"Power Breath" Is Better Than Deep Breathing for Relaxing Mind and Body
Most people are familiar with the technique of taking deep inhalations to relax themselves, but one breathing technique is more effective at returning your body to a naturally calm and connected state.
Most people are familiar with the technique of taking deep inhalations to relax themselves, but one breathing technique is more effective at returning your body to a naturally calm and connected state.
Use the 'plus one' technique to make your friend's day a little better
Make personal connections more meaningful with people you already know and care about, and deepen your relationship with others who you're just getting to know.
Social media networks are sometimes criticized for making our personal connections shallower. The ease with which we can now contact anyone makes the effort to do so less impactful. But gaming researcher Jane McGonigal says that we can use instant, online communication to make a real improvement in another person's day. Her "plus one" technique is a simple, direct way to make an earnest connection with a friend or loved one, engage them in a genuine exchange, and give their day a little boost.
Kill Cravings by Letting Video Games Hijack Your Visual Cortex
Here's a simple mind hack: If you've got a craving, let Tetris satiate it.
Jane McGonigal's latest study shows that playing a game like Tetris or Candy Crush Saga can actually reduce cravings by 25 to 50 percent in a matter of minutes. The SuperBetter author and award-winning game designer explains how a craving for coffee, chocolate, or a cigarette can sit vividly in your mind's eye, tempting and tormenting you until you crack. Playing a game like Tetris forces your brain to replace your vices with essential information about the game: visuals, gameplay, etc. So if you've got a weak will and need help fighting off bad habits, try letting video games be your buddy.
Predicting the Future Primes Your Brain for Learning
Every time that you make a prediction you get a little bomb of dopamine in the reward pathways of your brain. That dopamine helps you pay closer attention, to process information more effectively, and to be more engaged with what’s going.
Every time that you make a prediction, says author and video game designer Jane McGonigal, you get a little bomb of dopamine in the reward pathways of your brain. That dopamine helps you pay closer attention, to process information more effectively, and to be more engaged with what’s going. So if you want to boost your ability to learn or get those you're teaching primed for learning, encourage prediction-making. It's a simple little mind hack to get your brain running on all cylinders.
Jane McGonigal, PhD, is a senior researcher at the Institute for the Future and the author of The New York Times bestseller Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. McGonigal's newest book is titled SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games. Her work has been featured in The Economist, Wired, and The New York Times and on MTV, CNN, and NPR. She has been called one of the top ten innovators to watch (BusinessWeek), one of the one hundred most creative people in business (Fast Company), and one of the fifty most important people in the gaming industry (Game Developers Magazine). Her TED talks on games have been viewed more than ten million times.
