In a small but highly provocative study, a UW-Madison research team has found, for the first time, that a short program in "mindfulness meditation" produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system. - source [1]

This is a couple of years old, but still worth looking at. It is one study from the HealthEmotions Research Institute [2] located at the University of Wisconsin. Their goal is to scientifically determine how emotions influence health. They have quite a few studies going on at the moment, and I look forward to seeing the results of all of them.

I think that this sort of study speaks to a side of human development that we haven't discussed a lot in class. The conscious development of the self, through discipline and choice.

I like to dwell on this aspect of development, as it is the part we have a lot of control over. I can't change my parents or my heredity. I can have a direct impact on the way my brain functions and how I navigate what I've been given though.

You can read more about how science is approaching meditation here [3] and here [4].

Since we are reading a lot in Bloom's book about emotions and why they may exist, you might also find how people are manipulating their emotions for their own gain interesting. There is a "new" practice called Laughter Therapy that has become quite popular with some folks. Here is a Laughter Yoga [5] page that has several short movies about the practice. They even go into "laughter clubs" as they exist in India.

Patty