aqua butterfly: February 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

10 Benefits of Listening to Music

Music, the language of the soul, is as old as humanity. It's no secret that people love music. While taste in music differs from person to person, almost everyone enjoys some type of music. But by common observation, professional medical practitioners have linked music to our well-being and general health. A recent study concludes that listening to music has positive health effects on people of all ages.

The therapeutic benefits of music can be traced back in time to ancient shamanistic rituals. Music, as tool of healing was recognized in the writings of Pythagoras, Aristotle and Plato. They believed that it can influence physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being and improve quality of life. Below are music's health benefits explained in detail:

1. Pain Killer: Music has the ability to reduce pain through release ofendorphins which act as natural pain killers. It can also divert attention away from the pain and encouraging relaxation. According to a study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, listening to music daily can reduce chronic pain by up to 21 percent. The study also found that listening to music made people feel more in control of their pain, reduced depression, and made people feel less disabled by their condition.

2. Reduces Stress: Stress has been associated with many illnesses, including several mental illnesses that seem to occur only in people with exceedingly high stress levels. In a study conducted, subjects were made listen to a half-hour of soothing music twice daily for two weeks. It showed significantly greater reductions in stress and anxiety levels in the subjects.

3. Cardiovascular benefits: Listening to soothing music also helps reduce your heart rate and blood pressure. As a result of a lower blood pressure, it also reduces the risk of stroke and other health problems over time. In a new Italian study, researchers found that people with mild hypertension (high blood pressure) who listened to classical, Celtic or Indian (raga) music for just 30 minutes a day for one month had significant reductions in their blood pressure. Good music helps to calm down the cells and tissues that make up the lungs thereby bringing down the patient's breathing and heart rate to normal.

4. Stimulate brains cells: Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking. On the other hand, listening to soothing classical music improves ability to focus for longer time and promotes a calm, meditative state. It brings about a sense of well-being and creativity, a change which lasts long after the music has ceased to play.

5. Boosts exercise performance: Listening to music while you exercise may have a considerable impact on your exercise performance and commitment. Music diverts your attention in repetitive exercises thus the feeling of fatigue, exhaustion and boredom are evaded. Music can also act as a stimulant which can increase your performance. Respiration and cardiac rate is increased from music which can help you intensify your workout. According to a study conducted in 2005, listening to music while exercising boosted participants' weight loss and helped exercisers stay consistent.

6. Promote a sound sleep: Listening to music as we drift off to sleep ensures that we get the rest that we need from our sleep. Sleep puts your body in a healthy condition as it takes away the effects of stress, depression and anxiety from a person.

7. Increase optimism: Depression leads to weakness, headache, confusion, and loss of concentration. Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression at bay. Good music also makes one to remember happy moments or good days. It also increases self-esteem and self-confidence.

8. Helps in Cancer: Research suggests that music may offer a number of benefits for people coping with cancer. It reduces anxiety in patients receiving radiation therapy, as well as eases nausea and vomiting resulting from high-dose chemotherapy.

9. Helps socialize: Music is a great way to get together with people who share a similar passion. It helps you to meet new people, socialize and give you a sense of belonging.

10. Helps in spiritual health: There is a unique connection between music and spirituality. Chanting or some kind of music helps people worship in a meaningful way, and makes them feel closer to God.

Music performs unimaginable wonders and is fundamental to a human's well-being. So make music a part of your lifestyle and feel the difference.

10 interesting facts about gender psychology

1. Men change their minds two to three times more often than women. Most women take longer to make a decision than men do, but once they make a decision they are more likely to stick to it.

2. Based on the total number of people tested since IQ tests were devised, women have a slightly higher average IQ than men

3. Women are better than men at remembering faces, especially of females.

4. Men are more likely to help than women!

5. Women are more pessimistic when predicting their work results.

6. Most women tend to believe that they are only good at certain tasks, but not capable of being good at everything.

7. Women are more fearful and anxious than men.

8. Women are twice more talkative than men! It has been estimated that on average, men speak 12,500 words and women speak about 25,500 words in a day.

9. Men, on average, think about sex every 7 seconds.

10. The female brain is much more adept at reading subtle facial and verbal emotional expressions. Some woman say that only when men see actual tears they realize that something is wrong. This is why women have to cry four times more than men do, to signal distress

10 Proven Ways to Become a Good Leader

In a survey carried out during last year’s Campaign for Learning Adult Learning Week, 90% of respondents said they weren’t being offered enoughleadership skills training in the area of managing people. Unlike the ‘hard’ skills, such as IT certification or financial management, which are often given greater priority and budgets, the ‘soft’ skills, which include people management, team building and leadership, are often treated as an afterthought and way down the priorities list.

This is puzzling, considering most business experts say that building a strong and motivated team is a key success factor. Some 88% of respondents to the same survey felt so strongly about this shortfall that they said they would be prepared to develop people management skills outside their working hours.

They say it’s tough at the top – so it’s hard to fathom why the topic of leadership is not given more priority; of all the people management issues, it is the one that newly-promoted managers often find the most difficult.

Mindful of the time pressures on those called to lead, I’ve assembled these top ten tips from SkillSoft’s e-learning courseware – including the Leadership Development Channel, the SkillSoft Leadership Knowledge Center and our extensive Books24x7 online library ofdigital books.

Understand the difference between management and leadership. Leadership is about having a vision and steering your team on course towards it; management is having the organisational skills and control to carry it out. Good leaders can transform fear of the future into enthusiasm for what is ahead.

Know what your employer expects from its leaders – don’t operate in the dark. UK creativity expert, Nigel Barlow, says: “One month into a job and you grow blind,” meaning you stop looking for different ways to do things. Know the parameters, but don’t be afraid to venture outside them.

Leadership isn’t about power – it’s about giving power away; about being open to influence from your staff and helping them achieve professional growth. To paraphrase Harry Truman, it’s amazing to see what can be accomplished when you don’t care who gets the credit.

Value every member of the team that contributes to the outcome. Remember that when leaders begin to attribute successful outcomes to their orders rather than to their team’s abilities, employees lose intrinsic motivation and begin to do only what they are told.

Recognise that the 21^st century business environment brings new challenges(think mobile working, 24x7 access to information, globalisation, e-business and so on). This demands a revision of the traditional leadership roles. Be flexible and open-minded to change.

Improve your listening skills. Learn how to stay focused on what people are saying and work to interpret the real meaning behind their words. Innovation comes more from listening than from telling.

Never undervalue integrity and trust. Leaders who demonstrate that they trust and respect their team will always be rewarded with higher quality work and loyalty.

Forget the adage that leaders are born and not made. You can learn leadership skills; it may take time and a commitment to personal development to do so, but it can be done.

Make time to lead. Use time management skills to free up regular periods for thinking, planning and keeping up with new ideas. Ideas come from anywhere – a walk down the street, on the college campus, in the kitchen, at home, in the choir at church – take time to harvest them.

Have courage! Be prepared to take calculated risks – and occasionally to fail, seeing it as a learning process.

We’ll leave the last word to oft-quoted management guru, Peter Drucker: “Where you see success, someone once made a courageous decision."

10 Life-Changing Benefits of the Internet Age

It is hard to imagine life without the internet. Actually, I am old enough to do just that.

But it is amazing the effect that the internet has had on our lives. Believe it or not, there are still many people who don’t even own a PC – but that number is dwindling each year. It brings to mind all of the technological benefits of the internet age. My life has certainly changed within the past thirty years due to the internet and it’s a fine time to reflect on the impact it has had over its lifespan so far.

1. Modes of Communication

I remember when there were basically three different modes of communication: face-to-facecommunication, telephone conversation, and snail mail. Today, email is the preferred method of communication. It is an indirect method that most people prefer. Your recipient can either choose to respond or not – and you have conveyed your message without needing to have direct communication. In the internet age we also have VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol – popularized primarily with the emergence of Skype and Google Voice),instant messaging and texting. Texting has usurped email as the main type of communication with young people. Instant messaging is still being used in the business world, while Skype and Google Voice are used for personal and business communication.

2. Online Banking

The only time I write a check now is for a gift at a christening or a wedding. If you haven’t started online banking, you should definitely consider it. I’ve been online banking for at least the past ten years and I absolutely love it. The reasons for doing so are numerous, such as:

You don’t have to be constantly writing out checks to pay your bills, licking envelopes, and buying postage.

You can easily pay your regular bills like mortgage and car loan with a couple of clicks and the payments will be made electronically on the proper day to avoid late charges.

You can also receive your bills electronically and an email will notify you when the bill arrives. Then, after logging into your bank website, you can schedule your bills to arrive on a given date.

Another great thing about online banking is that you can set up anyone as a recipient of funds. So, if you want to send a check to a relative you can do so online either by having a paper check mailed to them or directly depositing the money into their account.

3. Online Degrees

I could be considered an authority on online education as I just completed another college degree taking online classes exclusively. I just received my diploma in the mail last week and I never once visited the college. I am a huge proponent of online education. The benefits far outweigh any drawbacks – especially for anyone who works full-time – since the logistics of driving to and from class would simply be too time-consuming. There wasn’t even the hassle of having to go to the bookstore as I could order those online as well. Sure, there are some drawbacks – such as not having face-to-face interaction with classmates – but even that is possible if you want to Skype with them. If you have the inclination to go back to school for your degree, you should really consider taking an online degree. Take one class as a test drive; you will not regret it.

4. Online Training and Seminars

I remember a time that the only way you could get training on the job was either by going to a training class or having a trainer come into your workplace. Well, the landscape has certainly changed here. Webinars have become extremely popular in the internet age, bringing together a virtual class online. Gone are the travel costs for both the trainer and the trainee, which lowers the cost for the class itself. Anyone can basically put together a training class from the comfort of their own home with tools such as GoToMeeting. I regularly schedule GoToMeeting training classes with foreign counterparts and customers.

5. Searching

There were days when you wanted to learn more about a particular subject you would open a book, an encyclopedia or a dictionary. At my house, we always had a full collection of World Book Encyclopedias. When the end of each year came, we would receive the edition that chronicled that particular year. To this day I use a dictionary and thesaurus on a daily basis – but now they live online and not on my bookshelf. Today, we have lightning fast search engines that can give us thousands of links based on specific keywords. Just yesterday I used the internet to scope out farmer’s markets in my neck of the woods. Not only did I find a local one, but I got directions on how to get there.

6. Researching

My brother, a professor at a prestigious liberal arts college on the West Coast of the US , has written text books in the area of Government and Political Science. He has told me that with the advent of the internet age, the manner in which he does his research for his books has changed dramatically. In the past, he would have to go to a library to do his research. Today all of this research is done online, in the comfort of his own office. His main concern is to be conscious of sites with faulty information. Fortunately for him, his research is typically done on legitimate government and political science websites – so that is a minor concern.

7. Buying Online

If you can’t find it in a local store, you can always find it online. A case in point is that I recently could not find canned pumpkin anywhere in local stores. My wife uses pumpkin to make pumpkin breads, pumpkin ravioli and for other baking needs. It appears that there is a pumpkin shortage in the United States due to excessive rain. So, I mentioned to my wife that we should try to find it online – and we did. We were able to order a case of canned pumpkin for a fairly reasonable price. If you can’t find it at a local store, chances are you can find it online.

8. Telecommuting

The internet age has completely redefined how we work. The ability to sit in your home office while connecting to all of the same resources as if you were in your work office is a reality in today’s workplace. This has allowed people like me to avoid a two and a half hour commute on the days that I am allowed to telecommute. The time savings, gas savings and the wear and tear on my car (and on me) is a huge gain. There is nothing I can do at work that I cannot do at home – other than walk over to somebody’s office. As mentioned previously, I use GoToMeeting if I need to meet with someone and share my computer.

9. Freelance Writing

With the popularity of the internet, there has been an explosion in online content. As a result of this, there has been a huge boon in freelance writing. Opportunities exist as never before in this area. If you love to write and are good at it, chances are you can find an online presence that will pay for your services. I have had the good fortune of doing just that for this very popular blog, which happens to be based halfway across the world. Being able to develop a portfolio of your work, and get paid for it, is a tremendous opportunity in the online world.

10. Worldwide media accessibility

The internet has opened up all users to worldwide media. Internet radio is accessible to anyone in the world connected to the internet. An example of this is that the other morning my wife (of Greek descent) was going to put on some Greek CDs on the stereo as she cooked for a large group that was visiting later in the day. I suggested to her that we should search the internet for a Greek radio site. We quickly found a Greek radio website that had links of roughly fifty different radio stations, most of which were music stations. We found a radio station based in Thessaloniki, Greece, which is where her mother was born. I hooked up some cheap $5 speakers to my laptop and we were able to enjoy hours of Greek music, at no cost. My wife was flabbergasted with the quality of the sound and the variety of the music.

These are just some of what I call “life-changing” advancements of the internet age. The productivity and personal gains that the internet has given to the world are tremendous. This list is not meant to be comprehensive but these are some of my favorites. I am fortunate in that I am able to remember what life was without these conveniences.

I sometimes wonder if the young people of today can truly appreciate the gifts that the internet has bestowed upon us.

aqua butterfly

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