[{"id":7067,"date":"2026-06-10T05:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7067"},"modified":"2026-06-08T20:57:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:57:29","slug":"how-social-ties-protect-your-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/06\/10\/how-social-ties-protect-your-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"How Social Ties Protect Your Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Your brain is wired for connection. Not metaphorically\u2014literally. Every conversation, every dinner with friends, every spontaneous catch-up is doing something real for your mind.
Chronic loneliness carries health risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Strong social ties<\/a>, on the other hand, reduce inflammation, sharpen memory, and lower the risk of cognitive decline.<\/td><\/tr>
Your favorite coffee shop barista, your neighbor, the members of your book club or golf club. Those relationships are doing more for your brain than you might expect. This Monday, say hello to the person in front of you, check in on someone, or say yes to the invitation you’ve been putting off.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Most of us already know, somewhere in the back of our minds, that we feel better when we\u2019re connected to other people. After a good dinner with friends, a spontaneous conversation with a neighbor, a catch-up that leaves you feeling like yourself again. Stress loosens its grip a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What fewer people realize is how much is actually happening inside the brain during those moments, and what it costs the mind when connection is chronically absent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the United States Surgeon General issued an advisory declaring loneliness a public health epidemic<\/a>. Not a feeling to push through. Not a personal problem. A genuine threat to health and wellbeing that affects millions of people across every walk of life. Scientists have compared the impact of chronic loneliness to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strong social ties<\/a>, by contrast, reduce inflammation, lower cortisol levels, sharpen memory, and significantly lower the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your brain isn\u2019t asking for much. The relationships you tend to today are protecting your mind for years to come. And it doesn\u2019t require a packed social calendar or a large circle of friends. Just a little, consistently, over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say hello to the person in front of you.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The barista who makes your coffee. The neighbor you pass on your way to the car. The person you share an elevator with for thirty seconds. These micro-moments of connection, small, easy, everyday, are more powerful than most people realize. Research shows that even brief interactions with acquaintances and strangers contribute meaningfully to our sense of belonging and wellbeing. You don\u2019t need a deep conversation. Just show up, make eye contact, and say hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say yes to the thing you\u2019ve been putting off.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The dinner you keep meaning to schedule. The get-together you almost skipped. The work happy hour you talked yourself out of at the last minute. It\u2019s easy to let busyness become a reason to opt out of connection. But every time you say yes, you\u2019re doing something good for your brain. Start with one yes this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join a group activity. <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A fitness class. A book club. A volunteer group. A faith community. A recreational sports league. The activity you choose matters less than the consistency. Showing up regularly somewhere, being recognized, welcomed, known, builds the kind of social connection that has the deepest impact on the brain over time. If you\u2019ve been thinking about joining something, now is a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check in<\/strong> on someone.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Connection isn\u2019t just something we receive, it\u2019s something we give. A neighbor who lives alone. A friend who went quiet. A family member you haven\u2019t spoken to in a while. Reaching out to someone<\/a> who might be lonely is one of the most meaningful things you can do for them and, it turns out, for you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our brains are wired for people and connection. Every conversation, every plan kept, every check-in is doing something real for your mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, be someone\u2019s spontaneous conversation. Reach out to a friend, make a plan, check in on a neighbor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your brain is wired for connection. Not metaphorically\u2014literally. Every conversation, every dinner with friends, every spontaneous catch-up is doing something real for your mind.Chronic loneliness carries health risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Strong social ties, on the other hand, reduce inflammation, sharpen memory, and lower the risk of cognitive decline. Your favorite coffee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":640,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":7048,"date":"2026-06-08T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T07:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7048"},"modified":"2026-04-29T19:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:24:17","slug":"motivational-monday-160","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/06\/08\/motivational-monday-160\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivational Monday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":640,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":7069,"date":"2026-06-08T05:34:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T05:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7069"},"modified":"2026-06-08T20:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:36:22","slug":"how-to-look-for-the-good-when-life-feels-heavy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/06\/08\/how-to-look-for-the-good-when-life-feels-heavy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to look for the good when life feels heavy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Life can feel heavy at times, but there are still good things all around us<\/strong>: moments of kindness, beauty, joy and connection. When we notice and appreciate them, we feel more resilient and hopeful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to\u00a0Joyful June<\/a>.\u00a0Let’s look for the good around us\u00a0– one small moment, one kind action and one grateful pause at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life can feel heavy at times, but there are still good things all around us: moments of kindness, beauty, joy and connection. When we notice and appreciate them, we feel more resilient and hopeful. Welcome to\u00a0Joyful June.\u00a0Let’s look for the good around us\u00a0– one small moment, one kind action and one grateful pause at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":640,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":7032,"date":"2026-06-05T07:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T07:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7032"},"modified":"2026-04-29T19:17:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:17:58","slug":"funny-friday-284","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/06\/05\/funny-friday-284\/","title":{"rendered":"Funny Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":640,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":7063,"date":"2026-06-03T06:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T06:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/?p=7063"},"modified":"2026-05-22T16:31:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:31:49","slug":"want-to-cool-down-14-ideas-to-try","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/hr-worklife\/2026\/06\/03\/want-to-cool-down-14-ideas-to-try\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to cool down? 14 ideas to try"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Soaring temperatures linked to climate change call for old and new stay-cool strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You’re huffing and puffing and starting to sweat – and that’s just from walking across the parking lot in blistering heat and humidity. This summer has left us all struggling to stay cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The last 13 months have been the hottest on record. We’re seeing increased levels of heat-related illness, and it started earlier in the season we’re used to,” says Dr. Tess Wiskel, a climate change and human health fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, and an emergency physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don’t wait until you’re overheated to figure out how to cool down. Be wary of high temperature risks throughout your day and practice ways to avoid them. Here are 14 ideas to get you started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover the basics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n