The Big Questions
May 25, 2008
The John Templeton Foundation has sponsored three online exchanges on questions that illuminates their philanthropic mission. Read them:
Mind-Body Medicine
& Spirit …it’s about balance!
Recent Posts- Eat your fluids to stay hydratedIf your water bottle travels with you everywhere, sip on this thought: Drinking water isn’t the only way to stay hydrated. Food can significantly affect your daily fluid needs. In fact, you can obtain much of the liquid you need from the food and beverages (other than water) you eat and drink every day. [...]
- Acupuncture may ease chronic headachesNumber of days with headaches dropped by half in those needled in study NEW YORK - Acupuncture may bring some added pain relief to people with chronic headaches, a new study suggests. The study, the largest to date on using acupuncture to ease headaches, adds to a conflicting body of evidence: Some research has suggested that adding [...]
- Measles outbreaks may be linked to vaccine fearsMeasles cases in the U.S. are at the highest level in more than a decade, with nearly half of those involving children whose parents rejected vaccination, health officials reported Thursday. Worried doctors are troubled by the trend fueled by unfounded fears that vaccines may cause autism. The number of cases is still small, just 131, but [...]
- In a Beijing Park, an Oasis for Mind and BodyBEIJING — The giant gates of Temple of Heaven Park swung open at 6 a.m., magnets pulling people into a new day. People quietly poured out of apartment buildings and low-slung hutong neighborhoods and drained through the gates of Beijing’s favorite morning gathering place. Slowly the corners of the park filled, even the shady spots deep [...]
- Archived Post Randomly Chosen: Can the Mind Shape the Brain?Conventional wisdom holds that the human mind is nothing more than the human brain. This belief derives from materialism. By “materialism” I don’t mean the mania to shop unceasingly at the mall. Rather, I mean the philosophy that material reality is all that there is. Immaterial or spiritual realities are, in this view, simply epiphenomena [...]
- God vs. doctor: 1 in 2 say prayer saves the dying20 percent of docs also say God can reverse terminal prognosis, study finds When it comes to saving lives, God trumps doctors for many Americans. An eye-opening survey reveals widespread belief that divine intervention can revive dying patients. And, researchers said, doctors "need to be prepared to deal with families who are waiting for a miracle." More than [...]
- Military funds mind-reading studyArmy spends $4 million towards developing gadget to translate thoughts What are they thinking? That’s what the military is trying to find out by studying ways to read people’s thoughts. The hope is that the research could someday lead to a gadget capable of translating the thoughts of soldiers who suffered brain injuries or even stroke patients. [...]
- Chen Taijiquan Master Ren Guang Yi and Lou ReedTwo favorites...Tai Chi and Lou Reed
- Olympic athletes queue to try old Chinese remediesTo the Games hosts, it was the perfect chance to showcase treatments developed long before the Ancient Greeks met to compete in Olympia. So it is that, for the first time in Olympic history, the athletes’ village is equipped with a clinic offering traditional Chinese treatments. Reports suggest that the initiative is proving to be a [...]
- Traditional Chinese Exercises May Increase Efficacy Of Flu VaccineIn a study scheduled for publication in the August issue of the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, a team of kinesiologists at the University of Illinois suggest that older adults who adopt an exercise regimen combining Taiji and Qigong may get an extra boost from their annual flu shot. “We have found that 20 weeks of [...]
- The Law of Attraction Usually Fails Most New Age PeopleThayer White’s new book, Finding Your Soul in the Spirituality Maze, helps people navigate successfully through the complex maze of available spiritual tools, systems and choices. He describes about 101 New Age traps and treadmills, including the seductive trap of the Law of Attraction and the addictive use of God’s love, meditation and prayer. “The main [...]
- Internet industry whiz Jonathan Miller in high demandFor 18 hours each week, Internet investor Jonathan Miller studies tai chi in New York with legendary master Ren Guang-Yi, whose devotees include Lou Reed, Bette Midler, Hugh Jackman and other celebrities. During the sessions, Miller’s lanky frame flows through fluid, continuous movements, punctuated by quick bursts of energy. Three decades of Chinese martial arts have [...]
- Why Meditation Is A SportI read an article recently that drew an analogy of the term ‘meditation’ to ’sports’, a word that describes a large class or family of varying forms of activity such as track, baseball basketball, etc. The general family of meditation was defined as ‘complex emotional and attentional regulatory strategies developed for various ends including cultivation [...]
- A quiet symphony of color and lightDo you meditate? There is so much encouragement and discussion today about meditation, and the affects of its good calming energy obtained from a quiet mind and simply the overall health benefits of daily meditation. I keep trying to meditate, and while I haven’t gotten the hang of it maybe, I have come closer. One evening before [...]
- Secret brews in China: Coke’s next big thing?Company looks to herbal remedies for beverage boost Coca-Cola, a company first famous for mixing South American coca leaves with African kola nuts, is trying to repeat history. For months, the Atlanta-based drinks giant has been working quietly to perfect prototype beverages using Chinese herbal cures. Analysts and executives suggest the project could be as important to [...]
- When hypochondriacs are sadly proved rightHypochondria: a sane response to life or a psychiatric illness,? asks Muiris Houston HYPOCHONDRIASIS IS one of the most challenging and sometimes trying illnesses to cross a doctor’s threshold. Although the butt of many jokes through the ages, in its severest form an obsession with one’s own health is classified as a psychiatric illness. Hypochondriasis has interesting Greek [...]
- Athletes still taking caffeine to boost performance(Reuters Health) - Many competitive athletes believe that taking caffeine gives them an edge, despite doubts that it works — and the "placebo effect" might help explain why, according to new research. Four years ago, ahead of the Athens Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) removed caffeine from its list of banned substances in sport. This [...]
- Mindfulness meditation slows progression of HIV…researchers at UCLA report that the practice of mindfulness meditation stopped the decline of CD4 T cells in HIV-positive patients suffering from stress, slowing the progression of the disease. The study was just released in the online edition of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Mindfulness meditation is the practice of bringing an open and receptive [...]
- Burning Incense Is PsychoactiveA New Class Of Antidepressants Might Be Right Under Our Noses Religious leaders have contended for millennia that burning incense is good for the soul. Now, biologists have learned that it is good for our brains too. An international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how [...]
- Eat your fluids to stay hydrated
