Self-Care by Taking Care of Others
We are heading into year 3 of the pandemic. Yikes! Many of us are burned out. Or we are seeing others around us suffer. As we head into 2022, it is important to take care of ourselves. And one way to do that is taking care of others. A friend of mine recently asked her friends on social media: “what is your source of motivation right now?” What is yours?
Letting Deep Reading Shape Us
When was the last time you found yourself absorbed in a wonderful book? In today’s fast-paced world, such pleasures may seem like a luxury. But deep reading is a powerful practice. It takes time. But that time is repaid in meaningful psychological benefits. The moral philosopher Martha Nussbaum once warned that “It would be catastrophic to become a nation of technically competent people who have lost the ability to think
Think Young, Be Young in 2022
If you’re anything like me, you’re pretty exhausted. In the last year we’ve endured the pandemic, scary politics, crazy weather driven by climate change, rising prices, and more. The last thing I was planning to add to my 2022 plans was “thinking myself young.” But then I read an intriguing article about the power of our thoughts to actually reduce aging. As an academic and a bit of a skeptic,
Why I Love My Cold Baths
How about this as a way to feel amazing? Jump into freezing cold water. It should be between 34-59 degrees Fahrenheit. This is cold enough to speed up your heart, make you breathe harder, and make part of you think it's gonna die. Don't worry though, it's just a mind game. Have you ever jumped into a really cold river? And then, how did it feel coming out? The first
Developing and Growing in 2022: Dealing with Cognitive Biases
One of my favorite contemporary authors is Robert Wright. Wright is a journalist who studied sociobiology at Princeton University. He later taught there as well. And he has written extensively about psychology, religion, and morality. One of his books is Why Buddhism is True (Simon & Schuster 2017). The book examines aspects of Buddhist philosophy and practice that have been of profound help to Wright. Another of Wright’s latest projects
How one Buddhist Practice is Mirrored in how we Raise our Kids
In the last few decades, a number of Buddhist practices have gone mainstream in Western society. Mindfulness is the best-known, with an entire industry of apps and courses and more devoted to sharing this wonderful practice. Another practice is loving-kindness. This is my long-time favorite. In Buddhism, loving-kindness is one of four “divine abodes.” The other three are compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. In order, loving-kindness is the first. Each