another experiment, Batson and colleagues examined whether people feeling compassion would help someone in distress, even when their acts were completely anonymous. In this study female participants exchanged written notes with another person, who quickly expressed feeling lonely and an interest in spending time with the participant. Those participants feeling compassion volunteered to spend significant time with the other person, even when no one else would know about their act of kindness. Taken together, our strands of evidence suggest the following. Compassion is deeply rooted in human nature; it has a biological basis in the brain and body. Humans can communicate compass... posted on Nov 5 2014 (22,385 reads)

found themselves more likely to get bronchitis and heart attacks, and were more likely to die earlier than peers who let their anger be known when other people were annoying. When anger arises, we feel called upon to prevent or terminate immediate threats to our welfare, or to the well-being of those we care about. Altruism is often born from anger; when it comes to mobilizing other people and creating support for a cause, no emotion is stronger. It’s a mistake to presume that kindness, compassion, love, and fairness line up on one side of a continuum, and anger, rage, and dislike, on another side. Positivity alone is insufficient to the task of helping us navigate social i... posted on Nov 23 2014 (28,518 reads)

secret reason I write these books and teach these courses and work with clients in all kinds of different settings. These questions are top of mind for me all the time because I am trying to find solutions even though I have been at this for decades. It’s a lifelong quest. Klein: You make the argument that Leading the Life You Want is about consciously compassionate action and about helping others. What advice do you have for our audience and for your readers about how to find that kindness for others and especially for themselves? Friedman: That is, again, the kind of paradoxical idea behind the title: You become more free to pursue the things that matter most to you when yo... posted on Dec 23 2014 (24,841 reads)

graduates, Dallas Davis grew up in a single-parent household—his father gone, his mother an alcoholic. "I was an angry kid," he recalls. "I dropped out of school in the seventh grade, and by age 15 I had left home and joined a gang." He was soon homeless and living on the streets. "I'd do anything just to stay warm—go into churches, abandoned buildings, even Grand Central Terminal. And that's the one place where I do remember someone showing me kindness." He refers to McDonald—who handed him sandwiches before The Doe Fund was founded. “After 48 arrests and 5 felony convictions, I had nowhere to go," says Dallas o... posted on Jan 4 2015 (30,760 reads)

is as humble as it is powerful." —Pir Zia Inayat-Khan from "The Seed of Love" Photo by: Ana Castilho "Ordinary seeds need the right combination of soil, water, and climate to grow. Once those conditions are in alignment, the seed will naturally begin to develop. The seed of Buddha Nature is the same. It will lie dormant until the right conditions come together. But once we discover this potential within us, we can water our seed with loving kindness and prepare its bed with mindfulness. When we do so, the growth of the seed of awakening will be effortless and natural." —Acharya Judy Lief from "A Little Seed of Awakening... posted on Jan 29 2015 (39,968 reads)

do I do with it? This series is about choices. For every thought, feeling, circumstance, we can choose how to respond. Mindfulness is about noticing the choices we make. I get a physical pain, I lose my job, someone criticizes me, my anxiety is overwhelming, the doctor gives me not so great news, what do I DO with IT? I could just notice it. I could ignore it. I could cover it up. I could try to get rid of it. I could erase it. I could exaggerate it. ... posted on Jan 21 2015 (29,352 reads)

— is one of the many gifts of hibernation. Returning to that hope of wholeness is always an approach, never an arrival. Times of deep sleep and silence make even this radical hope possible. It is radical — from the root — especially in a world that tears us apart, then shames us when we take time for healing. Hibernation, which is another word for healing, restores our nourishing, grounding source. In so doing, it frees us to become a force of reason, reflection, and kindness. In simple terms, we’ve been given to. So we have something to give. And not just any something. After a deep replenishing, what we give is veined with truth. So light a fire, and pu... posted on Feb 6 2015 (26,237 reads)

potentially volatile situations. By incorporating these “Big 3” practices in classroom management, I feel that I am “power teaching” more often than not. In all honesty, I am not going to have a successful lesson every time, but I am confident that my students know that I care for them every moment. Using the “Big 3” empowers me to feel assured that while we are exploring and chiseling at standards and academics, I am also relating to my students with kindness, care, and compassion. Together, this is what I feel is the power teaching that I summon and use throughout the day. This is the journey I am taking with my students, and I am not alon... posted on Feb 27 2015 (19,212 reads)

could properly be regarded as a form of nutrition. We mistakenly think that touch occurs on the periphery of our self, a skin thing. But truthfully each surface stimulus travels far into the most hidden interior landscapes of our self, traversing long nerve cells right through the buried spinal core to enter and gather in the deep folds of our brain. It’s not by accident that our skin and brain each are generated from a single ectodermic substance, cascading outwards and inwards as we grow in the womb, because right at the very root and origin of us, we are built to connect the inner and outer worlds. The necessity of nurturing touch is very clear when we are at our y... posted on Oct 16 2021 (44,667 reads)

to build resources in the world and the body; you likely have more influence over growing resources in your mind. And as the resources in your mind grow, that will help you build resources in your body and your world. To grow your inner strengths—particularly the key inner strengths that will help the most with an issue—consider the four questions below. You can use them for yourself or explore them with others. Throughout, it’s good to have an attitude of curiosity, kindness toward oneself, and resourcefulness. 1. What’s the issue? Pick an issue. (Maybe you’re the rare person with just one.) Try to be reasonably specific. “Life sucks&rdquo... posted on May 20 2015 (16,290 reads)

Kay’s words… Who/what inspires me: I have always been inspired by people who can leave their home country and show love, kindness and mercy to the people who live in desperate poverty and hardship. In Cambodia, that would be someone like Marie Ens from Canada who leads ‘Rescue’ – a home for hundreds of orphan children, AIDS families and grannies. And in Mozambique, Heidi Baker from ‘Iris Global’ children’s homes is a pure example of transforming love into something concrete. Best advice: Love in the midst of pain. Forgive in the midst of evil. Comfort in the mist of agony. Kay Eva was travelling through rural Cambodia o... posted on May 17 2015 (15,611 reads)

you to scream and run people over with your car? Counting the good things Science has an answer, and it starts with counting. The questions you have to ask yourself are these:    *  Am I counting the good things, too?    *  Am I taking the time to shine light on things that make me happy and give my life meaning?    *  Who thanked me today?    *  To whom did I feel grateful?    *  What acts of kindness or cooperation did I witness? This is the essence of that much-maligned term “positive thinking”: we make it a goal to count the good things in life. That doesn’t mean we... posted on May 24 2015 (14,990 reads)

new study maps what happens in our bodies and brains when we witness acts of kindness and compassion. I don’t know about you, but no matter how many times I watch It’s a Wonderful Life, I am moved to tears. Something about that moment when George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, is rescued from financial and emotional ruin by the generosity of his friends gets to me, making me feel deeply moved and hopeful about our capacity for human goodness. Researchers have a name for that high we get from witnessing human goodness: “moral elevation.” And it has been shown to have many positive benefits. Past studies have found that moral elevation inspi... posted on Jun 11 2015 (15,323 reads)

World is a mysterious, sometimes scary, place filled with vulnerable people capable of feeling immense pain. However, at the same time, it’s also full of love, caring and empathy which is spread by awesome, heart-warming people… Awesome people like Michael Swaine. In 2002, Swaine turned an old-fashioned ice cream cart into a mobile sewing table. Now he can be regularly found in San Francisco’s neediest neighborhood, the ‘Tenderloin’ , perched behind his vintage sewing machine, stitching patches onto worn jacket linings, hemming trousers, repairing tears in ladies’ blouses — all for free. ​ His mending is not on... posted on Jun 9 2015 (28,039 reads)

Petrov On September 26, 1983, he was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile was being launched from the United States. Petrov judged the report to be a false alarm,and his decision is credited with having prevented an incorrect retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war. Investigation later confirmed that the satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned. Maurice Ralph Hilleman (August 30, 1919 – April 11, 2005) was an American microbiologist who speciali... posted on Jun 23 2015 (51,603 reads)

wanted to laugh more, I wanted to show more loving-kindness, and I also wanted to be more enthusiastic. I knew that it wasn't nice to criticize but it was fun. Why was it so deliciously satisfying to criticize? Being critical made me feel more sophisticated and intelligent — and in fact, studies show that people who are critical are often perceived to be more discerning. In one study, for example, people judged the writers of negative book reviews as more expert and competent than the writers of positive reviews, even when the content of both reviews was deemed to be of high quality. Another study showed that people tend to think that someone who criticizes them i... posted on Jun 18 2015 (13,671 reads)

and refer and wish, but do broad justice where we are, by whomsoever we deal with, accepting our actual companions and circumstances, however humble or odious as the mystic officials to whom the universe has delegated its whole pleasure for us. If these are mean and malignant, their contentment, which is the last victory of justice, is a more satisfying echo to the heart than the voice of poets and the casual sympathy of admirable persons. Indeed, Emerson highlights the practice of kindness as a centerpiece of the full life, suggesting that our cynicism about the character and potential of others — much like our broader cynicism about the world — reflects not the tru... posted on Aug 3 2015 (1,559 reads)

by Anna Wolf for Dumbo Feather KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: Maria Popova has called Brain Pickings, her invention and labor of love, a “human-powered discovery engine for interestingness.” What she really delivers to hundreds of thousands of people each day is wisdom of the old-fashioned sort, presented in new-fashioned digital ways. She doesn’t merely curate, she cross-pollinates — between philosophy and design, physics and poetry, the scholarly and the experiential. We meet Maria Popova at 30, and explore her gleanings, thus far, on what it means to lead a good life — intellectually, creatively, and spiritually. MARIA POPOVA: You know,... posted on Jul 15 2015 (11,503 reads)

Beings. Animals. Family. Fun. Friendship. Love. Laughter….What more could you need? 1. These are Men who know how to live a little… 2. An Image That Perfectly Captures True Sisterhood… “3-years ago my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and she had to lose her hair but my mom wasn’t gonna let her little sister go through this alone.” 3. Something Sweet Was Seen Hanging From the Steering Column of a Taxi Cab… 4. Look at This Mother Listening to her Deceased Son’s Heartbeat Inside the Donor Recipient… 5. ‘My Blind Cousin Find... posted on Jul 13 2015 (139,418 reads)

and refer and wish, but do broad justice where we are, by whomsoever we deal with, accepting our actual companions and circumstances, however humble or odious as the mystic officials to whom the universe has delegated its whole pleasure for us. If these are mean and malignant, their contentment, which is the last victory of justice, is a more satisfying echo to the heart than the voice of poets and the casual sympathy of admirable persons. Indeed, Emerson highlights the practice of kindness as a centerpiece of the full life, suggesting that our cynicism about the character and potential of others — much like our broader cynicism about the world — reflects not the tru... posted on Aug 3 2015 (12,375 reads)