Betterway2 improved mental health

Some good news from the bbc website on the benefits of exercise outdoors (accentuated benefits if you’re young or have mental health issues already and bonus points for doing your exercise near a water feature).

Even more reason to join our yoga breakfast club and tick all those boxes. The breakfast club will kick off again in the next few weeks. Keep an eye here or follow us on facebook – betterway2be page.

Click here to check the article on the BBC wesite.

Free yourself from oppression by technology

“THE age of melancholy” is how psychologist Daniel Goleman describes our era. People today experience more depression than previous generations, despite the technological wonders that help us every day. It might be because of them.

Our lifestyles are increasingly driven by technology. Phones, computers and the internet pervade our days. There is a constant, nagging need to check for texts and email, to update Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn profiles, to acquire the latest notebook or 3G cellphone.

Are we being served by these technological wonders or have we become enslaved by them?…

How did this arise, and what is it doing to us? In this era of mass consumption, we are surrounded by advertising that urges us to find fulfilment through the acquisition of material goods. As a result, adults and children increasingly believe that in order to belong and feel good about themselves, they must own the latest model or gadget.

Yet research by psychologist Tim Kasser of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, has shown that people who place a high value on material goals are unhappier than those who are less materialistic. Materialism is also associated with lower self-esteem, greater narcissism, greater tendency to compare oneself unfavourably with other people, less empathy and more conflict in relationships…

Full article can be found on the New Scientist website:

Green roofs save on carbon overheads

‘Green roofs are not just a load of greenwash. That’s according to a new study which has measured the amount of carbon absorbed by 13 different green roofs.

…

Getter’s team examined 12 existing green roofs and grew their own Sedum-covered roof. They found that the roofs absorbed up to 375 grams per square metre over the two years of their study.

That may not sound like much, but it adds up. If a city the size of Detroit, Michigan, with around a million inhabitants, were to switch to green roofs, it would remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as taking 10,000 mid-sized SUVs and trucks off the road for a year.

There is a catch…’

…from New Scientist [accessed 5th Oct 09 at 0840]

Try a Little Powerlessness

Published in Scientific American:

A look at self-control and one study in particular where reduced self-vetting showed a positive outcome

Ten Mysteries of You

‘WHAT A STRANGE CREATURE YOU ARE

We belong to a remarkably quirky species. Despite our best efforts, some of our strangest foibles still defy explanation

But as science probes deeper into these eccentricities, it is becoming clear that behaviours and attributes that seem frivolous at first glance often go to the heart of what it means to be human.’

From New Scientist: click here