WE KNEW THAT: MEDITATION DECREASES ANXIETY

Scientific studies in the U.S. and Australia indicate that focused meditation techniques increase left-brain activity, altering perception and creating optimism. Stimulating the creative centers located in the left side of the brain, according to the studies, can help people decrease anxiety and foster a happy disposition.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin – Madison looked at the effects of meditation on 41 people. Twenty-five of the people attended a weekly class and a seven-hour retreat and worked on meditation exercises at home. The others were a control group and did no meditation.

After eight weeks, the group who had meditated had a more active left frontal lobe, which is related to lower anxiety and a positive emotional state. The findings lend scientific credibility to the use of meditation techniques to reduce stress and treat pain.

“Although our study is preliminary and more research clearly is warranted, we are very encouraged by these results,” said Dr. Richard Davidson, who led the research team.

Another study done at the University of Queensland in Australia noted that one-point meditation, where attention is focused on a single object, is the most effective relaxation technique for altering point of view.

The Queensland researchers studied Tibetan Buddhist monks who had been practicing one-point meditation from five to 54 years. When the researchers showed the monks images that could be perceived two different ways, one happy and one sad, the monks who had meditated immediately beforehand noticed the “happy” picture and focused on it longer than others. One monk was able to hold on to the “happy” image for a full 10 minutes, where the average person switches after two minutes.

“That’s a lot longer than we’d ever seen before in thousands of subjects,” said Professor Jack Pettigrew, the neuroscientist who led Queensland’s research team.

SOLAR ENERGY TO LIGHT THE VATICAN

Pope Benedict XVI’s concern about conserving the Earth’s resources will translate into a new roof for the Paul VI auditorium at the Vatican.

The roof will be redone next year, says Vatican engineer Pier Carlo Cuscianna, by replacing roof panels with photovoltaic cells that will convert sunlight into electricity.

The auditorium is used on Wednesdays in the winter and in bad weather for the pontiff’s general audiences, as well as concerts. The solar cells will produce enough power to illuminate the 6,300-seat hall, its sweeping stage and to heat and cool the building.

Extra electricity, produced when the auditorium is not in use, will provide the Vatican with power for offices. Mediterranean Italy has many sunny days each year and is a good location for solar energy production.

In 2006, Pope Benedict called on Christians to unite to take “care of creation without squandering its resources and sharing them in a convivial manner.” He said that our environment was being harmed by lifestyle choices, making “the lives of poor people on Earth especially unbearable.”

The solar panels will not affect the aesthetics of the auditorium, built in 1969, since they will be the same size and shape and almost the same color, as the cement panels they will replace.

FORGIVENESS ALLOWS VICTIMS TO MOVE ON

Forgive the person who shot you and left you for dead? A Wisconsin woman featured on a recent Oprah Winfrey show did just that.

Jackie Millar of Madison, Wisconsin, was one of several people interviewed around the topic of forgiveness.

In 1995, Millar interrupted two teenagers who were trying to steal her car. One of the young men shot her and left her for dead, but she survived the attack. Her life hasn’t been the same since. She is partially paralyzed and legally blind.

But Millar says she has forgiven her attackers. “I think I would be nuts if I hadn’t forgave them,” she says. “I forgave them immediately so I could get on with my life.”

Sometimes people believe that forgiving the person who has harmed them somehow excuses the injury or gives them a “Get Out of Jail Free card.” No, says psychologist Robin Smith, PhD, The Oprah Winfrey Show’s therapist-in-residence.

Dr. Robin says that Millar is an example of the power of forgiveness that comes from letting go of anger and moving on. “… You are, a living testimony to us… saying that forgiveness is a choice. And when we choose not to forgive someone… we’ve made a choice to harbor anger... ”

Compiled and written by Sally Kimbel