Keeping Your Prefrontal Cortex Online: Neuroplasticity, Stress and Meditation
Jeanne Ball Posted: August 11, 2010
As we go through life, our brain is always changing and adapting, say neuroscientists. During the first 18-20 years of life the brain is developing circuits that will form the basis of decision-making for a lifetime. Brain researchers have found that unhealthy lifestyles can inhibit normal brain development in adolescents and lead to impaired judgment and destructive behavior that carries over into adulthood. Traumatic experiences, alcohol and drug abuse, growing up neglected in a broken home, living in fear of violence and crime, or even a bad diet can interfere with development of the frontal lobes, the brain's executive system. This can cause behavioral problems. Brain researcher Dr. Fred Travis explains: "When a person's frontal lobes don't develop properly, he lives a primitive life. He doesn't -- and can't -- plan ahead. His world is simplistic, and he can only deal with what's happening to him right now. Thinking becomes rigid: 'You're either with me or against me,' or 'Me and my gang are good, and everyone else is bad.'"* * * *Mindfulness and Having Nothing to Say
Deborah Schoeberlein Posted: August 10, 2010Sometimes, having nothing to say is such a relief! Know what I mean?
Of course, at other times, having nothing to say can feel uncomfortable, embarrassing and nonconstructive.
So what's the difference between these two experiences?
Here's what I've observed . . .* * * *A Brief History of a Meditator
Gotham Chopra Posted: August 10, 2010A series of new studies have recently come out touting the benefits of teaching kids to meditate.
Well stop right there: allow me to say with utmost humility -- here stands the expert.
My sister Mallika and I learned to meditate when we were about four and seven years old respectively (she's older). This was early on in my father's discovery phase of the transcendental meditation movement. Contrary to popular belief, he was not always the go-to-Guru that many now see him as. He was in fact a chain-smoking, hard-drinking, cantankerous by-the-book old school physician who ironically had little faith in the ways of alternative medicine and stress relieving techniques like meditation. On somewhat of a lark he discovered a TM Center in Cambridge Mass not far from where we lived and he worked and figured he may as well give the hippie delight a try.
* * * *The Lives Of Therapists and the Limits of Analysis
Tamara McClintock Greenberg Posted: August 9, 2010Daphne Merkin's penetrating, moving, and poignant article in the New York Times Magazine, which describes the hopes and disappointments of nearly 40 years in various forms of analytic treatment, is likely familiar to many. Her article has the blogosphere frenetic, with many bloggers hurling critiques at psychoanalysis. Though many of these critiques are justified, it is a bit like shoving the small kid off of the monkey bars on the playground; it's just too easy to be satisfying.
That said, maybe traditional psychoanalysis still needs a wake-up call about the limitations of the theory and the ways that patients have been let down, or even failed.
* * * *Get High on Gratitude
Maddisen K. Krown Posted: August 9, 2010Here's a question from a reader regarding the value of gratitude:
Several of my friends extol the power of being grateful and of keeping a daily gratitude log, and I just don't get it. I tried listing what I'm grateful for a few times, but it didn't do much for me; in fact, it feels trite and almost trendy to do so. Yet, I sense there may be some value underneath all of the commotion about gratitude. What's your take on it?Interesting question, and I'm happy to share my take on it. I keep a gratitude log myself and will share more about that below. I can understand how too much lip service or an unquestioned obedience to doing it or how trying it only a few times might play down the value and meaning of such a potent practice, making it feel trite or trendy. So, let's look gratitude in the eyes and reconnect with its inherent power.
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Why Gender Neurology Matters in Political Decision Making
Ruth Bettelheim, Ph.D. Posted: August 4, 2010Sex and Stress: Male Vs. Female Political and Domestic Strategies
Neuroscience research confirms that when stressed, men tend toward 'fight or flight' reactions, while women prefer to talk -- and that men take more risks, while women are generally more cautious. However, neither the mechanisms underlying these findings, nor their implications for businesses, politics and families, have been adequately explored.
One month ago, Kathleen Parker's column in the Washington Post called President Obama "The First Female President" and concluded that his "feminine" political style is a liability that's making him less popular. However, Ms. Parker's conclusions are based neither on scientific understanding of male and female negotiation strategies nor on persuasive evidence.
* * * *
Confessions of a Psychoanalyst: Performance Anxiety and the Dread of Shame
Helen Davey Posted: August 9, 2010
This blog started out as a speech. To improve my skills as a public speaker, I joined Toastmasters International, an organization where members cultivate public speaking skills by studying manuals, practicing and helping one another. Soon after joining I was called upon to give my first speech. As I expected, all my old fears and insecurities emerged. Since that experience, I've given a number of speeches at Toastmasters, and yet continue to struggle with those same issues of performance anxiety. Realizing that I'm not alone with these feelings, I wanted to share my experiences with you.
Childhood is the air that we breathe. As a psychoanalyst, I've spent many years as a patient in psychoanalysis myself, understanding as deeply as I can the different aspects of my personality and how I developed. I'm at a crossroads now, and I'd like to share with you how issues from childhood having to do with performance anxiety and the dread of shame bring me face to face with a very deep conflict within me.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Mindfulness, Meditation, Psychology, and Personal Growth on Huffington Post
Some interesting recent articles. Here is a little taste from each article, follow the links to read the whole piece.
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