A Unique Home in Londrina, Brazil

This large wooden box, covering an area of 410 square meters and designed by the architectural firm Studio Guilherme Torres in 2009, attracts the attention of just about everybody in Londrina, Brazil. The project was created taking into account some factors of the land on which it sits and the advantage offered by being located at the highest point of its community. Its wide wall extension surrounds the gardens, creating..

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July 7th

Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

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How to Save Yourself From ‘Text Neck’ (Trust me, you’ve got it!)

You’re reading How to Save Yourself From ‘Text Neck’ (Trust me, you’ve got it!), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

As I type this I’m sitting, hunched over at my desk, staring at my phone researching what I’m about to tell you.

Turns out, this slouched over position I find myself in, and that I’m in constantly throughout the day, has now been proven to lead to degeneration of the spine and even surgery. You see, the human head weighs an average of 12 pounds and, when bent over looking at a phone at a sixty degree angle, that means a weight of sixty pounds is being exerted on your neck as the weight on the cervical spine increases when you look down.

If you are thinking that doesn’t sound very good, you’d be right.

Scientists are saying that this heavy weight being exerted on your spine daily can cause intense damage. According to The Washington Post, this poor posture caused by an epidemic people are calling “text neck” can hurt more than just your spine. “Experts say it can reduce lung capacity by as much as 30 percent. It has also been linked to headaches and neurological issues, depression and heart disease,” the article states.

You can try looking at your phone or screen with only your eyes, but that probably will get strange after a few minutes. Or, move your computer monitor up higher, so it is at eye level, using a stand. Or, even better yet: You can get up and move around.

Backing away from your desk, putting down your phone, looking out the window, and best of all, walking or exercising, are all great solutions.

There’s even a way that you can walk at your desk, using a desk treadmill like UnSit’s WALK-1. You can keep up your fitness routine while working, and according to research from Stanford University, be more creative and productive, too. How’s this for a crazy stat: The Stanford study discovered that a person’s creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when walking.

By exercising as much as possible, even when at work – a place where you’re usually dormant and gazing at a screen – you can ward off text neck and the negative effects of sitting. (You’ve probably heard that “sitting is the new smoking.”)

Why does exercise fight text neck? Well, a person needs to have strong core muscles to support their upper body, including their neck. Core muscles usually do not get enough exercise during normal daily activities, so increasing your workout time can help with that. Also, strong and flexible muscles in the neck are needed to reduce pressure on your cervical spine and help support the heaviness of your head. The answer to building those muscles and improving your flexibility is simply to get off your phone and away from your desk and start exercising.

A treadmill desk can help, and UnSit’s WALK-1 is 50% wider than traditional treadmills, meaning you can actually focus on work, reach across your desk to grab your notes, without worrying that you’ll fall off a treadmill tightrope. The WALK-1 also takes up about 6 square feet less space and fits where your chair is now.

On top of that, there is even an app that is paired with the WALK-1, which tracks steps, distance, time, calories, standing time. The App automatically sends its data to Apple Health and/or to your FitBit account so you can see just how proactive you’re being in avoiding text neck.

Sources:
http://ift.tt/1OeiWFt


Kate Durocher is a TV host, writer and editor living in Los Angeles. She is the Press Outreach Manager for Red Cup Agency and also works in editorial for L.A. Weekly. On the side, Kate is an entertainment host and has worked for outlets such as E! News and The Hollywood Reporter. Kate graduated from the University of Southern California in 2015 with a degree in broadcast and digital journalism. See more of Kate’s work at http://ift.tt/2tOIWUD.

You’ve read How to Save Yourself From ‘Text Neck’ (Trust me, you’ve got it!), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2svLqTV

How to Save Yourself From ‘Text Neck’ (Trust me, you’ve got it!)

You’re reading How to Save Yourself From ‘Text Neck’ (Trust me, you’ve got it!), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

As I type this I’m sitting, hunched over at my desk, staring at my phone researching what I’m about to tell you.

Turns out, this slouched over position I find myself in, and that I’m in constantly throughout the day, has now been proven to lead to degeneration of the spine and even surgery. You see, the human head weighs an average of 12 pounds and, when bent over looking at a phone at a sixty degree angle, that means a weight of sixty pounds is being exerted on your neck as the weight on the cervical spine increases when you look down.

If you are thinking that doesn’t sound very good, you’d be right.

Scientists are saying that this heavy weight being exerted on your spine daily can cause intense damage. According to The Washington Post, this poor posture caused by an epidemic people are calling “text neck” can hurt more than just your spine. “Experts say it can reduce lung capacity by as much as 30 percent. It has also been linked to headaches and neurological issues, depression and heart disease,” the article states.

You can try looking at your phone or screen with only your eyes, but that probably will get strange after a few minutes. Or, move your computer monitor up higher, so it is at eye level, using a stand. Or, even better yet: You can get up and move around.

Backing away from your desk, putting down your phone, looking out the window, and best of all, walking or exercising, are all great solutions.

There’s even a way that you can walk at your desk, using a desk treadmill like UnSit’s WALK-1. You can keep up your fitness routine while working, and according to research from Stanford University, be more creative and productive, too. How’s this for a crazy stat: The Stanford study discovered that a person’s creative output increased by an average of 60 percent when walking.

By exercising as much as possible, even when at work – a place where you’re usually dormant and gazing at a screen – you can ward off text neck and the negative effects of sitting. (You’ve probably heard that “sitting is the new smoking.”)

Why does exercise fight text neck? Well, a person needs to have strong core muscles to support their upper body, including their neck. Core muscles usually do not get enough exercise during normal daily activities, so increasing your workout time can help with that. Also, strong and flexible muscles in the neck are needed to reduce pressure on your cervical spine and help support the heaviness of your head. The answer to building those muscles and improving your flexibility is simply to get off your phone and away from your desk and start exercising.

A treadmill desk can help, and UnSit’s WALK-1 is 50% wider than traditional treadmills, meaning you can actually focus on work, reach across your desk to grab your notes, without worrying that you’ll fall off a treadmill tightrope. The WALK-1 also takes up about 6 square feet less space and fits where your chair is now.

On top of that, there is even an app that is paired with the WALK-1, which tracks steps, distance, time, calories, standing time. The App automatically sends its data to Apple Health and/or to your FitBit account so you can see just how proactive you’re being in avoiding text neck.

Sources:
http://ift.tt/1OeiWFt


Kate Durocher is a TV host, writer and editor living in Los Angeles. She is the Press Outreach Manager for Red Cup Agency and also works in editorial for L.A. Weekly. On the side, Kate is an entertainment host and has worked for outlets such as E! News and The Hollywood Reporter. Kate graduated from the University of Southern California in 2015 with a degree in broadcast and digital journalism. See more of Kate’s work at http://ift.tt/2tOIWUD.

You’ve read How to Save Yourself From ‘Text Neck’ (Trust me, you’ve got it!), originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.

http://ift.tt/2svLqTV

US colleges say they value diversity — but you wouldn’t…

mikenudelman:13 chains taking over America.

6 Ways Traveling Alone Makes You Stronger

Solo travel is growing in popularity. In fact, the number of first-time travelers who choose to go solo has more than doubled in recent years. Despite that, solo travelers are still a niche minority as most travelers prefer to go in couples or groups.

Traveling alone is a whole different experience. There are certain benefits you can only get from waking up alone in a totally unfamiliar place and charting your own course deeper into the unknown.

Even if you’re not traveling long-term, venturing out for a solo vacation once in awhile can help you build skills and competencies that you can bring back and apply to all areas of your life.

Here are six benefits you can get  from traveling alone:

You Learn to Rely on Yourself

traveling

You’ll get organized. Nobody else will be there to fold your laundry for you. You either do it yourself and take pride in the process or you stuff it in your backpack and content yourself with wearing wrinkled clothes.

You’ll learn to organize your finances. Without proper handling, your cash can easily slip away in a matter of days. You have to pay attention and track your spending.

Watch your own back because you’re the only one responsible for your safety. In fact, you might be the only person on the continent who cares whether you live or die! Learn to exercise caution and self-care and you’ll start becoming empowered.

You Deal With Some Big Emotions

You fall and pick yourself back up. You get extremely frustrated. You miss your family back home. You wonder where you went wrong and what the hell you are doing all the way out there anyway.

And you deal with those emotions while getting overwhelmed with joy and excitement, too.

Ultimately, you’ll learn that the world isn’t causing your emotions. You are. And, unfortunately, the world can’t solve them for you.

Traveling alone will help you learn to experience immense moments without being clumsily demonstrative. It’ll help you go through your emotions and deal with what’s really causing them.

You Build People Skills

You’ll encounter different kinds of people and build social-emotional intelligence along the way. This is a powerful tool you can use anywhere you go.

You’ll soon learn how to have a calm and pleasant conversation with the bank officials even when you’re panicking because you can’t access your account. Calmness and sweetness are more likely to win their assistance.

If you’re only in town for the weekend, you can make friends fast. You can even find a relationship quickly, too. You’ll have someone to bring to a festival or that local restaurant you’ve been wanting to visit. Even when traveling solo, you don’t really have to be alone all that much if you don’t want to.

You’ll also learn cross-linguistic communication. Even if you’re not planning to learn the language by immersion, you can always pick up the basics. The rest, you can do with body language, visual aids and a lot of patience. This is a delicate process as you’ll have to overcome your fear of looking foolish.

Traveling solo can increase your awareness of the body signals you’ve been unintentionally sending. And, because of that, you’ll be able to work on your posture and how you approach other people so that they will be more willing to engage.

You Chart Your Own Course

charting own course

As a solo traveler, you can watch your decisions become plans, train tickets and then memories. You don’t have to wait for anyone, hurry up the experience or postpone your trip just because someone doesn’t want to go with you. Your destiny lies in your own hands.

You Come Face to Face With Your Smallness in the World

The world is big. It’s not just its geographical size but the magnitude of the people and their willingness to help you when you are a vulnerable stranger.

It’s one thing to say it and another thing to encounter it.

There is no humility and openness like that of a well-traveled person. When you see how big the world is and the magnanimity of its people, it’ll make you realize how diverse the world is. Strangely, this makes you both more humble and confident.

You Gain a Sense of Confidence

Traveling makes you more aware of how powerful you are than the first time you strapped on that backpack and walked out the door. You have seen yourself in dynamic, dangerous and unimaginably foreign situations and you’ve handled it.

You’ve tested yourself. You know your power and you know your limits. And you know that whatever you were so worried about in your life before you ventured out, you can handle that now, too. It’s not a problem anymore.

See Also: 5 Steps To Reinvent Your Life By Traveling

Conclusion

Traveling solo isn’t a requirement for leading a good life. You can build a lot of these skills elsewhere.

But, traveling alone accelerates your emotional and mental growth in a way that no other activity can. It makes you more open, agreeable and stable. It gives you a story and it makes you wise.

So, the next time you’re feeling that travel bug, take the extra leap and do it alone. You might surprise yourself with what you can handle.

See Also: 10 Wonderful Benefits of Traveling

The post 6 Ways Traveling Alone Makes You Stronger appeared first on Dumb Little Man.

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The Snake in the Schoolhouse

Don Siegel’s 1971 The Beguiled, starring Clint Eastwood, is a masterpiece of misogyny. Sofia Coppola has remade it, and where Siegel’s Beguiled was an expression of male hysteria, Coppola’s version is a dark comedy of manners. In Siegel’s movie the women are vivid types; in Coppola’s they are humanized.

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Narina Lodge, an Attractive Lodging Option in South Africa

Narina Lodge is an attractive lodging option when planning to visit the nature reserves of South Africa. Perched atop a canopy of 100-year old trees overlooking the Sabie River, Narina Lodge is one of a number of lodges located in the Lion Sands Game Reserve in the Kruger National Park, in South Africa. All nine suites of the lodge are equipped with every comfort – from the elegant furnishings that..

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mikenudelman:Here’s the simple reason why planes have winglets.