Life Changes
Healing Through Storytelling: Lessons from The Odyssey
The journey of Odysseus in Homer's 'The Odyssey' offers profound insights into healing...
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- Written by: Unger Baillie, University of Pennsylvania
As social species, the social networks of lizards, hyenas, and dolphins influence every pivotal aspect of their lives: finding a mate, reproducing, getting sick, or surviving.
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- Written by: InnerSelf Staff
When rats are given an anti-anxiety medication they become less empathetic and are less likely to help free companions that are trapped.
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- Written by: Cody DeHaan, University of Rochester
The tragic mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando has sparked renewed interest in the causes of homophobia.
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- Written by: Therèse Tappouni
It’s necessary to be conscious of the way we store events in the body and how they create layers of similar emotions—grief with grief, joy with joy, anger with anger, and love with love. These layers are like the strata in rocks, building great cliffs of emotions that are touched each time another similar emotion is experienced.
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- Written by: Olivia Remes, University of Cambridge
Anxiety disorders – defined by excessive fear, restlessness, and muscle tension – are debilitating, disabling, and can increase the risk for depression and suicide.
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- Written by: Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T.
Funky moods obscure our experience for hours, days, weeks, or even longer. Left unattended, they shape our personalities and determine the quality of our lives. We think that we have no control over our moods but the truth is quite the contrary.
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- Written by: Francesca Gino, Harvard Business School and Maryam Kouchaki, Northwestern University
In a 1997 U.S. News and World Report survey, 1,000 Americans were asked the following question: “Who do you think is most likely to get into heaven?” According to respondents, then-president Bill Clinton had a 52 percent chance; basketball star Michael Jordan had a 65 percent chance; and Mother Teresa had a 79 percent chance.
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- Written by: Robert Lull, University of Pennsylvania and Ted Dickinson, The Ohio State University
In early May, with Donald Trump on the verge of solidifying the Republican nomination, his opponent Ted Cruz ranted to the press
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- Written by: AJ Earley
No matter what your field, or how much you love your job, you’re always going to have days that drain you. Days where you feel exhausted and stressed, days that you are happy to see come to an end. When you are finally done with work and you get home to unwind, there are some healthy ways to go about it.
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- Written by: Sara Chetkin
Life is intelligent, and it’s powerful, too. Yet, we rarely consider it as anything other than unpredictable and unknowable. What an amazing journey we’d have if we trusted life. Instead, in our fear of the unknown, we have turned life into a series of attempts to make the future as predictable as possible.
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- Written by: Peter Bongiorno
How come some people love wild roller coaster rides, while others are scared of them? It all starts with your thoughts! It really is up to you in the end. If you have the mechanism to be afraid, you also have the mechanism to enjoy life and move through anxiety!
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- Written by: Joyce & Barry Vissell
If we only knew how many times we are rescued by divine intervention, we would completely trust this higher power. There would then be nothing to worry about – ever! Joyce and I had yet another powerful reminder of this truth – and divine miracle – last week.
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- Written by: Nora Caron
Sometimes in life we come to a point where we want to leave everything behind and run away from society. It feels as though we cannot take one more abusive comment from our boss, another long drive in traffic or another broken night of sleep. We feel as though our cup is so full that the next time...
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- Written by: Hugh Hunt, University of Cambridge
It’s as easy as riding a bike … or so the saying goes. But how do we manage to stay upright on a bicycle? If anyone ventures an answer they most often say that it’s because of the “gyroscopic effect” – but this can’t be true.
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- Written by: Jeremy Howick, University of Oxford
We feel good when we do a good deed, so there must be a psychological benefit to helping others? But how can we know for sure? The best way to study the health benefits of kind deeds is to look at studies of volunteering.
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- Written by: Freya Bailes, University of Leeds
Are you imagining music in your head? If so, it’s probably a certain Kylie Minogue hit. Sorry. But hopefully, once you’ve read this, you’ll be in a better position than you were before to get rid of it, or any other imaginary music playing on repeat in your mind’s ear.
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- Written by: Jonathon Porritt, Ensia
Just as I was putting pen to paper for this piece I was amused to receive an invitation from a wonderful organization called “Julie’s Bicycle” to an event with the compelling title: “How to be a COPtimist: Culture, Creativity and COP21.”
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- Written by: Carla van Raay
Ah, yes! Gratitude is magical. Once you get into the groove of it, you will know why. There is nothing so freeing and so exhilarating as pouring out gratitude, not just for what we can easily see as benefits, or enjoyable things and situations, but for every moment of existence and for whatever happens.
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- Written by: Paulo Coelho
God knows that we are artists of life. One day He gives us a chisel, another we may receive brushes and a canvas, and still another day He gives us a pen to write. But we will never use a chisel on canvas, or pens on sculptures. Each day has its own miracle.
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- Written by: Joachim Gross, University of Glasgow and Hyojin Park, University of Glasgow
When we talk face-to-face, we exchange many more signals than just words. We communicate using our body posture, facial expressions and head and eye movements; but also through the rhythms that are produced when someone is speaking.
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- Written by: Kostadin Kushlev, University of Virginia
When was the last time you opened your laptop midconversation or brought your desktop computer to the dinner table? Ridiculous, right? But if you are like a large number of Americans, you have done both with your smartphone.
