Amidst jamming our schedules full of juice-cleansing, vitamin-popping and spinning, it seems many overlook one fairly important element in our efforts to improve our wellbeing: our brains.
Once an ancient Eastern technique to transform consciousness, and a practice that can take many different forms, today we’re beginning to understand the neuroscience behind how meditation can benefit our health and wellbeing.
Read MoreWhat's in a thought? Meditation is becoming a more common tool for reducing problematic thoughts, increasing positive thinking and calming the mind. With a wealth of scientific evidence proving the positive effects of meditation, we've learned to use this ancient practice to feel more peace and equanimity. But where do our thoughts come from? Why do scientists have yet to answer this question?
Read MoreThe most powerful human sense is also the most under utilised. Scent is not only the very first sense activated when we're born, but it is surprisingly our strongest human sense as well.
Science is only now starting to understand how deeply interconnected the olfactory system is with an individual's emotional state. Where actions such as choosing what we eat and how we schedule our day are mechanisms thought to effect our productivity, scent has been shown to have a correlation to areas of the brain responsible for focus and motivation. This makes it a powerful strategic tool for changing our behaviour and moods.
Read MoreOver the course of our evolutionary history, we found ourselves interacting with each other in order to fulfil some of our basic needs. We acknowledged that forming a group increased the sensation of safety and the efficiency in hunting food. But as resources have grown in abundance, and technology has enabled the intangible at our fingertips, people living and or working alone, (in theory) no longer need a ‘tribe’ or community. Biochemically, however, our brains and bodies still very much crave the hormones released during bonding experiences.
Read MoreHow clearing our space changes our mental space. The beautiful work that occurs when we discard everything that does not “spark joy,” after thanking the objects that are getting the heave-ho for their service; and do not buy organising equipment — your home already has all the storage you need.
Read MoreThere's no need to re-state the statistics on phone checking. We all acknowledge we spend too much time staring at a screen, but wasted time aside, more concerning is our decreasing level of patience, reduced levels of empathy, dwindling conversational skills, challenges with real human connection and our inability to be alone with our own thoughts... not to mention the negative effects smartphones are having on our ability to focus.
Read MoreWhen Apple moves an inch, the world stands still and watches. As one of the most innovative and coveted companies in the world, their products have fundamentally changed the way we interact with one another today, and for generations to come.
This week, rumours hit the internet that Apple expressed interest in designing a “smart ring”. As a patent request leaked along with some rough design sketches, Business Insider flatteringly compared the design to Kovert Designs’ very own Altruis ring. Of course, this caught our attention.
As a group of forward-thinking product designers, engineers, scientists, and creatives, we admire the ingenuity and human-focused design that Apple has brought to the world. But we also recognise that such ingenuity is only valuable in so far it elevates our potential as humans. In our modern, hyper-connected world, we are also aware of the cost that comes with our global technology obsessions.
In fact, this is what drives us. It is at the centre of every decision we make.
Read MoreThe negative effects of elevated cortisol levels caused in part by digital overstimulation and stress are endless. Some of the most noteworthy symptoms are the negative impact it has on our immune system and our deteriorating memory recall ability. You may have noticed the people who are busy and stressed are often sick - this correlation has been confirmed by doctors who have studied how cortisol affects our immune system by interfering with T-cell production and function (i.e. our immune cells), thus making us more susceptible to invading pathogens. This was outlined in a longitudinal study that compiled over 30 years of research to find correlations between acute stressors, increased cortisol and lowered immune response.
Read MoreThe VINAYA team is made up of researchers, engineers, and designers, and we’re inherently interested in testing and trying methods that help us perform at our best. We work at a fast pace and to tight timelines, so we’re always researching ways we might be able to improve or our own personal potential and wellbeing. We’ve experimented with a plethora of ‘life-hacks’, but have found that one of the most effective changes we’ve made to our workday doesn’t actually take place in the office, it’s how we wake up at home....
Read MoreWe drink green smoothies and lemon water and refrain from sugar like the plague, but scientists are now uncovering the processes through which sleep cleanses the brain better than any supplement or detox.
Previously, scientists thought the brain only cleaned itself by trickling toxins through brain tissues, but according to Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicin at the University of Rochester Medical Center School of Medicine and Dentistry, wastes are forcefully pushed through the brain at a much faster and higher pace.
Read MoreThe Dalai Lama has been curious about academic subjects such neuroscience for decades, and after speaking with Richard Davidson in 1992, the two began studying the brains of people who spent years cultivating well-being and compassionate thought pattern through meditation practices.
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