What happened that made us believe we all had to be special, beautiful and rich? That we had to have more and be more and pretend that the two were connected..To film it all.

Shabaz explains, it's consumerism and social media, which together created this obsession of scrolling through the phone.. relatable info highlighting issues we all face but just don't won't or can't do anything about..

Being a povvo is great, because ... I don't know if anyone's noticed, but the lives of plastic people we stare at online do not look fun. They holiday in Dubai.. their most meaningful relationships are with customer service assistants (who hate them) 🤦‍♀️

The aim of this book seems to acknowledge how ridiculous it is to see extravagant living on social media platforms.. and to hype the beauty of normal people lives. A much needed dialogue for certain members of society ✌️

Shabaz shares his thoughts on how social media has warped our minds in relation to food.. 10 dollar giant strawberries.. gold steaks..He highlights the abnormalities which are normalised on the Internet, and then celebrates the reality of the average persons relationship with food.

It is adult life as designed by a child who wants to be a Princess.. the child (played by an adult Influencer) can really play grown ups by pretending to require a stimulant.. but in place of dolls there are 3 million people watching on a phone.

A reminder of times back in 2008 when we didn't all constantly take photos of ourselves .. selfies.. there was no time for being sexy ..'Today's generation have grown up in a world where everyone's just trying to look sexy all the time' .. the challenges faced using filters explained perfectly 😵‍💫😖Damage to our self image.. destructive to our sense of self..

Now we are playing the same game as the models, but we are destined to lose unless we buy some products..
No beauty products can make you beautiful..

I think the Internet cosmetics industry treats young women in a similar way to how crypto/investor socials approach teenage boys

How to date on the cheap? Be single!Mathematical studies show that simply reducing the number of people on a date from 2 to 1, can reduce costs and improve your mental state by 50%!That's a saving!Throughout the book helpful povvo tips are provided 🤭

Povvo Hack!

... we turn to obsessive people with low body fat as a substitute for functioning healthcare systems, and the solutions to a society that has been massively disrupted by the rapid advance of technology.

... in reality we are all ill from a loss of community, a loss of social safety nets and the general psychological erosion that comes from spending too much time online..

... to dedicate time, money and thought to something that adds nearly no quality to your life is a sign of how free you are, and how much spare money and time you have. Ice cubes literally melt away. You are saying 'I have time and money to put into something that will disappear, because time and money are nothing to me'.

The world is full of books about how to be rich. This is not one of them. Today, many of us are feeling the pinch - and being bombarded with portrayals of social media 'perfection' is making that pinch feel more like a punch. We may know that social media - with all its billionaires and beauty queens - is just a highlight reel. So why is it still making most of us feel so low? Comedian Shabaz Ali wants to help you see the funny side of social media again. Because while it looks nice to live up in an ivory tower, this book reminds us that it is much more fun to be part of the baying mob that surrounds it. This laugh-out-loud deep-dive into social media's ridiculously rich, will help you love your own penny-pinched, rough-around-the-edges, extraordinarily ordinary life.

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Fashion & Beauty

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Health

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Technology & The Future

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Entertainment

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Society, Arts & Culture

Shabaz Ali

I'm Rich, You're Poor

Did you know that Vitamin C is a powerful brain booster and one of the best vitamins to help calm you down?
But is it something you think of taking if you are feeling stressed or depressed? Maybe not.

Vitamin C

It has a vital role to play in your brain and is one of the best vitamins to help calm you down. Concentrations of vitamin C in the brain are far higher than those in the rest of the body, and long after the body is depleted of the vitamin, the brain maintains its levels. That's because it is so important for the conversion of tyrosine into dopamine, tryptophan into serotonin, and for GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine and epinephrine production.

These are the neurotransmitters providing the stress and relaxation response, balanced mood, both physical and motivational energy and feelings of reward and satisfaction.Without Vitamin C neurotransmitter levels decline in the brain and body resulting in prolonged stress and anxiety, lower mood and low motivational energy.Vitamin C is fundamental to all thoughts and feelings and is very important in helping to balance your mood and keep you feeling calm.

Yes, vitamin C calms you downThis antioxidant plays a vital role in your central nervous system. A study in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry declared that:"vitamin C deficiency is widely associated to stress-related diseases and several studies showed that supplementation produces antidepressant effect and improves mood”

Chronic stress and anxiety leads you to have elevated levels of cortisol (a stress hormone). Vitamin C can help your body to better manage its cortisol levels.

Vitamin C plays an important therapeutic role for anxiety as it helps both in the prevention and in the reduction of anxiety. This suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C may be an effective addition to medical and psychological treatment of anxiety as well as improving cognitive performance

Vitamin C helps with your brain fog and memory.It plays a vital role in the formation maturation of neurons and of the myelin sheath that protects them and speeds message transmission. This makes it crucial to cognitive performance including memory and processing speed.A study that included 80 healthy adults found that those with adequate blood levels of vitamin C performed significantly better in tests assessing memory, attention, reaction time, and focus than those with low vitamin C levels

What’s more, a recent study suggests that vitamin C supplementation may improve mood in people with subclinical depression, which could enhance cognitive performance, thus reducing depression-related brain fog

NRV for vitamin C:Adult males: 90 mg/dayAdult females: 75 mg/day

How much Vitamin C to take?

Top food sources for vitamin C:Guava, citrus fruits, kiwis, melons, papaya, pineapplered bell peppers, red cabbage, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, potatoesAnd as poor diet is common in people with mood disorders so it is possible that vitamin C deficiency might also be more prevalent among people struggling with their mental health.

We all tend to eat the same sorts of foods each week which means that over time we start to miss some crucial nutrients.It means that we end up with deficiencies and gaps without even realising it.This has a huge impact on how our bodies and brains work.

Your brain is very responsive.That’s where a high quality supplement fits in. It helps you to give your brain a boost, fix the deficiencies and help you to feel calm again.Add a good supplement to your daily routine and you are fast on your way to transforming your mental health.

Did you know that vitamin C is a powerful brain booster and one of the best vitamins to help calm you down? If I asked you: What do you take vitamin C for?   I imagine your first answer would be to boost your immunity. It’s one of the first things we think of taking when we are ill with a cold or flu.    But is it some

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Food

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Habits

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Mental Health

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Science & Nature

Does Vitamin C Calm You down?

Listen to recitations of the verse on YouTube for a better understanding of the benefits 👍🔊 👂

Due to a lack of revelation, the Prophet PBUH fell into a depression and was about to give up all hope. These kinds of emotions are common in everyday life. There are instances when we cannot get up in the morning. In addition, we lack faith and pray distractedly.We feel as if we have lost our connection to Allah. When we sense that Allah no longer loves us, we conclude that we aren’t good enough.We will consider how Surat Duha gives us peace of mind.

The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) received Surah Ad-Duha after six months without any revelation. The Prophet (ﷺ) was depressed and thought that Allah had forgotten him, disapproved of him, and no longer wanted him to be a Prophet.These evil thoughts were alleviated and replaced with hope, positivism, and assurance that Allah is always there for him in Surah Ad-Duha.

Lessons From Surah Duha

That’s what this Surah is all about, and that’s the most important lesson it teaches.<ul><li>Optimism is a virtue we must uphold as Muslims.</li><li>Our ancestors did not intend for us to be a gloomy race.</li><li>Our lives should be filled with hope for Allah’s help and mercy.</li><li>Optimism and hope are essential ingredients in each activity we attempt.</li><li>If we are serious and the endeavor is helpful to the ummah, we must have faith that Allah will support us.</li><li>That mentality should be the driving force behind our efforts.</li></ul>

BE POSITIVE:

<ul><li>Allah reminded us of occasions in the past when He helped His Messenger so that we can keep our spirits up (peace be upon him).</li><li>Many times in the past, Allah has given us prosperity and turned around a difficult circumstance in our own lives.</li><li>Reminiscing about such occasions helps us remain hopeful that Allah will continue to provide for us in the future.</li></ul>

BE THANKFUL: 

<ul><li>A believer’s goals are not selfish and materialistic. Instead, our goals should revolve around the aspirations of believers who aren’t self-centered and selfish.</li><li>The Muslim world thrives because of the generosity of its people.</li><li>Almighty Allah rewards those who give generously, and their wealth multiplies as a result.</li><li>The person who gets the charity is also blessed and now has some money to help him go forward in his own life.</li><li>Charity is a win/win scenario.</li></ul>

BE GENEROUS:

<ul><li>A Muslim’s aim should be to raise and benefit the ummah, which necessitates having an ummah-centric attitude.</li><li>Putting people first should be the ultimate goal of every endeavor.</li><li>As long as our primary purpose is to help the ummah, Allah will reward us with Barakah for our work, companies, resources, and free time we devote to the cause.</li></ul>

CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY:

1. Wad duhaa— By the morning brightness“Wake up, look at the sunshine!” is the first thing you need to hear if you’re depressed. You only have to glance up to see that life is not all doom and gloom.

Tafseer of Surah Duha

2. Wal laili iza sajaa— And [by] the night when it covers with darkness,Why does this aayah mention darkness right away? To serve as a gentle reminder that the night’s purpose is to protect, comfort, and rest us.Therefore, we can use the night as a consolation to soothe our suffering, according to this aayah.

3. Ma wad da’aka rabbuka wa ma qalaa— Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O Muhammad], nor has He detested [you].One of Allah’s most striking verses reassures the downtrodden that He is constantly at their side, reminding them that He does not despise them or forget them.

4. Walal-aakhiratu khairul laka minal-oola— And the Hereafter is better for you than the first [life].Depressed people often wonder: Is this all there is to life? Is there no hope for a brighter future?As a solution to those inquiries, the verses of this aayah serve as a reminder that this world is just transient and that the hereafter awaits us in Aakhira.As a result, we get a positive outlook on the challenges we face in this life and see them as tests of our faith in Allah.

5. Wa la sawfa y’uteeka rabbuka fatarda— And your Lord is going to give you, and you will be satisfied.As a guarantee from Allah, we can expect a colossal recompense (Jannah) shortly. Subhanallah!Why else would this be the most comforting thing you could ever hear when you’re feeling low and fed up with the troubles of this world?

6. Alam ya jidka yateeman fa aawaa – Did He not find you an orphan and give [you] refuge?In the first part of the Surah, Allah gave us a cause to accept His statements and promises.Understandably, many of us are asking ourselves, “How does this aayah concerning orphans connect to most of us Why do you think that a lot of people feel that way when they are unwell or alone?The only person you had with you at the moment was whoever it was. Allah! He was the one who watched over you and helped you get through that difficult period of your life.

7. Wa wa jadaka daal lan fahada— And He found you lost and guided [you].As Muslims, how many of us have strayed from Islam in the past, even though we were born into it? Our hidaya was given to us by Allah, and it was He who guided us back to the straight road and Him, transforming us into good Muslims in the process. Alhamdulillah!

8. Wa wa jadaka ‘aa-ilan fa aghnaa— And He found you poor and made [you] self-sufficient.In our lives, the majority of us have likely experienced a lack of financial resources several times. However, in retrospect, we understand that the rizq that took us through those challenging economic times came solely from Allah.To help those who are depressed, show them how Allah has helped them in the past.This will reinforce their faith in Allah’s promises for them in this Surah.

9. Fa is mal yateema fala taqhar — So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him].Using this aayah is like taking an antidepressant every day.People who are depressed are preoccupied with their circumstances and believe no one could be in a worse position.When we’re feeling hopeless and down, this ayah encourages us to consider those in far worse positions. Orphans who have no family or loved ones and no one to care for them. Yet, we have loving families and parents who care about us, a place to live and food to eat, yet we perceive ourselves to be in a precarious position? Subhanallah!

10. Wa am mas saa-ila fala tanhar— And as for the petitioner, do not repel [him].Beggars serve as another reminder to us of the various material gifts Allah has bestowed upon us, such as food, clothes, and a place to sleep. The question is, how many of us have gone to bed hungry before? How many of us are without clothing? Have no place to call home?The orphan and the beggar are two people whom we should continually remember to be grateful for the many gifts that Allah has bestowed upon us, overcome our feelings of melancholy, and rediscover our connection to Allah.

11. Wa amma bi ne’mati rabbika fahad dith – But as for the favor of your Lord, report [it].The last aayah encourages us to keep our restored trust and connection with Allah alive by meditating on, praising, and extolling His benefits. Whether it’s through halaqas, conversations with loved ones, or even preaching! There are several ways to maintain Allah’s name in your heart, such as dhikr, reading the Quran, and listening to lectures!Inshallah, reading Surah Ad Duha and pondering its contents will revive your faith and strengthen your conviction in Allah’s grandeur and might.

93rd Surah of the Qur’an, “The Morning Hours” (Arabic: الضحى ) is the meaning of this Surah.In the Quran, surah ad duha is the 93rd Surah.In total, there are 11 ayat (verses) in this Surah Ad Duha.

Surah Duha in which Para?

<ol><li>By the morning sunlight,</li><li>And [by] the night when it covers with darkness,</li><li>Your Lord [O Prophet] has not abandoned you, nor has He become hateful [of you].</li><li>And the next life is certainly far better for you than this one.</li><li>And your Lord will give you, and you will be satisfied.</li><li>Did He not find you as an orphan then sheltered you?</li><li>And He found you lost and guided [you],</li><li>And He found you poor and made [you] self-sufficient.</li><li>So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him].</li><li>And as for the beggar, do not repel [him].</li><li>And proclaim the blessings of your Lord</li></ol>

English Translation of Surah Ad-Duha

وَالضُّحَى وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَى مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَى وَلَلآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الأُولَى وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَى أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَى وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَى وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلا فَأَغْنَى فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلا تَقْهَرْ وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلا تَنْهَرْ وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ

Surah Duha Arabic

<ol><li>Wad duhaa</li><li>Wal laili izha sajaa</li><li>Ma wad da’aka rabbuka wa ma qalaa</li><li>Walal-aakhiratu khairul laka minal-oola</li><li>Wa la sawfa y’uteeka rabbuka fatarda</li><li>Alam ya jidka yateeman fa aawaa</li><li>Wa wa jadaka daal lan fahada</li><li>Wa wa jadaka ‘aa-ilan fa aghnaa</li><li>Fa am mal yateema fala taqhar</li><li>Wa am mas saa-ila fala tanhar</li><li>Wa amma bi ni’mati rabbika fahad dith</li></ol>

Transliteration of Surah Ad-Dhuha

Surah duha Secrets and Virtues | Quran Oasis

Understand yourself and those around you.

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Psychology

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

meditation

Meditation

Surah Duha Secrets and Virtues, anxiety, depression | Quran oasis

<ul><li>Pride</li><li>Envy</li><li>Greed</li><li>Wrath</li><li>Lust</li><li>Gluttony</li><li>Sloth</li></ul>

Why does being bad feel so good?

Research explains where these behaviors come from and help us understand why we continue to engage in them—and often celebrate them—even as we declare them to be evil.

Techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which highlights metabolically active areas of the brain, now allow us to view the biology of bad intentions.

The most enjoyable sins engage the brain’s reward circuitry, including evolutionarily ancient regions such as the nucleus accumbens and hypothalamus; located deep in the brain, they provide us such fundamental feelings as pain, pleasure, reward, and punishment.

More disagreeable forms of sin such as wrath and envy enlist the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. This area, buried in the front of the brain, is often called the brain’s conflict detector, coming online when you are confronted with contradictory information or even simply when you feel pain.The more social sins (pride, envy, lust, wrath) recruit the medial prefrontal cortex. Found just behind the forehead, this region helps shape the awareness of self.

No understanding of temptation is complete without considering restraint, and neuroscience illuminates this process as well. As we struggle to resist, inhibitory cognitive control networks involving the front of the brain activate to squelch naughty impulses by tempering their appeal.

Meanwhile, research suggests that regions such as the caudate—partly responsible for body movement and coordination—suppress the physical impulse. It seems to be the same whether you feel a spark of lechery, a surge of jealousy, or the desire to pop somebody in the mouth: The two sides battle it out, the devilish reward system versus the angelic brain regions that hold us in check.

It might be too strong to claim that evolution has wired us for sin, but excessive indulgence in lust or greed could certainly put you ahead of your competitors.

“Many of these sins you could think of as virtues taken to the extreme. From the perspective of natural selection, you want the organism to eat, to procreate, so you make them rewarding. But there’s a potential for that process to go beyond the bounds.”

There is no sin centre in the brain, no single node of fiendishness that we might be able to shut down with drugs or electrodes. With the advent of modern imaging techniques that peer into the brain as it functions, though, we at least gain some perspective on our bad habits. At the same time, we can indulge in another wickedly gratifying pastime: As other people misbehave, we can sit back and watch.

In the annals of sin, weaknesses of the flesh—lust, gluttony, sloth—are considered second-tier offenses, less odious than the “spiritual” sins of envy and pride. That’s good news, since these yearnings are notoriously difficult to suppress.

Lust

Watching pornography calls upon brain regions associated with reward, sensory interpretation, and visual processing. It enlists the amygdala and the hypothalamus, which deal with emotional information; it also stimulates the reward processing ventral striatum, probably due to the satisfying nature of watching erotic stimuli. All said, the most notable thing about lust is that it sets nearly the whole brain buzzing.

These responses are so unique and distinctive that, in the context of an experiment, it is possible to determine whether a man is aroused just by looking at an fMRI brain scan. “These are huge effects,” Safron says. “You’re looking at the difference between something that elicits intense desire and something that does not.” (Women show a less spectacular response, Safron says, and it is unclear exactly why.).

If lechery is all-consuming, how do we ever manage to control it? As with other powerful impulses, we try to shut down arousal by calling upon the right superior frontal gyrus and right anterior cingulate gyrus, according to research led by Mario Beauregard. He and others propose that these brain areas form a conscious self regulatory system. This network provides us with the evolutionarily unprecedented ability to control our own neural processing—a feat achieved by no other creature.

Today it is difficult to regard overeating as a sin, considering the overwhelming evidence of the powerful role of physiology in appetite. Physician Gene-Jack Wang has studied the brains of overeaters since 1999, when he and colleague Nora Volkow originally observed that obesity and drug addiction alter the same brain circuits.

Gluttony

These pathways, which rely on the neurotransmitter dopamine, are often referred to as the reward system, but they are also involved in motivation, attention, decision making, and other complex functions. In their studies, Wang and Volkow found that both drug addicts and obese people are less sensitive to dopamine’s rewarding effects. Being relatively numb to the pleasure and motivation signal may make them more likely to chase after a stronger thrill: more food or a bump of cocaine. Excessive stimulation further desensitizes dopaminergic neurons, and the compulsion snowballs.

In some of his experiments, Wang asks his volunteers to come hungry. He then torments them, asking them to describe their favorite food in detail while he heats it up in a microwave so that its aroma wafts through the room. When they go into a positron-emission tomography (PET) scanner, Wang sees the motivation regions of their brains go wild. Parts of the orbital frontal cortex, which is implicated in decision making, also light up.

In the brains of obese people, the regions that regulate sensory information from the mouth and tongue are more active, suggesting that overweight people may experience the sensations of eating differently. Other research shows that their reward sensitivity is lower. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and other areas involved in inhibitory control are underactive; the heavier the person, the lower the activity there.

“Our brain evolved for us to eat in excess, in order to survive. This kind of excess is built into the brain.”

Mere laziness seems out of place among the deadly sins. It helps to know that this moral failing was originally conceived of as acedia, a term that suggested alienation and tedium, tinged with self-contempt. Acedia afflicted jaded monks who had grown weary of the cloistered life. Their sin was turning away from their moral obligations and toward selfish pursuits—a monastic form of ennui.

Sloth

Today, paralyzing lassitude is often seen as a symptom of disease rather than of turpitude. Apathy is a classic sign of frontotemporal dementia. In this neurodegenerative disorder, the frontal lobes of the brain are slowly eaten away, causing social and mood changes as well as cognitive decline. Patients with such dementia often become increasingly withdrawn.

Sadness and listlessness are also hallmarks of major depression. With frontotemporal dementia the symptoms are caused by dead and dying cells; in depression the root cause is still unknown. In both conditions, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex has an unusual pattern of activation.

Related to its ability to inhibit impulses, this region has a role in sustaining attention over the long haul. Abnormal function in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex might be connected to the lethargy associated with both conditions. Conversely, activity in this area may keep a lid on negative emotions; in some studies, depression lifted with stimulation of that part of the brain.

Early theologians saw pride as the fundamental sin—the “queen of them all,” according to Pope Gregory the Great, who codified the list of seven deadly sins in the sixth century. Indeed, psychologists say that arrogance is second nature in Western society. Most of us perceive ourselves as slightly smarter, funnier, more talented, and better-looking than average.

Pride

These rose-colored glasses are important to mental health, functioning as a psychological immune system that protects us from despair. “Those who see themselves as they truly are—not so funny, a bad driver, overweight—have a greater chance of being diagnosed with clinical depression,” says Julian Paul Keenan.

For most of us, it takes less mental energy to puff ourselves up than to think critically about our own abilities. In one recent neuroimaging study, volunteers who imagined themselves winning a prize or trouncing an opponent showed less activation in brain regions associated with introspection and self-conscious thought than people induced to feel negative emotions such as embarrassment. We accept positive feedback about ourselves readily,

“Compared with guilt or embarrassment, pride might be processed more automatically.”

Pride gets its swagger from the self-related processing of the medial prefrontal cortex, which Keenan calls “a very interesting area of the brain, involved in all these wonderful human characteristics, from planning to abstract thinking to self-awareness.”

Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), in which a magnetic field applied to the scalp temporarily scrambles the signal in small areas of the brain, he was able to briefly shut off the medial prefrontal cortex in volunteers. With TMS switched on, his subjects’ normal, healthy arrogance melted away. “They saw themselves as they really were, without glossing over negative characteristics”.

Righteous humility has traditionally been depicted as the virtue that opposes pride, but the work of Keenan and others calls that into question. He is using TMS to disrupt deliberate self-deprecation—the type of unctuous, ingratiating behavior that seems humble but is actually disguised arrogance.

Patterns of brain activation during self-deprecation are fundamentally the same as those during selfdeceptive pride, Keenan is finding. “They’re in the same location and seem to serve the same purpose: putting oneself ahead in society."

Despite the enormous pool of potential research subjects, greed has not yet been systematically investigated in brain research. However, neuroscience does offer insight into a related phenomenon, the indignant outrage of the cheated.

Greed

Our hatred of unfairness runs deep, even trumping rational self-interest. In the lab, researchers frequently use the “ultimatum game” to test our responses to injustice. One of two partners is given a sum of money and told that he must offer some amount of his own choosing to his partner. If the partner rejects the offer, neither gets to keep any of the cash.

On a rational basis, the receiving partner should accept any nonzero offer, since getting some money is always better than getting none at all. But people’s sense of violation at unfairness is so strong that test subjects reject offers of 20 percent or less about half the time.

In response to unfair offers, the brain activates the pain detection process. It also engages the bilateral anterior insula, an area implicated in negative emotions such as anger, disgust, and social rejection. The overall picture that emerges from fMRI is that of a brain weighing an emotional response (the urge to punish the guy who is cheating you) against a logical response (the appeal of the cash).

When Lieberman increased the money being offered, he found that accepting a share that was larger but still unfair—say, $8 out of $23—was linked with increased activity in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and downregulation of the anterior insula, changes that are often seen during the regulation of negative feelings. People seemed to be swallowing their outrage to accept a reward that was inequitable but appealing.

Similarly, getting a fair offer—even if it was small in absolute terms—activated regions in the brain that are involved in automatic and intuitive reward processing. Justice apparently feels good.

The sin of pride turned on its head, envy is the most social of the moral failures, sparked by the excruciating awareness of someone else’s supreme talent, stunning looks, or extremely expensive car. For that reason, it is also the least fun of the deadly sins; feeling jealous provides no dirty thrill.

Envy

Only one imaging study (conducted by Takahashi’s group in Japan) has probed the neural basis of envy. Volunteers in fMRI machines were asked to read three scenarios. In the first, “student A” was portrayed as similar to, but better than, the volunteer in every respect. “Student B” was depicted as equally successful but very different from the subject, and “student C” sounded pretty much like a loser.

Reading about the awe-inspiring student A activated the volunteers’ conflict-detecting brain region, perhaps responding to the gap between the default setting of self-aggrandizing pride and the ugly truth of someone else’s triumphs. This same region is enlisted when feeling pain, suggesting to Takahashi that envy is a kind of “social pain in the self.”

On the other hand, indulging in schadenfreude—delight in someone else’s downfall—can be downright bliss. Aquinas termed this “morose delectation” and condemned it as a failure to resist a passion. Indeed, Takahashi found that rejoicing in a rival’s defeat brings pleasure just as surely as envy does pain. In the second phase of his study, volunteers read about student A’s downfall, causing the ventral striatum to light up.

The striatum is part of the so-called reward system, which can be activated by such pleasures as money, food, or sex, Takahashi says. The stronger the activation of the brain’s conflict detector in the first study, the stronger the striatum response in the second.

It may not have been the original sin, but rage is certainly primordial: Much of the brain circuitry active during anger is very basic and very fast. In humans, anger also enlists the conflict-detecting dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which immediately alerts other regions of the brain to pay attention. The more upset you get, the more it activates, according to Tom Denson, a psychologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. In people with short fuses, this part of the brain seems to be primed to feel provocation and personal slights, Denson says.

Wrath

Some of us are more easily enraged than others, but few are able to stifle rage completely. Instead we may convert overt hostility into angry brooding.To investigate the difference between short fusers and brooders, Denson antagonized his volunteers, insulting them while he scanned their brains. “Within seconds you see differences,” he says.

The medial prefrontal cortex, associated with self-awareness and emotional regulation, quickly lit up in angry brooders. So did the hippocampus, involved in memory. As they fume, people repeatedly relive the insult in their minds. Denson found that the degree of hippocampal activation predicted how much people tended to ruminate.

Probing the underpinnings of vengeful behavior, a German group led by neuropsychologist Ulrike Krämer allowed people who had been provoked during an experiment to punish their antagonist with a blast of extremely annoying noise. While the subjects pondered how loud to set the volume, the dorsal striatum, part of the brain’s reward circuitry, lit up at the prospect of retaliation.

“We have this primitive brain that says, ‘Do it! Do it!’” Denson says. Similarly, people asked to imagine themselves engaging in aggressive behavior actively suppress activity in the prefrontal cortex, where social information is processed. By deliberately inhibiting our natural social response, we ready ourselves to strike out.

Historically, moralists have not paid much heed to the findings of science, and it is safe to say that all the brain-scans in the world probably will not persuade modern theologians to recalculate the wages of sin. Still, they might want to observe one recent finding from modern neuroimaging:It turns out that acting virtuously does not really require a hair shirt. In fact, research suggests that it feels pretty good.

Jordan Grafman recently found that virtue literally is its own reward. Altruistic behavior sends reward-related brain systems into a pleasurable tizzy—even more so than the prospect of self-interested gain. “The big punch line is that all things being equal, your reward system fires off a lot more when you’re giving than when you’re taking,” says Grafman, who is chief of the cognitive neuroscience section at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Call it the dirty little secret about being good: It might be even more fun than being wicked.

A scientific exploration of the 7 deadly sins 🤷‍♀️

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Some essential oils may benefit hair by<ul><li>Speeding hair growth</li><li>Improving scalp health</li><li>Improving texture</li></ul>Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT.

Essential oils are extracted from plants through methods like distillation or evaporation. While essential oils are most famous for their aromatic capabilities, they also contain strong chemical properties that can be beneficial for health.Essential oils have long been used in alternative, Eastern, and homeopathic medicines thanks to their effectiveness and low risk of side effects.

One benefit some essential oils have is improving hair health. Different oils can do everything from helping hair grow to adding strength and shine.

Lavender oil can speed up hair growth. Knowing that lavender oil has properties that can generate the growth of cells and reduce stress, researchers on one animal study found that this oil was able to generate faster hair growth in mice.It also has antimicrobial and antibacterial properties, which can improve scalp health.

Lavender Essential Oil

Mix several drops of lavender oil into 3 tablespoons of carrier oil, like olive oil or melted coconut oil, and apply it directly to your scalp. Leave it in for at least 10 minutes before washing it out and shampooing as you normally would. You can do this several times per week.

Peppermint oil can cause a cold, tingling feeling when it increases circulation to the area it’s applied to. This can help promote hair growth during the anagen (or growing) phase.One study found that peppermint oil, when used on mice, increased the number of follicles, follicle depth, and overall hair growth.

Peppermint Essential Oil

Mix 2 drops of peppermint essential oil with the carrier oil of your choice. Massage it into your scalp, and leave on for 5 minutes before washing out thoroughly with shampoo and conditioner.

If you want to improve both hair thickness and hair growth, rosemary oil is a great choice thanks to its ability to improve cellular generation.According to one study Trusted Source, rosemary oil performed as well as minoxidil, a common hair growth treatment, but with less scalp itching as a side effect.

Rosemary Essential Oil

Mix several drops of rosemary oil with olive or coconut oil, and apply it to your scalp. Leave it in for at least 10 minutes before washing it out with shampoo. Do this twice per week for best results

Cedarwood essential oil is thought to promote hair growth and reduce hair loss by balancing the oil-producing glands in the scalp. It also has antifungal and antibacterial properties, which can treat different conditions that may contribute to dandruff or hair loss.Included in a mixture with lavender and rosemary, cedarwood extract was also found to reduce hair loss in those with alopecia areata.

Cedarwood Essential Oil

Mix a few drops of cedarwood essential oil with 2 tablespoons of a carrier oil of your choice. Massage it into your scalp, and leave it on for 10 minutes before washing it out.

Dandruff can be a common ailment, and having a healthy, flake-free scalp is an important part of hair health. Lemongrass oil is an effective dandruff treatment, with one 2015 study finding that it significantly reduced dandruff after one week. Lemongrass oil for dandruff is most effective when used daily.

Lemongrass Essential Oil

Mix a few drops into your shampoo or conditioner daily, and make sure it’s massaged into your scalp.

Thyme can help promote hair growth by both stimulating the scalp and actively preventing hair loss. Like cedarwood oil, thyme oil was also found to be helpful in treating alopecia. Thyme is particularly strong, even among essential oils.

Thyme Essential Oil

Put only 2 small drops in 2 tablespoons of a carrier oil before applying it to your scalp. Leave it on for about 10 minutes, then wash it out.

Clary sage oil contains the same linalyl acetate that helps make lavender oil so effective in increasing hair growth. It can improve hair strength, in addition to increasing hair growth, making hair more difficult to break.

Clary Sage Essential Oil

Mix 3 drops of clary sage oil with your favorite conditioner, or with 1 tablespoon of carrier oil. If using it daily, rinse out after 2 minutes. If using it once or twice per week, leave it on for 10 minutes

Tea tree oil has powerful cleansing, antibacterial, and antimicrobial properties. When used topically, it can help unplug hair follicles and increase hair growth.Some are highly concentrated essential oils, and other products are mixed in a cream or oil.A 2013 study even found that a mixture containing tea tree oil and minoxidil was more effective than just the minoxidil alone in improving hair growth, though more studies are needed on using tea tree oil only.A review in 2015 found tea tree is commonly used in anti-dandruff treatment products.

Tea Tree Essential Oil

You can mix 10 drops of tea tree essential oil into your shampoo or conditioner and use it daily. Or, you can mix 3 drops with 2 tablespoons of a carrier oil, and leave it on for 15 minutes before rinsing it out.

While those with oily hair and skin would want to skip this one, ylang-ylang oil is ideal for those with dry scalps, as it can stimulate sebum production.As lack of enough oil and sebum causes hair to become dry and brittle, ylang-ylang can improve hair texture and reduce hair breakage.

Ylang-ylang Essential Oil

Mix 5 drops of essential ylang-ylang oil with 2 tablespoons of warm oil. Massage it into your scalp, and wrap your head with a warm towel. Leave it in for 30 minutes before washing it out. Ylang-ylang can also be found in preparations such as shampoo or creams.

Horsetail plant oil is an extract oil, not an essential oil. It contains silica, which is thought to improve hair growth speed and strength along with potentially reducing dandruff.While no studies have evaluated horsetail oil used topically, a 2015 study found that oral tablets containing the oil improved hair growth and strength in women with self-perceived thinning hair.

Horsetail Plant Extract Oil

It can also be effective as a topical treatment, with anecdotal evidence and theory suggesting that it may help boost circulation to the scalp and have the same benefits as the oral tablet. It can be added to shampoo or massaged into your scalp.

The biggest risk of essential oils is skin irritation or allergic reactions. This is especially common when an essential oil is applied directly to the skin, so it’s vital to always use a carrier oil to dilute it.Allergic reactions are also more common in those with sensitive skin or those who have allergies to the essential oil.

Risks and Potential Complications

Symptoms of skin irritation include:<ul><li>Contact dermatitis</li><li>Burning, discomfort, or painful tingling</li><li>Redness in the affected area</li></ul>

Signs of an allergic reaction include:<ul><li>Severe dermatitis</li><li>Blistering rashes</li><li>Difficulty breathing</li><li>Swelling of the tongue or narrowing of the throat</li></ul>

Only older teenagers and adults should use essential oils topically for hair health. If you think essential oils could benefit your child, ask their pediatrician first to make sure it’s safe.To evaluate for irritation, remember to test a small amount of the mixture on a small patch of skin before full use.

Essential oils can help you improve the health of your hair with very little risk of side effects at an affordable price point. They’re also easy to use.For many, mixing some with a carrier oil or your shampoo and applying that to your scalp regularly can increase hair growth, strength, or shine.

Conclusion

A study on the benefits of essential oils for hair health 🙆‍♀️

Some essential oils can improve the health of your hair with very little risk of side effects. Learn about which essential oils can help your hair grow and stay healthy. 

Essential Oils for Hair

Made up of 30 short chapters, this book is a spiritually enriching reminder of the Creator's love, which increases through everyday actions by remaining consistent with unnoticeable good deeds.We will explore the qualities and characteristics Allah SWT loves, and how we may become people who are loved by Him.I have also included some Duas (prayers) eloquently put in writing by Omar Suleiman, the author of this book 🙏🏼

This refers to the constant effort and mindset of steering back to Allah.If we were created by God to return to Him in a state that is pleasing to Him, then to demonstrate our desire to be loved by our Creator, we should show caution with things that compromise that love.The most practical way to do this is that we stop ourselves from thinking, saying or doing anything that is displeasing to Allah, we stop ourselves because we know that the greatest consequence is distance from Him.

Allah Loves..Piety

30 short chapters exploring who and what Allah loves ❤️

In Allah Loves... Omar Suleiman explores who and what Allah loves so that we may become one of those who are beloved to Him. The Prophet Muhammad said that one of the supplications of Prophet Dawud was, “O Allah I ask You for Your love and the love of those that love You and all of those actions that would bring me closer to being loved by you.” Looking at our actions, characteristics and beliefs, this book will help us become better people, citizens and believers that are deserving of Allah's endless, infinite and ever-lasting love. Made up of 30 short and spiritually enriching chapters, this book is a reminder that throughout our lives, the Creator's love is always there, increasing through everyday actions such as showing generosity or remaining consistent with unnoticeable good deeds.

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