Lewis Miller is a professional floral designer by day, and The Banksy of Flower Design by night. He’s created a project called Flower Flash whereby he and his team install large flower displays on city streets under the cover of night. They are put together in less than twenty minutes, and usually vanish within a […]
The syllable Om is first mentioned in the Upanishads, the mystical texts associated with the Vedanta philosophy, originating between 1500 – 1200 BC. Om is considered the mother of the bij, or “seed” mantras — short, potent sounds that correlate to each chakra and are used as parts of longer chants. In a class or […]
Let us gather in the darkness, today we get the most! (painting by Igor Medvedev)
The Yoga Joes have clearly been keeping up with their practice since we saw them last… They’ve mastered some seriously advanced postures. Look at that strength and grace! These little buddies are currently available on the Colossal Shop for $25 bucks per set of 6, or you can head over to creator Dan Abramson‘s site for more color […]
(via Hindustan Times) This is Sri Amma Nanammal who, at 98, currently holds the distinction of India’s oldest female yoga instructor, and second-oldest in the world (the aforementioned Tao Porchon-Lynch is just a few months older). Via Quartz India: “Nanammal, the 98-year-old yoga expert from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, believes that, in its true […]
Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Let the sunshine in!
According to a new study recently published in Scientific Reports, MBARI researchers Séverine Martini and Steve Haddock have found that three-quarters of the animals in Monterey Bay waters between the surface and 4,000 meters deep can produce their own light. This is particularly exciting because the study is the first-ever quantitative analysis of bioluminescent organisms. Very few cameras are […]
Filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s keys to being ‘a morally sound human being’ are as follows. Via No Film School: Ground your attention on yourself. Be conscious at every moment of what you are thinking, sensing, feeling, desiring, and doing. Always finish what you have begun. Whatever you are doing, do it as well as possible. Do not […]
This little beauty was found 2.3 miles below the ocean’s surface, deep into the Mariana Trench last week, by researchers on a NOAA expedition aboard the Okeanos Explorer. Via Scientific American: Scientists believe this animal belongs to the genus Crossota, a group of jellies that does not have a sessile polyp stage; all phases of their lives […]
Léon Bakst was a Russian painter, scenic designer and costume designer. He was a member of Sergei Diaghilev’s creative circle that birthed the Ballets Russes, for which he designed exotic, richly-detailed sets and costumes. He was among the first to incorporate the influence of the East into 20th-century high design. He was also, as we’ll see, a big […]
(via National Geographic) This beautiful biofluorescent hawksbill sea turtle was spotted by scientists off the coast of the Solomon Islands in late July 2015. This dive marked the first time that biofluorescence had been observed in marine reptiles. I hope these luminous little buddies stick around long enough for us to learn more about them, as they are critically endangered, due […]
This is as much a reminder for myself as for any of you. Funny how easy it can be to forget. These beautiful plant-rendered lungs are part of a series by UK artist Camila Carlow. More of her florid organs can be found here.
I’d juuuuust been introduced to Malick Sidibé’s work about a week ago, and today he passed away at the age of 80. Via Jack Shainman Gallery: “Malick Sidibé was a photographer known for his black-and-white images chronicling the exuberant lives and culture, often of youth, in his native Bamako, Mali in the 1950s, ‘60s, and […]
Ever wondering which muscles are being primarily stretched in a particular yoga pose? I definitely have. I’ve been moving into a more physical hatha-based practice this year, and with this has come a desire to better understand yogic anatomy. These illustrations by Vicky Timón and James Kilgallon are quite helpful! Click here to see the complete set […]
Yoga teacher and author Elena Brower and (my beloved) teacher / author Hari Kaur Khalsa got together at ABC Home on March 8 for this great talk about Kundalini Yoga. Wish I could have seen it live, but at least there’s full video! (from Gerald Forster on Vimeo)
Via Colossal: “To celebrate spring, London-based artist Rebecca Louise Law has placed 30,000 live flowers in the atrium of German shopping and recreation center Bikini Berlin, suspending a colorful garden above the heads of the store’s visitors with copper wire. The deconstructed floral arrangement was…designed to be an installation that would dry over the time of its […]
My friend and fellow Brooklyn yoga teacher/scholar/rocker Bob Doto is interviewed on Yoganonymous today, via Jacob Kyle’s Chitheads interview podcast. Give it a listen!
In May 2015, a diver filmed what he saw while snorkeling in Jellyfish Lake, a small body of water in Palau that is home to about 13 million golden jellyfish. Every morning the entire jellyfish population migrates from the east side of the lake to the west side, and then back again in the afternoon. Unlike most jellyfish, […]
This one’s present-tense relevant, as I’ve been variously under the weather lately. For the past several years, I’ve been able to cure myself of most minor ailments holistically, thanks to Earth Clinic. They have an extensive database of ailments and user testimonials that provide the details of their own effective remedies. After a few minutes […]
I teared up a little while watching this…. This comes from an article on Take Part: “Since 2010, the Prison Freedom Project has introduced yoga classes in prisons all over South Africa, a country that has the third-highest ratio of prisoners to population in the world……Implementing yoga is an effort to limit recidivism rates by helping students manage […]
I watched the documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? on Netflix last night, and the effect is lingering. The list of reasons why Nina Simone remains the High Priestess of Soul is extensive and beautifully elucidated in this film, so I won’t enumerate them here. However, I will point out that throughout the film (and her […]
Bioluminescence is an oft-mentioned topic here at Solid Glow HQ, but glow-worms have yet to make such a prominent appearance. Maybe this resonates so deeply with me because I loved the heck out of my Glow-Worm doll when I was a lil’ one, or maybe it’s simply because THIS WORLD IS MAGIC and these naturally illuminating […]
My friend, veteran Kundalini teacher, fellow goddess-gatherer and bright light of Harlem Siri Rishi Kaur was interviewed by neon art-warrior Katie Cercone of radical transnational queer feminist art collective Go!Push Pops for Revolt Magazine. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts but the whole thing is worth a read, especially if you are curious about Kundalini […]
While houseguesting in Berkeley, California this winter, I was poking around my host’s bookshelves and found a book with a simple monosyllabic title. I got about halfway through Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced chik-sent-mi-hai) before I had to reluctantly move on to my next destination. I spent those last few days furiously taking notes, certain that […]
Photographer Taylor Allen does some pretty gorgeous work with silhouettes. The universe is within you, donchaknow….
That’ll do, internet…
It would be great if all soldiers had to do yoga and meditate as part of their training. Yogi and entrepreneur Dan Abrahamson shows us what that might look like with these fantastic plastic figures. Head to Colossal for more pics.
Cat-Cow is a simple and gentle way to warm up the spine. In the video below, the lovely Chia-Ti Chiu provides detailed instructions on how to do Cat-Cow, explains the many benefits, and demonstrates the kriya. Try it with her! (Photo by Taner Ceylan)
I went to The Commons last week to hear a lecture entitled “Lessons from Cuba: Mastering Sustainability” by permaculture pioneer Roberto Perez Rivero. By the end of it, I wanted to hop a plane to Cuba, or at least convert my roof to a garden. Roberto has been an integral part of the Cuban Permaculture Movement […]
And by “diet”, I mean your optimal nourishment plan, not some fad nonsense. This one comes directly from Health Haven: Excuse: “Vegetables Taste So ‘Blah’ When I Make Them” Solution: The major mistakes people make when preparing vegetables are overcooking and underseasoning. Whether you steam, sauté, or grill, cut back a little on your usual cooking time […]
Oh, this video! Someone’s been reading my diary…. I intend to teach yoga in Italian some day. This helps. Plus, that DOG! Pancino (meaning “tummy”) is a FLAWLESS chihuahua name. L’uomo non è niente male neanche. Mi piace tutti di questo!
My family visited the Portland Japanese Garden recently, on the heels of a trip through the Washington Park International Rose Test Garden (for short), on the first of our multi-day Drink In Our Natural Splendor! tour of Portland, Oregon. Here are a few photo highlights: (Candy Cane roses, a personal fave) (Jizo, the Smiling Buddha)
London-based graffiti artist Shok One‘s latest series of murals feature rainbow-colored x-ray images. Head over to his Flickr to behold more pieces in all their spectrographic glory. (photo via Colossal)
She looks like a kindly Mexican grandmother, how tough can she be, really? Lesson #1 – never underestimate the power of a healer (Yogi Bhajan‘s healer, no less). Her methodology was surprisingly rough and tough, and utterly transformative. I’ve been blessed to have experienced a variety of holistic treatment sessions in the last few years, […]
Writer/journalist/yogini Sarah Miller has written a comprehensive recollection of her inaugural experience at the largest annual gathering of kundalini yogis, the 3HO Summer Solstice. The full piece can be found here. Heartily endorsed if you want a peek into the way of life at the 3HO Summer Solstice retreat. I haven’t been since 2010 and […]
If you have the chance, bask in the loving rays of Mother Sun. Today she gives the most! (photo by Boguslaw Strempel)
I’d been working my way through the XLR8R podcast archive, and was listening to a mix by the Crystal Ark. It opened with some soothing ocean sounds, then a (surely magical) man began reciting this prayer/affirmation/mantra with majestic intonation and absolute certitude. WHAT? IS? THIS? Why had I not heard it before? How is he […]
Have you seen Kumare yet? Admittedly, I am way late to this party. I had heard a bit about the film from friends awhile back, then I made it a point to see it after I stumbled upon an extensive conversation between the director Vikram Gandhi and comedian/podcaster Pete Holmes on the latter’s weekly show You Made It Weird. They cover […]
……and for anyone, really. A healthy reminder of our human volition, courtesy of a longtime fave, the dear departed David Foster Wallace. This video by The Glossary takes a portion of the audio from a famous 2005 commencement speech Wallace made at Kenyon College and sets it to visuals and music, to heartswelling effect. […]
A favorite phenomenon of mine, in the art news once again!! Via Colossal: “Last year artist Miya Ando traveled to Puerto Rico where she released 1,000 non-toxic resin leaves coated with phosphorescence into a small pond. During the day the leaves would “recharge” and at night would give off a ghostly, ethereal glow much like the […]
(via Health Haven)
15 minutes of pure inspiration from one of Germany’s most progressive painters. “Art has to come into power. There is no other way”. If this man had a newsletter, I would readily subscribe. So many quotable philosophies! (Begrudging thank-you to Vice for stubbornly keeping our love-hate relationship alive)
The following info comes from a comprehensive post by longtime yogi and writer Dan Charnas via 3HO. Sat Kriya contains just about all the benefits of Kundalini Yoga. It’s the most essential of all the kriyas. Sat Kriya is designed to do the one thing from which all well-being springs: raise the kundalini energy. It’s […]
“Rhythm is your personal virtue. Your life will not have all good times, but if your rhythm is perfect, you can go through it very nicely. All depends upon how rhythmic you are; how rhythms serve you and how you keep your rhythm going through all attacks, outside and inside. Life is a challenge and […]
As Blurt so aptly states, “Mountains composes the soundtrack to dreams you didn’t know you had.” (via Thrill Jockey) The longstanding duo of Koen Holtkamp and Brendon Anderegg have just blessed us with a new record! The album’s title “Centralia” shares its name with a long-abandoned Pennsylvania mining town that’s now home only to a […]
It has been almost a year since San Francisco International opened America’s first airport yoga room, and now more airports are following their lead! The yoga room in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport (above), open since July, is located at Terminal D at Gate D40 and is stocked with yoga mats, hand sanitizer, and a yoga […]
Breath of Fire (Agni Pran) is a breathing technique that is often employed in Kundalini Yoga. It is a rapid, rhythmic and continuous breath in and out of the nose, generated by pumping the navel. To start, actively pull the navel point, found about one and a half inches below the belly button, and the […]
American avant-guitarist, record label co-founder and renaissance man Sir Richard Bishop started a Tumblr on Christmas Day, sharing images from his travels eastward. It appears he’s got an excellent eye AND ear. Presumably the rest of his sensory organs are similarly advanced. More here. It’s definitely worth a good long look. For an immersive experience, […]
2012 was a year of extremes for my family. When it came time to plan the upcoming end-of-year festivities, we hesitated, thinking back to what we were doing this time last year. My father’s illness had taken a turn, and he was rushed to the hospital on Christmas night. Less than 2 months later, we […]
It is 2013, we are in the Aquarian Age, the Flying Star positions are back to the original Lo Shu, and there are auspicious signs all over the place!! This is the year of the Black Water Snake, according to Chinese Five Element astrology (though the actual New Year is ushered in with the first […]