BLOG
What We Are Reading
Ernesto Ramirez
August 29, 2015
What We Are Reading Newsletter from Aug 29, 2015
What We Are Reading Newsletter from Aug 29, 2015
What We Are Reading Newsletter from Jul 14, 2013
At a recent QS meetup in Boston, Gary shares a few quick insights on the challenges of restarting a tracking practice once you’ve stopped, gamification vs. motivation, and his experience of meditation. Check out the video below, as well as a more detailed discussion about his meditation practice. Gary Wolf – Boston QS Q&A –…
Catherine Kerr does brain science related to mindfulness at Brown University Medical School. She points out that mindfulness traditions ask practitioners to simply focus closely on body sensations in order to bring attention to the present moment. Why does this help with depression? In the video below, Catherine explains some of her magnetoencephalopathy (MEG) research to…
Alan Bachers is an expert in neurofeedback training, which he comfortingly describes as helping the brain learn how to calibrate itself. He suggests that this training accelerates the process of getting into meditative or other desirable mental states, and can possibly help a medicated brain learn to function without medication. In the video below, he…
QS founder Gary Wolf speaks at the Silicon Valley QS meetup group, giving a meta look at what Quantified Self is about, followed by a personal show&tell about his meditation data.
This is the first post in a new series of “Toolmaker Talks” we’re starting on the Quantified Self blog. There are many conducting personal QS projects, and much of what is featured on the QS blog is about: what did they do? how did they do it? and what have they learned? Now, we want to…
Do you have the energy to do everything but the focus to accomplish nothing? David Charron of UC Berkeley studies multi-tasking, distraction and sustainable attention. He has experimented with quantifying his own attention, and compared himself to a long-time meditator. Check out his results and the interesting audience questions in the video below. (Filmed at…
George Lawton studies happiness, and how to have more of it. In the video below, he talks about emotional feedback tools, his research on how to incrementally increase happiness, and how he tried to change his mood by changing his facial expressions. George also discusses mirror meditation as a way to increase emotional well-being, engages…
I’m starting to wonder – is there any aspect of life that cannot be tracked? This week’s roundup on lifestyle-tracking tools moves into deeply personal areas like sex life, baby’s sleep schedule, amount of drinking, menstrual cycles, meditation, and media consumption. Proceed with caution if you are squeamish. It’s part of our regular tool roundup for the…
I’ve been thinking for some time about the connection between self-tracking and mindfulness. At first glance they seem to be very different – picture the wired-up gadget wizard sitting next to the unadorned meditating guru. But step to the side and look from a different angle, and you may see meditation and self-tracking as two…
From the Amsterdam QS Show&Tell Meetup group: Beer van Geer (aka Universal Media Man) shows his award-winning Dagaz Project. His application uses the Neurosky EEG headset to quantify brainwaves during meditation on Mandala symbols. As you meditate you can see your progress in real-time. Watch his mind-blowing talk below. Beer van Geer – Project Dagaz…
Our first Quantified Self Show and Tell in Amsterdam took place on September 20 at Het Volkskrantgebouw. More than sixty people showed up to attend and some even came from Germany and France! Sebastiaan ter Burg kindly provided us help with the video and photos. All the videos can be found on Vimeo and all photos on Flickr….
Ramesh Rao, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCSD, discusses his findings on heart rate and meditation.
Robin Barooah presented his new meditation tracker, called “Equanimity” at the recent QS Show&Tell hosted by MedHelp. A meditation practice is a powerful tool for increased well being and yet, for something so simple and cost-free, it surprisingly difficult to maintain. The problem of “resistance” in meditation is well known. Even people with long years…