New Technology Helping the Blind See Art

There is new technology popping up all the time now that can aid the blind and visually impaired community. One place in the United States where they are trying to make it more accessible are museums. Check out the below video to see some new technology being produced that can help those who are visually impaired and blind experience museums in a new way!

Mnetal Health Tip of the Week

Anxiety, the Endless Alarm

By: Steven Stosny, Ph.D.

You could call the times we live in the second “Age of Anxiety."

Surveys and clinical data indicate the highest levels of national anxiety since the post-war publication of Auden's eponymous poem, when the shadow of nuclear holocaust loomed over us. This blog has taken the position that much of the ill-feelings we experience are due to exaggerated entitlement. We’re bound to be anxious when we feel entitled to control how other people think and what they say. When we inevitably fail to control others, we’re certain to feel resentful.

With anxiety and resentment all around us, it’s especially important to resist the vast contagion of those emotions by internally regulating our personal anxiety.

First Signal

Anxiety is the first signal of the mammalian alarm system. In all animals it signals a possibility of harm, deprivation, or sexual failure. In social animals, it signals possible (not probable) isolation or abandonment. In humans it signals loss of status and esteem.

Types of Anxiety

•             Temperamental: We’re born with an emotional tone that includes a certain propensity to anxiety.

•             Situational: Particular situations raise anxiety (test-taking, driving, public speaking, performance)

•             Symptomatic of something else: Emotional disorder, stress, depletion of physical resources (tired, hungry, ill).

Beneficial Anxiety

In small doses, anxiety is a vital emotion. Without it, we could be killed crossing the street and would find ourselves ill-prepared for many of the important tasks of life. Anxiety tells us to pay attention—something might happen. Simple anxiety is activated by actual or anticipated change in the environment, memory, or imagination. It makes us focus on dealing with the pending change by shutting out most other information. The anxiety about starting a fire in the room gets you to stop thinking about what you’ll have for lunch so you can focus on preventing the fire—check the gas, turn off the iron, service the furnace.

Among anxiety’s beneficial signals are those that tell us to improve:

•             Self-acceptance—when we're too self-critical

•             Self-care—when we need to sleep, eat-well, exercise, practice self-compassion

•             Relationships—when they need attention and possibly repair.

Problem Anxiety

The benefits of anxiety are lost when we construe it as a stop signal—a red light—rather than a caution signal—a yellow light. When that happens, we can be paralyzed by anxiety rather than motivated to improve our health, well-being, and safety.

In problem anxiety, all signals mean that something bad will happen that won't be able to be coped with, or for which the cost of coping will be too great.

Characteristics of Problem Anxiety

•             Scanning—taking in a lot of superficial information; makes it harder to focus, causes higher error rates

•             Thought-racing—the faster they go, the less reality-testing is applied

•             Thought-looping—thinking the same things over and over

•             Self-consciousness—I might be judged

•             Vigilance—judging others, looking for negatives.

Anxious people tend to be controlling, but not with malicious intent or desire to dominate. They try hard to avoid feeling “out of control” by keeping the environment from stimulating anxiety. Never mind that people hate to feel controlled, which means continual frustration. External regulation of emotions increases vigilance and worsens anxiety in the long run.

A lot of resentment and anger—especially in families—stems from anxiety that we blame on each other. ("Something bad will happen and it’s your fault!") Blame temporarily organizes thoughts and gives feelings of confidence and empowerment, thanks to amphetamine-like stimulants (adrenaline and cortisol—it’s hard to sit still when you're blaming). In the long run, blame worsens anxiety by forming habits of external regulation. If you're making me feel bad, I'm powerless to improve.

Regulating Anxiety

All good alarm systems are calibrated to give false positives. (You don’t want a smoke alarm that goes off only when the house is engulfed in flames; so you accept that it goes off occasionally when people are cooking or smoking.) Biological alarm systems are better-safe-than-sorry, which is why the central nervous system would rather be wrong a hundred times thinking your spouse is a saber-tooth tiger than be wrong once thinking a saber-tooth tiger is your spouse. We’re not descended from early humans who underestimated danger. 

Recognize, however, that anxiety is not reality; it’s a signal about possible realty. Check out the alarm, but don’t mistake it for reality; the smoke alarm is not the fire. Most of the time, it signals caution, not danger.

Racing and looping thoughts must have answers to form alternative synaptic connections. Never have an anxious thought without giving it an answer, based on probability.

•             “I might lose my relationship.” Consider how likely this is. Answer: “I’ll do my best to save it. If I lose it, I’ll make the best of my life.”

•             “No one will love me.” Consider how likely this is. Answer: “I’ll be more compassionate, which will make me more lovable.”

•             "I’ll screw things up.” Consider how likely this is. Answer: “I’ll try my best to avoid a mistake and correct any I might make.”

For Situational Anxiety: Use the Anxiety Formula

Importance x Unknown x Perceived ability to cope

The classic example of the formula at work in situational anxiety is entering a cage full of lions, which, for most of us, would send anxiety levels through the roof. It has life-and-death importance, we don’t know anything about lion-behavior, and we don’t know what to do to stay alive. Yet the same situation is exhilarating for lion-tamers. It’s important, so they have to be careful, they know enough about lions to predict behaviors, and they have the skill to manipulate the big cats safely.

Since problem anxiety has little to do with imminent danger, we must first ask ourselves, “How important is it?” (How relevant to my core values?) Much of what we worry about are petty ego offenses and things that have utterly no influence on the quality of our lives, unless we obsess about them.

We reduce the unknown by learning more about what worries us. We increase perceived ability to cope by making contingency plans.

There are many other ways to regulate anxiety. The most effective is building a conditioned response that occurs automatically with anxiety arousal. That however, takes practice.

All American Pie Recipe for Labor Day

 With Labor Day coming up we'll be featuring a few recipes to get you in the patriotic spirit and ready to celebrate the end of summer! Keep on reading to find out how you can make a delicious homemade pie for the holiday weekend.

Original Recipes fromTaste of Home 

Ingredients

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups unsalted butter, cold
• 2/3 to 1 cup ice water
• APPLE PIE FILLING:
• 6 cups sliced peeled Golden Delicious apples
• 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened apple juice, divided
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• CHERRY PIE FILLING:
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 cup cherry juice
• 4 cups fresh or frozen pitted tart cherries, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING:
• 4 cups fresh blueberries, divided
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Dash salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Powered by Chicory

Directions

• Combine flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse until crumbly. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in two, making one portion slightly larger. Shape each into a rectangle; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
• For apple pie filling, in a large saucepan, combine apples, 2/3 cup apple juice, sugar, cinnamon and apple pie spice; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir until apples soften, about 10 minutes. Combine cornstarch and remaining apple juice; add to saucepan. Return to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
• For cherry pie filling, in a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in cherry juice until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the cherries, cinnamon, nutmeg and almond extract. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
• For blueberry pie filling, in a large saucepan, combine 1 cup blueberries, water and butter; simmer for 4 minutes. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt; add to saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and remaining blueberries. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 425°. For crust, on a lightly floured surface roll out larger portion of dough to a 17x12-inch rectangle. Transfer to a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of pan. Line crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack until edges are golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake 6-8 minutes longer or until bottom is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, roll out remaining dough to a 15x10-inch rectangle. Using a pastry wheel and star cutouts of varying sizes, cut out stars and stripes for decorative topping of flag pie. Bake at 400° until golden brown, about 15 minutes for stripes and 8 minutes for stars. Cool on a wire rack.
• To assemble, place blueberry filling in 1/3 of crust; fill remaining portion of crust with "stripes" of cherry and apple fillings. Top pie with star and stripe cutouts.

Mental Health Tip of the Week

Nutritional psychiatry: Your brain on food

By: Eva Selhub MD

Think about it. Your brain is always “on.” It takes care of your thoughts and movements, your breathing and heartbeat, your senses — it works hard 24/7, even while you’re asleep. This means your brain requires a constant supply of fuel. That “fuel” comes from the foods you eat — and what’s in that fuel makes all the difference. Put simply, what you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood.

Like an expensive car, your brain functions best when it gets only premium fuel. Eating high-quality foods that contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourishes the brain and protects it from oxidative stress — the “waste” (free radicals) produced when the body uses oxygen, which can damage cells.

Unfortunately, just like an expensive car, your brain can be damaged if you ingest anything other than premium fuel. If substances from “low-premium” fuel (such as what you get from processed or refined foods) get to the brain, it has little ability to get rid of them. Diets high in refined sugars, for example, are harmful to the brain. In addition to worsening your body’s regulation of insulin, they also promote inflammation and oxidative stress. Multiple studies have found a correlation between a diet high in refined sugars and impaired brain function — and even a worsening of symptoms of mood disorders, such as depression.

It makes sense. If your brain is deprived of good-quality nutrition, or if free radicals or damaging inflammatory cells are circulating within the brain’s enclosed space, further contributing to brain tissue injury, consequences are to be expected. What’s interesting is that for many years, the medical field did not fully acknowledge the connection between mood and food.

Today, fortunately, the burgeoning field of nutritional psychiatry is finding there are many consequences and correlations between not only what you eat, how you feel, and how you ultimately behave, but also the kinds of bacteria that live in your gut.

How the foods you eat affect how you feel

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep and appetite, mediate moods, and inhibit pain. Since about 95% of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract, and your gastrointestinal tract is lined with a hundred million nerve cells, or neurons, it makes sense that the inner workings of your digestive system don’t just help you digest food, but also guide your emotions. What’s more, the function of these neurons — and the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin — is highly influenced by the billions of “good” bacteria that make up your intestinal microbiome. These bacteria play an essential role in your health. They protect the lining of your intestines and ensure they provide a strong barrier against toxins and “bad” bacteria; they limit inflammation; they improve how well you absorb nutrients from your food; and they activate neural pathways that travel directly between the gut and the brain.

Studies have shown that when people take probiotics (supplements containing the good bacteria), their anxiety levels, perception of stress, and mental outlook improve, compared with people who did not take probiotics. Note: It is important to consult your physician before adding supplements to your daily regiment. Other studies have compared “traditional” diets, like the Mediterranean diet and the traditional Japanese diet, to a typical “Western” diet and have shown that the risk of depression is 25% to 35% lower in those who eat a traditional diet. Scientists account for this difference because these traditional diets tend to be high in vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and fish and seafood, and to contain only modest amounts of lean meats and dairy. They are also void of processed and refined foods and sugars, which are staples of the “Western” dietary pattern. In addition, many of these unprocessed foods are fermented, and therefore act as natural probiotics. Fermentation uses bacteria and yeast to convert sugar in food to carbon dioxide, alcohol, and lactic acid. It is used to protect food from spoiling and can add a pleasant taste and texture.

This may sound implausible to you, but the notion that good bacteria not only influence what your gut digests and absorbs, but that they also affect the degree of inflammation throughout your body, as well as your mood and energy level, is gaining traction among researchers. The results so far have been quite amazing.

What does this mean for you?

Start paying attention to how eating different foods makes you feel — not just in the moment, but the next day. Try eating a “clean” diet for two to three weeks — that means cutting out all processed foods and sugar. Add fermented foods like kimchi, miso, sauerkraut, pickles, or kombucha. You also might want to try going dairy-free — and some people even feel that they feel better when their diets are grain-free. See how you feel. Then slowly introduce foods back into your diet, one by one, and see how you feel.

When my patients “go clean,” they cannot believe how much better they feel both physically and emotionally, and how much worse they then feel when they reintroduce the foods that are known to enhance inflammation. Give it a try!

In short, the foods we eat daily play a major role in both our physical and mental health. Maintaining a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, lagoons and foods containing unsaturated fats help provide the nutrition our brain needs to function at its maximum level. Research shows these foods play a major role in not only our physical health but also in our mental health. Also, replacing sodas and dairy with water plays a significant role in how we feel both physically and mentally. I challenge you to change the way you eat for just 3 weeks and see if you notice a significant difference in the way you feel and the level of your performance.

New Glasses may Help Legally Blind

Original article from kgun9 

TUCSON, Ariz. - A researcher at the University of Arizona played a part in helping bring to life an eyewear technology meant to help those who are legally blind. 

"This is basically an eyewear technology that helps people with low-vision capabilities," said Hong Hua, a researcher at the University of Arizona. 

The eSight glasses were developed by a company called eSight, which is based in Canada. 

Before development the company came to Hua for her expertise on optical sciences. Hua helped with the research that went into the technology. 

The glasses work by taking an image, then with a small camera making it bigger and projecting it onto the screens in front of the eyes. 

"All this combination helps people with different disabilities be able to see their environment better or see their computer screens better," said Hua. 

The goal of the technology is to help people who are legally blind have some independence. 

The technology has helped people in Canada, the United States and other countries across the world, despite that, Hua said her job isn't done. 

"There is some long way to go understand, because this isn't for all conditions," Hua said.

New Memoir from Deaf/Blind Author

original article from WSJ

Haben Girma would prefer not to be called “inspiring.” But as a deafblind woman who lives in defiance of the low expectations many people have for the disabled, it is a word she hears often. The daughter of a refugee from Eritrea and an immigrant from Ethiopia, she surfs, she salsa dances, she climbs glaciers, and in 2013, she became the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School. (She prefers the term “deafblind,” with no hyphen, to suggest that the disability is “a cultural identity, not merely a medical condition.”)

Ms. Girma, 31, now travels the world to promote accessibility. She has earned accolades from a tidy list of world leaders (Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau) for her efforts to further disability rights.

The problem with the word “inspiring,” Ms. Girma explains, is that the conversation usually ends there—and it often feels like a euphemism for pity. “I ask people, ‘What are you inspired to do?’” she says. “Use inspiration as a verb: I’m inspired to make my website accessible; I’m inspired to learn salsa dancing. Frame it in terms of something positive you want to do in the world.”

Ms. Girma has devoted her life to subverting the presumption that disability is a tragedy or that someone born unable to hear or see is somehow helpless or unteachable. Nearly 30 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990, it is often still up to her to tell companies that their apps need captions or to push educators to provide course materials in Braille. But while Ms. Girma never aspired to become an ambassador, she understands that she shows what can be achieved when someone with seemingly profound disabilities gets a chance to thrive.

This is why she has chosen to tell her story in a book, entitled simply “Haben,” that will be published on Aug. 6. The memoir is meant, in part, as a corrective: Because so few books feature strong blind or deafblind characters, Ms. Girma had few literary role models growing up. The paucity of stories about disabled people, she says, also denies everyone else a chance to learn what it is like to navigate a world that wasn’t built with them in mind.

Of course, nearly everyone knows of Helen Keller, whose inability to see or hear didn’t keep her from graduating cum laude from Radcliffe in 1904 or from becoming an advocate for disability rights, women’s rights and racial equality. But people still tend to underestimate Keller, says Ms. Girma. “So many people just assume that her teachers took care of her and deny her agency. They fail to recognize all the ways she directed her own life,” she says.

Communicating with Ms. Girma involves typing into a wireless keyboard connected via Bluetooth to a Braille computer that she holds in her lap. She receives the words in real time through mechanical pins that pop up to form letters (“Don’t worry about typos,” she says, “just keep going”). She responds in a voice that is girlishly high-pitched: She can hear high-frequency sounds better than low-frequency ones. She greets many queries with an encouraging laugh.

Ms. Girma often speaks before crowds, and she has developed a variety of tricks to look polished. With the help of a friend, she consulted the YouTube tutorials of a blind makeup artist named Lucy Edwards to learn tactile ways to apply eyeliner and mascara. “The visual world is very demanding,” Ms. Girma says with a sigh. Mylo, her German shepherd guide dog, lays at her feet.

At birth, Ms. Girma could see blurry shapes and hear carefully enunciated words in quiet settings, but both abilities decreased with time. She often felt isolated growing up and avoided crowds, forgoing both her high-school prom and her college graduation. The wireless-keyboard system, which she conceived of in law school with the help of a tech-savvy friend, has helped her follow lectures (with the help of a typist) and have fun at parties. It underscores both the technological advances available in post-ADA America and the DIY mind-set that disabled people often must develop to overcome barriers.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, which has led the country in disability rights, Ms. Girma knows that she has enjoyed more opportunities than most in her position. (Her older brother was born deafblind in Eritrea and got an education only after immigrating to the U.S. at age 12.) She always received her coursework in Braille, but she learned early on that she would need to work harder than her peers to be taken seriously. She excelled in school but nearly failed a class because she couldn’t hear when her teacher assigned homework. She earned a full-tuition scholarship to Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., but struggled to get a job during the summer. Impressed by her great grades and recommendations, employers would call her in for an interview only to say upon meeting her, “We’re looking for a different fit.”

‘Anyone can become disabled at any time.’

According to the National Federation of the Blind, around 70% of working-age adults with significant vision loss don’t have full-time employment—largely owing, Ms. Girma says, to assumptions about the competence of those who can’t see. Ms. Girma’s experiences with discrimination helped spur her to go to law school, and she knew that the imprimatur of Harvard would allay concerns about her abilities. As a lawyer with Disability Rights Advocates, a nonprofit equal-rights group, she helped win a precedent-setting case against Scribd, a subscription-based digital lending library, in which a court affirmed that the ADA covers online businesses. She left the group in 2016 when, she says, she sensed that she could make a bigger difference as a public speaker.

She argues that accessibility is not only legally mandated but good business. About one in five Americans lives with a disability, according to the Census Bureau, and the World Bank estimates that there are around a billion disabled people world-wide. “Anyone can become disabled at any time,” Ms. Girma says. “You want to still be able to access your products and services even when your body changes, and all of our bodies change as we age.”

Apple ’s iPhones have built-in screen readers that allow users to hear what they touch on screen, so blind people are loyal customers. Accessibility features also often have unexpected benefits: Captioning videos, for example, makes it easier to find content through keyword searches.

Ms. Girma resists any compliment suggesting that she is somehow singular. “There are a lot of other blind and deafblind people with intelligence, but they have teachers who don’t provide materials in Braille, or face employers who won’t give them a chance to flex their talents,” she says. “The remarkable thing about me is that I was given the opportunity to excel.”

Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the August 3, 2019, print edition as 'Haben Girma.'

Blind Boys of Alabama

Eric Mckinnie, a member of the Blind Boys of Alabama joined the group after going blind at the age of 23. He was fascinated by their gospel music even when he could see. Read on more to find out more about this gospel group from Alabama. 

the original article from Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — Blind gospel singer Eric “Ricky” McKinnie was 4 years old when he first crossed paths with the Blind Boys of Alabama.

But he could see them then, and he liked what he saw. It wasn’t the fact that the musicians were blind that fascinated him — as a kid, that detail went over McKinnie’s head. It was the music. The gospel singers had message-driven harmonies and a palpable passion that showed they believed what they were singing.

“You didn’t realize they were blind by them doing (it) the way they did,” McKinnie, 67, said from his home in Atlanta’s Kirkwood neighborhood.

Over the years McKinnie, a drummer and singer, went on to perform with a number of gospel acts. In the early 1970s, he fell in with the Texas-based group the Gospel Keynotes and found success with a gold record, “Jesus, You Been Good to Me.” While the band was on the road touring, a bout with glaucoma that had begun a few years earlier left McKinnie blind.

He was 23 years old.

“I had always had problems with my vision, so when I lost my sight it didn't change who I was,” McKinnie said. “My motto is, ‘I’m not blind, I just can’t see.’ And that means that I lost my sight, but not my direction.”

Which is why it was easy for McKinnie to continue doing what he’d been doing all along: share his faith through music. In 1978, he formed the Ricky McKinnie Singers with his mother and brother, and then, about 10 years later, his life came full circle.

“I decided to be a member of the Blind Boys,” he said.

He had worked with the group on and off for several years, but in 1989, founding member Clarence Fountain — who passed away last year at 88 — officially reached out and invited him to join the Blind Boys of Alabama, who will perform alongside singer-songwriter Marc Cohn at Park City's Eccles Center on Aug. 13.

In the 30 years McKinnie has been with the Blind Boys, the gospel group has earned a handful of Grammys. But three decades is little more than a dent in a story that began in 1939 at what was then called the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind.

Since their first performance at the school 80 years ago, the Blind Boys of Alabama sang under oppressive Jim Crow laws, endured World War II, joined the Civil Rights movement and performed at benefits for Martin Luther King, Jr., sang gospel during the Vietnam War and brought their music to the White House, where they have performed for three presidents, according to the band’s website. Throughout the nation’s ups and downs, the Blind Boys’ gospel music has persisted.

“It hasn’t been that hard. … Gospel is what we do,” McKinnie said. “We’re a gospel group and I feel that we’ve been favored to do what we do for whatever reason. The Bible says, ‘If I be lifted up, I draw all men,’ and that’s been proven through the Blind Boys’ music. We sing gospel, and people from all walks of life like what we do.”

In its long history, the group has also collaborated with many artists, including Bonnie Raitt and Ben Harper. Most recently, the Blind Boys have done an album with Cohn, the singer-songwriter behind the hit song “Walking in Memphis.” When Cohn and the Blind Boys — a lineup that currently includes the lone surviving founding member Jimmy Carter, as well as Ben Moore, Paul Beasley and McKinnie — visit Park City, the new album “Work to Do” will have only been out for four days. The album features three studio tracks (two of which are original songs) and a handful of live tracks that blend the Blind Boys’ harmonies with hits from Cohn’s career. Another track on the album features the traditional hymn “Amazing Grace” to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” — an idea from the Blind Boy’s producer, John Loeffler.

“At first we didn’t think it was a good idea,” McKinnie said. “Some of the guys said, ‘Oh no, we couldn’t do that,' (but) we tried it and it worked. It gelled together. … The song ‘House of the Rising Sun’ gets the people’s attention, and the words ‘amazing grace’ win their hearts.”

McKinnie has a lot of sayings. During his 20-minute chat with the Deseret News, he casually dropped expressions like, “It’s not about what you can’t do; it’s about what you can do” and “If you do the work and keep the faith, things usually turn out OK.”

Those universal messages have woven their way into the more than 50 albums the Blind Boys of Alabama have released throughout an extensive career that shows no signs of slowing down.

Mental Health Tip of the Week

7 Ways to Use Meditation for Anxiety Relief

Anxious thoughts are arguably the least pleasant kinds of thoughts, and as soon as they pop up, your main goal is to get rid of them, which, honestly, only seems to make them multiply.

You can't necessarily stop yourself from ever having them, but you can learn how to manage them and prevent them from going rogue, that's where meditation comes into play.

Meditation can teach you how to recognize anxiety inducing thoughts, observe them, and then let them go. Basically, you're learning to recognize and respond to your feelings rather than instantly reacting to them, says Andy Puddicombe, meditation and mindfulness expert and co-founder of the meditation app Headspace, which I highly recommend.

Still, it can be hard to know where to start and what to do when you're feeling anxious. Try one of these seven quick meditation tips for anxiety to help bring yourself back to reality ASAP.

1.            Focus on the rising and falling of your breath.

With your hand on your stomach, focus on your breath as you inhale and exhale. Count your breaths "one" on the rise, "two" on the fall as you pay attention to the movement of your body, to bring you back to the present moment. Do this for 10 seconds, repeating if necessary. The technique I prefer over any other is the 4-7-8 breathing method I have mentioned in previous posts. Here is how it works.

Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 7. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of 8.

2.            Pay attention to how your feet feel on the floor.

Or how your hands feel on your keyboard; or how your back feels against the chair—anything that grounds you to where you are and what you're doing at that very moment will help redirect your thought and will help reduce your anxiety.

3.            Do a full-body scan, starting at the top of your head.

Close your eyes and focus on your forehead, then begin to scan down your entire body, stopping at specific parts, like your eyes, your mouth, your neck, etc. to take note of each sensation, good or bad, that you feel. Again, this places your focus on other areas and takes it away from the cause of your anxiety.

Don't pass judgement or fixate on any specific feelings, just make a note of it and move on. Scanning your entire body two to three times, paying attention to how you feel before versus after the scan is complete.

4.            Imagine bright, warm sunlight shining down above your head.

You know how it feels when you're sitting next to a window, or lying on the beach and a beam of sunshine hits your face just right? Imagine that feeling the next time you're overwhelmed, but instead of just your face, imagine the light beam filling up each part of your body, from your toes to your head. "Allow the warmth, light, and spaciousness to melt away any tension in the body.

5.            Let your mind think about whatever it wants to think about.

Yep, that even means feeling anxious. It sounds counterintuitive, but when you sit with your thoughts without any expectations, sense of purpose, or focus for several minutes, you give your mind the extra space needed to help it unwind. It sounds strange, but it works.

6.            Picture someone you love and breathe out their anxieties.

All right, this one sounds weird but just go with it: Hold an image of someone you love in your mind and imagine yourself taking on their anxieties and insecurities with every exhale. On the inhale, think about all their good qualities and the great times you've had together, kind of like breathing out the bad and breathing in the good.

This exercise is called "skillful compassion" and it's one of the most effective ways to let go of a strong emotion such as anxiety.

7.            Talk to yourself like you'd talk to a friend.

Ask yourself, “what do you appreciate most in your life?” Once you've got something in mind, dwell in that gratitude for 30 seconds.

Inquiring in the second person separates you from your mind and encourages a space of appreciation, free from any overwhelming emotions.

Remember, when you allow people, places or events to cause you anxiety, you are giving away your power. Only you are in control of your emotions and thoughts and no one should ever be allowed to take that from you.

August Garden Tips

Are you having trouble keeping your garden alive in the August heat of Arkansas? Check out the following tips to find out how you can help your garden thrive this August!

Original article from Fiskars

August in the garden can be challenging for both gardeners and plants.

But it’s also a time to evaluate your garden, both the successes and the failures, and decide what you may want to change for next year.  Here are some tips to keep your gardens healthy in the heat of August.

1. Pull weeds as soon as you notice them, before they go to seed in the garden. This will help reduce overwintering weeds that can wreak havoc next year. Use the handFiskars Big Grip weedefor tough weeds like dandelions and thistles. 

2. Remove spent flowers (deadhead) on annuals, roses and perennials. Many will reward you with more blooms that continue well into fall. Use the Fiskars Garden Multi Snip which comes with a handy sheath for cutting flowers to bring in the house or cutting off dead blooms.

Certain flowers are good candidates for drying including hydrangea blossoms, globe amaranth, celosia, strawflowers and ornamental grasses. Harvest them when they are dry in the morning but before noon when temperatures begin to get hot.  With annual flowers, select those that are not fully open.   

Once you cut the stems, strip all the leaves and remove any damaged parts of the flower.

Store them in a dry, dark, warm place, preferably one with good air circulation.

Depending on the type of flower, it may take two to three weeks before they are completely dry. 

You can also hang them upside down to dry, or in a vase without water.

Once they dry completely, the blooms should last for years, although the colors will fade over time.

3. Prune and remove dead branches on shrubs and small trees.

4. Keep new plantings (planted within the past six months) of flowers, shrubs and trees watered during hot, dry spells.

Apply a fresh layer of mulch (1 to 2 inches thick) after you weed. This will help the soil maintain moisture and reduce future weed crops. 

5. Have your soil tested. A simple soil test can help you determine which nutrients may be lacking and what you need to add (according to what you are growing.) in the way of amendments to ensure your plants will thrive.  Contact your state Extension Office for more information. 

6. Order spring flowering bulbs like daffodils and tulips. Most companies will ship them to you at the appropriate time in the fall. The soil temperature should be 60 F or cooler before you plant.

7. Start seeds for fall crops including spinach, lettuce and greens. Many of these will grow well into winter and tolerate light frost. 

a Clothing Brand You Can Feel

Two brothers created a clothing line that incorporates braille and the proceeds go to raising awareness for blindness and cures for disease! Keep reading to find out more about their amazing clothing company. 

original article from Fox 13

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - What is more important: seeing or feeling? For brothers Brad and Bryan Manning, their livelihood has become answering that question.

Growing up in Virginia, Bryan and Brad were called the two blind brothers. Now that's what they call themselves.

As kids, they were diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a condition that causes a person's sight to worsen over time, leaving patients with only their peripheral vision. Imagine wearing goggles schmeared in the middle with Vaseline; that's how their sight is best described.

Four years ago, they were shopping in New York and realized they were both buying the same shirt, without knowing the price, the brand, or the color.

The lightbulb was on. Two Blind Brothers Clothing Company was born with two goals: To make the world's softest shirt - which they've determined is a mix of bamboo, cotton, and spandex – and raise awareness about Stargardt.

Each Two Blind Brothers Clothing Company shirt is printed with one of three words in braille: Brother, vision, or feel, and a tag that says the color.

"When you are blind or visually impaired, shopping is a disaster," said Bryan. "When you are feeling around for that t-shirt you love in the dark, in your closet in the morning, you know when you come across the one you love the most."

As for raising awareness, a now-viral Facebook video about their shirts explains, "We have created this clothing company to raise awareness and bring funds to this cause."

The profits on their lines of shirts, pants, and other products go to researching cures for blindness. At first, their goal was to raise a million dollars. They are already halfway there. Tampa's Lions Eye Institute is honoring them at their September fundraising ball.

About 100,000 customers later, they are halfway to their goal of raising $1 million for research, but the Manning brothers say the mission is about so much more.

"Having the right self-esteem is much more important than the vision impairment," Brad said.

An Inspiring Story Returning to Work after Sight Loss

original article from Today.com

Katie Hearn scored her dream job with professional baseball team the Atlanta Braves in 2016. Then life threw her a curveball: She started to go blind.

Hearn, who had been suffering from excruciating headaches and struggling to read words on a screen, was diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri, a rare condition where fluid surrounding the brain becomes elevated. It can mimic the signs of a brain tumor; hence, they are called pseudotumors. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the disorder is most common in women between the ages of 20 and 50.

"Most common symptoms are severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, eye pain and decreased vision," Dr. Christopher Zoumalan, a Beverly Hills-based oculoplastic surgeon, told TODAY. "It is pretty uncommon to go blind from pseudotumor cerebri."

According to Zoumalan, the disorder can be associated with increased weight gain, certain medical conditions or a side effect from medications.

First Hearn lost her peripheral vision. The former college softball player was certain that medication to reduce the intracranial pressure would do the trick. But her symptoms only worsened. In 2017, Hearn began tripping over objects and reaching for door knobs that didn't exist. That’s when she decided to take some time off from work and move in with her parents.

“The ball park was due to open April 14,” Hearn, 30, told TODAY. “So that was really tough for me to walk away from."

Hearn underwent two surgeries to reduce the pressure on her optic nerve. The procedures helped with the headaches, but her sight remained poor. She was now considered legally blind and a doctor suggested Hearn consider a new career. In response, she found a new physician.

Over the course of four months, Hearn took classes where she learned to cook, clean and navigate the world with a cane. “An instructor came with me to my office and mapped out the best route for me to enter the building," she said.

Hearn also took technology training. As the Braves’ digital and accessible services coordinator, she would need to use a computer. “I had to relearn the keyboard and how to get on the internet,” Hearn said. If you Tweet at the Atlanta Braves, Hearn is likely the one who will respond to your message.

Ask Hearn how she stayed so positive and she'll tell you she looked at the situation as an opportunity. “Losing my sight was a chance to learn something new,” she told TODAY. When Hearn feels discouraged, she recites a quote by self-help author Dr. Wayne Dyer. “He said, ‘The only limits you have, are the limits you believe,’” she explained. “Those words mean a lot to me."

In January, Hearn moved into her own apartment with a guide dog named Jack and returned to her desk at SunTrust Park in Atlanta. Her place is just a four minute walk from work. “I fought as hard as I could to return to the Braves,” she said.

Though Hearn can no longer drive a car or curl her own hair, you won't hear her complain.

"It’s all about your perspective,” Hearn stressed. "For me, I just continue living. I’m hopeful about life still being beautiful. Celebrate the life you’ve been given, even if it’s different from the life you thought you’d have."

• 
  SHARE THIS —

or