Intentional Chocolate
How do you explain the common experience of homemade soup tasting better than the same soup purchased at a restaurant or scooped out of a can? Proposed explanations range from the serious to the humorous. Among the serious reasons, one contributor is undoubtedly the nurturing association between home and food. Another might be an ingredient missing from both the restaurant and the soup can -- the... posted on Feb 26 2008, 4,057 reads

The Not So Big Life
Bigger isn't better. That's the point architect and author Sarah Susanka drove home in "The Not So Big House" and five subsequent books. Now she drops the other shoe: Busier isn't better. Just as home quality can't be measured in square footage, Susanka says, fulfilled lives aren't defined by packed calendars. Susanka applies her "better, not bigger" approach to simplifying lives in "The Not So Bi... posted on Feb 15 2008, 4,292 reads

10 Ways We Get the Odds Wrong
These days, it seems like everything is risky, and worry itself is bad for your health. The more we learn, the less we seem to know -- and if anything makes us anxious, it's uncertainty. At the same time, we're living longer, healthier lives. So why does it feel like even the lettuce is out to get us? The human brain is exquisitely adapted to respond to risk -- faced with a precipice or a predator... posted on Feb 13 2008, 6,254 reads

Exercise Really Does Make You Younger
People who exercise regularly are biologically younger -- by up to nine years -- than those who don't. This striking recent finding may explain why exercise reduces the risk of heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, and other degenerative diseases. It actually suggests that active adults have cells that are measurably "younger" than those of inactive ones. This Times online article shares more about the... posted on Feb 02 2008, 5,570 reads

The Power Paradox
Guided by centuries of advice like Machiavelli's and Robert Greene's, we tend to believe that attaining power requires force, deception, manipulation, and coercion. Indeed, we might even assume that positions of power demand this kind of conduct that to run smoothly, society needs leaders who are willing and able to use power this way. As seductive as these notions are, they are dead wrong. Instea... posted on Jan 29 2008, 4,968 reads

Don't Just Stand There, Think!
When you read something confusing, or work a crossword puzzle, or try to remember where you put your keys, what do you do with your body? Do you sit? Do you stand? Do you do anything with your hands? Do you move your eyes in a particular pattern? How you answer questions like these, it turns out, may determine how long it will take for you to decipher what you're reading, solve your puzzle, or get... posted on Jan 22 2008, 4,860 reads

A Friend in the Cubicle Next Door
How friendly are you with your co-workers? Although close relationships at work are sometimes discouraged, it turns out that employees who are friendly with each other are better able to cope with office stress. Researchers have long known that work stress can take a heavy toll on health. Studies have shown that stress at work increases the risk for depression, heart attack and other health worrie... posted on Jan 17 2008, 3,519 reads

A Lesson in Thanks
Psychologist Jeffrey Froh infused middle-school classes with a small dose of gratitude -- and found that it made students feel more connected to their friends, family, and their school. They followed 221 middle school students for five weeks. Students in the gratitude condition indeed found that they had many blessings to count. While some of these were a bit idiosyncratic (e.g., being thankful fo... posted on Jan 14 2008, 2,525 reads

Zen & The Art of Television Watching
"I want you to watch TV with acute awareness, mindfulness, and precision. 1) Watch any TV show for 15 minutes without turning on the sound. 2) Watch any news program for 15 minutes without turning on the sound. 3) Watch television set for one half-hour with out turning it on." So begins this thought-provoking essay that sharply urges a change in the way we as individuals and as a society, watch TV... posted on Jan 09 2008, 3,902 reads

The Power of Mindful Exercise
Simply by telling 44 hotel maids that what they did each day involved some serious exercise, the Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer and Alia J. Crum, a student, were apparently able to lower the women's blood pressure, take pounds off their bodies and improve their body-fat ratios. Self-awareness, it seems, was the women's elliptical trainer.... posted on Jan 04 2008, 2,760 reads