How Breathing Works – Nirvair Kaur
Stressors and librarians – Mindfulness and co-workers
Stressors and librarians: How mindfulness can help. Moniz, Richard, Jo Henry, Joe Eshleman, and And Lisa Moniz. “Richard Moniz.” College & Research Libraries News. Association of College & Research Libraries, Published 01 Dec. 2016. <http://crln.acrl.org/content/77/11/534.full>.
” … Coming in second on our list of high stressors was each other. Fourteen percent of those who responded to the question about stressors indicated that they experience the greatest amount of stress interacting with other library staff. Common comments included items such as “working with difficult personalities,” “dealing with co-workers,” “interacting with co-workers, “hostile co-workers,” “other staff members,” and “working in groups.” Surely all workplaces have conflict and issues in this regard, but the fact that so many librarians listed it as a top stressor seems to indicate more could be done towards building a healthier workplace through activities such as mindfulness or emotional intelligence. Staff workshops could be structured to work with individuals and their specific needs and also on team building within the group.”
Got the winter blues? All about seasonal affective disorder
“Got the Winter Blues? All about Seasonal Affective Disorder.” UCLA Health, 21 Nov. 2016.
“If winter days get you down, you’re not alone. You may have seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression triggered by the change of seasons. People with this disorder tend to feel depressed in the fall and winter, when there is less sunlight and the days are shorter.
Researchers believe that the lack of sunlight during these months causes changes in our body clock and internal rhythms, leading to depression. The difference between seasonal affective disorder and other types of depression is that symptoms generally lift in the longer, brighter days of spring and summer…”
UC Davis Integrative Medicine: Discovering the Gentle Power of Yoga
Discovering the Gentle Power of Yoga … BY ROSANE OLIVEIRA ON JULY 6, 2016 –
“While exercise fads come and go at a dizzying speed, yoga remains eternal—an ancient tradition that has been around more than 5,000 years.
Rooted in ancient Indian philosophy, yoga is a total mind and body workout, which blends strengthening and stretching with deep breathing and meditation.
Gentle but powerful, practitioners have long sung yoga’s praises, arguing that nothing contributes more to your emotional, physical and spiritual well-being.
Given its soothing, relaxing nature, little wonder that yoga has captured the imagination of a high-stress, high-tech world.
Let’s explore yoga’s great benefits together…” – Read more at: http://scl.io/jpBvxJUa#gs.ugwcpuQ
Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness
What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness | Robert Waldinger | TED Talks: Published on Jan 25, 2016 – “What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken. As the director of 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life…”
Multi or Mono
Monotasking – I forced myself to do one thing at a time for a week. It was … hard … By L.V. Anderson, Slate (June 15, 2016)
“I am a champion multitasker at the office. I attach my laptop to a second monitor, which allows me to have at least two applications open and visible at all times. I toggle between Word and Slack or Outlook so I can stay on top of new messages while I’m writing or editing. My Chrome window contains at least half a dozen tabs containing Gmail, Twitter, Slate traffic reports, and a handful of partially read articles that I will, eventually, return to. In meetings, I skim Slack and Twitter while half-listening to things that don’t concern me directly. In short, you will never find me doing just one thing at a time. (That’s not even to mention the epic multitasking I do outside of the office: filling in crosswords while listening to podcasts on the subway, listening to music while riding my bike, playing Words With Friends while watching soccer …)
According to experts, all this multitasking is rotting my brain and diminishing my productivity. A series of experiments at Stanford showed that people who regularly multitask are a lot worse at basic tests of spatial perception, memory, and selective attention than people who don’t. Students who try to multitask while doing homework “understand and remember less, and they have greater difficulty transferring their learning to new contexts,” reported Annie Murphy Paul in Slate in 2013. People who multitask even have lower levels of gray matter than people who stay focused (although the relationship isn’t necessarily causal)…”
MARC [Not That MARC]: UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center
One of our very favorite mindfulness related resources is the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) at http://marc.ucla.edu.
MARC’s mission is “to foster mindful awareness across the lifespan through education and research to promote well-being and a more compassionate society.” We especially enjoy MARC’s Free Guided Meditations page. These free MARC meditation podcasts are available in English and Spanish language.
MARC also provides free access by download or stream to its Weekly Podcast at the Hammer. The Hammer Museum podcast series happens live at UCLA every Thursday at 12:30 PM —
“Each week has a different theme, and usually includes introductory comments, guided meditation, silent practice time, and closing comments.”
The Weekly Podcasts at the Hammer online archive begins 7 June 2012 and continues to the present.
“Breath of the Gods” | Yoga History
“Modern yoga, that is, the form practiced daily by tens of millions of people around the world, goes back directly to the god Shiva according to Indian tradition. At the same time, however, modern yoga originated in the early 20th century – a creation of Indian savant T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989). That story is far less known. Krishnamacharya’s life and teachings are seen through the eyes of the director Jan Schmidt-Garre on his search for authentic yoga. His journey leads him from the legendary students and relatives of Krishnamacharya’s to the source of modern yoga, at the palace of the Maharaja of Mysore. From Pattabhi Jois Jan learns the Sun salutation, from Iyengar the King of Asanas, the headstand, and finally Sribhashyam reveals to him his father’s secret Life Saving Yoga Session.”
The documentary film Breath of the Gods is available on the UCI Libraries’ KANOPY* streaming platform (In order to access KANOPY you must be “authenticated” (recognized as a valid user) by the UCI campus network). The film was released in 2012 and runs 106 minutes. It was made by Filmmaker Jan Schmidt-Garre.
URL: https://uci.kanopystreaming.com/video/breath-gods
Sweating in Libraries
So this is kind of a cool idea (?), and obviously the library in question got quick (huge) pub for their innovative wellness efforts, but isn’t this one of the most forlorn looking spin areas imaginable? [ tech services ? ] … Anyway, Troy University is off and spinning … Can UCI be far behind? BW
College Adds New Spin To Studying, Installs Exercise Bikes In Library: “Humans were not meant to sit still all day.”
HuffPost 03/07/2016 – Elyse Wanshel, Associate Editor
Reading, writing and aerobics?
Troy University in Alabama is making physical health part of its core curriculum by installing exercise bikes — with a spot for a laptop or book — in the library so students can break a sweat while they study.
“Humans were not meant to sit still all day,” Christopher Shaffer, dean of Library Services told HuffPost. “But because our lives all revolve around computers now, we don’t move enough.”
In an attempt to break the vicious cycle, three exercise bikes were assembled and ready for use, last Thursday. And due to positive response from students, the library has already ordered three more. If they’re used, Shaffer believes the library can squeeze in an additional six bikes, making it an even dozen. The library is also planning to add six elliptical machines that can go under desks or tables as well.
“For now [the machines] are first come first serve,” Shaffer said. “If riots break out, we will develop a reserve system.”
Shaffer heard about exercise bikes that allow students to study two months ago when he stumbled upon FitDesk, the company that makes them. The bikes were reasonably priced, which meant it would be easy to buy a few and see how they were received.
“I also thought that the idea fit nicely into Troy University’s motto ‘Educate the mind to think, the heart to feel and the body to act,’” he said.
Shaffer hopes the bikes help students learn to embrace balance in their lives, noting:
“It is important to study, but while you are developing your mind, you also have to keep your body in shape.”
Spoken like a true educator.