Virtual Meditation on the Lawn to start September 12 The University of Virginia Contemplative Sciences Center will begin the Virtual Meditation on the Lawn sessions on September 12, 2022. They…
The Dress and Individual Differences in Perception The image of the dress that some see as blue/black and others see as gold/white elicited worldwide attention in 2015, including among many…
When we see things, we tend to believe what we see is an accurate reflection of the way things are. How many times have we seen or heard the phrase “seeing is believing”? When we see something, usually our automatic reaction is to believe it. Yet there is much evidence that this is an oversimplification, that what we see is not just a simple and accurate representation of the world around us. To begin with, far more information enters our eyes than we could ever process in conscious awareness. This information has to be filtered first, and this filtering occurs automatically without our even knowing that it is occurring. An estimated one gigabyte of information enters our eyes each second, and is filtered down to just a few bytes of relevant data. What is considered relevant depends on context and to what we are paying attention. You may have seen the video of people passing a basketball during which a gorilla walks through.
Two Mindfulness Courses Will Be Offered In Person The Fall If conditions allow, the next Mindfulness for Healthcare Employees and Mindful Eating courses beginning in September will be taught in…
Does Gratitude Promote Resilience During a Pandemic? Gratitude can help foster wellbeing during adversity. These researchers assessed whether gratitude might promote resilience among college students during the Covid pandemic. As…
Summer is here and with it an opportunity to appreciate all the bounties of nature. Trees are green, flowers are in bloom, birds and animals abound. The heat and humidity can be a barrier to spending time outside, and we may find we seek the comfort of air-conditioned space to escape them. My wife and I have been noticing this, and intentionally choosing to sit on our deck, in the shade. The place where we sit is right next to a hummingbird feeder, and we’ve been watching the hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are amazing creatures. They can beat their wings over 50 times a second, and are the only birds that can hover. They have very active metabolisms, and may consume up to half their body weight in a day, visiting as many as 1000-2000 flowers. They are travelers and can migrate up to 2000 miles, wintering in Mexico and Central America. They also have relatively large brains, about twice as large compared to their body weight as humans.
