Although this column typically features local musicians, we occasionally like to highlight the venues who hire those musicians. The owners of the Gulf Stream Bar & Grille, which is new on the island, believe that live music is an integral part of their vibe, and the results so far have been impressive.

When friends Reada Evans, Michael Sullie Sullivan and Joe Murphy bought the old Melville Grill last year, they knew the type of feel they wanted for their new restaurant. I wanted to create the kind of place where Id like to hang out. And Lord knows, Im here all the time, Evans said, laughing.

What makes Gulf Stream Bar & Grille unique? Were bringing the flavors [in the food] of the gulf stream with a New England twist, Murphy said. And were featuring local musicians who can contribute to a relaxed and casual vibe, without being overbearing.

True to their word, these restaurateurs have booked some of the islands top musicians, who they will be featuring four nights a week in spring and summer. On Thursdays through Sundays, you can enjoy a meal or a cocktail in the casual dining room or on the spacious deck, all while taking in the sunset. Our whole place is dedicated to sunsets, Evans said.

Live music is offered on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 6 to 9 p.m., and on Sundays, from 2 to 6 p.m. There will be live jazz on Thursday nights, beginning in late May. Were taking classic New Orleans dishes and pairing them with some great jazz, Evans said.

I have had the opportunity to hear music at this venue, and I found it to be wonderful. If their goal is to create a casual and relaxing experience, consider it mission accomplished.

Murphy summed it up best: Music enhances the dining experience.

For more information, visit gulfstreambar.com.

TO Go:

WHEN:Thursday, Friday, Saturday 6-9 p.m.; Sunday, 2-6 p.m. WHERE: Gulf Stream Bar & Grille 1 Lagoon Road, Portsmouth

Mark Gorman is a retired high school guidance counselor and guitarist-vocalist who performs locally each week.

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SPOTLIGHT on Music - Newport This Week

The DJ/remixer opens for country star Jason Aldean at The Dunk.

Dee Jay Silver grew up listening to his father singing country and gospel music and he is firmlyentrenched in the country music scene, but he doesnt like limitations.

I feel sorry for anyone who only listens to one kind of music, says Silver in a phone call fromhis Nashville home, where he was relaxing with his infant son on a break from touring withcountry star Jason Aldean. If you tune in on Spotify or whatever, I dont think youd find oneperson who only has the same type of music in their lists.

Variety, he stresses, is the key to musical enjoyment. As a DJ/remixer for more than 15 years, hehas etched a reputation for joining some of the most unlikely pieces of music together.

When I hear a song, I hear two or three different things, he says. I look for things that willmatch and then try mixing and blending one piece into another.

An example is his blend of Locashs Ring on Every Finger and Justin TimberlakesSenorita, which he found connected because of drum segments that roll together nicely.

He eschews the term mashing, preferring terms like blending when talking about thecombinations he creates, which he also showcases on a weekly syndicated radio show,The Country Club with Dee Jay Silver. Popular combinations have included Walk This Wayby Run-D.M.C. and Alabamas If Youre Gonna Play in Texas, and Tipsy by rapper J-Kwonand Dust on the Bottle by David Lee Murphy. The latter, which he calls the oddest blend hescreated, Works every night.

By working, Silver means the songs get the audience on their feet, dancing and having a goodtime. Its his job to entertain and warm up the crowd for Aldean, but he also sees himself assomewhat of an ambassador for country music.

This opens up the circle of peoples music. Music of all genres have a stereotype and countrymusic is no different, he says, remembering how a middle-aged man approached him after ashow to thank him for getting him to experience new music. He said hed never heard of any ofthe songs on my Spotify list, but that his whole world had opened up as a result. Thats the bestcompliment!

It hasnt always been easy, though. While he started DJ-ing in college, Silver says people wereconfused as to what he wanted to do when he went to work in the industry.

They said, You want to do what? I told them this opens the country genre up to more peopleand makes the fan base younger, he says. The best piece of advice I got was when someoneasked me, How are you different from the other guy? The answer is I play music in ways noone had ever heard before.

Silvers latest venture, the compilation called Made to Do is a Top 40-style group of songs, buthes already looking ahead to the next project in which he says every song will represent adifferent musical genre.

I play everything every genre of music I can possibly put down! he says, addingthoughtfully, well, not mumble rap, and I cant get into the screamo stuff!

Susan McDonald is a regular contributor to The Providence Journal. She can be reached at Sewsoo1@verizon.net.

If you go...

What: Dee Jay Silver opens for Jason Aldeans They DontKnow tour. The show also features Chris Young and Kane Brown

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 18

Where:Dunkin' Donuts Center, 1 LaSalle Square, Providence

Tickets: $33.25-$73.25

Information: dunkindonutscenter.com

Visit link:

Dee Jay Silver spins new take on country - The Providence Journal

Savannah, Georgia's Triathalon are a band made of a handful of varying characteristics and sounds. One may say they're the ultimate chillout group, with softly sang vocals and low-tempered drums. Some might brand them as simply "indie rock," lumping them into a category broad enough to cover every spectrum of influence they've shown. Whatever they're considered, it's apparent these guys toss their music through a filter of haze, as all of their work sounds dreamlike, relaxing and at times, groovily sexy.

Their impressive four-track EP Cold Shower released back in September, holding descriptive tags as Motown, R&B/soul, soul and surf pop on their Bandcamp. Cold Shower shows the group's diverse range of inspiration, blending sounds of R&B with chillwave, indie rock, maybe echoes of Tame Impala and the hazy-like workings of Whitney. It works as both a solid introduction toTriathalon and a confident project the group can stand behind for years to come.

Today, we're premiering the music video for the first track off Cold Shower, "South Side". The video shows the group performing "South Side" through VHS-type visuals, that seem to go awry with blur and static. The video matches the band's aesthetic perfectly, giving one of their catchiest songs a solid visual aid.

Peep "South Side" up top and be sure to check out Cold Shower over at Triathalon's Bandcamp. Purchase the record over at Broken Circles.

Connect withTriathalon: Facebook | Bandcamp| Twitter

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Chill out with Triathalon's hazy music video for 'South Side' [Premiere] - EARMILK (blog)

Jammu: J&K that was growing completely organic foods till 1960s on Thursday started its first organic food Nimbark.

Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu threw open the store at Channi Himmat and termed it a milestone in states gradual return to the great organic days.

The store that has more than 100 organic food items from rice to various spices is the initiative of Sarveshwar Overseas, the major player in the Basmati business with roots in Jammu and interests in most of the Northern region. He is the only major exporter from J&K to West including US and Europe.

It is just a small beginning, Rohit Gupta, the MD of the Sarveshwar told the inaugural gathering. My belief is that we can be Indias No 1 in organic produces.

The company, he said is pan-India but has a good presence in the exports. All our products are approved by the US and EU systems. I was so keen to see Dr Drabu inaugurating this initiative because he is the person who has promoted me throughout, Gupta said.

Terming the initiative as wonderful job, Drabu said he has seen two special qualities in Gupta. He has diversified within his area and is perhaps the only major who grows, processes, sells and exports, Drabu said, adding the integrated diversification is a great example, especially in J&K. Second he is keen to take his company to the stock market. Right now, he may not have been able to do it but I respect his aspiration to take his company to the Luxemburg exchange.

Drabu said the state government would do everything possible in facilitating businesses and industry without getting into the business. He appreciated Guptas efforts in working enormously in R S Pora, for which the state government had announced a Basmati village to help processing, branding and marketing. He said the village must offer adequate facilitation; R&D and other basics that will help the sector grow.

Finance Minister said that J&K would have to make a serious effort to get the naturally organic crops declared as formally organic. In my constituency there is a lace called Sangarwani, Drabu said. This belt has never used a fertilizer but still its products are not certified as organic because we have not followed the process.

Drabu made a special mention of the branding of product and said the Serveshwar has done its homework well by knowing why they have named the brand Nimbark. SP Gupta, Chairman of the group detailed the entire tale that is behind the name, which means the sun in the Neem tree.

A senior Sarveshwar official said they are growing most of the products for their store within the state, as few are being grown in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. The company is also working with the farmers in Kashmir on Mushq-e-Budj, the fragrant rice that is being grown in in South and Central Kashmir.

It takes 250 chemical test in a span of three years to get organic certification for a product, the official said. This is because the massive use of fertilizers have made the land hugely poisonous.

The introduction of the fertilizers was started from Punjab, in Bathinda region, after the high yielding hybrid crops were introduced. Its overuse have led to massive cancer crisis in the belt as now a train that goes to Jaipur hospital is named as cancer train. The new research has found that certain birds using huge fertilizer induced grains are unable to create shell for their eggs, the official said. This poison is gradually becoming part of our body and threatening the very existence.

India is gradually emerging as a major organic crops producer even though the market within India is still small at around Rs 4000 crore. Kashmirs walnut and almonds are the major naturally organic fruits but lack adequate certification.

The rest is here:

Drabu throws open J&K's first organic food store - Business ... - Kashmir Observer

Organic food & beverages market is forecast to touch USD 9.49 billion by 2022, owing to upsurge in the number of diseases caused by consumption of conventional food & beverages grown with more chemicals and pesticides, growing awareness resulting into change in consumers' taste and preference and increasing number of specialist organic stores. France organic food & beverages market is highly competitive market with large number of organic food companies.

In 2016, Organic Dairy Products' category accounted for the largest market share in the country's organic food & beverages market, and was closely followed by Organic grocery products including sweet and salty groceries. North West region is the largest regional market for organic food & beverages in France, as it is home to tens of millions of French consumers with high personal disposable income.

French organic food & beverages industry saw strong growth, owing to institutional support from French Government as well as European Union. Moreover, improvements in macro-economic policies, like moderate inflation and low interest rates also boosted consumers' sentiments and organic industry emerged as one of the beneficiary.

This report elaborates the following aspects of organic food & beverages market in the country:

Key Topics Covered:

1. Product Overview

2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary

4. Global Organic Food & Beverages Market Overview

5. France organic Food & Beverages Market Outlook

6. France Organic Dairy Market Outlook

7. France Organic Grocery Market Outlook

8. France Organic Fruits & Vegetable Market Outlook

9. France Organic Bread & Bakery Market Outlook

10. France Organic Meat Market Outlook

11. France Organic Beverages Market Outlook

12. France Other Organic Food Products Market Outlook

13. Supply Chain Analysis

14. France Organic Food & Beverages Market Dynamics

15. France Organic Food & Beverages Market Trends & Developments

16. Policy & Regulatory Landscape

17. France Economic Profile

18. Competitive Landscape

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w5b5fc/france_organic

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager press@researchandmarkets.com

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/france-organic-food--beverages-market-forecast-and-opportunities-2022---research-and-markets-300455390.html

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France Organic Food & Beverages Market Forecast and ... - PR Newswire (press release)

San Francisco-based meditation app Simple Habit has raised $2.5 million in a new round of funding that includes investorsNew Enterprise Associates (NEA), Fabrice Grinda's FJ Labs, Foundation Capital and the founders of Dropbox and Gusto. This is the first round of funding for the company, whose app launched on the iOS App Store in April 2016.

CEO Yunha Kim, who went from being an investment banker to being an entrepreneur and CEO (of lockscreen app Locket, which was acquired by Wish), knows something about work stress. She created Simple Habit, the story goes, to deal with her own stress but saw potential to bring the benefits of meditation to others.

"We aim to help millions of people throughout the world live more mindfully," Kim said in a statement. "This new round of financing will allow us to expand our team in San Francisco."

The app offers more than a thousand guided meditations from famous mindfulness and meditation teachers. Users can also search for meditations aimed at particular symptoms like insomnia, or aimed at particular life situations like a hard day at work. Meditations are as short as five minutes long, and the app encourages users to complete one a day. The latest update enables premium users to download meditations for offline access (during a plane ride, for example), a new search feature, and even an alarm clock feature that can wake the user up with a gentle morning meditation. The app is free, but users can pay for premium access and in-app purchases.

"Simple Habit was crafted from a personal need that applies to all of us," Rick Yang, a partner at NEA, said in a statement. "The benefits of mindfulness and meditation are clear, and Yunha and the team have built a beautiful product and experience that makes it accessible to everybody."

Link:

Simple Habit raises $2.5 million for freemium meditation app - MobiHealthNews

The Question:I experience depression andanxiety. Will meditation really help me?

The Answer:Depression and anxiety can make everyday life very challenging. And research suggests that healthy lifestyle habits like meditation may help with some of its symptoms.

Case in point: A small study published earlier this year in the journal Psychiatry Research. Researchers randomized 70 adult participants with generalized anxiety disorder into two groups. One group received mindfulness-based stress reduction as a technique to cope. The other group, acting as the control, did not receive any sort of meditation training.

The scientists found that participants who learned the mindfulness techniques showed much lower levels of a specific biomarker for stress in the body. This could suggest meditation can not only help how someone feels over time, but also may leave an impression on a cellular level.

This potentially corroborates alarge body of meditation researchthat suggests the practice is a wunderkind for mental health issues.But its important to note that previous research outcomes also had its flaws. Some early studies lacked a control group. Other research potentially fell victim toexpectancy bias, which is when participants expected meditation to work and thus reported feeling better after the experiment.

The recent Psychiatry Research study took all of this into account, which is why it seems promising. To solve for bias, the researchers said the study was simply about stress reduction without mentioning a meditation component.Mindfulness was introduced later on, and only to some of the participants. This is so researchers could separate out meditation as an active component, according to Elizabeth Hoge, the studys lead author and associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University.

shutterstock

It all comes down to your thoughts, according to Hoge. Start by sitting in a quiet room and try to focus on your breath. Thoughts will inevitably pop up but the key is to not push them away or give up.

For example, if you are meditating and start to ruminate on a major work mistake or an unfounded fear, notice whats happening but dont get frustrated. The thoughts wont disappear but you will learn to create distance from them, Hoge said.

Mindfulness meditation is based on the idea of paying attention ones own inner experience, whether thats thoughts or sensations or emotions, she told HuffPost.Anything that passes through the mind is the internal stimuli that youre paying attention to.

Ideally, with enough practice, youll learn to create space between negative thoughts and your reactions.

See them as distinct objects from yourself, Hoge said. As in, My thoughts are not myself. That allows a layer of separation so that the person has a little bit more freedom in how to respond to the thoughts or how to cope with them.

The practice does have some really great mental health perks. But if you truly suffer from anxiety and depression, meditation is likely something you should consider as part of a larger form of treatment like therapy, according toChloe Carmichael, a clinical psychologist based in New York City.

Carmichael, who specializes in treating anxiety and depression, was a yoga instructor before she became a mental health professional. She uses a blend of mindfulness meditation and psychology tools to treat her clients.

When you just sit there and follow your breath, that is a mindfulness meditation. Its one of the early steps of learning how to follow our thoughts, Carmichael said. Once you have mindful awareness of what your thoughts are, youre able to observe them without reacting to them.

Depression has a tendency to make people think theyre worthless and then they tend to ruminate on that negative idea. People who have anxiety are prone to excessive worrying. Meditation can be a tool to help observe those thoughts, but medical support can provide the methods that help replace those thoughts altogether, according to Carmichael.

Thats one of the cornerstones of cognitive behavioral therapy: To analyze someones automatic thoughts, she said. So they work together really well psychology and mindfulness meditation.

Ultimately, implementing mindfulness into anxiety or depression treatment can have a very positive impact, according toSharon Salzburg, a meditation teacher and author ofReal Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28 Day Program.

You try different things to relieve suffering, she said. You can celebrate whatever method, or combo of methods, [that] help.

Just a little something to meditate on.

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Does Meditation Really Help With Depression And Anxiety? - HuffPost

When touting the health benefits of meditation, experts and practitioners often speak about experiencing a mind-body connection. But up until recently, the concept that a persons physical and mental functions become synchronized thanks to deep, controlled breathing and a lot of discipline has been difficult to prove. Some people are perfectly fine accepting what spiritual gurus say about enlightenment, but its certainly not enough for scientists who tend to want well-designed studies that objectively demonstrate unconfirmed claims.

Thankfully, a group of researchers say theyve developed a method for measuring the physiological phenomena associated with mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Researchers from the University of Hong Kongs Centre for Buddhist Studies and their department of electrical and electronic engineering have come up with what they say is a consistent and accurate way to prove the real-time physiological effects of spiritual practice, namely how a persons heart and brain activity synchronize.

We talk about whether your body and mind are in harmony but there is no systematic way of measuring this, says the Venerable Sik Hin Hung, director of the Centre for Buddhist studies and lead researcher on the paper. We now can say with some kind of certainty that when youre practicing MBSR your heart and your mind become more synchronized and thats very good for you.

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A woman meditates at sunset on Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California. A team of researchers say they've figured out a way to scientifically track the mind-body connection. Lucy Nicholson/REUTERS

The paper was published Wednesday in JoVE Video Journal, a one-of-its kind scientific journal focused on study methodology. Founded in 2006, the main purpose of thispeer-reviewedjournal is to address the issue of reproducibility in biomedical science. Hung says the methodology developed and used by him and his team is complicated, which is why they published with JoVE , since the journal produces how-to videos for all of the studies. (In 2016, Hung and his team published another separate study in in Neuroscience Letters explaining the results of their research.)

When you find out something you want to be acknowledged that youre the first guy to able to find a way to do it, he says. Hung says he hopes the paper will help guide other researchers to replicate the process in their own scientific investigations of mindfulness and various forms of meditation such as the physiological effects of mantra chanting, yoga, tai chi and prayer. The test could also be used to track a persons progress when just starting a meditation practice.

For the study, Hungs team recruited a group of 11 graduate students enrolled in an 8-week university-led MBSR course, which means they were meditation novices rather than masters. The researchers connected study participants to electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG), and collected data while they werepracticing MBSR as well as when they were breathing normally. EEG is used in clinical settings to evaluate patients with conditions such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimers disease and sleep disorders. ECG (also known as EKG) measures the electric activity of the heart. Both of these tests evaluate wavelet entropy, which is essentially chaotic or erratic activity. After evaluating the activity of both brain and heart, the researchers converted, summarized and compared the data and then used a statistical method to analyze their findings.

By measuring the things that are chaotic you more or less have a reflection of things that are in harmony, he says. Hungs assertion probably seems like a Zen-influenced commentary on, say, figuring out the meaning of life but its actually based in some reasonable scientific truth.

To be sure, theres already a growing body of scientific research on mindfulness. But existing researchnamely looks at the long-term effects of MBSR on the brain. Most of these studies rely on participant questionnaires that evaluate perceived changes in mood and stress level, as well asbrain scans that seek to identify any physicialbrain changes. What researchers have found is that a regular mindfulness practice causes structural changes to the brain. One study out of Harvard Medical School published in 2011, found a 2-month mindfulness program increased grey matter brain density. Grey matter is involved in sensory processing, as well as speech, executive function,self-control and emotions. But Hung's research is science's first effortto look at MBSR impact in realtime, he says.

Humans (and all mammals, for that matter) have two different nervous systems: The sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is in charge of your fight and flight instinct, while the parasympathetic governs breathing, feeding, digestion and sexual function. In a perfect world, these would operate at the same momentum. However, modern life taxes the mind and therefore also the body.

The sympathetic nervous system controls the release of the hormone epinephrine (also known as adrenaline). The release of adrenaline into the bloodstream causes a number of physiological effects including a quickening of the heart. Other changes that occur, such as an increase in blood pressure. Chronic stress therefore impacts the parasympathetic nervous system by provokingphysiological changes that causethe body to operate less efficiently.

In our daily life when we become stressed the sympathetic nervous system kicks into action and suppresses the parasympathetic nervous, says Hung. Through this research we found out the practice of MBSR was able to synchronize these two systems, which is a good thing.

Read more:

Mind-Body Connection During Meditation Can Now be Tracked, Thanks to Science - Newsweek

A guest post by Pierce Salguero

I am not a scholar of Buddhist meditation. My own research has only touched on meditation insofar as it was claimed to have therapeutic benefits in a handful of texts in premodern Asia. But, as a long-time on-again/off-again practitioner myself, I have been following the rise of meditation in American popular consciousness over the past 15 years with interest. More recently, I have also begun following the critiques of meditation that have circulated in scholarly and practitioner communities, which some observers have begun to characterize as a backlash. This post is a roundup of such critiques.

I do not claim that the list below is comprehensive, that the examples Ive chosen are particularly influential, or that my insights are particularly original. Other people have rounded up critiques of meditation before me, including in this great (though absurdly expensive) book that goes into great depth. This post is simply my way of making sense of the critical perspectives that most interest me, from my own personal vantage point as a scholar and practitioner.

Some of the most salient critiques of contemporary meditation (and of mindfulness meditation in particular) have come from within the Buddhist fold. There are multiple specific objections that belong to this category, including (but not limited to):

This latter point, which is the least commonly articulated of the three, at least in English-language popular media, is the one that connects best with my research. I have found little evidence of mass interest in meditation in my readings of historical Buddhist texts on health and wellbeing. And, from what I can tell from my formal and informal ethnographic studies in contemporary East Asia, Thailand, and Asian-American Buddhist temples in the US, it is not the dominant feature of contemporary Buddhist practice either. In fact, I think its now uncontroversial to acknowledge that before widespread lay involvement in meditation began in 19th-century Burma as a product of colonial-era reforms and sensibilities, and still today in most parts of the world, very few lay Buddhists have ever meditated.

Another widely accepted critique of meditation is that the therapeutic claims made about its efficacy have been wildly exaggerated. Serious studies of meditation (e.g., Goyal et al., 2014) and of MBSR in particular (e.g., de Vibe et al. 2012) have tended to be rather cautious in reporting the benefits of these practices. This contrasts markedly with the piles of URLs from the popular media filled with breathless hyperbole hyping mindfulness as a cure for this or that ailmentor even as a super-power.

Or at least, that was the state of things a year or two ago. Somewhere in late 2015 or early 2016, the tides seem to have begun turning, and critiquing mindfulness itself has now become mainstream. Questioning the overblown claims about meditation is now the favorite passtime of the very same popular media outlets that previously had been peddling the myth of mindfulness-as-panacea (e.g., Psychology Today, Inc. magazine, Newser, etc.). It seems that perhaps the stress-busting juggernaut has begun moving on to greener pastures. (Whats next, you ask? Ive got my money on drumming for stress relief.)

(image via Pixabay)

This critique has been around for quite some time, but has recently gained more traction. The idea, in a nutshell, is that meditation rhetoric places the onus on the individual to manage their own stress. Attention is thus moved away from addressing structural problems that cause the stress in the first place (for example, exploitative corporate labor practices, hostile work environments, economic precarity, etc.). And, of course, the individual is encouraged to pay for products, apps, and workshops to learn to destress, which further benefits corporate interests at our expense.

I believe the first person to suggest that meditation is a tool for the production of acquiescent capitalist subjects was Slavoj iek in his article, From Western Marxism to Western Buddhism, 16 years ago. Ron Purser & David R. Loys 2013 article popularized the label McMindfulness for the phenomenon of corporatized mindfulness, and was helpful in pushing this critique into the mainstream. Outside of mainstream media, this line of argumentation has continued to be developed in increasingly sophisticated ways by Marxists and critical theorists, among whom Tom Pepper and others at the Speculative Non-Buddhism website have been the most vocal (and, at times, bombastic). Although these blogs (and especially their comment sections) are sometimes difficult to wade through, they collectively articulate a sharp and trenchant criticism of 21st-century meditation that I think should be required reading for any serious practitioner today.

Another objection that has been circulating widely of late might be summarized as the whiteness of meditation critique. Several people, including myself, wrote about this when TIME magazines infamous 2014 magazine cover was released. White-washing certainly is not limited to popular representations of meditation: a number of pointed articles have appeared in the past year or so highlighting the systematic erasure of Asian Americans and other Buddhists of color by the mainstream media. These outlets tend to hold up Caucasian practitioners as the mainstream face of American Buddhism, while fetishizing Asian teachers and culture (iek again), and overlooking Asian Americans and other non-white Americans entirely. Some highlights of this particular genre include articles by Wakoh Shannon Hickey, Chenxing Han, Funie Hsu, Ajahn Amaro, and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

The final type of critique I will raise here is one that the critic of modern Buddhism Glenn Wallis has called the principle of sufficient Buddhism (see his Speculative Non-Buddhism website), and which has also come up in different guises in other places as well (e.g., Dharma Overground and the Imperfect Buddha podcast). Applied to meditation, this critique might take the following form:

Buddhist doctrine and mindfulness hype both tell us that by doing meditation, we gain greater insight into reality as it is, but what if those changes in perception are just the product of changes in the mind or the brain that are in themselves inherently meaningless? Even if we stipulate that meditation reliably leads to changes in our perceptions of the world, how do we know that these perceptions are more true or more accurate than those we had before? Or, worse, what if meditation functions like some form of self-hypnosis that results in a further distorted view of reality. How would a committed skeptic be able to tell the difference?

Walliss point, as I understand it, is that Buddhism cant answer these questions without making circular arguments that rest on Buddhist doctrine.

At the end of the day, many of us (myself included) intuitively feel that meditation practice has beneficial effects on our lives. But, how to speak of these benefits in light of the above critiques? Filtering our responses to the question Why meditate? through these critiques seems to eliminate all of the most popular reasons to meditate. Saying meditation helps me to relive the stress in my life becomes inadmissible in light of the capitalist subject critique; it is the very heart of the Buddhas teachings becomes inadmissible in light of the historical critique; it helps me to experience the present moment as-it-is becomes inadmissible in light of the sufficiency critique; and so forth.

So, from this perspective, what is left to recommend the practice of meditation? If we extend Walliss sufficiency critique further, I think it also prevents us from boiling meditation down to any other single explanatory paradigm (appealing to the sufficiency of neurological states, for example, or of the placebo effect). In my view, the only answers that seem to remain relevant are personal, experiential, modest, even mundane.

Is it enough that meditation merely helps me to fall asleep, or that it makes unpleasant physical experiences a bit more tolerable, or that it makes me a little more patient with my kids? Or do we need more? What do you think: can you articulate why you meditate without falling into one of the traps outlined above?

Pierce Salguero is an interdisciplinary humanities scholar interested in the role of Buddhism in the crosscultural exchange of medical ideas. He has a PhD in the History of Medicine from Johns HopkinsSchool of Medicine, and is Assistant Professor of Asian History and Religious Studies at Penn State Universitys Abington College, in the Philadelphia area. He is the author of Translating Buddhist Medicine in Medieval China (UPenn Press, 2014) and Traditional Thai Medicine (White Lotus Press, 2016) and the editor of Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources(Columbia U Press 2017). See http://www.piercesalguero.com.

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A Roundup of Critical Perspectives on Meditation - Patheos (blog)

WALTHAM, MA- Dhanashree Ramachandran is taking meditation to the masses. The founder and CEO of meditation startup Nous Labs, she and her team are bringing together meditation and UX technology to instill a lasting habit of meditation to a persons busy lifestyle. Their goal is to break down the process of preparation for an immersive meditation experience for their users through their app to establish a life-long meditative practice.

Ramachandran is also the Director of Community Advancement and Public Relations for the Art of Living Massachusetts, the Boston-based branch of the Art of Living Foundation. The Art of Living Foundation is an international NGO founded in 1985 by spiritual teacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. The foundation has active initiatives in over 156 countries, with programs for meditation, stress management and disaster relief.

INDIA New England News: Please tell our readers about your work and what you enjoy most about it?

Dhanashree Ramachandran: I teach meditation because it is gratifying to witness the transformation it brings, and the impact it makes, on practitioners. I believe meditation is the answer to many big and small problems that we face today- individually and socially. Meditation offers alignment on all levels you can think of- mind and body, purpose and action, problem and solution, desire and outcome, resources and results etc.

I have seen this working every single time with equal efficiency may it be the Department of Family and Health, the World Bank, schools, universities or weekend sessions. I have been very fortunate to receive foundation of spiritual knowledge and practice of meditation at a young age. The way everything in life is so aligned with the mission of taking meditation to the masses makes me think of my life as a spiritual fairytale.

Dhanashree Ramachandran (Photo: Bimal Nepal)

I am formally trained as a user experience designer and have worked as a consultant for some of the game changers and trendsetters like Bose, State Street and TIAA. In 2016, I decided to bring together the best practices from both the areas- meditation and user experience design to solve most common problems that keep potential meditation practitioners from meditating- lack of time and lack of knowledge of preparation for effective meditation.

As a founder and CEO of Nous Lab, I work with an extremely talented team to design meditative experiences that will help our users establish a meditative lifestyle without making big commitments or changes to their current lifestyle. What I love most about my work is that along with meditation and UX, I get to explore my third passion, progressive storytelling, like in theater. Many of the experiences that we are producing fancy a touch of theater. We want to make meditation an integral part of the world that we live in through experiences wrapped in finest entertainment elements and full of transformative interactions.

INE: To which charitable, community and professional group do you belong and why?

DR: Meditation has the power to bring the world together and Art of Living Foundation has executed that as a mission with active initiatives in over 156 countries for over 37 years. Its been a privilege to be a part of the largest volunteer-run non-profit organization for the past 11 years.

As an Art of Living instructor, I have led several programs for youths and adults in the US and India. As the director of Community Advancement and PR, Massachusetts, I am responsible for identifying opportunities for collaborations and establishing relationships with local organizations and communities to enable a healthy and violence-free society.

Last year Boston hosted the largest meditation seminar with 1,103 participants who learnt Sudarshan Kriya and practiced meditation for peace. We are also one of the largest providers of trauma-relief support for refugees, disaster survivors and veterans in Massachusetts. With perseverance, our volunteers have managed to take stress management programs to schools in inner city and underprivileged neighborhoods.

I recently joined Global Indians for Bharat Vikas, an international non-profit with a mission to bring multi-level transformational development in India. As Chief Coordinator, Massachusetts, I am responsible for fundraising, membership drive and PR. Currently I am also leading the effort to design a web portal to connect volunteers from around the world.

I love theater, and have been associated with theater and acting since I was very young. Boston has a very active and vibrant theater community with dedicated theater groups like Stage Ensemble Theater Unit (SETU). I have worn many hats in the past six years with SETU, including acting in four major productions. I saw a need and opportunity for an educational platform for theater enthusiasts and Caf@SETU was born in 2016. Caf@SETU is an educational arm of SETU that is dedicated to bring educational aspects of theater to everyone who wants to learn.

INE: What are your hobbies and interests?

DR: My hobbies are writing, cooking, acting and panting.

INE: In what way do you feel you have positively influenced or served the local community and your company/organization and professional field?

DR: Meditation brings happiness, peace of mind and stability in life. It empowers you from within. Such empowered individuals become messengers of peace and catalysts of positive transformation. I have dedicated my life to bringing meditation to as many people as possible.

INE: Your rare talent?

DR: [The] ability to see and execute big visions.

INE: Your favorite books?

DR: Celebrating Silence by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Dnyaneshwari a book by Saint Dnyaneshwar in Marathi, Bhagvadgita, Works of Aristotle, Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.

INE: Your favorite quotes?

DR: Presence is knowledge. ~ Sri Sri. This quote continues to inspire to stay committed to adapting wisdom into action so it becomes the action. I have found this to be the secret behind success in teaching.

On the same lines, I find this quote by Aristotle very inspiring- Quality is not an act. Its a habit.

INE: Who inspires you the most?

DR: I am more inspired by ideas than people. I have been much fortunate to be born in a family of influencers who have implemented many inspiring ideas. I am also inspired by Sri Sris vision of one world family. It amazes me how millions of people come together in knowledge to celebrate life and happiness. In the world fragmented by limited ideas of religion, boundaries, language and color, Sri Sri manages to continue spreading the message of love and togetherness. To me, its nothing less than a wonder.

INE: The one person you would like to meet and why?

DR: I have been a big fan of Aristotles writings and thoughts. I celebrate his birthday every year. I often wonder how it would be to meet Aristotle outside books.

INE: What are the core values that you try to live by?

DR: It has to be friendliness. I think friendship is one such relationship that promises everlasting trust, love and support. Friendliness empowers you to be truthful and open without fear of judgment. It provides perfect setting for creativity to thrive to manifest all big and small ideas into reality.

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Dhanashree Ramachandran: On a Mission to Teach and Spread Meditation to Masses - India New England