Good Morning! 🌞

Recently I have been experiencing a lot more stress than usual. Here are 3 things that have helped me regulate my nervous system in times of high-stress:

1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

This technique involves tensing and then slowly relaxing each muscle group in the body, starting from the toes and working up to the head. By focusing on the contrast between tension and relaxation, I can release physical stress and promote a state of calm.

2. Journaling

Writing down my thoughts and feelings in a journal has been a powerful way to process and release stress. It helps me gain perspective on what’s causing my anxiety and allows me to express emotions in a healthy way. Sometimes, simply putting my worries on paper makes them feel more manageable.

3. Listening to Soothing Music

Music therapy is a proven method for reducing stress. I create playlists of calming music, such as classical, ambient, or nature sounds. Listening to these tunes helps slow my heart rate and breathing, creating a peaceful environment that soothes my nervous system.

They may not be revolutionary methods, but they work for me and maybe it’s just what you needed to hear today 🙂 

Economy

The Most Expensive Amethyst

This video is absolutely fascinating. I am very impressed with the effort and skill it takes to extract such impressive geodes.

From what I understand, the explanation of how the Amethyst gets its color is a bit off. But there are plenty of people in the comments section that clarify it. 😄

Culture

105-Year-Old Earns Stanford Master’s Degree

Stanford University's recent graduation ceremony included 105-year-old Virginia Hislop, who completed her master's degree in education 83 years after starting. Her studies were interrupted by marriage, family, World War II, and a long career in education, but she finally had her chance to graduate.

In 1940, earning a master’s degree at Stanford required a thesis. As the year progressed, the U.S. entered World War II, and Hislop's fiancé, George, was called to service. She paused her thesis to marry him and join the homefront war effort. After the war, she pursued a career in education, using her bachelor’s degree in education to serve on various school boards.

Hislop aimed to improve educational opportunities for as many people as possible. Decades later, she learned that the master’s thesis requirement had been removed. This allowed her to return to campus and resume her studies. In June, 83 years after starting, Hislop graduated, with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren watching.

"For many, a degree is a badge of accomplishment. It was great to celebrate someone who dedicated her life to learning and teaching," said Stanford Dean Daniel Schwartz at her graduation. Her son-in-law described her as a woman always on the move, engaged in volunteering, reading, and gardening.

Environment

Lynx Back From Brink of Extinction

The most significant feline conservation success story is not the doubling of the global tiger population or the rescue of the Amur tiger and Northern lion from near extinction—it's the recovery of a lynx species on the Iberian Peninsula.

This small, mottled cat with distinctively pointed ears and tufts of fur on its face and feet has grown from 62 individuals in a 2002 survey to about 2,000 today. In Spain and Portugal, where wild lands are scarce, this achievement is remarkable and the result of dedicated efforts by many.

“The greatest recovery of a cat species ever achieved through conservation is the result of committed collaboration between public bodies, scientific institutions, NGOs, private companies, and community members including local landowners, farmers, gamekeepers, and hunters,” said Francisco Javier Salcedo Ortiz, coordinator of the EU-funded LIFE Lynx-Connect project.

The decline in the Iberian lynx population was linked to a drop in the European rabbit population, their main food source, due to agricultural persecution. Efforts to restore the rabbit population, along with habitat restoration and lynx breeding programs, were essential. Organizations like the IUCN worked with ranchers and landowners to support lynx conservation, reducing deaths from poaching, retaliatory killings, and road accidents.

Since 2010, over 400 Iberian lynx have been reintroduced in Portugal and Spain, where more than 600 adult lynx are now raising cubs across over 1,200 square miles.

Due to these efforts, the IUCN Red List recently downgraded the lynx from 'Endangered' to 'Vulnerable.' The lynx remains vulnerable to sudden threats such as wildfires, rabbit population declines due to disease, or a rollback in protections, preventing it from being classified as 'Least Concern.'

Mind Stretchers

⁉️ 

What 4-letter word can be written forward, backward or upside down, and can still be read from left to right?

Answers to yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
What has no hands but might knock on your door, and if it does you better open up?
-Opportunities!

Linda Runatz got the correct answer first!

The first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected] or reply to the email.

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured