Lucid Practice

A Blog Featuring Enriching Content on Travel, Wellness, Art, and Yoga

5 Jul
2013

Artists in America

Katherine Boyle wrote a nice breakdown about artists in the United States last week for the Washington Post: Instagram and Etsy have made everyone seem like artistic geniuses, but according to the National Endowment for the Arts, artists make up only 1.4 percent of the U.S. labor force. Congratulations, California. You’re still an artist haven, […]

5 Jul
2013

5 Healthy Summer Fruits and Vegetables

1)      Raspberries- Low sugar content, 8 grams of fiber in one cup. 2)      Collard Greens- Calcium, Vitamins A + C, and other important nutrients. 3)      Peaches- Great source of potassium. 4)      Red Bell Peppers- High levels of Vitamin C and beta-carotine. 5)      Heirloom Tomatoes- Phytonutrient lycopene levels may help prevent prostate cancer. Jump to Margaret […]

4 Jul
2013

7/4 Quote: Dalai Lama

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~Dalai Lama

4 Jul
2013

You Won’t Remember Being Stuck in Traffic

David Eagleman writes a good 60 Second Read for Big Think: Let’s say you’re on a very boring airplane ride over to Europe. During the event it might seem like it’s taking a long time.  But in retrospect, once you’ve gotten off the plane, it’s like there was no time there at all.  The reason is you […]

4 Jul
2013

Malcolm Gladwell on his new book David and Goliath

Description from Amazon: We all know that underdogs can win-that’s what the David versus Goliath legend tells us, and we’ve seen it with our own eyes. Or have we? In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell, with his unparalleled ability to grasp connections others miss, uncovers the hidden rules that shape the balance between the weak […]

3 Jul
2013

Manifest Your Life

If you follow Lucid Practice on twitter you may have noticed that after nearly every “destination post” I hashtag the word “manifest.” Manifest means, to me, to take your mind and thoughts where you want them to go. We actually manifest all day. Life happens around us and we quickly manifest a judgment or a […]

3 Jul
2013

7/3 Quote: Jack Kornfield

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” ~Jack Kornfield  

3 Jul
2013

5 Reasons to Start Your Day in Airplane Mode

  5 Reasons to Start Your Day in Airplane Mode What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? If you were like me until recently, the first thing you do is check your phone or computer for messages and news. One month ago, my mornings were completely reactionary and hectic. […]

3 Jul
2013

Living Near The Beach is Good For You

A new study conducted at the University of Exeter found that there were numerous health benefits to spending time near the ocean. When a person goes to the beach, ‘It’s not going to be any great surprise to you that people relax,’ said study researcher Michael White. The more complex question was how being near […]

2 Jul
2013

7/2 Art: Myron

Townley Discobolus, original by Myron 450-440BC, Roman copy from 2nd cen AD

2 Jul
2013

You Are Beautiful

http://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U Cheers to Tim Piper for making this short but powerful piece on the manufactured “beauty” that people are programmed to strive for. Young girls see images on billboards and in commercials and they’re programmed into thinking, “Her photo is on a billboard. She’s in a commercial. People must think she’s beautiful, I want to […]

2 Jul
2013

No Cars Here Since 1898

  Meet Mackinac Island, where cars have been banned since 1898. Located just offshore of mainland Michagan, in Lake Huron, Mackinac Island and its namesake city have long been a favorite spot for a relaxing getaway. So, when automobiles first began to arrive, loudly sputtering along the island’s once-quiet roadways, startling horses and spitting out smoke, […]

2 Jul
2013

World’s Largest Building Opens

Located in Chengdu (population 14 million), capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, the New Century Global Center is the “largest freestanding building in the world,” Chinese officials say. http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/01/travel/china-largest-building-chengdu/index.html    

1 Jul
2013

The Power of Now

My favorite thought on the subject is from Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now where he says: “Accept—then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.” What’s stressing […]

1 Jul
2013

7/1 Quote: John Steinbeck

“There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of […]

1 Jul
2013

Seth Godin: Thinking About Money

Many marketers work overtime to confuse us about money. They take advantage of our misunderstanding of the time value of money, of our aversion to reading the fine print, of our childish need for instant gratification and most of all, our conflicted emotional connection to money. Confusing customers about money can be quite profitable if […]

1 Jul
2013

Mindfulness Meditation

Liz Kulze writes about Mindfulness Meditation in The Atlantic: In a practical sense, “sitting” is really all there is to the meditation aspect of mindfulness meditation. For anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour (or more) each day, whether alone or with a group, you sit in a quiet place with your eyes closed, focusing on […]

29 Jun
2013

Rare Sighting of Snow Leopards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23109029 Jump to BBC to see three snow leopards spotted together in the Yushu hills in central China.    

29 Jun
2013

Fishing the Long Island Sound

Last night, our electrician came over to help install a sound system. His son Max is a smart, jovial 11 year old who lost his mother to cancer at a young age. Max usually chills on his iPad playing video games while his dad works his electronic magic in the basement. My friend and I […]

28 Jun
2013

Curing The Curse of Knowledge

How can you teach and share if you can’t communicate effectively? The Curse of Knowledge occurs when one forgets what it’s like not to know something. This presents a serious communication obstacle for leaders, educators, communicators, and lucid practitioners who wish to help others. Consider the yoga teacher who is teaching the first time student. […]

28 Jun
2013

6/28 Quote: Rumi

“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” ~Rumi

28 Jun
2013

Rick Rubin: What Makes Great Art?

Rick Rubin is a music producer who has worked with the likes of Johnny Cash, Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, and The Beastie Boys. After reading Newsweek’s awesome profile, You Listen To This Man Everyday, I think his understanding of what makes great art is spot on. Everywhere I look, businesses, artists, musicians, […]

28 Jun
2013

Are Self-Disciplined People Happier?

Time’s Maia Szalavitz wrote an article claiming that self disciplined people are happier. The research, which was published in the Journal of Personality, showed that self-control isn’t just about deprivation, but more about managing conflicting goals. Through a series of tests — including one that assessed 414 middle-aged participants on self-control and asked them about their life […]