During the ceremony, an unexpected visitor arrived — Ravana, the powerful king of Lanka, who had been granted near-invincibility by Brahma, the creator god. The sudden appearance of Ravana caused great alarm among the gods, compelling them to disguise themselves to avoid confrontation.

To escape his attention, each god transformed into a different animal or bird:

• Indra became a peacock,

• Yama turned into a crow,

• Varuna took the form of a swan,

• and Kubera — the god of wealth — chose to become a chameleon.

These transformations were not mere acts of camouflage, but strategic efforts to remain unnoticed and protect themselves from Ravana’s formidable power. The plan worked — Ravana, unaware of the divine presence, eventually left the scene.

In gratitude for the animals whose forms they had borrowed, each god offered a divine blessing. Kubera, in his chameleon form, bestowed upon the creature a unique and lasting gift — the ability to change its color at will.

This sacred blessing ensured that the chameleon would forever possess this extraordinary ability, allowing it to blend with its surroundings and shield itself from danger.

Thus, according to Hindu tradition, the chameleon’s color-changing ability is not merely a biological trait, but a divine gift — a sacred symbol of adaptability and survival, granted in recognition of its role in protecting the gods during a time of great peril.

The post Why Can a Chameleon Change Its Color? A Story from Hindu Tradition appeared first on Table for Change.

What is less widely known is that the clinical research on neroli is among the stronger bodies of evidence in aromatherapy, particularly regarding anxiety reduction. A 2026 systematic review covering 11 randomized controlled trials involving 1,170 women found that neroli oil was an effective, safe intervention for reducing anxiety, depression, and stress, including during pregnancy and labor. This is the kind of evidence base that most aromatherapy compounds do not have.

The Chemistry Behind the Benefits

Neroli’s therapeutic properties are primarily attributable to its major chemical constituents:

• Linalool (typically 25-45% of the oil): One of the most studied aromatic compounds. Research shows linalool modulates GABAergic neurotransmission, the same pathway targeted by benzodiazepine anti-anxiety medications, producing calming effects without significant sedation at aromatherapy doses.
• Limonene (10-20%): Antioxidant, antimicrobial, and mood-modulating. Studies show limonene inhalation activates serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in animal models, consistent with the mood-elevating effects reported by human users.
• Linalyl acetate (5-15%): Anti-inflammatory and calming, synergistic with linalool in its anxiolytic effects.
• Nerolidol and farnesol: Antimicrobial compounds that contribute to neroli’s skin-protective properties.

8 Evidence-Supported Benefits

1. Anxiety Reduction

The strongest evidence for neroli is in anxiety. Beyond the 2026 systematic review, a study of patients with acute coronary syndrome found that inhaling neroli aroma for 5 minutes significantly reduced anxiety scores compared to placebo. A separate trial found reduced pre-procedure anxiety in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. The mechanism is linalool’s modulation of GABA receptors, producing a mild anxiolytic effect through the olfactory-limbic pathway.

2. Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Reduction

Several studies have documented acute reductions in systolic blood pressure and heart rate following neroli inhalation. A trial in menopausal women found that inhaling a neroli blend for 5 minutes significantly reduced both blood pressure and pulse rate compared to controls. These cardiovascular effects are likely mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system activation that the linalool-rich oil produces.

3. Improved Sleep Quality

The sedative component of neroli’s action, primarily through linalool’s modulation of GABA receptors and reduction in cortisol, supports its use as a sleep aid. Clinical studies have found improved sleep quality scores with evening aromatherapy use. It is most effectively used through diffusion in the bedroom 30 to 60 minutes before sleep.

4. Menopausal Symptom Relief

Multiple trials specifically in menopausal women have found that neroli aromatherapy reduces hot flash frequency, sexual dysfunction, and psychological symptoms of menopause compared to control conditions. The 2014 trial by Choi et al. found that 5 minutes of daily neroli inhalation over 5 days produced significant improvements in menopausal symptoms and sexual desire. This population-specific evidence is unusual in essential oil research.

5. Skin Regeneration and Anti-Aging

Neroli stimulates cell regeneration, a property documented in both in vitro studies and clinical cosmetic research. It increases the turnover rate of skin cells, helps reduce the appearance of stretch marks and scars, and has been incorporated into medical-grade skincare for this reason. Limonene provides antioxidant protection against UV-induced oxidative stress, while nerolidol contributes antimicrobial protection.

6. Antimicrobial Properties

In vitro studies have found neroli effective against several common pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans. The clinical relevance of in vitro antimicrobial data is always limited, but it supports neroli’s traditional use for skin infections and blemishes.

7. Pain Relief (Labor Pain)

Trials in laboring women using neroli aromatherapy have found reduced pain scores and reduced anxiety during labor. A 2014 Iranian study found that neroli inhalation significantly reduced labor pain severity compared to control. The mechanism combines anxiety reduction (which amplifies pain perception) with possible direct analgesic effects of linalool on pain receptors.

8. Anti-inflammatory Effects

Linalyl acetate and alpha-terpineol in neroli oil have demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in cell studies, inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines. This supports its topical use for skin conditions with an inflammatory component, including acne and rosacea.

How to Use Neroli Oil

Aromatherapy: Add 3 to 5 drops to a diffuser and run for 30 to 60 minutes. For acute anxiety, inhale directly from a tissue with 2 to 3 drops applied for 5 minutes.

Topical (face): Dilute to 1% in a carrier oil (jojoba, rosehip, or sweet almond are ideal for facial use). This means approximately 6 drops per 30ml of carrier oil. Apply to clean skin morning or evening.

Body: Dilute to 2 to 3% in a carrier oil for body use. Add to bath at 5 to 8 drops mixed first into a tablespoon of milk or carrier oil to disperse in water.

Precautions: Neroli contains compounds that may increase photosensitivity, particularly limonene. Avoid direct sun exposure for 12 hours after applying topically to exposed skin. As with all essential oils, perform a patch test before full application and do not use undiluted on skin.

The post Neroli Oil: 8 Benefits Supported by Science (And How to Use It) appeared first on Table for Change.

In conforming to societal norms and expectations, many of us find ourselves deeply unhappy. We chase wealth, fame, and material possessions, indulge in unhealthy habits, and consume endless streams of negativity through media. To escape insecurities and existential emptiness, we numb ourselves with distractions and substances. Often, our relationships with others—whether partners, children, or animals—become expressions of control rather than genuine connection. Meanwhile, we continue contributing to the destruction of ecosystems, species, and communities across the globe.

Our lives often reflect silent despair masked by a cheerful exterior. Despair, in one form or another, always feels close at hand.

But what if healing was as simple as stepping outside? What if reconnecting with nature could help us find balance and restore our sense of purpose?

While conventional therapy often takes place in clean, controlled environments, ecotherapy—or “green therapy”—offers an alternative. It emphasizes healing through connection with the natural world. This simple yet transformative approach can rejuvenate the mind, body, and spirit.

The Benefits of Ecotherapy

Ecotherapy, rooted in a deep connection with nature, offers many benefits:

• Interconnection: It reminds us that we are part of the same life force that animates all living things.
• Perspective: It puts our personal struggles into a larger context, revealing their insignificance in the grand scheme of life.
• Balance: It highlights the give-and-take nature of life, teaching us to restore harmony in what we consume and contribute.

Studies show that time in nature reduces anxiety, depression, and blood pressure while boosting self-esteem, vitality, and overall health. It even fosters a sense of belonging.

14 Simple Ways to Practice Ecotherapy

Here are some inexpensive, easy ways to incorporate ecotherapy into your life:

1. Take a walk in your yard, neighborhood, or local park.
2. Breathe in the scents of nature, noticing subtle aromas like flowers or fresh grass.
3. Walk barefoot on grass to feel grounded and refresh your energy.
4. Sit under a tree or lean against it to experience its calming presence.
5. Go bird-watching and see how many species you can identify.
6. Collect natural treasures like feathers, shells, or leaves for creative projects.
7. Gaze at the sky or ocean to expand your perspective and calm your mind.
8. Plant a garden with flowers, herbs, or vegetables to nurture life.
9. Capture nature’s beauty with photography—whether it’s dewdrops, sunsets, or landscapes.
10. Press flowers to use in crafts like handmade cards or scrapbooks.
11. Build a bird nest to offer something back to wildlife.
12. Forage for wild edibles, ensuring you’ve done proper research for safety.
13. Walk in the rain to reconnect with the elements and feel invigorated.
14. Sit in silence, doing nothing, and simply absorb the tranquility of nature.

By spending just 10 minutes a day consciously engaging with nature, you can transform your life. Ecotherapy is a powerful antidote to the stresses of modern living, helping us reconnect with ourselves, others, and the world around us.

The post Ecotherapy: 14 Types of Earth-Centered Healing You Will Love appeared first on Table for Change.

What the Pineal Gland Actually Does

The pineal gland is a small (approximately 5-8mm), pinecone-shaped endocrine organ located in the center of the brain, sitting in the epithalamus between the two cerebral hemispheres. It is one of the few brain structures not protected by the blood-brain barrier, which allows it to respond directly to circulating signals.

Its primary documented function is the production and secretion of melatonin, the hormone that regulates circadian rhythms and the sleep-wake cycle.

Here is the mechanism: photoreceptors in the retina detect light and send signals through the retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the brain’s master clock. The SCN relays this information to the pineal gland. In darkness, the pineal gland converts serotonin into melatonin and releases it into the bloodstream, signaling to the body that it is night. Light suppresses melatonin production. This cycle is the primary biological mechanism by which the body synchronizes its internal timing to the external light-dark cycle.

Melatonin does not cause sleep directly. It is a timing signal, not a sedative. It tells the body “it is dark, therefore it is appropriate to sleep,” and the body responds by initiating the sleep processes. This is why melatonin supplements are most effective for circadian disruption (jet lag, shift work) and less consistently effective for primary insomnia.

The pineal gland also plays a role in seasonal physiology: in animals with strong seasonal reproductive cycles, melatonin duration (which increases in winter as nights lengthen) regulates reproductive timing, coat growth, and other seasonal adaptations. In humans, this function is vestigial but not entirely absent, and seasonal affective disorder involves partially disrupted melatonin signaling.

Pineal Calcification: What It Is and What It Is Not

Calcium and phosphorus deposits accumulate in the pineal gland with age, a process called corpora arenacea or “brain sand.” By adulthood, most people have some degree of pineal calcification, which is visible on skull X-rays and CT scans. It is normal. It does not affect function significantly at typical levels, and it is not caused by fluoride, environmental toxins, or any of the other claimed causes in conspiracy-adjacent content. It is a normal aging process, similar to calcification that occurs in other tissues throughout the body.

The DMT Question

Rick Strassman’s 2000 book DMT: The Spirit Molecule popularized the hypothesis that the pineal gland produces endogenous DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine), particularly during birth, death, and dreaming, producing the mystical and near-death experiences associated with these states.

The current scientific status: trace amounts of DMT have been detected in the brains of some mammals, and the pineal gland has some of the enzymatic machinery that could theoretically synthesize it. However, the concentrations found are not sufficient to produce psychoactive effects. More recent research suggests that other brain regions are equally or more plausible as DMT sources than the pineal gland specifically. The hypothesis is scientifically interesting but currently unsupported by the evidence required to treat it as established.

Most neuroscientists treat the “pineal as DMT factory” hypothesis as speculative rather than established, which is an appropriate position given the evidence base.

The Third Eye and Descartes

The association of the pineal gland with a “third eye” or with spiritual perception comes from several sources. Renee Descartes, in the 17th century, called it the “seat of the soul” and believed it was where the mind interacted with the body. This was philosophically influential and empirically wrong, but it established the pineal’s cultural significance.

In Hindu and Buddhist traditions, the third eye (ajna chakra) is located approximately between the eyebrows and represents inner vision, intuition, and consciousness beyond ordinary perception. The pineal gland’s position near the center of the brain and its light-sensitivity made it an appealing anatomical candidate for this concept when Western and Eastern systems began to interact.

Whether this association has value depends on how you frame it. As a literal claim (the pineal gland produces psychic perception), it is not supported by neuroscience. As a metaphorical framework for the capacity for introspection, intuition, and awareness that humans do genuinely possess, it is a useful if anatomically approximate pointer toward real psychological capacities.

How to Support Healthy Pineal Function

Since melatonin production is the pineal gland’s primary documented function, the practices that support healthy melatonin signaling are the practices that support healthy pineal function:

• Exposure to bright natural light in the morning, which entrains the circadian clock
• Reduction of blue-spectrum light in the evening (screens, LED lighting), which suppresses melatonin production
• Consistent sleep and wake times, which stabilize circadian rhythms
• Darkness during sleep, as even low-level light exposure during sleep suppresses melatonin

There is no credible evidence that any food, supplement, or practice “decalcifies” or “activates” the pineal gland in the ways claimed by alternative health sources. The actual biology is interesting enough not to need embellishment.

The post Pineal Gland: Science vs Mythology (Melatonin, DMT, and the Third Eye) appeared first on Table for Change.

With the destruction comes a wider acceptance of the scientific reality — and a growing motivation to contribute to solutions. But destruction also brings despair, fear about the future, grief, and panic. As we grapple with our new reality, contemplative practice can offer techniques for holding these challenging truths.

Spiritual practices are not alternatives to swift, wise action. They are complementary disciplines to education and activism. Spiritual resources can help us move from desperation to sustainable activism.

How do we get from anger to compassion?

Spiritual practice may not provide concrete climate solutions, but they do have the potential to shift consciousness. Practices and teachings can address how we relate to our grief, despair, and fear. These resources help restructure our understanding of what it means to be human, now, on our home planet.

Here are five tried and true contemplative practices from the Buddhist tradition that can help us hold the truths of climate change, species extinction, and the ecological crisis in our hearts and minds. While this list of practices is not by any means exhaustive, it is a beginning. Even though their roots are ancient, these practices are timely as we encounter the truth of suffering on a global scale.

1. Find a grounding in ethics

Some people see climate change as an ecological issue. Some see it as an economic issue. Some see it as a social issue. But, we know that human actions are at fault. In this sense, climate change is an ethical issue.

Our beliefs about justice — the values that we hold most dear — form the bedrock of our actions. These values are largely learned and assimilated from our culture. Each of us — as individuals and communities — can influence the values upheld by our culture.

Climate change is happening because of what we have valued and how we have conceived of our identity as human beings on this planet. The values have come from a dominant industrial ethos. Climate change, therefore, isn’t just a matter of what we can do. It’s a matter of what we should do.

Contemplative traditions teach moral reflections on our actions, speech, and thought. The Buddha emphasized ethics, śila, as a fundamental training for his monks. His monastic code of ethics was constructed around the idea of ahimsa, or non-violence. Essentially, the Buddha taught that ethical actions are those arising from a commitment to non-harm, gentleness, and simplicity.

Buddhism and other religious traditions have long identified love and compassion as motivators that drive effective and sustainable action.

If we extend śila to our relationship to land, water, natural resources, and animals, non-harm, gentleness, and simplicity become points of reflection for change-making.

Later Buddhist traditions developed rules of conduct, oriented towards compassion, such as the Bodhisattva precepts. These precepts extend from the idea that bodhicitta, or wise compassion, is the ground of ethical action and speech. We too can ground our activism, social engagement, and resistance in wise compassion. We can make our activism not about what we are working against, but what we are working for.

If we place our activism and relationship to the earth squarely among our deepest values and beliefs, we are more likely to turn again and again to the issue — not out of obligation, but out of genuine commitment.

2. Get comfortable with uncertainty

If there is one thing that climate scientists agree on, it is that we don’t know for certain what will happen as the earth warms. Evidence indicates that tipping points and crises cannot be averted. We have no how idea how much we can slow or ameliorate the suffering. We do not even know how long our species — and others — can survive changes that destabilize the conditions necessary for life. We are stepping into the void.

We want to know if our children and grandchildren will be able to visit the shoreline, walk in the forest, breathe clean air, and live in safety. It is human to fear that the world as we know it may be ending. This uncertainty can feel deeply unsettling.

Many of the Buddha’s teachings focus on uncertainty, not as an inconvenience, but as a source of liberation. The Buddha taught that nothing is certain, because nothing transcends impermanence. He called impermanence a “mark of existence” — an undeniable truth of what it means to be alive. To encourage his monks and nuns to face their mortality, he sent them to meditate in charnel grounds — open-air cemeteries — where they could witness decaying corpses.

The Buddha was not trying to torture his disciples. He was trying to free them. While awareness of our mortality stirs our deepest fears, it also frees us from the chains of attachment that bind us. The loosening of attachment helps us open to the truth that nothing is certain. Nothing can be taken for granted. This is how we learn to love the truth for what it actually is.

There is good reason to embrace the uncertainty of climate change as a liberating practice. The more we fear uncertainty, the more likely we are to avoid thinking about climate change. In fact, our worst enemy might not be climate denial, but rather a subtle, subconscious rejection of climate change, based on our fear of the unknown.

If, however, we embrace the truth of uncertainty, we can develop the courage to stay open and engage with the world. If we can accept the fragility of life on earth, we can invest ourselves in the possibility of collective action.

3. Work with emotions

Along with the discomfort of uncertainty, climate change can evoke many other difficult emotions. Witnessing ecosystem destruction and mass extinction, we respond with grief and sorrow. Encountering denial and global apathy, we experience anger. When we consider our children’s future, we experience trepidation and worry.

Anger can be a protective energy, a healthy response to that which threatens what we love.

Recently, I was talking to a European graduate student who was writing her thesis on the power of stories to affect climate change. The primary motivator for her work, she told me, has been anger.

Understandably, fear and anger often fuel activism. These primal emotions have kept us alive for centuries. They are good short-term motivators when we are in immediate danger. However, fear and anger are poor long-term motivators. Eventually, they result in stress and burnout — the insidious undoings of activists.

So, we need other chronic motivators for our work. In this area, spiritual traditions have much to offer. Buddhism and other religious traditions have long identified love and compassion, for example, as motivators that drive effective and sustainable action. The bodhisattva, a Buddhist archetype of compassion, typifies the possibility that positive and constructive emotions can be the primary fuel for activity. But how do we get from anger to compassion?

Tibetan Buddhism teaches that the states that we most wish to avoid are actually the key to our freedom. Instead of erasing emotions, we can metabolize them. If we take our reactivity into a contemplative space, it is possible to liberate the energy of emotion, transforming it into supple responsiveness.

We might start with an emotion like anger. When anger is heavily fixated on an object, it becomes isolating, contracted, and draining. When we take anger into a contemplative space, we can lighten our focus on the object and the story, turning inward to consider the emotion itself and our part in it.

When we take responsibility for our own anger, we can find its upside. Anger is not always reprehensible. It can be a protective energy, a healthy response to that which threatens what we love. That insight itself can liberate reactive, contracted anger into its deeper nature, a wiser, more inclusive resolve to act with decisiveness and courage in the interest of love.

In contemplative practice, anger can become an inspiration for empathy. We discover that uncomfortable states, while they belong to us, are not to our’s alone. Many others also feel anger, including the people we have othered. When we recognize that this is how so many others feel, we can commune with the suffering of others. We redirect our attention from the story stimulating anger to our empathy for all those impacted by climate change — even the deniers. By redirecting our focus from a polarizing narrative to a uniting one, we start building a more sustainable platform for action.

4. Access new wisdom

In discussions about climate change, we seem to primarily access one way of knowing — the intellect. The climate issue is couched in the language of conceptual knowing. This conceptual approach — typified by Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth — is critically important. We need to know what is happening, and why.

However, our response will be much more powerful and resilient if we begin to access other ways of knowing, transforming conceptually-motivated activism into an activism of the heart.

There are two alternative ways of knowing that Buddhist practice and meditation generally rely on: bodily wisdom and non-conceptual wisdom.

Bodily wisdom

To encounter our human body is to encounter the natural world. We tend to forget that we are mammalian primates! The closer we come to the body, the closer we draw to the truth of our own wildness. This connects us to the planetary wildness that we aspire to protect.

While the mind is tugged into the past and future, the body is fully present. The body’s present wakefulness is one of its great wisdoms, and we can easily access that wisdom. It is as close to us as this moment’s inhale and exhale. While we want to stay mindful of creating a sustainable future, we don’t want to do that at the expense of missing our life. The body reminds us that we are here, now, and our presence is our most powerful resource.

Non-conceptual wisdom

Buddhist meditation also introduces us to the life beyond the conceptual mind — non-conceptual ways of knowing. The wider truth is that human experience is not just mental content. While we spend a great deal of time enmeshed in our world of ideas, there is more to the mental-emotional life than what we think and believe. There is a non-conceptual space in which all of this content arises, and that space can be sensed and widened through the experiences of body. In the practice of the Great Perfection, this space is identified as naked awareness, a part of our mind that is just experiencing, prior to forming ideas about our experiences. The space of awareness can be cultivated until it becomes a holding-environment for relative issues such as climate change.

We can make our activism not about what we are working against, but what we are working for.

As we begin to identify with non-conceptual space, we access a non-dual mode of perception. In the non-dual mode of perception, the illusion of separateness is perforated. This illusion of separateness may be one of the root causes of the crisis we are in. When we are caught up in that illusion, it becomes somehow okay that my consumption happens at your expense. If we are to live sustainably, we need to get used to the idea — nay, the reality — that we are all intimately connected. Meditation leads us there.

5. Find community

A friend of mine once attended a City Council meeting in her local community and ran into a woman who was repeatedly raising the issue of banning plastic bags. Discouraged, the woman said that she could not seem to earn the respect of the city council. My friend replied: “You don’t need respect. You need a friend. One person is a nut. Two people are a wake-up call. Three people are a movement.”

That friend was the environmentalist and author Kathleen Dean Moore, and her story inspired me. A small, committed group of people can change the world, as Margaret Mead said. Finding a community of activists might not be as daunting as we might think. It can be as simple as finding a few like-minded people and starting a conversation.

In order to gracefully lean into the challenges that we face as a planet, community is critical. But it also does double-duty, laying the foundation for spiritual life.

The Buddha’s close attendant Ananda once inquired of his teacher, “Surely the sangha [spiritual community] is half of the holy life?”

The Buddha answered, “No, Ananda, do not say such a thing. The sangha is not half of the holy life. It is the whole of the holy life.”

The Buddha felt very strongly about the power of community to support the path to awakening. He lived most of his life in intentional community, and identified sangha as one of the three spiritual refuges, along with the teacher and the dharma.

Now is a good time for the eco-curious in the dharma world. There is a growing community of people who seek both spiritual development and activism. If you are one of those people, now especially, you need not despair. Your people are out there.

As we are propelled forward by the consequences out of a warming planet, it is more important than ever that activists and contemplatives work together. We can benefit from an exchange of technologies. While I have highlighted five spiritual technologies to help contemplate climate change, activists have other tools and perspectives that can assist spiritual communities to take action. Activist communities have resources for education and technologies of peaceful resistance that can help contemplatives enact change.

While we grapple with the effects of climate change, we will need tools of resilience and inner work. As dharma practitioners, we bring essential gifts to the project of healing our world. Our challenge is to bring these gifts to bear and continue their development.

By practicing with ethics, uncertainty, emotion, wisdom, and community, we develop an intimate understanding that being human is about what we think and what we believe — and we deepen our ability to embody our work.

Embodiment sends an indelible message that peace and sustainability can become a lived reality. Even when they are imperfectly realized, we can inspire the sense that our lives have meaning, and that we are living our way into ever-increasing integrity with — and service to — our beautiful, unfathomable and sacred world.

Originally Published: www.lionsroar.com

The post 5 Buddhist Practices to Help Tackle Climate Change appeared first on Table for Change.

Concept of Yugas: Hinduism describes time in terms of cycles called “yugas” or ages. According to Hindu scriptures like the Puranas, each yuga has its own characteristics and durations. The four yugas are Satya Yuga (Golden Age), Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga. These yugas follow each other in a cyclical pattern, with the universe undergoing periods of creation, maintenance, and dissolution in a recurring manner.

Eternal Recurrence: The idea of cyclical time is also connected to the concept of “eternal recurrence,” where the universe is believed to go through infinite cycles of creation, existence, and dissolution. This cyclic process is driven by the cosmic forces of creation (Brahma), preservation (Vishnu), and destruction (Shiva), known as the Trimurti.

Karma and Reincarnation: Another aspect of Hinduism that contributes to the cyclical view of time is the belief in karma and reincarnation. According to this belief, the soul (atman) undergoes a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara) determined by one’s actions (karma). Individuals accumulate karma over successive lifetimes, influencing their experiences in future incarnations. This cyclical process continues until the soul achieves liberation (moksha) from the cycle of rebirth.

Cosmic Cycles: Hindu cosmology also describes larger cosmic cycles known as kalpas, which encompass the lifespan of the universe. These kalpas are immense time periods in which the universe undergoes creation, sustenance, and dissolution. After each dissolution (pralaya), a new cycle of creation begins, perpetuating the cyclical nature of time.

Overall, the cyclical view of time in Hinduism reflects the interconnectedness of all existence and the recurring patterns observed in the cosmos. It provides a framework for understanding the transient nature of worldly phenomena and the eternal nature of the soul’s journey towards spiritual liberation.

Originally Published: www.hindu-blog.com

The post Why Time Is Cyclical In Hinduism And Not Linear? appeared first on Table for Change.

So what does the research say? Can animals actually smell fear? To get to the root of this question, researchers have largely taken human presence out of the equation, as animals such as dogs are known to respond to our expressions and body posture. Instead, investigators have focused on how animals, including horses and dogs, respond to various smells emitted by humans watching happy versus fear-inducing videos.

In a horse study, published in 2023 in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers had participants watch clips from a comedy one day and a horror movie the next.
After the participants watched each video, the researchers collected sweat samples from the viewers’ armpits using cotton pads and asked the participants to report how much joy or fear they felt while watching each clip. Then, the researchers presented the two swab samples from the same human to an assigned horse to see if it could discriminate between odors produced by humans during times of happiness and distress.

“At first we weren’t sure if the horses could differentiate between the odors,” lead study author Plotine Jardat, a doctoral student at the University of Tours in France, told Live Science.

But the horses reacted differently depending on which cotton pad they were presented with.

“When the horses smelled the joy samples, they used only their left nostrils,” Jardat said. “That indicates which part of the brain they are using to analyze the odor. In all mammals, the two brain hemispheres have different functions, and in an emotional context, it seems like the odor from the joy samples were perceived as positive by the horses.”

But when the horses were given the samples swiped during the horror film, the animals reacted much differently and not only sniffed the sample longer but also “used both nostrils” to catch a whiff, Jardat said.

However, Jardat was quick to point out that this doesn’t necessarily mean that horses know what fear is. “It’s not like when the horses smell another animal that they have the word ‘fear’ cross their minds,” she said. “But now we do know that [horses] can differentiate odors from different emotional states in humans.”

This raises a question: What specific compounds do humans produce in their sweat that causes a shift in the horses’ behavior?

Researchers propose that chemosignals, which are chemicals produced by animals that can affect the behavior of another animal, could be behind the horses’ reactions. In humans, there are several compounds in sweat, such as adrenaline or androstadienone (a pheromone-like protein) that could be causing a shift in odor during moments of fear. These compounds could also be carrying “emotional information” from one species to the other, the researchers wrote in the study.

In a future study, scientists plan to examine whether smelling fear could cause a fearful reaction in the horses and what kind of impact this could have on the animals emotionally by having them perform a range of tests after smelling the samples.

“We want to see if fear will modify their reactions to the tests,” Jardat said.

Meanwhile, in a 2018 study in the journal Animal Cognition, scientists tasked Labrador retrievers to sniff samples swiped from male participants’ underarms after watching either a scary or happy video clip. The researchers placed the sample inside a box with an opening and placed the box inside a closed room with two people: a stranger and the dog’s owner.

Similar to the horse study, researchers found that the dogs reacted differently depending on whether they smelled the scent of a fearful or a happy human.

“When the dogs smelled the odor of a happy person, they increased their interactions with the stranger in the room,” study lead author Biagio D’Aniello, a professor of zoology at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, told Live Science.
But when they sniffed a sample from someone who was fearful, the dogs had a completely different reaction.

“When they smelled fear, they would either go to their owner or they would go to the door and try to leave the room,” study co-author Anna Scandurra, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples Federico II, told Live Science.

The researchers came to a similar conclusion as the scientists in the horse study: The dogs’ reactions were likely due to chemosignals, suggesting that “interspecies emotional communication” was at play, the authors wrote in their study.

Originally Published: www.livescience.com

The post Can animals really smell fear in humans? appeared first on Table for Change.

The tick of life’s clocks

How can isolated human beings keep regular track of time, even when they’re disconnected from their surrounding environment? Quite simply, because biological rhythms are at the heart of life, regulating it all the way from the molecular level up to that of the entire body. These include not only our sleep/wake cycles, but also body temperature, hormones, metabolism and the cardiovascular system, to name but a few.

And these rhythms have many repercussions, not least in terms of public health. Indeed, a number of diseases are episodic—for example, asthma is more severe at night, while cardiovascular accidents are more frequent in the morning. Another example is shift work, which disconnects people from their environment. It may be associated with an increased risk of cancers in workers, prompting the WHO to label it as a probable carcinogen.

Rhythms also impact how we interact with other species. For example, African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness, is a disorder of our daily rhythm caused by the parasite Trypanosoma brucei, whose metabolism is also daily—just like our immunity.

Genes: the great clockmakers

The rotations of the Earth, moon and sun generate environmental cycles that have favored the selection of biological clocks.

A biological clock is a mechanism internal to organisms that, in the absence of an environmental signal, operates at its own frequency. The regular alternation of day and night has, for example, favored the evolution of the circadian clock (circa, meaning “approximately”, and diem, “day”).

The circadian clock mechanism was first discovered in the fruit fly, also known as Drosophila, in the 1970s. It is based on feedback loops in the transcription and translation of several genes—gene A promotes the expression of gene B, which in turn inhibits the expression of gene A—creating an oscillation. During the day, light induces the diminution of specific factors of the loop via a photoreceptor called cryptochrome. Interestingly, the key factors in the mechanism essentially only comprise a few genes named period, timeless, clock and cycle. However, the fine-tuning and regulation of the clock is based on a complex molecular and neuronal network that ensures its timing and precision.

There is no single, overarching circadian clock that would organize all of life, as the clock genes vary from species to species. But the principle remains the same: genes whose expression oscillates. Biological rhythms have been described in all the taxa (groups of organisms) studied so far, which comprise cyanobacteria (a type of bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis), fungi, plants, and animals, including humans.

In addition, various time givers (zeitgebers) synchronize the organism with its environment: light (the most studied to date), temperature and food, in particular.

An internal clock synchronized by the environment

One very concrete implication of this circadian clock concerns jet lag. This is the deviation of an individual’s internal rhythm from the time of the time zone they are in.

Environmental signals in general, and light in particular, help to re-synchronize the individual: light perceived at the end of the night moves the clock forward, while light perceived at the beginning of the night delays it. Light perceived during the day has no effect. In humans, light is not perceived directly by the molecular clock, but is captured in the retina and then transmitted via the retino-hypothalamic pathway to a central clock, where it modulates the synthesis of clock proteins. The system is not infinitely scalable, however: it takes the human body approximately one day to adapt to a one-hour time difference.

With Homo sapiens’ intrinsic circadian period spanning an average 24.2 hours, it is easier for us to travel west and lengthen our days than to travel east and shorten them. This is also why athletes and researchers who isolate themselves in the depths of the Earth end up being out of sync with time on the surface, and ultimately perceive fewer days than 24-hour solar days.

Other times, other clocks

The circadian clock is not the only clock mechanism that exists in nature. Many biological processes are seasonal, such as the migration of a host of birds and insects, the reproduction and hibernation of many animal species and the flowering of plants. This seasonality is generally dictated by several factors, including by what is known as a circannual clock in the case of many species. The mechanism of this clock has not yet been determined.

The clock mechanisms in marine species are also unknown, partly because of the oceans’ complex temporal structure. Marine organisms are exposed to the solar cycle of alternating day and night, which is superimposed on a series of lunar cycles, the most prominent of which is the tidal cycle (with a period of 12.4 hours or 24.8 hours). The semi-lunar and lunar cycles (14.8 days/29.5 days), linked to the phases of the moon, also strongly modulate the marine environment, via light and tides. The seasons also affect these ecosystems.

While complex, the temporal structure of marine environments is predictable, and biological rhythms linked to all these cycles have been described in marine species. For example, many corals synchronize their reproduction, laying eggs once a year over a very short period of time. Some marine worms swarm precisely once a month, in the darkest hours of the night, to initiate their reproductive dance before spawning and dying.

Interestingly, in 2020, our team of scientists revealed that biological rhythms are not limited to the coastal environment. We indeed showed rhythms in behavior and gene expression at a depth of 1,700 meters, in a mussel living in the hydrothermal vents of the mid-Atlantic ridge. Our work underlines that the temporal coordination in physiology is likely critical, even in the most extreme life environments such as the deep ocean.

Originally Published: phys.org

The post Biological clocks: How does the body know that time goes by? appeared first on Table for Change.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO START A VEGETABLE GARDEN?

Not much! A piece of land, some compost, some seeds and plants, and some basic tools. Not to mention a little patience, humility (besides this word “humility” takes its root of “humus” and humus is very respected by a good gardener), water, good weather, and not too much rain!

PREPARE YOUR GARDEN PLOT

The first thing is to devote a piece of land, do not panic if it is full of weeds or weeds (a name intentionally given to the “weed” because there are “bad” herbs? ). If this is the first time you start a vegetable garden, spend a minimum of one to two square meters. You will have some vegetables, not enough food for a year, but I guess it’s not (yet) your goal. Let’s see how to choose your location and how to prepare it.

1) The land must be fertile

How to know?

• If the earth is black brown it is rather positive!
• If it has the color of the building earth a little ocher orange, you will have work! But it is not lost so far, it will just cover a thick layer of fertile soil.

We will see later in the article how to fertilize your parcel of land.

2) The place should be well exposed

How to know?

• Avoid exposing it fully North. Most vegetables need sun.
• Avoid places too exposed to the wind.
• Must not be under conifers because nothing (or almost) grows under conifers.

3) The preparation of the ground

Both seasons are great times to start a vegetable garden.

How to start in the fall

If the field is covered with sod or weeds cover the site with dead leaves (or straw, hay), about 20 cm high over the entire surface. For almost six months the leaves will be degraded by insects, bacteria, and soil fungi. The weeds will break down under this thickness of organic matter. At the end of winter, your land will be loosened and enriched with organic matter.

How to start in the spring

If the plot is grassed cover it for at least a month, if it is covered with weeds (or after a month of grass sodding), use a fork spade (or better a grelinette). The goal is to lift the earth without turning it over. Plant your fork spade thoroughly, pull the handle towards you to lift the earth, then bring it back to the upright position. Shift your fork spade 15 to 20 centimeters back and make the same move.

Renew the movement on the whole parcel, once it is finished, take a bucket or a box then remove all the weeds, make sure to shake the clods to leave the earth on the parcel. You must see the roots of weeds when you put them in your bucket. I strongly recommend that you do this when the soil is dry and well-wiped.

Then pass the fang to break the clods and smooth your plot.

4) Fertilization

The last step before planting or sowing, fertilize your plot. And in an organic kitchen garden, please avoid chemical fertilizers! If you do not have compost (normal if you are a beginner) go for a treasure hunt, if it is not free you will pay about 2 € your compost bag of 20L, it’s really economical! Then spread the equivalent of a big compost shovel per square meter. Spread well evenly (using a rake or a hook). Then add the compost to your previously prepared layer (again with your fang or rake). Finish by smoothing, your plot is ready to receive your plants.

SEEDS AND PLANTS

Of course, to make a vegetable garden you need seeds. The question to ask yourself: Which vegetables do you want to eat? I advise you to start simply.

You start with two square meters

Try the radishes, some aromas like chives, sage, the essential basil, and thyme. You can also put two or three tomato plants, lettuce, flowers, and of course some strawberries. With all this, you will amply fill your two square meters.

For tomatoes: Buy them in a garden center in a bucket, prefer organic plants but I do not impose anything on you. I advise you to choose varieties with early yield, to get early, and to limit diseases. Although on this blog you will have enough information to counter the most common disease of tomatoes, mildew.

If you opt for tomato plants in pots wait until mid-May before planting, but get them one or two weeks before planting to quietly acclimate to outdoor conditions. Protect them from frost (for example, by returning them at night).

For radishes, buy seeds in the garden, you will easily find organic seeds.

For lettuce, buying seeds is much more profitable. Otherwise, buy a mini ball.

For aromatics: all in the scoop to start, but if you want try chives from seeds.

Some ideas for a first vegetable garden of 2m²

• 3 tomato plants
• 3 buckets of basil
• 3 buckets of carnations
• 6 buckets of strawberries
• 1 scoop of thyme
• 1 scoop of sage
• 1 scoop of chive seeds
• 1 bag of lettuce seeds
• 1 packet of radish seeds

With all this, you have nine different species on two square meters! Which is not bad, what do you say?

Organizing your plants

Plant your two or three tomato plants in line, towards the bottom of your plate, and separated by at least 50 cm. You will not have any bad surprises when the little ones will become big!

Between your tomato plants, we will do an action that is often done in organic, it is the use of companion plants. You have the choice: You can put between your tomatoes either carnations of India, plants of basilicas, or both! These plants will have a beneficial effect on your tomato plants, especially by acting on nematodes (small worms attacking the roots of tomatoes). Basil would also have an effect on late blight, which is a very common disease in tomatoes.

Sage put it a little apart, at least one meter away from other crops as it releases phenols that are toxic to other plants.

Plant the strawberries near the thyme, the latter likes to grow near strawberry plants, and in addition, it attracts bees when it is in bloom. Sow one or two rows of radish. Sow some lettuce seeds that you can then transplant and space them at least 25 cm apart. Sow a row of chives to mark a border.

To finish this first part here is a summary plan, of course, nothing is fixed, let go of your imagination and your creativity, and arrange it to your liking! You will not find sage in the typical plan below, I remind you that it is better to place it at least one meter from other plants. (Click on the plan to enlarge)

Watering and mulch

After sowing or planting do not forget to water, generously for a plantation, a little less for a sowing.

And finally, in organic gardening, never leave bare soil. Straw (with straw, hemp, etc …) your plot but never directly on a seedling, wait until your plants are well developed before mulching. If you have planted a plant (eg tomato) you can of course mulch after your first watering.

Start a kitchen garden

The decision is made, you will create your garden! Yes, but … Where to install it? What surface to give him? The land of my land suits it? When should I start? Should we plow? Which vegetables to plant? A puzzle before you even started! Do not panic; here are some tips to get you into the adventure of gardening serenely.

A prime location

To pamper your future vegetables, you must offer them a little piece of paradise: a flat ground with loose soil, rich and deep, neither too acidic nor too calcareous, bathed by the sun and sheltered from the winds …, a rare pearl!

By observing your land and what grows there spontaneously (see The diagnosis of soil by wild plants ), and by questioning also some farmers of the corner, you will be able to quite easily determine what characterizes it. If it turns out to be rather heavy, rather sandy, or too acidic, it can be improved by the use of good practices such as the provision of compost (poor soil, clay, or sand ), sulfur ( calcareous ), of wood ash(acid soil; read: are the ashes good for plants?) or green manure crop, such as mustard.

If all this seems a little too long or complicated to put in place, it is possible to realize a raised vegetable garden ( square or on hillocks ). By then bringing a mixture of adapted soil, you free yourself from the constraints of the nature of your soil.

For windy areas, a wall of the house or hedge is ideal for protecting your vegetables; failing that, plan to install on the edge of the vegetable garden currants, raspberries, or even rosemary or other laurel sauce that will make a very appreciable rampart.

It is wise, however, to remember that whatever tricks are put in place to deal with the “imperfections” of nature, it is always best to try to adapt to one’s environment; clay soil will be more suitable for beets, spinach, beans or perry while a sandy land will flourish asparagus, watermelon, potatoes, and another scorzonera.

And if parsley does not like soils too acidic, sorrel turn away from those that are too limestone. Finally, if the sun does not illuminate your kitchen garden sparingly, opt for lettuce, spinach, celery, or any other vegetable in the shade or in the shade.

An adapted project

To make your garden is to accept to devote a little (or more!) Of his time. To not lose it and find yourself overwhelmed by a task that is beyond you, it is best to size the project before starting.

If there is no room for you, ask yourself the following question: is it to spend time or feed the family? As it is difficult to know in advance where to set foot, it is best to start the first year modestly, with about 20 sqm, and enlarge afterward. 100 m² requires good availability (more than an hour), almost daily.

The next step is to assess your needs: Choose and quantify the vegetables to be planted or planted, taking into account the tastes and the composition of the family. To begin, it is better to focus on simple vegetables that you are sure to eat: radishes, beans, tomatoes, salads, strawberries, a foot of zucchini, and some herbs (a foot of chives, a foot of thyme, parsley). Carrots and potatoes (plan a little more space for them) are quite simple to grow but need to be stored if you sow or plant several rows.

And of course, before you start sowing, do not forget to learn about how each vegetable is grown!

To finalize the project, draw it. The plan of the kitchen garden makes it possible to better understand the occupation and the layout of the space by taking into account the place that will take each vegetable (in width and height) as and when they develop, alleys between the cultivated rows necessary for the passage of the gardener and the place which is released during the year, after the harvests.
The plan will also allow you to set the timing of planting and planting; when you write the latter, think about doing parallel crops; you will see that you will have to shift some seedlings. Indeed,
Finally, it will serve to remind you of the history of your plantations which will be useful for organizing crop rotation.

Prepare the terrain

Finally comes the concrete phase: to prepare the ground. Most of the time, creating a vegetable garden means cultivating an abandoned area (read: Clearing a fallow land ), which involves clearing and digging. The ideal is to be able to mow flush (the brush cutter can be useful!) During the summer, then during October, pass the tiller to “break” the grass clump. For small areas, the ground can be just grilled, removing hand roots and pebbles.

Cover with silage tarps, cardboard, and mulch. In early spring, discover your land. After a last pass of grelinette , it will be ready to be cultivated. (See ”  Preparing the soil before sowing or planting  “).

Reminder

Heap of compost

• A plant remains accessible if it is located less than 60 cm from you, an arm length! Think about it when you define the width of your ranks.
• Protect walkways with planks, slabs, thick mulch, or even green manure (clover) to prevent soil compaction
• Plan a place near the kitchen garden to make your compost (start it as soon as possible)
• Do not walk in your garden after a downpour, it mows the soil and promotes the development of “bad” herbs
• Plant flowers in the garden plan, they attract the pollinating insects necessary for fruiting
• Think organic: rotation of crops, plant purines, associated crops, auxiliaries, green manures …

How to start a vegetable garden from a lawn or grass?

Grassed soils are not favorable for planting a vegetable garden. Also, to be able to work your piece of ground, it will be necessary to eliminate the troublesome herbs. Sheeting, mulching, and the use of the grelinette are all possible solutions.

Solarize your plot of land

There is a range of processes that have been developed by gardeners to overcome weeds. These methods allow them to work a soil that is too grassy. One of the most effective techniques is the tarpaulin, which is not very ecological, but gives a more than satisfactory result. The idea is to install a black tarp on the ground that will be used to create a kitchen garden.

It is necessary to fix correctly the ends of the tarpaulin so that it does not yield under the effect of the wind. Obtaining a result can last between 2 to 6 months depending on weather conditions. The resulting soil is devoid of grass, it has a high temperature, and is particularly flexible. If you plan to seed, simply add compost and grin. If it is a question of a plantation, create holes then add the compost.

Make a mulching

Another particularly popular technique for removing unwanted weeds from a field is mulching. This process can stifle all the greenery and stem its development. It simply involves laying a layer of organic material on the piece of land that you want to work on. Several types of organic matter can be used such as straw, dead leaves, BRF (Ramal Fragmented Wood), or hay.

It is also possible to use cardboard that contains no tape or ink and is brown in color. At least one layer of 20 cm is needed so that the vegetation can not penetrate the mulch. With this technique, we create a kind of screen that prevents the penetration of light and thus the development of vegetation.

Return the earth

The last technique is simply to work the land. The operation is to be carried out in the spring for sandy soils and in the fall for heavy soils. The idea is to use a grelinette. It allows to uproot weeds. After drying, add the compost. Repeat the operation perpendicular to the first pass while making sure to bury the teeth of the tool. Add some compost and then pass the grelinette again. If the area to be worked is large, it is wiser to use a tiller or tiller.

The post How to Start a Garden appeared first on Table for Change.

How to Build a Wooden House

If you want to make your own construction and start enjoying it as soon as possible, pay attention to this article in which we explain all the important details to take into account to build a wooden house step by step.

A success trend

And is that in a society increasingly stressed, in a hurry, and surrounded by technology, it is logical that ecological trends are so successful. A wooden house is a much simpler construction than traditional houses and is ideal to enjoy nature without having to leave home. Rustic environments convey the peace and well-being that we can not find in the traditional homes of large cities.

The plans to build a wooden house

Obviously, you are going to need land large enough to build your own wooden house. And in this sense, the idea is that the new home is located in nature.

As regards the process of building a wooden house, the truth is that the technique and the system have not changed much in recent years. In fact, it is a very versatile process, which each builder can adapt to their own needs and interests.

The plans of your wooden house are fundamental, especially the foundations because on them will fall the full weight of the construction. And as is logical, the roof should be the last part of our design.

The terrain and the foundations

Another important detail to consider when building a wooden house is the land, which must be properly leveled and adapted because the base of our home will determine a good part of the construction.

Do not forget the foundations, which should be light, considering that they will have to support a lighter material than that used in other homes built with cement and brick.

Once the foundation is finished, we will have to think about the structure of our wooden house. Then it will be time to build the walls of the house and then the roof. And to make a correct sealing of the roof, we suggest you use high-quality materials, for example, a good idea may be to use wooden shingles.

The inner and outer part

Another important detail when building a wooden house is to cover the interior to protect our home against possible fires. A good idea may be to use dry materials, such as cardboard mixed with plaster.

While on the outside of the house, do not forget to use materials that resist moisture and sun. In this sense, keep in mind that although the house is made of wood, you do not have to use only this material for the construction of your home.

Security is very important

In the foundations, the interior walls, and outdoor areas it is also recommended to use materials adapted to the conditions of our house. For example, prefabricated plates with fire protection, roofs of mud and asphalt sealing for the roof, or metal joints to ensure maximum safety.

Have you found our guide of basic tips to build a wooden house useful? Have we forgotten something important? In that case, encourage us to tell us your own recommendations to build a rustic home. A trend in construction that is increasingly fashionable and that you can build in an infinity of styles. But remember that you must respect the constructive process, as well as the technical specifications of the specialist in charge.

The post How to Build a Wooden House appeared first on Table for Change.