We change the angle with which we hold the camera.

“It is possible to be happy and joyful most of the time. You just have to look at little children and see their natural joy. You may say that little children are free and don’t have anything to worry about, but you are free too! You are free to choose worry or to choose joy, and whatever you choose will attract exactly that. Worry attracts more worry. Joy attracts more joy.”

Via Rhonda Byrne and Secret Scrolls

“That feeling of having to obey every impulse and gratify every desire seems to me to be a strange kind of slavery. Nobody talks about it as such, though.”  

If you’re familiar with his work, you know that David Foster Wallace was exceptionally and almost painfully aware of the finer details of both himself and his surroundings. One would be hard-pressed to find an individual whose fingers have been pressed more squarely to the heartbeat of late-20th, early-21st century American culture than were those of Wallace.

In spite of his renown and his brilliance, Wallace carried himself with an air of cautious humility, clearly wanting very badly not to convey self-importance or elitism. Many who call his image to mind probably think first of the bandannas (to soak up his excessive perspiration) and long, flowing hair, two iconic aspects of his long-time appearance.

The hour-and-a-half-long interview is remarkable in its entirety, but I was particularly enamored with one segment in which Wallace discusses American culture:

_____

Whatever the case, it seems to me that to be conscious of what one does and of one’s reasons for living in such and such a way is to be perhaps freer, or at least more honest and capable of change, than those who are less aware. Your verdict may well be that it is best for you to live by traditional values or to pursue the buzz of the moment. Bits of these two opposed ideals are certainly sprinkled into my philosophy of living, along with a thousand other things. 

Click to read an amazing piece on Refine the Mind on David Foster Wallace — David Foster Wallace Philosophy. 

Most people can relate to having a strong desire, belief and yes, even faith, that something good was about to happen. This may have been a strong intuition that they were going to get that promotion, meet Mr. or Mrs. Right or even reconnect with someone after a misunderstanding that created a rift in the relationship. However, for whatever reason, despite the strong belief that we had it would all work out, it didn’t. The promotion went to someone else, Mr. or Mrs. Right turned out to be wrong and despite our willingness to rekindle the relationship the other person wanted to stay mad and unforgiving.

When this happens the first step is to immediately see the negative. We berate ourselves for our wishful thinking, for our mistake believes and our misplaced faith in the positive aspects of the universe. We often block ourselves from trying again and sink into a cycle of negativity, cynicism and critical outlook on the world around us.

Instead, there are some simple steps that you can take to ensure that your faith, belief and hope stays alive and you stay focused on the positives. Getting caught up in negativity will only attract more negativity, a concept that is central in my book, “The Law of Sobriety” , which is based on the universal Law of Attraction. Three techniques that really help you stay focused on the positive energy around you even if things don’t go the way you anticipated are:

1. Don’t try to control how positives will come into your life, just look for the opportunities that the universe provides. Controlling the process will simply block possibilities.
2. See yourself as you want to be, not how you want to get there.
3. Have faith and believe in your vision for yourself, don’t set a timeline or a specific date that it has to be accomplished by.

Via Sherry Gaba and IntentBlog

5  Excuses Busted

1. I don’t have time.

There are times in life where you feel swamped and you don’t think you have time. But these are generally the times you need to practice the most. You don’t have to spend more than 10 minutes practicing. Set an alarm, do 10 minutes on your mat, and walk away. Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is to say “I don’t want to.” ~ Lao Tzu

2. I start, and then I don’t know what I am doing, and give up.

Self-practice is not about mimicking your teachers hour long session. Choose a short and digestible amount—be it your own short sequence or a something specific your teacher has set for you, and do 10 minutes. If you feel lost, simplify and slowly rebuild. Chances are it’s your brain getting in the way. It’s a physical thing, so don’t intellectualize it. Move. Feel and breathe. That is all.

 3. I can just go to a class.

Yes, you can, and classes are valuable. But the best relationships in life are reciprocal—your teacher teaches you, and you practice. Through self-practice you digest what you have done in class, and meet and overcome new blockages. This is an invaluable and necessary step forward if you want to truly dig into your yoga practice.

A short daily practice is better than a one-hour long practice in a week. It’s like brushing your teeth, and it is the continuity that will start to inform your practice and other aspects of your life.

Click to read two more excuses — YOGA

image and link via Carly Mountain and Elephant Journal

Pharrell has made a 24-hour music video of people dancing and lip-syncing that’s a cross between Christian Marclay’s The Clock and Girl Walk // All Day.

Via Kottke

Via Bloomberg:

Scientists are getting close to proving what yogis have held to be true for centuries — yoga and meditation can ward off stress and disease.

John Denninger, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, is leading a five-year study on how the ancient practices affect genes and brain activity in the chronically stressed. His latest work follows a study he and others published earlier this year showing how so-called mind-body techniques can switch on and off somegenes linked to stress and immune function.

While hundreds of studies have been conducted on the mental health benefits of yoga and meditation, they have tended to rely on blunt tools like participant questionnaires, as well as heart rate and blood pressure monitoring. Only recently have neuro-imaging and genomics technology used in Denninger’s latest studies allowed scientists to measure physiological changes in greater detail.

The science is advancing alongside a budding “mindfulness” movement, which includes meditation devotees such as Bill George, board member of Goldman Sachs Group and Exxon Mobil Corp., and comedian Jerry Seinfeld. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch recently revealed on Twitter that he is giving meditation a try.

It’s an interest that dates back to an exchange program he attended in China the summer before entering Harvard as an undergraduate student. At Hangzhou University he trained with a tai chi master every morning for three weeks.

“By the end of my time there, I had gotten through my thick teenage skull that there was something very important about the breath and about inhabiting the present moment,” he said. “I’ve carried that with me since then.”

Click to read the full article on bloomberg — YOGA.

Image via Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images