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The Present Minds
Writing archive196 published pieces

All writing.

Long-form essays, personal perspectives and writing on psychology, mental health, the self and modern life.Page 8 of 17

85 Psychology6 min read

Why are human babies so helpless at birth?

Why are human babies so helpless at birth? A foal stands within hours of being born. It is unsteady. It staggers. But it is upright, and it…

Shaniya NazRead article
86 The Margin7 min read

The Tiger in the Tunnel by Ruskin Bond: the story about what fathers leave behind

The Tiger in the Tunnel by Ruskin Bond is not really about a tiger. You suspected this the first time you read it. You probably could not…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
87 Psychology4 min read

Can childhood trauma Cause IBS and stomach problems?

Can childhood trauma cause IBS stomach problems in adults? A major new study on the childhood stress gut brain axis says the answer is yes, and the…

Shaniya NazRead article
88 Psychology5 min read

The night you reached for it

Does cannabis help anxiety or make it worse? For the millions using medical cannabis for mental health, a landmark 2026 study just delivered an uncomfortable answer. You…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
89 Psychology5 min read

Does your partner change your personality? the research says more than you think

Does your partner change your personality? Most people would say yes, in a vague, intuitive way. You pick up their phrases. You start watching the shows they…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
90 Psychology6 min read

Did wolves change yellowstone rivers? the beautiful story that wasn’t quite true

Did wolves change Yellowstone rivers? You have probably seen the video. Forty million views. Narrated by the British environmental writer George Monbiot. Wolves return to Yellowstone in…

Shaniya NazRead article
91 The Margin7 min read

What I learnt from my kurdish barber in london

What I learnt from my barber in London is something I realised only after the haircut was done and when I was already outside. That is the…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
92 Psychology5 min read

Five pieces of good news March 2026 that nobody put in the feed

There is good news March 2026, quite a lot of it, and none of it made the main feed. Not because it was small. Because the feed…

Shaniya NazRead article
93 Purusharth10 min read

What is dharma? what the mahabharata knew about losing everything

What is Dharma? It is the question the Mahabharata spends eighteen books answering and never quite resolves. That is not a failure of the text. That is…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
94 Psychology6 min read

Why dont men ask follow-up questions? the answer is more interesting than you think

Why dont men ask follow-up questions is one of those complaints that surfaces constantly. In dating conversations. In friendships. In marriages that have been running for twenty…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
95 Purusharth7 min read

Yoga Kshema Meaning: the bhagavad gita verse nobody finishes reading

Yoga kshema meaning, in its simplest translation, is this: acquisition and preservation. Yoga is the act of obtaining what you do not yet have. Kshema is the…

The Present MindsRead article
96 Psychology6 min read

They were always going to leave. that was the point.

Letting go of your children is not a single moment. It is a thousand quiet losses that begin long before they leave, and long before you are…

Navneet ShuklaRead article
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