Whether you have the voice of a songbird or sound like some ball-bearings in a blender, singing can have some remarkably positive effects.

During a morning shift change at St Marcy Mercy Livonia Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, the medical staff were feeling weary. Their surgical floor had been converted into a department for coronavirus patients and spirits were low.

Nurse Lori Marie Key was asked if she would sing Amazing Grace for her colleagues during the morning briefing. So she did. As her voice soared, one of her fellow nurses filmed her, put it online and it went viral.

There was something about the solidarity and togetherness of that moment that personifies a lot about the power of song. But it wasn’t just something abstract and ethereal happening, there are scientific reasons for why singing feels good.

Perhaps that’s why, as most of the world went into lockdown to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, there were countless examples of people turning to song as solace. Italians belted arias from their balconies, famous musicians performed mini concerts from their living rooms and choirs took their sessions online to become virtual virtuosos.

When we sing, large parts of our brain “light up” with activity, says Sarah Wilson, a clinical neuropsychologist and head of the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She led a study which looked at how the brain reacts when we sing by giving volunteers of varying vocal ability MRI scans as they warbled.

“There is a singing network in the brain [which is] quite broadly distributed,” Wilson says. When we speak, the hemisphere of the brain dealing with language lights up, as we might expect. When we sing, however, both sides of the brain spark into life.

“We also see involvement of the emotion networks of the brain,” adds Wilson. Regions that control the movements we need to produce sounds and articulation also light up.

Body and mind

The physical exertion involved in singing – filling of our lungs, the firm control of our vocal chords, the movements of our mouth and body – is among the reasons why it can boost our mood. Singing is an aerobic exercise which sees the release of endorphins, the brain’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals, says Baishali Mukherjee, the Southeast Asia regional liason for the World Federation of Music Therapy.

“Endorphins [are] related to an overall lifted feeling of happiness, it gives a feeling of euphoria so it’s all associated with a reduction in stress,” she says. “In any situation whether it is under stress or [with] any physical ailments, illness, psychological deprivation, music has the potential to affect our body and mind.” 

“There is evidence that, in general, singing in a group enhances our sense of empathy and social connection,” says Wilson. “We see this at football clubs… (and) people [singing] in congregations at church. It’s a community-building activity because we’re united in our voice.”

As well as endorphins racing through your body, another hormone released when we sing is oxytocin. Mukherjee explains that oxytocin has a powerful effect in enhancing a feeling of connectedness between people.

“It is often related to breastfeeding as well as sexual activity,” she says. “There is also a very strong area of research that supports that this particular neuropeptide….is believed to play a role in increasing bonds and trust between people.” (Although some researchers doubt oxytocin’s role in trust, more recent research has shown it can influence how much value we place on information from others.)

One voice

This power to bond people together makes singing particularly potent at a time when an unprecedented global situation has left many of us with glimpses of unfamiliar and uneasy emotions.

“Song or music is able to capture something that goes beyond what we would normally be able to articulate in our rational, logical minds,” says Jerome Lewis, an anthropologist at University College London. “It provides an opportunity for exploring joyful, difficult, sad – all sorts of different emotional spaces which are sometimes difficult to access through a literal, logical, sequential series of words that build up.”

Credit: BBC

Why The Humanity Post?

The World Health Organisation has named depression as the greatest cause of suffering worldwide. In the U.S., 1 out of 5 deals with depression or anxiety. For youth, that number increases to 1 in 3.

The good news is that 40% of our happiness can be influenced by intentional thoughts and actions, leading to life changing habits. It’s this 40% that The Humanity Post  help to impact.

Salman Khan Launches New Initiative ‘Being Haangryy’ To Provide Food To The Needy, Wins Hearts

Salman Khan is a man with a big heart. Whenever people around him are low, they turn to him for help, and the superstar never backs off from extending his helping hand

In the time of crisis when the entire country is reeling under pandemic induced lock down, a lot of people are finding it tough to survive. Once again, Salman Khan is doing everything that he can.

After helping local villagers with food supplies, Salman Khan has kickstarted a new initiative called Being Haangryy. Under this, he has introduced food trucks to provide food supplies to the needy people in Mumbai.

Apart from this, Salman Khan had also transferred money in the accounts of daily wage workers from the industry. He had also supplied food essentials in Mumbai through his friend and politician Baba Siddiqui and his son.

Although, Salman Khan has not announced the initiative himself, a Twitter user thanked him for his noble work and shared a video of the food truck.

“Thank you @Beingsalmankhan bhai for being there and silently doing something which is needed,service to mankind is service to the almighty!!!Jai Ho!!! I shall surely try and do my bit following the lockdown norms and request our Fanclub family to practice the same #BeingHaangryy,” he wrote.

Credit:IndiaTimes

Why The Humanity Post?

The World Health Organisation has named depression as the greatest cause of suffering worldwide. In the U.S., 1 out of 5 deals with depression or anxiety. For youth, that number increases to 1 in 3.

The good news is that 40% of our happiness can be influenced by intentional thoughts and actions, leading to life changing habits. It’s this 40% that The Humanity Post  help to impact.

Survey Finds Working From Home Has So Many Benefits, 48% of Workers Would Take Pay Cut to Continue

Although adults around the world have been forced to start working from home amidst the novel coronavirus outbreaks, a global poll of 2,250 office workers suggests that many of them are actually much happier working from home.

Not only that, 77% believe working from home is one of the most effective ways to help the environment.

The survey, conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with GoTo by LogMeIn, aimed to uncover how office workers feel about working from home and their environmental impact. The poll included 1,000 U.S. office workers, 250 office workers in India, the UK, Brazil, and Germany, 125 office workers in Australia and 125 office workers in New Zealand.

With a whopping 84% of respondents worrying about their environmental impact, over 75% of respondents say their commute to work is something they feel guilty about when it comes to the daily impact it has on the environment.

The average office worker surveyed revealed they used to spend nearly an hour every single day commuting to and from their jobs—that’s five hours each week office workers could get back by working from home.

Additionally, the poll revealed that 48% of participants would happily take a pay cut if it meant they could work from home indefinitely.

“We’ve long seen the benefits of remote work to allow employees to have more flexible schedules, but as most of the world has turned to full-time remote working amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the unexpected benefits is the impact this is already having on the environment,” said Mark Strassman, SVP and GM for Unified Communications & Collaboration at LogMeIn.

And it’s not just the environmental benefit of working from home that proved appealing to workers. In addition to saving time with their commute (72%), office workers surveyed say saving money (66%) is a huge perk to working from home.

Other benefits associated with working remotely include the ability to spend more time with family and friends (56%), feeling happier (45%)—and actually being more productive (37%).

Over half surveyed (57%) revealed working from home provides them with the ability to embrace a more flexible schedule while a further 48% say they can save money on things like their commute or childcare when they work remotely.

Beyond that, 56% say they simply enjoy the ability to wear whatever they want when working from home.

Another 46% of those studied say one of the best things about working remotely is the close access to their kitchen while a further 44% can get some of their weekend chores out of the way.

“It’s clear from our survey that office workers are concerned about the impact their behavior is having on the environment,” continued Strassman. “And allowing them to work full-time or even part-time remote can help to mitigate carbon emissions, save employees’ time and ultimately create a work culture where employees are happier and more productive.”

TOP 5 PERKS OF WORKING FROM HOME…
1. Flexible schedule 52%
2. Saving money 48%
3. Access to kitchen 47%
4. Wearing whatever they want 45%
5. Completing weekend to-do’s 44%

Credit: GoodNewsNetwork

Why The Humanity Post?

The World Health Organisation has named depression as the greatest cause of suffering worldwide. In the U.S., 1 out of 5 deals with depression or anxiety. For youth, that number increases to 1 in 3.

The good news is that 40% of our happiness can be influenced by intentional thoughts and actions, leading to life changing habits. It’s this 40% that The Humanity Post  help to impact.