Your Soul Food for the Last Friday in May 2024: How to Instantly Feel Better

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

I’ve studied positive psychology for 10 years: This is the secret to happiness:
Stephanie Harrison has studied the science of happiness for 10 years. Here’s what she says is the secret to happiness.

This is the secret to happiness, from a happiness researcher (cnbc.com)

Exercise can reverse ageing in the brain, study claims:
It looks like brawn could be the key to long lasting brains. May 15, 2024 We all know exercise is good for us. It’s been clear for hundreds (if not thousands) of years that keeping fit and mobile is important to keep your body in good nick, prevent diseases and improve your mental health. Despite its myriad benefits for us, however, there always seems to be one insurmountable fact of life that exercise can’t conquer: our minds and bodies decline as we age

Exercise can reverse ageing in the brain, study claims | BBC Science Focus Magazine

As we are all in the midst of reinventing ourselves, I thought this episode of Hidden Brain was particularly informative and counterintuitive!

Innovation 2.0: How Big Ideas Are Born | Hidden Brain Media

Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning:
Researchers are learning that handwriting engages the brain in ways typing can’t match, raising questions about the costs of ditching this age-old practice, especially for kids.

As schools reconsider cursive, research homes in on handwriting’s brain benefits : Shots – Health News : NPR

And the soul-filling wonders of nature-

Majestic mountain ibex among winners in GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 members’ competition:
20 breathtaking images from this year’s GDT Nature Photographer of the Year members’ competition, including a stoic Alpine ibex, a wave-riding penguin, and a bewitching winter woodland.

Majestic mountain ibex among winners in GDT Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 members’ competition – Discover Wildlife

Stay in the positive and please pay it forward.

Love,

Neville

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Your Soul Food for Memorial Day Weekend 2024: “If you have to ask what Jazz is, you will never know” –Louis Armstrong

This week: The Divine Power of Music

One of my Favorite Classical Music Pieces Ever!

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason stuns with blistering take on Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
A masterpiece of 19th-century piano repertoire, forever linked with the joy of Tom and Jerry…

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason stuns with blistering take on Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 – Classic FM

Here is my first foray, conducting this very same piece as an elementary school kid in Bombay, India at around age 11:

Cathedral School, Bombay, India

Elbow turn Manchester crowd into 23,500-strong choir in spine-tingling harmony:
The most life-affirming sound you’ll ever hear: a crowd of thousands of music lovers, lifting their voices in glorious harmony.

Elbow turn Manchester crowd into 23,500-strong choir in spine-tingling harmony – Classic FM

15 composers and their dogs:

15 composers and their dogs – Classical Music (classical-music.com)

Steven Tyler’s Unusual Response To A Disabled Fan Went Viral – Here’s What He Said:
Anthony Yorfido, a young man from Niagara Falls, ran into Steven Tyler, the frontman of Aerosmith. What began as a chance encounter at a medical supplies store soon became a moment that would change Anthony’s life forever. Read on to see what amazing things Tyler did for this kind fan.

Steven Tyler Made His Disabled Fan’s Dreams Come True – Buzznet

“I Just Started to Play the Faure’ Pavane, Just for Fun. And Then She Started Playing with Me by Ear!”

‘She’s a miracle kid’ – star pianist Lang Lang on Lucy, last year’s winner of The… – Classic FM

Why Do We Sing? New Analysis of Folk Songs Finds Similarities around the World:
Across the globe, singing traditions are vast and varied. Their commonalities may help explain how music evolved

Why Do We Sing? New Analysis of Folk Songs Finds Similarities around the World | Scientific American

Dance and percussion group puts on a show for travelers at San Diego International Airport:
If you’re headed out of San Diego International Airport over the next week, you may encounter some unexpected sights and sounds that could bring your travel experience to life in a whole new way.

Dance and percussion group puts on a show for travelers at San Diego International Airport – NBC 7 San Diego (nbcsandiego.com)

Thanks to musicians and music lovers everywhere!

Play it forward.

Love,

Neville

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Your Soul Food for Friday May 17, 2024: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

Happy Soul Food Friday

This week: Confront the Brutal Facts about Climate Change but Never Give Up Hope!

Here are both the challenges as well as some innovative solutions on the horizon.

Confront the brutal facts-

A Big Part of the Problem-

Survey finds that 60 firms are responsible for half of world’s plastic pollution:
Study confirms Philip Morris International, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are worst offenders

Survey finds that 60 firms are responsible for half of world’s plastic pollution | Plastics | The Guardian

Sink/Rise- Pre-Apocalyptic- South Pacific Islanders on the brink of losing their homes, lands and livelihoods due to climate change:

These haunting underwater photos portray climate change in a new way (cnn.com)

The Foods the World Will Lose to Climate Change
Droughts, heat, and extreme weather are pushing crops to their limits. The race is on to innovate faster than the Earth warms.

The Foods the World Will Lose to Climate Change | WIRED

Scientists sound the alarm over dramatic loss of 3 billion birds in North America: ‘We’re watching … extinction happen’
The staggering drop in bird populations serves as a sobering signal of an urgent need to take action. Since the 1970s, bird enthusiasts have watched the skies empty and heard the birdsongs go silent as nearly 3 billion birds vanished in North America. Disturbed by the findings of an expansive body of research, scientists across the globe are sounding the alarm as half of the world’s bird populations are in decline. What’s happening?

Scientists sound the alarm over dramatic loss of 3 billion birds in North America: ‘We’re watching … extinction happen’ (thecooldown.com)

But Never Give Up Hope!

Can a picture make you happy? We asked photographers and here’s what they sent us
Photographers sent us pictures of a Syrian boy who finds joy caring for farm animals, Ukrainian girls on a trampoline, music lovers grooving to the blues and more.

Happy photos from around the world for the International Day of Happiness : Goats and Soda : NPR

Many Innovative Solutions-

Say Hello to Biodegradable Microplastics:

Research from UC San Diego shows plant-based polymers can disappear within seven months

Say Hello to Biodegradable Microplastics (ucsd.edu)

Can this technology help refreeze Arctic ice?
Global warming is rapidly melting some of the world’s largest ice shelves but a UK startup believes it may be possible to refreeze new layers of ice. 

This technology may help refreeze the arctic | CNN

A Stunning New Material May Shrink Humanity’s Carbon Footprint
As Earth keeps warming, the ‘Cage of Cages’ emerges as a contender to cool our impact.

A Stunning New Material May Shrink Humanity’s Carbon Footprint (popularmechanics.com)

The ‘world’s largest’ vacuum to suck climate pollution out of the air just opened. Here’s how it works
Mammoth will suck in air using giant fans, separate the carbon and transport it underground where it will transform into stone

‘World’s largest’ plant to suck carbon out of the air and turn it into stone opens in Iceland | CNN

Thanks this week go to Chris B, and all of you committed to stewarding our tiny blue planet!

Play share and pay it forward.

Love,

Neville

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Your Soul Food for Friday May 10th 2024: How Can You Not Be Blown Away by These Amazing Animals

This week: These Amazing Animals!

If some of these stories don’t blow you away, you might want to check your pulse 😊

Waay better than doom scrolling…

Play, healing, tool usage, language, and friendship!

A New Declaration of Animal Consciousness
A group of prominent scientists believes fruit flies, fish, and mollusks might experience pain and pleasure. April 27, 2024, this article was originally published by Quanta Magazine. In 2022, researchers at the Bee Sensory and Behavioral Ecology Lab at Queen Mary University of London observed bumblebees doing something remarkable: The diminutive, fuzzy creatures were engaging in activity that could only be described as play. Given small wooden balls, the bees pushed them around and rotated them.

A New Declaration of Animal Consciousness – The Atlantic

Orangutan heals face wound using medicinal plant in Indonesia in documented first:
A Sumatran orangutan named Rakus was seen using a medicinal plant to heal a facial wound at an Indonesian research site.

Orangutan seen healing face wound with medicinal plant for first time (usatoday.com)

10 animals that use tools in surprising and clever ways – from primates and dolphins to birds and fish:
It is not just humans that regularly use tools to solve problems and make our lives easier. Other animals do it too!

10 animals that use tools in surprising and clever ways – from primates and dolphins to birds and fish – Discover Wildlife 10 animals that use tools

Sperm whales communicate through a ‘complex phonetic alphabet,’ study finds:
Researchers analyzed the codas of approximately 60 sperm whales.

Sperm whales communicate through a ‘complex phonetic alphabet,’ study finds – ABC News (go.com)

Seal Kept Poking Diver’s Arm Until He Finally Realized What Was Going On, Here’s What Happened:
One experienced diver and his friend had a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with some seals. They were even lucky enough to capture the moment on film!

This Diver Couldn’t Figure Out What A Seal Was Trying To Tell Him – Buzznet

Please pay it forward and love those wondrous creatures that we share this tiny blue planet with!

Love,

Neville

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Your Soul Food for May Day 2024: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. End the Stigma. Make it OK.

This week:

Purpose in Life Can Lead to Less Stress, Better Mental Well-Being:

Psychiatry.org – Purpose in Life Can Lead to Less Stress, Better Mental Well-being

There Are 5 ‘Stress Languages.’ Here’s How To Figure Out Yours.
You’ve heard of love languages, but what about these? Experts break down each type and what they say about how you handle stress.

What Is Your Stress Language? | HuffPost Life

What is Your Language of Appreciation at Work?

In the spirit of the platinum rule v. the golden rule, where the Golden Rule says, “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you”, the Platinum Rule suggests: “Do unto others, as others would have done unto themselves.

Use the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace | Great Place To Work®

Inspiration-

Homeless Man Rushes Into A Burning Animal Shelter And Saves Every Animal, Here’s The Story
After a kitchen fire started at the W-Underdogs Shelter in Atlanta, Georgia, Keith didn’t hesitate. He ran into the building with hopes of saving as many animals as he could. What he wound up doing makes him nothing short of a hero.

This Homeless Man Runs Into A Burning Shelter With A Single Mission: Save Every Animal – Buzznet

Meet California’s “Toy Man,” a humanitarian who’s brought joy to thousands of kids
His donations over the years have been funded entirely by his personal savings, including money he invested from his earnings in the stock market.

Meet California’s “Toy Man,” a humble humanitarian who’s brought joy to thousands of kids – CBS News

Please Pay it forward.

Love,

Neville

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