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BEAT STRESS: IS IT TIME TO MEDITATE?

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we examine a stress-buster that helps your brain as you grow older and take a 10-question stress test (you can too—scroll all the way down). Plus, wildfires and your body, the next moon vehicles, the ‘Griffin Warrior’ ... and Rasputin’s last night.

A woman wearing an electroencephalogram around her head sits in a dimly lit space with her eyes closed

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN FINKE

Sure, make fun of the soothing music, closed eyes, and shock still image of meditation. But do you need an effective approach to manage stress? A possible slowdown to age-related cognitive decline? Help in coping with pain?

How have practices that began thousands of years ago in religious traditions come to show such positive contemporary health results? (Pictured above, an electroencephalogram measures the electrical activity of this volunteer’s brain.) What do you have to do to start?

IS PRAYER MEDITATION?

Related: How to cope with stress at work—without burning out
And: Can scientists solve stress? They’re trying.
Also: Do you meditate? How? Does it help? Let us know.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Found among the Griffin Warrior's many grave goods, the Combat Agate depicts a scene among three warriors.

J. VANDERPOOL/ DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS, UNIVERSITY OF CINCINATTI

Who was the ‘Griffin Warrior’? This 3,500-year old tomb may be able to tell us (above, inside the tomb, a scene of three warriors).

‘Forever chemicals’ are hiding in your kitchen. Here’s where—and what you can do.

6 herbs that can help with your home remedies

Who was Rasputin? And how did he really die?

Oral contraceptives may help lower the risk of sports injuries

E-bikes are good for the environment, but what about your health?

How did this thriving civilization ... just disappear? Now we have clues.

Here’s what wildfires do to us

The best air purifiers for your home

WHAT IN THE WORLD?

An illustration of the Lunar Dawn concept vehicle traversing the Moon's surface, with Earth rising off the horizon.

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF LUNAR OUTPOST/ LOCKHEED MARTIN

A road trip … across the moon? Three companies have been chosen to develop concepts for next-generation lunar rovers (above), each with different designs and capabilities. The winner will shepherd a new generation of lunar astronauts in the search for water and ice.

LUNAR ROAD TRIP!

LAST GLIMPSE

Take this test and see: Get an answer with one of the first stress perception assessment tools developed by psychologists in 1983. Answer these 10 questions to understand your stress levels better and what you can do to help yourself.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT

Today’s soundtrack: Stress Test, Vegyn

Plus: Nat Geo’s chill four-hour nature soundtrack on YouTube

Today’s newsletter was curated and edited by David Beard, Nancy San Martín, and Nishita Naga. Were you forwarded this email or know someone who might want our newsletter? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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