Harry Toffolo has revealed the pro-active approach to self-improvement that has seen him work his way up from League Two to become one of the Championship's leading full-backs.

The Huddersfield Town defender is always looking to push himself and coax more out of his game, and his desire to consistently add new facets to his game has him constantly looking at the stats to find new ways to up his game.

Toffolo, considered one of the most-improved full-backs in the EFL in recent years, admits he regularly studies his stats and averages following matches.

Speaking on Town's YouTube Preview Show ahead of the Millwall game, Toffolo said: Im massive on stats - it's the way football is going.

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I remember looking at the stats once, and theres no point me comparing myself to Troy Deeney for example, its not my position.

"But you compare yourself to other left-backs in the Championship and the Premier League to see what theyre doing, and even in League One and League Two, because theyre at your heels and want to take your job so youve got to prepare yourself for that.

I look at the interceptions throughout the games and I was at the lower end of the stats and I thought to myself, I want to be in the top two or top three of the stats of every single possible thing I can be at, because I want to be recognised as one of the best left-backs in the league.

So I had to work on different things and it was being more aggressive defensively, and now Ive got my interceptions where Im making consistently over four or five interceptions a game. I still want to improve on that because thats just my character, but before Id be on 1.1 or 1.2 averages.

I knuckled down and thought what can I do to improve my game, the manager wants an aggressive front-foot defender, full-back as well which is harder to play against.

So I thought I had to change my game and Ive been able to do that, and theres other parts of my game Im looking to improve as well and bits I want to keep improving that are up there on the stats.

As players we look at it intensely to be honest. I think the manager looks at the GPS stats and its become second nature to us now. We dont even have to ask now, I think the performance team Callum Walsh, Josh Snowden just send us over the information straight away."

Toffolo has started every single Championship game for Town and has featured in 2,160 out of a possible 2,250 minutes.

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Huddersfield Town's Harry Toffolo reveals ambitious benchmark he aspires to reach - Yorkshire Live

MEADVILLE, Pa. (PRWEB) January 22, 2021

Titanic: a captivating handbook that retells the story of the Titanic in a way where one gets to reflect on their own life and understand the truths of God introspectively. Titanic is the creation of published author Bill Dinkins, a born-again Christian. He has been married for thirty-one years and has two daughters.

Dinkins shares, Titanic: Facts and Faith is a labor of inspiration. Like millions of others, I am a Titanic enthusiast. As a Christian, I see many spiritual insights in the story of the Titanic and know that people can glean a lot from the story.

Written like a graphic novel, the dramatic history of the Titanic is told with a good deal of introspection about the dangers of being distracted in life. The story of the Titanic is about life and death. Titanic: Facts and Faith is about existence on the other side: the side after death. We are all on the Titanic of life. Our own iceberg awaits us. Its not a question of if but when it will strike. What then?

While we should not hasten the end of our lives, we should get to the point where our own biological death does not create sheer panic. When biological life is over, what do we see then?

We should live life between the tension of living and enjoying our life; we also should look with eager expectation at the life to come. To focus on only one and not the other is not balanced.

This book is also about self-improvement. God is just a prayer away. God does not have to race across the universe when you call his name. He is already with you. He is an ever-present help in a time of need. Remember the words ever present. So read and enjoy with your guard down. God may speak to your heart and mind a little while you read.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Bill Dinkinss new book is a powerful read that will bring one closer to God and discover a variety of important lessons through a famous true story.

Everyone, may it be children or adults, will find something striking and worth remembering in these pages.

View a synopsis of Titanic on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Titanic at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Titanic, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.

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Bill Dinkins's newly released Titanic constructs a brilliant way of embracing spiritual insights and truths. - PR Web

A pushy or demanding approach will cause friction between you and those who can help you. Take better care of your health, possessions and investments. Dont rely on others to do things for you. Strive to maintain peace of mind. Be charming and diplomatic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Difficulty with a friend, relative or co-worker will surface if you let your emotions take control. Refuse to get dragged into someones dilemma. Concentrate on fitness and self-improvement.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Share your intentions, and you will resolve pending issues. Holding in your feelings will cause stress and anxiety that will affect your health and emotional well-being. Be honest.

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PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Say whats on your mind. Be direct, and the response you receive will be honest and reliable. The more aware you are of the people around you and how they think, the better.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) If you care, share. Helping a cause or someone in need will make you feel good. Keep emotional issues and personal matters to yourself. Dont take an unnecessary risk.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Put your time and energy to proper use. Take care of unfinished business before you start something new. Look for unique ways to use your skills and knowledge. Choose kindness over conflict

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Dont let confusion take charge and ruin your day. Do your best to take care of responsibilities, regardless of whats going on around you. A job well done will lead to financial gain.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Someone who has something unique to offer will appeal to you. Handle partnerships carefully. Dont let your emotions lead to bad assumptions. Be a good listener.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Youll have plenty to mull over. Get organized, and gather information that will help you make better decisions. A problem with a co-worker will develop if you cannot agree on strategy.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Explore the possibilities, but dont make a move prematurely. An offer you receive will interest you, but consider the cost before you get involved. Make a romantic gesture with confidence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Be reasonable when dealing with personal matters. Dont jump to conclusions or make a fuss without having all the facts. Spend time sorting through clutter and taking stock.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Catch up with an old friend or relative via phone or email. Rethink your situation and what you are up against. Find innovative ways to ease stress.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Make a change to how you earn your living or handle your finances. Sticking to a budget and lowering your overhead will ease tension at home and make your life better. Avoid excessive people.

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0119_Astro | | albanyherald.com - The Albany Herald

David Michigan is an extremely well known and internationally recognized actor, entrepreneur, social media influencer, fitness coach and model. David is primarily an actor who ventured into the world of entrepreneurship because of his desire to create an impactful and positive change in the world.

Through his Instagram, David Michigan has always strived to introduce dialogue about self-improvement and development. Using spaces of stories, captions and posts, David has regularly talked about the ideas of personal development, positivity, self-esteem and encouragement. He has more than 10 million people following and looking up to him on various social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

As easily noticeable through his very artistic and fitness-oriented Instagram profile, David Michigan lives an extremely wealthy and luxurious life. He is also proactively involved in helping budding entrepreneurs increase their market reach on digital platforms.

David Michigan is a humble man with immense riches and wealth. With a net worth of millions, he serves as an example of how hard work and authenticity take you far in life. He says, While Im incredibly thankful for all my resources, I feel that wealth has always been of secondary importance to me. The love, respect and recognition that I've earned is something that I give the most importance and thought to.

One of his key achievements in the digital space has been the launch of the Michigan Academy which is a web portal and course package aimed at providing expert and research-based knowledge and information to people around the world. Currently, more than 170,000 people are students of the Michigan Academy.

While most people benefit from the regularly uplifting content that he puts out, a large part of his audience loves to take glimpses of Davids life of ultimate style and wealth. David is not limited to being an entrepreneur, he is a social media influencer and posts content on fashion as well. Most millennials love how David Michigan has the ability to connect and relate with them, in terms of fashion, fitness and life in general. He is of the firm belief that a positive thought leads to positive action and this is why he advocates the importance of a healthy, forward looking mindset.

With a net worth of millions, David Michigan is one of most successful entrepreneurs and social media influencers in the world. With his very creative ideas, he has transformed the digital space into a positive, growth-oriented community which has the potential to change the world.

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David Michigans Fortune: The Secret to this Self-Made Millionaires Wealth - Fortune India

Eyes on you.

Dota 2s public matchmaking environment isnt the most conducive to self-improvement. But Valve is looking to introduce some oversight in the form of Overwatch, a player review system taken from another popular Valve esport, CS:GO.

The aim is to get the community to self-regulate, relying on highly skilled and well-behaved players rather than an automated system.

The Overwatch system tasks trusted and experienced members of the community, named Investigators in CS:GO, to view the match replay of a specific player and determine if any suspicious activity was involved.

Unlike CS:GOs four different charges, Dota 2s Overwatch system is focusing on two: cheating and griefing. Using unauthorized scripts and hacks will fall under the former category, while intentional feeding or ability abuse will fall under the latter.

Overwatch tasks investigators to be confident that the observed behavior would be disruptive, anti-competitive, and/or anti-social beyond a reasonable doubt.

Several acts like smurfing and toxicity remain rampant problems, but the topics subjectiveness lends to skewed judgment. Should Dota 2 also follow CS:GOs systems, Investigators would be rewarded with experience after a certain amount of correct judgments and higher-level Investigators would obtain proportionally more weight behind their verdicts.

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CS:GO's Overwatch system is in the works for Dota 2 - Dot Esports

Twenty years ago, Facebook did not exist. Google had just failed to sell itself to Yahoo for $1 million. Netflix was a fledgling startup struggling to establish a working business model around selling and renting DVDs online. Today, Facebook and Google are among the top ten most valuable companies, and Netflix, now the most popular online streaming service with nearly 200 million users worldwide, is worth over $200 billion. Yahoo sold its assets to Verizon for a fraction of Googles value, and Blockbuster, the video-renting giant that refused to acquire Netflix in 2000, no longer exists.

The internets short but rich history shows that surprises can come from where you can least expect them.

The next big thing might come from Finland, where the public broadcaster Yle has been making impressive inroads in online streaming with its Areena service, which is known to 92 percent of the countrys population and used by 78 percent of them, making it more popular than Netflix. According to an annual brand survey by Taloustutkimus Research, YLE Areena is Finlands number-one internet brand.

Whats behind the success of Yle Areena? How does the company manage to flourish in an era where online streaming is dominated by the likes of Netflix, HBO, and Hulu? If the past is any indication, the companies that move and create new markets do so with good ideas, sound engineering, great product management, strong leadership, and the ability to reinvent and adapt to changes.

In this regard, Yle ticks all the boxes, and its success is supported by its timely and open-minded embracing of data and machine learning, which has allowed it to innovate and rebuild its platform in ways that were previously impossible.

Founded in 2007, Yle Areena was one of the first online video services in Europe. But while streaming giants are challenging local streaming services and broadcasters, Yle has continued to grow. One of the key factors that have contributed to its success is its remarkable ability to personalize the experience of its users. The company developed this capability with the help of an advisory company,Fourkind.

To maintain its relevance, the media must be capable of reinventing itself quickly and with determination. The pressure to renew itself was also an enormous opportunity for Yle , says Elina Huumo, Strategic Design Director at Fourkind. There are no other options than to understand customers deeply to create unique value for them faster and more effectively. In renewing itself, Yle has recognized that it needs to be more customer-centric and solve how to lead and create offerings in an intelligent way.

Among the changes Yle has brought to its platform is the implementation of artwork personalization, which uses a machine-learning algorithm to select the best cover image for each video content for each user. This affects not only the bottom line, but increases understanding on what imagery drives content performance for which types of customers.

Many platforms use machine learning algorithms that cluster users based on characteristics and behavior and recommend content that users from the same cluster have viewed. But these machine learning systems often suffer from noisy, biased data, and a bubble effect that reinforces users preferences instead of providing them with novel content. To overcome this obstacle, Fourkinds experts helped Yle implement a contextual bandit, a reinforcement learning algorithm that discovers customer preferences through controlled exploration and feedback. The addition of AI has resulted in a 2.3-percent growth in viewing minutes in Areena.

On the one hand, this is a simple solution because it affects a small part of the whole experience, says Jaakko Lempinen, Head of Customer Experience at Yle. But on the other hand, it tremendously changed how we see the possibilities of using machine learning to create more adaptive user interfaces. It also helped our editorial people to better understand the effects of their work because we started to get completely new data and insights on how different types of images lead to different choices, viewing preferences, etc.

The Yle Areena team is still in the process of automating the entire content pipeline. They are also testing the use of machine learning to automatically extract suitable cover images from the raw content. The outcome would be that the contextual bandit algorithm could teach the image selection algorithm to always choose the best images from every film, Lempinen says.

This would create a self-improving loop where the image-selection algorithm constantly learns to pick better images through feedback from the algorithm that analyzes customer behavior and personalizes the experience. Finding more of these self-improving loops is an interesting area Yle will continue to work on.

One of the benefits of a well-designed AI recommendation system is finding areas where the company can outperform the bigger players in the streaming market. Yle might not have the resources of a company such as Netflix, but it has more than 30,000 hours of unique content, most of which is created by the company itself and its collaborators. And being able to connect users with the right content has been very important in maintaining its appeal to the Finnish population.

We produce and promote a lot of local Finnish content, and at the same time, our recommendation algorithms promote more diverse content for the users, Lempinen says. So we are not always looking for the quick fix for the recommendations but what kind of content would create more long-term relationships

While talk of AI adoption is abundant these days, the transition is anything but easy. Our technical infrastructure and our development culture support AI development very well, but the biggest challenges have come from the people who will work in the end with the systems, Lempinen says. And its not the peoples fault in any waycomplicated AI systems require an even better communication strategy and floor discussions where different parties discuss the functionalities of the system in a shared language. We also need good dashboarding to visualize the different aspects of decision making.

This is where Fourkinds specialties helped facilitate the transition. The companys experts engage with clients in different areas, not only providing guidance and leadership but also helping in the implementation of actual AI solutions.

Our team consists of an interdisciplinary collaboration among experts in strategic design, data science, and machine learning, says Jarno Kartela, Principal Machine Learning Partner at Fourkind. We all have a strong understanding of the value of emergent technology for media transformation and the ability to execute solutions at different levels, from strategic to operative, from data to design.

In the past two years, Fourkind has worked with Yle in applying different methodologies and testing different hypotheses and scenarios.

We have supported the efforts of building personalization to the core platform, focusing on both increasing the key targets of the service itself and increasing the understanding of what customers prefer and what content they enjoy, Kartela says.

And the effort has paid off. This year, Areena surpassed 1 billion video views, which means more than 190 views for every person in Finland.

I think the biggest benefit and what has helped us grow the most relates to how we understand the insights that machine learning systems can provide, whether its about descriptive, predictive or prescriptive analytics, Lempinen says.

While these are interesting examples of how Yle has managed to integrate artificial intelligence into its platform, it is not the finish line. Yle and Fourkind are working together to solidify a vision in which Yle can rapidly reinvent itself when needed. They will focus on further developing the customer-centric R&D and creative process.

The keys to success are excellent content and quality of personalized services, Huumo says. We have helped Yle to listen to and interact with the Finns so they can understand them deeply, create meaningful content and build a future-proof creative process and tools to build better content and personalized experience and world-class recommendations for everyone.

With Fourkind I think we have quite a good partnership where we combine business and service design methods with modern machine learning. This has been quite unique and has worked very well so far for us, Yles Lempinen says.

Yles success story provides a glimmer of hope for local companies that want to compete with internet giants at their own game.

This article is brought to you by Fourkind.

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How this company leveraged AI to become the Netflix of Finland - The Next Web

Inspiration can be found all around us in life, but if theres a chance that it coincides with your weekend binge, all the better. If self-improvement is one of your goals for 2021, there is no dearth of inspiration to be found onscreenfrom the therapeutic gratification of before-and-after makeovers to real-life stories that impart hard-learned life lessons. If youve been on the hunt for some motivation to get you kickstarted for the new year, here are the movies and TV shows that will inspire you to be the best version of yourself.

Based on a memoir of the same name, the Will Smith-starrer sees a homeless salesman turn his life around with as little as $21 in his pocket. For those who love stories that champion the underdog, the 2006 biopic offers a feel-good watch with gems of wisdom that now serve as industry gospel, including the world is your oyster, it is up to you to find your pearls and the cavalry aint coming, you can only depend on yourself.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

The coming-of-age movie marks Ayan Mukerjis directorial debut with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role, with whom he would go on to deliver another blockbuster, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani in 2013. Set against the urban locale of Mumbai, the movie follows the life of an over-privileged graduate who finds that he has to stand on his own feet after being disowned by his father. Help comes in the form of an aspiring writer from Kolkata, portrayed by Konkona Sen Sharma, who helps him find his footing in the real world. The nuanced tale offers a celebration of lifes many joys, both big and smallfrom Sids first successful omelette to his eventual calling as a photographer at a local publication.

Streaming on Netflix

If youve been looking for a reality show that will leave you with a more worthwhile takeaway than the human minds propensity for drama, youll want to queue up Shark Tank for your next weekend binge. Over the course of eleven seasons, the multiple Emmy Award-winning show has been credited with realising over a decade of dreams by allowing homegrown businesses the chance to make a pitch to top investors and secure life-changing investments. Beyond turning everyday people into overnight millionaires, the show offers invaluable discourse for those looking to chase their dreams and turn their passion into a paycheque.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Based loosely on Chetan Bhagats Five Point Someone, the 2009 blockbuster is today known by the box office records it shattered upon its year-end release. Following the lives of three students in a cookie-cutter engineering college, the movie witnesses Aamir Khans Rancho turning the institution on its head with his non-conformist ideals. With side-splitting gags, comedic chases and a moral takeaway that will linger with you long after the end credits have rolled, the movie makes for a fun weekend watchregardless of how many times youve seen it already.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

The bromance continues with Zoya Akhtars directorial, featuring Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar and Abhay Deol in prominent roles. What starts out as a routine bachelor trip quickly evolves into a life-changing road trip for each of the three leads, who discover the courage to face personal dilemmas and blindspots, all while trying their hand at never-tried-before adventure sports. Set against the idyllic backdrop of the Spanish countryside, the movie serves as a treat for the sights as well as the soul.

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

There is no age limit prescribed for learning and self-development, and Gauri Shindes 2012 directorial espouses the same through her signature lens of emotional coherence and nuance. Starring the legendary actor Sridevi as an archetypal housewife, the movie sees her grappling with her inability to speak English on a trip to New York. That she chooses to conquer her fish-out-of-water circumstances by attending English classes on the sly serves as a testament to her willpower, and her desire for self-improvement ultimately helps her reassert her value in the family.

Streaming on JioCinema

It would be easy to describe Queer Eye as a makeover show, but it would also be a restrictive interpretation of the Netflix phenomenon. Yes, there are makeovers involved, but the show delves beyond the ordinary to underscore sartorial advice with social commentary by the Fab Five, featuring grooming consultant Jonathan Van Ness, fashion designer Tan France, food and wine savant Antoni Porowski, interior designer Bobby Berk and cultural guru Karamo Brown.

Streaming on Netflix

Originally released on January 1 in 2019, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo continues to slot in neatly with the January mood for fresh starts and purging junk. Headlined by tidying expert Marie Kondo, the show, however, offers more than just home makeovers for before-and-after viewing pleasure. By enabling people to let go of the clutter in their lives, the Japanese expert sheds light on our empathy for the things that we surround ourselves with and eventually, helps clients usher in the transformative power of new beginnings.

Streaming on Netflix

Given the cult success of the mindfulness platform, it seems to have been only a matter of time before it made its way to our TV screens. Together with Netflix, Headspace is demystifying the practice of meditation and mindfulness through guided exercises and videos aimed at helping you feel healthier and happier. If youve been on the hunt for some solace in the unpredictable times we live in, ten days of the practice is claimed to increase happiness by 16 per cent.

Streaming on Netflix

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9 shows and movies that will inspire you to be better, streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and JioCinema - VOGUE India

JANUARY 22, 2021

AT THE BEGINNING of her 2013 memoir, Joanna Harcourt-Smith jokingly remarks that she had always fantasized about sleeping with three men: JFK, Jimi Hendrix, and Timothy Leary. By 1970, the first two were dead, so she gravitated toward the latter. While her joke appears to be cocktail party banter, Harcourt-Smith, a Franco-Swiss socialite-turned-author, is a fantastically strong-willed woman able to bend reality to her wishes. Errol Morriss new film, My Psychedelic Love Story, boldly chronicles Harcourt-Smiths troubled childhood and her intensely fraught romance with psychologist and psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary in the true decade of excess: the 1970s. The film is centered around Harcourt-Smiths whirlwind romance with Leary, which culminates with Learys capture and imprisonment in Afghanistan in 1973. The film also documents Harcourt-Smiths three-and-a-half-year campaign to free Leary of a 25-year prison sentence.

The narrative arc of Morriss new documentary resembles the chaotic trajectory of an intense LSD trip: ecstatic highs and Dantean lows with a miraculous release from bondage at the very end. And like all mind-bending LSD trips, My Psychedelic Love Story asks the crucial question when its finally over: What the hell just happened? Harcourt-Smith has not been able to satisfactorily answer that question some 45 years later. At the beginning of My Psychedelic Love Story, Joanna speculates that she might have been manipulated by CIA operatives seeking to ensnare Leary in a trap. The countercultural icon was, after all, wanted by the Nixon administration, the FBI, and the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD). Although My Psychedelic Love Story asks more questions than it can answer, it still ends up being an enormously satisfying cinematic experience.

Like many of Morriss films, My Psychedelic Love Story defies generic categorization; its a love story wrapped in an espionage novel, with LSD constantly blurring the viewers sense of historical truth and reality. What it is, undoubtedly, is a Morris picture. It further evokes his 2010 film Tabloid, which also dealt with an obsessive love story and centered on a charismatically unhinged protagonist. And it can also be treated as a quirky companion piece to his miniseries Wormwood (2017), a chronicle of the CIA mind-control program known as MKUltra that went terribly wrong when a CIA chemist was dosed unknowingly and committed suicide. However, in Morriss six-part docudrama, the alleged suicide is revealed to be a murder that has been covered up by the government authorities. Like Wormwood, My Psychedelic Love Story is a probing psychoanalytic journey into its subjects dislocated psyche, attempting to lay bare the political and psychological forces that shaped Harcourt-Smiths chaotic life in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lastly, My Psychedelic Love Story also evokes The Thin Blue Line (1988) and Standard Operating Procedure (2008) in the sense that it examines how prison authorities are apt to use torture and manipulation to make subjects confess and tell the stories that they want to hear.

My Psychedelic Love Story is also an innovative film that attempts to transform the talking-heads format that is ubiquitous in documentary filmmaking. It begins with a lone talking head, Harcourt-Smith, pressing the button on a reel-to-reel tape player that plays the voice of Timothy Leary from Vacaville prison in 1974. The opening scene can be considered an homage to the old-fashioned talking-heads approach to documentary filmmaking, since Morriss protean film slowly transforms before the viewers eyes as Harcourt-Smith narrates her tale. Morris and graphics artist Jeremy Landman punctuate Harcourt-Smiths dialogue with symbolic objects handcuffs, cars, revolvers, taxis, martini glasses placed on colorful LSD blotter paper, ominous tarot card images, and color-drenched newspaper headlines that move across the screen in kaleidoscopic slow motion. Although most filmmakers simulate psychedelic experiences by showing rapid sensory-overload sequences, My Psychedelic Love Story slows it down and features a series of striking images that convey the internal life of Harcourt-Smith during her encounters with Leary in the winter of 1972. With help from his creative team (editor Steven Hathaway and music director Paul Leonard-Morgan), Morris has created a mise-en-scne that hypnotizes the viewer with visual and aural cues (the sounds of a Zippo lighter or a gun clicking). The end result is a cinematic style that is bewitching, but also germane to the story that Morris wants to tell; My Psychedelic Love Story is, after all, a grandiose tale about the alteration of consciousness.

The narrative of My Psychedelic Love Story is concerned with unraveling Harcourt-Smiths past and her complicated family history. She was the daughter of Cecyl Harcourt-Smith, a silver-haired Etonian aristocrat who was a commander in the Royal Navy. Her mother, Marisya Ulam, was an attractive and domineering Jewish heiress whose family left Poland and settled in Paris in the 1930s. Marisya and her family eventually settled in Switzerland to escape from the Nazis, but many of her relatives in Poland were not so fortunate. Cecyls marriage to Marisya was brief, and he was never actually present in Joannas life. Although Joanna grew up in extreme wealth, her childhood was an unhappy one. In her 2013 memoir, Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary, Joanna Harcourt-Smith described her mother as a woman who spoke seven languages and in her rage would effortlessly slide from one language to another for words with which to abuse me. Sometimes, even seven languages did not seem to suffice. But perhaps the most disturbing episode of her youth was being molested by the family chauffeur at the age of 11. According to Harcourt-Smith, when she described the experience to her mother, she replied, Lies wont get you what you want, Joanna, and then, good servants are hard to find. These experiences pushed her to search for a father figure who could heal her trauma.

The paths of Harcourt-Smith and Leary crossed when the ex-Harvard psychologist was living in exile in Switzerland in 1972. After his successful escape from the California Mens Colony in San Luis Obispo in September 1972, Leary was living incognito in a modest Swiss chalet. Harcourt-Smith first learned about his whereabouts from her former lover Michel Hauchard, an affluent Swiss arms dealer with CIA connections. The CIA had been closely monitoring Learys movements in Switzerland and was aware that he might flee because his Swiss visa would be expiring in a few months. When Hauchard related the details of Learys prison escape to Harcourt-Smith, she became fascinated with the renegade psychologist; she thought to herself, This is so exciting, I always wanted to be with an outlaw. Her comment reveals her youthful navet and attraction to danger. Little did she know that her association with Leary would turn her life upside down.

Prior to meeting Leary, Harcourt-Smith had a habit of getting pregnant and ending up in marriages that she didnt really want to be in. After two short-lived marriages and giving birth to a daughter and a son, she realized her destiny lied elsewhere. When she learned that Leary was living near Lucerne, she found his phone number in Michel Hauchards leather-bound address book and called him up. When Leary first spoke with her on the phone, he was worried that she might be a CIA plant trying to lure him into a trap. When Harcourt-Smith finally encountered Leary in a Kunsterhalle [art exhibition gallery] in Lucerne, their meeting could be described as love at first sight, or as a case of mutual obsession. When they are alone, Leary remarked, You have come to free me and bring me back to America. Although she did not know exactly what he was talking about, she would soon find out.

Although Leary and Harcourt-Smith took a lot of LSD together, she is not a drug-addled interview subject. Her emotional memories of her love affair with Leary are indelibly etched into her brain. Her description of her first sexual experience with Leary is particularly vivid: when the two lovers are tripping, Harcourt-Smith begins to undress, and before they make love, Leary places bracelets, necklaces, and various pieces of Indian jewelry all over her naked body and declares, You are Lakshmi [the Hindu goddess who nurtures all life]. Then the psychologist shows her a Life Magazine article from 1972 that contains pictures of the human brain. As Leary and Harcourt-Smith marvel at the black-and-white photographs of the brain, Leary points to the photographs and explains, That is where I am going to make love to you. This is the first of many lovemaking sessions that lead Harcourt-Smith to declare that they were truly bonded.

All in all, LSD bonding sessions would continue for some 49 days as Leary and Harcourt-Smith crisscrossed Switzerland and Austria in Learys canary yellow Porsche that was purchased with advanced royalties from his soon-to-be-published book, Confessions of a Hope Fiend. Although their relationship certainly could be described as drug-induced escapism, Leary was always aware that the BNDD was monitoring his movements and that he would probably be caught eventually. What is perhaps most striking about My Psychedelic Love Story is the films uncanny ability to recreate Harcourt-Smiths memories of LSD trips and the highs of self-destructive romance so evocatively.

The second part of My Psychedelic Love Story deals with coming down from the drugs and the sex and experiencing the ultimate bummer: Learys being captured in Kabul by Nixons BNDD. Prior to capturing Leary, Nixon had famously described the ex-Harvard professor as the most dangerous man in America. Harcourt-Smiths narrative suggests that Nixons capture of Leary in Kabul was timed to coincide with the presidents second inauguration celebration in January 1973. The public defeat of Leary, an LSD proselytizer and a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, had great propagandistic value for Nixons Law and Order platform. As Leary is put on trial and imprisoned in 1973, Joanna begins to act as Learys advocate for his release. This is the point in the film where she shows her grit and determination.

Harcourt-Smith embarks on a Kafkaesque journey into American politics and the nations legal system, in which she learns that the Nixon administration is using the Leary trial to secure additional funding for a new government body: the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Harcourt-Smith also learns that the ex-Harvard psychologist is regarded as an ideological trafficker and is placed in solitary confinement for four and a half months, given weekly injections of antipsychotic drugs without his consent. According to Robert Greenfields biography of Leary, on one occasion that Harcourt-Smith visits Leary in prison, she notices that Learys mane of hair has been shaved off and that the prison barber has left encrusted blood on his skull. When she realizes that Leary may lose his mind from forced Thorazine injections, she urges the countercultural icon to become a government informant. (Given the amount of torture he endured in 1973 and 1974, its a wonder that Leary held out as long as he did.)

When Leary becomes an informant, My Psychedelic Love Story becomes a meditation on the malleability of the human will under extreme duress and imprisonment. Morris highlights an evocative moment from Harcourt-Smiths childhood when she was pressured to testify against the familys gardener. Although she knew that the gardener had not touched [her] pee pee, the police used pressure to make her tell them what they wanted to hear. At this point, My Psychedelic Love Story suggests that Skinnerian-minded authorities can elicit a confession by exerting psychological pressure on the subject. Learys decision to become a narc is predicated on the fact that he would otherwise spend the rest of his adult life in prison; for the most part, Leary gave the DEA and the FBI information that they already had. Leary, after all, had been living in Europe for nearly three years, so whatever information that he had about the Weather Underground was outdated. [1]

The film ends with Learys release from prison in April 1976 and the demise of Leary and Harcourt-Smiths relationship. Although the couple is reunited and renamed James and Nora Joyce when placed in the Witness Protection Program in New Mexico, their relationship quickly disintegrates into alcoholic fights and nasty recriminations. After one particularly awful fight, as Harcourt-Smith remembers it, Leary drove away from their A-frame house in New Mexico in a used Ford Pinto and never came back. There is no happy ending in My Psychedelic Love Story. Rather, the narrative of the film is Harcourt-Smiths quest to heal her pulverized psyche and find out who she really is. Although Harcourt-Smiths relationship with Leary could be described as an open wound, the film makes it clear that Harcourt-Smith never regretted her affair with Leary; however, she was profoundly saddened when their relationship did not continue once Leary was released from prison.

Morriss film is especially powerful because it exposes the insanity of the war on drugs by documenting its casualties. I wish I could say that the subject matter of My Psychedelic Love Story is ancient history, but Americans are still living under Nixons Controlled Substances Act (1970), a federal law that considers cannabis, LSD, and magic mushrooms to be dangerous drugs with no accepted medical use. Although many states continue to legalize and decriminalize cannabis, the CSA is still often used by law enforcement to harass and subjugate people of color and psychedelic healers, especially in states where cannabis is still illegal. The fact that Leary was given a 25-year sentence for possessing a minuscule amount of cannabis will undoubtedly come as a surprise to many young people. [2] That said, My Psychedelic Love Story is ultimately not about Timothy Leary and his imprisonment. Its a film about a woman who survived and has been trying to piece together her story and figure out what really happened to her.

For many decades, Harcourt-Smith had a bad reputation in psychedelic circles. In the 1970s, many suspected that she was a CIA agent and frequently greeted her with misogynistic abuse. In her post-Leary years, she became sober and eventually wrote her engaging autobiography. She gave up alcohol and other addictive drugs, but she continued to be an advocate for psychedelics and their healing potential. Harcourt-Smiths story is an important one because historians of psychedelic culture have too often focused on the tales of larger-than-life men Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson, and, of course, Leary. To more fully understand the era, we need to talk more about the psychedelic heroines who lived equally extraordinary lives. For many decades, Harcourt-Smiths story has been relegated to the margins of psychedelic history. Few people in the publishing industry took her story seriously, and all the major publishing houses rejected her memoir. The rejection letters that Harcourt-Smith received tacitly suggested that psychedelic narratives about women were somehow less important and less relevant than narratives about men. Morriss film makes it clear that she is not merely a minor player in psychedelic history. Her self-published memoir and My Psychedelic Love Story speak to many people because they offer powerful narratives of redemption; she survived the wreckage of the 1970s and converted to Buddhism. In the last two decades of her life, she became a prolific podcaster, an activist for psychedelic healing, and a passionate critic of our nations inhumane drug policies. [3]

The last frame of the film reveals that Harcourt-Smith passed away on October 12, 2020, while surrounded by her husband, children, and grandchildren. Harcourt-Smith, who was 74 at the time of her death, learned that she had developed Stage IV breast cancer when My Psychedelic Love Story was being put together and edited. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, it looked like the film would probably not be completed in time for Harcourt-Smith to see it. I recently contacted Harcourt-Smiths husband, Jos Luis Soler, and her daughter, Lara Tambacopoulou, to see if Joanna had a chance to see the film before she died; both told me that Joanna was able to see the completed film just three weeks before she died. They reported that she adored the film and watched it many times. She was at peace because she died knowing that her story was finally being told.

James Penner is the editor ofTimothy Leary: The Harvard Years(2014) and the author ofPinks, Pansies, and Punks: The Rhetoric of Masculinity in American Literary Culture(2011).

[1] The leaders of the WU who facilitated Learys escape from the California Mens Colony were never actually caught by the FBI.

[2] In 1970, Leary was given a 10-year sentence for possessing a few grams of marijuana. In 1973, he was given a 25-year sentence for marijuana possession and for escaping from the California Mens Colony in San Luis Obispo. Since Leary was 52 when he was convicted, he would be 77 when released, according to John Bryans Whatever Happened to Timothy Leary? (1980).

[3] At the time of her death, Harcourt-Smith and her partner Jos Luis Gmez Soler had interviewed over 400 subjects for their podcast, Future Primitive (see https://futureprimitive.org/).

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The Anatomy of the LSD Romance in the 1970s: On Errol Morris's My Psychedelic Love Story - Los Angeles Review of Books - lareviewofbooks

Since we could all use a little help relaxing right now, we rounded up five of our favorite meditation apps that are on sale right now for up to 80% off!

Welzen Meditation App: Lifetime Subscription, on sale for $29.99 (80% off)

Rated 4.4/5 stars on the Google Play Store, Welzen is a mindfulness meditation app that can be used anywhere, anytime. Depending on your schedule, you can choose between 5, 10, 15, or 20-minute sessions, making it a great fit for anyone who prioritizes flexibility.

Relax Melodies Meditation App: Lifetime Subscription, on sale for $79.99 (68% off)

Recommended by leading doctors, this app uses a combination of soothing sounds, bedtime stories, breathing techniques, and guided meditations to help you relax and get to sleep. Reviewers love that the app allows you to fully customize your experience in order to better meet your needs and goals. Plus, with a 4.6/5-star rating on the Google Play Store, as well as a 4.5/5-star rating on the Apple App Store, you can feel confident that this app does exactly what it claims.

Unplug Meditation App: 1-Yr Subscription, on sale for $39 (43% off)

Rated 4.9/5-stars on the Apple App Store, a year-long subscription to the Unplug provides you with more than 700 expert-led meditation sessions, including guided imagery, sound baths, hypnosis, and breathwork. Not only will you be able to connect with thousands of individuals just like you in their online community, but you will also have access to the apps gratitude journal, progress tracker, and timer.

Rootd Anxiety & Meditation App: 1-Yr Subscription, on sale for $25.99 (56% off)

As featured on Cosmopolitan, Healthline, Bustle, and CNET, this therapist-approved app aims to help individuals manage anxiety and panic attacks. You will have unlimited access to deep breathing tools, meditation sessions, soothing nature sounds, and unique lessons on how to better understand the way you are feeling. Rootd is rated 4.6/5-stars on the Apple Play Store, as well as 4.7/5-stars on the Google Play Store.

Omvana Meditation App: 1-Yr Subscription, on sale for $39.99 (33% off)

With a 1-year subscription to the Omvana Meditation App, you will score unlimited access to a massive library of guided meditation, classes, and lessons taught by the worlds best personal growth teachers. You can even create your own unique meditation experience by mixing your favorite tracks. Healthline listed it in their roundup of Best Meditation Apps of 2019 and it is rated 4.7/5-stars on the Apple App Store and 4.8/5-stars on the Google Play Store.

Prices subject to change.

Original post:

Make it through 2021 with one of these top-rated meditation apps - New York Post

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Mindfulness apps are booming as stressed-out people tune in for help coping with a turbulent world. Heres the TLDR to our guide on the business of mindfulness..

1 Meet the companies selling peace of mind.

2 Theyre competing for new and existing subscribers with a bevy of content.

3 More workplaces are offering mindfulness as an employee benefit,

4 while automakers want your car to be your happy place.

5 There is money in mindfulness, but it could also make people, and the world, better.

Though more than 2,500 meditation apps have launched since 2015, theyre all a little different, particularly in how they appeal to consumers. Some, like Calm, have star-studded content; others, like Headspace, say theyre all about health. Some are increasingly creeping beyond the specifics of meditation and becoming health or wellness brands. Headspace CEO CeCe Morken says the companys main purpose is to help people to achieve better health; mindfulness is the how.

Either way, theres a lot of money to be made in the mindfulness business these days. In the first 11 months of 2020, Calm brought in $99.4 million in revenue with a little over 28 million installs, according to estimates from Sensor Tower. Headspace, the second-biggest meditation app by revenue, generated an estimated $64.5 million on nearly 11 million installs.

Morning and evening meditations; workouts and stretches; stories and music to help people fall asleep or to perform at work; soundscapes and celebrity-narrated bedtime stories; recent expansions into TV shows and booksif apps like Headspace and Calm want to justify their customers subscriptions while tapping into new markets and demographics, they have to keep coming up with new content, too.

Theres something ironic about racing to remain competitive with a product that is meant to be about slowing down. But theres no question thats happeningthe two apps have been in what Calm co-founder Michael Acton Smith calls mindful competition with one another for nearly a decade.

In 2018, 52% of employers in the US offered some form of mindfulness training to workers. And though these apps really do help people feel better, theres a risk that companies will rely on them as a way to anesthetize people to the stresses of work. Mindfulness training is no substitute for flexible hours or a realistic workload. That said, if companies offer mindfulness training as well as other robust forms of support for workersas some such as Starbucks have started doingthere can be real benefits, perhaps helping employees become more comfortable in talking about their mental health and even improving their performance.

Imagine your car as a sanctuary. Can you shed the noise and stresses associated with driving?What may sound like a far-fetched fantasy instead encapsulates the pursuit of many car companies today. Beyond comfort and safety, manufacturers are racing to find ways to improve the overall physical and mental health of drivers and passengers.

Lincoln is one company integrating mindfulness into its design. Kamal Curic, Lincolns design director, says newer models have features that are expressions of quiet flight, a principle the company adopted in 2014 as a counterpoint to the aggressive, performance-driven themes that have defined the automotive industry for decades. Were challenging the entire company to think in terms of four guiding pillarsbeauty, gliding, human, and crafted sanctuary, he explains. The aspiration, Curic says, is to create an ultra relaxing, spa-like environment.

Research has shown that meditation helps alleviate mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. And with its Buddhist roots, it also promises spiritual fulfillment to a growing population of secular Americans.

Could individual engagement with mindfulness meditation add up to a broader social impact? While some people will use it to further indulge their self-centered tendencies, others may leverage their thinking about the interconnectedness of all things into demanding social change.

Read the full field guide.

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Covid-19 accelerated the worlds embrace of meditation apps - Quartz