The Giant Study Showing How Dancing Affects the Brain
Dancers and audience members alike talk about synchrony - a feeling of being connected with the dancers, others in the audience, and the dance. They describe it as “the ‘knowing’ that can happen in the moment; it’s something you sense, bypassing language.” Using neuroscience technology, such as electrodes, researchers can now capture “inter-brain synchrony, when... posted on Nov 19 2024, 2,001 reads

What Does Love Mean? How 4-8 Year-Old Kids Describe Love
This wonderful capture of kids responding to the question, “What does love mean?” reminds us that they are magnifying and mirroring those around them. They are watching, and they are listening. From their parents, grandparents, schoolmates, elderly neighbors, and more, they see and say what they see and hear about what love means. Love shows up in many ways: When “Mommy gives Dad... posted on Nov 15 2024, 6,219 reads

Conversation with the 'World's Happiest Man'
In this video interview, Matthieu Ricard, called “the world’s happiest man,” shares stories, insight, and humor on some very timeless questions based on his own life’s journey, and his experience as an interpreter for the Dalai Lama over many years. A small sampling: that it is crucial to distinguish between compassion and empathy; that our profound nature is compassion, co... posted on Nov 13 2024, 4,094 reads

Caught in Political Divide, Church Runs Kindness Campaign
Pastor Adam Hamilton was considering giving up being a pastor after years of refereeing debates at his church about polarizing issues of our times. Instead, he decided to begin a Campaign for Kindness. It has billboards, yard signs, and TV spots like a political campaign, but they advertise ethics. “We're trying to blanket Kansas City in love, compassion, understanding and just calm down, yo... posted on Nov 11 2024, 2,560 reads

How To Turn Down The Tension in a Conversation
With decades of research, Julia Minson developed a practice that people can very quickly learn to effectively deal with conflict and disagreement, using the acronym HEAR: H is hedging -- speaking with less dogmatism, using words like “sometimes, or maybe;” E is emphasizing what you can agree on such as “we both want;” A is acknowledgement by restating the other person&... posted on Nov 09 2024, 3,081 reads

Forgiving the Unforgivable
Nine years after a brutal 11-year civil war, a community center in a tiny village in Sierra Leone reflected the community itself -- burned and charred, weeds growing, “left alone and untended.” Then a drummer appeared, and began a rhythm that signaled a time to gather. Little by little, the community came, built a fire out of the debris, and within the safety of the circle, a Village C... posted on Nov 07 2024, 1,966 reads

Conversation with Paul Van Slambrouck: Reflections on Journalism
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Paul Van Slambrouck grew up with a love of newspapers and its high calling: "You only know the truth that you can come to at a particular moment. It’s not always an ultimate truth, but the pursuit of the truth is a pretty pure thing. Most reporters I’ve met are independent thinkers. They’re after the truth. I tell students that as a journalist yo... posted on Nov 06 2024, 853 reads

Eight Questions That Can Help You Survive Election Stress
In 2024, 43% of American adults have felt more anxious than they did the previous year, the American Psychological Association reports. Three-quarters of respondents identified this year’s presidential election as one of the biggest causes of their anxiety. "What can we do to stay resilient in the face of this election? One way is to check in with ourselves daily to make sure we’re doi... posted on Nov 05 2024, 5,767 reads

Why Children Perceive Time Slower Than Adults
Researchers are learning how children perceive time, and how “learning to see time through their eyes may be fundamental to a happier human experience.” Many factors are at play, one being emotional state: “A person's experience of time passages in daily life does not fluctuate with age, but with their emotional state. Put simply – if you are happier, time passes faster. If... posted on Nov 02 2024, 1,654 reads

When Nature Co-Authors a Song
A song emerged around a campfire in the high forest of Equador where melodies of “echo-locating bats, howler monkeys, rustling leaves and even a subterranean recording of the soil” were crucial to the composition. In what would be a first, the co-authors have filed to make the Los Cedros cloud forest a moral author of the song. One of the co-authors, Robert Macfarlane, said: “It ... posted on Oct 29 2024, 1,593 reads