9 June 2020

The last time you went for a walk outdoors, how engaged were you in the surroundings? Were you scrolling through social media, replying to a WhatsApp message and listening to a podcast episode, or were you truly taking in the sights, sounds and experiences around you?

What are meditation walks and why should we be doing them?

Taking a walk outdoors can work wonders for your mental and physical health during lockdown, but to truly embrace the benefits, experts say we must bring our body and minds in sync.

Known as 'walking meditation', this type of mindfulness in motion is about more than just getting from A to B. Rather, it's an opportunity to clear your mind of any internal worries, by hyper-focusing on the rhythm of your steps and tuning in to what's going on around you.

What is walking meditation?

Also know as 'kinhin', this type of peaceful practice is part of several forms of Buddhism that involve movement and periods of walking between long periods of sitting meditation.

If you struggle with traditional meditation, taking your practice outside gives you an opportunity to harness your awareness and focus on the present, rather than being distracted by internal thoughts, worries or fears.

Proponents often perform a 'body check' while walking, noticing how every area of their body feels as they move from foot to foot. Alongside this, it's important to tune into what's going on around you, whether that's passing cars in a city, or birds tweeting in the countryside.

"Taking mindful moments for yourself whilst exercising is important to help get perspective on your thinking," says Sarah Romotsky, director of healthcare partnerships at Headspace (headspace.com).

If, like many, you're struggling to focus on work at the moment, Romotsky says it's a great tool for improving your concentration and kick-starting your creative mind.

"By incorporating mindfulness into exercising, we can help ground the mind, let go of negative thoughts, and manage the mind-body connection. Regular meditation trains and re-programmes the mind to be more open and less reactive."

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Nature time Enjoying the peace, and serenity of nature is essential for keeping your mind clear. Getting in touch with nature is like a "detox" for your mind and soul. It keeps your head clear. I always leave my phone at home, and like to enjoy my own company. I use my walks as a meditation, becoming intensely alert of my surrounds, the sights, the smells the sounds. Do you enjoy your own company too? Or are you afraid of it? And for how long can you be on your own, alone with yourself, before you become uncomfortable with that "aloneness"? The thing is, when you go for a walk with a friend, you actually create even more noise to add to your already cluttered head. Conversation takes you away from nature & it's harder to notice your intuition, that inner voice that has the solutions to all of your circumstantial problems, if you're still enough to listen! Have you noticed this too? Tell me your insights ??

A post shared by BODY MIND ‍ SOUL (@door2raw) on Jun 7, 2020 at 11:48pm PDT

Alongside this, meditation can also enhance empathy, increase your attention span and help you to sleep better at night.

"It's also scientifically proven to help alleviate stress and increase happiness," Romotsky adds. "It allows you take a step back from stressful situations, pause the mind and feel better in the moment."

How can you do it at home?

Although it's called a walking meditation, Romotsky says that doesn't mean we're walking around on autopilot or with our eyes closed.

"Instead, walking meditation is mindfully walking using a meditative technique, with eyes open, and at a pace that suits you, with our attention on the immediate setting around us."

She adds: "Try meditating by focusing attention on the environment around you, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells particularly those you would not normally notice.

"Whilst moving, your attention should be focused on the act of doing and the sensations your body is experiencing. This can prevent distracting and stressful thoughts, helping you to refresh the mind, and tune into the rhythm of the body."

It's also common for people to first do a sitting meditation in a private space, using an app like Headpsace, and then take their meditative state outdoors on a walk. This is a great way to ease yourself into the practice.

"If you can't get outside right now, moving around your house, room by room , can also be an effective mode of physical and mental exercise.

"While walking around in your home, be sure to check in with your body and how it feels. Is it heavy or light, stiff or relaxed, and how are you carrying yourself? Tune into what's going on around you in your surroundings."

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What Are Meditation Walks And Why Should We Be Doing Them? - FemaleFirst.co.uk

Meditation Chime Market 2020

This report studies the Meditation Chime Market with many aspects of the industry like the market size, market status, market trends and forecast, the report also provides brief information of the competitors and the specific growth opportunities with key market drivers. Find the complete Meditation Chime Market analysis segmented by companies, region, type and applications in the report.

The major players covered in Meditation Chime Market Ehome, TreeWorks Chimes, Woodstock Wind Chimes, Czmusic, Andoer, Thy Collectibles, Stargoods, Wearika, ClearChime, Tosnail, Jive, Ammoon, Ladnis, and Yibuy

The final report will add the analysis of the Impact of Covid-19 in this report Meditation Chime industry.

Get a Free Sample Copy @ https://www.reportsandmarkets.com/sample-request/global-meditation-chime-market-professional-survey-2019-by-manufacturers-regions-countries-types-and-applications-forecast-to-2024?utm_source=3wnews&utm_medium=36

Meditation Chime Market continues to evolve and expand in terms of the number of companies, products, and applications that illustrates the growth perspectives. The report also covers the list of Product range and Applications with SWOT analysis, CAGR value, further adding the essential business analytics. Meditation Chime Market research analysis identifies the latest trends and primary factors responsible for market growth enabling the Organizations to flourish with much exposure to the markets.

Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.)

Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)

Research objectives:

To study and analyze the global Meditation Chime market size by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2026.

To understand the structure of Meditation Chime market by identifying its various sub segments.

Focuses on the key global Meditation Chime players, to define, describe and analyze the value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.

To analyze the Meditation Chime with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.

To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).

To project the size of Meditation Chime submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).

To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches and acquisitions in the market.

To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.

The Meditation Chime Market research report completely covers the vital statistics of the capacity, production, value, cost/profit, supply/demand import/export, further divided by company and country, and by application/type for best possible updated data representation in the figures, tables, pie chart, and graphs. These data representations provide predictive data regarding the future estimations for convincing market growth. The detailed and comprehensive knowledge about our publishers makes us out of the box in case of market analysis.

Table of Contents: Meditation Chime Market

Chapter 1: Overview of Meditation Chime Market

Chapter 2: Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions

Chapter 3: Global Market Status and Forecast by Types

Chapter 4: Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry

Chapter 5: Market Driving Factor Analysis

Chapter 6: Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers

Chapter 7: Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data

Chapter 8: Upstream and Downstream Market Analysis

Chapter 9: Cost and Gross Margin Analysis

Chapter 10: Marketing Status Analysis

Chapter 11: Market Report Conclusion

Chapter 12: Research Methodology and Reference

Key questions answered in this report

What will the market size be in 2026 and what will the growth rate be?

What are the key market trends?

What is driving this market?

What are the challenges to market growth?

Who are the key vendors in this market space?

What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?

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Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on Meditation Chime Market to Witness Astonishing Growth With Ehome, TreeWorks Chimes, Woodstock Wind Chimes, Czmusic,...

For many people, even before coronavirus began, meditation was a great way to try and find some balance. And now, during the pandemic, even more of us are turning to it as a coping mechanism, to help reduce stress and anxiety.

If youre keen to try, its easy to get started, say experts.

Dr Megan Jones Bell, chief science officer at mindfulness and meditation app Headspace (headspace.com) says: Overall, Headspace downloads have doubled, with certain courses seeing an increase in users of over 1000%.

With regards to specific sessions, we have recently seen ten times the number of users starting our stressed calming meditation. Specifically in the UK, this has been a six-times increase. Our reframing anxiety home workout has also had a ten-times increase in the amount of UK users trying it out.

Meditation why now?

This is an unprecedented time for all of us. As the world collectively takes steps to safeguard physical health and wellbeing, its also important to take care of our minds, says Jones Bell.

During this challenging time, its normal to feel anxious and overwhelmed. While we work from home, we can get easily distracted from tasks and feel less motivation to be productive.

By being apart from family, friends and loved ones, our relationships with others may also feel strained. This stress is also exacerbated by the anxiety we may feel about what the future holds.

Mindfulness is proven to help people better manage difficult emotions by recognising these feelings and accepting that they are transient, helping you to let them go. Dedicating just a small fraction of every day to self-care can have a huge impact on our wellbeing, relationships, sleep, focus and productivity, adds Jones Bell.

Dominique Antiglio is trained in a type of dynamic meditation called Sophrology (be-sophro.com). She explains: This is a modern type of meditation, a practice for body and mind where we combine relaxation, breathing and body awareness work.

Antiglio has found a lot of beginners are coming to join her Instagram Live guided meditations during the pandemic. She encourages people to start the day with a practice instead of going straight for your phone, try meditating instead, she adds.

Shes also a fan of adding in stretching, so youre aware of your body, and any negative emotions which you can begin to work through.

Who can do it?

Mindfulness and meditation can be practised by anyone at any age, for any amount of time they want to spend on it, even if its for as little as three minutes a day, says Jones Bell.

You can also introduce meditation to children, which helps allow them to be present in the moment and free from any external thoughts or pressures.

Where and when?

While meditation can be done any time of day, the morning can be a good time, as it helps encourage the habit of mindfulness, releases feelings of fogginess and gives the mind clarity, and sets the day up on a positive note, says Jones Bell.

If you have outside space, that can be a lovely place to meditate.

You could start with just five minutes, says Antiglio. You can meditate standing, lying down.. if you breathe properly for five minutes a day, three to four times a week, itll start to add up to a transformation in your consciousness.

Finding quiet time can be tricky at the moment for some people, Antiglio acknowledges, particularly parents at home with children. But she suggests: Even if the kids are around, you can ask them to play for a moment and take five minutes. Theyll learn from that, seeing you breathing and closing your eyes youre setting a great example.

Get started today with this breathing exercise from Headspace.

1. After finding a quiet spot, close your eyes, and focus your attention to your breath.

2. Dont alter or rush it, allow it to continue at its own rhythm and simply observe the rising and falling sensation that it creates in your body.

3. Focus on the quality of each breath, asking without judgement: Is it long or short? Deep or shallow? Fast or slow?

4. Begin silently counting each breath: 1 as you inhale, 2 as you exhale, 3 on the next inhalation and so on, up to 10. Then start again from the beginning at stage 1.

5. If your mind wanders, dont worry, thats completely normal. Notice new thoughts, but then let them go, bringing your attention back to your breath.

6. Once you have completed 10 minutes, congratulate yourself, recognising how the process made you feel.

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How meditation can help you cope during the pandemic - Enfield Independent

A woman practises yoga. Photo: Axel Schmies/Alamy Stock Photo

Chandan Padhan, yoga instructor at SwaSwara by CGH Earth, shares an asana and pranayama to help during the lockdown, for the fourth day of our series, #21DaysOfYoga. Ahead of International Yoga Day on 21 June, as many of us continue to stay indoors to help curb the pandemic, this series shares wisdom from the experts to help build a better yoga practice for all. SwaSwara, a 26-acre retreat in Gokarna, Karnataka comes with serene views of Om Beach and a blend of yoga, ayurvedic massages and activities from trekking to pottery to foster healing. Asanas, pranayama and meditation are all core yogic practices. Padhan shares an asana and pranayama below, followed by a dhyana yoga meditation led by Dr Cijith Sreedhar, Chief Medical Officer at Prakriti Shakti, Clinic of Natural Medicine by CGH Earth in Kerala.

While you are sheltering in place, practising yoga can be key to enhancing your health and well-being, as it increases vitality and appreciation of lifes wonders. Ardha Kati Chakrasana makes you supple and brings balance to the bodys energies.

Remember to breathe in, breathe out, and begin with a smile on your face.

The name Ardha Kati Chakrasana is derived from the Sanskrit words ardha meaning half; kati or waist, and chakra or wheel. We bend and form a half-wheel or half-moon posture with our arm and waist stretched fully towards the side. The arc formed in this asana relaxes both sides of the body, eases the flow of breath, removes stiffness in the thighs, hips and waist and improves flexibility. It also relieves pain in the lower back and tones your abdominal muscles, besides trimming excess fat from the waist.

Please do take some time out to engage in self-care amid the chaos and uncertainty. Daily practice helps you realise the benefits of yoga and ayurveda, which we can really use during these trying times. Follow the step-by-step guide to the half-moon pose in the video below, guided by Chandan Padhan, yoga instructor at SwaSwara, Karnataka.

In times of uncertainty, its hard to keep the mind calm. Pranayama has been practised in India for thousands of years. It uses breath to calm the mind and body, reducing stress and anxiety, and increasing vitality.

Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama, or alternate nostril breathing, has been proven to have numerous benefits ranging from improved concentration to reduced negative thoughts. It helps strengthen the lungs, improve blood circulation and maintain normal blood pressure. It also reduces the formation of free radicals and cellular injury in the body. Join SwaSwaras Chandan Padhan in the guided practice below.

When we look at traditional yoga texts, there is a clear difference between concentration and meditation, says Dr Cijith Sreedhar, Chief Medical Officer at Prakriti Shakti. The sage Patanjalis text Yoga Sutras explains the eight steps of yoga as yama (abstinences), niyama (observances), asana (postures), pranayama (breathing), pratyahara (withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (absorption). What is the difference between dharana and dhyana? Concentration is a single flow of thought. It is not a thoughtless state of mind; your conscious mind is active. It is helpful to reduce the mental processes from which stress arises, but it is not equal to the state of meditation, which is thoughtless. Dhyana yoga is an active process; you govern your prana and help your mind reach a thoughtless state. In this modern world, our stress is often a physiological response to our thoughts about a problem and its imagined dangers. We need to reverse that physiological arousal and calm your body, which can be attained only by avoiding unnecessary thoughts. Remember that the body can heal itself only when you are relaxed. We developed this method of meditation by understanding the real concept as per traditional yoga. Once you learn the technique, you can practise it regularly and gradually improve the feeling of thoughtlessness everyday.

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21 Days of Yoga: The asana, pranayama and meditation that will help you through the lockdown - Cond Nast Traveller India

Mike Maser, a serial entrepreneur, has been focused on longevity since well before being diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma more than five years ago. But he understandably took much greater interest in the potential role of fasting as a life-extending measure when he was convinced by friends to try it while undergoing cancer treatments.

While his care team wasnt so excited about it, Maser recalls now, he was relatively young at the time, he hadnt lost a lot of weight as do some people when battling cancer, and to him, fasting made more sense than taking an experimental drug, so he tried it. He liked it, too. Indeed, while he largely credits an autologous bone marrow transplant for saving his life, he has become a student of and advocate for intermittent fasting in the ensuing years.

Perhaps its no surprise that Maser, who earlier sold a coaching app called Fitstar to Fitbit for around $25 million, would ultimately end up overseeing a fasting app that he says is now growing at an accelerated clip. Called Zero, he acquired it from designer and friend Kevin Rose in 2018, a hand-off that we discussed with Rose last week.

Between Masers track record and the worlds growing interest in fasting, its also no surprise that investors would want to get involved with him. In fact, today, his Montana-based startup, Big Sky Health it oversees Zero, along with a mediation app also acquired from Rose calledOak and months-old app called Less that helps users track their alcohol consumption is announcing it has raised $8 million in Series A funding.

Greycroft led the round, with participation from earlier investors, including True Ventures and Trinity Ventures. The company has now raised $12.2 million altogether.

Certainly, Big Sky Health seems positioned well for the times. Not only is fasting taking off Zero sees roughly 25,000 new downloads a day, says Maser but more people are trying to meditate their way through pandemic-related anxiety.

Theyre also drinking a lot so much so that the World Health Organization has begun warning against alcohol altogether, cautioning that individuals cut back or else risk undermining their own immune systems.

Now, Big Sky which employs just 15 people and whose team has been fully distributed from its founding days two years ago just needs to keep its momentum going.

Toward that end, it has created a premium offering of Zero called Zero Plus, which provides custom fasting plans and what it describes as science-backed content to help guide users on their health journeys. (The non-premium offering has more of a choose-your-own adventure vibe.)

We kept hearing that users want more guidance, said Maser in a call yesterday. The premium offering will adapt to you based on your own personal journey, including taking into account whether a user is new to intermittent fasting.

Big Skys team is also creating a roadmap of whats next, which includes more social features for Zero. We already have 800,000 people fasting together each night on the app, and users have a strong desire to encourage and interact with each other.

As for Oak and Less, they are also getting more attention. Though Less is not about going sober, its more about being mindful about how much youre drinking, says Maser, one can imagine it focusing increasingly on alcohols effects on the body and mind as Big Sky builds its wellness empire.

As for Oak, one need only to look at bigger rivals Calm and Headspace to appreciate the size of the opportunity. Calm has so far raised at least $143 million from investors to date, shows Crunchbase. Headspace has raised at least $168.2 million. What investors are betting on? Its more Americans practicing meditation. Two years ago, for example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 14.2% of U.S. adults said they had practiced meditation at least once in the previous year. In 2012, just 4.1% of adults said they practiced meditation.

Original post:

Big Sky Health raises $8 million to nurture its intermittent fasting, meditation, and alcohol consumption apps - TechCrunch

There are many lessons to be learned during times when we are home and garden bound. In my 82 years of life, I have never experienced so much time not being busy with school, work, family or travel. Just about the time we run out of things to keep our minds and bodies occupied, bamboo has come to assist me in meditation. According to Peter Berg and Susan Ruskin of Quindembo Nursery, they have imported over 100 species of noninvasive bamboo species. These are suitable for privacy hedges, gorgeous landscape statements, edible shoots, windbreaks and those used for construction. At Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary we have tested many of those species and this is the season when many begin to go into active shoot growth. It is just the right time to sit and meditate as some species will grow from one to two feet in a single day. With patience one can actually watch them reach upward for the light!

Hawaiis varied climates and cultural makeup are ideal for bamboo, but until the 1980s, there was no serious effort to introduce the valuable elite bamboos of Asia and the Americas. Thanks to the Hawaii Chapter of the American Bamboo Society and Quindembo Nurssery, we now have many species from which to choose.

Bamboos have been used in Chinese gardens since 2000 BC. In the later centuries leading up to AD 1000, the Japanese started trading with China and many species were naturalized in Japan to enhance the gardens of temples and those of wealthy traders. The first recorded introduction to the West was Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) in 1827. In the 20th century, many species were introduced by USDA Experiment Stations in Puerto Rico and Louisiana with hopes to develop new crop potentials.

After a number of hurricanes in Puerto Rico, growers in Mayaguez PR noted that bamboo plantings established several years ago faired better than most tree crops in the region. Just one month after the last major storm, bamboo groves were the first showing signs of growth when forests and farms were stripped of vegetation. The original bamboo project started at the Federal Experiment Station at Mayaguez in the late 1930s and was spearheaded by Floyd Alonzo McClure. Valuable bamboos species from Asia were established, tested and distributed throughout the Caribbean and Central America over the next few decades. Today scores of species are utilized, but bamboo is not new to indigenous American Cultures. Guadua species native to the Americas were used as early as 9,500 years ago.

Asia is the ancestral home of many kamaaina, both people and plants. When it comes to plants, one of the most valuable of these is bamboo. Although there are many species found in central and South America, tropical and subtropical Asia has utilized bamboo for thousands of years. It is said that bamboo and rice are the very foundation of these cultures. The Hawaiian Ohe Kahiko, may be found in many parts of Polynesia. The actual genus and specie is not clear with taxonomists and botanists not all agreeing. We do know that it is a tropical clumper probably originating in Southeast Asia. It is likely Schizostachyum and has been called S. glaucifolium in Hawaii. There are vast stands in the mountains of high islands like Raiatea in the Society Islands. Polynesians there still use it in crafts.

With large tracts of land now available for forestry, and our local interest in sustainable agriculture, bamboo may become one of our major resources. It has many uses, both commercial and ornamental.

Some folks only know bamboo from their experience with the rampant running species. Needless to say, these types are not for the small garden unless contained. However, they have been used very effectively to stabilize steep slopes that are prone to erosion. That is why we find large stands of Phyllostachys running bamboos on the steeps slopes above Waiohinu in Kau or at the back of Manoa Valley on Oahu and on Maui. The intricate mat of roots and rhizomes hold soil and rocks in place and save roads, homes and streams from mud and rockslides. Bamboos are certainly a more attractive and environmentally sound approach to steep slope erosion control than concrete, wire or chain link screens. Erosion on East Hawaii gulch roads is a serious problem that could be addressed with certain bamboo species.

Bamboos are also excellent cattle feed and have a place in supplying nutritious greens at a low cost. Local growers have been working on the potential of growing bamboos for multiple use sustainable agriculture incorporating the animal feed component.

Even though bamboos are excellent sources of edible shoots and construction material, most folks are interested in ornamental bamboos for their beauty. Bamboos, of one type or another, are a natural for almost any tropical garden. In fact, many of the hundreds of types do grow in the tropics, but some species grow as far north as New York or Seattle, and can be found growing up to 10,000 feet in the mountains of Asia, Central and South America. Bamboos vary from forest giants of 120 feet to dwarfs of 6 inches.

Many specimens of bamboo are suitable for ornamental purposes. The clump bamboos are ideally suited for ornamental uses in their area of adaptation. They can be planted in groups for hedges or singly for specimen plantings. They spread very slowly and are easy to keep within bounds. One of the best for sunny locations is the Mexican weeping bamboo. Others to consider are the Bambusa multiplex forms such as Alphonse Karr, Fern leaf, Silver Stripe and Feather bamboo. These delicate clump types range from 10 feet to 20 feet high. Other rare clumping types are beginning to show up in our nurseries like the Chusqueas and Drepanostachyums

For larger gardens, try Bambusa chungii (Tropical Blue Hedge) and Weavers bamboo. There are several other Bambusas also available These are all clumping types in the 20- to 40-foot high range with fancy Latin names and multiple uses.

The giant tropical clumping bamboos need plenty of room since they soar from 50 to 100 feet tall under ideal conditions. This group includes the larger Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Guadua, and Gigantochloa species that may have culms 6 to 12 inches in diameter. They are grown for edible shoots, construction material, windbreaks and furniture. Favorites are the black culm types like Hitam, Lako and Gigantochloa atroviolecea. Another favorite spectacular giant is Dendrocalamus brandisii.

Miniature bamboos well suited to container growing are the Sasa species and Shibatea kumasasa. These and other running bamboos like black bamboo can be kept small or bonsai when contained. The running bamboos are more difficult to keep in bounds than the clump bamboo. However, many are desirable as ornamental plants because of diversity in their habit of growth, appearance, and size.

Bamboos do best in a moist well-drained soil with some organic matter. Apply complete fertilizer such as organic 8-8-8 or manures four to six times a year to the planting. Mulch the soil around the planting. Mulches add organic matter to the soil, help to restrict the growth of weeds and conserve soil moisture. Dead leaves or dry grass clippings can be used for mulch. Apply a layer of mulching material at least three inches deep.

For further information on bamboo, call the UHCTAHR Master Gardeners at 322-4893 in Kona or 981-5199 in Hil.

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Lockdown meditation with bamboo - West Hawaii Today

Spend this Memorial Day weekend listening to a showcase of local musicians, experiencing a special performance by one of the most beloved virtuosos of our time and remembering those we lost during this current crisis. Reflect, relax and remember with VPR and VPR Classical.

Safe & Sound: A Celebration of Local Music

Saturday, May 23rd - 6-8pm on VPR

Join VPR for two hours of local performers from several different genres... including recent releases, recorded live performances and some tunes created while in COVID lockdown.

Listen Saturday, May 23rd from 6-8pm on VPR.

A Musical Memorial and Tribute: Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach's Solo Cello Suites Live

Sunday, May 24th - 3-5:30pm on VPR Classical

Yo-Yo ma proposed this special performance both in memory of those we have lost during the pandemic and as a tribute to those who are on the front lines. The 2.5-hour program will be performed live in the WGBH studios. Yo-Yo Ma will treat audiences to the six Bach Suites for unaccompanied cello.

Listen Sunday, May 24th from 3-5:30pm on VPR Classical.

A Sudden Loss - A Memorial Day Tribute to Those Lost to COVID-19

Monday, May 25th - 12-1pm on VPR

Public radio hosts, past and present, read short eulogies of just some of the tens of thousands lost to the coronavirus pandemic in the last several months. Produced by public radio veteran producer Paul Ingles.

Listen Monday, May 25th from 12-1pm on VPR.

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Music And Meditation For Memorial Day Weekend - Vermont Public Radio

Naveena Vijayan takes a digital tour of museums during Covid-19 and interviews Jeff Durham, Curator of Himalayan Art at Asian Museum of Art, about their virtual programming surrounding "Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhists Journey Towards Enlightenment." As part of the exhibition, they are offering free meditative experiences on Youtube and Instagram, so make sure to check them out!

This is the age of armchair museum visits. From MOMA in New York, to Louvre in Paris, to the Palace Museum in Beijing, you can literally stroll around these celebrated museums through effortless clicks. Besides providing 360 degree virtual tours of their spaces and digital versions of their prized collection of artworks, museums are taking initiatives, now more than ever, to reach out and engage communities in an attempt to stay relevant during the ongoing Covid 19 lockdown.

Baltimore Museum of Arts new initiative Art To Go gives access to 100 downloadable activities for kids, and their Free Family Sundays at Home offers a Do-at-home craft project every week. Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia recently began Barnes Takeout: Your daily serving of Art, featuring the museums curators, scholars and educators sharing musings about their favorite works in the collection. Similarly, The Frick Collection in New York, in April, started a Youtube series called Cocktails with a curator. Their recent episode featured the painting Constables The White Horse paired with Gin and Dubonnet!

Catchy social media posts, funny memes, and free access to museums resources now stand as key factors to select which museum to visit from your couch. Though all this still doesnt match the experience of being in a museum in real life, it definitely is a necessary consolation in these difficult times.

Following this trend, Asian Art Museum in San Francisco has rolled out a series of meditative experiences on its Instagram and Youtube channels, as part of its current exhibition Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhists Journey Towards Enlightenment. The show, which opened on January 13, features sculptures, paintings, textiles and book art made between 800 and 2016 (from the collection of the Asian Art Museum and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts). Since the lockdown on March 17, the exhibition has been transformed for its digital audience through free downloadable audio tours, a virtual tour of the gallery, and meditative videos featuring Tibetan artworks.

Were lucky that we have a crack team of educators and learning specialists adept at connecting with audiences, so moving our programs online has been relatively seamless, writes Jeff Durham, Curator of Himalayan Art, Asian Museum of Art, in an email interview on April 29. Pretty much every arts organization has been pumping up its digital offeringsespecially as #MuseumFromHome and #MuseumMomentofZen have taken offbut thanks to our amazing collection of Buddhist art from across all of Asia, our posts encourage mindfulness and underscore the introspection and spirituality as well as the artistry that help keep the calm in a crisis.

Its proven that meditation helps allay anxiety, which seems to plague many as they stay locked down and are uncertain about the future. In Buddhism, artworks are created as visual aids to meditation and increasing ones awareness. According to Durham, the Buddhist tradition describes two forms of meditation: calming and insight. He says, Both forms are inculcated by many artworks in the exhibition. In my experience and to my knowledge, the current times demand that we humans bring on-line two rather under-valued skills: 1) the ability to focus calmly so as to accurately perceive the situation(s) in which we find ourselves, without projection, and 2) the ability to understand how our actions have an impact on our bodies, minds, and shared worlds of experience.

He says the esoteric Buddhist visualization and art catalyze the development of these fundamental skills.

One of the meditative videos shows an image of a gilded Buddha statue entitled Amitabha (translates to infinite light in English). The 30 second video on Instagram has the Amitabha Mantra playing in a loop. Durham explains that Buddhists believe that a chant or mantra (mind protection) helps calm down the mind. A second video with the calming sound of waterfall in the background, features an ink painting by artist Chang Dai-chien. Yet another three-and-a-half minute video describes the importance of meditation in breaking the wheel of thoughts.

Durham confirms that their audience has especially responded to the meditative videos and Create your own Mandala activity on the museums website. In Buddhist philosophy, Mandala is a map with intricate geometric patterns that is believed to be both a chart of the entire cosmos and an inner image of the mind. Drawing a Mandala, for Buddhist followers is a meditative experience, and can take several days to weeks. Says Durham, It begins with geometry, like a blueprint. Then the layers are added, light and simple to dark and complex. He adds, The best artists know everything about what they are doing, including the meditative and ritual aspects of the process. Unfortunately, the mass-production tourist thangka economy has made it so that mandalas-in-appearance-only dominate the market, and the time-intensive masters concurrently are disappearing.

Since the start of the lockdown, Durham notes that they have seen an uptick in (audio) tour downloads, but the big jump was across our major social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) which have seen a 59% increase in engagement since shelter-in-place took effect.

While diving into an exhibition on digital mode is strange, it does reinforce the idea that museums are more than just halls full of artworks, but essential platforms that brew ideas, conversations and enable a collective progress even if thats one video at a time.

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Keep calm during Covid, Museums and meditation at home - theartblog.org

NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Breethe, one of the most downloaded meditation and wellness apps, wants you to dance like no one is watching. In fact, dancing solo may offer additional health benefits beyond what social dancing can provide. Leveraging the latest scientific research on dance and meditation, and in collaboration with mindful movement expert and international DJ Tasha Blank, Breethe launches today a first-of-its-kind meditative, guided audio, dance experience Dance Away Stress in the app.

Breethe's Dance Away Stress series including Shake Breaks and Move Your Body practices is strategically offered in audio, versus video, format.

"We judge or compare ourselves to people in videos," said Breethe co-founder and lead meditation teacher, Lynne Goldberg. "Dance Away Stress helps users release anxiety and let go without thinking about their peers on-screen. This experience is best facilitated with guided, audio-only instruction, and Breethe is truly the first meditation app to approach dance, mindful movement and meditation in this innovative format."

Why Breethe Wants You to Dance Solo & Like No One is Watching

Dancing by yourself and like no one is watching may offer additional health benefits beyond that of social dancing.

This combination of movement, mindful guidance, and rhythmic music may potentially give our brains a break from mirroring a psychological concept that describes how we subconsciously imitate the behaviors, attitudes and non-verbal cues of others when in social situations.

Dancing by yourself may remove the psychological barrier of worrying about what others are thinking or doing; our brain is not trying to attune to others.

"Dance Away Stress is an irresistible combination of dance, intuitive movement and mindful guidance," said mindful movement expert and DJ Tasha Blank. "Itgives us the space to rediscover how fun it is to truly be ourselves and be with ourselves as weenhance our mental and physical well-being."

Dance Away Stressand Zoom Fatigue

The Dance Away Stress offering is launching at a critical time. In the isolating wake of COVID-19, a significant percentage of daily life has transitioned online, specifically, to virtual meeting platforms.

This unprecedented deluge of online video gatherings may be negatively affecting our health in terms of a new type of mental exhaustion. 'Zoom Fatigue' is a phenomenon currently making headlines and, according to Harvard Business Review, Google searches for the phrase have been increasing since March.

Dance Away Stress delivers the health benefits of both dancing and meditation, while also providing a timely rest from video conferencing fatigue.

The Perfect Partners: Dance & Meditation

The health benefits of dance are numerous: it reduces anxiety, improves sleep and increases the feel-good hormones of dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. It may even lower the risk of heart disease by up to 50% in those 40-years-old and up, according to research from Western Sydney University's School of Science and Health.

Shaking, similar to how animals physically shake off stress, is associated with the limbic brain and helps to turn off the body's 'fight-or-flight' response.Unlike animals, this 'shake' reflex isn't as natural to us and research indicates we may store trauma in the body; 'the issues get stuck in the tissues.'

Dance Away Stress offers users a new way to calm the mind, while physically releasing the body.

If you think you can't meditate because you can't sit still, think again," said Goldberg. "Dance Away Stress combines Tasha Blank's hypnoticmusic and therapeutic movement technique with our deep meditative expertise, and this truly gives you the best of both worlds. You'll have fun, move your body, and calm your mind."

Dance Away Stress includes:

To launch, Breethe's Dance Away Stress meditative, guided audio, dance experience includes:

Four brief Shake Break practices:

Three longer-format Move Your Body practices:

For a limited time, a sample of the Dance Away Stress content will be available, for free, in the app.

About Breethe:Breethehelps people find inner wellness when coping with real-life challenges through guided audio meditations, talks, music and stories. The app helps people overcome anxiety, fall asleep, and deal with daily life stress. Users can download the app on iOs App Store or Google Play. Follow along on Instagram at@BreetheApp. For more information, visit: http://www.breethe.com

About Tasha Blank: An international DJ + dance floor instigator since 2010, Tasha is the founder of NYC's wildest dance party The Get Down, and creator of the viral dance manifesto we came to dance.For more information, visit: http://www.tashablank.com

Media Contact:Samantha Wenig LMPR Communications samantha@londonmisherpr.com 212-759-2800

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Dance Like No One is Watching with Breethe Meditation App - Olean Times Herald

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates both recommend reading the same book about meditation for handling stress and uncertainty: "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" by historian and philosopher, Yuval Noah Harari.

The book contains essays about the "future of humankind," and how society is challenged and impacted by technology and information. Harari's suggestion is to use meditation to address the many worries or anxieties that we may have about the future, including topics like climate change, terrorism, artificial intelligence and privacy.

"The trick for putting an end to our anxieties, [Harari] suggests, is not to stop worrying," Gates wrote in a 2018 blog post. "It's to know which things to worry about, and how much to worry about them." For example, you should focus on the day's challenges and think about what problems truly require our attention.

"Of course, he isn't suggesting that the world's problems will vanish if enough of us start sitting in the lotus position and chantingom," Gates, who meditates two or three times a week for about 10 minutes each session, wrote in the blog. "But he does insist that life in the 21st century demands mindfulnessgetting to know ourselves better and seeing how we contribute to suffering in our own lives."

To people who've never meditated before, this strategy might sound a little far-fetched.

In a recent episode of "The Artificial Intelligence Podcast with Lex Fridman," which aired on April 26, Dorsey explained how this philosophy can be applied to some of the issues that people encounter with using technology in daily life.

For example, Harari posits that young kids who grow up using Google might be learning to "off-load self-awareness" to computer programs and algorithms that can do the thinking and decision-making for them, Dorsey said on the podcast.

"His concern is that we lose that self-awareness because the self-awareness is now outside of us and it's doing such a better job at helping us direct our decisions," Dorsey said about Harari.

So how does meditation fit in here?

"He sees meditation as a tool to build the self-awareness and to bring the focus back on, 'Why do I make these decisions? Why do I react in this way? Why did I have this thought? Where did that come from?'" Dorsey said.

Both Harari and Dorsey practice vipassana meditation, or "insight meditation," a technique that focuses on observing and understanding thought patterns.

"I do two hours every day of meditation," Harari told GQ in 2018. "I go to a lot of retreats, up to 60 days every year, and it works for me. I won't say that it will work the same for everybody. Different techniques work for different for people."

Dorsey also meditates for two hours daily, and has been on 10-day silent meditation retreats.

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Bill Gates and Jack Dorsey both recommend this bookit can help with anxiety and decision-making - CNBC