If you’re new to mindfulness, you may find the practice difficult to access. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, th

A chip is only as good as the software that runs on it, and many macOS apps are designed to run on Intel processors, not the M1. Developers have had a bit of a head start, as Apple offered them a development kit this summer to help them translate their code to the M1. But the fact remains that while the macOS operating system itself will run natively on the M1, many third-party apps will not, at least initially.,This emotional hi-jacking would then activate my hypothalamus — the relay station of the brain — which then sent a signal to my pituitary glands. These, in turn, sent a message to my adrenal glands, releasing cortisol throughout my bloodstream.,I started to panic. This speedy bodily reaction is what gets you out of immediate or potential danger. Unfortunately, the danger was in my head, and I could neither fight nor run.,Meanwhile, Apple confirmed on Tuesday that starting with macOS Big Sur, all of its Mac software runs natively on both Intel and M1 systems. As an added benefit, iPhone and iPad apps can now run directly on the M1-powered Macs. Big Sur will come standard on all new M1 systems, and it will be available as an update for older Macs later this week.,Research shows that a regular mindfulness practice weakens the amygdala’s ability to hijack your emotions. This happens in two ways. First, the amygdala decreases in physical size. Second, connections between the amygdala and the parts of the cortex associated with fear are weakened, while connections associated with higher-order brain functions (i.e. self-awareness) are strengthened.,Research also shows that mindfulness reduces the age of your brain. In a recent study, the estimated brain-age of meditators was 7.5 years younger than that on non-meditators. Interestingly, for every additional year over fifty, meditators’ brains were estimated to be an additional 1 month and 22 days younger than their chronological age.,I have explained what these do in the comments, but to explain why: Jupyter limits the amount of outputs displayed for each cell. So if you want to output a graph of some data, as well as a supporting table nicely in one cell, then you’ll need to run the first command. The second two I use to control how much is outputted. I don’t like it how it defaults to such a low amount of rows/columns, especially when you can limit the amount displayed using functions like .head() instead anyway, so I’ve just gone unlimited. But do be careful when having a look at your data that you are limiting it when you need.,While Apple silicon is clearly the future for the Mac ecosystem, Intel-powered Macs aren’t going away overnight. The new MacBook Air and Mac mini use the M1 exclusively, but Apple continues to offer the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPUs as options. And the other Macs in Apple’s lineup-including the iMac, the Mac Pro, the iMac Pro, and 16-inch MacBook Pro -were not updated on Tuesday and are still exclusively powered by Intel CPUs and (in some cases) optional AMD GPUs.,My own anxiety, which resulted from childhood trauma, centred on bodily sensations. Ever since I can remember, I was terrified of my heartbeat, breath, and pulse. If someone asked me to feel my own heartbeat, or if I even talked about it, my amygdala lit up like a Christmas tree.,But I don’t struggle with emotional hi-jackings anymore. Today, through self-observation and meditation (see point 4 below), the rational part of the brain — the cortex — appraises the situation. I soon realize that my life is not in danger. The cortex then deactivates the amygdala, which in turn, inhibits the secretion of cortisol via the hypothalamus, thus bringing me into homeostasis and reducing the anxiety in my body.,The lack of native M1 support doesn’t mean third-party apps won’t run at all, however. For apps that have yet to make the transition, Apple says the programs will still be able to run on the new Macs through the company’s Rosetta 2 software, which can act as an emulator. But don’t be surprised if the programs drag. “The translation process takes time, so users might perceive that translated apps launch or run more slowly at times,” Apple wrote in the developer documentation for Rosetta 2.,Benchmarks are easily manipulated, however, so it’s too soon to say definitely whether the M1 is as capable as Apple says it is. We’re eager to try out the M1 using our own objective benchmarking process. If Apple’s claims ring true, the M1 is indeed poised to surpass the current crop of Intel-powered Macs.,Apple also claims that the M1 will offer excellent battery life in the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. In practice, previous models of the Air and Pro with Intel chips already offer excellent battery life, typically between 10 and 20 hours of light tasks like watching videos.,My own mindfulness practice has given me both of these gifts. I have literally shrunk the fear centre of my brain, and as a result, I simply don’t feel anxiety like I used to. Stressful events still challenge me, but by creating a space between stimulus and response, I am no longer hijacked by my emotions.,What’s interesting about these internal stressors is that they don’t exist — not in reality anyway. They are projections of our minds, and some of them are entirely irrational.