Three of the best

1. New York Times has a great piece, "Understanding the Anxious Mind"- we are born anxious, and we live anxious, but it is possible to learn to manage it.

" Kagan often talks about the three ways to identify an emotion: the physiological brain state, the way an individual describes the feeling and the behavior the feeling leads to. Not every brain state sparks the same subjective experience; one person might describe a hyperaroused brain in a negative way, as feeling anxious or tense, while another might enjoy the sensation and instead uses a positive word like “alert.” Nor does every brain state spark the same behavior: some might repress the bad feelings and act normally; others might withdraw. But while the behavior and the subjective experience associated with an emotion like anxiety might be in a person’s conscious control, physiology usually is not. This is what Kagan calls “the long shadow of temperament.” The oldest high-reactive subjects in Kagan’s and Fox’s studies, like Baby 19, are in their 20s now, and for many of them, no matter how much they manage to avoid looking anxious to an outsider, fears still rattle in their skulls at 3 o’clock in the morning. They remain anxious just below the surface, their subconscious brains still twitchy, still hypervigilant, still unable to shift attention away from perceived threats that aren’t really there."

2. Man is a social animal, we all have heard of that. Not just man, every one of us. Booster Shots at Los Angeles Times has this piece: "Rodent of the week: Social isolation worsens cancer":

"People have long wondered if one's social environment affects disease survival rates. Studies of cancer patients who participate support groups have had mixed results. The new study used mice predisposed to develop breast cancer to study the phenomenon. The mice were raised in one of two environments: isolation or in a group. In the isolated mice, the breast cancer tumors were larger, and those mice also had a disrupted stress hormone response."

3. An article by David Frawley is here: "Sanity of “Shiva Linga”" at Folks.co.in. It tacks the issue of sexuality and spirituality head on, taking the symbolism of Siva Linga as its fulcrum:

"The Shiva linga is often portrayed in an upright conical form much like the male sexual organ. Indeed, some Shiva lingas are quite phallic in their appearance, but there are many other types of lingas which are not. The linga is the symbol of the universal power, the cosmic masculine force or the Shiva principle. It has many forms in nature.

"In the Sanskrit language, the word linga refers to a ‘chief mark’ or ‘characteristic’ of something. As a term, it is not per se a synonym for the male sexual organ, as some would believe. Linga indicates what is outstanding and determinative. In this regard, the male sexual organ can be said to be the distinguishing characteristic or linga of a man at a physical level, but linga in other contexts can have quite a different meaning.

"In Yoga philosophy, the term linga refers to the subtle body, which is the dominant principle in our nature over the physical body. The Shiva linga is also the subtle body and can indicate the upper region from the heart to the head. The linga is a place where energy is held, generated and sustained."

If you are interested to learn about the significance of Siva Linga and its Tantric worship, symbolism and all- this article is a very good place to start.

Good day.