Mindfully Healing

Two personality traits are most strongly linked to walking quickly. Fast walkers are more likely to be extraverted, conscientious and open to new experiences. Naturally, though, with age, people tend to walk more slowly. However, those high in extraversion, conscientiousness and openness to new experience did not slow down as much as they got older. The study’s authors conclude: “This study provides robust evidence that walking speed in adulthood reflects, in part, the individual’s personality.” The results come from over 15,000 people between 25 and 100 years old. They were

How to get your brain to run more efficiently under stress. Writing about your feelings can help your brain work more efficiently, new research finds. For people who are chronic worriers, this method can help free up a lot of cognitive resources. Mr Hans Schroder, the study’s first author, said: “…it’s kind of like people who struggle with worry are constantly multitasking — they are doing one task and trying to monitor and suppress their worries at the same time. Our findings show that if you get these worries out

People slept better, awakened less in the night and felt better the next day. Opening the windows or doors before going to bed can improve sleep quality, new research finds. Both measures help to decrease levels of carbon dioxide and increase air quality. In fresher air, people sleep better, awaken less in the night and feel better the next day. The study’s authors summarise their results: “It has been shown that when bedroom air quality was improved in these experiments: Subjects reported that the bedroom air was fresher. Sleep quality

Are couples who are mismatched in physical attractiveness just as happy? Partners who get to know each other over time tend to differ more in physical attractiveness, a recent study finds. In contrast, couples who get involved with each other soon after meeting are often much closer in physical attractiveness. Professor Eli Finkel, who co-authored the study, explained: “This study shows that we make different sorts of decisions about whom to marry depending upon whether we knew the person before we started dating. If we start dating soon after we

The two surveys involved around 370,000 people in the UK. Being married brings people more lifelong happiness than being single, new research finds. The boost to happiness in being married also persists into old age. The positive effect of marriage is even stronger for those people who described their partner as their best friend. The findings were just the same for those people who lived together but were not actually married. Professor John Helliwell, study co-author, said: “Even after years the married are still more satisfied. This suggests a causal

Organisations should adjust their policies if they care about their employee’s wellbeing. People who do not separate their work-life from their private life are killing their well-being, according to new research. Habits like checking and responding to work emails at home or taking the laptop on holiday were linked to lower wellbeing in the study. Those who mixed work and free time were less likely to engage in activities that would help them recover, like hobbies or sports. So they returned to work more exhausted and with a lower sense

Dementia risk reduced in 10 1-hour sessions — benefits seen 10 years later. A type of mental exercise has been linked for the first time to a reduced risk of dementia. The training is called ‘speed processing’ and involves identifying objects and their location on a screen. As people improve at this cognitive task, the software speeds up. The speed training was effective where more traditional memory and reasoning training had little effect on dementia. Professor Frederick W. Unverzagt, who led the study, said it was comparatively easy training: “We

Cool kids do everything to be popular in high school, but what happens to them after that? Teenagers who try to ‘act cool’ in early adolescence grow up to experience a range of problems in early adulthood, research finds. ‘Cool kids’ tend to do things like hang out with more attractive people, become romantically involved at an early age and engage in delinquent activity (smoking, drinking and petty crimes). However, by the age of 22, these ‘cool kids’ are rated as less socially competent than their peers. They were also

How coffee consumption is linked to both mental and physical health. Moderate coffee consumption is linked to reduced depression risk and lower levels of Parkinson’s and dementia, new research finds. Not only that, but the review of more than 200 studies found that drinking 3 to 4 cups of coffee a day is linked to many other benefits. These include lower levels of heart disease, reduced risk of some cancers, diabetes and liver disease. The study’s authors write: “Coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease,

• Next article in this series: • Previous article: Mindfulness Meditation: 8 Quick Exercises That Fit into Your DayStudy finds least mindful people benefit most from a surprisingly small amount of meditation. A very brief meditation intervention — just 75 minutes spread over three days — can reduce the psychological reaction to stressful events. The conclusion comes from a study which also found that the short training session was most beneficial for those who were naturally the least mindful in their everyday lives (Creswell et al., 2014). Lead author, J.