It’s Friday at Lucid Practice, so that means it’s time for a garden post! This spring, Kate, Brian, Danielle and I started our own organic fruits and vegetable garden. We purchased our membership into the the Westport Community Garden Association and we were granted a 20′ x 10′ plot. The first step was to create “raised beds.” […]
“My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.” ~Aldous Huxley
Lucid Practice Notes on The 5 People You Meet In Heaven While traveling China, I found The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom on a hostel bookshelf. *Side note: Isn’t it funny the books that you find in hostels while traveling? Paz and I had enjoyed Albom’s beautiful short book, Tuesdays with Morrie so I […]
Thanks to Jan and Sandrine for introducing us to Carla’s music!
We can spend so much time focused on what we can’t control that we get so caught up only in that, and as a result, we feel totally powerless over our life. And while it’s important to be aware of what’s wrong and what we cannot control, our power is not found there. Our power […]
Gravity and Grace, El Anatsui (Ghana), 2013- Currently @ Brooklyn Museum
“If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.” ~ Carlos Castaneda from The Wheel of Time I love that –> “With a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.” We usually wind up on one extreme or […]
He turned 78 last Saturday and still says he meditates for three hours every day, starting at 4 am. He says he is just a simple monk and that kindness is his religion, calling for love and compassion to promote world peace. When we met with the Dalai Lama he was standing on his veranda overlooking the […]
Follow my friend Mike as he travels the world. It started with a 6 week road+trip across the US. Now Mike’s absolutely crushing it in Asia. He’s depicting the trip through breathtaking photos like the one below. Here’s the link to his blog: http://thefieldblog.tumblr.com
“You should not be practicing to have a “good” practice, but instead to keep steadiness within yourself. Practice happily regardless of whether it is “good” or not. Sometimes some postures will not be possible, but when you accept the good and the bad and everything becomes equal for you, that is yoga.” ~R. Sharath Jois
Conrad Tao is a 19-year-old virtuoso who tries to push the limits of classical music by combining tradition and technology. His experiments include compositions for piano and iPad as well as stage performances with a bright pink toy piano. Check out a video of him jamming here.
“Indeed, people have been saying since last year that Kickstarter funds more art-related projects than the NEA. And it’s true! For 2012, the NEA had a total federal appropriation of $146 million, of which 80 percent went toward grants. Kickstarter funded roughly $323.6 million of art-related projects if you include all design and video-related projects, […]
Raising Respectful, Grateful, Loving Children With all the negative news about Aaron Hernandez and the 37 arrests in the NFL in 2013, we’re happy to share positive energy from the NFL. The media likes to focus on the negativity but as you know by now, Lucid Practice is all about positive energy. I recently stopped rooting for […]
“Sri Krishnamacharya used to tell me: ‘Do the Headstand when you are tired and in need of a tonic; when you are unable to fall asleep; when you are hungry, nervous and unhappy. Do it when in need of relaxation, when the brain is clouded, when you are in low spirits. Do it when your thoughts […]
Some “Basic” Cellular Biology There are thousands upon thousands of receptors on each cell in our body. Each receptor is specific to one peptide, or protein. When we have feelings of anger, sadness, guilt, excitement, happiness or nervousness, each separate emotion releases its own flurry of neuropeptides. Those peptides surge through the body and connect […]
Click on the picture for a brief description of each Chakra. What practices have helped you in balancing & clearing your chakras? Post your response in the comments section below 🙂
Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Adelman, 1963. From “One Life: Martin Luther King Jr” exhibit currently @ The Smithsonian
“Greatness Courts Failure.” ~Tin Cup
The Dalai Lama said he was counting on young people to create a “happier” century as he celebrated his 78th birthday on Saturday in southern India with tens of thousands of Tibetan exiles. “The present-day generation can create better conditions and build a world where everyone can live in harmony and in a spirit of […]
We think that happiness is something that you find or if you reach some level in a company or a school, then you’re happier. And what we’re finding is that happiness is not something that happens to you. Happiness is a work ethic. It’s something that requires our brains to train just like an athlete […]
I liked this Gladwell piece from The New Yorker profiling Albert O. Hirschman, an influential economist and author of several well known books. Hirschman, an esoteric mind, felt that people were more creative when they experienced failure. Then, he believed, people were forced to think. Hirshman wrote, “Creativity always comes as a surprise to us; therefore […]
Anything Can Break, Pinaree Sanpitak, 2009 Installation
We try not to be any bit political, but I think this boy represents hope and freedom.
“Let Love be the Lord of your life.”
http://www.theworldgeography.com/2013/07/amazing-staircases.html Click the link to see 12 incredible staircases around our world.
“Now be silent. Let the One who creates words speak. He made the door, He made the lock, and He also made the key.” –Rumi Practicing and teaching I’ve experienced resistance on various levels in myself and have observed it in the students I assist on a daily basis. Sometimes the resistance we face comes […]
5 Reasons to Soak Nuts and Seeds Before Eating Have you ever felt like the nuts you were eating were rock hard and tough to chew? If so, it’s likely that you’re eating nuts that your digestive system cannot break down. Nuts and seeds have natural defense mechanisms (to fend off predators such as squirrels, […]
If you’re an aspiring ashtanga yoga practitioner, Kino MacGregor’s website is a great place to learn. Here’s a link to her notes from a recent Sharath Jois lecture in Mysore, India. Sharath is one of the most respected ashtanga yoga gurus alive today. He is the grandson of the great Pattabhi Jois, the Father of […]
Salamander, Antoni Gaudí, 1900-1914, Park Güell, Barcelona, Spain
In late April, Brian, Kate, Danielle and I started our garden. We began with zero experience but were eager to learn. Our goal was to grow edible plants, meet interesting people, and learn as much as possible. There have been ups and downs, plants have yielded meals and other plants have died. Along the way, […]
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9018653/shaka-smart-brad-stevens-butler-vcu With Brad Stevens being selected as the new coach of the Boston Celtics I thought about this awesome profile of Stevens and Shaka Smart from March 2013. I love Phil Jackson’s approach to leadership called process based coaching. Here are some great quotes from the article: Both are committed to positivity on the sideline, […]
Via Newsday Meet Jermaine, the patient pit bull mix who acts as a loving guide for his blind brother Jeffrey. The abandoned 6-month-old duo was discovered roaming the streets of Philadelphia in September. Animal welfare workers soon realized that the pair couldn’t bear to be separated. “They’re always pretty much touching each other,” Ray Little, director of […]
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/interpreting-statistical-evidence.html 1) In evaluating any study try to take into account the amount of background noise. That is, remember that the more hypotheses which are tested and the less selection which goes into choosing hypotheses the more likely it is that you are looking at noise. 2) Bigger samples are better. (But note that even […]