Author Archives: Peter D. Marshall

Studies Show Tango Dancing and Meditating Are More Similar Than You’d Think (Tango Meditation?)

11 Saturday Oct 2014

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by Paul Darin.

tango-meditationFor years, cultures around the world have been using meditation to calm the brain and enter states that are not only psychologically beneficial, but also physically beneficial.

As scientists learn more about our brains and how they operate, it has become apparent that Tango dancing, of all activities, can lead to the same mental states experienced by people who meditate on a regular basis. Additionally, the more skilled the Tango dancer, the more likely they are to enter this state at deeper levels.

One experiment, presented by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, looked at whether Argentine tango is as effective as mindfulness meditation in reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression.

Mindfulness meditation refers to meditation wherein one is consciously aware that one is meditating, as opposed to the various types of meditation that involve entering a trance or a sleep-like state.

Read the rest of this article from Epoch Times.

Your Ancestors Didn’t Sleep Like You – Are We Doing It Wrong?

09 Thursday Oct 2014

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by Arjun Walia.

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Evidence continues to emerge, both scientific and historical, suggesting that the way in which the majority of us currently sleep may not actually be good for us.

In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech published a paper that included over 15 years of research. It revealed an overwhelming amount of historical evidence that humans used to in fact sleep in two different chunks.

In 2005, he published a book titled “At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past,” that included more than 500 references to a disjointed sleeping pattern. It included diaries, medical books, literature and more taken from various sources which include Homer’s Odyssey all the way to modern tribes in Nigeria and more.

Read the rest of this article from Collective Evolution.

Her Voice Might Tremble, But Emma Watson’s Message Is Strong And Clear

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by in Men & Women

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by Joseph Lamour.

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Emma Watson has become a remarkable young woman — she’s even been appointed a U.N. ambassador. Several times during this speech to the U.N., I found myself applauding at my computer. And, at 7:00, she cordially invites men to join the fight for gender equality. It’s our fight too.

Watch this video from Upworthy.

Is That Little Voice Telling You to Quit?

05 Sunday Oct 2014

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by Mark Luis Foster.

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Some call it a sixth sense. Others define it as deep subconsciousness with a nagging propensity for the truth. Still others feel it’s a deeply spiritual connection.

Perhaps it’s all those things: It’s that little voice inside your head, the one that tells you that you missed your exit, that admonishes you for going too far in criticizing a coworker, and the one that nags you when you should have said no, but your mouth had other plans and instead said yes.

We all have this clandestine voice. Some are more aware of it than others. Mostly, we all choose to ignore it anyway. Rarely do we stop and just listen to what it has to say to us.

Read the rest of this article from LinkedIn.

Universal speaking: speaking for others as if we are all the same

03 Friday Oct 2014

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by Dave Mather.

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Over the years, I’ve listened to thousands of business people in conversations ranging from one-on-ones to those in front of audiences of several thousand.

A common speech phenomenon is “universal speaking.” This involves speaking for others as if we are all the same. It’s innocent enough, except it clouds our speech and tends to inadvertently alienate others.

I’ve heard people switch almost mid-sentence, shifting from speaking for the “I” to speaking for the universal “we” or “you.”

We’re often told to use inclusive speech, to include others in the conversation. For example, instead of saying, “You need to set meaningful goals,” we might say, “It’s important we set meaningful goals,” thus including both the speaker and the listeners.

Read the rest of this article from The Epoch Times.

Cultural anxiety behind mass of dystopian films and TV shows

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

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Blockbuster Existential Angst by Christa Thomas.

HungerGames-NYET539-AP-676x450Dystopian movies aren’t new. From Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis (1927) to The War of the Worlds (1953), and Blade Runner (1982), they’ve long been a staple of cinema.

What is new is the rise in popularity of these films and the veritable slew of them in recent years. Nightmarish futuristic visions of human misery are now regular blockbusters.

The volume of dystopian films raises questions about why audiences are drawn to this kind of screen angst.

Over the course of the last 20 years, movies with dystopian themes have been appearing more frequently. While there were approximately 130 film releases in this category during the 1980s, the number already sits at 175 for the 2010s, and will likely reach at least 300 by decade’s end.

Read the rest of this article from The Epoch Times.

A Life Worth Living

29 Monday Sep 2014

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A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus on Our Search for Meaning and Why Happiness Is Our Moral Obligation by Maria Popova.

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“To decide whether life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy,” Albert Camus wrote in his 119-page philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus in 1942. “Everything else … is child’s play; we must first of all answer the question.”

One of the most famous opening lines of the twentieth century captures one of humanity’s most enduring philosophical challenged — the impulse at the heart of Seneca’s meditations on life and Montaigne’s timeless essays and Maya Angelou’s reflections, and a wealth of human inquiry in between.

But Camus, the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature after Rudyard Kipling, addressed it with unparalleled courage of conviction and insight into the irreconcilable longings of the human spirit.

Read the rest of this article from Brain Pickings.

 

 

Lyrics: “Still Finding My Way” by Greg Tamblyn

19 Friday Sep 2014

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Sometimes I forget I need to dance
Spin around the floor like I got crazy pants
Letting myself go, getting in the flow
Don’t be cool, play the fool

Move into another state of mind
Going there not knowing where or what I’ll find
Look in someone’s eyes, dropping my disguise
Oh my, I realize

Chorus:
I’m still finding my way
A little further every day
Like that river in the song, rollin’ along
To the place where I belong
Still learning to love
Teaching this old heart to open up
Letting go what I don’t need, setting it free
‘Cause I know I’m where I need to be
Still finding my way

Sometimes I forget to just slow down
Walk outside and take a lazy look around
Listen to the wind, sunshine on my skin
Touch the earth, feel my worth

Turning back to you the one I love
Lookin’ back and laughing at the crazy stuff
We made our mistakes, fell right on our face
Goodness sakes, it’s no disgrace

I’m still finding our way
A little further every day
Like that river in the song, rollin’ along
To the place where we belong
Still learning to love
Teaching these old hearts to open up
Letting go what we don’t need, setting it free
‘Cause we know we’re where we need to be
Still finding my way