Sleep Poll Reveals Wives' Tales

This article was first published by Technorati on 8 March 2010. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.

The National Sleep Foundation released its 2010 Sleep and Ethnicity Poll results today, uncovering unexpected findings that will forever stand in the way of some much beloved wives tales vis-a-vie sex and good sleep.

The poll, conducted by telephone with over a thousand participants, seems to be completely legit, with a nice PDF brochure of its "Summary of Findings," which contains lots of graphs and charts.

Word of warning: please consult that brochure yourself, because I stand behind none of these conclusions.

One of the stated goals of this research effort was: "To investigate attitudes and behaviors about the relationship between sleep and health across different ethnic groups." Last on the Foundations list, first on mine.

The Joy of Being, Explained

The Endorphin Effect: A Breakthrough Strategy for Holistic Health and Spiritual Wellbeing is a book by British psychologist William Bloom, published back in 2001. It is an Aristotelian approach to the Platonic (and pre-Socratic) mode of being called joy.

Take a look at this three-minute video. By way of contrast, it's a great tool for the understanding of the joy of being.

Bloom recommends five strategies to boost your body's production of endorphins: "rest"; "exercise"; "positive triggers"; "attitude of the inner smile"; and "connection with the natural world."

"Positive triggers" would be just about anything that makes you feel good--the thought of one's children, a beach in Hawaii, and ace in tennis, anything.

Exercise provides the best example as to the real essence of these strategies. Imagine the guy (or woman) who has to log sixty miles running per week. No one can care that much about running, can they? What he cares about is the endorphins that the running releases, the "runner's high," as it's called. He's become addicted to the endorphins, which are, in fact, a thousand times more powerful than morphine.

Eckhart Tolle on Abortion

This article was first published by Technorati on 05 March 2010. To see all my Technorati articles, click Lifestyle in the Contents listing on the sidebar.

Abortion is once again on the front pages in conjunction with the healthcare overhaul.

Advocates on both sides of the debate remain tense as Democrats and Republicans negotiate the fine details of proposed legislation.

One of those details is whether the final package will include what is now known as a "Hyde Amendment," outlawing the use of federal funds to pay for abortions.

In the midst of this 37-year-old debate, perhaps it would be enlightening to consult one of America's most beloved spiritual teachers, Eckhart Tolle, for some guidance on the subject.