Science of the SpiritS


Yoda

The philosophical musings of Bruce Lee

Maria Popova
Uplifconnect
Mon, 26 Dec 2016 17:26 UTC
Bruce Lee
You will never get any more out of life than you expect. — Bruce Lee
Although Bruce Lee is best known for his legendary legacy in martial arts and film, he was also one of the most under appreciated philosophers of the twentieth century, instrumental in introducing Eastern traditions to Western audiences.

A philosophy major in college, he fused ancient ideas with his own singular ethos informed by the intersection of physical and psychological discipline, the most famous manifestation of which is his water metaphor for resilience.

Early in his career, Lee was systematically sidelined by Hollywood's studio system, which operated with extreme racial bias and still used white actors to portray stereotypical Asian characters. Over and over, Lee was told in no uncertain terms that white audiences simply wouldn't accept an Asian man as a lead character in a movie.
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People

Why you should care less about what (most) other people think

Tim Urban
Wait But Why
Sun, 29 Jun 2014 17:40 UTC
self conscious
© Getty

Part 1: Meet Your Mammoth

The first day I was in second grade, I came to school and noticed that there was a new, very pretty girl in the class—someone who hadn't been there the previous two years. Her name was Alana and within an hour, she was everything to me.

When you're seven, there aren't really any actionable steps you can take when you're in love with someone. You're not even sure what you want from the situation. There's just this amorphous yearning that's a part of your life, and that's that.

But for me, it became suddenly relevant a few months later, when during recess one day, one of the girls in the class started asking each of the boys, "Who do youuu want to marry?" When she asked me, it was a no-brainer. "Alana."

Disaster.

I was still new to being a human and didn't realize that the only socially acceptable answer was, "No one."
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Heart

Breath of life: The scientific health benefits of controlled breathing

Kalee Brown
Collective Evolution
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 21:31 UTC
breathing
According to ancient yogic texts, our vital life force —our Prana or our breath — derives from Pranayama, the practice of controlled breathing. Science is finally starting to catch up to the knowledge outlined in the Vedas, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and other ancient texts.

Meditation has been practiced for the past 5,000 years on Earth, yet science is only now starting to recognize and understand the significant health benefits it has on the human body. These benefits can be observed while meditating and can be seen during the day-to-day lives of regular meditators as well.

Comment: Deep Breathing Exercises Can Improve Your Life

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Cell Phone

When technology becomes too much of a good thing: Tips for breaking your screen addiction

Tina Arnoldi
PsychCentral
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
cell phones
It's tough to disconnect in an always-on world. Many people have shared with me how their devices are an extension of their bodies to them. Arriving at the store or their office, realizing they've forgotten their phone, results in anxiety. Most of us probably know that overuse of the internet is not a good thing for us, but like all habits, they are hard to break. Since connectivity's a big part of today's culture and can negatively influence our mental health, it's a trend we need to pay attention to. Here are five of my favorite tips that address negative tech habit.

Do not start your day with email:

It can set a negative tone for your whole day. The moment when you wake up, it's not a great idea to read that email about another meeting that's a waste of time or get a reminder for an overdue bill. You're cranky before the day even begins. Start your day with a short devotional or a few moments in the sunshine to begin on a calm note.

Comment: Further reading:

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Cross

The Real 'Clash of Civilizations'? Spiritual Roots of Russo-American Conflict

Kerry R Bolton
Foreign Policy Journal
Sat, 15 Aug 2015 14:35 UTC
kremlin
© Pavel KazachkovThe Kremlin in Moscow
Whatever Russia is called outwardly, there is an inner eternal Russia whose embryonic character places her on an antithetical course to that of the USA.

The rivalry between the USA and Russia is something more than geopolitics or economics. These are reflections of antithetical worldviews of a spiritual character. The German conservative historian-philosopher Oswald Spengler, who wrote of the morphology of cultures as having organic life-cycles, in his epochal book The Decline of The West had much to say about Russia that is too easily mistaken as being of a Russophobic nature. That is not the case, and Spengler wrote of Russia in similar terms to that of the 'Slavophils'. Spengler, Dostoyevski, Berdyaev, and Solzhenistyn have much of relevance to say in analyzing the conflict between the USA and Russia. Considering the differences as fundamentally 'spiritual' explains why this conflict will continue and why the optimism among Western political circles at the prospect of a compliant Russia, fully integrated into the 'world community', was so short-lived.

Of the religious character of this confrontation, an American analyst, Paul Coyer, has written:
Amidst the geopolitical confrontation between Vladimir Putin's Russia and the US and its allies, little attention has been paid to the role played by religion either as a shaper of Russian domestic politics or as a means of understanding Putin's international actions. The role of religion has long tended to get short thrift in the study of statecraft (although it has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance of late), yet nowhere has it played a more prominent role—and perhaps nowhere has its importance been more unrecognized—than in its role in supporting the Russian state and Russia's current place in world affairs.1
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Apple Red

How to get rid of old habits and find your true Self

Joe Dispenza
healyourlife
Wed, 09 Sep 2015 09:00 UTC
Unlock the Brain
One of the biggest lies we have come to believe about ourselves and our true nature is that we are nothing more than physical beings defined by a material reality, devoid of dimension and vital energy, and separate from God—which I trust you know by now is within us and all around us. To keep the truth about our real identity from us is not only enslaving, but it asserts that we are finite beings living a linear life that lacks real meaning.

Creating A New Mind

The assertion that there are no realms and no life beyond our physical world and that we have no control over our destiny is not a "truth" that you and I should ever believe in. You are a multidimensional being who creates your reality. Helping you accept this idea as your law and new belief has been my labor in my book. Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself means that you are going to have to lose your mind and create a new one.

Comment: To learn more about Dr. Joe Dispenza's work and how to make real changes to your mind, emotions and life, read Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One.



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Brain

Emotional 'hangovers' influence how we attend to and remember future experiences


Science Daily
Mon, 26 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
brain, emotional hangover
Emotional experiences can induce physiological and internal brain states that persist for long periods of time after the emotional events have ended, a team of New York University scientists has found. This study, which appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience, also shows that this emotional "hangover" influences how we attend to and remember future experiences.

"How we remember events is not just a consequence of the external world we experience, but is also strongly influenced by our internal states -- and these internal states can persist and color future experiences," explains Lila Davachi, an associate professor in NYU's Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science and senior author of the study.

" 'Emotion' is a state of mind," Davachi continues. "These findings make clear that our cognition is highly influenced by preceding experiences and, specifically, that emotional brain states can persist for long periods of time."
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Heart

Benefits of caring: People who help and support others live longer


Science Daily
Thu, 22 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
live longer helping others
© aytuncoylum / FotoliaOlder people who help and support others live longer.
Older people who help and support others live longer. These are the findings of a study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior, conducted by researchers from the University of Basel, Edith Cowan University, the University of Western Australia, the Humboldt University of Berlin, and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin.

Older people who help and support others are also doing themselves a favor. An international research team has found that grandparents who care for their grandchildren on average live longer than grandparents who do not. The researchers conducted survival analyses of over 500 people aged between 70 and 103 years, drawing on data from the Berlin Aging Study collected between 1990 and 2009.

Comment:

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Christmas Tree

The art of navigating family during the holidays

Azriel ReShel
Upliftconnect
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 15:21 UTC
family drama
Families come together at Christmas because they love each other, deeply, but along with the packaged gifts, mince pies, knitted jumpers, kindly intentions, and tacky conversations, they lug along their childhood irritations or parental peeves. Those festering wounds that have been repressed for years can suddenly surface most unexpectedly around the festive table, after a few glasses of red.

How is it that family gatherings tend to bring out the worst in people? With all the longing to be together, deep desires for meaningful and quality time, and the joy of being with family, somehow things don't quite go as we hope, or more likely go totally against our plans. The enormous expectations, crazy preparations, excessive pressure, and idea of the perfect Christmas can turn any stable adult into a reckless, exploding Christmas Cracker. It's the time where the inner child runs riot. Everyone tries to give their own children what they didn't get, racing around trying to prove they are an adequate parent and haven't completely screwed up their young tribe. But, quite honestly the whole shebang, while filled with good cheer and never-ending optimism, is often a recipe for disaster.
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Cell Phone

Is your social media making you depressed?

Lauren Steussy
The New York Post
Thu, 22 Dec 2016 12:11 UTC
Media depression
Jason Zook started every morning by scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, Vine, his blog and Facebook. It started to have an effect on the 33-year-old entrepreneur's mental health. The San Diego resident was stressed, distracted and feeling like he could never fulfill the expectations he created in his digital world, where he amassed more than 33,000 followers.

"You start your day looking at yourself compared to other people," he says. "You feel behind, and you have other people's opinions pressed upon you before you have a chance to have your own."

So he went cold turkey, going on a 30-day social-media detox. It was a smart move: A recent study from the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health found that using multiple social-media platforms may put you at increased risk of depression and anxiety.

Comment: See also:

Social media use and depression are clearly linked, says new study

New study finds frequent social media use linked to depression

Depression or anxiety strikes one in three teenage girls

Survey finds adolescents on social media have reduced satisfaction in life

Playground of abuse: Social media cause many kids to self-harm

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