Transcend

Finding meaning, wonder and spirituality

A yellow taxi on a busy street, people walking, child holding flowers, historic building in the background under a blue sky.

Confessions of a teenage fundamentalist

My world was dark and scary. But beautiful things crept in, and threats of hell just couldn’t compete

by Liz Boltz Ranfeld

Monks in colourful robes and hats, forming a circle during an outdoor festival with flags and onlookers in Tibet.

Complexity science can deepen your mindfulness practice

What if ‘stress reduction’ is the least interesting thing mindfulness does? Complexity science offers new ways forward

by Pavel Chvykov

Impressionist painting of a green Japanese bridge over a pond with water lilies surrounded by lush greenery in a garden setting.

Monet understood the elusive power of a place’s atmosphere

The gist of a scene or place can subtly alter our very sense of being, an affecting quality captured by Monet’s paintings

by Pablo Fernandez Velasco

Guides

View all
A person wearing a red jacket and a backpack walking on a winding path through lush green fields with hills and trees in the background.

How to plan a pilgrimage

Whether religious or not, you can undertake a special, meaningful kind of journey that could leave you changed forever

by Oliver Smith

A waterfall under a stormy sky with mist and a building on the left cliff surrounded by trees in the background.

How to think about the sublime

An exquisite mix of fear and awe, pleasure and pain, the sublime stretches the imagination and reveals the limits of reason

by Nicole A Hall

Popular

A surfer riding a wave under a cloudy sky, with another large wave shown behind.

Equanimity is not stillness – it is a mobility of the mind

To grasp the power of this lauded quality, think of it less as a mountain than as a flexible, even playful way of seeing

by Michael Uebel

Monks in colourful robes and hats, forming a circle during an outdoor festival with flags and onlookers in Tibet.

Complexity science can deepen your mindfulness practice

What if ‘stress reduction’ is the least interesting thing mindfulness does? Complexity science offers new ways forward

by Pavel Chvykov

A cityscape at night with two silhouetted figures in the foreground and a full moon above a mountain in the background.

We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose

The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom

by Alexis Shotwell

A film still of a woman, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games movie franchise, with a braid standing in a transparent elevator looking out with a thoughtful expression.
FILM

Hollywood’s fixation on the wrong stories won’t help our world

Today’s global problems are caused by broken systems, but the studios still feed us a diet of movies focused on individuals

by Namir Khaliq

A dirt path lined with baobab trees by water, an ox-drawn cart carrying people.
WISDOM

African proverbs provide the blueprint for a meaningful life

Incorporating ancient African wisdom into wellbeing interventions could push positive psychology beyond its Western roots

by Richard Appiah

Photo of a bee on a vibrant orange flower with a blurred background, highlighting the intricate flower details.

Psychedelics are philosophical tools for demolishing assumptions

By shaking up our sense of how things are, substances like LSD or psilocybin have the potential to promote deep learning

by David J Blacker

Painting of a forest at night with a small house and dimly lit sky visible through the trees.

Is modern asceticism about conformity or quiet revolution?

From detoxes to slow food, today’s asceticism is often about fitting in. But we can rediscover its transformative power

by Iryna Mykhailova

Photo of a person silhouetted against the Milky Way galaxy in a starry night sky, with a faint horizon glow.

The ‘panzoic effect’: the benefits of thinking about alien life

Reflecting on the potential for extraterrestrial life can inspire awe and have a profound effect on your worldview

by Graham Lau

Popular

View all
A surfer riding a wave under a cloudy sky, with another large wave shown behind.

Equanimity is not stillness – it is a mobility of the mind

To grasp the power of this lauded quality, think of it less as a mountain than as a flexible, even playful way of seeing

by Michael Uebel

Monks in colourful robes and hats, forming a circle during an outdoor festival with flags and onlookers in Tibet.

Complexity science can deepen your mindfulness practice

What if ‘stress reduction’ is the least interesting thing mindfulness does? Complexity science offers new ways forward

by Pavel Chvykov

A cityscape at night with two silhouetted figures in the foreground and a full moon above a mountain in the background.

We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose

The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom

by Alexis Shotwell

A film still of a woman, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games movie franchise, with a braid standing in a transparent elevator looking out with a thoughtful expression.
FILM

Hollywood’s fixation on the wrong stories won’t help our world

Today’s global problems are caused by broken systems, but the studios still feed us a diet of movies focused on individuals

by Namir Khaliq

Videos

View all
Photo of a hand using a black marker to redact text on paper several words are boxed to be emphasised.
POETRY

Reignite your creative fire with blackout poetry – the art of framing what’s already there

Directed by Andrew Lavers

An Aboriginal painter depicts scenes from her youth in this beautiful short

Woman in a white dress standing in front of a geometric quilt in a garden setting with trees in the background.

Beauty is woven into everyday life for the quilters of the American West

Photo of a large cloud viewed through a window framed by silhouetted trees and power lines.

A life-saving boredom

For years, I sought to escape my own mind. Once I became fascinated by it, getting high lost its allure

by Rafael Frumkin

A dirt path lined with baobab trees by water, an ox-drawn cart carrying people.
WISDOM

African proverbs provide the blueprint for a meaningful life

Incorporating ancient African wisdom into wellbeing interventions could push positive psychology beyond its Western roots

by Richard Appiah

A cityscape at night with two silhouetted figures in the foreground and a full moon above a mountain in the background.

We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose

The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom

by Alexis Shotwell

Illustration of a hedgehog in a hat pulling a cart with flowers and fruit. Russian text says “Happy Birthday”

The birthday gift

In the Soviet Union, you’d never wish someone ‘S dnem rozhdeniya!’ without a proper present

by Margarita Gokun Silver

Painting of a forest at night with a small house and dimly lit sky visible through the trees.

Is modern asceticism about conformity or quiet revolution?

From detoxes to slow food, today’s asceticism is often about fitting in. But we can rediscover its transformative power

by Iryna Mykhailova

Photo of a bee on a vibrant orange flower with a blurred background, highlighting the intricate flower details.

Psychedelics are philosophical tools for demolishing assumptions

By shaking up our sense of how things are, substances like LSD or psilocybin have the potential to promote deep learning

by David J Blacker

A surfer riding a wave under a cloudy sky, with another large wave shown behind.

Equanimity is not stillness – it is a mobility of the mind

To grasp the power of this lauded quality, think of it less as a mountain than as a flexible, even playful way of seeing

by Michael Uebel

A film still of a woman, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games movie franchise, with a braid standing in a transparent elevator looking out with a thoughtful expression.
FILM

Hollywood’s fixation on the wrong stories won’t help our world

Today’s global problems are caused by broken systems, but the studios still feed us a diet of movies focused on individuals

by Namir Khaliq

Photo of a person silhouetted against the Milky Way galaxy in a starry night sky, with a faint horizon glow.

The ‘panzoic effect’: the benefits of thinking about alien life

Reflecting on the potential for extraterrestrial life can inspire awe and have a profound effect on your worldview

by Graham Lau

A person watering plants in an urban garden with buildings in the background on a cloudy day.

How to make your life feel more meaningful

Existential psychology offers specific ways to find meaning, giving you a buffer against despair in these anxious times

by Steven Heine

A blurred black cat jumps on dirt ground in the foreground, with a distant statue of Pope John Paul II with arms outstretched against the sky in the background

Cultural taboos arise from a basic feature of the human mind

Unquestioned community rules on marriage, dining and even black cats often stem from our hunger to explain random events

by Kevin (Ze) Hong

Photo of a woman with tattoos taking a selfie on a smartphone wearing an off-shoulder dress in front of glass doors.

Social comparison is driving us to despair. It doesn’t have to

In the social media age, it seems impossible not to measure ourselves against others – but we can dodge the worst pitfalls

by Wojciech Kaftański

Desert with a blurred yellow road sign and distant hills under a blue sky.
Psyche Exclusive

Ride along on a road trip suffused with LSD, petty theft and true love

Directed by Aric Allen

A Nigerian ballerina in a white tutu dancing atop yellow minibuses in a crowded urban setting.
DANCE

Nigeria’s first ballet school brings tutus and joy to the streets of Lagos

Directed by Jacob Krupnick

Photo of two men in dark clothing sitting and smiling at a round table in a dimly lit room with glasses.

How to tell a better story

Personal stories have the power to connect, entertain, persuade. Use a pro storyteller’s tips to pick and prepare a great one

by Micaela Blei

Abstract blue and white line drawing of multiple nude female figures, seen from various angles, arranged in a pattern.

A minotaur shifts shapes and sexes in this ferociously original animation

A film by Chaerin Im