Science of the SpiritS


Magic Wand

Have you got the X Factor? Psychologists find that you may be musical and not even know it


ScienceDaily
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 00:00 UTC
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© Syda Productions / FotoliaWomen singing karaoke.
The old adage says practice makes perfect, but new research shows that personality also plays a key role in musical ability, even for those who do not play an instrument. In a new study, a team of psychologists identified that the personality trait "Openness" predicts musical ability and sophistication.

In a study published this week in the Journal of Research in Personality, a team of psychologists identified that the personality trait "Openness" predicts musical ability and sophistication. People who score highly on Openness are imaginative, have a wide range of interests, and are open to new ways of thinking and changes in their environment.

Previous convention has held that the amount you practice is the key to success. This idea received widespread attention earlier this decade when writer Malcolm Gladwell argued that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in any domain, whether it is sports, music, art, or chess. But scientists are now discovering that there may be other factors involved as well.
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Family

Flashback Researchers show meditation can alter your genes

Michael Forrester
Prevent Disease
Thu, 05 Dec 2013 15:49 UTC
DNA
With evidence growing that training the mind or inducing specific modes of consciousness can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body. A new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France reports the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of intensive mindfulness practice.

The study investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation.

Comment: There have been numerous studies showing the benefits of meditation and yoga - for more information see: Meditation changes how genes are expressed - study and Reprogramming inflammation with meditation.

One type of meditation that is exploding in popularity is the Éiriú Eolas Stress Control, Healing and Rejuvenation Program. It is an ancient breathing and meditation program which helps to rejuvenate and detoxify the body and mind and can be learned here for free.

Face life with Éiriú Eolas, a stress relief program

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Chess

Homecoming - The hero's quest to save the self


The Layman's Answers to Everything
Wed, 07 Oct 2015 18:16 UTC
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© Ryan Dunlavey
When you've seen as many movies as I have, you begin to see that they all follow a certain pattern. This is true not just of movies, but of all great stories ranging from those found in classic mythology and literature to modern TV series and video games. Joseph Campbell called it the monomyth or hero's journey. It's basically a series of steps that the protagonist must go through during the course of his or her adventure. In addition to this, there are also a number of spiritual principles that often find their way into storytelling. By combining these principles with the monomyth, you can pretty much figure out where just about any story is headed. While this skill has proven to be incredibly annoying to my wife, it's come in very handy for me. Not because I've continually annoyed her with my usually correct movie and TV show predictions, but because I've noticed that these storytelling rules apply to more than just fictitious stories. They also apply to real life.

One of my favorite moments of any movie happens in The Karate Kid when Mr. Miyagi shows Daniel that all his seemingly pointless wax-on, wax-off chores were actually for a higher purpose. Daniel comes to realize that he was learning and training in karate all along and didn't even realize it.

Comment: Substances designed to alter the senses impede one's ability to see and engage with the self and life as it is. They are a hinderance in the hero's quest to find their way Home.

Also see:
The journey from boy to man: A lesson from the Sioux

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Question

The uncontrollable hair pulling of trichotillomania

Kate Baggaley
Brain Decoder
Thu, 08 Oct 2015 18:49 UTC
hair pulling
© Cavale Doom/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Many people look upon plucking the hair on their eyebrows or other body parts as a painful step of their grooming regimen. But some others have to fight the urge to do so. Their compulsive hair plucking sometimes leads to upsetting consequences. And scientists are still trying to untangle the reasons behind this condition, called trichotillomania.

The effects of trichotillomania have been written of since Hippocrates, but the condition didn't get a clinical definition until French dermatologist Francois Hallopeau recognized it in 1889. People with trichotillomania feel compelled to tug hair from their head, brows and eyelashes, or other areas. A subset of affected people also eat the hairs, which can build up into hairballs, causing gastrointestinal problems.Estimates suggest the condition affects up to 4 percent of the population (or about 12 million in the United States), and women arefour times more likely to be affected. Symptoms usually begin before age 17 and could last for years.

Comment: See also:

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Hearts

Neuroscience research reveals 4 practices that will make you happier

Eric Barker
Business Insider
Thu, 01 Oct 2015 20:26 UTC
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You get all kinds of happiness advice on the internet from people who don't know what they're talking about. Don't trust them.

Actually, don't trust me either. Trust neuroscientists. They study that gray blob in your head all day and have learned a lot about what truly will make you happy.

UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb has some insights that can create an upward spiral of happiness in your life.

Here's what you and I can learn from the people who really have answers:
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Clipboard

Researchers find frequent face-to-face social contact decreases depression risk in adults

Laura Donnelly
The Telegraph, UK
Mon, 05 Oct 2015 14:00 UTC
Researchers find people who meet friends and family at least three times a week far less like to have depression than those who have only 'virtual contact
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© AlamyAmong adults aged 50 to 69, frequent face-to-face contact with friends reduced the risk of subsequent depression.
Replacing face-to-face contact with friends and family with emails, text messages and phone calls could double the risk of depression, a major study suggests.

Research on 11,000 adults found that those who meet friends and family at least three times a week are far less likely to suffer from depression. Individuals who had such contact just once every few months had an 11.5 per cent chance of later suffering from depressive symptoms two years later. By contrast, those who met up with family and friends at least three times a week had the lowest level of depressive symptoms, with rates of 6.5 per cent.

The study by the University of Michigan, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is the first to examine the impact of different types of social contact on depression. Adults aged 50 and over were tracked for more than two years. While strong links were found between face-to-face contact and depression, regularity of contact with loved-ones by telephone, email or social media was shown to make no difference.

Researchers reported that having more or fewer phone conversations, or written or email contact, had no effect on depression.
Dr Alan Teo, lead author and assistant professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University, said: "We found that all forms of socialisation aren't equal. Phone calls and digital communication, with friends or family members, do not have the same power as face-to-face social interactions in helping to stave off depression."

Comment: More on the benefits of social bonding:

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Boat

Freeing ourselves from fear

Kate Eckman
The Elephant Journal
Sun, 04 Oct 2015 19:21 UTC
fear
© Unknown
If you ask most people what they want from life, they will probably tell you they want to be happy—they want to be loved.

Success, fame and fortune might come up, too.

But I think what we ultimately yearn for is freedom.

The freedom to be ourselves, especially in a world that is constantly telling us not to. The freedom of inner peace and feeling at home, and being able to take that feeling with us everywhere we go.

For me, the one thing that gets in the way of feeling free is fear.

Comment: Fear and Knowledge
Fear can only control us when we do not know in depth about the things we fear. When you fear a certain thing, that is the thing you should be learning about. You will then gain knowledge that is stored in your unconscious mind, so that when the moment comes, you make a better 'snap judgment' to protect yourself. It is very much like training your mind and body before facing the danger, without becoming paralyzed by sudden fright...

What it all comes down to is: don't give into your fears, try to know more about what you fear from all angles, and you will no longer be controlled by your fears.


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Family

Want to improve your self awareness? Correct your posture

Amy L. Lansky
Waking Times
Sun, 04 Oct 2015 23:50 UTC
skeletons
Most people in the modern world tend to have poor posture. I'm sure that part of it is our general detachment from our bodies. We spending most of our days sitting in front of computers, TVs, on couches, in cars, or on punishing assembly lines. Perhaps if we were more in touch with our bodies, with nature, and with the natural functions that our bodies evolved to perform, our posture would be better.

I remember how sad I was as I watched my children's wonderful and natural child posture slowly deteriorate as they grew older. Slouching at their computer or while watching TV, I constantly tried to get them to "sit up straight!" To no avail, unfortunately. Gradually, this seems to happen to most of us. In fact, poor posture has become so much the norm that chairs, car-seats, and the like are now all designed in such a way that they foster poor posture.

Comment: See also: Why you should stop slouching: The posture-mood connection

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Heart

Self-compassion, recognition of our common humanity

Kristin Neff
Greater Good
Wed, 30 Sep 2015 00:14 UTC
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Most people don't have any problem with seeing compassion as a thoroughly commendable quality. It seems to refer to an amalgam of unquestionably good qualities: kindness, mercy, tenderness, benevolence, understanding, empathy, sympathy, and fellow-feeling, along with an impulse to help other living creatures, human or animal, in distress.

But we seem less sure about self-compassion. For many, it carries the whiff of all those other bad "self" terms: self-pity, self-serving, self-indulgent, self-centered, just plain selfish. Even many generations removed from our culture's Puritan origins, we still seem to believe that if we aren't blaming and punishing ourselves for something, we risk moral complacency, runaway egotism, and the sin of false pride.

Comment: More info:
  • Change your thoughts, change your health
  • Dr. Gabor Maté: "When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection"


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Airplane Paper

Key to learning: Curiosity linked with psychological, emotional and social benefits

Emily Campbell
University of California - Berkeley
Thu, 24 Sep 2015 19:50 UTC
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© mybraintest.org
"Why?"

That's the question parents and teachers both dread and love to hear from kids. We dread it because, well, sometimes we don't know the answer—or we're too lazy or harried to come up with a good one. But we usually do our best, understanding that curiosity is key to learning.

But did you know that the benefits of curiosity are not limited to the intellectual? For children and adults alike, curiosity has been linked with psychological, emotional, social, and even health benefits. Here are six of them!

1. Curiosity helps us survive

The urge to explore and seek novelty helps us remain vigilant and gain knowledge about our constantly changing environment, which may be why our brains evolved to release dopamine and other feel-good chemicals when we encounter new things.

2. Curious people are happier

Research has shown curiosity to be associated with higher levels of positive emotions, lower levels of anxiety, more satisfaction with life, and greater psychological well-being. Of course, it may be, at least partially, that people who are already happier tend to be more curious, but since novelty makes us feel good (see above), it seems likely that it goes the other direction as well.

3. Curiosity boosts achievement

Studies reveal that curiosity leads to more enjoyment and participation in school and higher academic achievement, as well as greater learning, engagement, and performance at work. It may seem like common sense, but when we are more curious about and interested in what we are doing, it's easier to get involved, put effort in, and do well.

Comment: See also:

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