Mindful April 2016

How do you cope with things that scare you? • I tell myself it’s okay to feel fear and that it’ll go away on its own: 17% • I rationalize my fears away: 16% • I meditate: 14% • Don’t know—I get a bit preoccupied by fear: 13% • I end up blaming myself and getting frustrated for not being able to deal with it: 13% • I talk to a family member or friend—asking for help is the best way through fear: 11% • I remind myself I’m bigger than they are: 5% What do you do when you encounter something that really scares you? 30% CAN’T MOVE AN INCH— but they’re dying to get away. Thankfully, another 24% have already made it outta the room! 13% have a…

Our must-read stories this issue: “Face Fear and Keep Going”offers insight and practical instruction for how to face one of our most challenging emotions: fear. On page 58. “Feeling Moody? Here’s Why.” Sharon Begley explains that mood swings happen for a reason. Discover what that reason is on page 20. For what matters most… Live in the now... Make the most of the moments that matter. I received a steady diet of these inspiring messages in movie theater ads preceding the coming attractions during Christmas. They were being used to sell…Tylenol. Words are indeed cheap, and many of the words used to promote mindfulness are the same words used to sell lots of stuff these days. For good reason: We crave these things. As cheesy as it sounds, we do…

Green Energy, Peaceful Energy How many groundbreaking energy projects provide great places to meditate? Swansea, Wales, is bound to be a must-watch place as a massive, energyproducing project breaks ground. The Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon Project is expected to generate electricity for more than 150,000 neighboring homes for the next 100 years or so. How? By building a man-made lagoon to harness the ebb and flow of the coastal area’s powerful diurnal ocean tides. In addition to creating a powerful way to generate tons of clean energy, the project’s architecture and design keeps community needs front and center, calling for a nearly six-milelong lagoon wall to serve as a path for bikers and hikers, a place to hang out and drink in the ocean, and as a draw for boaters…

Mindful Hans Island, disputed territory between Denmark and Canada, is home to a refreshing war. Each country’s soldiers take down the others’ flag, replace it with schnapps or whiskey (guess who leaves what), and drop a note, welcoming the other to the country. It takes lots of power for subway trains to dart between stations, then grind to a standstill (it also takes Hulklike strength to stand upright in that situation). London is now converting the power of braking trains back into the system, saving enough energy to power more than 100 homes a year. Scientists created a bandage that glows neon green under a UV light to indicate if a wound is infected. (Way cooler than Superman bandages. Sorry, Superman.) Aimee Bortnem of Minnetrista, Minnesota, won a two-minute grocery…

PHILIPPE HALSMAN’S JUMP BOOK Philippe Halsman • Damiani (reprint) Photographer and self-proclaimed “jumpologist” Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) said you can glimpse a person’s innermost essence when they jump. “In a jump the subject, in a sudden burst of energy, overcomes gravity. He cannot simultaneously control his expressions, his facial and his limb muscles. The mask falls. The real self becomes visible.” This refreshing reprint of Halsman’s 1959 photo book features 197 jumps by famous and important people, from Brigitte Bardot to Richard Nixon. SMARTER FASTER BETTER The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business Charles Duhigg • Random House What separates “the merely busy from the genuinely productive”? They don’t work harder—Duhigg says they make “certain choices in certain ways.” He mentions the filmmakers behind Disney’s Frozen—they nearly missed their…

Compared to powerful influences on how we think and act—such as personality, character, values, principles, and emotional style—mood might seem a little wimpy. It feels shifty, evanescent, transitory—no more enduring than a bank of fog. Upbeat people can descend into a sad mood and cranky ones can experience a joyous one, but in both cases it will pass, leaving no more trace than that fog in the morning sun. A burgeoning science of mood is here to disabuse you of that belief (and perhaps give solace to those with mood disorders who find the effects of their moods anything but wimpy). Not only can moods, even ones that are at odds with our typical emotional state, leave lasting imprints on our mental and physical health; they also influence how we…