Finding Inner Peace: My Journey to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

Modern life can create the conditions for increased levels of stress and anxiety. This is particularly true for college students who experience a lot of changes and pressures regarding academics, romantic relationships, friendships, and career plans. More and more people are turning to alternative ways of relieving their stress and anxiety. One of the most popular approaches is yoga. The definition used is this: yoga is a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline that focuses on breath control, meditation, and specific body postures, and is widely practiced for physical and spiritual health, as well as relaxation. Yoga uses a holistic way of thinking, meaning that the mind and body are connected as one. Yoga is often seen as a way to practice self-awareness, achieve higher consciousness, and often lead to internal peace. Some practices that are related to yoga are meditation and mindfulness. The question proposed here is what does practicing yoga look like and is it effective in reducing stress and anxiety? Also, does the experience of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness help create inner peace? A review of the history and development of yoga was done. In addition, a review of the research literature on the benefits of yoga was done. Through this research, it was found that there are many benefits to the practice, including reducing stress and anxiety. In order to further answer these questions, a single subject case study approach was employed using a participant observer method. I took yoga classes to verify these benefits first hand and undertook a personal journey into the culture and practice of yoga. Before and after self-assessments were recorded to help document the results of these experiences. An in-depth description of the experiences and the benefits will be presented along with some suggestions for a helpful way to practice yoga

Understandings of Global Responsibility’ Expressed By Civil Engineers Working in London

This paper discusses the term ‘global responsibility’, how it emerged and why, and analysis of interview data collected from nine civil engineers working in London regarding their understandings of the term. Professional Bodies often take the lead in envisioning change, by identifying the direction their professionals should take to help address society’s evolving needs and aspirations. Often, such Bodies charge academia with addressing society’s evolving needs through research, outreach, and preparing the next generation of professionals. In the UK, leaders in civil engineering have pressed for individual and collective action to facilitate sustainable development and decrease occurrence of corruption. Nevertheless, under the current model of professional conduct, finances (typically the extractive side of the economic pillar) continue to take precedence over the environmental and social pillars. In response, the United Nations has encouraged use of the term ‘global responsibility’ to expand public perceptions of what quality life should entail

Opportunities and barriers faced by early-career civil engineers enacting global responsibility

The term ‘global responsibility’ projects a holistic sense of ethics, sustainability, and obligation. To achieve the long-term viability of human life on Earth, civil engineering must be conducted in increasingly responsible ways, and civil engineers must value and enact global responsibility in their work. Interviews conducted with nine civil engineers in London provide insight regarding engineers’ familiarity with the term, how they learned about it, what opportunities and barriers they face, and what might be done by professional and educational institutions to help them practice more responsibly. Results indicate: the term itself is novel but underlying concepts are not; continuing professional development has played a crucial role in their understanding; material selection and Health & Safety represent primary avenues for contributing responsibly at work. This paper provides advice to professional institutions regarding transparencies, procedures, and metrics to enhance the UK workplace and ideas for educational institutions preparing engineering students for practice

Assessing the Grit and Mindset of Incoming Engineering Students With an Emphasis on Gender

Engineering programs can be very demanding, particularly in the first years where students encounter new forms of highly challenging coursework. To better prepare and support students, educators must acknowledge non-academic factors, such as the role of self-beliefs and personal attributes. Education research suggests that students are more likely to give up and disengage from their studies when they lack grit or assume a fixed mindset. Previous studies suggest that female students are generally grittier but less confident when compared to male students. This paper presents the initial work of an ongoing study to explore self-confidence and motivations to study engineering of first year engineering students experiencing a new multi-disciplinary curriculum. A dataset collected via an online survey at the start of the academic year with 102 students was analysed. Gender comparisons were undertaken to explore the association between self-confidence and motivations with grit and mindsets

Assessing the Grit and Mindset of Incoming Engineering Students with an Emphasis on Gender

Engineering programs can be very demanding, particularly in the first years where students encounter new forms of highly challenging coursework. To better prepare and support students, educators must acknowledge non-academic factors, such as the role of self-beliefs and personal attributes. Education research suggests that students are more likely to give up and disengage from their studies when they lack grit or assume a fixed mindset. Previous studies suggest that female students are generally grittier but less confident when compared to male students. This paper presents the initial work of an ongoing study to explore self-confidence and motivations to study engineering of first year engineering students experiencing a new multi-disciplinary curriculum. A dataset collected via an online survey at the start of the academic year with 102 students was analysed. Gender comparisons were undertaken to explore the association between self-confidence and motivations with grit and mindsets

Optical feedback and the coupling problem in semiconductor microdisk lasers

The smaller the size of a light-emitting microcavity, the more important it becomes to understand the effects of the cavity boundary on the optical mode profile. Conventional methods of laser physics, such as the paraxial approximation, become inapplicable in many of the more exotic cavity designs to be discussed here. Cavities in the shape of microdisks, pillars and rings can yield low lasing thresholds in a wide variety of gain media: quantum wells, wires and even dots, as well as quantum cascade superlattices and GaN. An overview of the experimental and theoretical status is provided, with special emphasis on the light extraction problem.Comment: PDF generated by pdflate

A confirmed case of toxic shock syndrome associated with the use of a menstrual cup

Menstrual cups have been reported to be an acceptable substitute for tampons. These flexible cups have also been reported to provide a sustainable solution to menstrual management, with modest cost savings and no significant health risk. The present article documents the first case of toxic shock syndrome associated with the use of a menstrual cup in a woman 37 years of age, using a menstrual cup for the first time. Toxic shock syndrome and the literature on menstrual cups is reviewed and a possible mechanism for the development of toxic shock syndrome in the patient is described