I have a new part-time job that has me doing scientific research. Researching is something I have done since my pre-teen years in helping my mother with her scientific studies (pre-Internet, of course), on her way to her PhD (and before). It is also the one facet of her studies that I most enjoyed. I liked the equipment, yes, but always hated the exposure to fumes and chemicals that I had no understanding (or faith in anyone else’s) of what they could do to me.
But again, research is something I really enjoy, and have done scientific research on and off for most of my life. So there is some background and knowledge in the health sciences that is to my benefit on knowing what and how to conduct the research. But the best part is having that knowledge base grow as I do so. There are occasional articles I have run across that are not necessarily applicable to the work I am doing – but that are in fact applicable to me… such as one I found this morning ( Autism and Mind–Body Therapies: A Systematic Review
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5446600/) .
But there are others that are in fact applicable, and yet provide perhaps specific interest for me (and others), that I would like to share a bit of here. So, I know many people are skeptical of the relationship between the mind and the body in a purely scientific perspective. I wish I could share big pieces of my research that might change those ideas, but the biggest thing I have found of interest is this (in short).
In 2009, the Nobel Prize was awarded to research about how telomeres affect the body and aging. You can read that here (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2009/press-release/). But the most interesting things I have found about that are related recent articles about how lifestyle changes affect the length of telomeres, and hence the length of our lives. Specifically, there are a handful about stress, and how stress reduction, as well as reduction of other specific stressors on the body increase the length of telomeres, and hence potentially the length of life. But my favorite is this one (and several others similar)… about how Loving & Kindness (specifically in Women) are associated with longer Telomeres, and hence longer life. This over doubles my happiness at being born with a loving heart. No wonder I have managed (so far) to beat all the health issues I was also born with, and surpass the average life expectancy for an Autistic person born when I was. (“Loving-Kindness Meditation Practice Associated With Longer Telomeres in Women” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23602876/).
So, there is not only a life benefit to being loving, but a scientifically proven health benefit. Love thy neighbor, everyone! You’ll live longer!
featherpresents 