Music...food for the Soul.

Lately, I have been listening to a great Contemporary Mexican Band named "Camila." I listen to them on my Pandora Radio account on the internet at night before I go to sleep, and I also went as far as buying their CD to listen to in my car. Something about the lyrics and sound that seem to lift my spirits, especially when I am feeling down, or even when I'm in good mood and want to "keep rock-in." Regardless of my mood I always seem to gravitate to music to make me feel better. The Huffington Post suggest that although, music is helpful to our "hearts and souls." Coincidentally, the Mayo Clinic now also report that it can also help your physical state of being....

What are these benefits?

*Ease in Anxiety in Cancer patients: Cancer patients who either listened to music or worked with a music therapist experienced a reduction in anxiety.

*Reduces Stress: To get the positive effects of music, you have to listen to music that you like.

*Boosts Heart Health: The researchers found that listening to joyful music is linked with dilation of blood vessels' inner lining, meaning more flow of blood through the blood vessels.

*Soothes Pain: Researchers from University of Utah Pain Research Center showed that listening to music is effective as a distraction for anxiety-prone people from feeling pain, and as a result, could help people feel less pain.

*Helps Memory: Web MD reported that taking music lessons is linked with doing better on tests where you have to recall words you read on a list.

* Protects the Aging Brain: Health Day reported that older people ages 60 to 83, with different levels of music experience, who had the most musical training in their lives had the best mental sharpness, and scored the highest on brain functioning tests.

For more information/other benefits and full article click on: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/music-and-health-11-ways-body-mind_n_1413241.html?ref=healthy-living#s854677&title=Protects_The_Aging

Vocabulary

contemporary: existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time.

lyrics: (of poetry) having the form and musical quality of a song,and especially the character of a song like outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings,

as distinguished from epicand dramatic poetry.

spirits: the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans,animating the body or mediating between body and soul.

gravitate: to move or tend to move under the influence of gravitational force.

coincidentally: happening by or resulting from coincidence; by chance: a coincidental meeting.

Vocabulary Exercise

Complete Crossword puzzle below.

Your Crossword Puzzle

1 2 3 4 5

ACROSS 2. the vital principle in humans. 3. or living at the same time. 4. to move or tend to move under the influence of something.

DOWN 1. by chance.

Grammar Point

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun.

A common noun names general items.

A proper noun has two distinctive features: 1) it will name a specific.

A compound noun normally has two parts. The second partidentifies the object or person in question.

A Plural noun means more than one item.

Grammar Exercise

Write the letter of the description next to the word it best describes

.....Common a. nouns that refer to more than one person, place, idea or thing.

.....Proper b. nouns that refer to one person, place, idea or thing.

.....Compound c. nouns that cannot be perceived by your five senses.

.....Plural d. general nouns for non-specific things.

Read more at: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/nouns.htm