60 Years After Being Told Girls Don’t Belong in The Field, This Yankees Fan Lives Her Dream

 

A Yankees fan’s dream came true 60 years after being rejected by the team. Gwen McLoughlin, 70, served as the bat girl for the New York Yankees on Monday in their game against the Los Angeles Angels.

When McLoughlin was about 10, she wrote a letter to the Yankees asking if she could serve in the role. Back then, she received a response from Roy Hamey, who was the general manager of the team.

“While we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys, and no doubt would be an attractive addition on the playing field, I am sure you can understand that in a game dominated by men a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout,” the letter read.

 

 

60 years later, McLoughlin’s daughter Abby forwarded that letter to the Yankees. Current general manager Brian Cashman saw the letter and responded with a more positive reply. He invited McLoughlin to be the honorary bat girl during the game on Monday, which took place during the Yankees’ annual HOPE Week.

“Although your long-ago correspondence took place 60 years ago — six years before I was born — I feel compelled to resurrect your original request and do what I can to bring your childhood dream to life,” he wrote, in a letter he shared with McLoughlin via video chat.

“Despite the fact that six decades have passed since you first aspired to hold down the position as a New York Yankees Bat Girl, it is not too late to reward and recognize the ambition you showed in writing that letter to us as a 10-year-old girl,” he said. “We have a chance to rewrite history here and show you, obviously, how times have changed.”

In the video above, McLoughlin can be seen seated next to her husband, her hand on her chest, choking up while responding to Cashman.

“I will be there,” she said. “Thank you for doing this for us women and for moving forward and opening the world up to the population.”

Growing up, McLoughlin says Mickey Mantle was her favorite player. She also believes that the actions the team took to bring her on as the bat girl speaks to a much larger issue than just fulfilling her dream.

After the game, McLoughlin spoke with reporters and told them she had no ill will against the Yankees after they initially shot her down. “I love the Yankees. They wrote me a letter. It wasn’t what I wanted to see, but they wrote me a letter and I’ve always loved them and been a fan of theirs.”

At the end of the day, the 70-year-old’s dream has finally come true.

“You know when they say dreams come true? This is it,” she said.

 

Britney Spears is Focusing on her Physical and Mental Health After Conservatorship Hearing

 

After Britney Spears’ emotional conservatorship hearing on June 23, the singer is taking some time for herself.

Spears and her personal trainer boyfriend flew to Hawaii right after her appearance in the courtroom, giving her time to relax following her testimony.

During her testimony, Spears made many accusations, including that her conservators were preventing her from getting married and having a child. “I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a baby. I have an IUD inside of myself right now so I don’t get pregnant. I wanted to take the IUD out so I could start trying to have another baby,” she told the court.

 

 

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According to an insider who told Us Weekly, Asghari “made sure his schedule was clear the week after the hearing to be there for her 100 percent and support her.”

The singer wrote in her Instagram Stories “Mental and physical health comes before anything at this point.” She also reposted a video of Sam Asghari, her boyfriend, of the couple working out.

 

 

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The “Lucky” singer has been sharing the activities she’s been doing throughout her vacation, captioning “I like the sound of the ocean at night and hearing people laughing from my balcony … there’s a togetherness here and it’s endless!!!”

The couple has since been enjoying their time participating in relaxing activities such as swimming and tanning. “She’s eating clean and working out with Sam as a form of detox to help her body mentally and spiritually,” said the source.

 

New Research Finds 3 in 5 Americans Prefer Outdoor Fitness Regimens

 

According to a new survey conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by the health and fitness app Verv, three in five Americans have transformed from “indoor people” to “outdoor people” during the pandemic. The research fielded responses from 2,000 people over the age of 21, and suggested that the average person went outside for around 5 hours per week last year — an increase of 22 minutes a week.

In total, that would mean the average respondent spent 260 hours, or 10 whole days outdoors in 2020.

The survey showed that the top reason people began going outside more often was to get away from the people they’ve been stuck indoors with during the pandemic.

Respondents who identified as an indoor person at the outset of the pandemic were more likely to be a morning person, and 71% claimed their lives were “mostly perfect.” But 68% of those indoor people were also hesitant to try new things out of fear of failure.

“Recent scientific reports have found that spending just 120 minutes per week in nature can decrease inflammation, boost activity in infection-fighting white blood cells, and lower blood pressure,” Luba Pashkovaskaya, CEO of Verv, told PEOPLE.

It’s a fact that indoor people seem to have discovered on their own. Those respondents now prefer walking (51%), running (47%), and biking (42%) outdoors over indoor activities like yoga and pilates.

 

Pharrell Williams to Open Private Schools for Low-Income Families

 

Pharrell Williams will be opening small private schools for low-income families. The singer recently established YELLOWHAB, a “network of micro schools” that will start with a location in Norfolk, Virginia.  The schools will serve elementary-aged children in an all-day educational program.

In a press release to The Virginian-Pilot, the 48-year-old musician stated: “If the system is fixed and unfair, then it needs to be broken. We don’t want lockstep learning where so many kids fall behind; we want bespoke learning designed for each child, where the things that make a child different are the same things that will make a child rise up and take flight.”

According to YELLOWHAB’s website, it will focus on creating “an immersive educational environment that sparks imagination in a story-filled space where children transcend the everyday on a journey for deeper learning.”

The name YELLOWHAB is inspired by Williams’ nonprofit, YELLOW, with “hab” coming from the name of the Mars habitat in the movie “The Martian.”

 

 

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The first YELLOWHAB school is set to open in September 2021, for 40 to 50 students in grades 3 through 5 living in Virginia. Tuition will be free for at least the first year and the cost of attendance will be covered by philanthropic support.

In order for a child to be eligible for YELLOWHAB’s lottery, certain requirements need to be met, such as:

– The child is a resident of Norfolk, VA (proof of residency is required if selected)
– The child is a rising 3rd, 4th, or 5th grader
– The child qualifies for the Federal Free and Reduced-price Lunch program (or meets family income requirements)

For more information on YELLOWHAB you can visit their website and Instagram page.

 

Listening to Nature is Good for Your Health, According to New Research

 

A new study from Michigan State University, Colorado State University, and Carleton University shows that natural sound creates an impact on human health. It’s probably something you’ve noticed on your own: that the sounds of nature — the wind blowing through a stand of trees, or a stream flowing nearby — can be relaxing. But the study establishes that the sound of nature can actually decrease stress and pain, improve cognitive function, and enhance mood.

The researchers aren’t quite sure why the correlation between natural sounds and health exists. However, they do believe it’s because the sounds of nature prompt our brains to shift our focus forward, decreasing stress.

Interesting, different sounds affect us differently. For example, bird sounds were most effective at lowering stress and annoyance, while the sound of water can enhance awareness, relaxation, and tranquility.

According to the researchers, if you don’t have easy access to natural spaces, you can block man-made noise by playing something like an ocean sounds playlist. Even if the sounds of nature aren’t organic, they can still provide benefits to your health.

 

Matthew Wolff Returns from Hiatus, Opens Up About Mental Health

Matthew Wolff finishes a shot at the 2020 US Open

 

Matthew Wolff had a rather inconspicuous weekend at the US Open. True, he started Saturday in third place and was just one shot off the lead. But he was pretty average on Saturday and Sunday, and finished the tournament at +1 — still good for a tie of 15th place, but far from threatening to win it all.

And for Wolff, that’s just fine. The 22-year-old, who finished as runner-up at last year’s US Open, was playing his first golf in almost two months.

That two-month break was self-imposed. Wolff had a string of tough finishes early in the year, including an opening round 83 that prompted him to withdraw from the WGC-Workday Championship. Then in April, he was disqualified from the Masters for signing an incorrect scorecard.

Far from just bad luck, or a bad run, Wolff’s mental health was falling apart.

 

 

“I just didn’t quite know how to deal with it. As good as my life is, 22 years old and on the PGA Tour, there’s also a lot of stress and pressure that comes along with it, and it got to me,” Wolff told reporters on the weekend. “I was hopeless for five months. And I was really struggling.”

He decided to step away, a decision that couldn’t have been easy. Getting help for yourself — especially when you exist in the public eye — tends to leave little room for privacy. But Wolff faced reporters’ questions head-on in his first tournament back, and was frank about his struggle. It’s a struggle that he knows isn’t over.

“I mean, Thursday and even today, even after playing well yesterday, I was still like I wanted to stay in bed,” Wolff admitted. “I wanted to be like where I was comfortable, not in the spotlight.”

He said that his focus for the weekend was just to enjoy playing again — to keep a level head, even through bad putts and missed fairways. And he says he accomplished that. But he also recognizes that mental health is more than a single battle; more than just one weekend with a positive attitude. “I’ll probably be working on the same thing that I’m working on now for the rest of my career.”

Hints on Habit-Forming From an 88-Year-Old

 

When we talk about making changes in our lives, what we’re really talking about is forming new habits. But as you’ve no doubt realized, breaking from routine — even if it’s done in service of a new routine — is hard. Really hard. It’s why so many health articles, TED Talks, and apps promise that they’ve found the solution. So few of us believe we have the answer; so many of us are looking to try something new.

Part of the problem, of course, is that there’s no single rule for building habits that’s going to work for everyone. With that in mind, blogger Darius Foroux decided to think outside the box. He recognized that his 88-year-old grandfather had certain healthy habits that were etched in stone: things like going for a daily walk, or going to bed at the same time every night.

So instead of trying the next in a long line of habit-tracking apps, Darius asked his grandfather to explain how he’d formed those iron-clad habits. And he says that his grandfather’s process comes down to these four steps.

 

Step 1: Decide What Habit You Want to Form, and Why

The ‘what’ of a habit is easy enough. But Darius’s grandfather insists that you should have a firm reason for why you’re trying to form a particular habit. Don’t attempt to wake up at 6:00 every morning just because it’s what “successful people” do. Figure out what’s important to you — or what goal you’re trying to accomplish — and set out to build your habits from there.

 

Step 2: Pick a Set Time For Your Habit

Darius acknowledges that if you’re not a retired 88-year-old, this one might prove difficult. But the idea is that if you value something, and want to commit to doing it daily, putting it in your calendar in permanent ink will force you to make time for it.

 

Step 3: Measure Your Habits

There is a lot to be said for measuring your goals. Measuring keeps you accountable, for one thing. And being able to look back on what you’ve accomplished — say in miles run, or in minutes spent doing yoga — can be a powerful motivator. But motivation and accountability aside, measuring your habits will also help with the step above. If you know how long you need to complete a habit, it will be easier to work it into your day.

 

Step 4: Do It For at Least One Week

You’ve probably seen a half-dozen assertions about how long it takes to form a habit. Darius refers to research that says it takes 66 days. You’ve probably seen other people say it takes 28 days. But according to Darius’s grandfather, it takes just 7. “In my experience, it takes a week to get used to doing something regularly,” he told Darius. “So if you successfully wake up at the same time every day for seven days straight, you can count on yourself to do it every day from that point.”

Maybe that’s the confidence of a man with an iron will, someone to whom habit-forming comes easily. But maybe he’s right. Maybe — with a schedule in place, and with a solid understanding of what’s motivating us — a week is all it takes.

It certainly can’t hurt to try.

Andre Agassi on How Empathy Gave Him an Edge

Agassi gets ready to return a serve.

 

We’ve all heard the expression that certain athletes “think the game” on a different level, or that so-and-so has a high basketball IQ. It’s a cliché, for sure, but it’s an accurate one. Some players really are better at reading an opposing team, or recognizing a shift in momentum.

Often, a player demonstrates that IQ in an obvious way, and in a moment that might later be recognized as a turning point in a game. But for every instance of in-game IQ that we do see, there might be five that we don’t. And one of the best reveals of that invisible IQ came in this interview with Andre Agassi.

He talks about coming up against Boris Becker, a German player who featured one of the biggest serves of his era. Agassi, like the rest of the men’s tour, was having trouble with Becker’s serve; it “was something the game had never seen before,” he told Unscriptd, and he lost to Becker three straight times when the two started playing each other.

Agassi committed to studying Becker’s serve. And after poring over footage of the German, he recognized that Becker had a tell: as he lifted the ball in the air, his tongue would point in the direction that he was serving. So while Becker was still able to send big booming serves over the net, Agassi now knew which way those serves were headed.

For most of us, our next thought is: Wow. That’s some next-level tennis IQ. But what made Agassi special is that his next thought was about how to keep his new knowledge secret; not from other competitors, but from Becker himself.

If Becker caught on and recognized that he was tipping his serve, he’d likely be able to identify what was happening. And the fix, of course, was rather simple: all he would’ve needed to do was keep his mouth closed while serving.

“I had to resist the temptation of reading his serve for the majority of the match,” Agassi explained. “I didn’t have a problem breaking his serve. I had a problem hiding the fact that I could break his serve at will.”

Agassi went on to win 9 of his next 11 matches with Becker. And he says that ‘solving’ Boris Becker was a matter of empathy: “The more you understand what the problem is through other people’s lens[es], the more you can solve for people.”

How to Feel Confident at Your Next Yoga Class

 

Most of us have, at some point, considered making yoga a part of our regular routine. I bet it would help my golf game, we think, or maybe we’re looking for something that can help us manage our stress. 

But for all of yoga’s benefits, yoga classes can be intimidating. As a beginner, it can feel like everyone but you knows what they’re doing; never mind that everyone else’s yoga outfit is so put-together it looks like a team uniform. 

It’s true that there are more options than ever for doing yoga at home. But even with pre-recorded classes, the knowledge gap (How am I supposed to know what Warrior Pose is?) and the flexibility gap (How will I ever be able to move like that?) can be discouraging.

Overcoming those gaps will, of course, take time and repetition. But in the meantime, Best Health Magazine breaks down 7 things you can do outside of yoga class that will help build your confidence. 

Some of that advice is straightforward. They advise, for example, that you not start a class with a full stomach. But there are also things that are less intuitive, like strengthening your wrists. Because many poses involve wrist strength, working to make yours stronger (or simply warming up your wrists before class) should make those poses easier to hold.

Finally — and though you might not want to hear it — the clothes you wear to class are important. For one thing: looking good can help you to feel good. But you also want an outfit that won’t impede your movement. For this reason, yoga instructor Dempsey Marks prefers form-fitting pants and tops: “I don’t like the way loose clothing hangs and gets caught on my limbs during practice.”

Again, yoga is like any other activity: competence comes with practice. But a tweak or two to your yoga routine — especially if you’re struggling — can help you stick with it through those first couple of classes.

Ottawa Nominates First Person of Color for Canada’s Supreme Court

 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has nominated the first person of color to Canada’s Supreme Court.

Trudeau made the announcement through Twitter of this “historic nomination” on Thursday. In its 146-year existence, the country’s top court has only ever had white justices, but with the most recent appointment of Kenyan-born Mahmud Jamal, it seems it’s one step closer to change.

Although this is a formality, Jamal must still be vetted by the House of Commons Justice Committee.

In an announcement issued by Trudeau through Twitter, he said “He’ll be a valuable asset to the Supreme Court – and that’s why, today, I’m announcing his historic nomination to our country’s highest court.”

 

 

Mahmud Jamal has been a judge for Ontario’s Court of Appeal since 2019. Prior to that, he worked for decades as a litigator and taught at two of Canada’s top law schools.