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PeggyJudyTime News – “Hare’s” March!

Another month of tech frrrrrrrrrrustrrrrrrrration . . . Here’s the PJTNewsletter you were going to get in your e-mail . . . our expectations are firm, it’s our time-line that is flexible!*

March 2023 Down the rabbit hole with the March Hare (not to mention Peggy ‘n Judy). *Note: All RED copy denotes our personal opinions & commentary, based on decades of real world experience and/or delusions. “The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won’t be raving mad – at least not so mad as it was in March.” Alice, hypothesizes, Through the Looking Glass

What’s Up? We get mail (er . . . e-mail)! Here’s a pithy commentary on our February PJTNewsletter (if you were a hare late and missed it click HERE Tom Thomas’ Takeaways and Cautionary Tail (hey! remember , , , we’ve got a rabbit theme going . . . .) and we quote . . . “Thanks for the newest, grandest, bestest animal and baking edition of PJT News. Maybe if everyone moved to the prairie with the moles there would be more love and long-term commitments due to the oxytocin grass that grows there! Something is really wrong about considering a 4 inch, hissing, crunchy roach for a Valentine gift. The recipe for the flourless chocolate cake was in the Phoenix “newspaper” recently, so I made one. Caution– don’t let the water flow over into the cake pan or you will have a very chocolatey pudding. Gracie Allen is lookin’ great! By the way, are you gals on the mailing list for info about Camelback High 60th reunion this fall? Thanks for the Loverly letter,” TT (Thanks Tom for the Loverly e-mail! . . . and referring to us as “gals”, You Betcha!)

“Like the character’s friend, the Hatter, the March Hare feels compelled to always behave as though it is tea-time because the Hatter supposedly “murdered the time” whilst singing for the Queen of Hearts. Sir John Tenniel‘s illustration also shows him with straw on his head, a common way to depict madness in Victorian times.” What do YOU think? Although the information we present in our PJTnewletters and site are often punctuated with a wink and a smile, we hope you will think about much of what we offer on a deeper level. We believe that we are all connected in this world – “As above, so below; as below, so above”– in ways often unseen, unappreciated and unknown. The March Hare’s perception of “tea-time” is perhaps a reflection of eternity and his “madness” a reminder we are both rational and irrational beings.

(Hare-Brained Idea? We think not) How to strengthen your muscle just by thinking about exercising it! “For 12 weeks (five minutes a day, five days per week) a team of 30 healthy young adults imagined either using the muscle of their little finger or of their elbow flexor. Dr. Vinoth Ranganathan and his team asked the participants to think as strongly as they could about moving the muscle being tested, to make the imaginary movement as real as they could.” Compared to a control group – that did no imaginary exercises and showed no strength gains: – The little-finger group increased their pinky muscle strength by 35%. – The other group increased elbow strength by 13.4%. – What’s more, brain scans taken after the study showed greater and more focused activity in the prefrontal cortex than before.” The researchers said strength gains were due to improvements in the brain’s ability to signal muscle. (Cancel that gym membership, donate your running shoes and flex your buff pinky finger!)

Hare-raising Thoughts About Our World

Trees Communicate and Cooperate through a FUNGAL Web, (Is this a hare-brained idea . . .? not everyone is convinced) “The tips of tree roots are intertwined with filaments of fungus, forming a hidden underground network that seems to benefit both organisms: the filaments, known as hyphae, break down minerals from the soil that trees can then take into their roots, while the fungus gets a steady source of sugar from the trees.” “More poetically, research has hinted that these connections—known as mycorrhizal networks—can extend between trees, enabling one tree to transfer resources below ground to another.” “Some researchers even argue that trees are cooperating, with older trees passing resources to seedlings and nurturing them as a parent might.” There is even a punny popular name for the phenomenon: the “wood-wide web.” “Analysis published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, however, argues that the evidence for mycorrhizal networks facilitating tree cooperation is not as strong as the popular story would suggest.” “It’s not that relationships between trees and fungi don’t exist, says co-author Justine Karst, an ecologist who studies mycorrhizal networks at the University of Alberta. Rather, in many cases, suggestive evidence or studies with many caveats have been taken as more definitive than they really are.” “The problem with researching mycorrhizal networks is that they’re very delicate: dig up a root, and you’ve destroyed the very web of fungi and wood you wanted to study. That makes it hard to tell if a particular fungus is really connecting any two trees.” “The best way to get around the problem is to sample fungi from different locations, sequence their genetic information, and make a map of where genetically identical fungi are growing. This is a tremendous amount of work, Karst says, . . . Making these studies even more challenging is the ephemeral nature of fungal networks.”

“Fungi can grow as individuals after being split, says Melanie Jones, a plant biologist at the University of British Columbia and a co-author of the new analysis. Even genetic samples provide only a snapshot and can’t reveal whether the bits of fungi collected at two different trees are still actually connected. They may have been severed by part of the fungus dying or by something taking a bite out of it. “It’s a very thorny issue,” Jones says. These limitations raise questions about how widespread mycorrhizal networks are, and how long they last. It is clear that substances from one tree can end up being taken up by a neighboring tree in the forest. “The main message is that this hasn’t been tested in a forest,” Karst says. “When you see those pictures of ancient forests, big trees and they’re passing signals to each other, it just hasn’t been tested.” “For decades, a compartmentalized approach has hindered us from better understanding why forests help regulate global climate and harbor such rich biodiversity. Applying reductionist science to complex systems accelerates the exploitation and degradation of forests worldwide.” “. . . Karst believes there may still be truth to the idea that mycorrhizal networks are involved in at least some tree-to-tree networking, and better-designed experiments could get at that truth.” article by Stephanie Pappas Decide for yourself. Is this a HARE-Brained hypothosis? Click below to read entire article: https://www.peggyjudytime.com/post/do-trees-really-support-each-other-through-a-network-of-fungi

( . . . HUMAN Mycorrhizal Networks?) Your (hare) brain synchronizes with others during cooperative tasks “Overview of the experimental setup used to study brain synchronization during cooperative tasks*: Each pair of participants (39 pairs in total) engaged in a natural, cooperative, and creative task: the design and furnishing of a digital room in a computer game. They were allowed to communicate freely to create a room that satisfied both.” Participants had to design the interior of a digital room together, and a computer vision system kept track of their gaze to pinpoint the social behavior of looking at the other participant’s face. The participants also completed the same task individually. While they completed the experiment, their brain activity was recorded. Statistical analysis was then used to assess between-brain and within-brain synchronization of various cerebral regions. “This emerging research field is referred to as “second-person neuroscience” and employs hyperscanning (the simultaneous recording of the activity of multiple brains) as the signature technique.” “The participants also completed the same task alone as the researchers sought to compare between-brain synchronizations (BBSs) and within-brain synchronizations (WBSs) during the individual and cooperative tasks. The social behavior that the team focused on during the tasks was eye gaze, i.e., whether the participants directed their gaze at the other’s face.”

‘We-mode’ One of the most intriguing findings of the study was: During cooperative play, there was a strong between-brain synchronizations (BBS) among the superior and middle temporal regions and specific parts of the prefrontal cortex in the right hemisphere, but little within-brain synchronizations (WBSs) in comparison. The BBS synchronization was strongest when one of the participants raised their gaze to look at the other. Interestingly, the situation reversed during individual play, showing increased WBS within the same regions. “According to Minagawa, these results agree with the idea that our brains work as a “two-in-one system” during certain social interactions. “Neuron populations within one brain were activated simultaneously with similar neuron populations in the other brain when the participants cooperated to complete the task, as if the two brains functioned together as a single system for creative problem-solving,” she explains. “These phenomena are consistent with the notion of a ‘we-mode,’ in which interacting agents share their minds in a collective fashion and facilitate interaction by accelerating access to the other’s cognition.” “Overall, this study provides evidence hinting at the remarkable capability of the human brain to understand and synchronize with others’ when the situation calls for it.” *Research team led by Yasuyo Minagawa of Keio University, Japan, published in Neurophotonics, Provided by SPIE https://www.peggyjudytime.com/post/march-when-eyes-meet-neurons-start-to-fire

(For your March Hare tea party) Easy DIY slime recipe Ingredients: 1 cup of clear glue 1/4 cup of water 1/2 tsp bicarb soda 4 drops of eye contact solution Food colouring (optional) Glitter or other decorations (optional) Method: In a large mixing bowl, combine the bicarb soda and water. Mix well. Add glue. If desired, add a few drops of food colouring to the mixture and stir until you achieve the desired colour. Add half the eye contact solution. Mix well. Add the other half of the eye contact solution and mix. Knead the slime until it’s sticky but doesn’t stick to your hands.

“Laughter is Spiritual Relaxation” Baha’i World Faith God has a smile on His face. – Psalm 42:5 As soap is to the body, so laughter is to the soul. – A Jewish Proverb Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer. – Reinhold Niebuhr Did you know? . . . Laughter and smiling release neurochemicals that elevate immune responses. How can you be stressed when you laugh? When we laugh, we can’t help but be in the moment, and in that moment troubles are forgotten. Laughter is a wonderful antidote to anxiety. (Sliming others works too)

(In the event you want a cute culinary accompaniment to your slime . . . ) Pancake Bunny Center the large round pancake on a plate. Place the ovals on top for the ears. Add two banana slices to the large round pancake for the eyes. Top each with a blueberry and place the third blueberry in the center for the nose. Place the 2 remaining small pancakes just below the nose to create the cheeks. Position a long piece of marshmallow in the center of each ear. Place the marshmallow teeth at the bottom of the large pancake so they hang over slightly. Position 3 whiskers on the outside of each cheek with the points facing outward. Or for a cheesey culinary accoutrement Rarebit Formerly Known as Welsh Rabbit Welsh rarebit, also called Welsh rabbit, a traditional British dish consisting of toasted bread topped with a savory cheddar cheese sauce that typically includes such ingredients as beer or ale, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, mustard, and paprika. If an egg is served atop the dish, it is called buck rarebit. “The origins of the name are uncertain. The earliest cited use of the term Welsh rabbit was in 1725, with the alternative form rarebit (a word that has no meaning aside from this dish) appearing in 1785. A popular legend suggests that the meat-based name for this meatless dish stems from Welsh peasants for whom cheese was a substitute for the meat they could not afford. (We think PCR – Prevention to Cruelty to Rabbits – petitioned to change the name or threatened to get PETA to sue). Whatever its origins, the dish is today a staple of British fare and a common pub food, often paired with a pint of beer or ale.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/Welsh-rarebit Yield: 4 or more servings 2. tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon mustard powder, or to taste ½ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste ¾ cup strong dark beer, like Guinness 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, or to taste 1 pound Cheddar, Double Gloucester or other English cheese (or other good semi-hard cheese, like Comté or Gruyère, or a mixture), grated 4 to 8 pieces lightly toasted bread Add to Your Put butter in a saucepan over medium heat and, as it melts, stir in flour. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and very fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in mustard and cayenne, then whisk in beer and Worcestershire sauce. When mixture is uniform, turn heat to low and stir in cheese, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and pour into a broad container to set (you can refrigerate for up to a day at this point). Spread mixture thickly on toast and put under broiler until bubbly and edges of toast are crisp. Serve immediately. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1908-welsh-rarebit “What’s Up Doc?”

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Copyright (C) 2023, Peggy Arndt & Judy Westerfield, PeggyJudyTime, All rights reserved. Our e-mail PeggyJudyTime@gmail.com

One Glitch after another . . . we don’t want you to miss out on our new site and PJT Newsletter!

February 2023 All things LOVERly _______________________ The best laid plans . . . Some of you got our January 2023 PeggyJudyTime NEWs announcing our new site. Most of you did not as we learned, after the fact, that our new carrier only sent out a limited number. It feels like we’ve been sucked into the black hole of cyber technology for the past 45 days DESPERATELY trying to figure out how to import, deport, report, clean-up, clean-out, freak-out mailing lists.  SO! . . . . 1.  If you didn’t receive the January PJT News click here and find our Happy New Year, Happy New Site news and it’s contents on: Viral Kindness Procrastination Styles Hardwired for Laziness a FREE Reduce Anxiety PDF and MORE!  2.  If you get duplicate newsletters please let us know.peggyjudytime@gmail.com. Just click and we’ll receive the message. Peggy is leading a “relatively” normal life, given that invisible and silent viruses fit into the realm of things-that-go-bump-in-the-night. (We said BUMP so don’t get all Politically Correct and e-mail Peggy in aghast . . .) She’s taking precautions, grocery shopping in the wee morning hours when the only people in the store are being paid to be there, wearing her masks fashionably positioned just above the flare of her nose, visiting her granddaughter Lucy, meeting her friends in the great outdoors where fewer virus dare to tread. AND putting up with Judy’s deluge of e-mails asking techno questions that Peggy can’t answer either. Judy is still curled in a fetal position on the closet floor given she just had the go-ahead for a booster vaccination. She is mainly playing by herself (settle down, it’s not what you think so don’t e-mail Judy in aghast . . . ): She is signed up for the new semester of on-line art classes so stay tuned for new masterpieces; AND she gave her husband an electric keyboard for his birthday in retribution for when he gave her a Total Gym for her birthday. She can now play Jingle Bells with her right hand while her left hand fumbles around looking for chords, gives up and curls into a fetal position in her lap. ___________________________________ LOVE, HEARTBREAK & YOUR BRAIN  Oxytocin is key “The brain system which determines long term commitment was discovered first in prairie voles. One species is monogamous and another closely related one is promiscuous. It turns out that the differences in their oxytocin systems is behind the different behaviors. Oxytocin helps couples stay together. Not just in voles, as neuroimaging studies in humans who say they are in love also show that oxytocin is the key element.” cute prairie voles “Drugs are already available to release oxytocin, (some are not legal), and experimentation of new substances such as MDMA and ayahuasca, an Amazonian hallucinogenic. . . . ”’ “. . .  the drugs we have now do not last long enough to be effective at improving romance. “You probably want to teach your brain to produce oxytocin when you actually meet your partner, . . . . “You want to teach the brain: This is the person I’m together with.”’ “In some senses, though, we already interfere with the pathways of long-term love . . . “ “Should people having trouble in a relationship go to a marriage counselor?” . “Shouldn’t a marriage just fall apart naturally?… If someone goes away on a romantic holiday that costs a lot of money and comes back with a better marriage, we’d probably say, ‘Yeah, that’s great.’” WHY DOES HEARTBREAK HURT SO MUCH? It has been said that pain from loss of a loved one – whether it be a person or a pet – is equal to the depth of our love. There is also a a physiological reason why heartbreak can be such a painful experience, and symptoms aren’t just in the mind. “When you fall in love, there is a natural outpouring of hormones,” Dr. Deborah Lee, (a medical writer for Dr Fox Online Pharmacy in England), told Live Science. These include the ‘cuddle’ hormone oxytocin and the ‘feel-good’ hormone dopamine. But when you fall out of love, levels of oxytocin and dopamine drop, while at the same time there is an increase in levels of one of the hormones responsible for stress — cortisol.” Social rejection, such as breaking up with a partner, also activates areas of the brain associated with physical pain, noted a 2011 study in the journal Biological Sciences. “While heartbreak can be devastating, romantically bonding — and the pain people experience when these bonds are broken — may be a trait that humans have evolved to help them survive, Ryden said. “There is a large literature on the importance for survival of social bonding and secure attachment,” he said. “The risk and effects of heartbreak can be thought of as part of a motivational drive towards finding a secure attachment with a romantic partner.” https://neurosciencenews.com/sense-intuition-consciousness-22296/ JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINES DAY . . .  2024 . . . You’re in luck. The Zoo does this every year! Hey! We aren’t making this up as evidenced by the quotation marks. We think (“we” probably meaning Judy) it’s a great way to show respect, if not love, for all God’s creatures. “2023 marks the 12th year of the zoo’s Name a Roach program, which offers customers an unusual way to express their love for their significant other.” “Yes, you heard that right—anyone will have the chance to bring out their hopeless romantic side by naming a Madagascar hissing cockroach after their special someone for Valentine’s Day for just $15!” “The zoo offers thousands of cockroaches for you to name that are on display in Madagascar, which is an award-winning habitat for lemurs, crocodiles, and plenty of other species from the African island nation.” “In addition to getting a cockroach named after them, your Valentine will also receive a certificate with the name chosen in their honor to memorialize the thoughtful gift. On top of that, all orders can be upgraded to include merchandise like a roach tumbler, a roach tote bag, or a special virtual Bronx Zoo animal encounter with a live Madagascar hissing cockroach.” “Customers can purchase the tumbler or tote for an additional $35 on top of the certificate. Adding on the wild encounter is $60, and if you wish to have the tumbler, tote, wild encounter, and certificate, that would come to $75.” “The money benefits the Bronx Zoo and the nonprofit organization, Wildlife Conservation Society, which is dedicated to saving wildlife and wild places in New York and around the world, according to a press release shared with Parade.” “Since the inauguration of the program in 2011, thousands of passionate lovers from around the world have named their friends, family, boyfriends, girlfriends, fiancés, wives, husbands—you name it—after a Madagascar hissing cockroach.” “These supersized bugs are said to reach up to 4 inches long and are the world’s largest roach species. As they’re named “hissing” cockroach, they do, in fact, hiss, but only as a defense mechanism. This variety of roach is not considered to be a “pest” and are said to rarely enter homes.” “So, what are you waiting for? Get your Valentine a Madagascar hissing cockroach to express your love in the best way possible, because “roaches are forever,” according to the zoo’s website.” ______________________________ “Roses are red Violets are blue since dogs can’t eat chocolate neither should you” __________________________________ Cute chocolate by judy Chocolate’s Secret Power “Scientists believe they have discovered the secret power of chocolate – that unique characteristic that makes many of us feel like we’re almost addicted to it.” “Forget its taste, or its divine smell . . .  The texture alone can keep us hooked, according to a team of experts at the University of Leeds, in the UK.” “Chocolate has a way of melting in the mouth that other similarly delicious sweets and food just don’t have. The secret, scientists say, is that there’s a fatty film coating the harder centre in chocolate which, oddly enough, our mouths can’t get enough of.” “In their study, published in ACS Applied Material and Interfaces, the researchers analysed the process that takes place when we eat chocolate, focusing on texture rather than taste.” “They found that the fat contained in chocolate plays a key function almost as soon as the treat comes into contact with the tongue – something the experts call “the chocolate sensation”. That initial smoothness is something that chocolate brands actively seek and promote. Take the commercials for some of the most famous chocolate brands in the world, which often feature a person popping a piece of chocolate in their mouth, and the world suddenly coming to a halt the moment it touches their tongue. The commercials work because most of us chocolate lovers know that feeling and the lingering pleasure that comes with it. Towards ‘healthier’ chocolate? “And yet that melt-in-mouth feeling is not really helping us live a healthier life. In fact, it’s doing quite the opposite, forcing us to desperately chase that moment of bliss and self-indulgence.” “The British scientists at the School of Food Science and Nutrition in Leeds are not suggesting that you give up that mouth feel entirely.” “They’re instead hoping that their discovery can be used by chocolate brands to make chocolate healthier while maintaining that smoothness that we love so much.” “The goal would be to recreate that melting sensation in healthier chocolate, which despite containing less fat would feel just as satisfying as high-fat chocolate.” “The study is the first of its kind to study how chocolate interacts with our tongue during the first stage of eating chocolate, which scientists call “the licking process” or “the solid lubrication of chocolate” and say “remains principally unexplored”. https://apple.news/AxBZGJ1fLRMy99nI8SS_s2w ______________________________________ Test out how chocolate interacts with your tongue and try this recipe 3-INGREDIENT FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE  A decadent, gluten-free flourless chocolate cake recipe with no added sugar necessary! (No spring form pan? Use small greased ramekins in a water bath for about 25 minutes. No expensive chocolate?  Use cheap dark chocolate morsels, ) INGREDIENTS 8 large eggs, cold 1 lb. dark, semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 16 Tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces optional toppings: powdered sugar and/or berries INSTRUCTIONS Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper or waxed paper and grease the sides of the pan. (Be sure to grease the sides really well!) Wrap the outside of the pan with 2 sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil and set it in a large roasting pan, or any pan that’s larger than the springform. Bring a kettle or pot of water to boil. Beat the eggs at high speed until the volume doubles. This usually takes about 5 minutes in a stand mixer. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and butter together. You can either do this in a double boiler on the stove (by placing the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl, set over a pan of almost-simmering water, and stirring until melted and smooth). Or you can do this in the microwave (by heating the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate and butter are melted and smooth). Then fold about a third of the beaten eggs into the chocolate mixture using a large rubber spatula until only a few streaks of egg are visible. Fold in half of the remaining egg foam, and then the last half of the foam, until the mixture is totally homogenous. Scrape the batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Place the roasting pan on the oven rack and VERY carefully pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the cake has risen slightly, the edges are just beginning to set, a thin-glazed crust (like a brownie) has formed on the surface, (and an instant-read thermometer inserted halfway into the center reads 140° F,) 22-25 minutes. Remove the springform pan from the water bath and set on a wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until cool. (The cake can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.) About 30 minutes prior to serving, carefully remove the sides of the springform pan, invert the cake onto a sheet of waxed paper, peel off the parchment paper, and invert the cake onto a serving platter. If desired, lightly dust the cake with powdered sugar and top with berries. To slice, use a sharp, thin-bladed knife, dipping the knife into a pitcher of hot water and wiping the blade before each cut. Recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated http://www.cooksillustrated.com/ Find it online: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/flourless-chocolate-cake/ _____________________________________ We are continuing to put MAXyourMIND posts (devoted to brain research and how it impacts physical, emotional and mental well-being),   CURIOUStotheMind and The HeART of  Spirituality posts on our new site PeggyJudyTime.com   Here’s an interesting intersection of both neuroscience and spirituality, a study  using  functional MRI brain scans which examines religious and spiritual experiences.  Here’s an excerpt: Religious and spiritual experiences activate the same reward systems between your ears as do feelings of love, being moved by music and even doing drugs. The researchers found that certain brain regions consistently lit up when the participants reported spiritual feelings. “The brain regions included: the nucleus accumbens, which is associated with reward frontal attentional, which is associated with focused attention ventromedial prefrontal cortical loci, associated with moral reasoning “I appreciated how they went about trying to ascertain the degree of spiritual experience that a person has. Of course, there is always a subjective component to it, but they seemed to capture it relatively well,” said Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neurotheologian and professor of emergency medicine and radiology at Thomas Jefferson University who was not involved in the study.””He added that the new study further supports previous research that has associated spiritual and religious experiences with complex neural networks.” “Although the study subjects were all  Mormons, more research is needed to determine whether similar findings could be replicated in people of other faiths, such as Catholics, Muslims Protestants, Bahai’s, and Christian Evangelicals.” “Yet the study also corroborates prior studies of various prayer and meditation practices that found changes in the attentional areas of the brain and also the striatum,” a part of the brain associated with the reward system.” Social Neuroscience Journal Courtesy of the University of Utah Health Sciences http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/29/health/religious-brain-mormon-mri/index.html Namaste! WWW.PeggyJudyTime.com Copyright © *2023, Peggy Arndt and Judy Westerfield, PeggyJudyTime.com,  All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: PeggyJudyTime@gmail.com – break our hearts and unsubscribe from this list.

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Take a look at my “healthie” – “X” rated for under 75 year olds

Growing old is not for the faint of heart and I do consider myself to be healthier than many of my friends: my blood pressure is great, cholesterol and blood sugar levels perfect, lungs are strong, hearing excellent, weight good, no arthritis. 

On a walk Judy asked how my ankle was doing after I sprained it.  “Better”, I said.  “How is your ear doing?” she asked.  “The antibiotics seem to be helping,” I replied.

Is your neck still stiff? . . . . I’m going to physical therapy . . . 

Our conversation made me focus on what was happening to my body:

I showed this chart to Judy who she said it made her feel better that all she has is chronic fatigue/fibromyalgia . . . .

We want to know who has the most niggling issues!

 Here’s a template to indicate what’s “working” or “not working” with your health.

Send us your own “healthie”.  

E-mail to peggyjudytime@gmail.com

or leave your own health “stuff” in the comments below.  

(Peggy)

Sneak’a Peek – R U Outa Your Mind too?

“If the left half of the brain controls the right side of the body then only left-handed people are in their right mind.”

W. C. FIELDS (a lefty perhaps?)

There’s some research which indicates that no one part of the brain is responsible for logic but I beg to differ.  The part of my brain that processes information linearly atrophied in the womb.  Try as I might I simply can not remember numbers, had a difficult time in school with any subject remotely related to linear thinking and can not follow written instructions.  I used to think I wasn’t very smart until I learned to blame my parents for the hard-wiring in my brain.  

You can probably detect from my mixed media self-portraits if I’m in my right mind . . . 

.

Sneak Peak – Drawing & a blemished Life

None of us, at least no one I know, has led an unblemished life.  It takes lots of mistakes & bad choices (some our own and some other’s mistakes) to learn how to live honestly and wisely . . .  a truth I need to remember when I’m doing art.  

Before I ever put charcoal to paper I thought that artists were born knowing how to draw.  Either you were “artistic” or not.  It never occurred to me that both art and life simply took practice and that like leg muscles not strong enough to hold us up after birth, art muscles needed to develop too.

It’s been over a month and  I’ve not drawn or painted nuth’n – felt completely stuck, bored and unmotivated.  I’ve put most of the blame for my lethargy on the classes I’ve signed up for this semester.  They are all, because of Covid, “Zoomed” for 3 hours.  (Two hours too long to sit and focus on a computer screen).   Every class, understandably, all started with the basics – measuring, anatomy, color theory etc.  (Now that I’ve taken several years worth of beginning classes the “basics” don’t amuse me and require engaging the left, logical side of my brain which atrophied in the womb ).

• I do not like to draw “precisely” and trying to capture the exact dimensions or likeness of anything stresses me out!!!!!!!.  
• When I attempt “perfection” it kicks me to the curb and takes the fun out of drawing and living.  I gave up long ago trying to live a life of perfection.

How to break the lethargy was my challenge.   What energizes me is experimenting with the PROCESS not be focused on the “product”, reminding myself that my goal is to have fun rather than be “famous”.  

 So!  I found a small piece of paper that was already “ruined” with color blobs smeared on it and I could just scribble and schmear finding the art muscles that had atrophied these past months.

7″ x 4-1/2″, Charcoal on paper.

Another assignment was a “pirate-man wearing a very large pirate hat with big feathers and a shirt with huge ruffles. I changed him up a bit . . .

If you noticed . . . I do not share my photo references – not because of decorum and propriety – because I like to take artistic license, create bumps and detours around the subject . . . and I figure it’s my prerogative to judge how I practice living and drawing my blemished life.

God’s Gracie- The HeART of Spirituality

I’ve not been able to write about Freddie in over one and a half years when he first had a series of seizures.  He was able to be stabilized  with medication but suddenly lost his vision and became increasingly disoriented.  All his symptoms were indicative of a brain tumor.  Even though he was stabilized, I spent the last year and a half of his life in anticipatory grief, mourning the wonderful, loving dog we had adopted.  From the day we took him home Freddie was gentle, sweet spirited, almost perfect – didn’t shed, didn’t bark and liked everyone.  His only “flaws” were an insatiable appetite, making sure there wasn’t a crumb on the floor and obsessively lifting his leg on plants, grass, trees and once on a Shih Tzu . . .  to the horror of its owner.  The Shih Tzu didn’t blink and luckily Freddie was on “empty”. 

Freddie’s Bio Page, Fabulous Felted Freddie, made with love by Lyn G.

It was painful to watch his deterioration and when he no longer could enjoy doggie things we tearfully made the decision to euthanize him.  To this very moment, I can’t stop crying when remembering . . . 

In December 2021 we decided to look for another rescue dog to adopt – a small dog with a small appetite and small poo.  In Orange County, CA, where we live, the shelters are all no-kill and we quickly found out that rescue foundations – both non-profit and for profit – “rescue” small dogs and the most adoptable from the public shelters to foster.  Consequently the public shelters are full of Pit Bull mixes and Great Danes.  (No disrespect to Pit Bulls and Great Danes)

“No matter how strong the measure of Divine grace, unless supplemented by personal, sustained and intelligent effort it cannot become fully effective and be of any real and abiding advantage.”

It took an inordinate amount of time, doing on-line searches and filling out many, many, MANY adoption applications. The applications were mind-bending, asking everything from the make and model of our cars, to:

• Requiring the name of a co-adopter under the age of 60 (since we were over the age of 70) who would take the dog in the case of our demise.
•  Asking what would happen to the dog if there was a divorce – I answered that I got the dog, the house and the money. 
• Wanting descriptions of how a destructive dog would be disciplined.  I answered that the dog would sleep in the dog-house with my husband. 

When we received no responses, I  suspected  the rescue foundation members had no sense of humor . .  .  . more applications with very serious answer . . . still no responses.  It seemed we weren’t good candidates even though we have had 4 rescue dogs prior, our yard was fully dog-proofed and were willing to spend the $1000/year on care. Perhaps my reputation for levity had made the rounds.

After two-plus months of many applications and no responses we drove an hour and a half to the next county’s animal shelter where there were two small dogs among a throng of Bullmastiffs and Rottweilers.  No applications, first-come-first-served, pay the fee and no matter what your political leanings the dog is yours.

To protect me from Covid exposure my husband went into the shelter while I waited, sans mask, in the car.  He was told both small dogs were in the adjacent clinic to be spayed and one of the dogs had been adopted.  He could wait until the spaying was finished to see the remaining dog but there was no guarantee that it would still be available.  We paid the fee and were the proud parents of one small dog, sight unseen – only fair since the dog hadn’t seen us either – with no name, only a number.

We spent the next 4 1/2 hours in the parking lot, waiting for her recovery, reading the adoption papers and googling her FAS (Fear, anxiety, stress) scores.  Her high score of teeth bared and growling were more concerning than learning she was a stray who just had a litter of puppies.  She was ours.  Thankfully, she was subdued after having just gone through major surgery when she joined us in the car for the 1-1/2 hour ride to her new home.

“The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of graceI which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man’s hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.”   Bahá’u’lláh, The Baha’i World Faith

Cute face peering out of a large collar, VERY scruffy, parts of coat shaven in places that did not indicate grooming for a dog show, large distended nipples, a tail that curls up on her back like a pug . . . we had just adopted a 17 pound 1 year old who was no virgin.  She didn’t smell good and per the post-spaying instructions there was to be no bath, no jumping for the next two weeks and wearing the collar 24/7.

The Good news:

• She’s only growled at my husband twice.
• She has completely bonded with me, like gorilla glue.
• I cut off more of her dirty hair and she doesn’t smell quite as bad.
• The collar doesn’t bother her at all
• She’s an affectionate lap dog.

The Bad News:

• She’s not house broken and is a stealth pee’er
• She wakes me up at 4:00 am
• She eats plants, preferably all the toxic ones which we’ve either removed or transplanted. 
• She’s scared of anyone who don’t feed her regularly and let her sleep with them.
• We haven’t done DNA although we suspect she’s part kangaroo as she takes standing leaps onto our laps and jumped over a fence more than three times her height . . . mountain goat is a possibility too.

Our biggest struggle was choosing the appropriate name.  I was partial to Schnapsie because she is a “hard licker”.  My grandfather made Schnaps (a strong alcoholic drink flavored with fruit or herbs and spices) from the fruit he grew so the name was nostalgic as well as descriptive.  My husband nixed Schnapsie as he was afraid people would mispronounce it, think she was a lush and give her a complex. 

She is now officially Gracie Westerfield

Grace’s meanings include charm, goodness, and generosity.

(We will patiently wait for her to grow into her name)

A little tribute to Gracie Allen –  (Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was an American vaudevillian and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns)

A tiny bit of Greek goddesses (In Greek mythology, the name Grace is tied to beauty and joy.)

A small remembrance to all Gracie-dogs inspired by Karen Nichols’ beloved Gracie who passed last year.

and

A big reminder of God’s grace

“God’s grace is like the rain that cometh down from heaven: the water is not bounded by the limitations of form, yet on whatever place it poureth down, it taketh on limitations — dimensions, appearance, shape — according to the characteristics of that place. In a square pool, the water, previously unconfined, becometh a square; in a six-sided pool it becometh a hexagon, in an eight-sided pool an octagon, and so forth. The rain itself hath no geometry, no limits, no form, but it taketh on one form or another, according to the restrictions of its vessel. In the same way, the Holy Essence of the Lord God is boundless, immeasurable, but His graces and splendours become finite in the creatures, because of their limitations, wherefore the prayers of given persons will receive favourable answers in certain cases.”   The Baha’i World Faith

Freddie would have loved Gracie

God’s Gracie – The HeART of Spirituality 1

I’ve not been able to write about Freddie in over one and a half years when he first had a series of seizures.  He was able to be stabilized  with medication but suddenly lost his vision and became increasingly disoriented.  All his symptoms were indicative of a brain tumor.  Even though he was stabilized, I spent the last year and a half of his life in anticipatory grief, mourning the wonderful, loving dog we had adopted.  From the day we took him home Freddie was gentle, sweet spirited, almost perfect – didn’t shed, didn’t bark and liked everyone.  His only “flaws” were an insatiable appetite, making sure there wasn’t a crumb on the floor and obsessively lifting his leg on plants, grass, trees and once on a Shih Tzu . . .  to the horror of its owner.  The Shih Tzu didn’t blink and luckily Freddie was on “empty”. 

Freddie’s Bio Page, Fabulous Felted Freddie, made with love by Lyn G.

It was painful to watch his deterioration and when he no longer could enjoy doggie things we tearfully made the decision to euthanize him.  To this very moment, I can’t stop crying when remembering . . . 

In December 2021 we decided to look for another rescue dog to adopt – a small dog with a small appetite and small poo.  In Orange County, CA, where we live, the shelters are all no-kill and we quickly found out that rescue foundations – both non-profit and for profit – “rescue” small dogs and the most adoptable from the public shelters to foster.  Consequently the public shelters are full of Pit Bull mixes and Great Danes.  (No disrespect to Pit Bulls and Great Danes)

“No matter how strong the measure of Divine grace, unless supplemented by personal, sustained and intelligent effort it cannot become fully effective and be of any real and abiding advantage.”

It took an inordinate amount of time, doing on-line searches and filling out many, many, MANY adoption applications. The applications were mind-bending, asking everything from the make and model of our cars, to:

• Requiring the name of a co-adopter under the age of 60 (since we were over the age of 70) who would take the dog in the case of our demise.
•  Asking what would happen to the dog if there was a divorce – I answered that I got the dog, the house and the money. 
• Wanting descriptions of how a destructive dog would be disciplined.  I answered that the dog would sleep in the dog-house with my husband. 

When we received no responses, I  suspected  the rescue foundation members had no sense of humor . .  .  . more applications with very serious answer . . . still no responses.  It seemed we weren’t good candidates even though we have had 4 rescue dogs prior, our yard was fully dog-proofed and were willing to spend the $1000/year on care. Perhaps my reputation for levity had made the rounds.

After two-plus months of many applications and no responses we drove an hour and a half to the next county’s animal shelter where there were two small dogs among a throng of Bullmastiffs and Rottweilers.  No applications, first-come-first-served, pay the fee and no matter what your political leanings the dog is yours.

To protect me from Covid exposure my husband went into the shelter while I waited, sans mask, in the car.  He was told both small dogs were in the adjacent clinic to be spayed and one of the dogs had been adopted.  He could wait until the spaying was finished to see the remaining dog but there was no guarantee that it would still be available.  We paid the fee and were the proud parents of one small dog, sight unseen – only fair since the dog hadn’t seen us either – with no name, only a number.

We spent the next 4 1/2 hours in the parking lot, waiting for her recovery, reading the adoption papers and googling her FAS (Fear, anxiety, stress) scores.  Her high score of teeth bared and growling were more concerning than learning she was a stray who just had a litter of puppies.  She was ours.  Thankfully, she was subdued after having just gone through major surgery when she joined us in the car for the 1-1/2 hour ride to her new home.

“The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of graceI which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man’s hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.”   Bahá’u’lláh, The Baha’i World Faith

Cute face peering out of a large collar, VERY scruffy, parts of coat shaven in places that did not indicate grooming for a dog show, large distended nipples, a tail that curls up on her back like a pug . . . we had just adopted a 17 pound 1 year old who was no virgin.  She didn’t smell good and per the post-spaying instructions there was to be no bath, no jumping for the next two weeks and wearing the collar 24/7.

The Good news:

• She’s only growled at my husband twice.
• She has completely bonded with me, like gorilla glue.
• I cut off more of her dirty hair and she doesn’t smell quite as bad.
• The collar doesn’t bother her at all
• She’s an affectionate lap dog.

The Bad News:

• She’s not house broken and is a stealth pee’er
• She wakes me up at 4:00 am
• She eats plants, preferably all the toxic ones which we’ve either removed or transplanted. 
• She’s scared of anyone who don’t feed her regularly and let her sleep with them.
• We haven’t done DNA although we suspect she’s part kangaroo as she takes standing leaps onto our laps and jumped over a fence more than three times her height . . . mountain goat is a possibility too.

Our biggest struggle was choosing the appropriate name.  I was partial to Schnapsie because she is a “hard licker”.  My grandfather made Schnaps (a strong alcoholic drink flavored with fruit or herbs and spices) from the fruit he grew so the name was nostalgic as well as descriptive.  My husband nixed Schnapsie as he was afraid people would mispronounce it, think she was a lush and give her a complex. 

She is now officially Gracie Westerfield

Grace’s meanings include charm, goodness, and generosity.

(We will patiently wait for her to grow into her name)

A little tribute to Gracie Allen –  (Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was an American vaudevillian and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns) 

A tiny bit of Greek goddesses (In Greek mythology, the name Grace is tied to beauty and joy.)

A small remembrance to all Gracie-dogs inspired by Karen Nichols’ beloved Gracie who passed last year.

and

A big reminder of God’s grace

“God’s grace is like the rain that cometh down from heaven: the water is not bounded by the limitations of form, yet on whatever place it poureth down, it taketh on limitations — dimensions, appearance, shape — according to the characteristics of that place. In a square pool, the water, previously unconfined, becometh a square; in a six-sided pool it becometh a hexagon, in an eight-sided pool an octagon, and so forth. The rain itself hath no geometry, no limits, no form, but it taketh on one form or another, according to the restrictions of its vessel. In the same way, the Holy Essence of the Lord God is boundless, immeasurable, but His graces and splendours become finite in the creatures, because of their limitations, wherefore the prayers of given persons will receive favourable answers in certain cases.”   The Baha’i World Faith

Freddie would have loved Gracie

What on earth is a “Nappuccino”?

I always have more than one book in progress:  One for when I’m tired and need mindless entertainment; one for when I’m alert, is informative and grows my neuro-connections.  

I found a book* that addresses both and surprised me with a tip on napping. When I was younger naps were a waste of time.  Now, I appreciate the “restorative power” of catching a mid-day snooze.  Here is a good recipe for a…

“Nappuccino”

Want to maximize your Nappuccinos? Here is what you do:

• Find the best time for your nap. When is your energy low point? Your mood low point? For most of us, it is about 7 hours after we wake up. 
• Create your nap environment – someplace comfortable: the floor, bed, couch, bathtub (EMPTY) –  definitely low lights and NO cell phone.
• Set a timer, nap 10 to 20 minutes, you will feel more alert and function better, without waking with that groggy feeling.

Here’s the kicker that surprised me:

The  Nappucino

Drink a cup of coffee! That’s right, drink coffee before you nap. It takes the caffeine about 25 minutes to kick in, so you’ll get the perfect amount of napping time and then you’ll wake up with the caffeine boost.  Who woulda thunk it?

There’s also evidence that habitual nappers get more from their naps than infrequent nappers. Practice makes perfect – I’m taking a Nappucino every day until I am an expert.

(PA)

*”WHEN: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” by Daniel Pink 

This post originally appeared on

https://peggyarndt.com/

For Better and Faster Learning Get Things Wrong!

Want to get your brain to learn more easily?

When we are young our brains are primed for quick and easy learning.  After about age 25 this declines, and learning takes more effort. However, at all ages there are things you can do to learn more easily.

Everyone thought that once you were an adult, your brain pretty much stayed the same. Research has now shown that the brain remains “plastic” and able to change throughout life. (It is just less plastic than it was when you were a kid!)

Neuroplasticity. 

Certain behaviors turn on the neurochemical cocktail of epinephrine, acetylcholine and dopamine which alert your nervous system, increase neuroplasticity and make it easier for your brain to learn.

FIRST, you need to get things wrong!   

Try something new or something that has frustrated you.  We often give up, when we get things wrong and give up.  Based on the neurochemistry for learning when we stick with it, those very errors help us learn. Turns out that if you like  making mistakes, you are optimizing learning and neuroplasticity.

Making mistakes triggers 3 neurochemicals  for your brain to pay attention and figure out what change is needed to get things right.  

3 neurochemicals for optimal learning:

Epinephrine for alertness

Failure signals  what you are doing did not work and gets the brain to produce epinephrine.

Acetylcholine for focus 

Acetylcholine is produced to give you focus to help solve and remedy the mistake

Dopamine for motivation and reward

As you keep trying to solve the errors and make progress “feel good” dopamine is released  to reward you.  

Try any  NEW skill – motor, mental, emotional.  Remember the object is to make mistakes, stumble and fail, not succeed .  Focus on this anywhere from 7 to 30 minutes,  and you will have an hour or so to learn something you want to learn while your brain is in this “plastic” state”.

SECOND, switch to learning something else where you want to succeed faster.

After making errors on the first task  your brain will stay plastic for a while so you will have an easier time learning another skill like speaking a second language, baking bread , playing an instrument, or memorizing a speech.  If you are over 25 years old you will need to do shorter bouts – about 90 minutes – of learning (one reason young people can learn relatively faster is that they have a LOT of new things to learn).

Learn to attach dopamine to process of making errors

Try to subjectively associate the experience  of making errors with something good. Make failing repetitively a positive by telling yourself making errors revs up your brain’s plasticity.  Make frustration the source of what is ultimately good  for fast learning.

To summarize the steps to better, faster learning:

1. Try a new learning experience where you will make a lot of errors for 7 to 30 minutes. Do not deliberately make mistakes as you need to learn by having to adjust and make corrections . (Motor learning is a good place to start because motor skills, like hitting a tennis ball or trying new dance steps, are observable and quantifiable.)
2. During the next hour you will have increased brain plasticity to learn something you want to learn quickly and easily. I t does not have to be a motor skill, it can be learning anything, even making emotional connections.
3. Keep your second learning bouts short, no longer than 90 minutes, whether once a day or 3 times a day.
4. Know your own cycle and use the time of day when your focus and energy are naturally at their best. (To learn about your cycle, Click here for Mood Chart and Mood Tracker to download with instructions). Being calm and alert is optimal.
5. Remind yourself why making errors is important!
   

   Try it out and tell us how it works for you.

Andrew Huberman  from Stanford explains the brain’s optimal state for learning: Below is link tor Huberman’s podcast #7 on You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx3U64IXFOY

Originally posted on Max Your Mind

Want 2022 to be Lucky? DO THIS!

Catch a fish, pick some grapes, give peas a black-eyed while you are preferably DRINKING grapes, petting a pig and slurping noodles 

Don’t believe us?  Read this for PROOF:

“Some foods are just plain lucky to eat on New Year’s Eve. What associates these dishes with good fortune, exactly? That’s tough to pinpoint, but much of the answer has to do with symbolism and superstition.”

“It also has to do with a human tradition of eating something special, like a birthday cake, to mark the passage of time. So what will people be biting into at the top of 2021 to set them up for success? We talked to food historians Megan Elias, food writer and director of the gastronomy program at Boston University, and Linda Pelaccio, who hosts culinary radio show “A Taste of the Past,” about some of the lucky foods you’ll find on global New Year’s menus.”

Black-eyed peas and lentils

“Round foods resemble coins and money, Pelaccio says. Eat these symbolic foods, many believe, for a financially successful new year. On the contrary: Don’t eat the round foods and you could have a year of bad luck!”

“If you eat peas with greens and cornbread, then that’s even more auspicious, what with green being the color of money and cornbread calling to mind gold.“

“Black-eyed peas are served with rice in the traditional Southern U.S. dish called “Hoppin’ John” for New Year’s Eve. Or, the peas can be part of a soup.  In Italy, lentils mix with pork for a lucky dish.”

12 grapes

(That’s right 12 (we said TWELVE) grapes, not 5, not 20, EXACTLY 12)

“Spaniards eat 12 grapes when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

“As the tradition goes, believers eat 12 grapes at midnight, one for each month of the year. According to one story, the ritual started in Spain around 1900, when a grape grower had a bumper crop, says Pelaccio, and was creative about giving away the surplus. But that history is “fuzzy” at best, she says.

“Regardless, stuffing a dozen grapes into one’s mouth is a tradition that has spread to citizens of many Latin American countries. As Elias says, people annually eat the grapes “as fast as physically possible without puking.”

Pork

“Speaking of pork, pigs have long been considered lucky.” (We prefer you PET a pig rather than eat one)

“Pigs can be rich and fat, which is what you want in a meal promoting prosperity. And, says Pelaccio, “Pigs take their snout and root forward, as opposed to digging backwards.” Forward momentum; good. “Whereas, it’s not good to eat lobsters, because they walk backwards.”‘

“A popular lucky New Year’s Day dish in Germany is pork and sauerkraut, promising as much luck as the many strands in the cabbage.”

Noodles

“Noodles are long, and that length is thought to symbolize long life and, yes, luck, Elias says.”

“In Japan, soba noodles are served on New Year’s. In China, during the Chinese New Year (or the Lunar New Year), which falls on Jan. 25 next year, people inhale so-called “longevity” noodles. It’s OK to slurp.”

(We have no objection to your eating noodles since it’s been shown noodles have no brains and thus feel no pain.  Slurp away!)

Whole fish

“Eating a whole fish has become another Dec. 31 tradition across the globe. Why? Perhaps because in lean times people saved anything they could – including fish – to eat on a special occasion. Herring is a fish of choice in Eastern European countries. In Germany, those looking to obtain all lucky advantages in the new year do more than just eat an entire carp: They save fish scales in their wallets for extra good fortune.”  

Pomegranate seeds

“Seeds are round and coin-like, which makes them automatically lucky by the rules we have already set forth. Pomegranates, which come from the Middle East, also make sense to eat on New Year’s because they happen to be ripe that time of year.”

“Elias adds that pomegranates have “symbolic power because they come from a land where so many religions come from.” Plus, seeds are associated with life and fertility. Another promising food, indeed.”  (We recommend not putting pomegranate seeds in your pocket instead of fish scales.)

Here’s to a slurpingly SAFE, HEALTHY, if not prosperous,

New Year!

Article by Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/food-dining/2021/12/30/black-eyed-peas-grapes-and-other-foods-eat-new-years/9053899002/

A Lotl Love For The Axolotl

If you’ve been following CURIOUS you know Judy has, shall I say, an affinity for strange looking critters like the naked mole rat and the blobfish.  Here’s yet one more – the Axolotl.  I admit it has a rather cute face on a strange body. (Peggy)

With some help from Dr. Luis Zambrano, producer Berly McCoy tells us all about this remarkable creature and the ongoing efforts to protect axolotls from extinction.  Take 13 minutes of your time to listen and learn about this fascinating critter:

Click on this link:

https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1036590555/1037374821

An axolotl photographed in Lake Xochimilco., Paul Starosta/Getty Images

The axolotl is found in only one lake in the world, never grows up, and occasionally takes bites of its friends.

Mask ON!

I’m stocking up with masks and it’s not about Covid.  I agree it’s beneficial to see other people’s entire face while interacting, particularly to get social cues:  a smile, a frown, a curl of the lip.  BUT I have found that wearing a mask, besides added protection from Covid, has  benefits:  

• Reprieve from social expectations.  I can look interested with my eyes, while my mouth grimaces.  It takes a bit of practice  . . . 
• Be amused when no one knows what I’m really thinking – give a twinkle to my eye when the mouth is puckering. This takes even more practice to not pucker the eye.
• Avoid colds and flu that circulate.  
• Hide emotions like boredom when being regaled with the same story for the 9th time. 
• Saves time and money not having to put on lipstick.
• No need to worry about bad breath, mine or others
• No one can tell me to “smile” through a bad day.  That’s where  practicing eye twinkling comes in handy.
•  Makes me anonymous which is comforting since I’m introverted by nature.  

When the pandemic is finally under control and takes on the status of seasonal “flu” I’m planning to be a SITUATIONAL MASKER.

judy

Want to remember? Try taking fewer photos

 

We are posting this almost in it’s entirety (with a few “colorful” asides) because we don’t want you to think we are bananas . . . .

Click here to see why we ARE bananas

You reach for your phone (actually you don’t have to reach because it’s already glued to your hand) because you want to remember this perfect moment. 

(BetYouDidn’tKnow) Taking photos is not the perfect memory-retention tool you think it is.

“Snapping too many pictures could actually harm the brain’s ability to retain memories, says Elizabeth Loftus, a psychological science professor at the University of California, Irvine. So you get the photo but kind of lose the memory.”

“It works in one of two ways, Loftus explains: We either offload the responsibility of remembering moments when we take pictures of them, or we’re so distracted by the process of taking a photo that we miss the moment altogether.”

“But photo-takers, don’t despair just yet. If you’re more intentional about the photos you take, they can actually help you capture that moment you’re hoping to hold onto.”

Photography “outsources” memories

That process of “offloading” our memory is aptly called the photo-taking impairment effect. How does it work?

“When people rely on technology to remember something for them, they’re essentially outsourcing their memory,” says Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University. “They know their camera is capturing that moment for them, so they don’t pay full attention to it in a way that might help them remember.” (That MIGHT explain stupid social media photo shots – they don’t care if they remember)

“Need an analogy? If you write down someone’s phone number, you’re less likely to remember it offhand because your brain tells you there’s just no need. That’s all well and good — until that slip of paper goes missing.”

“The effect was first explored in a 2013 study Henkel conducted showing that people had a harder time remembering art objects they’d seen in a museum when they took pictures of them. The study has since been replicated in 2017 and 2021.”

“Henkel’s findings are similar to those of a 2011 Science study on the “Google effect” that found that people don’t remember information as well when they know they can retrieve it later from the internet or from a device it has been saved on.” (That DOES explain why we can’t spell or calculate 2 x 4)

“As with information, when we take pictures we’re offloading the responsibility of remembering onto an external device,” says Julia Soares, an assistant psychology professor at Mississippi State University.

Attentional Disengagement or Fuss with the camera and miss the moment

“The other explanation for memory impairment when you snap that pic, Soares found, is attentional disengagement.”

“It’s what happens when we’re distracted by the process of taking a photo, says Soares: how we hold our phone, framing the photo to make sure people are smiling and the background is to our liking, ensuring the image isn’t blurry — all of which uses up cognitive skills or attentional resources that could otherwise help us encode or retain that memory.”

“Sadly, attentional disengagement is especially likely to occur during milestone moments, (or after the age of 50) says Loftus, such as when a graduate accepts a diploma or when a child blows out birthday candles. Those are times when we have the added pressure of capturing a fleeting moment and concentrating on getting it right.”

Our brains are caught up helping us take that perfect photo instead of retaining that perfect memory.

The length of exposure to a memory also impacts how well you recall it later, Loftus says. For example, a short visit to the park when you’re caught up in snapping photos of the kids the whole time isn’t likely to be a memory you retain.

“If you’re distracted, you may have a photograph to prove you were there, but your brain may not remember,” Loftus explains.

A longer visit where you’re distracted only at the beginning with one or two pictures, by contrast, is much more likely to be recorded as a memory.

How purposeful photo-taking can aid memory

There are, however, some memory-retention advantages to taking photos — when done mindfully.

“We know from many studies that photos are good memory cues,” Soares says as one example of the benefits of taking pictures, “so the story isn’t quite so simple as ‘taking photos is bad.’ “

Along with photography helping us recall memories, a 2017 study found that taking photos can actually boost our memories under certain circumstances.

The study shows that while the act of taking a photo may be distracting, the act of preparing to take a photo by focusing on visual details around us has some upsides.

Alixandra Barasch, a business professor at New York University and a co-author of the study, says that when people take the time to study what they want to take pictures of and zoom in on specific elements they’re hoping to remember, memories become more deeply embedded in the subconscious.

“Another benefit of photos is that they can help us recall moments more accurately since our memories are fallible. “The human brain is not a passive storage system. It’s both active and dynamic,” Henkel explains. “Our brains do not videotape our experiences. It constructs them based on our beliefs, attitudes and biases.”

“She says that when we remember something, it’s a memory that has been “reconstructed through the filter of new information, new experiences and new perspectives.” In that way, photos or videos help us recall moments as they really happened.”

“Memories fade and can become contaminated without a visual record backing them up,” Loftus says. “A photo is an excellent vehicle to bring you back to a moment.”

Tips: how to make photography help — not harm — your memories

1. Have someone else take the photos. This is key, says Soares. Ask a friend or family member to oversee photo-taking at especially important events “so you can be fully engaged with the event itself.”
2. Be intentional with the photos you’re taking. Choosing what (and WHY) we take photos of more deliberately helps too. “Research suggests that deciding what to photograph might reduce the ill effects on memory and even enhance enjoyment,” says Nathaniel Barr, a professor of creativity and creative thinking at Sheridan College.
3. Focus in on details. If you immerse yourself in the details of a scene as you prepare to take a photo, that process can help anchor memories, according to New York University’s Barasch. “As we search the visual field to decide what to capture in a photo, we are more likely to commit those details to memory,” she says. As such, “taking photos can actually enhance memory for certain details in an experience.”
4. Take a few good pictures; then put down the phone. If your goal is to remember a special trip or event, Henkel says, limit the time with your camera out. “You might want to take a few pics at the beginning, then put your camera away and soak in the rest of the experience,” she says.
5. Look at your photos regularly. Photos are an effective tool for memory retention only if we take the time to look at photos — which many of us don’t do, says Henkel: “We need to take the time to look at photos after the experiences and reactivate those mental representations.”
6. Organize your photos into albums. Henkel says the best way to make sure you look at your photos regularly is to “make them manageable and accessible” since you are unlikely to scroll through lists of photos. Organize them in a digital album or print them out, she suggests.

CLICK ON!

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/05/1022041431/to-remember-the-moment-try-taking-fewer-photos.

Credit: Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR

BYDK* – You are like a Banana

  We’re posting this in it’s entirety so you don’t think we’ve gone bananas . . . or worse yet . . .  we ARE bananas.

The Interesting Thing Human Beings Have In Common With Bananas.
“Mankind is a unique beast. We have debated for years about our origins, trying to determine if we walked from the jungles or crawled from the sea. We seem to share certain traits with the good Lord’s second-most strongest warriors for Christ: the monkey. Man and monkey both share the traits of opposable thumbs, upright mobility, and our amusement at the ever-popular shiny object. For years, scientists have scoured the Earth, searching for the elusive “missing link” that will finally settle the debate about whether or not we evolved from primates or came from something much more spiritual.”

“But, a recent discovery may have challenged all the other theories and suggestions of primordial soups and genetic casserole dishes in the oven of creation, one that beats the band in how absurd it may seem, and one that may seem rather “a-peeling” to those who can believe it. Perhaps man has more in common with it’s hairy friends than we thought, though it may be what the monkey eats with which we share our closest bond.”

It’s all in our DNA

“The human model of DNA is designed of nearly 3 billion base pairs. Of those billions of pairs, blocks, and other genetic spit and glue, only a tiny amount of said materials truly belong to us. During his TED Talk, physicist and entrepreneur Riccardo Sabatini demonstrated that a printed version of your entire genetic code would occupy some 262,000 pages, with only about 500 of those pages being truly unique to mankind. That’s because large chunks of genome, or a “genetic instructions manual,” perform similar functions across the animal kingdom — essentially like universal blueprints that can be adapted to anything. This means we are genetically similar to a monkeys, cats, mice, cows and, perhaps most intriguing of all: the banana (via Business Insider).”

“No, you are not crazy. We share 40-60% of the same DNA as that thing you buy in a grocery store. Don’t worry, though, you are not going to turn brown just because someone left you atop the microwave for a few days instead of the fridge. According to Dr. Lawrence Brody (via How Stuff Works), DNA can be thought of like a blueprint for a house, and protein products as the actual house. The blueprint for a banana may be similar, but it would call for very different designs, just like how human DNA calls for different layouts and plans.”

“Though, much like the humble banana, we also have a soft, mushy inside and the innate fear of chimp attacks. It all makes sense now.”

*Bet You Didn’t Know

Read More: https://www.mashed.com/220678/the-real-reason-you-shouldnt-eat-bananas/?utm_campaign=clip

The HeART of Spirituality – 6 Spiritual Ways to relieve stress & anxiety

Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.

Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.

Jesus Christ

In these times of uncertainty and social isolation fear and anxiety is pervasive. These emotions neurochemically ramp up our stress response. I know, because stress had a massive impact on my health.

Decades ago I was under “professional” stress – treating clients who were angry, depressed, anxious, “social” stress – parents who were in declining health and in and out of hospital, and “physical” stress – my hormones had sent me on a peri-menopausal roller-coaster ride.  I had acclimated to chronically elevated stress levels and I was spiritually bereft.

Ironically, one of my areas of “expertise” was treating clients who had chronic disease and acute illness.  I knew stress was well researched and dramatically impacts our central nervous systems; brains; respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, digestive and immune systems.  Stress can trigger anxiety, depression, headaches, high blood pressure, heartburn, backaches, infertility and a compromised immune system.  I would half-joke that God wanted me to know, not only on an intellectual level, what my clients experienced so I might be a better psychotherapist.  It wasn’t half of a joke, it was the truth.

It took me longer to learn that stress, anxiety, fear and anger impact, not only our physical & emotional well-being, but our spiritual well-being.  

Spiritual solutions to our fears exist.  Here are some basics:

Prayer Card Workshop, Collage

1. Recognize free-floating anxiety as well as

conscious fears.

It’s relatively easy to understand the fear of a unseen virus, anxiety over being isolated, mixed messages from authorities, unknown loss of income, our lives turned inside out.

Fear and anxiety are incompatible with spirituality.  It doesn’t mean to ignore or deny what the threats are.  It means to reach deep into faith and trust, that no matter how painful and difficult tests are, and believe positive change comes from crisis.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6.

Often, we don’t realize we are stressed or, like me, the levels of anxiety & fear we are unconsciously experiencing. There may be unresolved issues, unconscious, free-floating worries that we don’t acknowledge or even understand.  Try to pinpoint gnawing thoughts in the back of your mind that make you feel uneasy, depressed, or unhappy. Acknowledging and facing those issues will start the process of resolving them. 

Prayer Card Workshop, collage

2. Take care of yourself

This admonition is a concept and theological doctrine in Judaism, Christianity, and Sufism, Islam.  “All assert that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. Philosophers and theologians have debated the exact meaning of the phrase for millennia. Following Jewish tradition, scholars such as Saadia Gaon and Philo argued that being made in the Image of God does not mean that God possesses human-like features, but rather that the statement is figurative language for God bestowing special honor unto humankind, which He did not confer unto the rest of Creation.” Wikipedia

In the Baha’i tradition, which embraces the truth of ALL religions, taking care of ourselves not only involves our physical being but living, practicing all the virtues such as love, compassion, justice which God has bestowed.  It is a spiritual imperative in times of extreme tests that our responses and behaviors are in keeping with spiritual virtues.

Prayer Card Workshop, collage

3. Laugh

“Laughter is Spiritual Relaxation” Baha’i World Faith

• God has a smile on His face. – Psalm 42:5

• As soap is to the body, so laughter is to the soul. – A Jewish Proverb

• Humor is a prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer. – Reinhold Niebuhr

Laughter is a wonderful antidote to anxiety. Laughter and smiling release neurochemicals that elevate immune responses.  How can you be stressed when you laugh? When I laugh, I can’t help but be in the moment, and in that moment my troubles are forgotten:

Laughter is caused by the slackening or relaxation of the nerves. It is an ideal condition and not physical. Laughter is the visible effect of an invisible cause. For example, happiness and misery are super-sensuous phenomena. One cannot hear them with his ears or touch them with his hands. Happiness is a spiritual state. – Abdu’l-Baha, Star of the West

Scientists have proven that laughter and a good sense of humor are powerful stress eradicators. They help us detach from the heaviness of life and see things from a more balanced perspective. Laughter has been shown to have a positive effect on health and mood, so allow yourself some happiness, a bit of joy and some daily laughter.

Workshop Prayer Card, collage

4. Make time for others

Connecting with others can also be a powerful stress buster, provided it happens with those who raise you up.  Connection lets us give and get emotional, physical and spiritual support.  Friends and family can help us navigate rough waters and see solutions we weren’t aware existed.  Connection also reduces the risk of age-related cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease – it literally impacts your brain! Be sure you associate with those of like mind; spiritual, loving and non-judgmental people will lift your spirits:

The company of the ungodly increaseth sorrow, whilst fellowship with the righteous cleanseth the rust from off the heart. – Baha’u’llah, The Hidden Words

We’ve had to isolate and can not physically be together but are blessed with smart phones, social media and the internet which allow us to connect in ways not available not so long ago. It’s an irony that many of us have lamented that these means of connection were keeping us apart.  A reminder for me to look for the positive in all things.

Prayer Card Workshop, collage

5. Use Prayer to talk to God and

Meditation to listen to God

In the holy scriptures of every religion, prayer and meditation hold a sacred position. Turning to our Creator and stating one’s wishes creates the path to resolving issue and the consolation of our hearts.  

In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. – Philippians 4:16

Prayer clears the mist and brings back peace to the Soul. – Rumi

Prayer Card Workshop, collage

6. Trust in God

Pray, meditate, and above all else, trust in God that everything will turn out right no matter how hard or scary it is.  

Holding onto an OUTCOME can create anxiety, depression and frustration. Periodically, I still search for physical healing thinking I’ll be fully of energy and happy. Invariably I become more stressed and disappointment. I must remind myself that looking for the outcome I WANT isn’t necessarily the outcome I NEED.  But it’s hard to let go of what I want, a struggle to find the lessons I need.  I must continually remind myself to make the most of the blessings I have.  This helps me to see my situation in a different light and makes it easier to reconnect to my faith & trust.

Think back to all your deepest fears and worries:

• How many came to fruition in the way you feared?  
• What did you learn from those past difficult times?  
• What was the good that grew in the aftermath?

“O thou who art turning thy face towards God! Close thine eyes to all things else, and open them to the realm of the All-Glorious. Ask whatsoever thou wishest of Him alone; seek whatsoever thou sleekest from Him alone. With a look He granteth a hundred thousand hopes, with a glance He healeth a hundred thousand incurable ills, with a nod He layeth balm on every wound, with a glimpse He freeth the hearts from the shackles of grief. He doeth as He doeth, and what recourse have we? He carrieth out His Will, He ordaineth what He pleaseth. Then better for thee to bow down thy head in submission, and put thy trust in the All-Merciful Lord”. – Abdu’l-Baha, 

Participants at one Prayer Card Workshop

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Jesus Christ

  *     *      *

P.S.  Find more exercises, tips, techniques & HOW-TO’s to diminish anxiety, fear, stress, ways to cope with social isolation and more . . .

Click here:   MAXyourMIND.

Happy Stories Sync Your Brain

Children love to be read stories.  And as always, children know best.  Research published in eNeuro shows . . .

Successful storytelling can synchronize brain activity between the speaker and listener, but not all stories are created equal. Sharing happy stories increases feelings of closeness and brain synchrony more than sad stories.

Researchers from East China Normal University compared how emotional stories impact interpersonal connection and communication. In the study:

• The speaker — watched happy, sad, and neutral videos and recorded themselves explaining the contents of the videos.
• The listeners — listened to the narration and rated how close they felt to the speaker afterward. Both the speaker and the listeners completed their tasks while researchers measured their brain activity with EEG.

“Sharing happy stories produced better recall in the listeners, as well as higher ratings of interpersonal closeness. The increased closeness was linked to increased synchrony between the brain activity of the speaker and listener, particularly in the frontal and left temporoparietal cortices. These regions are involved in emotional processing and theory of mind, respectively.Brain synchrony could become a measure of successful connection and communication.”

 Our books have happy endings.  Perhaps we were syncing our brains with yours?

Click here for “The Pulling, Climbing, Falling Down Tale of Maui and His Back Legs” on Amazon 

Click here for “The Real Tale of Little Red Riding Hood & the Wolf” on Amazon

Click here for “Hack Your Way to Happiness” on Amazon 

Bird Brains are We

During Covid Isolation Bird watching has become one of the few activities that are relatively safe wether done outside or looking out your windows.  We are discovering that “bird-brains” are complex and not stupid!

Play behaviour may be an important driver in the evolution of large brains in a number of species, including humans.

Have you ever seen magpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a troop of other apostlebirds? Well, such play behaviour may be associated with a larger brain and a longer life.

For the past 50 years, international animal cognition research has often related the use of tools such as rocks and sticks to cognitive abilities in animals. But my research on Australian native birds, published in Scientific Reports, casts doubt on long-held assumptions about the links between large brains and tool use.

No significant association between tool use and brain mass.

However, very clear differences in relative brain mass emerged when birds showing play behaviour were compared to those that didn’t play. In particular, birds that played with others (known as social play) had the largest brain mass, relative to body size, and even the longest lifespans.”

Tool use in birds

Tool use has been studied in a wider range of species than play behaviour. Some internationally famous Australian examples include:

• The black-breasted buzzard releasing rocks from their beaks to crack emu eggs
• The black kite picking up burning embers and twigs and dropping them on dry grass areas to start a fire. The bird then feasts on fleeing or injured insects and vertebrates
• Palm cockatoos that drum with a stick.

According to a classic theory known as the “technical intelligence hypothesis”, humans and other animals developed large brains because circumstances forced them into ever more sophisticated tool use.

What is bird play?

picture borrowed from “The Real Tale of Little Red Riding Hood & the Wolf

Play behaviour usually occurs in juveniles but in some species it extends into adulthood. Play behaviour occurs in species which tend to have

• Long juvenile periods,
• Long-term support from parents
• Grow up in stable social groups.

Play behaviour is usually subdivided into three categories: solo play, object play and social play. 

Solo play: this may involve a single bird running, skipping, jumping, ducking, rolling, hanging, swinging, dancing, sliding and snow-romping. Solo play is the most widespread form of play, common among  parrots, magpies, and some pigeon species. 

Object play: this involves objects of any kind, including sticks, stones and small household items. Object players might carry a stick or stone or even just a leaf around, drop it, then pick it up again and run with it. 

Object players are not as numerous as solo players but still widespread across species. Click here to read a lovely description of a kookaburra absorbed in playing with a stone.

Social play: involves two or more individuals. Social play is so far the rarest category. It might involve one bird holding an object in its beak and the others chasing it. Published cases are largely limited to parrots and corvids, and are known in magpies and ravens.

White-winged choughs are known to play a game in which two youngsters simultaneously grab a small stick or a bunch of grass, then each tries to wrest it from the other. 

It turns out these categories are meaningful when used to analyse a potential link to brain mass. Information on brain weight/mass in Australian birds has been available only since an important study in 2014. It identified brain volumes and body sizes of all Australian bird species, enabling researchers to link these biological data to behavioural data.

A surprising link

My study involved 77 native Australian bird species for which full data sets were available. The results were more than surprising. In the samples used, tool use seems to confer no advantage whatsoever in terms of brain size or life expectancy: no matter whether a species showed tool using or not, relative brain masses were not different. However the results showed, rather dramatically, that brain size and forms of play are associated. 

• Solo players had slightly larger brains than non-players

• Object players had larger brains again

• Social players had by far the largest average brain size relative to body weight.

• Non players had the lowest average brain size

These results are by no means confined to parrots, but are found in songbirds and other orders. Whether this holds for birds globally is not yet known. However, since parrots and songbirds first evolved in Australia, then spread to the rest of the world, the results may indeed hold for birds outside Australia. More research will be needed.

Which came first the brain or the play?

Play resulting in large brains or large brains triggering play behaviour – is not known. But whichever way one looks at it, playing socially or even just playing at all, is related to a bigger brain and a long life.

So what does all this mean for human brain evolution? It may be a long shot, but the stages of development in humans and birds seem to have some similarities and this may be significant.

Offspring in humans, as in great apes and other primates, also develop slowly, have protracted childhoods and play extensively as do a surprising number of Australian native birds. It may mean playing together offers more than just passing the time. It could be an evolutionary driver for intelligence, and even for a long life.

Gisela Kaplan

Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England

Fed Up with Facebook

Personal note from Judy: I’ve decided to completely delete my facebook accounts. The lack of social responsibility and focus on greed is something I no longer wish to support in any way.

If you want to continue to see what I’m “up to” please subscribe to the blogs Peggy and I share:

MAXyourMIND http://PeggyArndt.com– and CURIOUStotheMAX http://judithwesterfield.com.

If you don’t like blogs, e-mail us at PeggyJudyTime@gmail.com to be put on our mailing list for our once a month CURIOUS KNEWSletter.

We often include links for FREE PDF’s and periodically curious things, fun things, helpful things, scientific things.  You never know what our monthly focus will be because we (read Judy) doesn’t plan ahead . . . much to Peggy’s chagrin as she is charged with all the illustrations.  The one thing you CAN count on is our KnewsLetter will appear in your e-mail sometime during the month.

Here’s a sample of of KNEWS where we repeated one of our favorite quickie stress relievers we first featured here on MAXyourMIND:

July 2021 KNEWSletter Ice cream, vacations, and hugs all deserve to be repeated – along with many of the self-help tips and techniques we’ve shared on MAXyourMIND blog.   One of the most requested repeats is Square breathing.  So we’ve now gotten around to sharing it with you. (pun intended).  Square breathing can lead to mindfulness, slow the heartbeat, lower or stabilize blood pressure.” and it’s easy to do. What is square breathing? Also known as box breathing, 4×4 breathing or four-part breath, square breathing is a type of diaphragmatic breath work—deep breathing using your diaphragm, which fills your lungs with oxygenated air more fully than shallow chest breathing. According to Harvard Health Publishing, “Deep abdominal breathing encourages full oxygen exchange—that is, the beneficial trade of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide. This type of breathwork has been scientifically proved to help increase calm and focus and decrease stress, depression and anxiety—even the military teaches it to aid in stress-related emotional disorders. It’s also a great way to practice mindfulness. How to practice square breathing First, breathe normally (if you’re reading this you are probably doing it already!). Then inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Make sure your belly expands as you inhale and constricts as you exhale; this is diaphragmatic breathing because you’re using your diaphragm! Take a moment to think about each cycle of breath. As you simply stay aware of your breathing, you’re already practicing mindfulness. On your next cycle, start square breathing: Inhale through your nose for a count of four (1, 2, 3, 4) Hold your breath for a count of four (1, 2, 3, 4) Exhale through your mouth for a count of four (1, 2, 3, 4) Pause and hold for a count of four (1, 2, 3, 4) Repeat When to practice square breathing? On a walk, before bed, in the shower, sitting at your desk – anywhere you breath. Practicing square breathing when you’re not in a stressful situation is just as important for mindfulness, and it will prepare you to do it when you are in a tense situation, whether that’s a stressful meeting or an actual crisis. PLEEEEEEZE forward to a friend . . . or stranger. We want to share as much of our accumulated information as possible before we turn 100 years old! Want more Information about your BRAIN? Click Anxiety and the Size of Your Frontal Cortex! Copyright © * 2021, Peggy Arndt & Judy Westerfield,  All rights reserved. To Subscribe to our KNEWSletter email us at: PeggyJudyTime@gmail.com Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

What to do (and NOT to do) to survive a disaster

Ay Yi Yiii Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

• In 2011 there was an earthquake in Japan. People risked their lives to . . . save bottles of alcohol.
• In 2017 a plane caught on fire at an airport in Denver. People fleeing from the plane . . . stopped to take selfies.
• In Dubai when a plane was on fire . . . people tried to collect their bags.

People argue while their ship is sinking, stand on the beach as a tsunami approaches. In fact 80-90% of people will respond to a crisis in ways that decrease rather than increase their safety. They may be in a deadly situation, but do not act fast enough to save themselves.

In most disasters, people wait–they do not panic, they do not stampede . . . they wait

There is a failure to adapt–especially in unfamiliar environments like a burning plane or sinking ship. Especially in a stressful situation, more thought about what to do is needed, but the situation moves faster than our ability to adapt to what is a new experience.

What to avoid doing (easier said than done):

1. FREEZING

One of the natural responses to danger is to freeze. (Psychologists now add “freeze” to fight or flight.) Your brain stops you, even though you have plenty of adrenaline.

It isn’t intelligence that matters–in emergency situations your thinking brain can shut down. You enter a fight or flight situation-or you freeze.

2. INABILITY TO THINK.

We use our working memory to make quick decisions. (When faced with a new, first time disaster there is no working memory.)

Disasters happen fast (plane manufacturers must show that a plane can be evacuated in 90 seconds-because the risk of the cabin being consumed by the fire increases sharply after this). But our brains do not work that fast most of the time in part because we need to invent a new strategy

• The speed at which we can go through our options is limited and usually slower than the unfolding crisis.
• The brain is flooded with dopamine (a feel good chemical) which also triggers the release of more hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. in a disaster as the body prepares for the disaster.
• Then to make matters worse for figuring out what to do next . . .  the prefrontal cortex (where we think things over) shuts down because of cortisol & adrenaline.

3. Having TUNNEL VISION

In a crisis, it is unlikely that most people can respond creatively about the problem. Instead, what we do is keep using the same solution over and over, even without good results.

Tunnel vision is also seen in people with permanent damaged to their prefrontal cortex. So the brain’s stress response of shutting down this region might be to blame for inflexible thinking in moments of crisis.

4. Staying STUCK IN ROUTINE

James Goff, a specialist in disaster and emergency management at the University of Hawaii has seen shocking reactions to disaster. People will risk their life to retrieve their wallet. It seems crazy, but it is common. This refers to continuing with everyday routines when faced with a crisis.  He says,

“Being in a situation where your life is in danger increases your emotional arousal, and high arousal causes people to limit the number of alternatives they consider. That can be bad when trying to determine a course of action, since you may never consider the option most likely to result in escaping safely.”

5. DENIAL

“Invariably over 50% of the population do it, they go down to the sea to watch the tsunami,” says Goff. “They act as if nothing untoward is happening.” Denial usually happens because:

• We don’t see the situation as dangerous, or
• We don’t want to see it as dangerous.
• We are not good at calculating risk.
• We rely on our feelings, and sometimes reassure ourselves we will be OK. (Cancer patients wait four months on average before seeing a doctor. On 9/11 people who survived and were on the upper floors of New York World Trade Center waited an average of five minutes after the attacks before they started to evacuate.)

Why can’t we turn these reflexes off?

In everyday life, our brains are reliant on familiarity. Mindlessly getting our bag when the plane lands helps free up mental space to focus on new stuff we need to attend to.

In an emergency, adjusting to the new situation may be more than our brains can handle–so we keep doing what we have done before.

WHAT TO DO:

HAVE A PLAN AND PRACTICE “What if?”

If we can’t rely on our instincts, what can we do?

The best way is to replace automatic but not helpful reactions with ones that could save your life by practicing. You have to practice and practice until the survival technique is the dominant behavior.  It’s a bit hard to practice for a tsunami but you can IMAGINE.

Taking some time to imagine “what if”.  “Ask yourself one simple question, “If something happens, what is my first response? Once you can answer that, everything else will fall into place. 

THE GOOD NEWS – OTHER PEOPLE

“Research shows that in most scenarios, groups of people are more likely to help each other than hinder. “In emergencies, the norm is cooperation . . .  Selfish behavior is very mild and tends to be policed by the crowd rather than spreading.”*

“Psychologists call this response “collective resilience”: an attitude of mutual helping and unity in the middle of danger.”

People’s tendency to cooperate during emergencies increases the chances of survival for everyone. “Individually, the best thing tactically is to go along with the group interest. In situations where everyone acts individually, which are very rare, that actually decreases effective group evacuation.”*

 LUCK MATTERS 

but sometimes what is needed is a good dose of luck.

____________________________________

*Chris Cocking, studies crowd behavior at the University of Brighton.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170711-what-not-to-do-in-a-disaster

“Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why” by Laurence Gonzales

This post first appeared on

https://peggyarndt.com/

What Falling in Love Does to YOur Brain, Body and Health

When love is in the air, you might experience some unexpected changes to your body. A romantic relationship can have intense effects.

Here are nine ways falling in love can impact your body, by Mary Daly

1. MAKES US ‘MADDENINGLY’ PREOCCUPIED

“Crazy in love” is actually a pretty apt description — especially in the early stages of a relationship. “Levels of the stress hormone cortisol increase during the initial phase of romantic love, marshaling our bodies to cope with the ‘crisis’ at hand,” according to the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute. The rising cortisol depletes the body’s serotonin — the neurotransmitter that helps to stabilize our mood. And that combination of high cortisol and low serotonin can cause us to feel like our emotions are on a roller coaster, completely immersed in all the highs and lows of our new love.”

2. SPARKS EUPHORIA

“Falling in love might cause you to become preoccupied and nervous. But it also can create a sense of euphoria in the body, thanks to the high levels of dopamine it releases. “Dopamine activates the reward circuit, helping to make love a pleasurable experience similar to the euphoria associated with use of cocaine or alcohol,” the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute says. In fact, research has shown loving relationships can be an effective antidote to substance abuse problems, as well as depression and anxiety. Plus, another chemical in the mix is oxytocin — the “love hormone” — which is released during skin-to-skin contact and heightens feelings of peace and wellbeing.”

3. BLINDS US

“Love is blind” is another phrase that science has proven somewhat accurate. “When we are engaged in romantic love, the neural machinery responsible for making critical assessments of other people, including assessments of those with whom we are romantically involved, shuts down,” according to the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute. So we experience fewer negative emotions, including “fear and social judgment.” And that’s not the only change to our eyes we might see. Research also has shown our pupils tend to dilate when we look at the object of our affection — which potentially is a side effect of all that dopamine.”

4. CHANGES OUR VOICES

“When speaking to someone we find attractive, research has shown we might subtly and subconsciously alter our voices. One study found men were more likely to lower their pitch when speaking to women they found attractive. And another study learned women spoke in a higher pitch to men they found attractive. Moreover, a study published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior recorded people talking to relatively new romantic partners, as well as to close friends. They were instructed to say lines, such as “How are you?” and “What are you doing?” The researchers then played those clips for independent raters, who overwhelmingly were able to tell when a person was speaking to a romantic partner versus a friend, based on their pitch and perceived romantic interest.”

5. KILLS PAIN

“Love can hurt, but sometimes it also can relieve pain. A 2010 study recruited participants who were in the first nine months of a romantic relationship to complete three tasks with periods of inflicted pain. During the first task, they viewed a photo of their romantic partner. For the second, they viewed photos of “an equally attractive and familiar acquaintance.” And for the third task, they took part in a word-association distraction technique that already had been demonstrated to reduce pain. As a result, both the romantic partner and distraction tasks significantly reduced the participants’ pain. And the partner task showed activation in the participants’ brains’ rewards center, suggesting “that the activation of neural reward systems via non-pharmacologic means can reduce the experience of pain,” according to the study.”

6. PREVENTS COLDS

“You might be lovesick, but a healthy relationship can keep you just that — healthy. According to a study from Carnegie Mellon University, greater social support — and especially frequent hugs — can reduce a person’s chances of getting an infection. Participants were interviewed to learn about their support systems, and then they were exposed to the common cold virus. Those who had more supportive relationships in their lives (and received more frequent hugs) experienced greater protection against the virus. Although this effect doesn’t necessarily have to come from a romantic partner, the researchers highlighted hugs because they denote a more intimate relationship.”

7. INCREASES CREATIVITY

“Love and lust can mean two very different things when it comes to your creativity. According to Psychology Today, a 2009 study asked one group of participants to imagine a long walk with their romantic partner and another group to imagine a scenario involving casual sex with an attractive person. A control group imagined a solo walk. The researchers then gave the participants creative insight problems, as well as analytical problems, from the GRE. “They found that those primed with thoughts of love had the highest levels of creative insights (those primed with lust had the lowest), whereas those primed with thoughts of lust had the highest levels of analytical thinking (those primed with love had the lowest),” Psychology Today says. The idea is that love enhances our long-term, holistic thinking while lust puts us in the present, concentrating on concrete details.”

8. BOOSTS HEART HEALTH

“Falling in love can make your heart happy in more ways than one. According to a study on relationships and cardiovascular health, brief, warm physical contact between partners is able to lower your blood pressure and heart rate, even in stressful situations. And another study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found people in happy marriages were associated with lower blood pressure, stress and rates of depression, as well as greater life satisfaction. But the study did point out that single people had better health than those in unhappy marriages — showing happiness and support is the key.”

9. SPEEDS HEALING

“Love both can prevent health issues and heal them, research has shown. One study found married adults who had heart surgery were more than three times as likely to survive the next three months compared to single adults. Prior to their surgeries, researchers interviewed the participants and found the married adults tended to have a more positive outlook, especially when it came to managing any pain and discomfort.”

“And another study on wound healing recruited 37 couples to receive small blisters on their forearms. Then, the couples went through a structured social interaction task. The researchers found that the wounds on the couples who interacted more positively healed much faster than the wounds on the couples who engaged in negative communication — again showing what a loving connection can do for your life.”

https://www.care2.com/greenliving/what-falling-in-love-does-to-your-body.html

This post originally appeared on

https://peggyarndt.com/

Sneeeek eeek Peeeek into Judy’s Mask

It’s almost Halloween and masks are a hallmark of that holiday.  In my mixed media on-line class the assignment was “Divergence”.  It was hard to find my focus (what else is new? . . . ) and finally settled on a self portrait.  I thought about all the divergent paths my life has taken, shoulda, coulda have taken, didn’t take. 

I created each layer without conscious thought or choice.  I picked collage pieces at random, colors intuitively as I painted. The meaning of divergence evolved after I completed it.  There are layers and layers of paint and collage with I feel also represent me.  

The end result is my “mask”.

Divergence  Mixed Media Self Portrait, 14″ x 17″ Bristol Paper 

1st Divergence – Egg collage – Among all the eggs and sperm that could have been fertilized there were only two that created my DNA.

2nd Divergence – Colors that represent some of the “large” choices I made at pivotal points in my life that led to who I am and the blind eye I had at those times to choices I could have made but didn’t.

3rd Divergence – Lines of collage and paint that delineate & represent each wrinkle of “small” choices (not to mention my skin) I made and didn’t make.

4th Divergence – Flow of color from the background into my being which represents my spiritual connection to everyone and everything.

Ultimately, whether we are conscious of it or not, we all wear many masks.  There’s nothing wrong with doing so.  It helps us socially, professionally – what we show and who we show it to – to function in a multi-faceted world.  Halloween just affords us to have a bit of fun doing so.

Sneek Peek at my Tribute Tree

I started this acrylic painting many moons ago and never finished it (nothing new, for those who know me).   I saw a video about Jadav Payeng that inspired me to complete it.

“Forty years ago, Payeng —a then-16-year-old resident of Assam, India—discovered that snakes were dying on a barren Majuli Island due to a lack of shade.

This gruesome sight resonated strongly with Payeng, inspiring him to act. “When I saw it, I thought even we humans will have to die this way in the heat,” he told NPR. “It struck me.” Then and there, Payeng decided to dedicate his life to transforming the river island.”​

One Tree a Day

“He pledged to plant a sapling in Majuli Island’s sandy soil every day—an admirable act that would eventually culminate in Molai Forest, a lush 550-hectare (1,359.08 acres) woodland.”

“Covered in all kinds of different trees (starting “first with bamboo trees, then with cotton trees”), the island has flourished, attracting an abundant audience of animals that includes elephants, wild boars, and even Royal Bengal tigers.​”
​

Man Spends 40 Years Planting a Tree on Barren Island Every Day, Now It’s a Giant Forest

You’ll never drink another can of cola without thinking about this.

Because neither of us are math wizards and count on our fingers when a calculator isn’t handy we are posting this in its entirety.  Whether you understand how it was calculated or not we can’t dispute that the conclusion is astounding.  

If you collected up every Sars-CoV-2 virus particle in the world, it would fit inside a soft drinks can, writes the mathematician Christian Yates.

By Christian Yates

“When I was asked to calculate the total volume of Sars-CoV-2 in the world for the BBC Radio 4 show More or Less, I will admit I had no idea what the answer would be. My wife suggested it would be the size of an Olympic swimming pool. “Either that or a teaspoon,” she said. “It’s usually one or the other with these sorts of questions.”‘

“So how to set about calculating an approximation of what the total volume really is?”

“Fortunately, I have some form with these sorts of large-scale back-of-the-envelope estimations, having carried out a number of them for my book The Maths of Life and Death. Before we embark on this particular numerical journey, though, I should be clear that this is an approximation based on the most reasonable assumptions, but I will happily admit there may be places where it can be improved.”

“So where to start? We’d better first calculate how many Sars-CoV-2 particles there are in the world. To do that, we’ll need to know how many people are infected. (We’ll assume humans rather than animals are the most significant reservoir for the virus.)”

“According to stats website Our World in Data, half a million people are testing positive for Covid every day. Yet we know that many people will not be included in this count because they are asymptomatic or choose not to get tested – or because widespread testing is not readily available in their country.”

“Using statistical and epidemiological modelling, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations has estimated that the true number of people infected each day is more like 3 million.”

“The amount of virus that each of the people currently infected will carry around with them (their viral load) depends on how long ago they were infected. On average, viral loads are thought to rise and peak about six days after infection, after which they steadily decline.”

“Of all the people who are infected now, those who got infected yesterday will contribute a little to the total count. Those who were infected a couple of days ago will contribute a little more. Those infected three days ago a little more still. On average, people infected six days ago will have the highest viral load. This contribution will then decline for people who were infected seven or eight or nine days ago, and so on.”

“The final thing we need to know is the number of virus particles people harbour at any point during their infection.Since we know roughly how viral load changes over time, it’s enough to have an estimate of the peak viral load. An unpublished study took data on the number of virus particles per gram of a range of different tissues in infected monkeys and scaled up the size of tissue to be representative of humans. Their rough estimates for peak viral loads range from one billion to 100 billion virus particles.”

“Let’s work with the higher end of the estimates so that we get an overestimate of the total volume at the end. When you add up all the contributions to the viral load of each of the three million people who became infected on each of the previous days (assuming this three million rate is roughly constant) then we find that there are roughly two quintillion (2×10¹⁸ or two billion billion) virus particles in the world at any one time.”

“This sounds like a really big number, and it is. It is roughly the same as the number of grains of sand on the planet. But when calculating the total volume, we’ve got to remember that Sars-CoV-2 particles are extremely small. Estimates of the diameter range from 80 to 120 nanometres. One nanometre is a billionth of a meter. To put it in perspective, the radius of Sars-CoV-2 is roughly 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. Let’s use the average value for the diameter of 100 nanometres in our subsequent calculation.”

“Assuming a 50-nanometre radius (at the centre of the estimated range) of Sars-CoV-2, the volume of a single spherical virus particle works out to be 523,000 cubic nanometres.”

“Multiplying this very small volume by the very large number of particles we calculated earlier, and converting into meaningful units gives us a total volume of about 120 millilitres. If we wanted to put all these virus particles together in one place, then we’d need to remember that spheres don’t pack together perfectly.”

“If you think about the pyramid of oranges you might see at the grocery store, you’ll remember that a significant portion of the space it takes up is empty. In fact, the best you can do to minimise empty space is a configuration called “close sphere packing” in which empty space takes up about 26% of the total volume. This increases the total gathered volume of Sars-CoV-2 particles to about 160 millilitres – easily small enough to fit inside about six shot glasses. Even taking the upper end of the diameter estimate and accounting for the size of the spike proteins all the Sars-CoV-2 still wouldn’t fill a can of soda.”

“It turns out that the total volume of Sars-CoV-2 was between my wife’s rough estimates of the teaspoon and the swimming pool. It’s astonishing to think that all the trouble, the disruption, the hardship and the loss of life that has resulted over the last year could constitute just a few mouthfuls of what would undoubtedly be the worst beverage in history.”

Christian Yates is a senior lecturer in mathematical biology at the University of Bath and the author of The Maths of Life and Death.

This article is adapted from a piece that originally appearedon The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons licence. 

Zombies and witches for you

Zombies love the smell of blood 

but you needn’t dread the walking dead

Light a match,  paint your nose red

They’re scared of fire and clowns for hire

 Click here for Zombie Halloween card on Zazzle

Witches, on the other hand

Travel in the air and land

They don’t like blood, just brew

Don’t cross ’em or you’ll end up stew

.Click here for Two Witches Halloween card on Zazzle

Click here for Two Witches kitchen towel on Zazzle

 

To see all the Halloween goodies by Peggy and Judy, click here!

Sneak Peak at my arty life – “Facing Failure”

When I was an active faculty member of The Academy for Guided Imagery, Dave Bresler (co-founder) talked abou how drug addicts often needed to get clean, reuse, get clean, reuse until able to finally stay clean – They “failed their way to success”.   At the time I didn’t make the connection to how I learn and live life.

In retrospect every time I failed at something, whether relationships, careers, projects, classes (took Statistics 3 times) failure was the learning impetus to learn (except for statistics) grow, and gain a bit of experience and, hopefully, wisdom to fail in new areas.

I also fail my way to success in every new art project. A current class assignment is to make a series of mixed media focusing on whatever we choose.

Here are my recent journey of “arty failures”.   Every one is a learning lesson. “I tried that, didn’t work . . .  wonder what would happen if I did this? . . . 

1. Selfie Sketch, copied and pasted.    2. Smeared paint on top. 3. Pasted torn paper on top

(What I learned so far:  I don’t look good without a neck)

I’ll keep you posted to my arty progress for this assignment.

In the meantime, reflect on your own “failures”:  

What did you learn?

What “life lessons” have you repeated?

.

“Spark”, How Raising Your Heart Rate Changes Your Brain

Which of these responses to EXERCISE do you use?

• I love to exercise.
• I hate to exercise but I do it.
• I should exercise but I don’t.
• Exercise?????

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, by John J. Ratey, M.D., and Eric Hagerman,  explains the strong evidence that aerobic exercise doesn’t just change our body IT CHANGES OUR BRAINS.

Music makes it fun!

This particular journey through the mind-body connection is fascinating, presenting research to prove that exercise is truly our best defense against everything from decreasing or avoiding depression, Alzheimer’s, addiction, Attention Deficit Disorder, menopause, even aggression.  Exercise changes neurotransmitters so you pay attention more easily, learn and keep yourself calm.  Exercise at the very least:

• Helps you beat stress,
• Raises your mood
• Reduces memory loss
• Helps you become smarter 

The book details the kinds of exercise  best for different conditions (such as cancer, depression, even diabetes).  There is fascinating information I had not read about like:  BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor) and why you want more of and how to get it. New focus on variable heart rate .

SPARK explores comprehensively the connection between exercise and the brain. It may change the way you think about your exercise routine —or lack of . . .

Your feet don’t have to touch ground. Ride!  

Learn from the students in Naperville:

“The gym teachers at Naperville conducted an educational experiment called Zero Hour P.E. where they scheduled time to work out before class using treadmills and other exercise equipment where you are only competing against yourself to improve. This program not only turned their 19,000 students into the fittest in the nation but also, in some categories, the smartest in the world.”

“Academically, Naperville High School is currently in the top 10 in the state–despite the fact that they spend less money per pupil than other high schools in their district.”  Alan Freishtat

Click HERE for more about the Naperville experiment in exercise:

God’s Creatures, Great, Small & octodexterous –

WATCH: An Octopus Taking Photos of her Visitors

When I lived in Greece getting together with friends at an outdoor cafe, sipping Ouzo and eating octopus was a favorite summertime activity. It was a long time ago, I was young, I didn’t know how smart octopi were and after a few glasses of ouzo I no longer knew what I was eating. Since then I have been relatively sober and understand that this incredible creature is not to be eaten but be admired. judy

“Meet the world’s first “octographer” – Rambo, a cephalopod at New Zealand’s Sea Life Aquarium who’s taking photos of its visitors.”

“See this impressive ability in action below, and watch as Rambo makes sure she doesn’t have her sucker-covered tentacles in the shot before hitting the shutter button.

“Of course, Rambo isn’t the first cephalopod to perform high-level activities – not only do octopuses have mind-boggling camouflage skills, superb speed and the ability to walk on land, they can also use tools and, apparently, predict soccer games.“

“But, as far as we’re [aquarium] aware, this is the first time an octopus has been trained to take photos.The project is part of a collaboration between the aquarium and Sony, who provided Rambo with the camera and its special underwater casing that’s lowered into her enclosure. Then, when spectators line up against a specially provided backdrop, she’s able to use her dexterous tentacle to push the red shutter button . . . “

Source: Sony New Zealand

https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-an-octopus-in-new-zealand-is-taking-photos-of-its-visitors

What happens “after” Covid – for P & J and YOU?

Covid will eventually be tamed, possibly taking the course of other diseases like polio, seasonal influenza, measles and the like. We have two questions we’ve asked ourselves:

1. What changes have we made during this time that we will keep?
2. What are the first few things we will do when we feel safe enough to be out and about without feeling cautious or in jeopardy?

   

Here’s what Peggy’s come up with . . .  at this moment: 

• I am going to continue to keep a lot of supplies on hand. Just in case – plenty of food staples, and things like toothpaste and soap (and, of course, toilet paper).
• After Covid, one of the first things I want to do  is to get new tennis shoes. I am hard to fit so I don’t buy online with the unending returns.  My current shoes are worn out because tennis shoes are all I wear!
• I will make medical appointments that are just routine check-ups.  I managed to get in a few before the Delta variant became so widespread.
• I want to have lunch with friends  . . . sitting inside at a restaurant.  I have ventured getting together outdoors with a few friends who I know have been as cautious as I am but it will be a relief not to have to be concerned about “who and where”.

Here’s what Judy’s come up with . . . at this moment:

• I’ll continue my new found skill, cutting my own hair.  Can’t cut the back but, if I do say so myself, the front looks ALMOST the same as when I spend the big bucks at a salon.  Of course, the only person who sees me is my husband . . .
• I’ll continue doing art classes online if they are offered – on-line classes are easier than going to a live classroom.  I don’t have to pack up/unpack and drive for 30 min each way.   Watching class recordings anytime I want is a big bonus.  
• I am saving these for when Covid is better under control because that way I may never have to do them:   I will wear something other than old t-shirts, sweat pants, and a painting apron.  I may  donate my accumulation of “professional work clothes” that will probably not touch my body ever again.  I  will dust the house just in case someone visits.

Now it’s YOUR TURN:

What changes have YOU made during this time that YOU will keep?

What are the first few things YOU will do when YOU feel safe enough to be out and about without feeling cautious or in jeopardy?

5 ways to keep your brain in “gear”

My fibromyalgia brain fog has been denser than usual so this article caught my attention.  I figure if I do at least 4 out the 5 of these things I might be able to bump my brain functioning up to normal.

(I’ve edited down the article . . . but not a lot because after all it is for me!, Judy)

Neuroscience says these five rituals will help your brain stay in peak condition

 BY Vivian Giang

“Lucky for us, advanced technologies have enabled researchers to understand how the brain works, what it responds to, and even how to retrain it. For instance, we know our brains prefer foods with high levels of antioxidants, including blueberries, kale, and nuts. We know that a Mediterranean diet, which is largely plant-based and rich in whole grain, fish, fruits, and red wine, can lead to higher brain functions. And we know that smiling can retrain our brains to look for positive possibilities rather than negative ones.”

Here are five simple rituals that cognitive scientists say can help your brain grow new cells, form new neural pathways, improve cognition, and keep your outlook positive and sharp.

1.  Congratulate yourself for small wins

“The frequency of success matters more than the size of success, so don’t wait until the big wins to congratulate yourself, says B.J. Fogg, director of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford University. Instead, come up with daily celebrations for yourself; your brain doesn’t know the difference between progress and perceived progress.”

“Both progress and setbacks are said to greatly influence our emotions. So the earlier in the day you can feel successful, the better—feelings of excitement help fuel behaviors that will set you up for successes. For instance, a productive morning routine can be used to motivate you through the rest of the day. We feel happier and encouraged as our energy levels increase, and feel anxiety or even depression as our energy levels go down.”

2.  Keep your body active

According to neurologist Etienne van der Walt, “Specific forms of exercises have been shown to be very beneficial for … brain growth.”

“When we exercise, our heart rate increases, oxygen is pumped to the brain at a much faster rate, and new brain cells develop more quickly. The more brain cells we create, the easier it is for cells to communicate with one another, developing new neural pathways. Ultimately, our brains become more efficient and plastic, which means better cognitive performance.”

“It doesn’t even take that much sweat to keep your brain in good shape. A study conducted by the department of exercise science at the University of Georgia in 2003 found that an exercise bout of just 20 minutes is enough to change the brain’s information processing and memory functions.”

3. Stretch your brain muscles

“Like other muscles in your body, if you don’t use the brain, you’ll eventually lose it. This means it’s crucial to exercise your brain and keep it stimulated.”

“Tara Swart, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, notes that it’s especially important to target areas of your brain that you use less frequently. Good suggestions for stretching your brain muscles include learning to speak a new language, learning to play a new instrument, or even learning to juggle.”

“To enhance his own cognitive prowess, author James Altucher tries to come up with new ideas every day. He writes about his daily system:

• “Get a SMALL pad.
• Go to a local cafe or a park.  For cognitive stimulation it is important to vary your routine.
• Maybe read an inspirational book for 10 to 20 minutes.
• Start writing down ideas. The key here is, write 10 ideas …  all you want is a list of ideas.”

“Mid-way through the exercise, Altucher says his brain will actually start to “hurt.”  Whether he ends up using the ideas or throwing them away is not the point. 

4. Sit upright

“Not only is an upright position found to increase energy levels and enhance our overall mood, it’s also been shown to increase our confidence, as in this 2013 preliminary research conducted by Harvard Business professor Amy Cuddy and her colleague, Maarten W. Bos.”

“Positioning yourself in a powerless, crouched position can make your brain more predisposed towards hopelessness.”

“From a purely cognitive perspective, positioning yourself in a powerless, crouched position can make your brain more predisposed towards hopelessness, as well as more likely to recall depressive memories and thoughts. Researchers say this phenomenon is ingrained in our biology and traces back to how body language is “closely tied to dominance across the animal kingdom,” as Cuddy writes in her new book, Presence.”

“So what’s the best way to ensure you feel powerful in both body and mind? Erik Peper, a professor who studies psychophysiology at San Francisco State University, advises checking your posture every hour to make sure you’re not in the iHunch, or iPosture, position. He also advises bringing smaller devices up to your face while in use instead of forcing yourself to look downward at them in a collapsed position.”

 5.  Sleep with your phone away from your head

“There’s a lot of myths and half truths out there about how—and if—your smartphone may be effecting the brain. While there is still a lot of research that needs to be done on the topic of wireless devices, there does seem to be a link between blue light—emitted by electronic screens including those of smartphones—and sleep. Interrupting or changing our sleep patterns is bad for a lot of reasons. For example, lack of enough deep sleep could be preventing us from flushing harmful beta-amyloid from our brains.”

“According to Tara Swart, a senior lecturer at MIT specializing in sleep and the brain, our brains’ natural cleansing system requires six to eight hours of sleep. Without it, brains eventually encounter major build-ups of beta-amyloid, a neurotoxin found in clumps in the brains of people with neurological disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.”

“While scientists have always known that the brain cleanses wastes, much like the body, the sophistication of this cleansing system was investigated in 2013 by Maiken Nedergaard of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester. This study found “hidden caves” that open up in our brains when we’re in a deep enough sleep. This liquid cleaning system, dubbed the “glymphatic system,” enables copious amounts of neurotoxins to be pushed through the spinal column.

“So, exactly how far away do you need to keep your smart devices? We’re not completely sure, but Swart says it’s a good idea to not sleep with it next to your head. Ultimately, keeping our brains healthy takes willpower and resilience, just like with any other part of our bodies. But as research shows, staying sound of body and mind as we age is certainly possible—with a little effort.”

If you don’t believe me click here! http://qz.com/626482/neuroscience-says-these-five-rituals-will-help-your-brain-stay-young/

Who Knew? Vinegar in Your Garden!

One of my favorite activities is gardening.  I love being outdoors in sunshine, watching bird and making my surroundings colorful.  I’ve planted flowering trees, put in  a fountain and a bird feeder.  It’s my form of creativity and meditation.  Anything natural that can make flowers bloom, save time weeding, or make cleaning up easier I’m all for.  Who knew that vinegar can do all this and more.  Take a look:

1. Kill the weeds

White vinegar can get rid of weeds from the leaves down to the roots. I have used this, and it is much safer than some commercial products.  Just pour a bit of pure vinegar on the weeds (Sometimes I crush the leaves a bit so I know the vinegar gets absorbed.)  If you spray, be careful not to  hit plants you want to keep.

2.  Keep unwanted critters away

Vinegar is smelly, so dampen a few old rags and put them around the garden edges. Rabbits, deer, raccoons and insects won’t like the smell.  It may even ward off snakes.

 

 

 

3. Get rid of slugs and snails

If you pour vinegar on them they dissolve. (Not for the feint of heart because they sort of melt.) 

4. Help your seeds sprout

Put seeds in a bowl of water, and add a bit of vinegar before you cover the bowl and soak for 8-12 hours (no more than 2 days). The vinegar will help soften the seeds outer coating so the seed can sprout.

 

 

5. Clean your tools

Spray your tools with a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture of vinegar and water, and wipe them off. If they are rusty let them soak in the mixture overnight, then use steel wool and wash with soapy water.

6. Feed flowers

Vinegar acts like a food for your flowers. The next time you water, add a cup per gallon of water. Acidic flowers really like this – including azaleas, hydrangeas, gardenias and rhododendron.

 

 

 

7. Test your soil’s pH balance

 Dig up some soil and add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup vinegar -and watch it fizz. The more fizz, the higher the pH.

8. Get rid of mildew, mold and other fungi

Mix 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar with a gallon of water, and  spray  the affected areas. This method also removes black fungi from rose plants.

9. Remove calcium buildup on garden bricks

Vinegar can help clean off calcium and lime deposits from bricks and dividers. Use 1 cup white vinegar per gallon of water and  use a brush to scrub the bricks, then rinse.

10. Clean your birdbath

I usually empty my birdbath and let the sun bleach it.   The next time my birdbath gets grimy I’ll try this. I particularly like the fact  it is safe for the birds. 

 

 

 

Happy Gardening!   Peggy

https://apple.news/AGXakW9qDR_GsjLZmAO_tUg

Watching Cute Animals is Good for Your Health

Science shows watching cute animals is good for your health

You knew watching videos of puppies and kittens felt good but now there’s data to back  that watching cute animals may contribute to a reduction in stress and anxiety.

The study* examined how watching images and videos of cute animals for 30 minutes affects blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety in a 30-minute montage of the cute critters.
“There were kittens, puppies, baby gorillas. There were quokkas.

The quokka, an adorable creature found in Western Australia,

 often referred to as “the world’s happiest animal.”

The sessions, conducted in December 2019, involved 19 subjects — 15 students and four staff — and was intentionally timed during winter exams, a time when stress is at a significantly high level, particularly for medical students.

In all cases, the study saw blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety go down in participants, 30 minutes after watching the video.

• Average blood pressure dropped from 136/88 to 115/71 — which the study pointed out is “within ideal blood pressure range.”
• Average heart rates were lowered to 67.4 bpm, a reduction of 6.5%.
• Anxiety rates also went down by 35%, measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a self-assessment method often used in clinical settings to diagnose anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association.

When questioning the participants, the study found that most preferred video clips over still images, particularly of animals interacting with humans.

*The study was conducted by the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, in partnership with Western Australia Tourism,

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/27/us/watching-cute-animals-study-scn-trnd/index.html

Originally posted on

https://peggyarndt.com/

Sneek Peak at The Frog Princess Part 4

Judy has written another book.  It’s for children and adult-children–and you get a sneak peek at it!! This is part 4, click here for part 1 , here for part 2, and here for part 3.

It’s a little known fact that not all frogs are princes in disguise . . .

. . .  there are two genders, one of which is the “weaker sex”.

The Frog Princess

By Judith Westerfield

The Prince sighed
and the froggie replied,

“Perfect you’re not
YOU are lacking a lot Can’t even fly
on your own in the sky. You’re not very fair
for a prince with no hair And It may be moot
But you’re short to boot.”

The Prince sighed as he replied,

“You’re right I fear
I’ve looked far and near
no matter if tall, or very small Whether blue, red or green Tall, wide or lean
Please stop my flight. Perhaps all are just right.
For a prince who’s uptight”

And lo the skies shook, right by the book,
A sight to behold Breaking the mold comes a princess so fair it’s hard not to stare. Shimmering green

A wondrous scene
A crown of red perched on her head.

Hard to grasp
The Prince gasped,

“From out of the blue? Too good to be true! No matter if tall
No matter at all!

No matter if green You are my queen!!”

The Prince cried!
And the princess replied,

“Well! It’s taken awhile,”

she said with a smile. And drops the prince, with nary a wince,
face first in the mud with a resounding THUD

The Prince spun his head

as the Princess said,

“Now know! When you take flight morning, noon or night”,

She said with great mirth,

“I promise to bring you . . . back to earth”

And this is how out of the blue. . .

wishes come true . . .

THE END

Sneek Peak at The Frog Princess -Part 3

Judy has written another book.  It’s for children and adult-children–and you get a sneak peek at it!! This is part 3, click here for part 1 , and here for part 2. ,   Click here for part 4

It’s a little known fact that not all frogs are princes in disguise . . .

. . .  there are two genders, one of which is the “weaker sex”.

The Frog Princess

By Judith Westerfield

“Hop on my back,
I’ll cut you some slack But don’t talkback.
I want no flack.”

So off they go
the Prince in tow hanging on for dear life looking for a wife.

“What a wondrous sight From this vantage of flight” “Still, all I can see
None suited for me
Many too greedy
Most too needy
Some too tall,
or much too small

None, not one, right at all”

Not one maiden fit

“I’m ready to quit,”

the Prince sighed, as froggie replied

“You needn’t fear
Your bride will appear.
Your wish will take wing
IF you say the RIGHT thing.”

“Acbracadabra!”

cried the Prince
Making the flying frog wince

“Let there be light!”

Shouting with might

“No! No! that’s not right!

“Bippity, Boppity, Boo? 1,2,3 Buckle my shoe?”

“Open sesame
Bring a bride to me!”

“Ok, let me focus . . . Hocus pocus?”

“Free! no charge!

Small, medium or large?”

“I give up, let me go

much too taxing, you know I’ve spent my life
Looking for a wife
On land, in the sea Someone perfect for me. Now in the air.

It’s just not fair None fit to a tee None suited for me”

“Many too greedy
Most too needy
Some too tall,
or much too small
None, not one, right at all. It’s an eye-opening site From this vantage of flight
A perfect bride doesn’t exist Once again, I’ve missed,”

To be continued………

/Click here for part 4

Sneek Peak at The Frog Princess- Part 2

Judy has written another book.  It’s for children and adult-children–and you get a sneak peek at it!! This is part 2 click here for part 1

click here for part 3,   Click here for part 4

It’s a little known fact that not all frogs are princes in disguise . . .

. . .  there are two genders, one of which is the “weaker sex”.

The Frog Princess

By Judith Westerfield

The Prince spied a spider who was an outsider.

“Spin me some webs
to attach to my legs They’ll catch the breeze when I bend my knees!”

the Prince cried.
And the spider replied

“I’ll spin if you will foot the bill.

---

Take my web if you please To catch a breeze
Wind ‘round your knees attach to your tie

flap your legs to fly take to the sky.”

“Help! I’m dropping like lead catching flies. . . . Instead!!”

the prince cried
as the spider replied

---

.

“Have you lost your mind My webs are fine! Guaranteed not to tear No matter where”

You’re no flyer I fear just a prince, my dear It’s just not your thing To take to wing

Stop sticking around Stay on the ground.”

The prince wasn’t mad Just terribly sad
Sitting down to mope
He felt like a dope.
When lo! High up in the sky a frog flying, No LIE!

Breaking the mold
With wings of gold
A froggie swoops down wearing a crown.
A crown of red
perched on her head
The prince rubbed his eyes Looking up to the skies
An impossible sight
In a golden light.

“I can’t believe my eyes. From out of the skies
I see a frog flying without even trying!”

the Prince cried
and the froggie replied,

“I heard you say
that you will pay.
I’ll fly you high if you will foot all of my bill.”

To be continued……

Sneek Peak at The Frog Princess – Part 1

 Judy has written another book.  It’s for children and adult-children–and you get a sneak peek at it!!

Click here for part 2.  Click here for part3   Click here for part 4

It’s a little known fact that not all frogs are princes in disguise . . .

. . .  there are two genders, one of which is the “weaker sex”.

The Frog Princess

By Judith Westerfield

There once was a Prince

With a perpetual wince

In his kingdom alone

No wife for his own.

He looked far and wide

For just the right bride

He sailed the seas

And if you please

roamed over the land

for a princess’ hand

Not one maiden fit

“I’m ready to quit
Many too greedy
Most too needy
A lot too tall
Some too small
None, not one, right at all.”

---

The prince was bereft The only place left Was to take to the sky Learn to fly

He was up for the ride To find the right bride

“I’ll learn to fly”
he said with a sigh, “Where I can spy
my princess from on high I must find a wife
To be in my life”

---

“I’m of delicate sorts
Need to change into shorts So my legs can kick
Don’t want them to stick And my knees are free
to fly higher, you see”

---

---

Just as he should
he ran fast as he could landing in mud
With a resounding thud. Jumping from trees Catching his knees.
Try as he might
he couldn’t take flight.

---

Then spotting a cow . . .

“She’ll surely know how Take me up to the moon It can’t be too soon! Yes, a cow will do

Four legs to my two.”

the Prince cried. And the cow replied,

“I’ll try, if you will
foot the bill
Now with all your might Hold on tight”.

My tail, not my udder!”

She yelled with a shudder

---

“ How now brown cow Run faster please
I’m scrapping my knees!”

The prince cried And the cow replied,

“Ok Prince, guess you’ve found I’m better on ground
Where grass is green
That’s my scene.”

 

 

To be continued………

Click here for part 2. 

Click here for part3

  Click here for part 4

Bet You Didn’t Know-Tickling Slows Down the Aging Process

NOW HEAR THIS!

This tickling does not lead to spastic body movements and laughter. It’s Ear tickling.

Researchers ‘tickled’ participants’ ears with a tiny electric current to influence the nervous system and slow down some of the effects of aging. 

Oops, wrong kind of tickle

It is a painless procedure where custom-made clip electrodes are placed on a part of the ear called the tragus. The therapy, known as transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation, sends tiny currents of electricity into the ear that travel down to the body’s nervous system. There’s no pain,  just a slight tingling which is referred to as “tickling”.

Here’s how it works:

The autonomic nervous system controls bodily functions that don’t require thought, such as breathing, digestion, heart rate and blood pressure.

Within the autonomic nervous system, there are two branches: parasympathetic (for resting activity) and sympathetic (for stress activity). The two branches work together to allow healthy levels of bodily activity.

The balance changes as people age, and the sympathetic branch can start to dominate. That domination can create an unhealthy imbalance in the automatic nervous system.

As a result, it can leave the body more vulnerable to other diseases and deterioration of bodily functions. 

Researchers hoped the therapy would improve the balance of

the autonomic nervous system.

After 15 minutes of daily therapy for two weeks, they brought the participants – 26 people over the age of 55 back into the lab and measured factors such as heart rate and blood pressure to judge the success rate of their trial.

They found that tickling helped re-balance the body’s autonomic nervous system.

There were improvements in self-reported tension, depression, mood disturbances and sleep.

The researchers believe that the therapy could be used to reduce the risk of age-related chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation.

The next step is to take the study to a larger group to get a more comprehensive look at the benefits of tickle therapy.

Are you up for a tickle?  

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/08/02/tickle-therapy-new-therapy-could-slow-down-aging-process/1891544001/

Susan Deuchars, lead author on the study and director of research at the University of Leeds’ School of Biomedical Sciences

For more on the other kind of tickle,  click here for Tickle

Originally posted on :

https://peggyarndt.com/

Learning to Learn: You, Too, Can Rewire Your Brain – 4 Techniques to Help You Learn

A lesson from the Coursera course “Learning How to Learn.”

By PHILIP OAKLEY and BARBARA OAKLEY

1.  FOCUS and then DON’T

“The brain has two modes of thinking that Dr. Oakley simplifies as “focused,” in which learners concentrate on the material, and “diffuse,” a neural resting state in which consolidation occurs — that is, the new information can settle into the brain. (Cognitive scientists talk about task-positive networks and default-mode networks, respectively, in describing the two states.) In diffuse mode, connections between bits of information, and unexpected insights, can occur. That’s why it’s helpful to take a brief break after a burst of focused work.”

2.  TAKE A “tomato” BREAK

“To accomplish those periods of focused and diffuse-mode thinking, Dr. Oakley recommends what is known as the Pomodoro Technique, developed by one Francesco Cirillo. Set a kitchen timer for a 25-minute stretch of focused work, followed by a brief reward, which includes a break for diffuse reflection. (“Pomodoro” is Italian for tomato — some timers look like tomatoes.) The reward — listening to a song, taking a walk, anything to enter a relaxed state — takes your mind off the task at hand. Precisely because you’re not thinking about the task, the brain can subconsciously consolidate the new knowledge.Dr. Oakley compares this process to “a librarian filing books away on shelves for later retrieval.”

“As a bonus, the ritual of setting the timer can also help overcome procrastination. Dr. Oakley teaches that even thinking about doing things we dislike activates the pain centers of the brain. The Pomodoro Technique, she said, “helps the mind slip into focus and begin work without thinking about the work.”

“Virtually anyone can focus for 25 minutes, and the more you practice, the easier it gets.”

3.  PRACTICE – Chunk it

“Chunking” is the process of creating a neural pattern that can be reactivated when needed. It might be an equation or a phrase in French or a guitar chord. Research shows that having a mental library of well-practiced neural chunks is necessary for developing expertise.”

“Practice brings procedural fluency, says Dr. Oakley, who compares the process to backing up a car. “When you first are learning to back up, your working memory is overwhelmed with input.” In time, “you don’t even need to think more than ‘Hey, back up,’ ” and the mind is free to think about other things.”

“Chunks build on chunks, and, she says, the neural network built upon that knowledge grows bigger. “You remember longer bits of music, for example, or more complex phrases in French.” Mastering low-level math concepts allows tackling more complex mental acrobatics. “You can easily bring them to mind even while your active focus is grappling with newer, more difficult information.”’

4.  KNOW THYSELF – Racer or Hiker?

“Dr. Oakley urges her students to understand that people learn in different ways. Those who have “race car brains” snap up information; those with “hiker brains” take longer to assimilate information but, like a hiker, perceive more details along the way. Recognizing the advantages and disadvantages, she says, is the first step in learning how to approach unfamiliar material.”

____________________________

About the Oakleys

“Barbara Oakley, a professor at Oakland University in Michigan, in her basement studio where she and her husband created “Learning How to Learn,” the most popular course of all time on Coursera.The studio for what is arguably the world’s most successful online course is tucked into a corner of Barb and Phil Oakley’s basement, a converted TV room . . .”

“This is where they put together “Learning How to Learn,” taken by more than 1.8 million students from 200 countries, the most ever on Coursera. The course provides practical advice on tackling daunting subjects and on beating procrastination, and the lessons engagingly blend neuroscience and common sense.”

“Dr. Oakley, an engineering professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., created the class with Terrence Sejnowski, a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and with the University of California, San Diego.”

“Dr. Oakley said she believes that just about anyone can train himself to learn. “Students may look at math, for example, and say, ‘I can’t figure this out — it must mean I’m really stupid!’ They don’t know how their brain works.”’

“Her own feelings of inadequacy give her empathy for students who feel hopeless. “I know the hiccups and the troubles people have when they’re trying to learn something.” After all, she was her own lab rat. “I rewired my brain,” she said, “and it wasn’t easy.”’

“As a youngster, she was not a diligent student. “I flunked my way through elementary, middle school and high school math and science,” she said. She joined the Army out of high school to help pay for college and received extensive training in Russian at the Defense Language Institute. Once out, she realized she would have a better career path with a technical degree (specifically, electrical engineering), and set out to tackle math and science, training herself to grind through technical subjects with many of the techniques of practice and repetition that she had used to let Russian vocabulary and declension soak in.”

“Dr. Oakley recounts her journey in both of her best-selling books: “A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if You Flunked Algebra)” and, out this past spring, “Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential.”The new book is about learning new skills, with a focus on career switchers.”

“Dr. Oakley is already planning her next book, another guide to learning how to learn but aimed at 10- to 13-year-olds. She wants to tell them, “Even if you are not a superstar learner, here’s how to see the great aspects of what you do have.” She would like to see learning clubs in school to help young people develop the skills they need. “We have chess clubs, we have art clubs,” she said. “We don’t have learning clubs. I just think that teaching kids how to learn is one of the greatest things we can possibly do.”

Originally posted on:

https://peggyarndt.com/

Olivia & Buster . . . and Judy done-in

This was my final semester project for the Emeritus Art Media class.  It’s a mixed-media booklet called “Olivia & Buster Book” 

Story by Judy.

Dessert images are photo-copies of acrylic paintings I did when I was bored.  I photographed the paintings, and photo-copied them in small sizes.

Blob Critters – Threw blobs of watercolor on paper and used marker to make the blobs into critters.

It’s not perfect, my glue was gloppy, my white-out was beige-out, my black marker was blotchy, I was too lazy to hand letter,  It still needs a cover and then binding the pages into a book . . .  but after all the work I did I was too pooped to do anything more.  Olivia, Buster and I are now DONE-IN.

Good thing there’s no grades in Emeritus classes . . .

The End

The Three Little Pigs, a Slight Curl of the Tale

by Judith Westerfield

Once upon a time there were 3 little pigs who were looking for a change of scenery.  Having decided that living in town was becoming too expensive, too crowded and too hectic they set off to find the perfect place to build new houses and new lives.

The first little pig hopped onto his motorbike and pedaled off.

The second little pig got into his pick-up truck and rumbled off.

The third little pig got into his Mercedes and drove off.

Lo and behold all 3 little pigs ended up at a tiny town at the edge of a very beautiful, dense forest, complete with a running spring, clear skies and a view of snow capped mountains.

Neighbors, who had already found the pleasures of living in such a wonderful place, welcomed them.  There was the most delightful young girl wrapped in a beautiful red cape, a white rabbit who wore a top hat and carried a large watch, a courageous lion and  a business savvy wolf who introduced himself with his contractor’s card.

“A perfect spot to build a new life!” declared the 3 little pigs.

The first little pig, being very frugal suggested they pool their money.

The second little pig being quite resourceful suggested they order materials from the Internet and have them delivered.

The Third little pig being very educated poured over house plans and construction manuals.

Soon big trucks pulled up to the edge of the forest and unloaded concrete and wood, cinder blocks and roofing materials.  Trucks pulled up to the edge of the forest and unloaded plumbing and electrical supplies.  Trucks pulled up to the edge of the forest and unloaded tools and equipment, hardware and flooring until only the very tips of the snow-capped mountains were visible.

And so the work began:

The first little pig gleefully ran up and down and around the piles of materials and supplies getting a feel for what appealed to him.  When just the right materials caught his attention he dragged his new found treasures off to his plot of land by the edge of the forest.

The second little pig checked his house plans, made a list of everything needed and carefully amassed precisely the amounts and sizes of material specified.  He stacked everything on his portion of land by the edge of the forest in the order needed to follow the building plans.

The third little pig hired the Wolf to build his house and sat in the shade of a big tree sipping lemonade and reading The Wizard of Oz and other tales.

The contractor wolf, being very savvy, hired sub-contractors.  He huffed and puffed orders at them – telling them what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

The first little pig’s house took shape very quickly.  He pre-fabbed the walls while the concrete foundation was setting.  When the walls didn’t precisely line up he created the most innovative ways of designing new shapes.  Some of the rooms were square; some were round and some triangular.  Each room was different.  The first little pig got more and more excited as his house took shape.  It was an architectural and visual delight.  He added turrets on the roof.

The second little pig was still waiting for his foundation to set by the time the first little pig had added turrets on his roof. When the foundation was finally ready the second little pig began construction on the framing.  He measured and sawed, re-measuring and fitting until everything was aligned just right.  He put in plumbing according to the plans.  He installed the electrical according to the plans. Walls went up, the roof went up, he installed gutters for the rain and drainage on his land. He tightened and tested until everything was in place, exactly as the plans specified.  When finished it was a sturdy house, easily replicated by the plans . . . should anyone ask.

The third little pig’s house was proceeding quickly as all the subs had built many houses and knew exactly what to do.  The Wolf, who was very clever, suggested to the third little pig he might want to consider additional square footage since “After all you only build once.”

“Great idea”, said the third little pig, “I would nave never thought of that myself. Add a great room where I can play pool, a workshop next to the garage so I can tinker and a movie theatre where I can entertain.” 

The additions went up quickly as the subs had built many houses before and knew exactly what to do.

The wolf, who was very clever, suggested that the third Little Pig might want to up-grade the plumbing and have a waterfall in the back yard that cascades into a swimming pool.

“Great idea”, said the third little pig, “I would nave never thought of that myself. Add a hot tub too so I can relax.”

Magnificent water-works went up quickly as the subs had built many before and knew exactly what to do.

The wolf, who was very clever, suggested that the third Little Pig might want to up-grade the electrical to have an intercom and music piped into all the rooms, and home security systems to protect everything. 

“Great idea”, said the third little pig, “I would nave never thought of that myself. Add remotely controlled lights and smart appliances so I have even more environmental control.” 

The improvements went in quickly as the subs had installed many of the most current systems  before and knew exactly what to do.

The wolf, who was very clever, suggested that the third Little Pig might want to be environmentally friendly and install solar panels and do zero landscaping.

“Great idea”, said the third little pig, “I would nave never thought of that myself. Add skylights and triple paned windows too .”

Everything suggested went in quickly as the subs had built many energy efficient houses before and knew exactly what to do.

The first little pig loved his new house.  He continued to paint all the walls different colors, hung up crystal chandeliers and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceilings.  Every room was a visual delight.  After a big rain, when water pooled in his yard, he made a pond for the frogs.  When doors didn’t close tight he replaced them with hanging beads and tie-dyed fabric.  When the heater didn’t work, he built a fire-pit in the living room where he roasted marshmallows and drank hot cocoa.  When his kitchen appliances broke down he ate at the second little pig’s house.

The second little pig was snug and content in his new house.  He watched cable TV movies every night.  During good weather he mowed the lawn and planted flowers, delighting in the aromas of freshly cut grass and roses.  He washed his windows to have a clear view of the snow-capped mountains.  And every evening he cooked dinner in the microwave, for himself and the second little pig.

The third little pig glowed with pride at the magnificent house that was the showpiece of the entire forest town.  On the weekends he hosted parties so all could delight in what he built.

Whereupon the wolf, who was very clever, presented the third little pig with his bill. “I know how to build and I know how to tear down so pay up before I huff and puff and blow your house down.” Said the Wolf.  

“I have little money left after paying property taxes, water and electrical bills and hosting weekly parties for all to enjoy my magnificent home”, squealed the third little pig.

“Never fear,” said the Wolf.  “I know where you can get all the money you owe me”.  And so the Wolf, who was very clever, took the third little pig into town to get a bank loan.

The first little pig and the second little pig lived happily ever after, comfortable and happy in their homes.  The third little pig got into his Mercedes Monday through Friday and drove into town to his job.

And the wolf . . . he huffed and puffed carrying his bags of money into the forest where he, too, lived happily ever after, retired from his contracting business.

Have you ever been “pressed by an elf” or abducted by an alien?

My brother Rick told me that he saw an alien standing in our bedroom doorway when he was about 4 and I was 9.  

I had just shared with him my abnormal fascination . . . and fear . . . of outer space aliens. I read many books about alien sightings and the accounts of alien abduction terrified me. At the same time, I hoped aliens were friendly and simply curious about earthllngs and would save us from our own self-destructive tendencies.

I also learned that many scientists think it is possible that sleep paralysis experiences result in accounts of alien abductions . . .  not nearly as exciting as real space aliens

(NapTime poster available on Zazzle click here)

‘Sleep paralysis,’ is a disturbance of sleep where a person is not able to move but is awake, and often has hallucinations in one or more senses (visual, auditory). Imagery from your dreams intrudes into a waking state.

The hallucinations are often about the feeling of paralysis, such as visions of someone holding you down. Similar incidents have been recorded as far back at 400BC and from many cultures, with the first reference from the Zhou Li/Chun Guan, and ancient Chinese book about sleep.

Researchers Brian Sharpless and Karl Dograhmji have collected 118 different terms from around the world that describe sleep paralysis-like experiences:

• Germans have terms such as “elf pressing”.
• Norwegian’s have “evil elves that shoot people with paralysing arrows before perching on their chests”
• Japanese have a term for being magically bound by invisible metal.
• Switzerland people describe an evil nightmare fairy that disguises itself as a black sheep.
• Kurds have an evil spirit that suffocates people.
• Iranians have a type of jinn that sits on the sleeper’s chest.

Consider the account of Jon Loudner, from the infamous 1692 Salem Witch Trials:

“… I going well to bed, about the dead of the night felt a great weight upon my breast, and awakening, looked, and it being bright moonlight, did clearly see Bridget Bishop, or her likeness, sitting upon my stomach. And putting my arms off of the bed to free myself from that great oppression, she presently laid hold of my throat and almost choked me. And I had no strength or power in my hands to resist or help myself. And in this condition she held me to almost day.”

Bridget Bishop was the first victim of the Salem Witch Trials. Her ‘curse’ was probably a misunderstood case of sleep paralysis.

“The  physiological mechanisms that cause sleep paralysis are still not completely understood. When we dream we only act in our dreams, our imagination. There is a block in the brain’s signals that lead to actual action, so we do not physically act out dreams. But if our brains do not do this properly, the results can be sleepwalking, when the paralysis stops when you are still asleep, or the paralysis continues after you have awakened or sets in just before you fall asleep. You are conscious, eyes open, but unable to move.”

Both problems result from a general sleep disruption.  Sleep paralysis can be induced in laboratory participants by repeatedly waking people from a deep sleep.  Many people have experienced this, and if you have not, chances are that someone you know has, as half of the population experiences this at least once. It is not a sign of mental illness or drug use . . .

. . . my own verdict is still out about elves and space aliens . . . and . . . Rick

judy 

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170323-the-strange-case-of-the-phantom-pokemon

This post first appeared on Max Your Mind (peggyarndt.com)

Sneak Peak – Judy’s Pandemic Paintings

Although the Emeritus painting on-line classes had various assignments my first thought after seeing them all together was the self-isolation I have experienced for over a year.  Interestingly, “isolation” was never foremost in my conscious awareness when I picked the subject matter.

 Assignment, Paint a figure with light from a window

The safe but solitary view from a window that can’t be opened.  Facing the light from outside that casts a dark shadow behind.

Assignment, Figure in landscape -“tunnel composition”

This has a very similar feeling to me as the first.  No longer inside but in the shelter of a cave’s opening.  There are gathering dark clouds in the sunlit land.

Assignment, Abstract collage with gold paint

Pieces floating on a black background.  Not sure what the 3 circles with gold represent but they are all connected.

Assignment, paint a figure wearing white

Looking down – reading?  texting? reflecting? sad? pensive?  I’m not sure.  It too, is solitary.

Assignment, Landscape-“circle” composition

There is a solitary figure, again, facing the sunlight, sheltered under a tree.  The water is not still and the light is both in front and behind the figure.

Assignment,  Landscape, “S-shaped” curve composition

 Feeling a bit washed ashore on rocky terrain with everything horrific that is happening in the world and this is the painting that resulted.  It surprised me to see that no matter how isolated and inaccessible the terrain there are places of brightness and color.  It’s a relief there are no crashing waves to wash me out to sea.

Of course each viewer has their own unique impression when looking at images.  I wonder if you have a different impression than I do?

How many “Weak-Tie” friends do you have? IT MATTERS.

Walking around my neighborhood, early in the pandemic lockdown, I noticed people wanted to talk.  Even though staying a distance away, they were more friendly, stopping to chat, than pre-Covid19.  It seems there is an important reason for the casual chat.  While close friends are also important, research is showing that more casual or “weak-tie” friends offer some different benefits.

Weak Tie friends are not close friends but people you see regularly – from a shopkeeper to a casual neighbor, members of a group you belong to.  You may just wave, say “Hi” maybe chat a bit.

Weak Tie, Strong Tie  Friends

Having a good sized group of casual friends can increase your happiness, improve knowledge and your feelings of belonging.

Mark Granovetter’s* research found that quantity matters.

The most important thing he learned was that these weak-tie friends are very important when it comes to getting new information.

“Granovetter found that most people got their jobs through a friend-but 84% got their job through a weak tie friend, someone they saw only from time to time, not a close friend. As Granovetter saw that close friends tend to have the same information, but weak ties connect with different circles and can pass that information, like those of job opportunities, on to us. They also provide us with stimulation, new stories about what is happening or news about events. When it comes to weak ties, the more the merrier.”

People with more weak ties may be happier.

 When researchers asked people to keep a record of their interactions and their mood  they felt better on days when interacting more with weak-tie friends.

A study in Scotland and Italy showed that being a member of a group, such as a team or community group, gave people a feeling of more security and a sense of meaning.

Covid 19 had caused many of us to loosen those weak ties. Gyms, restaurants or bars are closed or limited.  Working at home limits changes connections. Some companies have noticed that even chance meetings with others you don’t work closely with can feed creativity and enhance the transfer of information.

I’ll be more focused on keeping touch with my weak tie friends, through social media, giving people a call, chatting with neighbors or remembering to wave when I walk. They may even have some tips on coping with the pandemic.

PA

Howdy 

*Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor, author of The Strength of Weak Ties

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200701-why-your-weak-tie-friendships-may-mean-more-than-you-think

Originally posted on Max Your Mind

4 Plants Therapeutic for Alzheimers, depression, good blood flow, pain and some sicknesses.

Nature’s Medicine

“Throughout history nature has provided us with treatments and cures for many of our ailments. In many cultures a medicine person, healer or shaman developed extensive knowledge of what plants had what effects so they could treat people.”

“Western medicine has looked at many of these treatments and they have been tested for effectiveness and safety. Four of these are discussed below,  and they are able to ease pain, calm us down and make us feel better.”

As with any medication, first first consult with your doctor.

Turmeric for Alzheimer’s disease

Turmeric-Photo by Prachi Palwe on Unsplash

“An important part of Indian medicine for hundreds of years, turmeric is a spice that comes from the roots of the plant. The medically active part of the plant is curcumin, which protects against neurodegeneration for adults who do not have dementia. And in patients, memory, attention and cognitive function was improved when they were given 90 milligrams curcumin twice a day (this was from a large, long term study- click here to read study) over a year and a half .”

“Researchers think that amyloid plaques which build up in the brain may be inhibited by the plant’s anti-inflammatory properties.  These plaques are thought to be responsible for the death of nerve cells, which lead to symptoms of dementia.”

“A protein in the brain called tau is also thought to be involved in Alzheimer’s disease. Tau normally helps with microtubules in neurons, allowing nutrients into the cell. But when taus become twisted the cell dies because it does not get the nourishment it needs. Curcumin also benefits the twisted fibers, called neurofibrillary tangles.”

“While turmeric has curcumin, it is there in very small amounts, and our bodies are not good at absorbing it-unless it is eaten with pepper. Then our bodies have no trouble absorbing it!”

Cannabis for sickness and pain

Cannabis-Photo by Matthew Brodeur on Unsplash

“Cannabis is becoming legal in more and more states.In some places it is legal for medicinal uses but not recreational uses, another’s it is legal for both. In some places you need a prescription from a doctor. Research shows that cannabis has several benefits. It is shown to be safe and beneficial in both preventing nausea and vomiting (especially in chemotherapy patients) and in helping with symptoms of multiple sclerosis. The FDA has approved it for nausea and in many countries it us legal to use for symptoms such as muscle spasms, poor mobility, pain, sleep and quality of life for patients with multiple sclerosis.”

“Many doctors have found that cannabis also helps with pain from chronic illness, seizures and Tourette’s syndrome. More research is needed to show cannabis causes these benefits.”

“One of the difficulties in using cannabis is knowing how much to use, and in what form to take it. Smoking or inhaling cannabis can result in psychoactive responses, including delirium, and can even be toxic. Pills and edibles are easier to dose, but not absorbed as well.”

St. John’s wort for mild depression

St. John’s Wort

“Part of folk medicine for a long time, St. John’s wort was used during the Crusades and in Asia and Europe. It was later taken to the Americas, Africa and Australia.”

“It is a short term treatment for mild depression. The active ingredients are  hypericin and hyperforin, which help keep your mood stable.Research (in rats)  shows that lessens the degradation of amine neurotransmitters.  Patients with depression show these neurotransmitters are not in balance. Hyperforin, like SSRIs which are used to treat depression, slows the reabsorption of dopamine and serotonin, two of the “happy” hormones, so that they stay around longer. SSRI stands for selective serotonin repute inhibitor.”

“However St. John’s wort changes enzymes in the stomach  so that medications leave the stomach and body faster. Because of this you should always talk to your doctor before you take it. It could make other medications you take less effective.”

Hawthorn berries for regulated blood flow

Hawthorne Berries

“Used for jam and wine, Hawthorne berries are common in the Northern hemisphere. It has many benefits and is used in traditional Chinese medicine, specifically to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. It helps blood vessels to relax, so circulation is improved, and decreases the chance of arrhythmia.  It can be used along with the heart medication and improves heart function, fatigue and shortness of breath. While some studies have found no benefits, others find effects, so more research is needed.”

“Hawthorn berries are easy to eat and you can also make them into a tea, or dry them  or use as a supplement.”

https://apple.news/AqYcZma13TQWHP-Q3Yun3TACorrection: 

BYDK (Bet You Didn’t Know) Naked Mole Rats have Accents

They may be wrinkled, bald and in need of a good orthodontist but Naked Mole Rats are one of my favorite critters.  They are an acquired taste, aesthetically, but after reading you must admit this nude critters are fascinating.

Found in arid parts of East Africa, naked mole rats weigh around 2.8 ounces and have a body measuring up to 3.5 inches and a tail that can reach 2 inches.

The naked mole-rat’s subterranean habitat imposes constraints on its circadian rhythm.  Living in constant darkness, most individuals possess a free-running activity pattern and are active both day and night, sleeping for short periods of time several times in between.^[52]

Healthy!

Naked Mole Rats are renowned for their extremely low cancer rates, their slow rate of aging, and resistance to pain.

Mice in captivity live at most 4 years; based on their size, naked mole rats would not be expected to live past 6 years. Instead, some live beyond 30 years, and even at that age breeding females stay fertile.

The skin of naked mole-rats lacks neurotransmitters in their cutaneous sensory fibers, so feel no pain.

Naked mole-rats feed primarily on very large tubers (weighing as much as a thousand times the body weight of a typical mole-rat) that they find deep underground through their mining operations.

EuSocial!

The furless rodents can live in colonies of up to 300 members.

Naked mole rats are really highly unusual in that they’re the most social rodent that we know of.   They are the first mammal discovered to exhibit eusociality.  This eusocial structure of naked mole-rats is similar to that found in ants, termites, and some bees and wasps. Only one female (the queen) and one to three males reproduce, while the rest of the members of the colony function as workers – some are soldiers, some are workers, and they cooperate.

Squeak Fluently! (albeit with an accent)

“They are very communicative and can often be heard chirping, squeaking, twittering and grunting to one another. But scientists wanted to understand the role of these vocalizations in their social life.”

“Over two years, researchers from the MDC and the University of Pretoria in South Africa recorded 36,190 “chirps” — noises very similar to a bird tweeting — made by 166 rats belonging to seven different colonies.Using an algorithm, the team analyzed the acoustic properties of the individual vocalizations, and discovered that each colony had its own “accent” or dialect.”

As cute and industrious as they are – Naked Mole Rats have a dark side (and I’m not talking about living underground in the dark all their life) 

A bit Xenophobic

Naked mole rats speak in dialects local to their own colonies and are hostile to outsiders.

The development of a dialect points to one of the rodent’s less-savory characteristics: xenophobia.Researchers believe the mole rats use their vocalizations to recognize whether a fellow rodent is from the same or a foreign colony.   Researchers played the rats back the vocalizations, and found that they would answer recordings from their own colony — but not from a foreign colony.

“Mole rat colonies are incredibly xenophobic. If a mole rat comes from a different colony, within minutes, they are recognized and usually killed by the colony it invades” 

The researchers say this is not genetic, but rather a cultural phenomenon — to test this, the research team took orphaned mole rat pups from one colony, and let them grow up in another.

“We could cross-foster an animal from one colony to another colony, and if it grows from a baby in a new colony, it adopts the dialect from the new colony, not the colony where it was born.”

Anarchists 

Naked mole rats, for reasons unknown, periodically overthrow existing “regimes”. While the queen is the only breeding female in a colony, the researchers observed cases where a high-ranking female and a team of accomplices would “assassinate” the queen.

“The dialects before the queen was gone were much more cohesive — they all spoke with a very similar dialect. As soon as the queen was gone there was a period of anarchy, and everyone started speaking a little more variably,” he said, adding that as soon as a new queen was established, the dialects became focused again.

BYDK (Bet You Didn’t Know) that living in the dark your whole life can turn you into a naked assassin!

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/naked-mole-rat-cam

The study was published in the journal Science.

(Naked mole rats are not the only animals to have local dialects — primates and whales have been found to converse in a common tongue.)

BYDK (Bet You Didn’t Know) swearing is a sign of intelligence – Read at your own peril

I admit to knowing swear words in several different languages. 

I admit there was a time in my life when I took delight in shocking my friends by throwing in a swear word or two during “normal” conversation. 

I admit that, on occasion, now in my advanced age, I’ve . . . gasp . . . sworn.  (judy,NOT Peggy)

Disclaimer:  We do not condone swearing.  Consequently we are quoting this article in its entirety and cannot be held responsible if you should suddenly find yourself mouthing words normally associated with being uncouth.

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN.   “Polite society considers swearing to be a vulgar sign of low intelligence and education, for why would one rely on rude language when blessed with a rich vocabulary?”

“That perception, as it turns out, is full of, uh … baloney. In fact, swearing may be a sign of verbal superiority, studies have shown, and may provide other possible rewards as well.”

“The advantages of swearing are many,” said Timothy Jay, professor emeritus of psychology at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, who has studied swearing for more than 40 years.  “The benefits of swearing have just emerged in the last two decades, as a result of a lot of research on brain and emotion, along with much better technology to study brain anatomy.”‘

1. Cursing may be a sign of intelligence

“Well-educated people with plenty of words at their disposal, a 2015 study found, were better at coming up with curse words than those who were less verbally fluent.”

“Participants were asked to list as many words that start with F, A or S in one minute. Another minute was devoted to coming up with curse words that start with those three letters. The study found those who came up with the most F, A and S words also produced the most swear words.  “That’s a sign of intelligence “to the degree that language is correlated with intelligence,” said Jay, who authored the study. “People that are good at language are good at generating a swearing vocabulary.  Swearing can also be associated with social intelligence, Jay added.“

“Having the strategies to know where and when it’s appropriate to swear, and when it’s not,  is a social cognitive skill like picking the right clothes for the right occasion. That’s a pretty sophisticated social tool.”

2. Swearing may be a sign of honesty

“Science has also found a positive link between profanity and honesty. People who cursed lied less on an interpersonal level, and had higher levels of integrity overall, a series of three studies published in 2017 found.”

“When you’re honestly expressing your emotions with powerful words, then you’re going to come across as more honest.”

“While a higher rate of profanity use was associated with more honesty, the study authors cautioned that “the findings should not be interpreted to mean that the more a person uses profanity, the less likely he or she would engage in more serious unethical or immoral behaviors.”

3. Profanity improves pain tolerance

“Want to push through that workout? Go ahead and drop an F-bomb.”

• People on bikes who swore while pedaling against resistance had more power and strength than people who used “neutral” words, studies have shown.

• Research also found that people who cursed while squeezing a hand vice were able to squeeze harder and longer.

• Spouting obscenities doesn’t just help your endurance: If you pinch your finger in the car door, you may well feel less pain if you say “sh*t” instead of “shoot.”

• People who cursed as they plunged their hand into icy water, another study found, felt less pain and were able to keep their hands in the water longer than those who said a neutral word.

“The headline message is that swearing helps you cope with pain,” said lead author and psychologist Richard Stephens.  (Stephens is a senior lecturer at Keele University in Staffordshire, England, where he leads the Psychobiology Research Laboratory.)

Cussing produces a stress response that initiates the body’s ancient defensive reflex. A flush of adrenaline increases heart rate and breathing, prepping muscles for fight or flight.

• “Simultaneously, there is another physiological reaction called an analgesic response, which makes the body more impervious to pain.”
• “That would make evolutionary sense because you’re going to be a better fighter and better runner if you’re not being slowed down by concerns about pain,” Stephens said.
• “So it seems like by swearing you’re triggering an emotional response in yourself, which triggers a mild stress response, which carries with it a stress-induced reduction in pain,” he added.

“Careful, however, the next time you decide to extend your workout by swearing. Curse words lose their power over pain when they are used too much, research has also discovered.”

Some of us get more out of swearing than others. Take people who are more afraid of pain, called “catastrophizers.” A catastrophizer, Stephens explained, is someone who might have a tiny wound and think, “Oh, this is life threatening. I’m going to get gangrene, I’m going to die.”

“The research found men who were lower catastrophizers seemed to get a benefit from swearing, whereas men who are higher catastrophizers didn’t,” Stephens said. “Whereas with women there wasn’t any difference.”

4. Cussing is a sign of creativity

• Swearing appears to be centered in the right side of the brain, the part people often call the “creative brain.”

• “We do know patients who have strokes on the right side tend to become less emotional, less able to understand and tell jokes, and they tend to just stop swearing even if they swore quite a lot before,” Emma Byrne, the author of “Swearing Is Good for You,” said.

• Research on swearing dates back to Victorian times, when physicians discovered that patients who lost their ability to speak could still curse.  “They swore incredibly fluently,” Byrne said. “Childhood reprimands, swear words and terms of endearment — words with strong emotional content learned early on tend to be preserved in the brain even when all the rest of our language is lost.”

5. Throwing expletives instead of punches

1. Why do we choose to swear? Perhaps because profanity provides an evolutionary advantage that can protect us from physical harm, Jay said.
2. “A dog or a cat will scratch you, bite you when they’re scared or angry,” he said. “Swearing allows us to express our emotions symbolically without doing it tooth and nail.
3. “In other words, I can give somebody the finger or say f**k you across the street. I don’t have to get up into their face.”
4. Cursing then becomes a remote form of aggression, Jay explained, offering the chance to quickly express feelings while hopefully avoiding repercussions.
5. “The purpose of swearing is to vent my emotion, and there’s an advantage in that it allows me to cope,” he said. “And then it communicates very readily to bystanders what my emotional state is. It has that advantage of emotional efficiency — it’s very quick and clear.“

A universal language

What makes the use of naughty words so powerful? The power of the taboo, of course. That reality is universally recognized: Just about every language in the world contains curse words.

“It seems that as soon as you have a taboo word, and the emotional insight that the word is going to cause discomfort for other people, the rest seems to follow naturally,” Byrne said.

It’s not just people who swear. Even primates curse when given the chance.

“Chimpanzees in the wild tend to use their excrement as a social signal, one that’s designed to keep people away,” Byrne said.

“Hand-raised chimps who were potty-trained learned sign language for “poo” so they could tell their handlers when they needed the toilet.   And as soon as they learned the poo sign they began using it like we do the word sh*t,” Byrne said. “Cursing is just a way of expressing your feelings that doesn’t involve throwing actual sh*t. You just throw the idea of sh*t around.”

“Does that mean that we should curse whenever we feel like it, regardless of our environment or the feelings of others? Of course not. But at least you can cut yourself some slack the next time you inadvertently let an F-bomb slip.  After all, you’re just being human.”

“You’ve got to be kidding”

My Will Power VS my Won’t Power

I admit it –  My will power is puny.  The more I try to eat healthy foods the more I scarf down sugar laden carbs.  About 3-4 days is my limit for exerting will power.  Finally!  Research has confirmed I’m normal (sort of).

It turns out that everyone has will power, but only a limited amount to use each day. 

Research shows that just the act of resisting temptation wears out will power and we are more likely to lose the ability to discipline ourselves later. This includes not only stopping oneself from dong something unhealthy or unhelpful, but also depletes the ability to concentrate on doing something you want to do.

Rather than depend on will power, it is easier to put ourselves in situations where little or no will power is needed: Easier not to buy ice cream, than to have it at home and not eat it;   Easier to put a loud alarm clock far from bed so you have to get up than to have the snooze button next to the bed that you can tap (over and over) with your eyes shut and your head on the pillow. 

Reference:  Switch, How to change Things When Change is Hard Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Maui’s “Mini-Tail” of Will Power

Scratch

There it sat, in the middle of Maui’s path, taunting him with texture. Maui knew his human would be upset if he scratched this BIG, TEMPTING scratching post called couch.  

” Don’t scratch the couch.  Don’t scratch the couch.  Don’t scratch the couch” 

He had lost count of how many times he heard this.  But every time he passed by that couch, his brain remembered how great the rough fabric felt and directed his claws to come out, longing for a manicure. 

Did Maui scratch?  Yup.  Just like humans, the stress of resisting continual temptation wore out his will power.  I can’t blame him.  Maui can’t remove the couch, he can’t go outside where he would be free to scratch whatever and where ever he wanted . . .

. . . unlike me who could throw out all the junk food and not buy anymore . . . if I had the will power . . .

 

Originally posted on Max Your Mind

 

Neuroscience – 4 easy & fast things to do to boost happiness

Brain research is both shifting and validating common knowledge. This article by Jon Spayde in the United Health Care bulletin is worth posting AND READING in it’s entirety.

How to get happy in a hurry, according to neuroscience

By Jon Spayde

“. . . Time.com blogger Eric Barker lists four rapid, in-the-moment ways to feel happy – he calls them “rituals” – based on recent neuroscience, and featured in a new book by UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb: “The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time.”‘

“1. Ask yourself what you’re grateful for. A warm house, a pet you love, your success at Minecraft? Whatever. Gratitude, says Korb, boosts both dopamine and serotonin, the two most powerful neurotransmitter chemicals involved in giving you a feeling of calm and well-being. “Know what Prozac does?” asks Barker. “Boosts the neurotransmitter serotonin. So does gratitude.” And don’t worry if you can’t immediately find things to be grateful for, Korb says. The mental search for gratitude alone will begin to elevate the level of those pleasure chemicals”.

One-liner doodle – WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

“2. Label negative feelings. Simply saying to yourself “I’m sad” or “I’m anxious” seems like a pretty paltry happiness strategy. But here’s what Korb writes: “…in one fMRI study, appropriately titled ‘Putting Feelings into Words,’ participants viewed pictures of people with emotional facial expressions. Predictably, each participant’s amygdala [the brain’s fight-or-flight alarm bell] activated to the emotions in the picture. But when they were asked to name the emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact.”‘

“3. Make a decision. Just deciding to do something can reduce worry and anxiety right away. Korb: “Making decisions includes creating intentions and setting goals – all three are part of the same neural circuitry and engage the prefrontal cortex in a positive way, reducing worry and anxiety. Making decisions also helps overcome striatum activity, which usually pulls you toward negative impulses and routines. Finally, making decisions changes your perception of the world – finding solutions to your problems and calming the limbic system.”‘

“But what about making the “right” decision? Isn’t that stressful? Korb counsels letting go of perfectionism. The “good enough” decision is…well, good enough to make our brains go into at-ease mode. “We don’t just choose the things we like,” says Korb. “We also like the things we choose.”‘

“4. Touch people (appropriately). “One of the primary ways to release oxytocin [the pleasure-inducing ‘cuddle chemical’] is through touching,” Korb writes. “Obviously, it’s not always appropriate to touch most people, but small touches like handshakes and pats on the back are usually okay. For people you’re close with, make more of an effort to touch more often.”‘

“A hug is particularly effective, he says, mobilizing oxytocin against that alarm-bell amygdala. And if you don’t have anybody to hug, go get a massage: “The results are fairly clear that massage boosts your serotonin by as much as 30 percent. Massage also decreases stress hormones and raises dopamine levels.”‘

Hug from  “The Real Tale of Little Red Riding Hood & the Wolf”

by Judith Westerfield

United Health Care

NERW#

“The Upward Spiral” 

Other quick ways to boost happiness, our book on Kindle

“Hack Your Way to Happiness” 

For more books on happiness and other brain science topics click below:

Need to Read