Can 30-seconds of cold water change your life? Let’s dive into the age-old topic of whether being immersed in cold water can bring you better health and wellbeing. Share the love: this post was written by University of Melbourne Science Communication student Talia Oates. What is cold water immersion? Have you ever heard of ‘The Iceman’? He’s a famous Dutch motivational speaker and founder of the ‘Wim Hof Method’. His method aims to achieve an […]
Your mind often escapes when you’re in a boring meeting or washing the dishes. Previously considered undesirable and unhealthy, science has come around to the silver linings of letting our thoughts drift. Driven to distraction (in a good way) Daydreaming, otherwise called mind-wandering or self-generated thought, often gets a bad rap as something indulgent, unwanted and unproductive. It distracts us from the task immediately at hand and can result in errors. In extreme cases, called […]
For years, people have flocked to cities for greater job prospects and convenience. Tara Bautista explores why something in our psyche still yearns to escape the urban jungle and is soothed by the great outdoors. A few years ago, when I was struggling with some mental health issues, I realised that the cramped city apartment I was living in was not doing me any favours. The walls were painted a calming pale green that was […]
There’s a lot of hype around vitamin D. We’ve long known it’s essential for healthy bones, but over the last decade it’s been claimed low vitamin D levels are linked to a whole host of other illnesses. How clear are those links and how many of us really need vitamin D supplements? Get some rays Also known as the sunshine vitamin, there are two ways to get vitamin D. The first is the same way […]
Are you an optimist? Quite likely – more than three-quarters of us are. And it’s a good thing to be: optimists are healthier and live longer. But there’s also a dark side to optimism.
We’ve all heard ‘Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’. But what evidence did Benjamin Franklin have when he said it? Is it true the hours of sleep you get before, rather than after, midnight contribute more to your health and wellbeing? Nighty night, sleep tight Most parents I know prioritise getting their kids to bed early. We all know only too well how kids fare if they’re short […]
When was the last time you laughed out loud? Can you remember what set you off? It turns out laughing is more complex than it might appear: we laugh for many different reasons. And some of them aren’t that funny. Is laughter the best medicine? Laughter has been claimed to be good for just about everything, from boosting the immune system, to decreasing stress and lowering blood pressure. There’s some evidence laughter protects against heart disease and […]
Dr Jen Martin 