This was suggested by Jack.
We've talked about meditation to some extent during class, but did you know how much it can help you as college students? Meditation can do this through several ways. Brain development, increasing creativity, relaxing everything from its muscles to blood vessels (reducing stress), decreasing depression, and increasing IQ / classroom performance are just a few examples.
There are several free, online resources that will guide you through the process. Notably, http://www.tm.org/ is a great source. It explains exactly what TM is, its benefits, and a course description. Even if you don't choose to pay for their services, you can use this as a guide when looking for a free alternative.
Another resource could be http://www.how-to-meditate.org/. This site explains why you should learn to meditate, various forms of meditation, and even explains the link between Buddhism and mediation and their process for meditation. In addition, it lists books that can be used for further learning.
If you would like to comment on this blog, please take the time to go through this process at least once and blog about your experience. What did you think about it? Was it your first time meditating? Did you feel better, tired, different, etc. afterwards?
-Nile
I know, "the supreme court is boring" "I'm a college student, I don't need to care about government until I'm old!" I used to say these things, too. If you're in fact thinking, "Damn, this is cool" then you're already more mature than I was at your age . . . two-ish years ago. Enough sounding like I'm old.
Alright, so this might not be the most interesting application of the material to you, but it's fascinating! We all know that the supreme court is incredibly important to the US judicial system. The supreme court has a lot of major changes facing them. Gay marriage, legalization of marijuana in California (the right for a state law to trump federal law), and many other permanent changes to this country will be influenced by their decision.
Now, the assignment: find any resource you want and comment about the post. If you bought a psychology book, this might be a good time to reference it. If you need a book, I have to intro books and a social book that I can lend you. Just let me know.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/time-out/201010/will-be-the-most-intelligent-supreme-court-ever
I thought this would be appropriate since we just passed midterms and everyone might still be a little on edge.
This article is all about how our inner voices play a key role in maintaining low stress levels.
I would like you to look into alternative options of how to reduce stress. Either research it or post what has worked for you and THEN find evidence of why it actually works. You may also post about how stress is detremental to one's health
HINT HINT - if you look into Kim's activity on meditation then you can use a lot of the same information in this post.
-Nile
http://www.howlifeworks.com/health_beauty/brain_training/?cid=7077aa
Hi all,
Call me silly, but I'm a big fan of self-improvement. Thus this article seemed wroth while to me.
I've actually already been to the site that they refer to - Lumosity, and I bought the iPod Touch app for it.
For this activity, either find more research to support or refute the idea that regular brain training can increase intelligence OR play around on lumosity.com and write about your experience with it. (It's absolutely free for new members.)
Whether you liked it or not, feel free to post about it.
An alternative would be to download the free iPhone app and try some of their games that way, too.
Enjoy,
-Nile
Interesting website about the brain and memory.
http://thebrainobservatory.ucsd.edu/
"We are building a library for the human brain, creating the potential to illustrate the detailed design of the brain, how its microscopic structure reflects who we are, and how the relationship between structure and behavior changes as we age or as we face the progression of neurological disease."