First and foremost, go to the protests, stand up, and be counted. If the numbers are there, the political establishment cannot afford to ignore it. Then, in addition, write to every one of your elected representatives: your city council member, mayor, state representatives, state governor, your federal representatives in the Hose of Representatives and the Senate, and finally, the president. The following letter is offered as a template or example, just replace the XXXXX with "President Obama" or whomever you happen to be writing to at the moment.

Other things you might do include phoning and/or going to your elected representatives' offices (that tends to freak them out). Take some friends and make a day of it. In any event, do something, and pass it on.

Dear XXXXXX,

I am deeply troubled by the increasingly negative impact of corporate financial interests on the interests of the general public, resulting in an ever-deteriorating quality of life for the average citizen of the United States, even as corporate profits soar, and CEO salaries have grown beyond the level of obscenity, and still continue to rise.  It has become painfully clear that the spirit of democracy has been severely undermined by the vast amounts of money spent on political campaigns and professional lobbying.  Now that the courts have granted free speech protection to corporate spending in the political process, it seems we have sadly abandoned the one-person-one-vote model that most Americans want, expect, and deserve, in favor of a one-dollar-one-vote model, with the notion of equal representation nothing more than an empty promise that cannot be realized under the current law of the land.  XXXXXX, seeing these trends take hold in this great nation, which I so dearly love, leaves me utterly heartbroken.  

But just this week I found new reason to hope for a brighter future.  I learned that I am not alone in my reaction to how big money interests have poisoned our political system and dis-empowered the individual citizen.  That new hope stems from the "Occupy Wall Street" movement that is spreading to every major city from coast to coast, as average citizens like myself are realizing that the big money interests have stolen the American Dream, and that if we want it back we will have to stand up and demand it. We are indeed standing up now, XXXXXX, and all indications suggest that our numbers will continue to grow as more and more people come to realize that the vast majority of us agree that corporate spending in politics is out of control and has to be stopped, now.

We need you and as many of your colleagues as you can convince to stand with us in this effort, by immediately and in no uncertain terms acknowledging the Occupy Movement, and voicing your unwavering support for the protesters and their overarching cause.  This is the most promising grass roots movement we've seen in years, and with your support and guidance we can ensure that the raw anger and frustration emanating from the streets translates to truly meaningful political reform.

In closing XXXXXX, be aware that the Occupy Movement has my most enthusiastic physical, mental, emotional, and financial support, and I want you to join us with equal enthusiasm.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Background

Physical activity and exercise appear to improve psychological health. However, the quantitative effects of Tai Chi on psychological well-being have rarely been examined. We systematically reviewed the effects of Tai Chi on stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance in eastern and western populations.

Methods

Eight English and 3 Chinese databases were searched through March 2009. Randomized controlled trials, non-randomized controlled studies and observational studies reporting at least 1 psychological health outcome were examined. Data were extracted and verified by 2 reviewers. The randomized trials in each subcategory of health outcomes were meta-analyzed using a random-effects model. The quality of each study was assessed.

Results

Forty studies totaling 3817 subjects were identified. Approximately 29 psychological measurements were assessed. Twenty-one of 33 randomized and nonrandomized trials reported that 1 hour to 1 year of regular Tai Chi significantly increased psychological well-being including reduction of stress (effect size [ES], 0.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.23 to 1.09), anxiety (ES, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.29 to 1.03), and depression (ES, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.80), and enhanced mood (ES, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.20 to 0.69) in community-dwelling healthy participants and in patients with chronic conditions. Seven observational studies with relatively large sample sizes reinforced the beneficial association between Tai Chi practice and psychological health.

Conclusions

Tai Chi appears to be associated with improvements in psychological well-being including reduced stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance, and increased self-esteem. Definitive conclusions were limited due to variation in designs, comparisons, heterogeneous outcomes and inadequate controls. High-quality, well-controlled, longer randomized trials are needed to better inform clinical decisions.

Read the full article here.

Abstract: Intuition is the ability to understand immediately without conscious reasoning and is sometimes explained as a ‘gut feeling’ about the rightness or wrongness of a person, place, situation, temporal episode or object. In contrast, insight is the capacity to gain accurate and a deep understanding of a problem and it is often associated with movement beyond existing paradigms. Examples include Darwin, Einstein and Freud’s theories of natural selection, relativity, or the unconscious; respectively. Many cultures name these concepts and acknowledge their value, and insight is recognized as particularly characteristic of eminent achievements in the arts, sciences and politics. Considerable data suggests that these two concepts are more related than distinct, and that a more distributed intuitive network may feed into a predominately right hemispheric insight-based functional neuronal architecture. The preparation and incubation stages of insight may rely on the incorporation of domain-specific automatized expertise schema associated with intuition. In this manuscript the neural networks associated with intuition and insight are reviewed. Case studies of anomalous subjects with ability–achievement discrepancies are summarized. This theoretical review proposes the prospect that atypical localization of cognitive modules may enhance intuitive and insightful functions and thereby explain individual achievement beyond that expected by conventionally measured intelligence tests. A model and theory of intuition and insight’s neuroanatomical basis is proposed which could be used as a starting point for future research and better understanding of the nature of these two distinctly human and highly complex poorly understood abilities.

Download the full article here.