Neuroplasticity: Changing our Belief about Change, by Joanna Holsten
dangerous belief in our culture is that we can't change. We’ve all heard the disempowered statements: “He’s just grumpy. He can’t change that.” or “I will always be anxious. It's the way I was born.” While we most certainly have genetic predispositions, the brains of individuals’ young and old can change in amazing ways.   Neuroplasticity is a fancy way of saying that our brains can change. We are not victims of our neurons or genes. We are empowered creators of our mental states. The erroneous belief that we are "set in stone" can stop people from trying to change and take away their responsibility. In the s... posted on Apr 23 2012 (148,613 reads)

How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Spoiled, by Ron Lieber
can parents help kids have a healthy relationship to money? It starts with overcoming shyness and discomfort about financial issues. All parents want their kids to have the skills they need to thrive in the world. But, while most parents feel comfortable talking about the importance of safety, health, schoolwork, and relationships, when it comes to the importance of money, many fall silent. In fact, most parents feel more comfortable talking about sex with their kids than about how much money they make. Tearsa Joy Hammock, San Francisco Public Press Perhaps that’s because money can bring up extremely strong emotions. How much we have or don’t have, an... posted on Mar 19 2015 (22,140 reads)

Why Play With Koans, by Sam Mowe
would your life change if you stopped believing all of your thoughts? What if your problems aren’t real? What if your goals are just distractions? Perhaps you have everything you need right now. It’s questions and possibilities like these—rather than answers—to which Zen koan practice gives rise. For over 30 years, Zen teacher John Tarrant has been teaching people how to meditate with koans. He has developed ways to practice with koans—traditionally reserved for advanced Zen students—that beginners might find useful. Tarrant is the author of Bring Me the Rhinoceros and The Light Inside the Dark and is the editor of the new... posted on Jul 6 2016 (17,812 reads)

Where Strangers Become Family, by Kim Eckart
Chainey, right, prepares dinner for roughly 50 people every Wednesday for “Happiness Hour,” when families and elders convene for a meal, conversation, and, later, playtime. Credit: YES! Magazine/Paul Dunn.  After a long day of preschool, five-year-old Joaquin Crowell still has energy to burn. He bounds from a TV cartoon to a magnetic fishing game, from blowing up a green balloon to listening to his favorite story, Bedtime for Frances. And 73-year-old Chris Conners is only too happy to oblige. To Joaquin, she is his oma— “grandma” in her native German. And to Conners, “He’s like my grandson. I fell in love with him the f... posted on Jan 25 2017 (10,500 reads)

How Small Moments of Empathy Affect Your Life, by Jill Suttie
is one of many skills that help us build better relationships. When we resonate with people’s feelings, consider their perspective, or feel compassion for them, we are more likely to be generous and altruistic, and less likely to be prejudiced against them. But empathy can sometimes feel like a lofty concept. While it may be good for us and others, what does it actually look like in real life, and how can we cultivate it? Findings from lab studies don’t give us the full picture, often suffering from narrow definitions of empathy and not reflecting people’s everyday empathy experiences. To fill this void in the research, Greg Depow... posted on Sep 8 2021 (6,701 reads)

The Meaning of Death - Stephen Jenkinson, by Ian Mackenzie
January this year, I flew out to attend my first full session of the Orphan Wisdom school, founded by Stephen Jenkinson and his wife Nathalie. The term “orphan” is a odd one to combine with wisdom, a juxtaposition that Stephen is fond of replicating according to the 9 months I’ve known him. An orphan after all, is not someone who has no parents. An orphan is one who does not know their parents. On the surface, it’s hard to remember exactly what transpired during those seven days. I gathered in the Ger (a traditional Mongolian yurt) each day on Stephen’s ice-covered land, hugging the Bonnechere River, joined by other scholars. We discussed the ancient ... posted on Aug 7 2013 (34,135 reads)

Marcus Aurelius and the Key to Happiness, by Carolyn Gregoire
of the greatest texts about happiness and living well wasn't written by a self-help expert, spiritual leader or psychologist. It was written by Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, and it may completely change your perspective on dealing with life's challenges. In 167 AD, Aurelius wrote The Meditations, a 12-book compendium of personal writings, originally written in Greek, that reflect his extensive study of Stoic philosophy. Aurelius is now regarded as one of the most famous proponents and philosophers of Stoicism, an ancient Greek and Roman school of thought originating in the Hellenic period concerned with how to cultivate a mindset to deal effectively with an... posted on Mar 29 2014 (106,779 reads)

The Power of Words to Save Us, by Marie Howe
moral life, Marie Howe says, is lived out in what we say as much as what we do. She became known for her poetry collection What the Living Do, about her brother’s death at 28 from AIDS. Now she has a new book, Magdalene. Poetry is her exuberant and open-hearted way into the words and the silences we live by. She works and plays with a Catholic upbringing, the universal drama of family, the ordinary rituals that sustain us — and how language, again and again, has a power to save us. TRANSCRIPT May 4, 2017 MS. MARIE HOWE: Emily Dickinson wrote those amazing poems. “I felt a Funeral in my Brain, / And Mourners, to and fro / Kept treading — t... posted on Jul 23 2017 (8,839 reads)

Muhammad Yunus: Revolutionized Banking, by Mele-Ane Havea
Havea on Muhammad Yunus I first came across the work of Professor Muhammad Yunus in 2009 when a friend gave me a copy of his book, Creating a World Without Poverty. I read it at a time of transition, having just moved to the Middle East to start a job helping set up an office of an international company in a young country. It was with the backdrop of this fledgling economy, where the promises of capitalism and development were alive and strong, that I heard Professor Yunus’ clarion call: “What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger and inequality?” His answer was clear, yes we can, and hi... posted on Jul 24 2018 (7,545 reads)

Balancing The Brain & The Power of Choice, by Tami Simon
Simon: You're listening to Insights at the Edge. Today, my guest is Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor—called by many who know her "Dr. Jill"—is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist who experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain in 1996. On the afternoon of this rare form of stroke, she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. It took eight years for Dr. Jill to completely recover all of her physical function and thinking ability. She's the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey. Dr. Jill will also be a featured presenter at Sounds ... posted on Aug 24 2014 (35,793 reads)

Rebecca Solnit: Falling Together, by On Being
follows is the audio and transcript of an onbeing.org interview between Krista Tippett and Rebecca Solnit. MS. KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: Rebecca Solnit describes her vision as a writer like this: “To describe nuances and shades of meaning, to celebrate public life and solitary life…. to find another way of telling.” She is a contributing editor to Harper’s magazine and the author of profound books that defy category. She’s emerged as one of our great chroniclers of untold histories of redemptive change in places like post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. She writes that so often, “when all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people... posted on Jun 25 2016 (10,894 reads)

What Science Taught Me About Compassion, Gratitude and Awe, by Dacher Keltner
is a transcript of a talk that Dacher Keltner delivered at an Awakin Circle in Santa Clara, CA.  As a a world renowned psychologist and researcher, Dacher is credited with expanding the field of science to include emotions like compassion, gratitude, and awe. As the author of many books and over 100 papers, he has offered thought leadership that can shift our cultural narrative towards kindness and care. As an advisor to companies like Facebook, he has applied his research into systemic implementations. As the founder of Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he has started many projects that put these insights into the societal circulation.  His most rec... posted on Nov 4 2016 (31,031 reads)

Ellen Langer: Science of Mindlessness and Mindfulness, by On Being
following is the audio and transcript of an onbeing.org interview between Krista Tippett and Ellen Langer. ELLEN LANGER: We have these categories, work, life, and we have brains, brawn, so on. All the different distinctions that we make. We make them mindfully, and then we start to use them mindlessly, forgetting that when we’re at work, we’re people. We have the same needs we had when we were on vacation. And you should get to the point where you’re treating yourself whether you’re at work or at play in basically the same way. [music: “Seven League Boots” by Zoe Keating] KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: Ellen Langer is a social psychologist wh... posted on Mar 28 2016 (25,864 reads)

The Science of Mindlessness & Mindfulness, by On Being
unconventional studies have long suggested what neuroscience is now revealing: Our experiences are formed by the words and ideas we attach to them. Naming something play rather than work — or exercise rather than labor — can mean the difference between delight and drudgery, fatigue or weight loss. What makes a vacation a vacation is not only a change of scenery, but the fact that we let go of the mindless everyday illusion that we are in control. Ellen Langer says mindfulness is achievable without meditation or yoga. She defines it as “the simple act of actively noticing things.” What follows is the transcript of an On Being interview between ... posted on Apr 2 2018 (17,575 reads)

Bronnie Ware: Living Without Regrets, by Tami Simon
Ware is an author and speaker whose bestselling book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, is based on her time as a palliative care worker. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Bronnie outlines these five major life regrets with Tami Simon and discusses the experiences in end-of-life care that inspired them. Bronnie explains how most regrets arise from a lack of courage and why people are willing to share so openly during their last days. Tami and Bronnie speak on the healing power of sharing our most vulnerable selves, even if it's in a letter that we never send. Finally, they talk about maintaining trust in the flow of life and why happiness is ultimately a choice. Tuesda... posted on Aug 12 2019 (13,450 reads)

How to Protect Kids from Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Jill Suttie
kids spend less and less time outdoors, and it’s taking a toll on their health and well-being. Research has shown that children do better physically and emotionally when they are in green spaces, benefiting from the positive feelings, stress reduction, and attention restoration nature engenders. No one has brought attention to this issue more than Richard Louv, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Children & Nature Network and author of Last Child in the Woods, The Nature Principle, and, most recently, Vitamin N: 500 Ways to Enrich the Health & Happiness of Your Family & Community. Louv has written eloquently about the impor... posted on Nov 23 2016 (16,369 reads)

Can We Design Cities for Happiness?, by Jay Walljasper
itself is a commons to which everyone should have equal access. That’s the view of Enrique Peñalosa, who is not a starry-eyed idealist given to abstract theorizing. He’s actually a politician, who served as mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, for three years, and now travels the world spreading a message about how to improve quality-of-life for everyone living in today’s cities. Peñalosa’s ideas stand as a beacon of hope for cities of the developing world, which even with their poverty and immense problems will absorb much of the world’s population growth over the next half-century. Based on his experiences in Bog... posted on Aug 24 2012 (21,137 reads)

In the Flow of Abundantly Happy Moments, by Anne-Marie Bauer
at a one-day Awakin retreat in Princeton NJ, we were asked to reflect on the notion of abundance and scarcity. And in particular, in which ways these notions manifested in our lives. The theme was carried throughout with various readings, shares and again during a writing exercise, when we were asked to think of a gift that had been given to us and how this gift had an impact on our lives. One personal reflection of mine, took me down memory lane to about seven years ago, to a time when I was experiencing some hardships that wanted to come in a sequence of one after the other. At the time, I had started a job in a city that was new to me, and as a fairly new n... posted on Oct 4 2013 (30,947 reads)

Books on How to Lead a Meaningful Life, by Diana Divecha, Kira M. Newman, C. Brandon Ogbunu, Elise Proulx, Jill Suttie
year, Greater Good’s editorial staff read a wide variety of books, making it tough to narrow down our favorites. That’s why this year’s list is a little longer than usual. Many of this year’s choices help us to survive and thrive in a turbulent world—some on a societal level, by providing a greater understanding of human behavior, social divisions, and the difficulties that new generations face; and others on a personal level, by showing us how to have better marriages, raise happier children, stay resilient, and find meaning in life. All of the books are well-written and engaging. Here are our picks for our favorite books of 2017. The All-or-... posted on Nov 27 2018 (15,029 reads)

How to Hardwire Resilience into the Brain, by Rick Hanson, Forrest Hanson
winter, I went camping with my friend Bob in the backcountry near Sequoia National Park. After spending the day slogging uphill through deep snow, we were exhausted but needed to make camp. As the temperature rapidly dropped, Bob began shivering uncontrollably. He had poured out so much energy without refueling himself that he was sliding into hypothermia, the first stage of freezing to death. We hurried to set up the tent, get into our sleeping bags, light the stove, drink hot water, and eat hot food—and soon Bob’s teeth stopped chattering. Luckily, we had just enough resilience to turn this misadventure around. Mental resources like calm, grit, and courage kept us goi... posted on Apr 24 2018 (26,649 reads)