Mindfully Healing

It has incredible psychological and physiological power. Holding someone’s hand is enough to reduce their pain and even synchronise breathing and heart rates, new research finds. Dr Pavel Goldstein, the study’s first author, said: “The more empathic the partner and the stronger the analgesic effect, the higher the synchronization between the two when they are touching.” The study is the latest in the area of interpersonal synchronisation. This is how people’s physiological measures automatically synchronise to those who are around them. People automatically synchronise their footsteps when walking together and

Working on commitment may NOT be the key for couples having problems with their relationship. Genes are the main reason why divorce runs in families, new research finds. Psychologists used to think that the potential for divorce was transmitted from one generation to the next by psychological means. But the new research finds that it is really genetics that are at the root — although psychological factors are important. For example, neurotic people tend to see their partners in a more negative light. The personality trait of neuroticism is passed