Why do men tell women to smile?

Author
STARRE VARTAN

Starre Vartan (  @ecochickie ) covers conscious consumption, health and science as she travels the world exploring new cultures and ideas.

It's a bizarre request, and it often comes from strangers.

Who says you have to smile just because a man wants you to? (Photo: Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock)

If you're a woman, odds are that you've randomly been asked to smile by a man on the bus, a dude on the street or even a guy you might work with. It may have happened when you were out on a run or running errands, while you were deliberating paint colors at the hardware store or while waiting for your child outside the library. You've probably been prodded to produce a smile at times when you were thinking of other things, and almost certainly when you were on your own.

The fact that men ask or tell women to smile (often it comes out as the latter — "Hey, gimme a smile!") is generally understood as an annoying part of sexism. Sometimes it even happens at work, in jobs that have nothing to do with customer service (where both male and female employees might be asked to project a positive attitude). Take this Dear Prudence advice-column letter, for example:

"I’m a female lawyer on the brink of making partner at a midsize firm. When I asked what I needed to do to [make partner] I was told I needed to smile more..."

There's writer Adrienne Tam's simple and relatable story:

"As I was walking to work this week, a colleague passed by. I didn’t notice him because I was zombie-walking — daydreaming while placing one foot in front of the other. He waved his arms in front of my face as I moved past him. 'Smile!' he said."

This "smile more" thing affects us all: From high-profile women like athlete Serena Williams (at a press conference) and actress Kristen Stewart to ... every woman I know. I've been told by a man helping me at a store that he'd only answer my question/get me the product I was asking for if I smiled. That has happened often enough that the last time it happened, I hardly noticed. When I was younger, I usually tightly smiled while looking embarrassed and demeaned (that's how I felt), but now I just raise my eyebrows in a "really?" response. I don't get second requests.

I know how to deal with this obnoxiously common query from men, but something I still don't understand is: "Why?" It just seems so weird to demand something like a smile from someone you don't know — or even someone you only know a bit. It's basically asking someone to rearrange their face because you've asked them to. Can you imagine walking by someone and saying "Hey, let me see what your tongue looks like. Stick it out!"

It's very common to get the smile request from strangers on the street. Here, artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh explains her public art series, "Stop Telling Women to Smile," inspired by gender-based street harassment.

Why men ask (or tell)

What's behind men asking or expecting women to smile?

Tam thinks maybe men think they are doing a good thing by asking a woman to smile, assuming that it will cheer them up. But the opposite is true, she writes: "Most of the time, the men who ask women to smile think they’re helping the woman out in some way — if she smiles, it means she’s happy, right? And a happy woman is a pretty woman and a pretty woman makes the world look better, right? Wrong."

Manhattan-based relationships therapist Sherry Amatanstein says it's really about "... control — women are supposed to smile, be subservient, put a good face on things, not make waves."

Of those women I know who have been asked to smile by someone they barely know, exactly none of them have appreciated the demand. But because most women are raised not to make people angry (and to be careful not to anger men as they might hurt us), we will often do as instructed — so that smile that is maybe meant to be a positive thing is more likely to be a fear response than anything else.

At the very least, it's rude.

“Men tell women to smile because society conditions men to think we exist for the male gaze and for their pleasure. Men are socialised to believe they have control over women’s bodies. This [is the] result in them giving unsolicited instructions on how we should look, think and act," writer and activist Bené Viera told Huffington Post.

This base-level disrespect for women reaches high up, too. Amatenstein points out that former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was told repeatedly she didn't smile enough during her candidacy for president, while then-candidate Donald Trump also rarely smiled — and wasn't expected to, due to different expectations of women and men.

This is an easy one to solve: Men, don't ask women to smile. Women, if a man asks you to smile, feel free to raise your eyebrows and shoot him a dirty look (my tactic), or just say: "No." Or, consult this list of snarky comebacks, a fun option for those days when you need to strike back.

And for the last word on the subject, watch comedian/talk show host Chelsea Handler tackle the topic in this video. (Heads-up on her very colorful language.)

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Why you should never wear shoes in the house

Author
ANGELA NELSON

Angela Nelson (  @bostonangela ) is an exhausted mom of two young daughters and two old cats, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning digital editor with more than 15 years of experience delivering news and information to audiences worldwide.

Taking your shoes off at the door can prevent you from tracking a lot of gross stuff into your house. (Photo: OSORIOartist/Shutterstock)

At home, my family prefers to be barefoot. When we walk in the door, we shed the confines of our footwear because it's more comfortable, not to keep the floors clean. (With two adults, two kids and two cats, our floors don't stay clean for long.) And we tell guests to leave their shoes on or take them off — whichever they prefer.

But the no-shoes policy might become a firm rule for everyone entering my house. After all, there's a good reason why many cultures and countries, including most of Scandinavia, China, Japan, Hawaii, Thailand, Turkey, India and much of the Middle East, have traditionally outlawed wearing shoes inside the home.

For a recent study, Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, wore a new pair of shoes for two weeks, then analyzed the results. He found that 420,000 units of bacteria made themselves at home on the soles and another 3,000 units of bacteria landed inside the shoes. He repeated the experiment with 10 participants and got similar results.

Here's a sample menu of some of the disgusting bacteria found: E. coli, known to cause intestinal and urinary tract infections; meningitis and diarrheal disease; Klebsiella pneumonia, a common source for wound and bloodstream infections as well as pneumonia; and Serratia ficaria, a rare cause of infections in the respiratory tract and wounds.

"The common occurrence (96 percent) of coliform and E. coli bacteria on the outside of the shoes indicates frequent contact with fecal material, which most likely originates from floors in public restrooms or contact with animal fecal material outdoors," said Gerba. "Our study also indicated that bacteria can be tracked by shoes over a long distance into your home or personal space after the shoes were contaminated with bacteria."

Gerba worked with research specialist Jonathan Sexton, who wanted to find out how effectively that bacteria contaminated the surfaces with which it came in contact. A volunteer wore shoes and walked over several uncontaminated floor tiles. More than 90 percent of the time, the bacteria transferred directly onto the clean tiles, Sexton said.

In addition, this 2011 study found that our shoes track in dermatophytes, which are fungi that can cause infections of the skin, hair and nails.

So basically, the bad news is that by wearing shoes out in the world and continuing to wear them around your home, you're tracking in excrement, fungus and potentially deadly bacteria.

The good news is that Gerba found that washing the shoes in the washing machine with a little detergent reduced the bacteria by 90 percent. But of course, not all shoes are washing machine-safe. Might I suggest a Clorox wipe on those soles?

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https://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/stories/why-you-should-never-wear-shoes-house

16 simple ways to reduce plastic waste

Author
LAURA MOSS

These easy things can dramatically decrease the amount of plastic trash you make.

Stop chewing gum and using disposable water bottles and you're on your way to making less plastic pollution. (Photo: Plastic Pollution Coalition/flickr)

Plastic is found in virtually everything these days. Your food and hygiene products are packaged in it. Your car, phone and computer are made from it. And you might even chew on it daily in the form of gum. While most plastics are touted as recyclable, the reality is that they're “downcycled.” A plastic milk carton can never be recycled into another carton — it can be made into a lower-quality item like plastic lumber, which can’t be recycled.

How big is our plastic problem? Of the 33 million tons of plastic waste generated in the U.S. each year, only 7 percent is recycled. This plastic waste ends up in landfills, beaches, rivers and oceans and contributes to such devastating problems as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex of garbage the size of a continent where plastic outnumbers plankton. Plus, most plastic is made from oil.

Luckily, there are simple steps you can take that will dramatically decrease the amount of plastic waste you generate.

Just say no to straws

Do you really need to sip your drink through a plastic straw? (Photo: Horia Varlan/flickr)

One of the easiest ways to keep plastic out of the landfill is to refuse plastic straws. Simply inform your waiter or waitress that you don't need one, and make sure to specify this when ordering at a drive-thru. Can't fathom giving up the convenience of straws? Purchase a reusable stainless steel or glass drinking straw. Restaurants are less likely to bring you a plastic one if they see that you've brought your own.

Use reusable produce bags

Just say "no" to plastic produce bags. (Photo: Shayan Sanyal/flickr)

About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute, and a single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to degrade. If you're already bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, you're on the right track, but if you're still using plastic produce bags, it's time to make a change. Purchase some reusable produce bags and help keep even more plastic out of the landfill. However, avoid those bags made from nylon or polyester because they're also made from plastic. Opt for cotton ones instead.

Give up gum

When you chew gum, you're actually chewing on plastic. (Photo: Cindy Funk/flickr)

Gum was originally made from tree sap called chicle, a natural rubber, but when scientists created synthetic rubber, polyethylene and polyvinyl acetate began to replace the natural rubber in most gum. Not only are you chewing on plastic, but you may also be chewing on toxic plastic — polyvinyl acetate is manufactured using vinyl acetate, a chemical shown to cause tumors in lab rats. While it is possible to recycle your gum, it may be best to skip it — and its plastic packaging — altogether.

Buy boxes, not bottles

Buy laundry detergent and dish soap in boxes instead of plastic bottles. Cardboard can be more easily recycled and made into more products than plastic.

Buy from bulk bins

Many stores, such as Whole Foods, sell bulk food like rice, pasta, beans, nuts, cereal and granola, and opting to fill a reusable bag or container with these items will save both money and unnecessary packaging. Stores have various methods for deducting the container weight so simply check with customer service before filling your container. Also, many cotton bags have their weights printed on their tags so they can simply be deducted at the checkout.

Reuse glass containers

You can buy a variety of prepared foods in glass jars instead of plastic ones, including spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, salsa and applesauce, just to name a few. Instead of throwing these away or recycling them, reuse the jars to store food or take them with you when you’re buying bulk foods. If you have plastic containers leftover from yogurt, butter or other food, don’t throw them out. Simply wash them and use them to store food.

Use reusable bottles and cups

Instead of disposable water bottles, refill a reusable bottle. (Photo: Seven Depolo/flickr)

Bottled water produces 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year, and these bottles require 47 millions gallons of oil to produce, according to Food & Water Watch. By simply refilling a reusable bottle, you’ll prevent some of these plastic bottles from ending up in landfills and oceans — but don’t stop there. Bring a reusable cup to coffee shops and ask the barista to fill it up, and keep a mug at your desk instead of using plastic, paper or Styrofoam cups. The average American office worker uses about 500 disposable cups a year so you’ll be preventing a lot of unnecessary waste.

Bring your own container

Whether you're picking up takeout or bringing home your restaurant leftovers, be prepared with your own reusable containers. When you place your order, ask if you can get the food placed in your own container. Most restaurants will have no problem with it.

Use matches

If you need to light a candle, build a campfire or start a fire for any other reason, opt for matches over disposable plastic lighters. These cheap plastic devices sit in landfills for years and have even been found in dead birds' stomachs. If you can't bear to part with your lighter, pick up a refillable metal one to help cut down on waste.

Skip the frozen foods section

Frozen foods offer both convenience and plenty of plastic packaging — even those eco-friendly packaged items made from cardboard are actually coated in a thin layer of plastic. While giving up frozen food can be difficult, there are benefits besides the obvious environmental ones: You'll be eating fewer processed foods and avoiding the chemicals in their plastic packaging.

Don't use plasticware

Say goodbye to disposable chopsticks, knives, spoons, forks and even sporks. If you often forget to pack silverware in your lunch, or if you know your favorite restaurant only has plasticware, start keeping a set of utensils. It's sure to reduce your carbon forkprint.

Return reusable containers

Berry and tomato containers are refillable. Take them back to the market with you. (Photo: ilovebutter/flickr)

If you buy berries or cherry tomatoes at the farmers market, simply bring the plastic containers to the market when you need a refill. You can even ask your local grocer to take the containers back and reuse them.

Use cloth diapers

According to the EPA, 7.6 billion pounds of disposable diapers are discarded in the U.S. each year. Plus, it takes about 80,000 pounds of plastic and more than 200,000 trees a year to manufacture disposable diapers for American babies alone. By simply switching to cloth diapers, you'll not only reduce your baby's carbon footprint, you'll also save money.

Don't buy juice

Instead of buying juice in plastic bottles, make your own fresh-squeezed juice or simply eat fresh fruit. Not only does this cut down on plastic waste, but it's also better for you because you'll be getting more vitamins and antioxidants and less high fructose corn syrup.

Clean green

With a few simple changes, you don't have to contribute to this sea of plastic trash. (Photo: Horia Varlan/flickr)

There's no need for multiple plastic bottles of tile cleaner, toilet cleaner and window cleaner if you have a few basics on hand like baking soda and vinegar. So free up some space, save some cash, and avoid those toxic chemicals by making your own cleaning products.

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Pack a lunch the right way

If your lunchbox is full of disposable plastic containers and sandwich bags, it's time to make a change. Instead of packing snacks and sandwiches in bags, put them in reusable containers you have at home, or try lunch accessories like reusable snack bags. You can also opt for fresh fruit instead of single-serving fruit cups, and buy items like yogurt and pudding in bulk and simply put a portion in a reusable dish for lunch.

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https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsible-living/stories/16-simple-ways-reduce-plastic-waste

When a panhandler gets a job instead of a ticket, something extraordinary happens

Author
JENN SAVEDGE

Many cities have found that offering temporary work to the homeless gives them the boost they need to get back on their feet. (Photo: alexkick/Shutterstock)

In 2015, the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, launched an innovative program aimed at helping the area's homeless. Instead of ticketing panhandlers, city officials offered them jobs. In just a few years, that program — There's A Better Way — has gained national attention and been credited with connecting homeless people in that city to services and long-term employment. And it's gaining traction in several other cities as well.

Albuquerque's program is remarkably simple. City officials ride around in a van to connect with the homeless, but instead of ticketing them for panhandling or asking them to move out of public spaces, the officials offer jobs along the lines of picking up trash, cleaning up graffiti, or planting trees in city parks. At the end of the day, the workers are paid an hourly rate and dropped off near St. Martin's Hospitality Center, a local nonprofit that helps people access housing, employment and mental health services.

The program was the brainchild of Albuquerque's mayor at the time, Richard Berry. After spending time with the homeless population in his community, Berry realized that asking a homeless person to find a job is easier said than done. In order to get a job, a worker typically needs identification, an address, somewhere to take a shower, and a change of clothes — all things that most people living on the streets don't have. That's when Berry decided to create a program that brought the jobs to the people who needed them.

Since its inception, Berry's program has provided more than 1,000 jobs to the homeless. Many of those workers have gone on to secure permanent employment as a direct result of the work experience and pay they received from their temporary work with the city. With benefits like that, it's no wonder other cities — including Austin, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Seattle and Spokane, Washington; Honolulu; Denver; and Portland, Maine — have launched similar initiatives.

Take a look at Denver's program in action:

Of course, homelessness is a complicated issue. There are myriad reasons why a person might wind up living on the streets. And many of these issues can't be solved by a few hours of work. But many cities are finding that by providing the opportunity to work, instead of handing out tickets, they can offer a pathway that helps people make the leap from living on the streets to getting back on their feet.

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https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/responsible-living/blogs/cities-giving-panhandlers-jobs-not-tickets

What gray hair says about your health

Author
ANGELA NELSON

Angela Nelson (  @bostonangela ) is an exhausted mom of two young daughters and two old cats, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning digital editor with more than 15 years of experience delivering news and information to audiences worldwide.

From heart disease risk to vitamin deficiencies, your tresses can talk.

Each hair follicle contains pigment that gives hair its color. As we get older, we produce less pigment, resulting in gray hair. (Photo: Ekaterina_Minaeva/Shutterstock)

Those first few strands of grays on your head are often not a welcome sight. They're a sign that we're getting older, whether they arrive prematurely in our 20s or spare us until we're in our late 30s. But in some instances, gray hair may indicate more than our biological age: It could signal one of these five health issues.

1. Men may have increased risk of heart disease

According to a recent study published by the European Society of Cardiology, gray hair is linked with an increased risk of heart disease in men.

In the study, 545 adult men were divided into groups based on whether or not they had coronary artery disease and how much grey or white hair they had. The amount of grey hair on each man's head was graded on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being almost none and 5 being pure white. Scientists also collected data on the men regarding hypertension, diabetes, smoking habits and family medical history.

Researchers found that a hair score of 3 or more "was associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease independent of chronological age and established cardiovascular risk factors," according to the press release. Participants who already had coronary artery disease had "a statistically significant higher hair whitening score and higher coronary artery calcification" than those without it.

"Ageing is an unavoidable coronary risk factor and is associated with dermatological signs that could signal increased risk," said Dr. Irini Samuel, a cardiologist at Cairo University in Egypt. More research is needed, she said, adding: "If our findings are confirmed, standardisation of the scoring system for evaluation of hair greying could be used as a predictor for coronary artery disease."

2. You may have a vitamin deficiency

The '50-50-50' rule of thumb states that at 50 years old, 50 percent of the population has at least 50 percent grey hair. (Photo: cunaplus/Shutterstock)

Before we get into this one, let's back up. Each hair follicle contains pigment (called melanin — the same thing that colors our skin) that gives our hair its color. As we get older, we produce less pigment, resulting in gray hair. Dermatologists usually use the "50-50-50" rule of thumb which states that at 50 years old, 50 percent of the population has at least 50 percent grey hair.

However, some people go gray early. What's early? As WebMD reports: "Typically, white people start going gray in their mid-30s, Asians in their late 30s, and African-Americans in their mid-40s." So early is before those benchmarks, and its those early gray strands that may indicate a nutritional imbalance.

"Low vitamin B12 levels are notorious for causing loss of hair pigment," says Dr. Karthik Krishnamurthy, director of the Dermatology Center's Cosmetic Clinic at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York, tells Good Housekeeping. And a 2013 study found low vitamin D3, serum calcium and serum ferritin levels in people who went gray prematurely.

Early gray hair also can be a sign of a problem with your pituitary or thyroid gland, according to WebMD.

3. Your follicles may suffer from 'oxidative stress'

Hair follicles produce small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical that has been used for decades as an inexpensive way to lighten or bleach hair. However, if a hydrogen peroxide buildup occurs, your hair color may start to fade. As this 2013 study published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology journal reports:

In a new research report ... people who are going gray develop massive oxidative stress via accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle, which causes our hair to bleach itself from the inside out. Most importantly, the report shows that this massive accumulation of hydrogen peroxide can be remedied with a proprietary treatment ... described as a topical, UVB-activated compound called PC-KUS (a modified pseudocatalase). What's more, the study also shows that the same treatment works for the skin condition, vitiligo.

4. You are (or were) a smoker

A 2013 study published in the Indian Dermatology Online Journal found that smokers are two and half times more likely to develop premature gray hair than people who do not smoke. And smoking can go one step further in damaging your tresses: Certain chemicals in smoke break down in hair cells, which leads to baldness, according to the New York Times.

5. Gray is in your genes

A 2016 study found the exact gene responsible for giving us that salt-and-pepper look. (Photo: Air Images/Shutterstock)

This we know: If your parents or grandparents went gray and did so early, then chances are you will, too. But in a relatively new twist, this 2016 study found the exact gene responsible for gray hair. The study looked at the genomes of more than 6,000 people from Latin America and identified 18 genes that influence hair traits, including IRF4, which previously was known for producing light hair in people of European origin but now is associated with gray hair.

“This is the first time a gene for graying has been identified in humans,” said lead author Dr. Kaustubh Adhikari, a researcher at University College London, in a press release. “As hair grays something happens that causes this gene to produce even lower levels of melanin. Now we can ask more specific functional questions,” Adhikari told Newsweek.

Then again, if you're sporting the salt-and-pepper look these days, it may mean simply that you've accumulated some life experience and earned your stripes — whether you choose to dye them or not.

For further information log on website :
https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-gray-hair-says-about-your-health

The man who biked from India to Sweden for love

Author
MICHAEL D'ESTRIES

Spurred by a prophecy, PK Mahanandia traveled thousands of miles in the late '70s to marry the girl of his dreams.

PK Mahanandia and Charlotte Von Schedvin in a July 2014 photo. (Photo: PK Mahanandia/Facebook)

Like something out of song from a medieval bard or the worn pages of a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, the real life love story between a blue-eyed girl from Sweden and a curly-haired boy from India was borne from a prophecy.

"In India, it is common for the parents to call an astrologer when a newborn child comes to the planet," Pradyumna Kumar "PK" Mahanandia told NatGeo in 2017. "According to the prophecy, my wife and I were not going to have an arranged marriage like many people in India. My parents were also told that my wife would be from a faraway land and born under the zodiac sign of Taurus, that she would be the owner of a jungle or forest, and that she would be a musician, playing the flute."

That this prophecy, down to every detail, would end up coming true is but one remarkable detail chronicled in the 2017 book "The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love" by Per J. Andersson.

"I believed strongly in the prophecy and now know that everything is planned on this planet," he added.

While Mahanandia's childhood was one he described as filled with love and a deep appreciation for nature, his time away at school taught him the harsh realities of India's caste system.

"I realized very quickly that I was not like the other children," he recalled in an op-ed piece. "Every time I touched someone, they ran away to the river to wash themselves. I was considered impure by the society. I was labeled untouchable, a Dalit."

To block out this organized racism — a system he said regarded him below farm animals and dogs — Mahanandia developed his passion for art.

Love at first brush stroke

PK Mahanandia and Charlotte Von Schedvin early in their relationship. According to PK, the true meaning of humanity 'is love.' (Photo: PK Mahanandia/Facebook)

In 1975, as a broke, sometimes homeless, art student in Delhi, a young Mahanandia began selling his talents as a street artist. While he briefly discovered fame thanks to opportunities to draw the likes of Indira Ghandi and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, the greatest moment of his life occurred on Dec. 17, 1975. That was the day he met Charlotte Von Schedvin, a young 20-year-old from Sweden who was in the midst of fulfilling a life-long dream to visit and experience India.

"A woman with long beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes approached me," Mahanandia recalled to NatGeo. "It was evening. When she appeared before my easel, I felt as though I didn’t have any weight. Words are not accurate enough to express such a feeling."

Overcome by emotion and certain that this woman was the one, Mahanandia says it took him a total of three separate meetings to paint her portrait without shaking. It was during these sessions, as Charlotte sat still in front of his easel, that he gently quizzed her using the details of the prophecy he had been given as a child. Where was she from? Sweden –– a faraway land. Check. What was her sign? Taurus. Check. Did she play the flute? Both flute and piano. Double check.

As for owning a forest or jungle, it turned out that Von Schedvin's ancestors had been bestowed a portion of forest after helping the king of Switzerland in the 18th century. Like some magical wishlist, her life's story checked all the boxes of the prophecy.

What happened next was a whirlwind of courtship that culminated in a visit to Mahanandia's village and a blessing from his parents to be married. As it turned out, she was completely smitten with the young, curly-haired artist as well. "I didn't think, I just followed my heart 100%," she later told CNN. "There was no logic."

Setting off on the Hippie Trail

PK Mahanandia with one of the bikes he used to cover the 4,000 miles from India to Sweden along the 'Hippie Trail.' (Photo: PK Mahanandia/Facebook)

The couple remained together for the next three weeks but were then forced to part when Charlotte returned to Sweden. Mahanandia remained in India to complete his final year of art school.

Over a year into their separation, with their romance buoyed by a steady flow of letters, Mahanandia decided he could no longer stand to be apart from his soulmate. He sold everything he owned, said goodbye to his family, and set off with a secondhand bike on an almost 4,000 mile journey from India to Sweden.

For the next five months, Mahanandia made his away along "The Hippie Trail," an alternative tourism route that weaved through countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, and parts of Europe. While the Iranian Revolution and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would shortly terminate this popular route for nearly all travelers, Mahanandia's 1977 excursion was fortunately free of strife.

"I was not alone," he told NatGeo. "I never met any person whom I disliked. It was a different time, a different world of love and peace and, of course, freedom. The biggest obstacle was my own thoughts, my doubts."

The various routes of the Hippie Trail. (Photo: NordNordWest/Wikimedia)

In addition to bicycling, Mahanandia also made use of hitchhiking, which was commonplace along the trail. Buses, trains and other forms of public transportation were widely available; as were the hostels, restaurants and local dives that rose up to cater to the waves of tourists from North America, Australia, Japan and Western Europe. As Rory McLean, author of the book "Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India," described it, the trail played host to an eclectic mix of travelers and vehicles.

"For most Intrepids, the trip was the journey of their life — the experience of their life," he said in a 2009 interview with WorldHum. "Just consider how they traveled. A few flew directly to India, but the majority drove east from Europe. War-surplus Jeeps, retired Royal Mail vans, fried-out VW campers, rainbow-colored London double deckers, clapped-out Turkish coaches. I even heard of a Scotsman who drove a Messerschmitt bubble car to India. It was the weirdest procession of unroadworthy vehicles ever to roll and rock across the face of the earth."

And they lived happily ever after...

PK Mahanandia and Charlotte with their two children, Emelie and Sid Von Schedvin. (Photo: PK Mahanandia/Facebook)

On the 28th of May, Mahanadia arrived in the city of Borås, Sweden. When he was finally reunited with Charlotte, words failed them both.

"We couldn't speak," he recalled in a video interview. "We just held each other and cried tears of joy."

Now, 40 years and two children later, the couple still reside in Sweden. Mahanandia has enjoyed a prominent career as an artist and even serves as the Odiya Cultural Ambassador of India to Sweden. As for the secret to their undying devotion to one another?

"We have been happily married for more than 40 years, and the secret is there is no secret at all — but simple, heartfelt openness to each other is important and needed to maintain understanding and respect for each other," he wrote. "Marriage is a union not only physically, but also spiritually. Recognizing that allows love to then grow like ripples on water."

'Talk to each other. Love each other. Celebrate your differences,' says PK Mahanandia. (Photo: PK Mahanandia/Facebook)

For further information log on website :
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/man-who-biked-india-to-sweden-for-love

7 ways to meditate while you move

Author
STARRE VARTAN

If you don't have time for sitting meditation, give one of these active meditations a try.

You don't have to be still and quiet to meditate. (Photo: Eugenio Marongiu/Shutterstock)

The most wonderful thing about meditation — besides its effectiveness in improving mental and physical health — is that it's endlessly flexible. While sitting meditations are probably the most common way to practice quieting your mind, there are several styles of meditation, from transcendental, spiritual, guided, mindfulness, focused — including movement-based.

Yes, you can meditate while moving.

Usually, it involves doing something repetitive and simple — so that while you're moving, you can also kind of lose yourself and find stillness inside. Anything that helps you focus on your breath (or at least won't interfere with focusing on it) is a positive too.

You can practice walking meditation wherever you can let down your guard and stroll. (Photo: KieferPix/Shutterstock)

Walking: If you've ever enjoyed walking in a labyrinth and found yourself in a calm, mindful state, you've done a walking meditation. (In fact, labyrinths were originally created for meditation.) You don't need a labyrinth to accomplish this though, and while a familiar path is best, you can can do it almost anywhere it's safe to let your guard down and stroll. It's fairly easy to begin a walking meditation; check out these guidelines and give it a try.

Drawing: Drawing can certainly get you into a flow state, which is similar to meditation, but if you don't already draw, you might want to try Zentangle, in which you build images through repetitive patterns. As Maria Popova writes on BrainPickings: "Each pattern is built one line at a time, organically combining simple patterns into complex zentangles in unplanned, unexpected ways that grow, change and unfold on the page as you enter an immersive state of flow."

Coloring: Coloring books have gained popularity over the last few years, and one of the reasons why is their meditative benefits. When I asked friends about why they enjoyed coloring, several mentioned meditation, which surprised me. MNN's Robin Shreeves wrote: "When I'm doing [coloring books], I don't think about anything but colors." Unlike drawing or painting, coloring doesn't require any previous knowledge or ability to get started, which could be a stumbling block for some.

Singing: Meditation via song is an ancient spiritual tradition in several faiths. In fact, even today song can be one of the primary means of prayer in Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Sufism and Hinduism as well as interfaith practices for singing meditation. Singing's inherent focus on the breath, and the repetitive words and rhythms makes it a way for those who are musically inclined to reach a meditative state, especially once the music is familiar.

Housework: Certain household chores feel automatic by the time you reach adulthood, right? Vacuuming, washing dishes, folding laundry, or any other relatively repetitive chore can all provide a time to breathe more consciously and to clear the mind while getting stuff done. Use the same basic techniques as you do when you are sitting for a meditation — whenever outside thoughts intrude, gently push them away, focusing on your breath and the quiet movement of your hands.

Yoga: People often associate yoga as something you do before or after meditation, but if you're familiar with some basic poses, it can become a meditation in itself. A slower pace, and holding poses for extended periods of time can facilitate a more meditative experience. I took a recent restorative yoga class and about 10 minutes in, I felt as if I were doing a sitting meditation yet moving slowly through it. It was amazing and I felt wonderful afterwards, both stretched and physically relaxed, as well as mentally calm.

Swimming: Personally, this is one of my favorite active ways to meditate. I've even said that "swimming is my yoga" when I show up to hang out with friends with wet hair from the pool. I'm not sure how meditative it would be for someone who isn't comfortable in the water, but as long as you can do a breaststroke without nerves, swimming meditation is easy. You'll probably automatically focus on your breathing as you swim, and paying attention to the feel of water over your limbs and the sensation of how your hands or feet break the surface of the water are all mindfulness practices.

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https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/7-ways-meditate-you-move