Yoga, which is all about physical postures and breathing techniques, is found to be helpful in improving depression and anxiety symptoms in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD).

The researchers from the New York Medical College in Valhalla who sought to investigate the impact of yoga on MDD symptoms studied the impact of Iyengar yoga postures and coherent breathing. They assigned 32 MDD patients randomly to either a high-dose group (HDG) or a low-dose group (LDG) based on the frequency of the yoga classes and homework sessions, over a period of 12 weeks.

They observed that individuals from both groups not only experienced a reduction in anxiety and depression but had also started feeling highly positive.

"Yoga and regulated breathing practices have been used for thousands of years in diverse cultures to manage stress, anxiety, depression, pain, and many other conditions," Medscape Medical News quoted the studys coauthor Patricia L. Gerbarg, MD, an assistant professor in psychiatry."Clinicians should seriously consider including mind-body practices such as yoga and coherent breathing in their treatment recommendations for patients with depressive symptoms."

According to the authors, though researchers have supported the role of yoga as an effective treatment for depression, only very few of them have evaluated its desirable dosing.

Thus, Gerbarg et al conducted this study to not only assess the effects of an intervention combining Iyengar yoga and coherent breathing on psychological function in participants with MDD but also find out the optimal dose of such an intervention.

So they assigned the subjects to either of the following groups:

They were then asked to answer a set of psychological questionnaires and mood scales at weeks 4, 8 and 12.

Although the higher dose group subjects exhibited greater improvement in all scales, there wasnt any statistically significant difference between the two groups.

The study has also found that MDD patients had lower levels of -aminobutyric acid (GABA) compared to healthy individuals. And post this yoga intervention, the study participants had GABA levels similar to those of healthy people. Such a finding paves the way towards future treatments of anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse.

Yoga found effective to reduce symptoms of major depression. Photo: OpenClipart-Vectors

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Yoga Helps Improve Depression And Anxiety Symptoms - International Business Times

A lot of people want to get in shape as fast as possible with yoga, whether its to help relieve tension or to get flexible. Yoga helps tremendously with both.

Many people who try yoga tend to get discouraged when they dont notice any results right away. Still, its essential to know that yoga fits everyone no matter what their level of flexibility is! Practice is vital.

This also means that there is no exact timeline to determine when your yoga workouts will pay out. It all depends on your flexibility, age, how many times you practice, and the intensity of each workout. However, many people tend to see significant results within two months of practice. The more you stretch your body, the faster you will gain that flexibility.

Like any workout, yoga takes a lot of practice and dedication. Yoga practice is all about self-awareness between your mind and body; being flexible is simply a result of that dedication. Basically, the more you learn about your body through yoga practices, the more likely you are to achieve faster results.

Some of our favorite yoga positions for flexibility are:

Standing forward fold: this yoga move targets your spine, hamstrings, and calves, giving you a deep stretch for flexible legs.

Downward facing dog: it targets mostly your hamstrings, calves, hand, and feet. The more you practice it, the better results you will have.

Childs pose: while still being an incredibly relaxing and energizing pose, childs pose is, in fact, perfect for stretching your lower back and pelvis, giving you more flexibility in your lower back and thighs.

Remember that yoga takes patience, patience with your body and your mind; remember that change doesnt come in a day and that you deserve to be kinder to yourself, and simply enjoy the journey in which it leads you to better health and even better mindset.

Originally posted here:
How Long Does it Take to Get Flexible With Yoga? - YouBeauty

Spiritual seekers who like to stretch need not travel to India, Costa Rica, or Bali for an enlightening and envigorating yoga getaway. The following destinations are accessible by car from Long Island. Each one promises an escape from the pressures of modern life through yoga, meditation, massage, and more. Healthy, mostly vegetarian cuisine and beautiful outdoor surroundings come at no extra charge.

Monticello, New York

On the grounds of the old Kutsher resort upstate,YO1 (yo1.com)opened in 2018 as a luxury hotel/wellness retreat hybrid. This isnt your grandmas Catskills. The hotel sits on a 1,300-acre property overlooking a lake. Rooms have bathrobes, pillowtop mattresses, wifi, and flat screen tvs (unusual at yoga retreats) On check-in, youll meet with an Ayurvedic and naturopathic practitioner who will help you create a custom program of Indian healing therapies tailored to your goals and needs. Guests can focus on areas including detox and rejuvenation, pain management, weight management, and relaxation. Hydrotherapy, mud baths, reflexology, massage, and acupuncture take place in elaborately tiled pools and sparkling new treatment rooms. Vinyasa and Hatha yoga are taught in light-filled studios overlooking the water. Indoor and outdoor theaters host evening lectures by prominent wellness experts. A dining room offers conscious cuisine in an elegant setting. Cooking classes teach you how to prepare healthy meals after you leave. A salon, boutique, tea caf, and juice bar contribute to the luxury hotel feel. Packages starting at $599/night.

Phoenicia, New York

Menla Retreat and Spa, (Menla.us) which is affiliated with Tibet House, the Dalai Lamas cultural center in New York City, bills itself as Tibet in the Catskills. Situated on a 325-acre private preserve criss-crossed with burbling streams and walking paths, the retreat is a nature-lovers delight. Deluxe hotel rooms in chalet-style buildings are simply decorated with Tibetan accents. More modestly priced cabin rooms have shared bathrooms and kitchens and are good for small groups. Create your own getaway, or join an organized retreat: themes include yoga in tumultuous times, devotional chanting, and Sufi dance. In addition to yoga and meditation classes in light-filled yoga studios with bamboo floors and colorful altars, there is a spa offering Tibetan KuNye massage as well as herbal baths, vibrational sound therapy, and conventional massage and facial services. There is also a Finnish sauna, far infrared sauna, and steam room. Guests can go on guided hikes, relax by several outdoor fire pits, and play tennis on two courts , weather permitting. Organic vegetarian meals made with produce from Menlas garden are served buffet-style. A Native American sweat lodge and astrological consultation are also available with advance booking. Personal getaway weekends (2 nights accomodations plus meals and one yoga class and one meditation class per day) from $398.

Rhinebeck, New York

A short-ish drive from Long Island, Rhinebeck boasts one of the four Omega Institute (eomega.org)locations (the others are in Costa Rica, California, and NYC). The mission of this holistic learning center is the integration of personal growth and social change, and it sees itself as part of the global Omega community. To understand what its all about, you can book a cabin, single dorm room, or a hybrid cabin/tent (you can also bring your own camping equipment and pitch your own tent in the warmer months). A typical day is packed with classes in meditation, yoga, tai chi, and movement. Workshops on subjects ranging from divine light healing to past life therapy to handcrafted herbal body care give focus to your stay. Free time can be spent wandering the labyrinth, gardens, and nature trails on the 250-acre campus or spending time in the meditation sanctuary. A program of evening concerts, films, and community gatherings brings the day to a close. Three mostly vegetarian meals, sourced from Hudson Valley vendors like Ronnybrook Farm Dairy and Little Seed Gardens are included. Weekend program rates (2 nights/meals/classes/workshops) start at $398 for a single dorm room with shared bath. eomega.org

Stockbridge, Massachusetts

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Kripalu (kripalu.org) began as a training center for yoga teachers, and is today the largest yoga-based retreat center in the United States. During an R&R retreat, guests can participate in up to three yoga classes (all levels are taught) a day here as well as attendnightly workshops in topics like yoga and Shamanism, Kung Fu Yoga, and Yoga for Back Care. But this serene lakeside school in the Berkshires offers much more. The daily schedule also includes guided hikes, meditation seminars, and creative expression workshops. A spa features Ayurvedic facials and Kripalu massage. There is an intriguing menu of metaphysical services including tarot, psychic readings, and henna art. Plant-based cuisine is served buffet-style. During breakfast, dining is silent. Rates start at $92/night for dorm housing, $207 for a private room (3 meals included) plus a daily tuition fee of $85 to $95. Guests also have the option of staying at a local hotel or b&b (options include the Briarcliff (briarcliffmotel.com), a hip roadside motel and the elegant Inn at Stockbridge (stockbridgeinn.com)and purchasing day passes to participate in classes and workshops.

Island Falls, Maine

Near Mount Kathadin, where the sun first hits the East Coast as it rises, expert yoga instructor Donna Davidge hosts intimate yoga retreats in an antiques-filled farmhouse built by her great grandfather in 1865. Sewall House(sewallhouse.com) offers a variety of on-site yoga and meditation classes for small groups of guests. The schedule is flexible, but the day usually starts with meditation and then a yoga class before breakfast, free time for exploring, reading, journaling, or massage before lunch, more yoga before dinner, and an evening in the sauna or Jacuzzi. Beginners and experienced practitioners alike are welcomed, and classes are small and personalized. Depending on interest, kundalini, hatha, vinyasa, and ashtanga yoga are taught. Paddle board yoga might be offered on select weekends. Food is vegetarian with plenty of vegan options. No alcohol is served but guests are free to bring their own. Visitors can hike, bike, or canoe nearby. In the winter, snowshoeing and cross-country ski excursions can be arranged. Right now, Davidge will be open two weekends in February for retreats. Groups of four or more can have the house to themselves at other times, yoga and meditation included, by pre-arrangement. Transportation from the Bangor airport available on request. All-inclusive rates start at $260/night per person.

Boone, North Carolina

If your ideal reset takes place on a mountaintop, head to this compound in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, A bit fartherthan some other destinations (a long road trip will get you there; a quick and cheap plane ride to Charlotte will get you close) The Art of Living Retreat Center (Artoflivingretreatcenter.org)is a choose-your-own-adventure spiritual and wellness resort. Book a simple but comfortable room with a mountain view and then join a group for a weekend of Chakra Yoga Immersion, Gentle Yoga to Reinvigorate the Mind, or Yoga and Meditation for Relaxation. Or tailor your own retreat. The offerings are plentiful and varied, and include meditation instruction, pottery workshops, community singing and chanting, a walking labyrinth, nature trails, and an evening fire circle. The Ayurveda spa offers unusual treatments like Marma lymphatic massage and Shirodhara relaxation therapy with warm oil. Globally influenced vegetarian cuisinea varied menu that might include coconut mango rice, Tuscan bread salad, sweet potato and sage soup, and semolina cakes with apple-mint chutney-- is served in the dining room. If you arrive by car, you can explore King Street, with its book shops, coffee bars, restaurants, and galleries in the charming town of Boone. Rooms from $298/night including meals and yoga classes.

By Lauren Chattman Special to Newsday

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6 wellness and yoga retreats in NY, more - Newsday

Its not too early to start thinking about fitness goals in the new year and a January yoga series is intended to keep the celebration going. Drunk Yoga is designed to take the intimidation out of yoga and introduce a bit of wine-induced levity.

Drinking wine is an incredible way to make yoga fun, said Eli Walker, founder of Drunk Yoga, which stages events in Los Angeles and New York and for special occasions, such as bachelorette parties. Its about cultivating joy and community and letting your hair down.

More beer yoga and wine hikes in and around L.A. >>>

There are several classes in January in Venice, including a Brunch Drunk Yoga event and a Hair of the Down-Dog Yoga class on the rooftop of the Hotel Erwin. The classes are intended for beginners, Walker said, and encompass a 45-minute vinyasa-style session based on gentle moves set to a 1990s hip-hop playlist. Expect some mild drinking games as well. (Nonalcoholic beverages are also available.) There is time before and after to socialize.

Its not at all serious and introspective, said Walker.

Info: Jan. 16 to 19, and Jan. 23 to 26, various times. Hotel Erwin, 1697 Pacific Ave., Venice. Tickets $45 through eventbrite.com or dodrunkyoga.com.

::

Here are three other happenings within L.A.'s wellness scene:

The inaugural Mindfulness Expo is coming to Anaheim, a spinoff of the popular 5-year-old Yoga Expo, where meditation classes typically fill up.

Mindfulness Expo founder Michelle Zarrin said the daylong event Nov. 30 will feature back-to-back workshops teaching various aspects of mindfulness; there will be talks on the long-term benefits of meditation, how the practice ties in with the ancient Hindu healing system of ayurveda, and sessions with kundalini yoga, breath work and sound healing. There will also be a pop-up marketplace for wellness-related products.

Speakers include Cassandra Carlopio, who focuses on using meditation to induce sleep, and Karla Amador, who spearheaded the 52 Hike Challenge, encouraging people to hit the trails every week for a year. Zarrin said the expo is intended for people at all levels of meditation.

Info: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 30. Anaheim Convention Center, 800 W. Katella Ave., Anaheim. $35 for an all-inclusive ticket, mindfulnessexpo.com

Mindfulness Expo founder Michelle Zarrin said the daylong event Nov. 30 will feature back-to-back workshops teaching various aspects of mindfulness.

(Beatrice de Gea / Los Angeles Times)

::

The new Pure Barre studio in Culver City is in a two-story modern industrial loft with stained-glass windows.

You can look out the windows at the trains going by while you exercise, said Ali Reynolds, owner of the new 1,700-square-foot space, who has been teaching at other studios for several years. Culver City is such an eclectic community with a small-town feel but not that many fitness studios.

The new space will offer various types of barre classes, ranging from Classic which is ballet barre and light weights to Pure Empower, based on cardio and Pure Reform, where exercises are based on the principles of Pilates and incorporate sliders and resistance bands. Does all of this sound like a foreign language? The Foundations class is for first-timers and introduces the basics of the technique. The classes are 45 to 50 minutes.

Info: Pure Barre, 8985 Venice Blvd., Suite E + F. First Foundations class free. Thereafter a single class is $25. Package discounts available. purebarre.com

The new Pure Barre in Culver City.

(Pure Barre)

::

Toned is new a boutique gym in West Hollywood offering classes based around non-electronic treadmills for a gentler workout: Owner Dede Lagree wanted to offer a treadmill-based exercise option that was easier on joints. (If her name looks familiar, its because shes behind the Lagree Fitness Method with her husband, Sebastien Lagree.)

The Curve Treadmill doesnt have any electronics, so you power it yourself using your legs, she said. Its safer on joints and knees, and you burn 30% more calories than a traditional treadmill. It has no incline; weve found that a really high incline can be bad for the hips. This way, youre running at a much more natural angle.

There are 15 treadmills in the 2,000-square-foot space. The 40-minute workouts go back and forth between segments on the treadmill and on the floor, incorporating high-repetition moves designed to keep the intensity and heart rate up to result in a toned, sculpted physique.

We want this to be for everyone, said Lagree, whether they have never run or can run marathons. On this treadmill, you can walk three miles per hour and your heart rate will still be high and your whole body moving.

Info: Toned, 375 N. La Cienega Blvd., Suite 2. First class free when booked online using code WeWorkHarder. Drop-in classes are $29. Packages start at five classes for $140. tonedla.com

Toned, a new West Hollywood gym offers classes exclusively on non-electronic treadmills.

(Noel Daganta / Toned)

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Drunk yoga: Where to try it in L.A. - Los Angeles Times

The contemporary coverage of the Global Yoga Wheels Market in this study takes a holistic approach to examine some of the most prominent trends that are speculated to have a substantial influence on the progress of the industry in the forecast duration. Market Expertz defines an emergent industry trend as a prominent factor with the potential to impact the market, contributing to either its growth or decline.

The report evaluates the contemporary market trends and inclinations observed in the market, and growth prospects for the Yoga Wheels Market in different industry verticals. It also sheds light on the extent of applications of Yoga Wheels in various regional markets and estimates the future growth potential by examining the rigid government regulations and policies, among other relevant aspects like consumer demands and regional market scenario.

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The industry is subject to consumer acceptance for various applications at both the local and regional level. Moreover, by employing a bottom-up and top-down approach, alongside the pricing volatility, the market size and volumes were deduced.

The major manufacturers covered in this report:

Shenzhen Haifuxing Technology Unisoul Yangzhou Chenhong Plastic and Rubber Products Fuzhou Bohanson Trading CHOOYOU

A thorough analysis of the micro markets with regards to the growth trends in each category makes the overall study interesting. When studying the micro markets, the researchers also dig deep into their future prospect and contribution to the Yoga Wheels industry.

Scope of the Report:

To help gain the business owner further gain business intelligence the study on the Yoga Wheels market for the forecast period 2019 2026 brings to light data on production capability, consumption capacity, spending power, investment feasibility, and technology innovation. A thorough assessment of market performance across different regions is presented through self-explanatory graphic images, charts, and tables that add weight to corporate presentations and marketing materials. The study offers regional profiles of major vendors and extensive country-level break down to empower companies to make a wise investment decision when exploring new regions.

Avail this report at Attractive Discount rates! Click here to know more @ https://www.marketexpertz.com/discount-enquiry-form/56075

Segmentation by product type: breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.7. Wood PU Other Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2026 in section 11.8. Man Woman

The topmost contenders in the global Yoga Wheels market have implemented different strategic approaches and methodologies, encompassing product launches, mergers & acquisitions, collaborations & partnerships, and agreements, to get a competitive edge in the global sector. Prominent players that have been profiled in this report include consumer goods manufacturers, having extended their reach into several end-user industries.

This assessment relating to the companies operating in the industry and the corporate tactics adopted by them have been accumulated by referring to their published annual reports and press releases made by these companies, information available on their website or other online portals that are listed on the companys homepages, and by way of information gathered during interviews of industry experts.

Go through our meticulously drafted TOC, Tables, Statistics, Charts, and Company [emailprotected] https://www.marketexpertz.com/industry-overview/global-yoga-wheels-market

Key Market Benefits:

The different strategic approaches adopted by the leading industry players have been scrutinized to deliver a holistic view of the global competitive landscape.

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Yoga Wheels Market | Global Industry Analysis by Trends, Size, Share, Company Overview, Growth and Forecast by 2027 - The Bay State Herald

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that means uniting the individual spirit with the universal spirit. In layman terms, it means to hit the reboot button for the soul, so it starts fresh.

Yoga not only helps in bringing mental peace, but it also helps increase ones energy, reduces stress, and promotes the overall mental and physical well-being of an individual. Like any other trip aimed at hitting the hard reset button, one needs to fly away to a far off land that exudes peaceful auras once in a while.

What better way than to recharge with a proper yoga retreat?

If you are looking for secluded natural landscapes, then Costa Rica should be the first place you jot down in your travel journal. The Anamaya Resort is located on the edge of the coastal rainforest, where you will find numerous bespoke yoga retreats that offer the perfect place, setup and environment to relax and rejuvenate both mentally and physically.

Take in natural beauty as you wake up to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight entering through the windows. The naturally golden hour, the fresh breeze, and the smell of nature will help you compose yourself and star off your day with a whole new summer vibe. This property sits in the jungle surrounded by lush green trees and pristine beaches. You can sit by the sea and practice concentrating on your breathing or lay down under the open sky at night and enjoy the stars.

Take a break from the outside world as you gather your thoughts and feeling while enjoying the exotic 3-day yoga retreat at Ubud, Bali. This place is surrounded by beautiful natural rainforest and the river valley of Ubud. The area is a popular destination for yogis, so book ahead.

Located in Thailand, this place offers an excellent hideout for all the yogis who travel miles in search of a site that allows them to reconnect with their inner selves. You can meet a lot of like-minded yogis out here. The yogi community Koh Phanganngan is particularly hospitable and welcoming.

Situated in Sri Lanka, this fantastic retreat offers scenic beauty, best massages, and to top it all off an enormous number of Ayurvedic practitioners, who will walk you through health and wellness by introducing you to their historical methods of yoga along with an organic diet.

Make 2020 your year to recharge while you consider these places to reboot your system. Nothing beats coming back to the urban life entirely composed and revived.

Read more:
Top 5 Yoga Retreats to Visit In 2020 - YouBeauty

If theres one part of your body that youre kind of a bully to without even realizing it, its your spine. All that slouching eventually causes pain and increases your risk for injury. Perhaps more so than other parts of your body, taking the time to stretch your spine makes a big difference in how you feel now and in the future. In short, the best back stretches help get your back back on track.

Regularly stretching your spine can decrease your risk of injuries, improve range of motion, and enable your muscles to work more effectively, says Katherine Parker, yoga instructor and co-founder of Yomassage. It can also help prevent joint stiffness.

To make sure youre stretching your spine as safely and effectively as possible, Parker and yoga teacher Stacy Dockins recommend sticking to a few easy back stretches.

How it helps: Locust pose is a backward bend that requires an active range of motion. It will strengthen the backside of the body while encouraging the release of the anterior shoulders, chest, and hip flexors, says Dockins.

How it helps: Supported Childs Pose provides a gentle stretch to the lower back, hips, thighs and ankles, and lengthens the lower back and improves circulation to the spinal joints, says Parker.

Bridge pose is a backward bend that will counter modern postural tendencies. It will encourage the release of the chest, anterior shoulders, and hip flexors while strengthening the backside of the body, says Dockins.

Practicing supported twist might help keep the spinal muscles mobile and provide relief from back pain, says Parker.

New to yoga? Weve got you:

This exercise opens your hip flexors and massages your spine at the same time. Then check out the T-spine stretches that are key to the perfect posture.

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Im a yoga teacher, and these are the best back stretches for your spine - Well+Good

Today in Toronto, you have the perfect opportunity to sip and stretch.

Because AM Coffee Studio is celebrating its grand opening at 2233 Dundas West, which means free yoga and free coffee for you, all day long.

The new spot at Dundas and Roncesvalles is a combination of a coffee shop and an open yoga studio, and on November 28, you can enjoy free cups of joe while gettin your stretch on.

Activity-wise, you can partake in the spots run club, starting in High Park at 5:45 pm, free of charge. And at 6:30 pm, you can enjoy a Yoga and Stretch class again, for free.

All the while, the coffee keeps on pourin.

Ensure you stop by this spot for a post-work wind down and to offer them a warm welcome to the neighbourhood.

Address: 2233 Dundas Street West

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You can treat yourself to FREE coffee and yoga in Toronto today | Dished - Daily Hive

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I sought great human beings. I never found anything but the apes of their ideal. Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

Everything began to spin and I found myself sitting on the ground: I laughed so hard I cried. Sartre, The Wall

I walk up to the bar and I order a beer. The bartender recognizes me and brings the usual. Then he quietly says, We have some unusual guests. Slowly turn to look at the table behind you. Im impatient and turn my head immediately. One of them has a huge mustache and dark, focused eyes. The other is smoking a pipe and has a lazy eye that seems to be looking at me rather than his drinking partner. The pub is relatively quiet this afternoon, so I can also overhear snippets of their exchange. Its highlighted with terms like nothingness, eternal recurrence, bad faith, useless passion, and bermensch.

I cant believe my eyes or ears. It looks like them. It sounds like what they might talk about. But theyre supposed to be dead. I ask the bartender whats going on. Suddenly, the bartender lights up a cigarette, leans over the bar, and quietly mutters, You just walked into a bar whose happy hour is now called The Twilight Zone.

The original Twilight Zone was an American television show that lasted only five years. Despite its brief span, from 1959 to 1964, many critics rank it among the ten most important and influential TV shows of all time.

A creation of Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone was indeed both revolutionary and prophetic. Television audiences entertained by bland game shows and suburban sitcoms had never seen anything like it. In their living rooms they were introduced to erotic robots, aliens feasting on humans, lost souls in another time or space, machines dictating the actions of people, obsolete individuals sentenced to death, insidious tricks devised by the grim reaper or by Satan. The audiences were dared to think and let their imaginations wonder.

Controversies introduced by The Twilight Zone with wit and surprise remain with us. Writers still use the phrase twilight zone when alluding to odd machinations of institutions or political forums or unexplained happenings. Its legacy has lasted generations and continually inspires further creative work, such as Black Mirror. And although Lester Hunt, Noel Coward, and Mark Dawidziak have presented illuminating philosophical approaches to Rod Serlings visions, they neglected some core existentialist themes illuminated as well as mocked in Twilight Zone episodes. I want to make up for that deficit a little here.

Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, two stalwarts of the existentialist tradition, often developed their ideas without recourse to other mainstream philosophers, instead addressing the insights of novelists, poets, artists and musicians. Sartre clearly believed that Flaubert and de Sade have as much to teach us about human ideals and depravity as do Hegel or Plato. For Nietzsche, the early Christian Fathers, classic playwrights, or contemporary Darwinists, provoked important questions about human destiny and the improvement or corruption of a species. Perhaps we can deploy Serlings speculations, and imagine Nietzsche and Sartre in a 2020 pub addressing the twists and turns of The Twilight Zone.

Nietzsche is often associated with calling for a superman or overman each an awkward translation of his term bermensch. As the term appears in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1885), it evokes the sense that humanity is a work in progress or regress and great people are needed to overcome our present failings. Zarathustras translator Walter Kaufmann himself emphasized that ber is less an adjective then a sense of overcoming: the idea is of humans creating new ways of being, individually and socially. In his widely reprinted public lecture, Existentialism is a Humanism (1946), Sartre focuses on freedom. Humans choose their projects and purposes rather than have them defined for them by God, genetics, or social circumstances. Humans are, in Sartres words, self-surpassing man is the heart and center of his [own] transcendence.

The bartender inexplicably switches the big screen to a Twilight Zone episode, Obsolete Man. The penetrating eyes of both Nietzsche and Sartre are captivated by Meredith Burgess, the wonderful actor who plays Mr Wordsworth, the obsolete man. Why is he obsolete? He reads everything he can get his hands on, be it novels, magazines, or the Bible. In this character we see a joyful freedom and a liberated soul. But in the story it is precisely these qualities that render him obsolete and destined for immediate execution. His freedom is antithetical to the State, which plans on a more conforming and controlled form of man. You can imagine Nietzsche and Sartre watching this and saying to one another: in this episode, you and I would undoubtedly be rendered obsolete. We would have had our heads chopped off, as we would have been condemned by the State. This is the oppositive of freedom, transcendence, overcoming. (Thought experiment: Would Nietzsche and Sartre find humor in this absurd possibility, or bemoan it?)

It must be a Twilight Zone binge at the pub, as the episode To Serve Man appears on the screen immediately afterwards. The patrons suddenly see aliens descend upon the Earth. The radio stations put listeners at high alert, the military readies its forces, and everyone is fearful. The alien Kanamits resemble human beings, except they are nine feet tall, have large heads, and communicate telepathically. One Kanamit peacefully approaches the earthlings to assure them he means no harm. The aliens are here to provide peace, food, and an end to human conflict. All they ask of earthlings is trust. Sure enough, humans soon have all the pleasures of life and the comforts of leisure. The Kanamits casually invite people to visit their planet for an even better life. Scores of humans eagerly line up to depart, while two language experts arduously translate a Kanamit book. One uncovers the books title, To Serve Man; but soon learns that the book (spoiler alert!) is a cook book. The humans are being fattened up so they can embellish the diets of their alien hosts. This is one interpretation of the idea of overcoming human beings.

Wrapping up his best-known play, No Exit (1944), Sartre concludes with one of the most memorable lines in existentialist literature. The play involves three characters who are dead but unsure where they are, other than being in the same room. They see no angels and hear no harps, nor do they feel the heat of raging fires or smell brimstone. Eventually, however, the gaze or look they cast upon one another becomes unbearable. The alternate to heaven is not Satans nefarious den, Sartre concludes: Hell is other people.

Nietzsche, who is quite familiar with Protestant ministers and the Church Fathers treatises on heaven and hell his father had been a Lutheran pastor reminds Sartre that the early Christian writer Tertullians essay On Spectacles highlights how early Christians were mocked for their heresy against the pagan gods, but says Christians would get the last laugh. As Nietzsche explains it in On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), Tertullian envisions a heaven where Christians delight in watching the persecuting pagans now suffering eternal damnation (Tertullian was possibly making a satirical point about those who get pleasure out of watching others suffer).

Numerous episodes of The Twilight Zone reflect the theme of hell in the gaze of others. Considered to be among the best episodes, In The Eye of the Beholder eerily portrays shadows and voices in a hospital room. The patients face is wrapped in bandages while we hear her frightful anticipation of the results of the surgery. She was born with a disfigured face, and after ten unsuccessful operations, she has one more chance before she is exiled to an island of misfits. The doctors and nurses offer solace and hope. After twenty minutes into a thirty minute show, the bandages are unwrapped and viewers finally see a face the patient looking into a mirror. She shrieks. The surgery is again unsuccessful! Wait, we say to ourselves, the patient is undeniably beautiful. Then we catch a glimpse of the nurses and doctors. They all have distorted, pig-like faces (my apologies to pigs). In this remarkable twist, the patients hell has been the look of others whose standard of physical appeal is drastically different from ours.

The episode People Are Alike All Over relies on the notion that humanity is universally recognizable. An astronaut lands on Mars and finds natives who look just like him, and us. But this visitor, Serlings voice notes, has a very tiny undeveloped brain; comes from a primitive planet named Earth. The Martians calm his fears and welcome him, inviting him to a suburban-like house that resembles his own on Earth. The earthling is charmed by the natives thoughtful attention. Then he tries to walk out, but finds there are bars surrounding his house. It is a cage. He looks out and the natives are staring at him, as if hes an exotic creature belonging in a zoo.

A side note. When presenting these episodes to my students, I was surprised they were intrigued by how prophetic Rod Serling was. Since much of their lives are on social media, they claim that the looks of others can be just as condemning and perverse as those in No Exit or Eye of the Beholder.

Many philosophers have given thought to the nature(s) of time and space. Sartre addresses time as an aspect of human finitude, and sees consciousness as something that reaches into the past while anticipating an uncertain future. Nietzsches eternal recurrence was a brief but provocative thought experiment. He asks, what if a demon says you might have to live this life each pain and joy, each hope and despair innumerable more times, forever and ever? (The Gay Science, 341: The Greatest Weight)

The episode Escape Clause indulges this sort of existential test. A hypochondriac and self-absorbed man named Bedeker makes a deal with the Devil. He exchanges his soul for the promise that he will never die. Bedeker does all sorts of crazy things jumps in front of a train, drinks poison, and even murders his wife. Soon bored of the continual recurrence of things, Bedeker hopes that his next crime warrants an execution. Instead, he gets life imprisonment. This sense of eternal recurrence in jail horrifies him, and he seeks the grace of the Devil to help him to escape their original agreement (no spoiler alert here).

Judgment Night features a German passenger on a British ship during WW II. Carl Lanser, however, has no memory of who he is or why he is on the ship. Nevertheless, he warns the other passengers and the captain that in the early morning they will be attacked by an enemy submarine. No one heeds his warnings. Indeed, they believe he is a kook. Lanser then takes his binoculars and spots a German U-boat, catching sight of its commander Kapitan Carl Lanser, who is about to give the order to sink this ship full of innocent civilians. Lanser is both innocent passenger and U-boat commander; and the curse resulting from his decision is that this man will ride the ghost of that ship every night for eternity.

One of the most endearing episodes is Time Enough At Last. Henry Bemis is a bookish individual. He will read anything and everything, from plays and history to fiction and poetry, even the ingredients listed on food containers. He has little joy among other people the bank manager keeps threatening him, his wife mocks him while destroying his reading materials so he seeks momentary refuge by hiding in the banks vault to read without being disturbed. Suddenly, a huge shake occurs. When Bemis leaves the bank he sees that a nuclear exchange has eliminated humanity. He frets over endless loneliness and a solitary death; then he chances upon a destroyed library with thousands of books lying about. He experiences a childlike and joyous discovery that illuminates Nietzsches idea of the love of fate : Bemis is prepared to live this day like every other day, as he arranges his reading for the next year or more. Alas, not for long. He breaks his reading glasses. As the episode closes, we realize eternal recurrence also evokes another fundamental theme in existentialist thought: life is absurd, and not fair.

How much is still possible! So learn to laugh beyond yourselves, Nietzsche proclaims in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Introducing his anthology The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor (1987), John Morreall proposes three general theories for why we laugh. They are superiority, relief, and incongruity. First, we laugh at those who are beneath us or who have had a moral collapse as seen in jokes about people being stupid, or jokes about prominent persons or groups experiencing sudden misfortune due to their own vices. Or we laugh out of nervousness and excess energy, due to the transgression of social taboos. Or third, we are amused by an event or deed which clashes with our practical expectations or conventional outlooks and habits. The Twilight Zone seems closest to this third category (though it flirts with the other two categories as well). The stories play on our familiar beliefs and the rational approaches we take to surprising situations and ordinary routines. Not just invasions by Kanamits or nuclear bombs wiping out humanity, but walking to work, playing a saxophone, or shooting a game of pool, can be the quotidian occasion for a Twilight Zone story. Yet this account still overlooks a key existentialist concern: what is it that confronts our experiences and expectations to provoke such laughter?

It is ourselves. Rod Serling insisted that his renowned TV show was not about science fiction or futuristic scenes: it was, in his words, about human beings involved in extraordinary circumstance, in strange problems of their own or fates making. These problems of their own making can be seen in the range of human artifacts, from masks and computers to talking toys and slot machines, that befuddle and torment their creators. The role of fate is found in unexpected moments that seem to appear from nowhere. We laugh at them because we are the laughable animal. Watching a prisoner fall in love with a female-like robot, a computer becoming jealous of its operators affection for an office mate, a righteous husband succumbing to the forces of a one-armed bandit, sparks laughter not at the non-human elements or at those who supposedly are inferior to us: we laugh or despair because watching The Twilight Zone is like staring into a mirror.

As I thank the bartender and depart, I take one more glimpse at the unusual visitors and wonder about their existential response to these Twilight Zone tales: despair, or laughter, or both?

Alexander Hooke 2019

Alexander E. Hooke teaches philosophy at Stevenson University, USA. He is author of Philosophy Sketches: 700 Words at a Time (Apprentice House), Alphonso Lingis and Existential Genealogy (Zero Books) and co-editor of The Twilight Zone and Philosophy (Open Court).

Philosophy Now 2019. All rights reserved.

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The Twilight Zone | Issue 135 - Philosophy Now

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This is a difficult question as the worst philosopher is liable to be considered not a true philosopher at all!

It may be best to make clear the qualities of great philosophy, in order to shed light on the worst kind of philosophy, and consequently apply these weaknesses of thought to a specific individual, who then would seem the worst philosopher.

Firstly, they should lack the high standard of critical thinking marking great philosophy. The work of a poor philosopher is liable to consist of unclear and indistinct ideas, and obscure, confused, overly-abstracted arguments, making it difficult or impossible to understand and evaluate. This contrasts with great philosophy, which, although it may deal with complex ideas and themes, is always based upon distinct, clear ideas which are subsequently built upon. Philosophy should never be overly rhetorical, or full of unnecessary arguments, hyperbole and oversights. Furthermore, a great philosopher always recognises their influences, paying close attention to and acknowledging the ideas of their predecessors and contemporaries, even if contrary to their own viewpoint. The philosopher who thinks their philosophy wholly original is usually being dishonest and is almost certainly wrong. However, a great philosophers ideas must be highly original nevertheless; developing and expanding on existing ideas in a decidedly innovative and momentous way. Most philosophers will never be as original as, say, Ren Descartes; but the philosopher whose ideas consist wholly of a hotchpotch of other peoples or, worse, are derived from just one thinker is a bad one.

To summarise: the worst philosophers ideas would constitute the worst of philosophy: lacking in analysis, disordered, prone to exaggeration, unimaginative, unoriginal, hardly philosophy at all.

So, who is the worst philosopher? It is difficult to say, as there are so many poor ones from whom to choose, and the decision will reflect your own personal interests and perspectives. But I would suggest Ayn Rand (1905-1982), whose endorsements of ethical egotism and laissez-faire capitalism are formulated in the overused, hubristic and indolent arguments characteristic of the worst of what can, at a stretch, be called philosophy.

Jonathan Tipton, Preston, Lancashire

My first impulse is to stab a sacred cow: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). He tended to work from a position of fancy and romanticism, thinking that he was more ready for action than he really was. The accusation of fantasy stands to reason, given how sickly he was: think his Will to Power and his ironically quoted-to-death epithet, What doesnt kill me makes me stronger. However, my adverse sentiment towards him has more to do with his many fans whom I have encountered on message boards: those basement bermenschen. Every time I encounter someone who tags their belief system with the prefix anarcho-, I think of Nietzsche, cringe, and start digging my trenches. It always feels like someone embracing the radical strictly for the sake of the radical. But perhaps this has more to do with the fact that, as easy as he is to read, Nietzsche is equally easy to misinterpret. The next logical choice, being a source of Nietzsches fancy, would be Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), for his Social Darwinism. But Spencer is too discredited to be worth wasting this opportunity to internationally air my contempt. Therefore I would turn towards a more recent expression of Spencers Social Darwinism: Ayn Rand . I do so because she has been a major influence on our social, economic, and political life; and she did so by appealing to the same fancy as Spencer and Nietzsche. Even worse, she attempted to drape that fancy in an erroneous appeal to the scientific method. As far as I can tell, her Objectivism consisted of talking about facts (something we can all agree exist), then translating this into questionable causal connections about general matters of the human condition. Her argument boiled down to: 1+1=2: so laissez faire Capitalism is the only means by which humans can achieve their full potential. Its as if were supposed to be so impressed by her getting the 1+1 part right that we should accept the latter claim as having the same status. We can achieve our true potential only by using our talents to make things better for everyone, not through the corporate servitude she promoted.

D.E. Tarkington, Bellevue, Nebraska

If by worst philosopher you mean the one whose ideas are furthest from the truth, a strong candidate must be Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753). His key notion was that nothing exists except insofar as it exists as an idea in some mind. I have never been able to make any sense of this. Some of his modern disciples (like Bob Berman and Robert Lanza in their book Biocentrism, 2010) do seem to hold that the Moons existence literally depends on people looking at it. Meantime, Berkeley posited that ultimately its in the mind of God that everything exists. Yet the mind of God does not exist.

If, however, by worst philosopher, you mean the most pernicious, thats surely Friedrich Nietzsche . Of course that does not refer to everything he wrote and others may have spouted worse vileness. In Nietzsches case, though, his perniciousness is leveraged by his outsized influence. Nothing so atrocious has been so widely read. My own humanist philosophy centers on the utilitarian concept of the greatest good for the greatest number. Its not a moral absolute, but a guideline: striving for more happiness and less suffering in the world. By this reckoning, every human life counts. Nietzsches thought is directly contrary: the greatest good for the greatest individuals, all others be damned, subservient to the ego of the heroic bermensch or Superman. Nietzsche had contempt for the mass of humanity. It is one thing to vaunt virtuous human qualities such as courage and strength; quite another to claim that only certain lives have value. How does one make that portentous differentiation? Nietzsches particular criteria are highly dubious. Indeed, one can argue that his bermensch is actually a criminal deserving punishment. Nobody should be allowed to condemn as worthless a whole class of human beings. Thats exactly what the Nazis did in their campaign of slaughter. Nietzsche, fittingly, was their pet philosopher.

I prefer the humanistic thinking of T.H. Huxley (1825-1895), who said our aim should be not to play out Darwinian survival of the fittest, but to fit more of us for survival.

Frank S. Robinson, Albany, New York

Judging philosophical ideas and thinkers as good and bad is an abyss even Nietzsche wouldnt be keen to stare into. The yardstick for separating good philosophical thinkers from bad isnt just sitting there waiting to be discovered. It certainly cant be based on right or wrong theories: how are Kantian ethics any truer than utilitarianism? Controversy cant be an indicator of quality, any more than cordiality. Judging philosophers seems like a lost cause until you discover those who threatened the very foundation of the discipline, and eventually, of knowledge, and Moritz Schlick (1882-1936), leader of the Vienna Circle, is a prime example. Responsible for the Logical Positivist movement, the group of philosophers he led attempted to curtail the criteria of what was considered meaningful, and hence worthy of pursuit. Surely an offense like this shouldnt be pardoned.

At the base of logical positivism was the Principle of Verification, which says that only ideas capable of empirical verification are worth contemplating, or indeed, meaningful. Although a seemingly noble attempt to make better use of human time and effort, such stern conditions of meaning not only invalidate centuries of quality work contributed by exceptional thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, or Kant, but also throw out entire branches of philosophy, such as theology, ethics, and metaphysics, as speculative trash. For any naturalists feeling smug here, however, the implications go far beyond philosophy, into science, where for instance, theories relating to quantum entanglement, dark matter, and M-theory would have to be thrown out if they cannot be shown to be empirically verifiable. Social sciences such as psychology and sociology would soon follow suit leaving a void in the very foundation of knowledge, to the point where observation and experimentation of any kind would become impossible. Fortunately, the theory proved to be self-contradictory, with the Principle of Verification itself being not quite empirically verifiable. This crucial drawback not only establishes the idea as a complete failure, but also establishes Moritz Schlick and his dour band of companions as narrow-minded and unimaginative thinkers.

Shail Thakker, Edgware, London

There he sat night after night, Enrobed in rustic country clothes, Dreaming by a German fire, In wooden hut, one man alone: A king upon an Alpine throne The greatest thinker ever known. Or was he? For though he wrote in gilded rose-tipped prose And probed the heart of Being, It was the cold, aloof, unfeeling being, himself Heidegger he chose. This man as the Nazi rector is more revealing: He did not deny, denounce, nor denigrate Historys most anti-life: And there his grand undoing lies Like an existential hunting knife. For its all too dark, and all too true As the voice from out the forest cries: Philosophy ends and thinking fails When the human in us dies.

Bianca Laleh, Totnes, Devon

Since philosophy is the love of wisdom, the worst philosopher would be the one whose philosophy resulted in the greatest folly, which may be measured by human hurt. There are, unfortunately, numerous candidates for this dubious distinction, but my vote is for Karl Marx (1818-1883). Marxs philosophy led to the totalitarian communist regimes of Russia, China, and other countries, and so to the mass killings of more people than even fascism. Then Russia and its satellite countries had to abandon it, and China has had to greatly modify it. Further, Marx claimed that his theories were scientific and thus capable of predictions, but his mistaken predictions were so numerous that there is not space in this little essay to list them.

The foundation of Marxs thought was his philosophy of history, and it was here he made his fatal error. Briefly, his theory was that the means of production of goods and services determined human history. History moves by an inexorable process that divides societies into classes that must struggle against one another. Marxs good news is that the process must end with no social classes, and peace and justice for all. This theory is a materialistic determinism: according to this view, our ideas do not influence the process. And by our ideas, I include all of our art, customs and manners, moral principles, religion, laws, political organization, and philosophy. In other words, according to Marx, our lives are a macabre dance where human agency is a delusion.

I believe the opposite is the case. Humans are born curious. The evolutionary advantage of curiosity is that it enables learning to adapt to the world; and in our case, to greatly change it for our benefit including our political and economic systems. In fact, after Marx, weve greatly changed capitalism, and accommodated within it some socialism. This is why Marxs predictions were wrong: he denied the efficacy of human agency in history. There was no place for it in his inexorable historical process. And there is no worse philosopher than one who believes that wisdom is impotent.

John Talley, Rutherfordton, North Carolina

I nominate John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) as the worst philosopher. One of his rare critics was the American economist Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993), who noted that while a small public library could be filled with books lavishly praising Keynes ideas, the number of critical works could be counted on one hand. Keynes magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936), is a convoluted thicket of supercilious jabs and straw-man arguments; I further nominate it for Worst Book Ever Written. I read it all though, and have no reason to doubt Hazlitts assertion, made in The Failure of the New Economics: An Analysis of the Keynesian Fallacies (1959), that he was unable to find in [that book] a single important doctrine that is both true and original.

Keynes insight was that in the fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper, Aesop had got things backward. It was the ant who was impoverishing the world by saving some of his earnings! The grasshopper, singing all summer and living from hand to mouth, was the more economically responsible citizen. Saving bad: spending good. This idea has now been accepted as gospel by almost all the economists and governments of the world.

Keyness popularity is based not on originality or on truth, but on his telling everyone what they want to hear: workers should spend everything they earn and never suffer a pay cut; governments should borrow money and print it too, in order to keep everyone at full employment. Keynes is less a philosopher than a guy who shows up with a bag of cocaine and says Lets party!

Paul Vitols, North Vancouver, British Columbia

If this question Who is the worst philosopher? had not been prefaced with out of the famous thinkers of history, the logical answer might have been, whoever came up with this question, because, lacking a definition of terms, it is fundamentally meaningless. Does it mean, which philosopher do you or I most disagree with? That doesnt define who is the worst philosopher; merely which philosophers ideas you find most unconvincing. So followers of Ayn Rand will automatically nominate Karl Marx; and Marxists are likely to nominate Ayn Rand (or possibly Karl Popper). Or does it mean, which philosopher do you find most morally objectionable (never mind what you think about their ideas)? In that case the Nazi Martin Heidegger is likely to show up high on the list.

Still, in an attempt to answer both questions, I will offer two nominations. For muddled thinking, I would suggest Ren Descartes (1596-1650), simply because his physics the famous vortices is not only nonsense, but based on no scientific evidence. For his sheer hypocrisy, I propose Seneca the Younger (4BC-65AD), who preached stoicism while making a fortune and enjoying the luxury of Neros court and, I would argue, only relapsed into stoicism by committing suicide when he couldnt find any alternative.

Martin Jenkins, London

Those Who Turn Away

Talented thinkers through the ages: Some fail, and some fail to try. We focus on the former,

Yet no one asks the latter why. So who is the Worst Philosopher? My brother John is a candidate strong. And, no, I do not stereotype him, So please dont just say Im wrong.

A double first at Oxford, Laser physics is his thing. Science gives him answers: Philosophys praises he does not sing.

Yes, hes a Doctor of Philosophy, Although on him the irony is lost. He says rationality is his god. Philosophy? No return, theres only cost.

His advice helped win a Nobel, A successful professorial hit: Why sit and wait, When you can get on with it?

But thinking about thinking And taking the measure of measure? All best left to others; Those circles give no pleasure.

Science can help with consciousness And what is meant by life, But philosophy deserves distain: Who needs the angst and strife?

His dot-com career was fortunate, Though he treats this view with scorn. The internet needed fibre optics. Fast transmission, even if for porn

So the Worst Philosophers Are not the ones who try, But the ones who turn away And do nothing but decry.

Glen Reid, Royal Wootton Bassett

The next question is: What & Why Are Our Human Rights? Please give and justify your answer in less than 400 words. The prize is a semi-random book from our book mountain. Email the Editor. Subject lines should be marked Question of the Month, and must be received by 10th February 2020. If you want a chance of getting a book, please include your physical address. Submission is permission to reproduce your answer.

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Who Is The Worst Philosopher? | Issue 135 - Philosophy Now