Sandra Dodd

Robyn Coburn sent this, gave me permission to pass it on to this list,
and send a link (I'll include most of both her e-mails):

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The latest issue of Scientific American Mind has a segment on two
recent studies about deep breathing.

One study is from the Toho University School of Medicine in Japan, and
the other Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. Their results are pretty
much what you have known all along.

Coupla quotes:

"After subjects maintained attention on breathing this way for 20
minutes, they had fewer negative feelings, more of the moodboosting
neurotransmitter serotonin in their blood, and more oxygenated
hemoglobin in the prefrontal cortex, an area associated with attention
and high-level processing."

"Those who were able to sustain mindful contact with their breathing
reported less negative thinking, less rumination and fewer of the
other symptoms of depression."

"And once you have the hang of it, even a few minutes of mindful
breathing can help you become more calm and collected before a
highstakes meeting or any other stressful situation."

Cool huh?

Robyn L. Coburn

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Here is a link to the magazine site. It has to be purchased for
$5.99 (which is not bad) and also contains an article about preschools
pushing early academics ("bad idea") and a big feature on lucid
dreaming. I love getting it, and I love getting digitally. (Click on
the Contents page and jump to the article feature.)

http://tinyurl.com/3mnveao

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Sandra Dodd

I downloaded that issue and read the breathing article, but nearly
every article in this issue is applicable to unschoolers, learning,
mental health or interpersonal relations. The whole issue seems to be
about cognition and mental health. The articles are short and happy
(those I've read so far).

Sandra

Bun

I subscribed to the magazine a few months ago and do like it. I especially enjoyed an article in May/June 2011 called "The Unleashed Mind" (http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=5169570E-237D-9F22-E8CF2C4E4A7B5630)

The Unleashed Mind; May / June 2011; Scientific American Mind; by Shelley Carson; 8 Page(s)
He is one of the world's best known and most successful entrepreneurs, with hundreds of patents to his name—including the Segway scooter. But you will never see Dean Kamen in a suit and tie: the eccentric inventor dresses almost exclusively in denim. He spent five years in college before dropping out, does not take vacations and has never married. Kamen presides (along with his Ministers of Ice Cream, Brunch and Nepotism) over the Connecticut island kingdom of North Dumpling, which has "seceded" from the U.S. and dispenses its own currency in units of pi. Visitors are issued a visa form that includes spaces on which to note identifying marks on both their face and buttocks.
Kamen, who works tirelessly at inspiring kids to pursue careers in science and engineering, is one of many highly creative people whose personal behavior sometimes strikes others as odd. Albert Einstein picked up cigarette butts off the street to get tobacco for his pipe; Howard Hughes spent entire days on a chair in the middle of the supposedly germ-free zone of his Beverly Hills Hotel suite; the composer Robert Schumann believed that his musical compositions were dictated to him by Beethoven and other deceased luminaries from their tombs; and Charles Dickens is said to have fended off imaginary urchins with his umbrella as he walked the streets of London. More recently, we have seen Michael Jackson's preoccupation with rhinoplasty, Salvador Dalí's affection for dangerous pets and the Icelandic singer Björk dressed for the Oscars as a swan.

--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> I downloaded that issue and read the breathing article, but nearly
> every article in this issue is applicable to unschoolers, learning,
> mental health or interpersonal relations. The whole issue seems to be
> about cognition and mental health. The articles are short and happy
> (those I've read so far).
>
> Sandra
>