We are knocked out by photographer Tomasz Gudzowaty‘s beautiful black-and-white-essay of the practices of Shaolin monks, found at IndigoJaws. We especially love this one of a monk skipping on a wall — a variation on our favorite subject of leaping and flying — made possible by rigorous and repeated practice. Lesson there… Thanks Vanessa!
Read MoreWe recently came across a great example of blackout poetry, poems made by blacking out words in an existing piece of writing, to forge a poem or song with what’s left. Tasha S. tried her hand and “saw a love story between a ghost and a mortal”. Tasha’s “first crack” made us realize that blackout…
Read MoreWe were struck by this passage from Eliza Griswold’s New York Times review of A House in the Sky: A Memoir, Amanda Lindhout’s heart-wrenching story of being kidnapped and held for 460 days in Somalia: To withstand her anguish, she recited a catalog of the small gifts for which she was grateful: “my family at…
Read MoreOur recent Facebook post about alternative ways to meditate got a lot of hits. Its single line —’Can’t sit still when you meditate?: try turning everyday actions into a practice’ — told us that there are A LOT of people who have trouble sitting and meditating. So we thought we’d elaborate. The solution is an…
Read MoreSpotted at Dumb Little Man: 6 Unconventional, But Scientific Ways To Be The Happiest Person On Earth. Many of these six practices are based on neuroscience and other scientific evidence…but then EVERYTHING is these days. We figure, what have we got to lose by trying them out? Visualizing throwing an anxiety or negative thought in a…
Read MoreDavid Saltman over at The Houdini File spotted this image on The Art of Kung Fu’ facebook with the comment: Whenever you say “I can’t do it”, think of this photo. All martial arts, including tai chi, are about practice…a lifetime of practice to gain mastery… …And mastery of ANYTHING is about practice, perservering in the…
Read MoreWe are constantly knocked out by the wonderful endeavors our readers are involved in, committed to, CREATED out of nothing, improvised. Here are a few from the past week: David Downie and Alison Harris set out from their home in Paris to walk across France to the Pyrenees, the French portion of El Camino de…
Read MoreMindfulness practice – learning to be present in each moment– is something many people are embracing these days. Business are incorporating it and classes abound. Perhaps the most often-recommended “exercise” is washing dishes mindfully, although we know few people who really do it. Recently, we heard of one that did, truly. No surprise, it is…
Read MoreWe loved Adam Green’s recent New Yorker profile of famed pickpocket Apollo Robbins (whose website is I Steal Stuff), and all it has to say about what we think we’re seeing at any given time, and how easy it is for certain savvy people to decode it. In this mesmerizing video, Robbin reveals his favorite sleight-of-hand — watch…
Read More‘back to the future’ by malte jäger, 2011 Reminder to self: this perfect flying move was the result of A LOT of practice and falling flat on face… via Gif me Berlin Related posts: skateboard in style! (1974) practice flying (via the uganda skateboard union) skateistan: skateboarding as antidote (to war, poverty, sadness…) joy ride: practice makes…
Read MoreWe are big fans of the blog Mondoblogo, where we find long, beautiful, mostly visual posts that almost always expand our vision. There’s a strong leaning toward art and mid-century design, but also just the pure joy of seeing as evidenced by the category “Walks”. Scroll through and you’ll find photographic riffs of walks through…
Read More(Video link here.)…yeah, people are AWESOME. via Kottke Related posts: weekend fun: new danny macaskill video danny macaskill’s joy ride danny macaskill’s bike lesson (setbacks + difficulties + perseverance = mastery)
Read MoreWe thought we’d post this beautiful Yann Gross photo we stumbled on a while ago as an inspiring image unto itself, to ‘Practice Flying’. Then we decided to look into the story behind it. We discovered that it is from a series of photographs Gross made about a hand-built skateboard park in Uganda. So smitten…
Read MoreWe had no idea we could laugh at will until we read The Laughing Guru in The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago. Dr. Madan Kataria promotes Laughter Yoga, which he says can be a cure for all sorts of physical, psychological and spiritual ailments. We have a few of those, so we thought…
Read MoreWe were walking through Prospect Park in Brooklyn one twilight evening when we heard the mellow sound of saxaphones reverberating “a capella” through the trees. We came upon two men standing in a leafy clearing. We stopped to listen, then asked where they were from. The confident man strolling slowly with his alto soprano sax…
Read MoreDo you ever feel like you just can’t figure out what colors go with what? Being great at color is clearly a special gift, but we mortals can learn to find our way with a little help. Consciously looking at wonderful combinations of color is a way of training the eye: a practice. And an…
Read MoreIn our long life, we’ve learned a great deal about New Years resolutions from abandoning them so many times that we finally got with the fact that they generally didn’t work. We relate mightily to this wise, funny little video we found in Instagram…
Read MoreLately, we’ve been hearing about glimmers, tiny moments of awe and beauty that spark joy, calm, well-being and help our nervous systems feel relaxed and balanced (the opposite of stressors and triggers.) Glimmers can be the seemingly ordinary things, as well as very unexpected ones.
Read MoreDr. Vivek Murthy, 21st Surgeon General of the United States and a Yogi Bryan, a wild man meditator we recently discovered, share their quick meditations for regaining connection and calm. Similar practices, VERY different approaches.
Read MoreThe story behind Olia Hercules’ A Case for Eating Herbs as if They Were Vegetables in the New Yorker is well worth reading. But the title conveys the vital message. A platter of herbs offered alongside other dishes in a meal is an invitation for guests to enjoy herbs primal and fragrant with abandon.
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