The Seven Chairs Rule.

The embodiment of the idea of siga-siga is the rule of seven chairs. It represents the desire for leisure and convenience as part of the Mediterranean lifestyle.

Siga siga is a Greek phrase meaning "slowly, slowly," which promotes a relaxed, unhurried approach to life. As a health and anti-stress philosophy, it encourages mindfulness, taking time to enjoy simple pleasures, and reducing anxiety by living at a slower pace.

There is a tradition in Cyprus that to be really comfortable in his coffee shop a man needs seven chairs. One for his stick,one for his coffee, one for each am, one for each leg and one to sit on.

Photo: Cyprus Nicosia 1910

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle.

The Peak–End Rule as a practical principle for behavior change. The peak–end rule explains how an overall impression is formed: it is determined by the most intense moment (the peak) and by how the experience ends. Why? Our brains do not have the capacity to remember everything. From an evolutionary perspective, it made sense to retain only those memories that most strongly supported survival. Remembering the most painful and the most pleasurable moments helped us avoid danger or seek out beneficial experiences in the future. How the rule works. The most important moment in lifestyle change is not when you are training in the gym, but when you decide whether or not you will do your next workout. In that moment, you subconsciously weigh many factors: how important your goals are, how well they align with your identity and values, how pleasant or unpleasant your previous experience was, and how pleasant or unpleasant you expect the next one to be. If you...

The dopamine-serotonin swing: from drugs to ideologies.

The dopamine-serotonin swing: from drugs to ideologies. Our brain uses different neurotransmitter systems to interact with what lies at a distance from us. There's the “here-and-now, accessible” the liking system (oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin) – and the “future, not-here, unavailable” system – the wanting system (dopamine). The first system is active when we’re mindful, accepting reality, and present. When we slip into rumination, anxiety, or fantasy, the second system kicks in. Typically, we live mostly in the present, occasionally switching to the dopamine system for goal-setting, desires, forecasting, and planning, and then return to the present (this is a simplified explanation). Historically, escaping from reality was difficult due to its intense demands – survival, food gathering, mating, navigating threats – forcing us to remain grounded in the “here-and-now” with only brief ventures into fantasy. This created a vulnerability in our brains: a lack of brakes when consciou...

Dr. Andrew Belaveshkin

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