How meditation can make you a better learner

Meditation doesn't just reduce stress or make you a more spiritual person; it changes your brain in a variety of ways that can make it easier to learn new information.

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  • Mindfulness meditation has been shown to have a wide array of effects on the human brain.
  • Many of those effects work together to improve the human brain's ability to learn new information.
  • If you're interested in becoming a smarter human being, consider incorporating meditation into your daily routine.
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Is mindfulness possible in a capitalist society?

In McMindfulness, Ronald Purser says modern mindfulness is dictated more by market forces than ethics.

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  • Detaching mindfulness from Buddhist principles is deceiving, claims McMindfulness author Ronald Purser.
  • In his new book, Purser argues that neoliberal policies have distorted the true aim of mindfulness.
  • Purser says that being better workers is a far cry from the essential moral practices of Buddhism.
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7 new things we’ve learned about the brain

Brain plasticity. Mindful superpowers. Pokémon invading our grey matter. Scientists have only begun to learn about the human brain.

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  • In 1848, Phineaus Gage kicked off our modern neuroscience after blasting a tamping iron through his skull.
  • We explore 7 things scientists have since learned about this important, complex organ.
  • Many mysteries remain such as where consciousness originates and how we evolved such a multipurpose mind.
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Managing your mental health is an under-appreciated life skill

Without a healthy mind, tackling life's challenges becomes exponentially more difficult.

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  • Most people know about the importance of managing your finances or eating a healthy diet, but few pay as much attention to their mental health.
  • If we engage in bad habits, we might suddenly find ourselves confined to our beds by fatigue or up all night with anxiety.
  • Research has shown that these four activities are crucial to maintaining a healthy state of mind.
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Philosopher Alan Watts on the meaning of life

He reminds us that meaning is wherever we choose to look.

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  • Alan Watts suggests there is no ultimate meaning of life, but that "the quality of our state of mind" defines meaning for us.
  • This is in contradiction to the notion that an inner essence is waiting to be discovered.
  • Paying attention to everyday, mundane objects can become highly significant, filling life with meaning.
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