History Of The Mind Body Connection Philosophy Essay

History Of The Mind Body Connection Philosophy Essay For some years now it has been a proven fact that a mind and a body are closely related to each other. It seems that some people are born with an ability to control their bodies through the mind, but for some that skill takes a great effort and a lot of discipline. While scientist try to find tangible connections, it has grown to a common believe that a persons mind can generate a strong power over his or her body in order to relieve pain, control emotions and promote healing. Throughout the years yet another amazing discovery was made. It appears that a persons body physical state can greatly affect persons abilities to perform mentally, emotionally and academically. As many researchers have found out, certain physical activities and breathing practices, combined with some mental exercises have shown a significant increase in persons learning abilities. According to Ruth Weiss (2001), for many years neuroscientists, educators, nutritionists, psychiatrists, geneticists have examined the mind-body link to figure out how we  learn everything in this world. To better understand this concept we first need to know what a persons mind is and how it works. For Helmut Schwab (Princeton, 2005), the word mind is commonly used to describe a set of higher brain functions such as reasoning, memory, intuition, will, feelings, and emotions. Still, the main question regarding the nature of a mind is its relation to a physical brain and a nervous system. It has been generally agreed that a mind is a main factor which enables human beings to have subjective awareness  and intentionality  toward their environment. It also empowers them to  perceive  and to respond to  stimulus  with some kind of  an organization and a perception, including thinking and  feeling. Dr. John Ratey (2001), professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an author of A Users Guide to the Brain notes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [brain] neurons that fire together-wire together. That is the basis of how we  learn. Two natural brain chemicals, nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurologic factor (BDNF) facilitate the growth of neuronal connections between brain cells. Ratey calls those substances Miracle Grow for the brain. They are released when the brains cells are active, such as when we think or puzzle over something. Our brains are the ultimate adaptation organs. In new situations our brain is  hungry  to  learn to manage incoming information. An area where the entire new  learning  takes place is called the association matrix. When we adapt- we make more growth factor, which continues to be produced as we  learn  new things. If you affect one area [of the brain], many others are also affected, says Ratey, There is a continuous connection within us, where our  thoughts  are influenced by our bodies and vice versa. Such a phenomena is a well known factor in human studies. According to Dr. Brogaard, (2011), an imbalance in brain chemistry affects a physical state of people, and a physical imbalance affects their mental state. Very often a peoples mind due to a stress or other factors can put limitations on their potentials in many areas of life. However, a lot of researchers have found it is possible to control a persons mind through a set of physical activities, including exercise and relaxation. A physical state of a persons body can dramatically influence his or her mental and learning abilities. Through a hard work we can reach a mind-body balance that gives us a possibility to achieve almost any task. Athletes, martial artists, police officers, law enforcement professionals, soldiers in special units are all have been trained to use these techniques. Keith Vargo (2011, November) states: Unity of mind and body is . . . the unity of action and thought for the purpose of keeping the practitioner alive. It makes him a better person, too. It balances him and control the stress. It fulfills the greatest hope, the highest ideal . . . it means knowing ones hidden self. According to Elizabeth Scott (2011), general body stress is one of important factors that could limit our actions in order of attaining our goals. In fact, a high index of stress hormone cortizol can affect our mind and, subsequently, our body control. It weakens our physical energy, strength, endurance, and our body organs, and it makes our learning skills less efficient. Cortizol creates a destruction of muscle tissue gluconeogenesis, which consists of the demolition of protein and glucose that represents the last resource of the brain to refurnish immediate energy in physically and mentally challenging situations. There is a solution for that problem, thought. It has been proven, that an application of physical activity and sport in general can transform every moment of life into positive energy usable by stimulating the body through a more positive mental approach to perceive new challenges, physical and mental, and produce good feelings. Generally speaking, better physical movements and  exercise  can dramatically enhance ones optimal  learning  state. Eric Jensen (2005) explains that there is strong evidence that supports the connection between movement and learning. Evidence from imaging sources, anatomical studies, and clinical data shows that moderate exercise enhances cognitive processing. It also increases the number of brain cells. Our minds and bodies work together to help us to pay attention, to solve problems, and to  remember  solutions. Our physical states support our mental efforts. Moving  our bodies, however, isnt enough. Professional trainer and physical guru Jillian Michaels (2012), affirms that learning and practicing visualization techniques can help you achieve your goals by guiding you to make more of a mind-body connection to those goals. Having and keeping a vision of the future affects your behavior and actions now. Ruth Weiss (2001), state that a variety of mental exercises such as doing crossword puzzles,  learning  a new skill or a new language, playing chess or backgammon can strengthen and renew neural connections thereby keeping a brain flexible and  resilient. Even the simple task of brushing ones teeth with ones no dominant hand can increase connections between our axons (nerve fiber) and dendrites (branched projections of a  neuron). The best news is that studies show our brains remain  resilient  and capable of making new connections throughout our lives. If we continue to challenge our brains, they will remain fit just like our muscles, hearts, and lungs. Challenging ourselves mentally keeps our synaptic pathways (junction between two neurons) alive. Meditation  and prayer, practiced throughout the world for tens of thousands of years, can also induce a state of relaxation, which proves mentally and physically beneficial. Dr. Herbert Benson (2010) of Harvard medical school believes that a regular practice of the  relaxation leads to a sense that  emotionsand the physiological reactions that go with themcan be brought under control. If someone deeply understands his potential by mastering all of his senses, it becomes possible to make the most out of the energy to actively support all the capabilities of his mind and body to react to any event. It empowers that person to easily go into any situation where he has to surpass and overcome every physical and mental challenge. By treating their physical bodies, intellect, and spirit well, people can take advantage of the brains great plasticity and their own power to reconfigure it. A perfect balance between someones mind and body would be a crucial factor for a performance in all daily activities as well as in processing any kind of new information and learning new skills.

Romantic Love: An analysis of Andrew Sullivan?s Article :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people want to have a romantic love in their life; however, romance is such abstract feeling so that we do not know whether it exists or not. In many cases, we can find that romantic love do exist in varieties of movie, song, and even books. Therefore, some people do believe that romantic love exists, and they feel that romantic love does not seem to be abstract. For example, we can find in many movies that the main male character sees the main female character, and then all of a sudden, he realizes that she is the one he wants to be with for the rest of his life, and vice versa. We also can find the same scenes in numerous of songs and books. After all of these movies, songs, and books, we seem to be hypnotized; there is such thing as we called â€Å"romantic love.† In the American Heritage Dictionary, romantic is defined â€Å"expressive of or conducive to love.† However, what is love? According to the American Heritage Dictionary, love is de fined as deep affection and warm feeling for another. Besides this one, love also have another definition such as, the emotion of sex and romance; strong sexual desire for another person. The ideal romantic love—expressive of deep affection and warm feeling for another—is what we’ve been taught the true meaning of romantic love is. But according to the American Heritage Dictionary, romantic love can also mean the expressive of strong sexual desire for another person. It comes down to one question—Does the ideal romantic love really exist or not. According to Andrew Sullivan in the Love Bloat: Why Obsess Over Romance?, there is not such thing called romantic love as we idealized, and his opinion about romantic love is right; there is not such thing called romantic love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the Love Bloat: Why Obsess Over Romance?, Sullivan says that the concept of romantic love is crock by any serious person before the 19th century. And Sullivan applies Shakespeare’s idea of love—it comes; it goes. If taken too seriously, it kills. Sullivan also gives some his idea of what relationships truly are, and which are useful economic bargains. Sullivan uses Rousseau as another support for his opinion about romantic love; Rousseau saw bourgeois love as a salve for the empty emotional center of restrained, law-bound societies. Rousseau wanted to substitute the passion of people for truth and honor and power with something just as absorbing but nowhere near as dangerous.

Critique of a Study; Muscle Dysmorphia - excellent paper :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Last year a study was performed to examine a model for the development of muscle dysmorhpia among male college athletes. The model is known as the Lantz, Rhea, and Mayhew Model and it describes the relationship between pre-disposing factors for the development of muscle dysmorphia and the negative consequences paired with the disorder. The study concentrated on male college athletes falling into three different categories: weight lifters, non-contact sports athletes, and contact sport athletes. The study was to determine which of the expected negative behaviors, if any, prevailed among the separate categories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the past decades the media has been the primary blame of creating body image disorders among both females and males. â€Å"Similar to females, men have been inundated with distorted pictures representing the ideal male physique from TV, fitness magazines, and the toy industry (e.g., bulging superhero, G. I. Joe). While most researchers suggest that a multitude of factors may play a role in creating body image disorders (Pike & Striegel-Moore, 1997), Levine and Smolak (1998) are among a growing number of researchers who blame the media's glamorized body blueprint messages for men and women unrealistically judging themselves. (Page 120)† Men with body image disorders are usually afraid of being too small rather than too large. They tend to have the desire to gain muscle mass at the same time as cutting down the waist line. Along with this desire, an obsession can occur to compulsively lift weights as a way of life. The compulsive weight lifting and consumption of dietary supplements describes the term â€Å"muscle dysmorphia†. This disorder is more mental than physical and may also be a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder. â€Å"In a manner similar to MD, OCD is manifested by obsessions (e.g., constant thoughts about being too small) and compulsions (e.g., repeated behaviors of weight-lifting). (Page 120)† Muscle dysmorphia can also create other mental disorders. It may actually be genetically impossible for some to reach their ideal body. This creates an individual who obsesses over a goal which is non-existent, creating possible depression and perhaps impairing social and occupational functioning. The model of muscle dysmorphia has yet to be tested and this study is to determine if the psycho-behavioral characteristics proposed by the model are present, and to what degree, in the selected weight lifters compared to other athletes. A sample student body of 106 students was selected as the participants. This group contained 29 weight lifters, 24 non-contact sport athletes, and 53 contact sport athletes.

Langston Hughes Essay examples -- essays research papers

Langston Hughes James Langston Hughes was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. He was named after his father, but it was later shortened to just Langston Hughes. He was the only child of James and Carrie Hughes. His family was never happy so he was a lonely youth. The reasons for their unhappiness had as much to do with the color of their skin and the society into which they had been born as they did with their opposite personalities. They were victims of white attitudes and discriminatory laws. They moved to Oklahoma in the late 1890s. Although the institution of slavery was officially abolished racial discrimination and segregation persisted. Langston Hughes parents then separated. Since his mother moved from city to city in search of work he lived in Lawrence, Kansas, with his grandmother named Mary Hughes. She fiercely opposed to racial discrimination. While growing up, Langston also stayed with friends of the family, James and Mary Reed. Living with his grandmother and the Reeds in all-white neighborhoods, he felt even more isolated. When Langston was ready to start school in 1908, his mother was told that because her son was black, he could not attend a nearby, mostly white school in Topeka, Kansas. Carrie, his mother, fought with the school over their decision. She won her fight and Langston was finally admitted to the school. He dealed with his loneliness by writing poetry. After Langston’s grandmother died in 1915, he went to live with his mother, her second husband, Homer Clark, and Clark’s two-year-old son, Gwyn. They went from Lawrence, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri to Lincoln, Illinois. They moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1916. Clark moved to Chicago, Illinois. Langston’s mother followed him and Langston was left alone in Cleveland. He devoted himself to his class work and other interests. He was on the editorial staff, on the student council, one the track team, an officer in the drill corps, and acted in school plays. When Langston Hughes attended Central High, the student body was very ethnically diverse. Langston’s Jewish friends were the ones who first opened his eyes to the ideals of socialism. Socialism is the doctrine that all property in a society is public property. Claude McKay, a black writer whose articles and poems appeared in the Liberator, became a favorite of Langston’s. Langston started to use Negro (African-American... ...es spent the early part of the 1940’s working on his autobiography, The Big Sea, which tells in brilliantly clear language the story of his life up to the year 1931.He explored the expressing validity of black vernacular in urban and rural black lifestyles. He graduated from Lincoln University in 1930. He wrote playwrights and created major Broadway successes as Scottsboro Limited (1932) and Mulatto (1935). In first collections of short stories, The Ways Of White Folks, published in 1934.He was recognized as Simple a humorist through the creation of a character named Jessie B. Semple who, Simple States A Claim (1957), makes commentary on social issues confronting the black community in a vernacular style which strikes a common chord in its simplicity. In 1957, Semple was brought to Broadway in the musical Simply Heavenly. In May 22, 1967 Langston Hughes in died in New York City. The reason why I picked Langston Hughes as my famous African American was because his poems are my favorites. The other reason is that he was always trying to improve the life of African Americans. So, as in conclusion, I would like to say Langston Hughes is an American hero.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Gain access to the homes of individuals Essay

Be able to identify agreed ways to gain entry to and leave individuals homes Entry and departure to the service users home will have been agreed at the initial risk assessment and if a key safe is installed then the code will have been disclosed. Other ways of entry could be by being let in by a relative or family member and this should be advised by the carer’s office. This should also be documented in the care plan folder. Agreed times and preferences in respect of entry and departure will also be documented in the care plan folder Be able to gain entry to an individuals hom Entry and departure will be usually by use of a key safe, a relative, home manager or the service user themselves. The service user will usually be expecting a visit by their carer who should always introduce themselves to the service user and show their identity card. Be able to take appropriate action when unable to gain entry to an individual’s home If the carer is unable to gain entry then they should ring their office and inform them of the problem. The office will then attempt to contact the service user by telephone and if this is unsuccessful then a relative of registered key holder will be informed. In some cases it may be necessary to contact the emergency services if there is immediate cause for concern. These are the usual agreed ways of working in my organisation. It will be crucial to record and report any difficulties to the office so this information can be shared with others on a need to know basis. Read more:Â  Describe How Accessing a Range of Services and Facilities Be able to deal with emergencies encountered after gaining entry If the carer finds themselves in an emergency situation after gaining entry then depending on the type of emergency then they should contact the appropriate emergency service and their office so the that the event/incident can be reported and recorded. The type of emergency could be that the service user or family member is seriously ill or has fallen, there may be a fire. In the case of a known self harming service user there could be a suicide attempt Health and safety procedures in respect of the carer and service user to be adhered to at all times Be able to ensure security when leaving individuals homes The carer should ensure that the house is securely locked and that any windows should be closed unless otherwise advised by the service user. Keys should be replaced in the key safe and the key safe should be cleared. Be able to review the procedures for entering and leaving an individuals home The carer should be mindful at all times and should they suspect a breach in security or feel that the entry procedure should be reviewed then they should discuss this with the service user and report any agreed changes of codes and discuss any change in entry routine with their Manager.

Analyze Globalization’s Impact on Singapore’s Development Essay

A group of industrialized nations including Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the I-JK, and the United States are called developed country. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, defined a developed country as follows: â€Å"A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment. â€Å"Developing country’ is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well-being. Countries with more advanced conomies than other developing nations, but which have not yet fully demonstrated the signs of a developed country, are categorized as developing country. Developing countries are in general countries which have not achieved a significant degree of industrialization relative to their populations, and which have, in most cases a medium to low standard of living. There is a strong correlation between low income and high population growth. A developing country can be a result of many characteristics: resources, historical background, population, economic structure and ystem. They are basically under developed country that reflects a failure to gain levels ot living throughout most ot their population. Yet there nas been a signitlcant improvement by these countries general level of living as growth. â€Å"Under-developed country’ is a term generally used to describe a nation with lack of access to Job opportunities, health care, drinkable water, food, education and housing. Underdevelopment takes place when resources are not used to their fullsocio-economic potential, with the result that local or egional development is slower in most cases than it should be. Furthermore, it results from the complex interplay of internal and external factors that allow less developed countries only a lop-sided development progression. Underdeveloped nations are characterized by a wide disparity between their rich and poor populations, and an unhealthy balance of trade STATISTICS It is considered that the countries with more than $735 per capita income per year is termed as developed country. In 2002 PCI was $480. So, Technically India is a Developing country not a Developed Country.

Jose Rizal and his Nationalism Essay

Jose Rizal was idealistic, who wants to free his countrymen from ignorance, exploitation and discrimination. With the use of his works and writings especially his novels – Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, he reveals to his people their experiences and sufferings, sufferings which he brought to light in an effort to awaken his countrymen to the truths that had long remained unspoken, although not totally unheard of. He showed to his people their sufferings friars and civil authorities, how the friars whom were guilty of bribery and corruption had made of the Catholic religion an instrument of domination and had prostituted it with exterior practices which foster the appearance of worship. The friars also enriched themselves not only by exhorting excessive fees for church services, but also by unjust acquisition of land estates. They made themselves feared by civil officials. They enjoy priorities over high government officials whose tenure of office they can control. The government itself sees nothing, hears nothing, and decides nothing except what the parish priests makes it see, hear, and decide. And the civil guards do not protect the citizens like they supposed to but protect the interests of the friars and the Spaniards only. The priests controlled also the acts of the ignorant natives and threatened the indios’ heads with excommunication for the slightest sign of disrespect and disobedience. Many Filipinos had become victims of human indignities. They were deprived of their right. They had no right to question authority – they were born only to serve. But Rizal did not put the blame entirely on the religious and civil authorities; he also honestly showed the weaknesses and defects of the Filipinos. The people themselves, by their timidity, fear, and cowardice had shackled their minds and debased their souls. Contaminated by the airs of superiority of the Spaniards, despise their own countrymen and make themselves ridiculous with their pretensions at false imitation. Rizal criticized this, the unspoken embarrassments of the natives for their own ancestry, and aspires to become a Spaniard to leave behind any trace of Filipino in them and then boasts to everyone. With that they gradually allowed the Spaniards to enslave them. As Rizal often said, â€Å"there are no tyrants where there are no slaves†. And that Rizal wanted to vindicate his race from the insults and prejudices upon the Filipinos, and that his people were not an anthropoid race, as the Spaniard asserted. Although Filipinos have some vices and defects, the same with other people in the world, they are not those which the Spanish writers attribute them – that there is no stimulus to worth or to merit. On the contrary, when Filipinos rise above heap they are ridiculed and made the object of mockery unless they serve the friars. Many Filipinos are persecuted in false conspiracies or exiled from their towns for standing up for their rights. Rizal wanted to bring back the pride in Filipino ancestors, a necessary component in the formation of national consciousness, and answer criticisms against Filipinos and their culture. He disproved the Spaniards and showed that the past of the Philippines already had a developed culture. Rizal in all effort tried to convince the Spanish government that there was an urgent need for reforms in the society in the government, and in the Catholic church of the Philippines. And that violence is not the preferred solution and it should come about peacefully and sensibly and that one great solution is education. He tried to show that there was no rebellion or revolution in the Philippines, but there would be, if the abuses and excesses of the friars and the administration push the Filipinos to their limit.