Adding facilitator-supported mindfulness-based self-help (MBSH) to usual treatment leads to faster and greater reductions in anxiety and depression for people with emotional disorders. In a randomized trial with 302 patients from four centers, those who received MBSH plus usual care showed significantly more improvement in symptoms, mindfulness, physical symptoms, stress, sleep, and inner peace immediately after the program compared to those receiving usual care alone. Some benefits, including reduced depression and stress and increased mindfulness, appeared as early as three to five weeks and were maintained three months later. The approach is a scalable and effective addition to clinical practice.
Death ends all biological functions and is inevitable. To cope with the fear of death, early humans developed concepts of the soul and religion, which led to burial and sacrificial customs. Shamanism, practiced by nomadic groups in northern Eurasia, is one such tradition. At the Nairentoligai Cemetery M17 in Inner Mongolia, China, archaeologists found a corpse whose face was covered with all the right ribs of a sheep. Zooarchaeological analysis identified the sheep's characteristics and, through bone-surface traces, reconstructed how the animal was dismembered. The practice may have been intended to declare the body dead and protect the soul from intrusion, reflecting shamanistic beliefs. This finding aids research into the religious views of northern Mongolian Plateau nomads.