Most people believe that their dreams are messages from their unconscious mind. A new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology shows 74% of Indians, 65% of South Koreans, and 56% of Americans believe in the significance of dreams in relation to their waking self.

The authors of the study and this Time.com article, however, discount this belief, instead attributing the nightly images to highly predictable brain activity and the "anchoring" phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »

Elderly people who ate one-third fewer calories for three months showed marked improvements on memory tests, according to a small new study that's just the latest evidence linking caloric restriction to good health. There is growing interest in the potential benefits of calorie restricted diets, after research in animals suggested they might be able to improve lifespan and delay the onset of age-related disease. However, it is still not certain whether this would be the case in humans – and the the levels of "caloric restriction" involved are severe [BBC News].

The study involved 50 elderly people who ranged from normal weight to overweight. Members of one group were asked to cut their daily calorie consumption by 30 percent, primarily by reducing their portions, another group kept their calorie intake the same but ate more of the healthy, unsaturated fats found in fish and olive oil, while a final group made no dietary changes. When the volunteers took memory tests after three months, only the calorie-restriction group showed improvement. Read the rest of this entry »

Liver cleanses, lemonade fasting, fat flush plans, herbal kits…is the money you spend to detoxify your body well spent, or are you just throwing it away on useless products?

Such detoxification routines are becoming extremely popular, as people try to bring back into balance what they feel is an unhealthy living environment full of carcinogenic chemicals, such as PCBs, PBDEs, and phthalates,  now being found in everyday consumer products.

PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers), in particular, pose a significant concern regarding uncontrolled overexposure to manmade chemicals. Read the rest of this entry »

Decades ago, one of the most popular comedy programs on television was Monty Python's Flying Circus. Frequently, the next skit would be introduced with the words, "And now for something completely different."

Well, now it's my turn to utter that famous phrase, because today I am offering you something completely different.

For one thing, it's a poem. But that's not why this message is different. I presented a poem to you last December.

No, what makes today's message completely different is its unusual source. Although I always write from the heart — and today's message is no different — it was directly inspired by a unique book I just read called, The 72 Names of God . . . a book of teachings and tools that are based on the mystical, spiritual tradition known as Kabbalah.
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Evidence is growing that suggests our well-being is influenced by our spiritual and religious beliefs and practices.

Dr. Andrew Newberg, a professor of radiology, psychology and religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of Penn's Center for Spirituality and the Mind, studies the effects of spirituality on the human brain. He and his team of researchers have noted that during prayer the frontal lobes become engaged, affecting focus and concentration. And in very deep prayer the parietal lobes become disengaged, helping us to feel detached from time and space, leaving behind our everyday concerns.
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Today is the day we make a conscious effort to express our love and appreciation to all the people in our lives whom we dearly cherish.

For the most part, the kind of love being celebrated on this special day is "romantic" love. And one of the characteristics of "romantic" love — at least in the beginning — is that this kind of love is "blind." We literally don't see the physical flaws and personality quirks in the beloved. He or she looks perfect to us.
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Cancer will be the world's leading killer by 2010, edging out heart disease for the top spot, according to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Though cancer rates in the United States have just recently begun to decrease, elsewhere in the world cancer is on a steady rise. Experts cite tobacco, increasingly Western lifestyles, and inadequate medical care as the factors contributing to the cancer epidemic in developing countries. "In the U.S., we pay a lot of attention to cancer trends, and the trend has been encouraging," says Dr. Richard Schilsky… "But we have forgotten that there is a big wide world out there. Cancer is a global problem" [TIME].
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In Chapter 2 of my book, I describe the sensation of being in the flow as "gliding gracefully through life." Obviously, by "gracefully" I mean moving ahead with an economy of effort — with ease, efficiency, and effectiveness.

It is interesting to note, however, that "gracefully" is simply an abbreviated way of saying "full of grace." And when the word "grace" stands on its own, a deeper meaning can be inferred.
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The growth of the world's largest coral reef system has slumped to its slowest rate in at least four centuries, according to a new report in Science [subscription required]. Researchers studying coral colonies in the Great Barrier Reef found that calcification, the process that builds the reefs, has dropped 13.3 percent since 1990. They fear the decline is indicative of a worldwide threat to coral reefs caused by rising seawater temperatures and ocean acidification. The loss of coral growth threatens food webs and may lead to "precipitous" changes in biodiversity, the authors said [Bloomberg].
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Last week I wrote about Carol's effortless manifestation of a wonderful new job, in a time when many people are having the opposite experience. Naturally, she was elated to secure her new position so easily. But here's what I didn't mention in my last message: If Carol had not been hired — if someone else had been chosen instead — Carol would have been perfectly at peace with that.

That's not to say that Carol wouldn't have been momentarily disappointed. But she would have seen the "divine appointment" in her disappointment. Said another way, Carol would have assumed that not getting that particular job was a good thing, because there must be something even better waiting for her . . . a perfect position that she was still being guided to.
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