HAPPINESS HELPERS

steps gradually move us forward a breath at a time, a minute at a time, a synapse at a time. Bit by bit, we grow the good inside while gradually releasing the bad.”

“Our power to positively influence who we are in small, genuine ways every day is really important to compensate for the brain’s negativity bias, which makes it like Velcro for bad experiences, but Teflon for good ones,” he says. “We evolved a negativity bias over the 600-million-year evolution of the nervous system. Learning from negative experiences and mistakes was a critical survival skill, so we have a brain that is designed to scan for bad news, overreact to it and fast-track it into memory. It’s not our fault, but it is our responsibility to deal with it by first, feeling the negative without reinforcing it and second, focusing on the positive and taking it in. Gradually, you can give yourself a brain that’s like Velcro for the good and Teflon for the bad.”

Sandra Yeyati, J.D., is a professional writer. Reach her at SandraYeyati@gmail.com. Building Up Our Happiness Quotient

These exercises are recommended by psychologist Rick Hanson:

Slow down, breathe and see the big

picture. This simple practice brings us into the present moment, reduces the stress activation in the body, disengages us from verbal chatter and negative reactivity, and buys us time to see more clearly. Take three breaths, making the exhalation longer than the inhalation.

Five-Minute Challenge Take in the good. It could be a flower blooming, birds singing or a nice exchange with another person. Slow down, take a few breaths and let it sink in for a minute or two.

Focus on something to cultivate. Perhaps it’s patience or gratitude. Look for opportunities to have an experience of this quality and internalize it for another minute.

Marinate in pleasant feelings. Cultivate a sense of calm, contentment or warmheartedness for a couple of minutes.

HAPPINESS HELPERS Five Ways to Be More Positive

by Brad Aronson

Studies show that when we see the Be mindful of who and what we positive more often, we’re happier expose ourselves to. The people we and kinder to ourselves and to those spend time with and what we watch, listen around us. Luckily, we’re not locked into one to and read all send messages to our brain way of viewing the world. We can choose that influence how we see the world. to see things in a more positive fashion. Train the brain for positivity. Here is a Here are some steps we can take to teach simple 10-minute exercise that can train ourselves to look for the positive more often. the mind to think differently: Eventually, the brain can get into the habit of doing this without any prodding. • Get a pen and paper. Take only Compliment at least one person and remember everything that’s red. Then every day. Maybe we can begin the day take only a few seconds to write a list of by sending a short email or text telling everything you remember that’s red. Finsomeone why we appreciate them. Besides ish this step before continuing. reshaping how we see the world, we might make someone’s day. • Now write down everything Keep a gratitude journal. Every that is blue. Chances are that like most people, we won’t remember the blue things night, write down three things to be gratenearly as well because we weren’t looking ful for. Researchers have found that people for them. We see what we look for, and that regularly keep track of what they’re that’s as much an asset as a shortcoming. grateful for are happier. We can also have a Training the brain to be more nightly family discussion about what happositive takes time, but it’s a priceless oppened that day that we’re thankful for. portunity to change our perspective and Perform a daily act of kindness. become happier. When we perform a kind act every day, three seconds to look around the room we start noticing other opportunities to be Brad Aronson, a tech entrepreneur and kind, creating a cycle of positivity in our investor, is the author of HumanKind: minds. Think small—a thank-you note or Changing the World One Small Act At letting someone cut in front of us in traffic. a Time. Connect at BradAronson.com.

Cars Go Vegan Leather Interiors are on the Way Out

by Yvette C. Hammett

Consumers are becoming more not only looks good, but is actually more conscious about their purchases in durable and easier to maintain than leather. light of the ongoing climate crisis Vegan “leather” is being produced from exacerbated by animal-based agriculture. cork, glazed cotton and even bark cloth, so As they begin to make better choices in it’s not just a matter of replacing animalwhat they consume, wear and drive, vegan based products with unsustainable plastic. car interiors are becoming more popular. With funding from Honda and Ford, The environmental impact of producing Bharat Bhushan, Ph.D., director of the leather, foam and other materials is being Nanoprobe Laboratory for Bio- & Nanoreplaced in some instances by alternatives technology and Biomimetics in the John that are becoming more readily available to Glenn College of Public Affairs of Ohio environmentally conscious consumers. State University, Columbus, developed a

The Toyota Prius line uses Sof-Tex faux leather that has the potential to be synthetic leather or other synthetic cloth used on both seats and dashboards. upholstery which bolsters its reputation as “I work in technology to repel water a sustainable automaker. Mercedes Benz and oil from a variety of surfaces,” Bhushan and BMW are offering customers plantsays. “Leather gets very sticky when it is based alternatives and Tesla has been drophot, so we thought it would be great to ping leather from its upholstery choices for repel water or any other contaminant to a while now, with the Model 3 and Model avoid that stickiness and help it remain Y already sporting vegan-only interiors. clean.” The side benefit, he further notes, is The Volvo Polestar 2 also comes standard that it’s an alternative to animal hide. with vegan upholstery, along with recycled Audi Head of Design Marc Lichte, wood. And the 2020 Range Rover Evoque, whose twin daughters are both vegan, says Velar and Jaguar I-Pace SUVs all offer vegan leather is a huge selling point for consumers vegan interiors. customers and that both the Audi e-tron

Research and development is ongoGT and Q4 will be animal-free. Faux ing in this realm to create faux leather that leather will replace the traditional leather, and all cushions, window trim, armrests, headliners and center consoles will be manufactured with recycled materials.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made a major push in the past few years to increase production of vegan-based car interiors. In 2016, PETA conducted an investigation into JBS, the world’s largest leather supplier, which sells to car companies from GM to VW and more. “What it found was that the supplier severely mistreats the cattle being raised for the leather with hot irons on the face, electrocution, beatings and cutting their throats while they are still conscious,” says Jennifer Behr, corporate responsibility officer for PETA. “When consumers are shopping, they should take that into consideration. Those interiors came from a cow that lived a miserable life and died a painful one.”

Beyond that, cattle represent a climate risk. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published a study showing that knowledge of the environmental ramifications from cattle is not well known by the average consumer. “The livestock industry is the source of a broad spectrum of environmental impacts,” the study states. “The first and most important is climate change.” It’s estimated that 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the livestock industry. Enlightened consumers are using that information to determine what they purchase, from food to cars.

BMW spokesperson Oleg Satanovsky says vegan options are not new for his company; they’ve been around for decades, but options have been updated. BMW uses a material called SensaTec, a new brand name for its non-animal-sourced upholstery “to reflect the more upscale design and feel of the materials,” he contends.

“We look to nature for clues” to develop alternatives, Bhushan says. His research was based on the lotus leaf and its resiliency—it’s both water and oil repellant. “A single species like that can be used for many things,” with little or no environmental impact.

Yvette C. Hammett is an environmental writer based in Valrico, FL. Connect with her at YvetteHammettHull49@gmail.com.