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The Narrator

What creates the mind's inner chatter? For lack of a better term, "The Narrator" is created by the language loop of the brain's left hemisphere (a circuit of fibers that connect Broca's and Wernicke's areas of the frontal cortex to the temporal cortex). Developmental psychologists like Lev Vygotsky suggested that the formation of inner talk in childhood begins as a self-regulating tool, a way to internalize the instructive voices of our caretakers for occasions when we are alone in the world, or caught in circumstances we cannot interact verbally to seek guidance.

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The Compassionate Mind

The Compassionate Mind

Science shows why it’s healthy and how it spreads, By Emma Seppala

Decades of clinical research has focused and shed light on the psychology of human suffering. That suffering, as unpleasant as it is, often also has a bright side to which research has paid less attention: compassion. Human suffering is often accompanied by beautiful acts of compassion by others wishing to help relieve it. What led 26.5 percent of Americans to volunteer in 2012 (according to statistics from the US Department of Labor)? What propels someone to serve food at a homeless shelter, pull over on the highway in the rain to help someone with a broken down vehicle, or feed a stray cat?

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Rare and precious joy by Tara Brach

sunflower mindfulness spain

When I talk to people about how much they experience joy, most say, “Not so much.” Joy is not a frequent visitor, and when it does appear, it’s fleeting.

Joy arises when we are open to both the beauty and suffering inherent in living. Like a great sky that includes all different types of weather, joy is an expansive quality of presence. It says “Yes to life, no matter what!” Yet it’s infrequency lets us know our more habitual posture: resisting what’s happening, saying “No” to the life that is here and now. We tend to override our innate capacity for joy with our incessant inner dialogue, our chronic attempts to avoid unpleasantness and to hold on to pleasure. Rather than joy in the present moment, we are trying to get somewhere else, to experience something that is better, different.

The great French writer, André Gide, said:

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Oxytocin: Go Out and Touch Someone

Oxytocin: Go Out and Touch Someone

Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter that acts as a hormone. Often considered a major player in the regulation of trust and morality, its study is revealing fascinating information about human behavior and relationships. Oxytocin is released in the body when we feel safe and connected and tells the brain, “Everything is all right.” Dr. Paul Zak has determined that the human brain naturally produces oxytocin during breast-feeding, orgasm, hugs, snuggling, holding hands, partner dance, massage, bodywork, and prayer.

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Relaxed and Contented: Activating the Parasympathetic Wing of Your Nervous System

Relaxed and Contented

Relaxed and Contented: Activating the Parasympathetic Wing of Your Nervous System, © Rick Hanson, PhD, 2007

Introduction

It’s remarkable but true: part of your nervous system exists to you feel peaceful and alright. Its formal title is: “the parasympathetic wing of the autonomic nervous

system” or PNS, for short.

You can trigger the PNS at will, which immediately lowers your sense of stress, brings health benefits like reducing blood pressure and strengthening the immune system,

and lifts your mood. This gives you more control over your inner landscape – a nice thing at times when the outer world seems driven by forces that are beyond your

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Chronic Pain

Mindfulness in Spain, chronic pain

Overcoming what some researchers are calling “mental defeat” is viewed as a means to help someone with chronic pain regain control over their life. Experts say the relatively new concept of mental defeat has previously been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Researchers define mental defeat as a state in which someone with chronic pain views it as an “enemy” which takes over his or her life, eroding autonomy and identity.

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