May 5, 2020 7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The following article is based on excerpts from Ben Angels book, Unstoppable: A 90-Day Plan to Biohack Your Mind and Body for Success. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes Noble | iBooks | IndieBound. And be sure to order The Unstoppable Journal, the only journal of its kind based on neuroscience, psychology, and biohacking to help you reach your goals.

Nearly half of adults in the United States reported that their mental health had been negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the coronavirus, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Adverse mental-health effects due to social isolation may be particularly pronounced among older adults and households with adolescents, as these groups are already at risk for depression or suicidal ideation.

The pandemic is likely to have both long- and short-term implications for mental health and substance use. Those with mental health concerns pre-pandemic, and those newly affected, will likely require mental health- and substance-use services. Keeping this in mind, you must know where you sit on the mental-health continuum to understand how it is affecting you physically. When people undergo traumatic stress either mentally or physically, it creates a pattern within the body that soon emanates into psychological and biological side effects. You can now track where you fall into this continuum by taking an Identity Quiz on how well you are coping with your current situation. We have been able to survey more than 50,000 entrepreneurs and found out 54 percentof them fall into the two lowest categories:The Guardian and The Defender.

Related: 5 Ways to Boost Your Immune System During the Coronavirus Outbreak

There are four identity types in total:The Catalyst, The Synergist, The Guardianand The Defender. Your goal is to ensure your physical and psychological energy stays above a 50 percentcharge,the state at which you become a conscious creator and feel motivated, focused, and driven to achieve your goals.

When you fall below this state, you switch into a state of self-preservation mode where you run out of physical and emotional energy. This is where your fight-or-flight response is triggeredand your brain prioritizes vital bodily functions over personal or career goals.

Below, you're going to learn which identities we need to be most concerned about and what you can do to change your identity to help you through these harrowing times.

Operating at 0- 25 percentof their capacity. Traits of Defenders:

Rely heavily on caffeine or other stimulants to make it through the day.

Food cravings of sugars and carbs.

Anxiety.

Lack self-awareness and typically have low self-esteem.

Cognitive functions are in severe decline, like forgetting names, numbers or information;inability to make decisions.

Low levels of concentration.

Quick to exhaustion as brain doesnt have the fuel it needs to focus.

Chronic digestive issues, joint pain, skin rashes and unexplainable brain fog and fatigue.

Insomnia.

Defenders are depressed, anxious and struggle to make it through the day. Many will blame this on a poor mental attitude and feel they are lazy. They are emotionally depleted and need love and support from others, including medical professionals, to help them get their health and their life back. Defenders must seek out medical and professional help immediately.

Operating at 25-50 percentof their capacity. Traits of Guardians:

Procrastination and criticism derail their efforts.

They can keep going, briefly relying on willpower.

They have goals, but they seem unattainable.

Self-doubt has laid its foundation.

Chronic stress.

Nutritional deficiencies taking their toll.

Poor diet and lifestyle choices.

Less energy and focus.

Takes longer to recover from physical or emotional events.

They can endure for some time, but this constant state of fight or flight is taking its toll on many of their bodily and brain functions. It's typically the first time in their life they can't function as they used to, and many in the medical field will tell them it's typical aging and prescribe a drug to help alleviate the symptoms without treatingor accurately definingthe cause.

Operates at 50-75 percentof their capacity. Traits of Synergists:

Learning to balance willpower with sustainable energy, though starting to find it harder to maintain willpower alone.

Energy levels tend to fluctuate throughout the day.

Focus and concentration also varies throughout the day; unable to maintain constant energy.

They have an inner understanding that rest helps to reset the body for long-term success.

Relatively even moods.

Deliberate and conscious creators.

Not easily distracted.

Can quickly slide back into a Guardian if they fail to look after their physical and emotional health.

Operates at 75-100 percentof capacity. Traits of Catalysts:

Greatly self-aware ofhow their brain and body works for peak performance.

Abundance of psychological and physical energy to fuel them daily.

Able to troubleshoot problems calmly and methodically.

Able to pinpoint underlying issues and correct them successfully.

Operates from the higher executive part of their brain.

Strengthens their cognition through meditation, education, supplementsand a healthy diet.

Are society's game changers, both locally and globally.

Yes, we all can become The Catalyst, but it takes self-awareness and courage to dig deep into the root causation of your illnesses. Here are the first steps you should do to get yourself on the path to becoming unstoppable.

If you scored as a Guardian or Defender, you mustn't go on this health journey on your own. Finding a functional medicine doctor who specializes in chronic conditions will have the additional training needed to get to the root cause of your concerns. Following the steps below will aid in your knowledge of brain and body consciousness so you can increase your energy and build emotional and physical resilience to manage these stressful times.

Food sensitivities can trigger a range of issues, including; fatigue, bloating, brain fog, respiratory problems (e.g.asthma, sinusitis, rhinitis), headaches/migraines, depression, anxietyand sadness. They cause an inflammatory response in the body. Keep a food journal for a minimum of 30 days to track your mood and links to food. For a comprehensive report, you can order a food sensitivity test from companies such as Everlywell.

According to one study, 92 percentof the U.S. population has a nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiencies can occur regardless of whether an individual eats a healthy diet or not. This is due to farmland soil becoming deficient in essential micronutrients. Before you supplement, visit a functional doctor and have a full blood test done. Your doctor will be able to uncover any deficiencies that are impacting your physical or mental performance.

Nootropics are smart drugs or synthetic substances taken to improve mental cognition in healthy individuals. Consult your doctor before taking it. If we do not replenish ourselves, it can lead to burn out, exhaustion and depression. L-Tyrosine, L-Theanine, L-Carnitine, Magnesium, vitamin Dand Ashwagandha are but a few nootropics that can help you maintain proper brain function. They are go-tosfor Silicon Valley elite.

With all of us dealing with this new normal, we can optimize this time to go within and discover what is holding us back. Many of you suffering from depression, anxietyand fatigue may find the answer within these lines to help you get your body and mind back to optimal performance.

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There Will Be 4 Identity Types in This Recovery. Which One Are You? - Entrepreneur

Alex Spencer dissects the newest offering from The Strokes, finding a sound that has matured yet remains characteristically arrogant.

In the seven years since their last full-length LP, fans of The Strokes have been held in suspense over the bands direction and even willingness to perform. Weve witnessed solo efforts from guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., the debut albums of CRX and Machinegum, and the experimentation of Julian Casablancas work with The Voidz. This was a group of musicians desperate to fulfil their creative visions, away from the apparent compromise that hindered The Strokes on the 2013 Comedown Machine.

Casablancas has publicly stated his ambivalence towards their 2013 and 2011 works, and The Strokes subsequent hiatus suggests that ideas had begun to run thin. Indeed, their 2016 EP, Future Present Past, exhibited a tortured yearning for a new angle.

"The blueprint for writing addictive tracks remains, but there is an added progression which is afforded to many tracks on the album."

The New Abnormal thus comes as a welcome surprise to Strokes fans, relieved that there is life in the New York five-piece yet. It is a more mature work, and more interesting than its recent predecessors, exhibiting a subtlety foreign to many of its contemporaries.

The album flows from classic Strokes riffs and discordant imagery to 80s-infused tracks such as Eternal Summer and Ode To The Mets, which show an attempt at a new direction the introduction of Rick Rubin as producer can be thanked for such forays.

The blueprint for writing addictive tracks remains, but there is an added progression which is afforded to many tracks on the album. The Adults Are Talking and Why Are Sundays So Depressing? evolve into nonchalant guitar riffs, the latters tremolo-laden guitar a perfect antidote to the songs overall message of lustful arrogance.

Having taken back full writing control in the band, Casablancas lyricism never fails to allude rather than explain. He speaks often in non-sequiturs, implying a lack of concern for our understanding, but these only add an honesty to the sentiments expressed as his own. He contemplates his reluctance to change on Not The Same Anymore I couldnt change, its too lateLate again, I cant grow up showing a self-awareness that is remorseful, but unapologetic.

The album resonates more on account of its restoration of The Strokes individuality and swagger.

Tracks such as Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus and At The Door veer down different musical paths, yet their message hovers around an understanding of the writers defects: Casablancas feelings of introversion and insignificance. Much of The New Abnormal hinges on an awareness of drifting apart from people but refuses to criticise this. To the romantic Strokes fan, this could perhaps be viewed as a stretched metaphor for the bands relationship with its audience in recent years.

The Strokes appear typically unconcerned in general with our reaction to their work. Casablancas frustrations toward their previous two albums cannot be said of The New Abnormal, and the influence of time away with The Voidz is evident in heavier production and the penchant for allusion in his lyrics. In characteristic fashion, and without veering into truism, Casablancas returns to writing for his own pleasure, with a seeming disregard for appeasing any particular audience.

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Solace in songs in the time of Covid-19

The New Abnormal comes at a pertinent time the title refers to the climate crisis but finds a happy context in the present day fitting for a band that seems to inadvertently strike a relatable chord with its listeners. One can only imagine Casablancas joy at this prophetic accident, so often himself the spokesperson of an invisible war going on in the modern age.

But the album resonates more on account of its restoration of The Strokes individuality and swagger, so marked in their first three LPs. These albums established for the band their own style of youthful confidence layered with scepticism. No longer youthful, The New Abnormal restores The Strokes image with an added maturity and demonstrates a renewed cohesion after a period of self-indulgent solo exploits. It is sensitive and self-aware, but addictively unremorseful in true Strokes fashion.

Varsity is the independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge, established in its current form in 1947. In order to maintain our editorial independence, our newspaper and news website receives no funding from the University of Cambridge or its constituent Colleges.

We are therefore almost entirely reliant on advertising for funding, and during this unprecedented global crisis, we have a tough few weeks and months ahead.

In spite of this situation, we are going to look at inventive ways to look at serving our readership with digital content for the time being.

Therefore we are asking our readers, if they wish, to make a donation from as little as 1, to help with our running cost at least until we hopefully return to print on 2nd October 2020.

Many thanks, all of us here at Varsity would like to wish you, your friends, families and all of your loved ones a safe and healthy few months ahead.

The rest is here:
The New Abnormal is self aware and unremorseful - Varsity Online

Dawn Gilchrist, Western Regional Teacher of the Year, Jackson County Public Schools

Im sitting alone in my silent classroom as I write this. Its noon, and in normal times, students would be heading to the cafeteria about now, excited that its the first Friday in May. But instead of student conversations and laughter in the hallway, the only sounds are the wind buffeting the building and the clinking of machinery from the lumber mill next door. The sun pours in the big windows, warming the empty desks and chairs.

To my left is where Daykota helped Brian decode and pronounce words in the one-act play we did in November. In front of me is where Canyon wrote his memoir project, listening to smooth jazz a little too loudly through his earbuds. To his right was Lelia, who takes care of her brothers infant daughter and aided others with technology in ways that I could not; and Jazmin, who enrolled in late January, and had just begun to overcome her shyness enough to participate in class discussions when we left in mid-March.

But thats all done now and students wont be returning to the classroom this school year. Whats more, we dont even know if they will return next year.

While our State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction have done the grueling work of hammering out what school is and is not for the remainder of this semester, no one has yet ventured any ideas that are equitable or even feasible for what happens in August, except that school starts on August 17.

And since we still have neither hard facts nor easy answers in terms of what we will do to educate our public school students for the next year, I asked a group of accomplished teachers to weigh in on the subject with what they think school should look like in the 2020-2021 school year.

From thoughts on equity and broadband accessibility to staggered schedules, competency-based learning, and rebuilding trust, here is what all nine 2020 North Carolina Regional Teachers of the Year have to say.

Teachers will be given the daunting task of filling in the gaps in the curriculum in the move to remote learning. Relationships will need to be rebuilt and re-established, and routines that are necessary to normal school operations will need to be re-instituted.

However, what if normal is not what should be reestablished? What if this is our time to reimagine what learning looks like and feels like for students? What if this is our opportunity to rediscover our why and continue the creativity and innovation that began occurring out of sheer urgency and necessity?

Students will be suffering from trauma. They will still be going through confusion, fear, and uncertainty. It would be a travesty for teaching, learning, and assessment to return to exactly what it was before this life-altering event.

If this has taught us anything, it has taught us that inequity is real and raw for so many of our students. We have confirmed what we as educators already knew: that assessments can look different in showing mastery and that creative alternatives to what has been used traditionally should be explored. Teachers will be the barometers of this situation, and if the situation changes and remote learning is again necessary, teachers will again be on the front lines to give the best education humanly possible given the resources available to them.

We as educators will be the safe space, continuing to see our students as people with a plan and a purpose. Give us the grace we need to reevaluate, reinvent, reestablish, and refresh.

Over a span of four decades teaching young children, I have been hugged around the legs so many times that I cannot count and all those hugs have communicated that student and teacher belong to each other. And yet, what has happened to many of our students during the COVID-19 pandemic? We have been separated from our students. Only those who are equipped with resources in technology and have an involved adults for accountability still have that unique sense of belonging engendered by the classroom.

As school resumes after COVID-19, we have the great task of, again, building the bridge for students to school by connecting to them and building their trust. We may have to rekindle the sense of belonging in some, but because our need to belong is so basic, we know our efforts will not be in vain.

After querying several of my teacher friends in Cleveland and Catawba counties, we all came to the conclusion: The necessity for social emotional learning to lead the way in August is major.We think that to do anything else would be to do the students and ourselves a huge disservice.Specifically, we would like to begin the school year with a two-week summer academy, assuming we have a traditional start.

During the first week, we would have school-wide events such as a yearbook signing, senior walk, and a memorial service in which we, as a school family, will be allowed to grieve the losses suffered during COVID-19. This would be followed by mental health professionals privately and discreetly counseling students who need these services.

The second week, students would be allowed to spend each day in their previous classes.This week would provide some closure socially, emotionally, and academically.Teachers would be encouraged to provide instruction that forges this closure, promoting growth and progressive movement forward.

And, finally, upon beginning the fall semester, instruction would be provided, but perhaps at a slowed pace, and with letter grades adapted to focus primarily on growth.

COVID-19 has brought about a need to see public education not as it was, but as it could be. My hope is that we will see a huge shift in the perception of public education: that a new appreciation will strengthen community and parent involvement.

While parents and teachers alike knew a transition to online learning wouldnt be without hardship, moving students to online learning has exposed disparities that werent evident before. As we return, I hope that we are keenly aware of the students needs beyond instruction. I hope we will work to erase inequities of all types, beginning with the basic needs and continuing, especially, to address the digital divide. I implore our state to work harder than ever to put devices and connectivity in the hands of all students. It is my hope we are able to meet the needs of the whole child unlike ever before.

As a part of that, I would love to see student services strengthened. Living through this pandemic will affect every student differently: some are without food, some are without socialization, some worry about losing family. Counselors and nurses at a new and advanced level will be needed to navigate the return to our new normal.

At the district level, I hope that administrators and other leaders will have a renewed trust in educators. I hope that teachers are given the autonomy to make essential decisions about closing gaps, reaching all students, and even the structure of how the school days will look with new guidelines. Above all, I hope we never take for granted the gift of each day in our classrooms with our students.

As a high school science teacher and mom of three school-aged children, working from home while also helping my 7-year-old navigate her Google Classroom is challenging on a good day and impossible on others. I say this while acknowledging that we are the privileged the ones with devices, food, and a support system. So what is it like for students and their families who have none of these?

I believe that as we enter the next school year, we still need face-to-face learning in some form. Recently, EdNC had state education leaders answer questions in a virtual town hall, and it was posited that students most in need may be able to return sooner than others. The fact is, however, they are all in need.

Obviously, in my utopia, we all enter those doors together in August, but if that is not possible, if that is not safe, we must look for ways to make contact with our students in the school building each week. For instance, I could see students coming in on Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday, both to receive feedback and direct instruction, and then go home to continue assignments with a clear direction.

Whatever model we adopt next school year, I know that educators will dive in with all the energy and dedication they have shown during this time of quarantine distance learning. Until we can all be together again, we will hold on to every thread of contact with our students, continuing to educate, support, and uplift them with every resource we can muster.

Over the past several years, equity has been a buzzword in education. As we attend professional developments, engage in book studies, and discuss equitable education at school improvement team meetings, we skirt around the concerns of inequity, never really solving the problem.

In these early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the harsh reality of the inequities in the American public school system is evident. As we transitioned to a virtual learning environment, many students have not had access to digital technology devices or internet connectivity. This could have been a show stopper, but it was not.

School districts, administrators, teachers, parents, and community leaders stepped up to meet this challenge head-on to ensure that learning could and would continue. School districts developed solutions to get devices to students. Administrators, educators, and classified staff shifted brick and mortar lessons to a virtual platform while finding ways to get hard copy resources to students who need them, helping with meal distributions, and supporting the social emotional learning needs of our students.

As we move into the 2020-2021 school year, I expect that work will continue. The COVID-19 pandemic not only exposed a real problem, but it also provided us with the opportunity to begin working on solutions to this problem. However, there is still much work to be done. As we return to school in the fall, providing an equitable education for all students, regardless of their familys financial status or zip code, must be one of our main priorities.

COVID-19 has forced all of us to be resourceful in ways we never imagined, and whether or not we move back into our school buildings, we must continue to improve our educational system by providing an equitable education to every single student.

While this is a stressful time for everyone, there is a silver lining in the changes happening in North Carolina Schools. This opportunity to transform the educational system needs to be addressed as a long-term solution, not just a short-term fix.

I am a 20th century learner educating 21st century students a divide that humbles me as I recognize my students different learning needs, styles, processes, and capabilities. What this means is that the notion of instruction has to change. While standards are inevitable and warranted, the methods we have used to teach these standards need to pivot from focusing on test results to an authentic assessment of whether or not a student has learned a concept.

We need two elements in order to make the switch to a student-centered system: personalized learning and competency/proficiency based education. The use of personalized learning plans creates self-awareness as students work with parents, teachers, and counselors to build upon learning and behavioral strengths, while identifying and working on weaknesses.

Competency/proficiency based education allows students to master standards at their own pace and calls for a reevaluation of the grading process. Both personalized learning and competency based education lead to stronger relationships between teachers and students, build self-awareness in all learners, and transform teaching from teaching skills to teaching learners.

Education is an absolute, inalienable right. As schools reopen in the fall, we must focus on providing equitable opportunity for every student to have access to this basic human right. Dr. King proclaimed, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and if we cannot be sure that every student has access to what they need to be successful, we should not accept the plan as a solution.

My fear is that we will provide a rushed framework, one in which each student is given an equal opportunity to learn, but because we live in a system in which students have unequal backgrounds, abilities, and livelihoods, there is no model that can possibly replace student-centered teaching. I agree, our main concern should be student safety, but safe must include both the body and the mind.

My picture of school in the fall has a larger percentage of time spent in classrooms than in remote instruction, and that is because face-to-face instruction is the only avenue that provides every student with the information they need to be successful.

My hope is that through this experience, educators across the region, state, and country have had time to reflect. A paradigm shift of dramatic proportions is taking place as we gain a clearer vision of the failings of the American education system. When we return to school, we must have a renewed importance of how and when to give grace, of progress over perfection, of reestablishing relationships, and of the possibilities of rigor in remote instruction.

We must also not forget to plan solutions that will be equitable for all teachers and subjects of learning. Many ideas (ie., A and B schedules, half day schedules, etc.) will not work for a music classroom, for fine arts in general, nor for any classroom that serves multiple levels and grades of students. What is most important is this: we must be sure to create opportunities for ALL students, no matter their abilities or background, to learn and grow.

As I finish this reading through my peers thoughts, Im sitting in my calm dining room, with birdsong and neighbors lawn mowers serenading me and my third cup of coffee. Since late March, Ive done most of my remote teaching from this table, where I have all the space and quiet I need to do my best in this situation. Lucky me.

I try to imagine my students doing the work I assign from their bedrooms, but most of my alternative school students dont have their own bedrooms, much less their own computers. And because almost all of them live with extended family, or extended familys significant others, or in foster care, or sleep on a friends couch, the chances are that their situation is going to be just as impossible come fall.

And yet, even though I want my students back in the safe space we call school, I dont see how it can be possible given the lack of COVID-19 testing and a vaccination two years out and thats if were fortunate. So what do I want school to look like this fall? It is going to have to be more individualized than ever because there is no one answer that will fit every school or even every district.

If it is virtual, everyone must have access to broadband and a reliable device. If it is a physical classroom, students will have to be staggered, with no more than half the students in school at any given time (and even then, of course, they will still touch each other). If it is virtual or a hybrid, the workweek should be four days according to the teacher who mentored me because screen fatigue exhausts students and requires far more planning by teachers.

But theres hope. We know how to roll with the punches because, as public school teachers, weve had a lot of practice. We know how to make our students feel important even when the world does not. We know how to roll up our sleeves, paint our own classrooms, buy our own books, and feed our own students when their families cannot.

What we dont know how to do yet is recreate in every students home what weve nearly perfected in our brick and mortar buildings: a place where they are equal to every other child; where they have food, warmth, and safety; where the tools they need are always provided; and where learning is the focus and primary goal. But well get there, even if it seems impossible right now. We know all about achieving the impossible. After all, we are teachers.

Dawn Gilchrist is the 2020 Western Regional Teacher of the Year from School of Alternatives in Jackson County Public Schools.

Tonya Smith is the 2020 Piedmont-Triad Regional Teacher of the Year from Elkin High School in Elkin City Schools.

Carol Forrest is the 2020 North Central Regional Teacher of the Year from Long Mill Elementary in Franklin County Schools.

Chad Beam is the 2020 Southwest Regional Teacher of the Year from Burns High School in Cleveland County Schools.

Maggie Murphy is the 2020 Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year from Piney Creek School in Alleghany County Schools.

Ashley Bailey is the 2020 Charter Schools Regional Teacher of the Year from Roxboro Community School in Roxboro.

Maureen Stover is the 2020 Sandhills Regional Teacher of the Year from Cumberland International Early College High School in Cumberland County Schools.

Jeanie Owens is the 2020 Northeast Regional Teacher of the Year from Ocracoke School in Hyde County Schools.

Daniel Scott is the 2020 Southeast Regional Teacher of the Year from Swansboro High School in Onslow County Schools.

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NC Regional Teachers of the Year: School during COVID-19 - EdNC - EdNC

In recognition of Mental Health Month, On the Pulse will be sharing valuable resources and inspiring patient stories each week to guide individuals and families struggling with mental health issues and help destigmatize the topic of mental health in our society.

Managing a childs mental health can feel like an uphill battle with no end in sight. Often times, parents and caregivers feel lost when it comes to navigating through their childs emotions when they are experiencing a mental health crisis or mitigating a situation before, during and after a crisis occurs.

Some of the best resources to help parents and caregivers better understand their childs mental health are the same tools providers routinely use for any patient coming into Seattle Childrens with a mental health issue. Developed by pediatric mental health experts at Seattle Childrens and used in clinic for over a decade, the escalation cycle is one such tool that parents and caregivers can easily adapt to use at home.

The escalation cycle is a tool used to explain emotion or behavior during a crisis situation. It has six stages identified by different colors. Seattle Childrens Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine clinic uses the tool to understand behavior and escalation, and to guide parents and caregivers in using different interventions at each stage. The use of a Coping Card together with the escalation cycle is an essential element in understanding the emotions that trigger certain behavior in your child.

The escalation path and coping cards can help parents and caregivers work with their child to recognize the types of things that upset their child, how their child feels, and what it looks like when they are upset, said Maureen OBrien, the director of Seattle Childrens Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Unit (PBMU). This teaches children the skill of self-awareness, which can otherwise be difficult to teach.

To understand how the escalation cycle works, its important to explore each stage of the cycle closely and the interventions that are involved.

Each stage is identified by a color green, yellow, red or blue, and gray.

The cycle begins with green, which is the baseline. When we are in the Green Zone, our behavior is normal or typical, although it looks different for everyone. In this stage, people are calm, rational, and able to learn new skills and have difficult conversations. It is the best time for proactive interventions.

Interventions are the strategies or activities that we use to help children calm and manage their emotions, OBrien said. Our interventions vary based on the childs level of escalation. Interventions also vary based on the type of trigger this is when the Coping Card comes in handy. Being aware of the emotion and your childs level of escalation will help you choose your intervention.

These are some examples of baseline interventions, things you can do when your child is in the Green Zone that will support you when a trigger occurs. These interventions work best as part of a consistent daily routine:

After a trigger happens, we often escalate and enter the Yellow Zone. Triggers are things that make people feel mad, sad or upset. These are signals that your child needs emotion coaching and coping skills to calm. Without effective coping skills, people can continue to escalate until they are in a crisis. Here are some examples of interventions that can be used during escalation:

When a child continues to escalate past the Yellow Zone, they have reached the peak of the cycle, which is the time when a crisis can occur. In the Red or Blue Zone, we are not able to effectively cope. Crisis is an unsafe period of time; people are often impulsive and reckless. They do not make good decisions when they are in crisis; they often act unsafely toward themselves, somebody else, or the physical space theyre in. In crisis, our bodies experience high levels of adrenaline, making crisis a phase that is physically hard on our bodies.

There are two types of crises: externalizing or Red Zone crisis, a behavior is directed at others (either aggression or property destruction) and internalizing or Blue Zone crisis, a behavior is directed at themselves.

During this phase, the only focus is on safety using these strategies:

After the crisis has passed, people de-escalate and reenter the Yellow Zone, which can be a volatile phase. People are calming down and trying to burn off the adrenaline from the crisis. It can take over thirty minutes for your childs body to return to baseline.

This is where families often make the biggest mistake, OBrien said. They try to problem solve and dont wait until their child is back to their baseline. This is a crucial period when a child needs time to recuperate to get their energy back and let their adrenaline run-off.

It is best to use calming coping skills, such as:

The Gray Zone is a time for post-crisis recovery. Before people are back to their baseline and feeling normal or typical, it is common for them to have low energy and feel guilty, tired, hungry, sad or embarrassed about the crisis. In this phase, people continue to feel the run-off of adrenaline. Your child may be physically and emotionally exhausted. Focus on caring for your child by:

Often families forget the gray zone and want to take this time to talk about the crisis right away, OBrien said. This is a period where a child is in the most risk of re-escalation. Give your child time to get re-grounded and back to their normal behavioral patterns before discussing the situation.

Finally, after the Gray Zone recovery period, when people recover from the aftermath of the adrenaline, or the post-crisis slump, they return to their baseline or the Green Zone. They are calm, stable, and able to learn again. At this point, you can discuss next-steps with your child, focusing on how to prevent the same crisis from happening again. Here are some examples of interventions you can use after your child returns to baseline:

The escalation cycle and Coping Cards used by Seattle Childrens have helped thousands of patients and their families through the most difficult situations.

Created based on psychological research and various other medical literature that exists, the escalation cycle is formatted in a way that is unique to Seattle Childrens, OBrien said. What makes this tool so useful is that children of any age can benefit from using them. This is one of our standard interventions we use and one of the things that makes our mental health program in our Emergency Department (ED) distinctive compared to others. While other EDs may do assessments and make a determination plan for a patient, they dont always have resources or skills to provide education to help families stay out of crisis when they leave.

While these tools are significantly helpful, OBrien says families should complement them with the knowledge of knowing their child and whats best for them.

The biggest takeaway for families is that you know your child best, she said. These tools are not meant to tell you what do or say when your child is undergoing a mental health issue; these tools exist to guide you in the right direction and understand their emotions on a deeper level.

If you, your child or family needs help right away, call your countysmental health crisis number. In King County, call866-427-4747. You can also text HOME to741741or call theNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline,800-273-8255, from anywhere in the U.S. If you or a family member has a problem with a substance use disorder, please consider calling theWashington Recovery Help Line,866-789-1511.

Resources:

Read more here:
Expert-Tested Tools to Manage Your Child's Mental Health - On the Pulse

Poker is one of the most emotionally demanding games you can think of. So much so that one of the words youll hear most often is tilt.

Being on tilt, roughly speaking, is when you allow bad feelings to dictate your behavior.

Everyones been there. But not everyones aware that there are at least two reasons for this to happen. And knowing the difference between the two may change the way you approach your next poker session.

Lets start by refining our understanding of what it means to be on tilt.

As Ive suggested, this is when you let your emotions hurt your game. This is often an insidious process, which can manifest itself in different ways.

But, if we pay enough attention, well be able to identify some common behavior patterns.

The most obvious form of tilt is when you start entering pots with marginal hands more often, in the hope of hitting a monster on later rounds of betting.

Not all players on tilt may do this. But all of them become more subject to some kind of speculative play. In short, they disregard most of what they once learned about the fundamentals (hand selection, pot odds, position, etc.).

Sometimes, its great. Nothing in poker is bad per se. After all, you have to know how to change gears and how to manipulate your table image.

And speculative plays can help you with that. Against skilled opponents, you wont go too far if your game is too predictable. But when those plays arent done in the proper state of mind, this means that youre simply relying on luck.

Knowing ones own state of mind is, in itself, a full-time job, because it requires constant attention. But its easy to put into words how a person is feeling when he/she is on tilt.

In fact, we can summarize it with a single wordfrustration.

Frustration is an interesting word. According to the 3rd edition of the Longman Active Study Dictionary, heres how its defined:

[] the feeling of being impatient or angry because you cannot do what you want to do[.]

I dont need to tell you what it means to be impatient or angry, do I? Any human being knows those feelings all too well.

Still, it requires a good deal of self-awareness to identify certain emotions as soon as they show up during a poker session. And it requires an even greater deal of self-regulation to not let them interfere with your game.

Self-awareness and self-regulation are emotional intelligence skills. As such, they deserve an article of their own. For now, lets continue analyzing our definition of the word frustration.

Once again, according to Longman (and most dictionaries, by the way), its a feeling that comes because you cannot do what you want to do.

And its here that I ask you, do you know what you want to do when you play poker?

I suspect that, for most poker players, the question What do you want to do? isnt even the most relevant because theyre way too concerned about what they want to have.

That is, theyre all about the results Im not here to say you shouldnt be results-oriented. After all, this is a common trait among successful people.

But these people have also learned that your results should come in direct proportion to what you do and also, your level of being, if you want to sustain your success.

This sounds obvious, right? But how many players fail to notice this?

Poker is demanding not only because of its individualistic nature but also because of the luck factor. This makes it all too easy to blame the deck when things dont go your way, especially when playing no-limit. Here, you can lose a lot (or all) of your chips in one hand.

When that happens because of a bad beat, thats enough for many players to start playing much worse. And thats how most of them go on tilt.

Theres a fine line between being focused on results and being attached to them. And we all tend to cross that line more often than wed like to admit.

But we must know that attachment is exactly what makes it difficult to have the necessary emotional stability to play poker.

At the felt, anything can happen in the short run. Unfortunately, it seems that most players only learn this at a cognitive level (if that).

What do those players need to develop, then?

First of all, a desire to play well. Second, the habit of seeing their results from a larger perspective. Bear in mind, though, that none of that will necessarily save you from going on tilt.

Theres another reason why this happens to poker players.

When you decide to get serious about improving your game, its common to develop a series of habits.

You start reading books, joining forums, and watching tutorials about poker. You keep track of how long you spend at each session (both online and offline). You spend hours analyzing different hands youve played searching for what couldve been done differently.

Then, you pay attention to your nutrition, sleep, exercise routine, and so on. You even experiment with different kinds of meditation, visualizations, and affirmations.

In short, you do everything you can think of to give yourself even the slightest edge at a poker table. And you definitely should. But, as great as those habits are, they may present a certain danger.

The danger is not in any of those practices themselves, but in how you relate to them. Because, if you do everything right, you might expect to play as close to perfect as humanly possible.

And when youre not able to do this, youre bound to get frustrated.

Poker player and author Mike Caro calls this second type of tilt the scratched-car syndrome.

He named it as such because of something that happened to a neighbor of his a long time ago. His neighbor just bought a new car, of which he seemed to be very proud of. And he polished it frequently. That is, until a scratch appeared on it.

After that incident, the man felt it wasnt worth it anymore to do anything about his once precious car. As Caro observes, such is the case for those poker players who come into a table expecting to play great all the time.

All it takes is a costly misjudgmenta bad call on the river, for examplefor them to feel like their whole session was ruined. Although the circumstances behind this type of tilt are different from the other, the underlying reason is the same.

Both types of players get frustrated because of some kind of attachment. In our first case, as weve seen, that attachment is mainly to amassing chips. In this second case, players tend to be attached mainly to their self-image as poker players.

These would do well to ponder on the following advice from Caro:

[] You are where you are and the past is the past. Are-are, past-past. Try to play perfectly, but expect to fail.

I know, I said Id talk about only two types of tilt, but theres another one which deserves at least a brief mention here.

Sometimes, you go on tilt not because of a bad run of cards, a hand poorly played, or anything else thats part of the game.

Sometimes, you just cant get some personal problems out of your head.

Maybe your mother is sick. Or youve argued with your spouse. Or youve had an altercation with another player about something unrelated to poker.

Whatever the case may be, its unlikely that youll be able to focus on that game you happen to be in. I say its unlikely because some players are actually able to do it. Somehow, theyre able to detach from anything else that may be bothering them outside the felt.

If thats you, I salute you. If thats not your case, maybe its better to skip that particular poker session. Or, at the very least, try to make use of some techniques that involve some kind of relaxation.

None of us are immune to going on tilt when playing poker. This can happen even to top pros (as you may have seen on TV).

The secret, if there is one, is to learn how to bounce back quicker each time it happens. And the first step towards this goal is to learn to develop an accepting attitude.

Tilt, as weve seen, comes from frustration. And frustration comes from one thing, and one thing onlya lack of acceptance.

So, as long as you can stop wanting things to be different from the way they are, youll be a winner. Thats a tricky feat, because you do want to improve and develop. But you dont want to be attached to neither the cards nor to your performance when playing poker.

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What is Tilt When Playing Poker? - Different Types of Tilt at Poker - BestUSCasinos.org

Tuesday May5,2020at3:26PM

After having its ceremony continuously following bad weather and the school closure, Kirksville High School has announced its Student Leaders of the Month for January and February.

Olivia Chapman is the recipient for January and Charlie Tiedemann was picked for February.

The students were supposed to be honored the Renaissance Breakfast on Feb. 13, which was delayed due to the weather. That event was rescheduled for March 19, which was canceled as the school closed for coronavirus precautions.

Kirksville High School partners with the Truman State ROTC and Missouri National Guard to recognize a student leader each month. Students are nominated by teachers and staff for exemplifying the following: An individual of excellent character whose values hinge on loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. This individual should inspire others, exemplifying a higher standard that encourages others to strive to be their best. This individual possesses resiliency in the face of adversity and a self-awareness that promotes improvement through diligence and a strong work ethic. This individual does not necessarily have to be the best student, best scholar or best athlete, but is someone who has demonstrated great improvement and consistent values.

The rest is here:
Kirksville announces Student Leaders of the Month for Janurary, February - Kirksville Daily Express and Daily News

BASED in Alfaz del Pi El Jardn de Esther has been giving free mindfulness workshops followed by 30 health professionals from different areas of Spain.

One of the promoters, Daniel Mendialdua, a sociology graduate and mindfulness instructor, said the initiative has been very positive, both in the response and the information obtained.

The most important objective has been achieved, which is to help those who are helping us the most to stop the Covid-19 pandemic, by providing a place for deep rest, after the emotional stress to which they are subjected, and providing useful tools to cope with the day to day situation, explained Daniel.

Alfaz councillor for Health, Marisa Corts, said: It is good to know that an association from Alfaz, made up of specialists in caring for people who care for others, has got down to work and is giving such useful and necessary workshops in an altruistic way.

David and all the members of El Jardn de Esther, are now considering starting a new workshop, dedicated to family members who live together and care for patients with different diseases.

The association is mostly made up of professionals who work at the Universities of Alicante and Miguel Hernndez in Elche.

Mindfulness can help improve the ability to maintain perspective, gain greater acceptance of pain, find vitality and inner peace, and release stress and anxiety, said Daniel.

He added: Mindfulness seeks, through meditation, to achieve a state of full consciousness in the present moment, generating unbiased observation and freeing the mind from harmful thoughts.

By integrating mindfulness into their daily lives, patients will learn useful techniques for cognitive pain control, stress reduction and tension relief. They will also enhance self-care and self-awareness of their own body.

The association is happy to answer queries by emailing: eljardindeesther@gmail.com.

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Costa Blanca experts helping health workers across Spain cope with the day to day stress during the pandemic - Euro Weekly News

Walking down P Street in the direction of Fresno City Hall before Wednesdays Freedom Rally, I wasnt sure what to expect.

Would it be a bunch of right-wing wackos being manipulated by well-paid organizers and publicity seeking politicians? Or would it be everyday people, most of them local, expressing sincere frustrations and legitimate concerns over city and state policy designed to slow the spread of coronavirus?

The answer turned out to be a little of both.

To be sure, there were plenty in the first group. People carrying N.W.O. and QAnon signs and one reading W.H.O. is Poo that made me chuckle in a second-grade sort of way. Not to mention the female speaker who angrily proclaimed Do we live in America? We live in China without a hint of irony or self-awareness. (If we were in China, you wouldnt be allowed to protest in front of City Hall. Google Tiananmen Square sometime.)

But there were also folks like Rico Saldivar, who carried an American flag and wore a face mask.

Saldivar is a local business owner. He owns a tattoo parlor, a barber shop, a hair salon and a print store. All four businesses are located in Fresno, and each has been shut down since the city ordered the closures of those it deemed non-essential.

Saldivar has no income coming in, no way to keep his 15 employees on the payroll, but the bills keep piling up. As proof, he holds up his cell phone and shows me an invoice from his landlord totaling $10,450 owed in back rent.

And theyre quick to remind me every couple days, Saldivar said.

Saldivars tattoo parlor, barber shop and hair salon arent among low-risk businesses allowed to reopen Monday even though he insists he can operate them safely and is willing to comply with all social-distancing protocols.

This is totally unfair, he said.

Another person I met was Tricia Messer, co-owner of an off-road vehicle supply company based in Fresno that reduced operations but hasnt completely shut down. She carried one sign that read, Keep Our City Great. Open Our City and another that read, Open Our Churches.

I asked Messer if she was worried about being in the same place of worship as 100 or more others and not knowing where theyve been and what they may have been exposed to.

No, she replied.

Was she worried about getting sick and passing along the virus to others?

No, she replied again.

How come?

Because if that happens, its all part of Gods plan, Messer said.

That line of thinking may sound batty to an agnostic such as myself Id rather reduce my exposure than accept some supernatural fate but to Messer it makes perfect sense. And whos to argue with her? We have freedom of beliefs in this country, last I checked.

Unlike previous rallies in Sacramento and Huntington Beach, the 300 or so protesters were well-behaved and respectful of law enforcement. No arrests were made, and most of the disruptions came in the form of passing cars and trucks honking in support.

I do wish, though, that a semi-truck wouldve sat idling behind the stage when it was Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefelds turn to speak. My ears have never been more in need of a nonsense filter.

Since it was a political rally, I wont get on Bredefelds case too harshly for playing fast and loose with facts and data. Which he did with aplomb.

But when the elected representative of northeast Fresno downplayed the severity of COVID-19 by stating the virus only has a mortality rate between 1 and 2%, thats when things got troubling.

The reality is, said Bredefeld, clearly enjoying his moment, 98 to 99% of the people affected by this disease recover.

For the sake of argument, lets say Bredefelds figures are accurate. (They might be or might not. No one can say for certain.) But even a 1% mortality rate is 10 times higher than the seasonal flu.

Fresno County has a population of 1 million. Which means between 10,000 and 20,000 county residents will die if they catch the virus. For perspective, thats like taking a town the size of Parlier (population 15,000) and wiping it off the map.

Wish I could be so cavalier with the lives of so many people.

Also making guest appearances were Fresno County Supervisors Nathan Magsig and Steve Brandau. Both spoke ever so briefly in support of businesses reopening.

Speaking of cavalier, it was interesting to see self-proclaimed patriots be so disrespectful of our nations symbols.

During the national anthem, I only saw one MAGA-hat wearing protester actually remove her cap. The rest, at least a few dozen of them, kept their red hats firmly atop their heads.

And then there was Libertarian candidate Nickolas Wildstar, who gave a speech while holding the American flag upside down and letting the flag drag on the ground as soon as he got off the stage.

According to Title 4 Section 8 (a) of the U.S. Flag Code, The flag should never be displayed with union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property. Section 8 (b) reads: The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.

My old Scoutmaster wouldve been mighty displeased.

2020 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.)

Visit The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.) at http://www.fresnobee.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Continued here:
Marek Warszawski: Fresno rally had protest signs, MAGA hats and shutdown anger -- but protesters were peaceful - msnNOW

Dame Robin White in her Masterton studio. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Lisa Urbani

For Dame Robin White, being an artist is not what you do, its who you are.

Her long and illustrious career has been an evolving quest, a discovery made in stages, leading her to find her own identity as an artist.

When youre young, your urge to create compels you towards a self-awareness that is fostered by the encouragement of people around you.

With a sketchbook always at hand, her attentive and supportive parents encouraged her and ensured that she received a good education.

Their belief in the education of women as being of the utmost importance, was due to their embrace of the Bahai Faith.

Under the watchful eye of her art teacher at Epsom Girls Grammar School, Robin was propelled to her next step and her time at Aucklands Elam School of Fine Art where she was awakened to her full consciousness, that this was for me.

She never considered it as a job and had no thought for the financial implications of being an artist.

She relied on her parents advice to aim high.

Having been on a student scholarship, she was required to teach art as part of her bond, and this gave her the opportunity during her years as an art teacher in Wellington, to work and exhibit until she could be independent.

The 1960s were a time of creative freedom, of openness of thought, and the beginnings of a life-long friendship with the poet Sam Hunt, whose portrait she painted.

In her growth as an artist, shes learnt that from being at work you get the ideas for making more work its a constant process of creating and learning.

At present, Robin is preparing for an exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.

Called Matisse alive, it will showcase the artistic responses of four separate artists Nina Chanel Abney (USA), Sally Smart (Australia), Angela Tiatia (Samoa/New Zealand/Australia) and Robin White (New Zealand) to the great 20th century artist, Henri Matisse.

Each artist will present an original and different form of art, ranging from a mural, to a cut-out assemblage installation, and an immersive video.

Dame Robins offering will be a set of large works on bark cloth made in collaboration with her friends from Tonga and Fiji.

Drawing on her background in painting and printmaking, she is working within a Pacific art tradition of richly patterned tapa cloth.

It is a process that augments the skills gained during her 17 years of glorious learning, as she described it, in the Pacific Republic of Kiribati, living on the atoll of Tarawa.

When a fire destroyed her house and studio in 1996, she adapted to the lack of her usual art supplies by learning to work with the women, combining her design skill with their love of weaving.

She considers herself a student when collaborating with others, learning as we go about each other and the processes were engaged in.

In these uncertain times of covid-19, her Bahai faith stands her in good stead.

At the core of its teaching is the belief in unity, the oneness of mankind, and now more than ever, she says, we all need to educate ourselves to work collectively for the good of society.

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Quest to find identity evolving - Times Age - Wairarapa Times Age

Matt Berninger is calling from lockdown in his home in California. After a long to-and-fro about how the coronavirus crisis is taking its toll on the physical, mental and societal health of America, he admits that the necessary quarantine has given him the opportunity to process, slow down and chew on everything in a different way instead of chasing this one upward trajectory.

It seems that The National frontman is in the perfect mood to take stock and look back over the last decade for the upcoming 10th anniversary of the bands breakthrough album High Violet. (Though as he sagely notes with that familiar social-distancing-induced Groundhog Day confusion: Does time even matter any more?.)

10 years ago, The National enjoyed something of an Indian summer. 2010s High Violet was a landmark record for the band, elevating them from cult curiosity to chart-bothering festival headliners. The introverts opened up and brightened the corners of their black post-punk sound. In the words of the NME review at the time, High Violet was a sign of the band finally becoming fully grown-up, coloured in and going overground.

If they werent separated and trapped in their homes right now, The National would be prepping to celebrate High Violet by playing it in full at a run of shows peppering the schedule for the final lap of their tour for their acclaimed eighth album, 2019s I Am Easy To Find. There was an indiegasm across the internet when the anniversary gigs were announced along with the deluxe vinyl reissue. It was the kind of reaction reserved for one of those very special records. High Violet spoke loudly to the latest generation of kids who were never picked for the football team, who saw their own story in The Nationals tale of geeks longing to be heard.

Why did High Violet strike such a chord? All the songs Ive ever loved are fluid enough for me to sink into them and be the character, Berninger replies. You empathise and get inside their soul a little bit. Whatevers wrong in your heart or in your life, the record absorbs it like a sponge. Later, you play it again and all of that emotion comes out again. All the things we needed were always there in good songs.

The National formed in 1999 in Berningers native Cincinnati, Ohio before they moved to New York. The band endured a prolonged period of obscurity from their 2001 self-titled debut album and 2003s underrated follow-up Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers; while The Strokes were scoring touchdowns for NYCs garage rock revival scene, The National were stuck on the bench.

2005s Alligator, their third album, first perfected the combination of dark, raw-nerved realism and heart-bursting indie anthemics that make up the DNA of the band we know today. 2007s stately and opulent Boxer was showered with acclaim, but the indie darlings were still far from the arena-filling heights of many of their peers. Heading into their fifth album, The National had to figure out who they were, and who they wanted to be.

Wed just come off tour with R.E.M., remembers Berninger. Seeing a band that good continue to exist and evolve for that long made us realise that we had to go for that. Michael Stipe teased us saying, Why dont you guys just write a pop song? Why dont you write a radio hit? We were like, Weve been trying since day one! We dont know how! He told us, If youre going to be in a band that lasts a long time, you either have to write a lot of hits or none at all. At that point we were like, Oh shit, maybe were safer going down the none at all route

But, he continues, I didnt want that. I dont think any of us did. We wanted to be a big band. We wanted to reach everybody. Ive had manifest delusion since I was a kid. I wanted to be a rock star. I couldnt play piano, but I wanted to be Tom Waits, I wanted to be Leonard Cohen, I wanted to be Nick Cave. You just pose, you absorb and you try. You get out there and do your best.

Matt Berninger of The National perform onstage during Bonnaroo 2010 (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Fully aware of their status as a grower band (though Berninger laughs that that always felt like an underhanded compliment), they set about writing some songs that would connect straight away and on a huge scale. But first they had to iron out some of the creases in their creative process. Any band featuring two sets of brothers (twin guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner and drummer and bassist Bryan and Scott Devendorf) is going to have to deal with more tension than most.

We always fought, and we fought so much while making Boxer to the point where it had gotten unhealthy, admits Berninger. Wed been a band for 10 years and were exhausted through all the conflict personal conflict, creative conflict, touring life, living on a bus together for so long. Youve got all that shit going on but then you get into the studio and the record is how you connect it all back together again.

Another thing that Michael Stipe told us was: Remember you were friends first. That pops up in our heads all the time. High Violet was us following all of Michaels advice.

Michael Stipe teased us saying, Why dont you guys just write a pop song?

Feeling happy but depleted and desperate for this record to be good, they started work, then swiftly halted. Already exhausted from recently becoming a father, Berninger was struck down by a nasty bout of flu and then his grandmother died. On the plane back to the funeral, his eardrum burst under the cabin pressure, leaving him unable to hear in his right ear for a while. Sometimes something forces you to shut down for a while, says Berninger of his run of bad luck, and you come back and its an opportunity to remember why youre doing this.

United in their vision and ambition, The National would finish what might still be their most cohesive and complete album to date. High Violet, with a title inspired by overhearing talk of the threat levels in New York after 9/11 (high orange being the most severe), was the crystallisation of all that theyd previously sought to master but with a more accessible sheen.

You can feel this shift from first notes of opener Terrible Love: its there in the Dessners genius sonic textures, which are as rich as ever, but this time with a little more warmth, lift and release. The record may feature guest spots from indie glitterati such as Sufjan Stevens, Bon Ivers Justin Vernon, and Arcade Fires Richard Reed Parry, but they never distract from the record itself. Perfectly measured and never overblown, High Violet is the victorious sound of a band reaching ever upwards.

Lyrically, Berninger reels through his usual themes of trying to figure out who you are and if home is a place. With a number songs written with wife, longtime collaborator and former fiction editor at The New YorkerCarin Besser, the issues of family, time, movement, and the impact of fatherhood weigh heavy on his mind throughout the record. On Afraid Of Everyone he sings: With my kid on my shoulders I try not to hurt anybody I like but I dont have the drugs to sort it out. On England he addresses a missed loved one (You must be somewhere in London, you must be loving your life in the rain) and on Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks he makes the startling observation that all the very best of us string ourselves up for love.

I have so many songs about trying to find out who I am. I think thats a thread I always walk along

I have so many songs about trying to find out who I am, Berninger says. I think thats a thread I always walk along. I had been in New York for over 10 years [when we wrote High Violet], and I definitely felt I wasnt in Ohio any more. I was married, I had a baby and I was an entirely different person. The searching for who I was going to be and trying to figure out who I used to be was all part of that process. I was also wondering if Id make art and music for the rest of my life. I really wanted to so bad.

The album reached Number Five in the UK and Number Three on the US Billboard 100. The venues got bigger, the cult grew stronger and the music press lapped up the nearly-men done good narrative. They headlined the second stage at Latitude Festival 2010, with momentum swelling to such an extent that they returned to headline the main stage the following year. It was a whirlwind period, wonderfully captured in the documentary Mistaken For Strangers, starring and directed by Berningers brother Tom.

In typical National fashion, they couldnt simply savour the taste of success. We loved the record when it was done, says Berninger, but whole career was just a series of moments of going, Weve made it! Oh, no we havent! Never count your fucking chickens. Never. The second you do, its over.

We knew that we hadnt fucked up and we knew we werent finished. Did we feel like wed arrived? I dont think we ever feel like that. We never feel like we achieved what we wanted to do.

Berninger admits that touring was really hard until about five or six years ago, adding he used to battle within himself on stage, but is now far more comfortable in his own skin and less emotionally wrought. His vices of weed and wine are now more an aid to help him slip into the songs, rather than a crutch for anxiety and self-awareness. Even from this distance, though, he finds it hard to tell if he really enjoyed the original High Violet shows as much as you might expect.

Either way, the bands real pinch me moment arrived in September 2010, when they were invited to perform to 25,000 people before a speech from Barack Obama at a rally in Wisconsin. Meeting Obama seemed more important than being on any big stage, says Berninger. Now Im playing in front of these big crowds and realise how much more significant they are than having a few photos with Obama. But at the time [it was] hard to have any perspective on it.

Meeting Obama seemed more important than being on any big stage

In the Obama years, he says, the US exuded a sense of enlightenment, optimism and possibility. He adds: Obama winning was just like, Everything is going to happen now. America is finally going to stand up and be what its claimed and promised for so long but hasnt been. At the same time, there was so much division. Government had got so brutal and disgusting with Bush and even Clinton.

Looking back now, the beginning of an eight-year Obama presidency compared to what weve been living through now with four years of a fascist I mean wow, talk about perspective.

10 years later and whats going on in the White House now seems more backward and gross than ever imaginable. And guess what? The National still dont have a hit to their name. Stipe was right. Theyre still playing the long game and winning, with family and friendship at their core. The National now rub shoulders with Arcade Fire and The Strokes as a bonafide indie institution.

Berninger has just inked a record deal for his debut solo album Serpentine Prison (literally he signed the contract when NME reminded him on the phone). As well as writing songs constantly, hes also working on a sitcom TV adaptation of Mistaken For Strangers with his brother and Besser, as well as a sequel to the original film. Matt Berninger is now the polymath rock star he would pose as back when he was a kid.

While its tempting to trace that thread throughout his life, though, he insists: Im entirely different to the man I was when I made High Violet. We shed our skins, we change, we evolve. We all have the capacity to become whatever we want.

The National release the 10th anniversary expanded edition of High Violet on June 19. The band are raising money for their touring crew during lockdown here.

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The Nationals Matt Berninger on 10 years of High Violet: We wanted to reach everybody - NME.com