Event goers send cards from a HOPE WALL at a community festival in Phoenix, revealing the word "HOPE" as cards are selected. The wall is part of the HOPE Is In The Cards campaign, a grassroots movement across the nation encouraging people to send positive messages.

(ARA) – According to the American Psychological Association, eight out of 10 people polled in October said that the economy is a significant cause of stress, up from 66 percent polled six months earlier. The main causes for stress and worry for both men and women were money, the economy, job stability, housing costs and health problems affecting the family.

A small business owner in Arizona was one of those stressed people. But instead of being frustrated by the state of the economy and negative news, he was inspired to start a positive movement to reenergize the American spirit. That movement is called Hope Is In The Cards.

“If every adult in America sends one card of thanks or encouragement — about anything to anyone — consider the impact of that one action,” says Russ Haan of Phoenix, founder of Hope Is In The Cards. “Then multiply that by everyone in the country. What would happen if there were that many messages of hope and support circulating, right now?”

If each person in America mailed just one positive note, or wrote the word “hope” on the back of one envelope before dropping it into the mail for a friend, relative, co-worker or acquaintance, more than 300 million positive messages would be arriving in mailboxes nationwide.

The simplicity of the campaign is its greatest strength. Anyone can participate by sending a positive card to a family member or friend. You can also write the word “hope” on the back of any piece of mail — including bills.

Other ways this idea can be put into practice:

Community clubs can collect cards or postcards with a positive message and distribute them to hospital patients, nursing home residents or at a community gathering.

Business owners might be interested in including a positive message on corporate greeting cards, in a promotional mailing or even on a statement. By keeping the card’s envelope blank, the recipient can then forward it on to a loved one or friend.

While this grassroots campaign is relatively new — Haan created the concept just after the presidential inauguration — it has grown to include partnerships with corporations, associations, retailers and individuals across the country. There is also a Wall Of Hope — a large wall covered with donated cards — set to tour eight American cities this summer, kicking off in New York in late June. Passing individuals are invited to choose one card and add a personal message. Once they fill out the card and address the envelope, the postage will be complimentary. When all the cards are removed from the wall, they reveal the word “hope.”

The campaign’s Web site, www.hopeisinthecards.org, is interactive with links to blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts and ways for people to record their personal testimonials and efforts to spread the message of hope.

“When you send hope, you create hope — it’s what our country needs right now,” Haan says. “This small act has the potential to create a large movement, and it’s something that everyone can do.”

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Feeling stressed over the economy? More and more Americans are turning to a millennia-old technique for relieving stress — music. Whether you just listen or actually play an instrument, music has very definite therapeutic value for a range of mental and physical health issues, a growing body of scientific evidence shows.

From relieving depression in adults to helping children with Attention Deficit Disorder learn to focus better, playing music provides myriad health benefits, studies show. In fact, studies reported on the Music Industry Association’s Recreational Music Making Web site show that playing music has:

* Improved immune system performance in corporate workers studied in Japan.
* Relieved loneliness and boosted self esteem in senior citizens.
* Relieved stress and improved mood for 75 nursing students studied at Allegany College of Maryland.

But how can you tap the stress-relieving, health-enhancing benefits of playing music without investing years learning to read music and play an instrument?

“What keeps many people from playing, especially popular instruments like piano, is that they never get proficient enough at reading notes to play easily,” says Scott Houston, the “Piano Guy” and host of an Emmy-winning Public Television how-to show. A better approach, he says, and one that works for both beginners and experienced music readers, is to focus on chords and interpretation, rather than reading note-for-note.

“This method is effective for both trained and untrained recreational players,” he says. “It’s not unusual for recreational players to feel frustrated and even stressed if traditional music training isn’t working for them, or they’re not progressing as quickly as they’d like. This approach allows you to tap the health-enhancing and stress-relieving benefits of recreational music making quickly and easily.”

The key to Houston’s method is to teach you how to read a “lead sheet,” a kind of “shorthand” professional musicians use to queue them to a song’s melody line and the chords that accompany it. Because it’s a very simple form of music notation, lead sheets allow you to learn a song faster and put more creativity and interpretation into how you play. Actually creating music, rather than just playing notes, imparts an “artist’s high,” Houston notes.

“Most people who want to learn to play piano simply want to do so for their own enjoyment,” he says. “Of all the things I do throughout my day, nothing is more enjoyable than to just sit down and play a tune.”

“Learning to play the piano is not only healthy for you, it’s just plain fun and can be attained quickly using the right techniques,” Houston adds.

To learn more about Houston’s technique for teaching recreational musicians to play piano quickly and creatively, visit www.ScottHouston.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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