Happy Soul Food Friday!

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

• One Good Thing: it’s high time you made self-compassion a must-do, not just an option
• I’m a Child Psychologist. This is the No. 1 life lesson I’m teaching my kids
• Stop Trying to be Happy. Instead, have more Fun!
• Use This Three Step Meditation to Counter Negative Thoughts
• These 3 Questions Can Help You Get Better at Embracing Change
• The Four Daily Habits of Truly Happy People
• Neuroscientist Shares 5-Step Guide To Help Kids Handle Life’s Challenges
• 6 ways to prepare for stressful situations before they happen

One-

One Good Thing: it’s high time you made self-compassion a must-do, not just an option:
“Self-compassion hasn’t just changed my life – it’s transformed the way I engage with the world.”

Why you need to prioritise self-compassion (stylist.co.uk)

I’m a child psychologist. This is the No. 1 life lesson I’m teaching my kids:
Why and how child mental health experts are raising their kids with these specific skills.

Child Psychologists Reveal Most Important Life Lessons To Teach Kids (today.com)

Two-

Stop trying to be happy. Instead, have more fun:
In his science-backed book, “The Fun Habit,” Mike Rucker shows that intentionally increasing joyful moments can improve health, relationships and even productivity.

Stop trying to be happy. Instead, have more fun | CNN

Three-

Use This Three Step Meditation to Counter Negative Thoughts:

Use this 3-step meditation to counter negative thoughts (cnbc.com)

These 3 Questions Can Help You Get Better at Embracing Change:

Yale-trained neuroscientist: How to get better at embracing change (cnbc.com)

Four-

The Four Daily Habits of Truly Happy People:

4 daily habits of truly happy people | Fortune Well

Five-

Neuroscientist Shares 5-Step Guide To Help Kids Handle Life’s Challenges:
Next time things go pear-shaped, remember ‘The Neurocycle’.

Neuroscientist Shares 5 Tips To Help Kids Handle Life’s Challenges | HuffPost UK Parents (huffingtonpost.co.uk)

Six-

6 ways to prepare for stressful situations before they happen:
To get ahead of the stress that’s on the horizon, follow these simple steps.

How to prepare for future stress proactively (fastcompany.com)

If you are local-

Warning: May cause bouts of unbridled joy and unexplained happiness with large releases of oxytocin and dopamine!

Drivin the Bus is back playing this Friday night Aug 18^th from 9pm to midnight at Beaumont’s in La Jolla

5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla CA 92037

DRIVIN’ THE BUS – Beaumont’s Neighborhood Eatery (beaumontseatery.com)

We haven’t played here before so are excited to explore a new venue.

Grab a party buddy and come join us if you want to ring in the weekend with some cheer.

Pay it forward!

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108 
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria 

“Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”—Denis Waitely

Happy Soul Food Friday!

“May all beings be free from suffering.

May all beings be peaceful and joyful.

May all beings through direct experience, know the true nature of their own being.”

This week:

• Struggling with difficult emotions?
• Mad as hell?
• Money issues?
• Toxic fumes in the house?
• Anxious or depressed?
• Seeking meaning and purpose?

Antidotes for you and yours…

Struggling With Difficult Emotions? Try These Three Movements
Sometimes you just need to move your body to get past intense emotions.

Struggling With Difficult Emotions? Try These Three Movements | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk)

The 1 Thing Therapists Do When They’re Really Pissed Off
Experts explain how they manage their anger when they’re seeing red.

What Therapists Do To Cope When They’re Really Angry | HuffPost Life

Harvard expert: To be more satisfied in life and with money, follow this formula
To have a “truly rich life,” it’s important to build emotional wealth as well as financial health, says author Manisha Thakor. Here’s how to do it.

Harvard expert: Use this formula to improve your relationship to money (cnbc.com)

Love A Houseplant? Well, We’ve Got Great Health News For You
Not that we needed another excuse to buy one.

Indoor Plants Can Reduce Your Chances Of Breathing In Toxic Fumes | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk)

This Ivy League researcher says spirituality is good for our mental health
A Columbia University professor says spiritual beliefs can decrease our rates of anxiety and depression. I needed to understand how she came to these conclusions.

This Ivy League researcher says spirituality is good for our mental health : NPR

If you are local-

Strange Crew will be performing this Friday Aug 11^th from 7 to 8:30 pm at Duck Foot Brewing in Miramar if you want to kick start your weekend with some career Clapton classics, crafties, and me on congas -well actually bongos but that doesn’t rhyme 😊

Strange Crew – Clapton Tribute Night! – Duck Foot Brewing Co (duckfootbeer.com)

Pay it forward!

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108 
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria 

“Be Impeccable with Your Word.

Don’t Take Anything Personally.

Don’t Make Assumptions.

Always Do Your Best.”

– Don Miguel Ruiz

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Hawke’s Healing Provocation Courtesy of Ryan B:

Sometimes, you see something that so resonates that you feel the need to share it.  The following rant was originally posted on Questlove’s Instagram a few weeks back.  It was an impassioned monologue by the wildly talented Ethan Hawke that has resurfaced from two years back. It landed so deeply with me. I hope it does the same for you. The short of it:  If you are talking that ambitious talk inside your mind, muster the courage to take that first step of walking what you wonder.  You won’t regret it — unless you never take that step. Enjoy! So, you have to ask yourself do you think human creativity matters?  Well, most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about poetry, right? They have a life to live, and they’re not really that concerned with Allen Ginsberg’s poems or anybody’s poems, until… Their father dies, they go to a funeral, you lose a child, somebody breaks your heart, they don’t love you anymore. And all of a sudden, you’re desperate for making sense out of this life.   And has anybody ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud? Or the inverse. Something great.  You meet somebody and your heart explodes. You love them so much; you can’t even see straight.  You know, you’re dizzy.  Did anybody feel like this before? What is happening to me?  And that’s when art’s not a luxury, it’s actually sustenance.  We need it.   Okay, well, what is it?  There’s this thing that worries me sometimes whenever we talk about creativity because it can have this kind of feel that it’s just nice, you know, or it’s warm or it’s something pleasant.  It’s not. It’s vital.  It’s the way we heal each other. In singing our song, in telling our story.  In inviting you to say, “Hey listen to me, and I’ll listen to you.”   We’re starting a dialogue. And when you do that, this healing happens.  And we come out of our corners, and we start to witness each other’s common humanity.  We start to assert it.  And when we do that, really good things happen.   So, if you want to help your community, if you want to help your family, if you want to help your friends, you have to express yourself, and to express yourself, you have to know yourself.   It’s actually super easy. You just have to follow your love.  There is no path. There’s no path until you walk it.      Are You All In? I’d Rather Go Blind Will Blow Your Mind: Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind (Live at Montreux 1975) – YouTube

3 ways to increase your mental resilience, according to extreme athletes:
High performers approach life challenges differently, says this author.

How to increase your mental resilience, according to extreme athletes (fastcompany.com)

Supermoon puts on a dazzling display across the world:
The full moon appeared bigger and brighter than usual Tuesday night, with the natural satellite positioned closer to Earth than usual, just 222,159 miles away.

Supermoon puts on a dazzling display across the world (nbcnews.com)

US woman, 87, fights off teenage home intruder – then gives him snacks:
Marjorie Perkins of Maine realized 17-year-old was ‘awfully hungry’ after defending herself and called 911 as he was eating

US woman, 87, fights off teenage home intruder – then gives him snacks | Maine | The Guardian

Thanks this week go to Ryan B and all of you lunar-ticks modeling resilience, staying in tune with your inner and outer nature, and fighting for your rights with both courage and consideration.

Pay it forward!

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108 
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria 

“A strong wind may destroy a sturdy tree.

 but the green willow bends

and the wind passes through.” 
– Gichin Funakoshi

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week:

Self-Care and Caring for Mother Earth

Fireworks and Finishing with a Bang

All great fireworks shows end the same way… with a bang. They save the best and most spectacular displays for their grand finale. You can’t help but clap at the end. Now compare a fireworks show to many lectures, sales presentations and customer service experiences. They often start off strong but instead of ending with a bang, they fizzle. The sales presentation that has a great hook in the beginning but doesn’t leave a lasting impression at the end. The speech that makes you glad it’s over instead of making you want to hear more. The restaurant server who makes a great first impression but is nowhere to be found when you want to pay the bill and leave. The teacher who fails to inspire his students to take action at the end of the lesson. The hotel that welcomes you when you arrive but ignores you when you leave. The store that has great merchandise but fails to create a memorable experience. The examples are numerous, but the solution is simple. Whatever your job or business, add some fireworks to your work.

Think of ways you can create a grand finale and leave a lasting impression. Finish your speech or sales presentation with a bang and give your audience a reason to clap at the end. Give your customers something positive to talk about as they walk out the door.

Fireworks don’t have to occur just on the 4th of July. You can create a fireworks experience every day by finishing strong and making people say “Wow!”

US climate data pinpoints Monday as hottest recorded day on Earth!
Monday was the hottest day recorded on Earth, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

US climate data pinpoints Monday as hottest recorded day on Earth | The Hill

Scientists found a spot on Earth like no other — and a record that could redefine our history of the planet:
Canada’s Crawford Lake may hold evidence that humans have fundamentally changed Earth enough to have started the Anthropocene, a new chapter in geologic time.

Are we in the Anthropocene? Why Canada’s Crawford Lake may hold answers – Washington Post

Drone Photo Award winners capture the extraordinary beauty of the ordinary:
A rice field, a playground, piles of garbage — cameras from above cast a lens at earthly images with surprising, even dazzling results. Here are some of the winners from the 2023 Drone Photo Awards.

Drone Photo Award winners depict the extraordinary beauty of the ordinary : Goats and Soda : NPR

If you can’t make it to a national park, your mind can still wander there with this app:
Headspace is transporting users to some of America’s most popular national parks through new guided meditations.

National park lovers have a new way to escape with Headspace (usatoday.com)

Finland is home to the world’s happiest people—their No. 1 secret is this 500-year-old mindset:
For six years in a row, Finland has been ranked as the No. 1 happiest country in the world. Psychology expert E. Elisabet Lahti credits this phenomenon to “sisu,” a Finnish mindset that has been around for more than years.

• Find a purpose outside of yourself
• Increase resilience through training
• Be gentle on yourself and connect with nature

Finland is home to the world’s happiest people—their No. 1 secret is this 500-year-old mindset (cnbc.com)

New study reveals simple act could stave off 2 leading causes of death among adults: ‘Doesn’t need to be complicated.’
This study is the largest ever done on this topic, pooling data from 196 articles and over 30 million participants from nearly 100 study groups. by Erin Feiger / July 1, 2023 A quick walk a day may keep an early death away. A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that as little as 75 minutes a week of moderately intense, non-occupational physical activity substantially lowers the risk of dying from certain types of cancer or heart disease.

Study reveals daily brisk walks mitigate common health issues (thecooldown.com)

Thanks this week go to Larry H.

Now let’s get outside, take a walk so we can enjoy and cherish mother nature!

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108 
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria 

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” -Joseph Campbell

Happy Soul Food Friday!

This week: Celebrating Juneteenth, the Summer Solstice & Pride Month

Juneteenth-

Juneteenth, the newest federal holiday, is gaining awareness:
This past Monday marked the Juneteenth holiday — a date commemorating the fall of slavery in the United States. While it’s a new federal holiday, it’s been celebrated since the 1860s.

Juneteenth is a new federal holiday but has long been celebrated : NPR

Six Essential Reads to Understand Juneteenth
Spend time with beautiful pieces of writing that highlight the fortitude of Black Americans.

Essential Reads to Understand Juneteenth – The Atlantic

The Summer Solstice-

Summer Solstice with Billy S:

Aloha Friends,
Wishing you a wonderful summer solstice!

This is a time of changing seasons. 
On Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 7:58 am PDT summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere.

The summer solstice is the longest day and the shortest night in our year.
The sun sets farthest north on the horizon.

At this time of the year, the days are warm, all the plants are energized by the sun, and the land is filled with rich new growth.  
Summer is truly a celebration of the primal creative force of nature, fertile and blooming with abundance.
Humans for many millenniums have marked this sacred time in the yearly cycle of life.
Celebrating the solstice can be a beautiful reminder that our lives are part of a larger order, always changing always renewing.

The beginning of summer represents a time for purification and renewed energy.
This is a time of cutting through resistance and obstacles, using the sun energy to illuminate and light your way upon your path.   
Fire is especially important, symbolizing the light, heat, and power of the sun.
Into a fire, you can throw a piece of paper with written goals to achieve, and anything you choose to release.  
Now is a good time to plant seeds for a more intuitive, simpler, and natural lifestyle.
Stay in tune with nature and wellness.

Each Summer Solstice, This Native American Rock Art Reveals A Secret Feature
The Sinagua people say the rock art was created with shadows and sunlight in mind.

Each Summer Solstice, This Native American Rock Art Reveals A Secret Feature | IFLScience

Pride Month-

No Bystanding- Be An Ally For Those Who Can’t Be:

In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
And then… they came for me. ..And by that time there was no one left to speak up.
–Rev Martin Niemoller, January 1946

I Love You For No Reason:

A Powerful Song, Video and Message To Crack Your Heart Open!

Wrabel – The Village – YouTube

20 Cognitive Biases That Screw Up Your Decisions:

Don’t Believe Everything You Think!

Thanks this week go to Aysha S-B, Billy S, Courtney P, and all those willing to speak up, show up, and be allies not bystanders in the fight for justice and mercy.

Love,

Neville

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NevilleB108 
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbillimoria 

“Difference- The Only thing we have in Common.”