physical-health

Large neuroimaging study finds social isolation to be an early indicator of increased dementia risk

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Why do we get a buzz from being in large groups at fes­ti­vals, jubilees and oth­er pub­lic events? Accord­ing to the social brain hypoth­e­sis, it’s because the human brain specif­i­cal­ly evolved to sup­port social inter­ac­tions. Stud­ies have shown that belong­ing to a group can lead to improved well­be­ing and increased sat­is­fac­tion with life.

Unfor­tu­nate­ly though, many peo­ple are lone­ly or social­ly iso­lat­ed. [Read more…] about Large neu­roimag­ing study finds social iso­la­tion to be an ear­ly indi­ca­tor of increased demen­tia risk

New book provides practical guidance for women (and men) to rebalance our lifestyles and build Cognitive Reserve

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On one of our “walk and talks” around the lush trails of Rock Creek Park in DC sur­round­ed by bik­ers, run­ners, cars and the occa­sion­al deer, Wendy and Lisa talked about aging. Wendy’s moth­er, who had her chil­dren in her ear­ly 20s, was still join­ing the family’s gru­el­ing sum­mer hikes with her chil­dren and nine grand­chil­dren well into her 60s. Wendy mused about how much old­er she would be when their kids could have their own kids. It dawned on her that her health was not just a here and now issue, but an invest­ment in that future. We agreed to help each oth­er cul­ti­vate the habits and make time to build strength as well as reserves, both phys­i­cal and men­tal, for the long-term. Their goal: to enjoy being active in their 40s and 50s while also lay­ing the ground­work to con­tin­ue being active into their 60s, 70s, and beyond. [Read more…] about New book pro­vides prac­ti­cal guid­ance for women (and men) to rebal­ance our lifestyles and build Cog­ni­tive Reserve

Move, Nourish, Connect, Be: Four daily habits to protect our mental well-being while sheltering in place

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It’s a crazy time. Here in the Cal­i­for­nia, we are shel­ter­ing-in-place, leav­ing the house only for essen­tials like gro­ceries and med­ical care. And while we’re all (appro­pri­ate­ly) focused on car­ing for the phys­i­cal health of our­selves, our fam­i­lies, our com­mu­ni­ties, and soci­ety at large, our men­tal, emo­tion­al, and social health needs are quick­ly emerg­ing as pro­found­ly impor­tant, as well. [Read more…] about Move, Nour­ish, Con­nect, Be: Four dai­ly habits to pro­tect our men­tal well-being while shel­ter­ing in place

The State of Mindfulness Science: 10 Key Research Findings to Encourage and Guide your Meditation Practice in 2018

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Dur­ing the past two decades, more and more sci­en­tists have stud­ied mindfulness—a Bud­dhist-inspired col­lec­tion of prac­tices aimed at help­ing us to cul­ti­vate moment-to-moment aware­ness of our­selves and our envi­ron­ment. Their ear­ly find­ings trig­gered an enor­mous amount of enthu­si­asm for meditation.

Some­times, how­ev­er, jour­nal­ists and even sci­en­tists (who should know bet­ter) have over­stat­ed the phys­i­cal and men­tal health ben­e­fits, which has fed grow­ing skep­ti­cism about mind­ful­ness. [Read more…] about The State of Mind­ful­ness Sci­ence: 10 Key Research Find­ings to Encour­age and Guide your Med­i­ta­tion Prac­tice in 2018

Study: Adult education classes, in any subject, can boost mental and physical health

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adult-education—–

Health ben­e­fits of evening class­es revealed (Sci­ence Daily):

“Those with a taste for adult edu­ca­tion class­es have long known it, but now Oxford Uni­ver­si­ty sci­en­tists have con­firmed that tak­ing part in the week­ly ses­sions can boost well­be­ing — regard­less of the sub­ject stud­ied [Read more…] about Study: Adult edu­ca­tion class­es, in any sub­ject, can boost men­tal and phys­i­cal health

Study: Job satisfaction in your 20s and 30s has a significant impact on your physical and mental health in your 40s

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worker-brainsEar­ly job sat­is­fac­tion has strong link to men­tal health (Learn­ing & Devel­op­ment Professional):

“…the study found job sat­is­fac­tion in your late 20s and 30s has a link to over­all health in your ear­ly 40s.

While job sat­is­fac­tion had some impact on phys­i­cal health, researchers found its effect was espe­cial­ly strong for men­tal health. [Read more…] about Study: Job sat­is­fac­tion in your 20s and 30s has a sig­nif­i­cant impact on your phys­i­cal and men­tal health in your 40s