had raved about their educational [...]
“There is no evidence that any amount of homework improves the academic performance of elementary students.” This statement, by homework research guru Harris Cooper, of Duke University, is startling to hear, no matter which side of the homework debate you’re on. Can it be true that the hours of lost playtime, power struggles and [...]
You’re getting ready for a night out. You might put on some foundation, maybe some lipstick, eyeshadow. You shave, put on perfume or cologne. Do you know how many chemicals you’ve just exposed yourself to? Most people apply cosmetics without ever really thinking about what’s in them. There’s a high degree of trust that these [...]
Screen time is an inescapable reality of modern childhood, with kids of every age spending hours upon hours in front of iPads, smartphones and televisions. That’s not always a bad thing: Educational apps and TV shows are great ways for children to sharpen their developing brains and hone their communication skills—not to mention the break [...]
The word “heart” is an anagram for the word “earth”. Hence, the phrase “home is where the heart is”. Did you know that the human heart is the organ that generates the strongest electromagnetic field of any organ of the human body? In fact, the electromagnetic field of your heart can be measured up to [...]
Clinical psychologist, Julia Rucklidge, delivers an enlightening TED talk on the importance of nutrition and it’s role in mental health. Julia reminds us of a time when Dr. Semmelweis was ridiculed and dismissed for suggesting that doctors wash their hands before touching pregnant women. She compares the radical reaction that doctors had then, to the [...]
