"The Museum Workout" is a lively workout at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, staged amid some of the worlds masterpieces. (Feb. 17)

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APs commitment to independent, comprehensive journalism has deep roots. Founded in 1846, AP has covered all the major news events of the past 165 years, providing high-quality, informed reporting of everything from wars and elections to championship games and royal weddings. AP is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information.

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Fine Art Meets Sweaty Aerobics - Olean Times Herald

"The Museum Workout" is a lively workout at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, staged amid some of the worlds masterpieces. (Feb. 17)

The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats.

APs commitment to independent, comprehensive journalism has deep roots. Founded in 1846, AP has covered all the major news events of the past 165 years, providing high-quality, informed reporting of everything from wars and elections to championship games and royal weddings. AP is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information.

Today, AP employs the latest technology to collect and distribute content - we have daily uploads covering the latest and breaking news in the world of politics, sport and entertainment. Join us in a conversation about world events, the newsgathering process or whatever aspect of the news universe you find interesting or important. Subscribe: http://smarturl.it/AssociatedPress

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Fine Art Meets Sweaty Aerobics | | salamancapress.com - Salamanca Press

New Wizard Oil Combination, Men's A Cappella Singers will be the next group featured in the Estes Park Music Festival. (Courtesy photo)

New Wizard Oil Combination, Men's A Cappella Singers will be the next group featured in the Estes Park Music Festival. The concert will take place at the Stanley Hotel Concert Hall on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. There is a $10 admission price, but children and students can attend for free.

What's it all about? It's about timeless music sung with soulful voices, and contagious rhythms. The "Wizards" have a unique vocal jazz and rock style that is many things harmonious, powerful, funny and emotional all wrapped up into an entertaining afternoon of music. Their spontaneous nature, entertaining personalities, and evolving musical style makes each performance different, which is why audiences never tire of them.

When the Wizards aren't singing, they are providing a strong presence in their communities as teachers, engineers, businessmen and music directors. Two even sang in the famed Yale University "Whiffenpoofs. This rare and entertaining 15-man a cappella group is well known around the Denver-Boulder area where it has been performing to enthusiastic audiences for over 40 years. If you are looking for a musically diverse, talented and entertaining afternoon, join us at the Stanley on February 26. (text by Morgan Welty).

March 5: The Acclaimed International Piano Trio of Julia Kruger, United States, Victor Bunin, Russia, joined by Natalia Burmeister- Tchaikovsky, Russia, a descendent of Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Music Festival attendees will receive a 20-percent discount for brunch or dinner on the day of the concert, courtesy of the Stanley Hotel Cascade Restaurant. Additional parking is available next to the Concert Hall and behind the Stanley Hotel.

Every concert series needs an excellent venue and the beautiful Stanley Hotel is the perfect mountain setting for an hour of wonderfully relaxing Sunday afternoon entertainment.

For further information, contact the Music Festival business office at 970-586-9519 or visit its website at estesparkmusicfestival.org. To receive weekly updates of our concerts and upcoming events, send an email to estesparkmusicfestival@gmail.com.

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New Wizard Oil Combination play music festival - Estes Park Trail-Gazette

Sound healing is based on the idea that pure, deconstructed sound can rebalance the body's energy.

Music is known to be a universal language, but it does more than communicate across cultural lines. It speaks to our hearts and souls, helping us to feel comforted, relaxed, motivated, and excited. Music can arouse old memories and, when broken down into a simpler form, it can be used to heal.

The concept of sound healing is not well known in our society today, but according to Britains College of Sound Healing, it dates back to ancient civilizations in China, Egypt, Greece, and India. Sound therapists deconstruct music into pure sound, and use these sounds to reattune the energy frequencies within the human body that naturally go out of balance over time.

If youre raising an eyebrow at this point, stay with me for a moment. There is some evidence to suggest sound healing is effective. A thesis published by Shelley Snow of Concordia University explored the vocal sound healing method and found:

Effects such as the release of emotions and trauma, a change from negative to more positive thought patterns, the elimination of physical pain, relaxing, calming effects and receiving deeper perceptions of life situations, are among the experiences described by participants.

The Guardian cites a study conducted by the British Academy of Sound Therapy hardly biased research, of course that measured the effects of sound on the autonomous nervous system:

Each client demonstrated an overall decrease in arousal of the ANS compared to the control group, who were lying down relaxing. This study suggests that sound therapy has a deeply calming effect on stressed-out clients.

Sound therapy is currently used by the National Health Service in Britain to help people with disabilities, dementia, and anxiety.

Alex McGuire -- The sound healing workshop at Lush Summit

Without having any knowledge or prior opinion on the efficacy of sound therapy, I had my first-ever encounter with it last week at the Lush Summit in London. Amid the chaos of thousands of people milling around, I came across a quiet space with yoga mats, pillows, blankets, and an array of shiny bronze Himalayan singing bowls in the center. The organizer, Anetta Panczel, invited me in for a twenty-minute session. Curious, I accepted the invitation.

Panczel told me to lie on my back. She covered me with blankets and placed a medium-sized singing bowl on my belly. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly and deeply, as if entering a meditation. After signaling the start with a gong, she and an assistant walked around the circle, tapping the bowls on participants stomachs. It was heavy and I could feel it resonate throughout my body, lasting for nearly the amount of time it took for Panczel to return and do it again. It was a grounding sensation, as if I were being pushed into the earth by this heavy vibrating object.

Next came a variety of other sound-makers. Most relaxing was a large drum that seemed to be filled with dry beans; this she waved over my body for a wonderful, long time. There were rain sticks, tuning forks, and more singing bowls, followed by a period of silence. When Panczel finally removed the bowl from my belly, my entire body felt like it was going to levitate. A floating, tingling sensation overcame me.

Alex McGuire -- Katherine from TreeHugger & Courtney Napper of Lush listen to Panczel's explanation of how the therapy works.

In the question period afterword, she explained that the vibrations would continue to work their way through my body for several days. I dont know if thats true, and because I was traveling and off my usual schedule, it was difficult for me to perceive physical differences; but I do know that I felt gloriously relaxed, yet energized, for the rest of the day.

Like meditation, sound therapy may not have the immediate measurable benefits that weve come to expect in a world obsessed with instant gratification, but that doesnt mean its not valuable. The more time we can take to ourselves, away from noise and busyness, the better off well all be.

TreeHugger was a guest of Lush at the Lush Summit in February 2017. There was no obligation to write about this workshop or any other event at the summit.

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My foray into the mysterious world of sound healing - Treehugger

Organic food lovers, rejoice: it's Biofach week again. Biofach, the world's leading trade fair for organic products, is held annually in Nuremberg, Germany, a town in Franconia that was once the capital of the medieval "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation."

From the time of the empire's founding by Charlemagne in the year 800 until its final dissolution by Napoleon in 1806, and fora century after that, the people of the empire - from prince to pauper - rigorously adhered to a diet composed entirely of organic food, nearly all of it produced at most a few miles from the point of consumption, with a minimal CO2-emissions footprint.

Nowadays, even the most conscientious participant incommunity-supported agriculture or the mostpatchouli-soaked, Birkenstock-wearing neo-hippie would have great difficulty meeting the standard of food localism and environmental correctitude that prevailed during Nuremberg's imperial glory years.

Back to the future?

Today, about 95 percent of the food sold in Germany - as measured by retail sales value - isn't organic. That's despite the fact that total organic food salesin Germany havebeen growing steadily for years. Sales growth has reached an impressive 10percent per annum over the last couple of years.

But most food continues to beproducedwith the help ofa variety of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. The consequences, according to organic farmers and many environmental scientists, include depleted soils, reduced biodiversity, polluted waters, and inhumane treatment of farm animals.

These ducklings will live on a free-range organic farm

Princely prices prevent paupers partaking

Toda,y the princes of Europe often eat organic food, and the paupers generally don't. That's because organic food - called "bio"in Germany - is more expensive than food produced using lower-cost "conventional"farming systems.

"Bio"products typically cost anywhere from 15 to 100 percent more than non-organic, according to Alexander Beck, an organic farmer whoheads upGermany's Association of Organic Food Processors.

Lifestyle, cultural and educational background help determine whether or not people buy organic food; price isn't the only factor. But it isthe dominant factor, and one that is not likely to change, according to some industry insiders at Biofach.

Organic food is unlikely to break out of the5-per-cent niche product category, to achieve a market share of 25 percent or more, unless "bio"becomescheaper than conventional food, according toKatharina Reuter, managing director of UnternehmensGrn e.V., a national association of green businesses in Germany.

"Pesticide bananas have to be more expensive than bio-bananas," she told DW. "That's the long and short of it."

In Reuter's view, conventionalfood has become absurdly cheap -but only because its prices don't take environmental or health costs into account: "If true cost accounting were applied, conventionally produced food would be more expensive than organic food."

Organic farmer Beck saidthat what's needed is changes in prices of farming inputs, in line with "true cost accounting."Among other things, thiswill mean putting a price on pollution and making sure polluters - rather than society - pay that price.

Organic farming is a worldwide trend - Delowar Jahan in Bangladesh encourages fellow farmers to take it up organic

Pricing inputs right

Beck pointed to the water quality issues associated with Germany's vast pork production industry, which he said produce about 30 percent more pork than the country can consume - "and from a health perspective, people eat far too much meat anyway," he added.

Too many pigs concentrated in feedlots generateconcentrated wastewhich pollutes surface waters, with rains washing the pollution into streams and lakes. A price per tonand hectare could create incentives to avoid this.

Similarly, a price per tonof fertiliser could incentivize farmers to avoid over-application of fertiliser, which also pollutes waters as well as harming soil ecosystems.

"However, for some things, like ensuring humane treatment of farm animals, financial incentives aren't really workable, and we need straightforward regulations," Beck said.

The organic framework in Europe takes into account soil health, animal welfare, and safeguarding biodiversity

Reforming subsidy systems

As things currently stand, Beck and Reuter explained, explicit funds through the European budget subsidize conventional agriculture by paying farmers a flat amount per hectare of farmland. The European Union's enormous agricultural subsidy budget should be reallocated to pay farmers for improved farming practices instead, they think.

Another possible source of subsidies for organic farming could be raised by applying a flat surcharge, or "environmental user fee"of a few percent of the retail price on all conventionally produced food, with the proceeds collected into an organic farming fund used to help conventional farmers to shift their operations to organic methods.

Beck and Reuter both said that if the right combination of regulatory reforms and financial incentiveswere put in place, farmers would naturally shift to organic farming, because when costs are no longer externalized,overall itcostsmore to produce food conventionallythan by organic farming methods.

Lobbyists in the meat industry don't want non-meat sausages, like the organic, vegan ones pictured here, to be called "sausage"

Lobby power

But even though organic food and animal welfare lobbyists have tried for years to promotefinancial incentives and regulations for organics, progress has been limited.

That's because the huge majority of farmers remain invested in existing non-organicfarming systems, whose lobbies have effectively opposed most proposed changes, Beck said.

Moreover, conventional farmers are afraid that if Germany toughened regulations, for example to require chicken and pig farmers to create more humane conditions for their animals, they'd be at a competitive disadvantage compared to producers in other countries.

That problem could be solved with import restrictions -but any restrictions would conflict with freetrade agreements. These, in turn, are based on anassumption thatunhampered free trade is an inherently good thing.

Although this idea is shared by most European economists and policy-makers,it'scontroversial in other quarters, especially withregardto food supplies.

A different labeling system could help too, according to Reuter.

"Really, in future we want to see a situation in which organic food is normal and unlabeled, whereas food produced with synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, or with inhumane methods, would be labeled."

"'Conventional' bananas would be labeled 'pesticide bananas,' and organic bananas would just be ... bananas."

Continue reading here:

Growing the organic food market - Deutsche Welle

Dive Brief:

A recent TechSci Research report revealed that the global organic food market is projected to grow at a CAGRof more than 14% from 2016 to 2021. In order for supply to keep up with this demand, however, more farmers will need to get on board the organic train.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture teamed up with the Organic Trade Association to start a program that certifies produce grown on farmland that's in the process of switching to organic, making it easier for farmers to make the switch.

Going organic provides some pretty obvious benefits to manufacturers, too. People interested in these products, as well as those that are non-GMO,are more inclined to pay higher prices for food.

The current challenge for manufacturers is that organic ingredients are more expensive and not as readily available as non-organic produce. This raises prices, which could discourage consumers who are on the fence about buying organic It could also hurt a brand's reputation if it finds itself with too low a supply of a particular organic product.

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Demand for organic non-GMO grains outpaces production | Food Dive - Food Dive

Described as "the new yoga"in many a headline and recently declared "a billion-dollar business"by Fortune magazine, the practice of meditation has come a long way from its ancient beginnings. Dozens of celebrities, from Ellen DeGeneres to Paul McCartney, have touted its powerful effects on their lives, and more and more companies are providing mindfulness programs for their employees. This probably isn't what the Buddha had in mind, yet the fact remains: Meditation is so hot right now.

But before you dismiss it as another overhyped trend akin to so many fad diets and workout regimens, let's take a moment to acknowledge that, unlike juice cleanses or CrossFit, meditation has been around for thousands of years. Perhaps more salient to the skeptics among us, though, is this: Recent studies have shown that practicing mindfulness can actually be enormously beneficial to your physical health. Here's the scoop...

Simply put, meditation is the practice of "just being." While that may sound like a fancy paraphrase of sitting on one's ass doing nothing, meditation can be more challenging than it seems. Luckily, filmmaker-slash-creator of nightmares, David Lynch, breaks it down for us.

According to the David Lynch Foundation, there are three basic approaches to meditation:

But why bother with any of these? Science says...

According to the National Institutes of Health, research suggests that meditation can physically change the brain in positive ways. These include increasing the brain's ability to process information, and slowing, stalling, or even reversing changes in the brain that result from aging.

When you experience stress, your body releases adrenaline, which causes your heart rate and blood pressure to rise -- a once-helpful survival tool passed down from our ancestors. These days, though we're no longer being chased by bears, just a glance at our social media feeds can get our hearts a pumpin'. Meditation counteracts this fight-or-flight response by slowing your heart rate and lowering blood pressure, which can in turn reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Studies show that a mindfulness practice can minimize the stress response in people with generalized anxiety disorder, and meditation retreats in particular have been found to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress in participants.

With opioid dependence, abuse, and addiction rising at terrifying rates, drug-free pain management techniques are more necessary than ever. Luckily, mindfulness meditation has been shown to help patients with chronic pain, and can be beneficial when used alone or in combination with pain medication.

Meditating at home is popular for good reason: It's comfortable, convenient, and free. But if you'd prefer a group experience, or something a bit less conventional, there are plenty of options out there. You could attend a silent meditation retreat, try a sensory deprivation tank, or even explore orgasmic meditation (yup, that's a thing).

Don't worry; there's an app for that.

Sign up here for our daily Thrillist email, and get your fix of the best in food/drink/fun.

Katie McDonough is a freelance writer and editor who knows meditation would probably fix many of her problems, but wheres the fun in that? Follow her@thewritekatie.

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Is Meditation Medically Good for You? The Science Behind Mindfulness. - Thrillist

We don't know about you, but we've been finding it increasingly difficult to keep calm these days. Since we've already looked to the Quakers for tips on staying chill, now we're turning to labyrinth spirituality, a form of meditation and prayer that you may have never heard of that could completely change how you deal with stress.

Labyrinths which aren't mazes but usually symmetrical circuits made of concentric circles have been around for a really, really long time. They've been found outside of ancient Egyptian gravesites, as massive stone structures in Scandinavia, and in Roman mosaics. Their purposes range just as widely as their countries of origin labyrinths have been used for Pagan rituals, templates for basket design, and even horseback riding training.

It was only in the Middle Ages that labyrinths took on distinctly spiritual purposes in Christianity. Western Europeans who couldn't make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem embedded labyrinthine paths in their cathedrals, so that they still could walk a sacred path of some kind.

Since then, labyrinths have become pretty non-denominational. You can still find them in churches, but they're now also part of some schools' wellness programs, and they're even available to rent from traveling companies, too. Rather than performing a fertility rite or a symbolic pilgrimage to the Holy Land, people now walk labyrinths to get in touch with themselves and it's a great alternative to regular meditation if you just can't sit still. A normal labyrinth meditation consists of walking to the center of the circuit (also known as the rosette), pausing there in silence, and then leaving the way you came. Your inner work should mirror your physical journey:

Start by looking inward and letting the world beyond the path ahead of you fall away. When you reach the rosette, stop and decide if there's anything you'd like to let in, maybe a spiritual force or something more specific to your personal life whatever you're reflecting upon, take as much time as you need. When you leave, do so with a newfound sense of power and purpose, so that by the time you're outside of the labyrinth, you feel refreshed and ready to resume your everyday life.

Labyrinths are an incredibly versatile spiritual tool they aren't problem-solvers, but they provide people with a template for meditation and prayer they might not have thought of otherwise. Research has found that labyrinth walking can be helpful as part of couples and family therapy, for stress management, and to aid with recovery from trauma. They're often used to help young people explore their spiritual needs, but labyrinths can serve that purpose for anyone, regardless of age.

If you're still on the fence, find one near you and take a stroll for yourself. You just might leave feeling recharged and focused and, if nothing else, you'll have gotten a little peace and quiet, which is about as chill as it gets.

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This Might Be The Chillest Way To Meditate - Refinery29

Meditation is often associated with spirituality, being an important aspect of spiritual traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. But meditation has also grown in popularity among a more diverse range of people, spreading from a largely spiritual practice into fairly widespread use in the secular world.

The secular benefits of meditation on the body and mind have been widely documented in science, and plenty of people are taking up meditation as a hobby for health or enjoyment nowadays rather than any kind of religious practice. Some of the benefits of meditation include stress reduction, a stronger immune system, better mood, and improvements in memory. Meditation has also been shown to increase willpower to help people meet their goals.

Don't get me wrong, you shouldn't consider meditation to be a magic bullet that will magically solve all of your problems. But with all of these benefits, it is definitely worth giving a try.

Much like exercise, which trains the body, the training of the mind through meditation is most effective when done regularly. The hardest part of doing this is establishing it as a regular habit. So what are some good ways to get into the habit of meditating?

The first thing you need in order to get into the habit of meditating is obviously to know how to meditate. While some readers may already know how, let's cover this for those who may not.

There are numerous ways to meditate, Buddhism alone has about 40 different techniques described in the Visuddhimagga. Don't let that number frighten you though, a lot of these techniques aren't practical nowadays, for example some involve encouraging worldly detachment by focusing on some kind of rotten object such as a skeleton.

There are just a handful of popular practical meditation techniques so don't sweat the number of different ways to meditate. Not only that, most meditation organizations will provide instructions on how to do their meditation technique online for free, so finding a good practical technique doesn't take much effort. You can even learn to meditate from watching a TED Talk.

Probably one of the more popular meditation techniques is breathing meditation, or mindfulness of the breath. Other common techniques include loving-kindness meditation and walking meditation. There are also some more specific techniques such as the recently popular Vipassana meditation and the famous Chakra Meditation.

My personal favorite is a meditation technique called Dhammakaya, which is closely related to breathing meditation. The focus is on 7 points within the body largely along the path of the breath, its main point of focus however is a point in the center of the stomach just above the navel called the "7th base of the mind". You can also find this point by taking a deep breathe and finding the point where you feel your breathe end. One reason I like this method of meditation is that it's easy to do when you're doing other tasks besides sitting still. All you have to do is gently place your mind at the 7th base while carrying on normal activities. This technique of course, is my own personal preference and you are free to try any technique you feel most comfortable with. If you are curious about it however, you can find instructions here.

A good tip to keep in mind is that experiences change with circumstances. For instance, while Dhammakaya meditation is my preferred, I have had sessions where I get a better experience using breathing meditation instead. Another nice meditation tip is keeping a meditation journal to write down your experiences. It's a great way to track your progress and make use of any tips that might come in handy later. You should note that each time you meditate, you shouldn't hold on to expectations based on past experiences or ambition. The key is not to force, but to allow your mind to be peaceful and joyous.

A prominent meditation master was once asked, "How many times a day do you meditate?"

This was his answer:

"I meditate twice a day. Only twice. I meditate when my eyes are open. And I meditate when my eyes are closed."

This is, to say the least, probably the ultimate goal one would like to reach in getting into the habit of meditating. Since you can be present and aware at any time, meditating all the time is indeed possible, but starters should probably begin with smaller goals at first.

Much like the exercise schedules of the modern era, a good way to develop a meditation schedule is to ease your way into it with increasing increments. If you are starting from no meditation at all, you can start with maybe 10 minutes of sitting meditation a day and then increase by increments of 5 minutes or so every week. Once you reach a solid amount of daily sitting meditation, an hour or so would be a good benchmark, you will likely notice some positive feelings not just during meditation, but before and after also.

From there you can focus on incorporating meditation into your daily life. The most efficient way to maximize benefits from meditation is to not just focus on sitting meditation, but to do walking meditation and other forms of meditation while doing other activities also. Whether it is staying aware, repeating a mantra, or gently keeping your mind at the 7th base at all times; there are plenty of ways to integrate meditation with your daily tasks. Meditating with your eyes open is not much more difficult than meditating with your eyes closed.

The best way to get into the habit of meditating is to make it a habit to meditate following your routine tasks. Meditating right after work or class for example is a great way to develop your meditation routine and ensure you never neglect the practice. Another good one is meditating right before you go to sleep or right after you wake up. Meditation has been known to help with sleep, and the mind tends to be very quiet right after waking up.

Another advantage of meditating before and after bed is that humans need to sleep everyday (for the most part), and if you make it a habit to meditate at such times it ensures you are training your mind consistently. Meditating before or after other daily tasks such as meals would also work.

Measuring meditation doesn't have to be restricted to time either, those who use mantras to aid with meditation can count mantras in their free time throughout the day and set mantra count goals. The mantra I use is "Samma Arahung", a Pali mantra, but there are plenty of other good ones you can use even in English such as "inner peace" or "clear and bright". Mantras are great for meditators to calm their mind and clear it of any chit-chat or wandering.

You can count mantras yourself, for instance "inner peace one, inner peace two, inner peace three etc...", or use tools like a tally counter. Simple tally counters can be bought online or in thrift stores for pretty cheap, and it's great to use if you want to do mantra meditation while doing other activities. Getting to a few thousand mantras in a day isn't as hard as it looks, you can get several hundred in just waiting for your late friend or waiting to be seated at a restaurant.

Enlist the help of technology

A great way to help with getting into the habit of meditating regularly is using technology. There are plenty of great apps you can find online to help you with the practice.

For those looking for a simple meditation timer, there are quite a few good ones that have standard features like reminders, a timer and progress tracking. Meditate Free Meditation Timer from Mindcore covers these basic features. Insight Timer provides guided meditations, music to go along with your meditation, as well as a pretty unique system where you can see who and how many are also meditating with the app. A great way to develop a habit of meditation if you respond to social feedback well and have some interested friends.

For those looking for a program to get started with, there are apps for those also. Calm has a pretty extensive range of meditation programs available for those interested in trying out lots of different methods and the more famous Headspace has a 10 part series for free on its app. There's even an app called Simple Habit, designed to help incorporate meditation into your daily life.

I'm an old fashioned kind of person so I tend to just stick to the more basic meditation timers, but just mentioning these programs for those who may be interested.

Like all routines, whether it be working out, training for the olympics or practicing an instrument; the hardest part is getting started. Once the the power of habit kicks in, following through is pretty easy.

A good way to get started on, or to improve your habit of meditating is to go on a meditation retreat. Thanks to the power of habit, immersing yourself in nothing but meditation for a few days is a great way to catapult yourself into a solid routine if you are serious about later developing one at home. What's also great is that meditation retreats tend to be reasonably cheap for reputable meditation organizations. A few that I know of are S.N. Goenka's Vipassana meditation course which consists of a ten day retreat, and the Middle Way Meditation Retreat for those who don't mind traveling.

Many Hindu or Buddhist temples will also allow guests to stay overnight and meditate with the monastics or would host retreats at little or no cost. This would only be an option for those who don't mind the religious rules and customs integrated with being at a monastery. If you are okay with such a circumstance, you can always try to contact a local Buddhist or Hindu temple to see if such programs are offered.

For those who want an easier way to get the benefits of a meditation retreat, without the hassle or cost of going to one physically, there are online options available also. Peace Revolution offers a free 42-day online program that can be done right in your home, more than enough time to get that habit of meditation developed. Peace Revolution also offers various free and low-cost fellowships at some very appealing meditation sites for qualified candidates who complete their program. A pretty nice perk for just sitting at your computer each day.

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Getting into the Habit of Meditating - Huffington Post

Reflecting on a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., Jeremy Mohler relates it to how meditation helps us adjust to reality, and helps us act to change ittoo.

Reality during the early days of President Trumps administration has mostly felt surreal, but there are moments where it feels like a cold shower. One of those moments was the morning after he banned immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. I awoke earlier than normal and lay in bed trying to imagine what I could do about it. With no one to talk to, I scrolled Facebook to see what friends had to say. Someone shared a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.: Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

The idea of being maladjusted, and that what we are asked to adjust to society could be in conflict with being human, attracted me, so I looked for the quotes source. It comes from a sermon King gave many times called Transformed Nonconformist. In one variation delivered in November 1954, when King was a mere 25 years old, he used a metaphorborrowed from a socialist Methodist pastorto describe the individuals place in society:

Im sure that many of you have had the experience of dealing with thermometers and thermostats. The thermometer merely records the temperature. If it is 70 or 80 degrees it registers that and that is all. On the other hand the thermostat changes the temperature. If it is too cool in the house you simply push the thermostat up a little and it makes it warmer. And so the Christian is called upon not to be like a thermometer conforming to the temperature of his society, but he must be like a thermostat serving to transform the temperature of his society.

King went on to rail against mass mind and rugged collectivism, claiming that many had become afraid of not conforming. He says of this mindset, Instead of making history we are made by history. This was the 1950s, of course, in the Holocausts aftermath and at the high point of Stalins authoritarian brand of communismmany people feared manipulative leaders who claimed to speak for the majority. Kings point was that to oppose injustice we must shed the fear of standing alone. He argued we must make history rather than being made by it, echoing Karl Marxs call at the end of Theses on Feuerbach: The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.

This idea of changing rather than merely interpreting could also be applied a little closer to home. Kings temperature metaphor also describes the human mind. The connection can be seen through meditation practice. On the cushion, we open to the moment and space around us. Our mind tends towards being a thermometer. It follows whatever comes up, whether thoughts or emotions, and we spin off into discursive thinking. We plan our day or reflect on yesterday.

Meditation has us practice being a thermostat. When a thought or emotion appears, we watch and note it and return to our anchor, the breath. The goal is to stay steady with whatever comes up, with the riptide of thoughts, with our aching back or numb legs. From this place of steadiness we can fully feel the moment. Like a thermostat transforming the temperature, we simply guide our minds attention back to the breath over and over again. We practice returning to feeling grounded, a comfortable room temperature of 72 degrees. Eventually we stay relaxed in the space around uswe align with the present moment and no longer fight against it by being elsewhere in our mind.

Off the cushion, in everyday life, the metaphor still applies but gets a little fuzzy. So lets add a new element to our thermostat metaphor: a teenager. Our teenager is happy to complain about the temperature, wishing it were different, but lacks the money to pay the electricity bill. Buddhisms second noble truth says that suffering comes from grasping for things we like and pushing away things we dont like; in essence, wanting to change that which we cant. Like the temperature, life is always changing, and rarely in what wed consider an agreeable form. And like the teenager, we tend to complain about that.

If weve practiced on the cushion, though, were more ready for lifes constant change. Many people, before trying meditation, have an image of a solitary monk sitting for years in a cave. This leads to the notion that the goal of meditation is to detach from everything, to not be moved by anything.

But the truth is quite different. Meditation helps us feel everything more fully. Our ability to notice our grasping or running away becomes sharper and quicker, allowing us to let go and get back to feeling the present moment. Meditation helps us feel, not detach.

From a deep sense of presence, we are then able to act mindfully, to, like a thermostat, adjust to whats around us andthis is the keyto adjust whats around to us. Meditation not only helps us quit fighting the present moment; it also helps us forget the lie that we are separate from the present moment to begin with. We become present along with everything else around us. It may sound like a Buddhist clich, but we are becoming one with our surroundings.

Like a thermostat, we must feel the temperature of the moment, which includes our thoughts and emotions, and gently adjust it to our intentions, and meditation can help us do that. This is another way of being creatively maladjusted, or simply being human.

I still havent figured out what to do about the immigration ban, other than to stand in solidarity with immigrants, especially Muslims. But later that day, having meditated in the morning, I experienced the power of being creatively maladjusted. I was having tea with a good friend who had once been a lover. My heart trembled like the edges of a frying egg. I could feel my love for her, but I didnt grasp. I instead appreciated her new role in my life. By staying present with my feelings instead of thinking about what could have been, I fell upon my real intention, to simply enjoy our time together.

Adjusting society may take other, collective practices by the late 1960s, King would be calling for a radical redistribution of economic power. But meditation practice, by helping is adjust to both the present moment and our deepest intentions, is a powerful tool for building the very connections and community we so passionately want to heal.

A different version of this piece was originally published on Medium.

Excerpt from:

How Meditation Helps Us to Be One With and Affect Change - Lion's Roar