This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. presents the conclusion to his tribute to the late comedian, actor, activist and social critic, Dick Gregory, who died in August 2017, after a legendary career that spanned seven decades and gained him worldwide fame.
health and wellness
Higher Ed: How Practices For A Healthy Mind Could Promote A Healthy Body Too
There is more talk in education these days about wellness and more attention to stress, anxiety and other factors that can impede learning. But there is less talk about the ways that good learning practices might improve health. In this episode of the KUT podcast “Higher Ed,” KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger discuss the role of learning and education in wellness.
There are plenty of other subjects we learn to master, so why not health and wellness?
Ed believes that health and wellness information could – and should – be offered at a micro level outside of school. A lot of that kind of information is certainly available already. The challenge is to make it accessible and impactful.
“It’s gotta be bite-sized. You can’t have a full lecture or something,” says Ed. “And it’s got to be meaningful and thought-provoking…. it has to get you.”
For instance, Ed suggests reinforcing a message delivered by a doctor or health care provider with a short video or other educational element; that model is not unlike lessons from a teacher reinforced by text or other materials.
“One two-minute video is not going to do anything,” Ed admits. “But if it kind of is a continuation that keeps moving maybe it stays in your head a little bit, and we become more mindful and maybe we can change.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about how Ed believes learning and mindfulness can be brought to bear on health issues. It is also time for the solution to last episode’s sneaky arithmetic puzzler.
This episode was recorded on April 23, 2019.
The Placebo Effect
There are a lot of factors that help to regulate our overall health and wellness. If we are content in our lives and relationships, we are more likely to be healthy.
If we exercise and eat well, we reap the benefits in our mind and body. Also, as recent studies by Ted Kaptchuck and others show, if we take medications or supplements, even if they’re nothing but rice powder and sugar, we can feel better.
In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why taking placebos somehow makes us feel healthier.