All posts tagged: Practice

The Big 5 personality traits you can change with practice

The Big 5 personality traits you can change with practice

Published by skeptic

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Excerpted from Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change by Olga Khazan. Copyright © 2025 by Olga Khazan. Reprinted by permission of Simon Element, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC. One day in the 1940s, an inmate came to see Raymond Corsini, a psychologist at Auburn Prison in Upstate New York. The prisoner, a man in his thirties, was getting out on parole, and before he left, he just wanted to thank Corsini. The inmate said that, before meeting Corsini, he had always hung out with “a bunch of thieves.” He had a dead-end job in the prison kitchen, and he had long ago lost touch with his family and faith. His prospects for successfully reentering society were probably poor. But, he said, after an encounter with Corsini two years prior, he had left feeling like he was “walking on air.” That day in the yard, …

This Lent, US Lutherans are learning a new Palestinian practice: Sumud

This Lent, US Lutherans are learning a new Palestinian practice: Sumud

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — Lent is a time of reflection for many Christians, and each year a host of devotionals are published to bring insight and inspiration to the 40 days of contemplation leading to Easter. For the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a liberal denomination of close to 3 million members, the Lenten offerings this year include one focusing on the plight of Palestinians. The devotional, called “Sumud,” an Arabic word meaning “steadfastness,” offers churches and individuals a six-week study with videos and reflections to raise awareness of and advocacy against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and its military rule over Palestinians. More than many other U.S. denominations, the ELCA has spoken boldly on the issue of Palestinian inequality and dispossession in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. That’s in part because the denomination partners with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and its six churches. The 2,000 members of those churches and their leaders have been especially vocal in opposing Israel’s war in Gaza — none more so than …

A yoga teacher recommends breathwork for calm and relaxation—here’s how to start a daily practice

A yoga teacher recommends breathwork for calm and relaxation—here’s how to start a daily practice

Published by skeptic

Breathwork is one of the simplest yet most effective mindfulness tools to help you tune into your body and calm a busy mind. But if you’ve never tried it, the idea can sound dubious. You just breathe and it works? Really? As it turns out, yes but there’s a little more to it than that. I spoke to Sophia Drozd, a yoga teacher and founder of the Yoga for Pain app (Y4P), who is on a mission to make yoga more accessible for people with chronic illnesses. She is a passionate advocate for breathwork, especially for those who experience chronic pain or energy-limiting illnesses and who might find a full yoga flow too demanding. “Breath is such an important tool,” says Drozd. “It’s a fundamental tool for yoga, but it’s also a free resource. Breathwork can help us to regulate sensations of pain and improve our sleep quality, encouraging our bodies to find a sense of calm and relaxation.” As someone who has always found the idea of sitting down to just breathe a bit …

Naming a Mental Health Practice: Legal Restrictions and Free Speech

Naming a Mental Health Practice: Legal Restrictions and Free Speech

Published by skeptic

When mental health professionals open a private practice or develop a new agency, one of the most exciting decisions is choosing a name for their new entity. Ideally, titles for mental health organizations should be clear, succinct, accurate, memorable, and professional. They should also be legal: that is, they should not violate state or federal laws. Historically, there have not been many cases requiring mental health organizations to change their names. However, in Alleman et al. v. Harness et al. (2024), the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists informed the Psychological Wellness Institute that it was in violation of state law by using the word “psychological” in its business name. The primary mental health providers at this institute were a licensed professional counselor, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and a licensed addiction counselor. The Board suggested that it was misleading to use the name “psychological” in the business name because none of these providers were licensed psychologists. The providers changed their organization’s name to P. Wellness Institute to avoid prosecution. They then filed …

SpaceX Activating System to Practice for Destroying Space Station

SpaceX Activating System to Practice for Destroying Space Station

Published by José

SpaceX’s Dragon is flexing its muscles. Big Push SpaceX is planning to fire the engines of its Dragon cargo spacecraft this week, which is currently docked to the International Space Station, to practice for the eventual retirement of the orbital lab roughly six years from now. As Space.com reports, it’s the first time a SpaceX capsule has fired its thrusters while actively docked to “reboost” the ISS, or keeping it in a stable orbit, a task that historically has been taken care of by Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. In addition to keeping the space station at the correct altitude, SpaceX and NASA are using the opportunity to collect data for their joint plans to destroy the ISS. NASA contracted the Elon Musk-led space company in June to develop a “US Doerbit Vehicle,” as part of an effort to destroy the ISS no sooner than 2030. Broadly speaking, the plan is to push it out of orbit, have it reenter the Earth’s atmosphere, and harmlessly plunge into the ocean. To prepare for the daring stunt, SpaceX is …

Scotland’s approach to special needs education is more inclusive than the rest of the UK – but it doesn’t always work in practice

Scotland’s approach to special needs education is more inclusive than the rest of the UK – but it doesn’t always work in practice

Published by skeptic

Across the UK, how children are identified with special educational needs, and how they are then supported, differs according to where they live. There are broad similarities in the approaches in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. But in Scotland things are done differently. Northern Ireland, Wales and England define children with learning needs as those who have significantly greater difficulty in learning than their peers. Scotland takes a more distinctive approach, using the term “Additional Support Needs” (ASN). A child or young person has ASN if they are unable, without the provision of additional support, to benefit from the school education provided. This much broader definition means that there is a wide range of reasons a learner could have ASN. These could be permanent or temporary in nature: they could be, for instance, experiencing family bereavement or bullying. Unsurprisingly, Scotland’s broader definition has meant that it has a significant proportion of learners identified with ASN – 37% in 2023. Across a wide range of policy documentation, inclusive education in Scotland is understood broadly to encompass …

Did Orthodox Jews perform a practice round of the red heifer sacrifice? – OpentheWord.org

Did Orthodox Jews perform a practice round of the red heifer sacrifice? – OpentheWord.org

Published by skeptic

Photo of what appears to be a practice round of the red heifer sacrifice taking place somewhere in Old Jerusalem.Credit: Yinon Magal, X According to an article on Charisma, Israeli journalist, Yinon Magal suggested in an X post, that a recent photo indicates that Orthodox Jews had just initiated a practice run of the red heifer sacrifice. לקראת תשעה באב: דורשי המקדש מתרגלים כעת מול הר הבית את מצוות פרה אדומה, שתאפשר את חזרת הטהרה וקיום כל מצוות המקדש pic.twitter.com/hgwgKlongz — ינון מגל (@YinonMagal) August 6, 2024 Middle East Eye provided an English translation of Magal’s X post: “Temple worshipers are now practising the mitzvah [religious duty] of a red cow in front of the Temple Mount, which will enable the return of purity and the observance of all the temple mitzvahs.” The ashes from the red heifer are necessary for temple service, as they are mixed with water and sprinkled on the priests, purifying them and allowing them to perform the sacrifices. The water is also sprinkled on anyone entering the temple grounds who …

The principle of assisted dying – and the practice | Letters

The principle of assisted dying – and the practice | Letters

Published by skeptic

Re Susan Hampshire’s article in your series on assisted dying (‘We wouldn’t let animals die in misery. Why should humans?’: Susan Hampshire on why dying must be a choice, 17 June), the problem with assisted dying is not the principle, but the practice. The reality is far more complex than has been presented. Hampshire says it has been working “perfectly well” in places like Canada and the US. In Canada, people with disabilities have chosen euthanasia not because of their disability, but because their disability allowance is so small that they cannot afford to live. One individual, who could not find affordable housing compatible with their disability, said: “I’ve applied for MAiD [medical assistance in dying] essentially because of abject poverty.” In Oregon, in 1998, just 13% of people who applied for assisted dying did so because they felt like a burden on their family. Since 2017, over 52% have applied because they felt like a burden, suggesting that once assisted dying is legalised, those who qualify increasingly feel pressure to use it. The neighbouring …

Minding the gap between research and practice in adult social care – Evidence & Policy Blog

Minding the gap between research and practice in adult social care – Evidence & Policy Blog

Published by skeptic

Karen Gray, Ailsa Cameron, Christie Cabral, Geraldine Macdonald and Linda Sumpter This blog post is based on the Evidence & Policy article, ‘Shooting in the dark’: implications of the research–practice gap for enhancing research use in adult social care’. There is great potential for research to inform adult social care practice. However, a gap remains between this potential and its actual use by those who plan, commission or deliver care. In our recently published paper in Evidence & Policy we consider this gap. We also reflect on the implications of the continuing need to ensure that research is there – relevant, accessible, usable and used. In 2022 we interviewed people in three local authorities. When asked what they thought research was for, most emphasised the belief that it should improve the lives of people using services. Some mentioned improving their own practice. Others talked about its value in helping them ‘fight their corner’ when a difficult decision had to be made or course of action justified. Senior leaders noted its potential for informing strategic direction, …

Russia to practice tactical nuclear weapon scenario in drills to deter West

Russia to practice tactical nuclear weapon scenario in drills to deter West

Published by skeptic

NUCLEAR RISKS Since the war began, Russia has repeatedly warned of rising nuclear risks – warnings which the United States says it has to take seriously though US officials say they have seen no change in Russia’s nuclear posture. Putin has faced calls inside Russia from some hardliners to change Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which Russia would use a nuclear weapon, though Putin said last year he saw no need to change the doctrine. Broadly, the doctrine says such a weapon would be used in response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat”. Putin warned the West in March that a direct conflict between Russia and the US-led NATO military alliance would mean the planet was one step away from World War Three but said hardly anyone wanted such a scenario. Russia and the United States are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers, holding more than …