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The Neuroscience of Compassion
A recent flood near where I live put many people’s homes and businesses under three metres of water. The natural disaster left the community devastated, and left me scratching my head at the judgement that came from some people towards the victims of t …
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In an Angry America, a New Remedy Emerges: Compassion
Written by Michelle Boorstein. As the head of a big-city hospital’s emergency department, Susan O’Mara has always focused on providing quick answers to people in crisis: A relative desperate for information. An injured person facing a very long wait. A …
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The Science of Compassion
Written by Amanda Tust. The field of compassion science has surged in the past decade. Today, researchers are studying a myriad of powerful ways compassion practices can improve health and strengthen relationships. Here, we look at the latest findings, …
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School’s Got You Stressed Out? Here are Some Tips for Teens, Parents and Schools
Written by Jenny Brundin. Problem: Teens who feel like they’re under constant academic pressure are at greater risk of developing depression or anxiety. Pushing teens to excel also can hurt self-esteem and increase sleep deprivation. These are things t …
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Our Bodies are Chronically in “Threat Mode” – But Being Kind Recalibrates Our Nervous System
Written by Jaimee Bell. Kindness is a virtue that is admired and applauded, in most cases. But did you know that being kind can also be good for your health? In fact, being compassionate to others can actually reset our consistently stressed systems ba …
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How to Aim for an Energetic Start to the New Year and Avoid Slipping into the Workaholic Trap
Written by Naz Beheshti. Many of us return from the holidays inspired to start the year strong. Whether or not we commit to New Years Resolutions, a new year brings with it a sense of possibility. Our relatively unmarked calendars feel like a blank sla …
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Are We Morally Obligated to Meditate?
Written by Sigal Samuel. Eight weeks ago, I started meditating every day. I knew I’d be going home to visit my family at the end of December, and well, I have a bad habit of regressing into a 13-year-old whenever I’m around them. All my old immaturitie …
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Saying ‘Good Morning’ to a Co-Worker Can Make Them Feel Valued
Written by Chloe Tejada. Today’s habit: Say ‘Good morning’ to a co-worker every day. What it is: Have you ever noticed that when someone says “Good morning” to you that you feel a little bit better? Well, I’ve made it a habit to start saying it more of …
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Practice Self-Kindness During the Holidays to Decrease Your Stress
Written by Chloe Tejada. Today’s habit: Be kind to yourself. For whenever you’re feeling: Overwhelmed by the holidays or by life in general. What it is: It’s Christmas day (or maybe not, depending on when you’re reading this), and, if you celebrate, yo …
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Why You Need to Completely Switch Off to Succeed
Written by Manar Al Hinai. I had an extremely busy work period before our National Day last week, and so as the holiday approached, I was fantasising of travelling to my second home, sitting in my beautiful garden overlooking the lake, and planning my …
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Can Compassion Help Heal Patients — and Providers?
Written by Stacy Weiner. This summer, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), School of Medicine received a massive $100 million donation. The gift wasn’t for cancer research. It wasn’t for HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, or the opioid e …
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Why Showing Compassion is Good for the Bottom Line. It Might Even Make You Happier.
Written by Janet MacDonald. It was the late nineties and one of many performance reviews I would have in my career. There they were, three words that were never written down but somehow always got conveyed, “you’re too nice.” They were career crippling …
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South Bay Answers ‘What is One Kind Thing You’ve Done Today?’ on World Kindness Day
Written by Amanda del Castillo. In any effort to build a Better Bay Area, one cannot overlook the simple act of being kind to one another. In the South Bay and around the globe, many celebrated World Kindness Day on Wednesday. ABC7 News set out with a …
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Your Tone Might Need a Tune Up
Written by Lorig Purutyan. It was a Saturday morning, and I was sitting in a nail salon letting my gel manicure soak off. A young woman walks in, “I need a pedicure,” she bluntly states to the entire nail salon. The manicurist instructs her to pick out …
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Good Social Relationships Are the Most Consistent Predictor of a Happy Life
Written by Thomas Oppong. Humans are ultra-social species. It’s our nature, and we can’t live our lives without interactions. Ultimately, other people play a crucial role in our happiness. Psychology says that part of human nature’s default mode is to …
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The Reason Busy Professionals Don’t Need to Choose Between Family, Wellness and Work
Written by RYOT Studio. In today’s corporate culture, there is a prevalent mindset that success is the result of an unrelenting commitment to our jobs. To get ahead, the thinking goes, you have to be willing to make sacrifices, work longer hours and be …
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How Self-Compassion Can Help You Cope with Adversity: 3 Steps to Improve Your Resilience
Written by Hanna Hart. Innovators talk about the importance of being willing to “fail fast and iterate.” Like coaches, they espouse a growth mindset that embraces failure as part of the learning process. I am a big proponent of the growth mindset, but …
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The 1 Law of Leadership That Will Make People Want to Follow You
Written by Marcel Schwantes. There are so many leadership books, podcasts, TED Talks, and articles such as this all vying for our attention, each trying to point the way forward to compelling leadership approaches that work for competitive advantage. S …
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What Wellness Programs Don’t Do for Workers
Written by Charlotte Lieberman. The idea of employee wellness is not new, but it has not always been an $8 billion industry in which employer-subsidized fitness memberships, meditation classes, and catered meals are the norm. In 1864, the Pennsylvania …
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Research Reveals a Surprising Solution for Anxiety
Written by Diane Dreher Ph.D. Millions of Americans are suffering from chronic anxiety, the most common mental illness in the United States. Anxiety affects over 40 million adults and over 25% of children between 13 and 18 (Anxiety and Depression Assoc …
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How to Avoid Compassion Burnout
Written by Patricia Corrigan. Caregivers, both professional and personal, often suffer from compassion fatigue — a syndrome also known as “secondary trauma stress.” But navigating any close, personal relationship also can lead to emotional stress and b …
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13 Changes to Make in Your 30s That Will Set You Up for Lifelong Success
Written by Shana Lebowitz. Sam Walton founded Walmart at age 44; Julia Child published her first cookbook at 60. Your best years may be way ahead of you . It’ll depend a lot on how you spend the next decade or so will you start saving or rack up credit …
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The Case for Building Resilience Through Conscious Leadership
Written by Artemis Evangelidi. There can be no doubt, resilience is on the tip of everyone’s tongues these days. Resilience for students; CEO’s; athletes; new parents. The category doesn’t matter – the desire to meet a ‘resilient state’ is high. Resili …
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The World is Broken—and Human Kindness is the Only Solution
Written by Anne Kingston. In February, Canadians received a rude wake-up call about the lack of compassion of some Ontarians. After a late-night Amber Alert chimed on cellphones signalling the abduction of 11-year-old Riya Rajkumar, some people turned …
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Two Ways to Your Corporate Mental Health
Written by Dr. Pooja Shrivastava. The best ways to create a winning corporate culture is to treat organization as a one whole unit, build a sense of unity and community, which promotes culture. The strongest leaders are team players who fosters bond of …