Interoception: the hidden sense that shapes wellbeing–The Guardian, August 15, 2021 Interoception—or the attention paid to the signals sent from our internal organs to the brain—is one of our most important senses. It lies behind our sense of intuition—when something feels “right” or “wrong” without an explanation—but there’s growing scientific evidence that it plays a major role in regulating emotions and fending off anxiety and…
Workplace wellbeing was complex before COVID-19, and then this crisis fundamentally changed the very nature of work—from the mass reality of work-from-home to negotiating going back to workplaces in an ongoing pandemic. To help companies navigate this moment, the GWI’s Workplace Wellness Initiative has released an important, detailed “Return to Work Standards” guide. This is just the first Workplace Wellbeing Standards that will offer employers…
It’s widely believed that people put on weight in middle age because their metabolisms slow down and that women have slower metabolisms than men, and menopause makes things worse (which is why women struggle with weight issues.) A large, new study (6,500 people) indicates that those assumptions are flat-out wrong. Rather than metabolism slowing in middle age, there are four distinct phases of metabolic change:…
“Beauty” and “wellness” are elusive concepts, and a new study from the University of Pennsylvania (454 participants) analyzed how people free associate with these terms, using semantic network analysis to provide new insight into how people really think about these two concepts. The study investigated: 1) What concepts surround beauty and wellness? 2) How are these concepts linked? 3) Does the way people think about beauty and wellness change across generations (from…
Breath practices are generating buzz because they’re free, accessible and increasingly science-based solutions that tackle what ails us most now: stress and anxiety. In response, the GWI just launched a BREATHE Initiative, bringing together a global group of breath practitioners, scientists/researchers, doctors and wellness leaders that will work to bring a broader awareness to breath modalities and the science behind breathwork. The Initiative co-chairs are…
A new study (of 2,000 adults) found that just one night of fewer than six hours of sleep significantly hurts mental and physical wellbeing, and as the number of consecutive days of sleep loss increased, the severity of negative emotions and physical issues (body aches, gastrointestinal issues and respiratory problems) became severe. Problems spiked on day three and plateaued until day six when mental and…
