All posts tagged: practice

What the Eiffel Tower controversy reveals about a Hindu monastic practice – known as ‘brahmacharya’

What the Eiffel Tower controversy reveals about a Hindu monastic practice – known as ‘brahmacharya’

Published by Sam Flores

Get RNS’ thoughtful, essential religion reporting every morning. Sign up for free! (The Conversation) — A visit to the Eiffel Tower by a delegation of monks representing a global Hindu religious denomination on Sept. 5, 2026, has raised broader questions about accommodating religious observances in public spaces. Eiffel Tower workers protested with a one-day strike after tower management allegedly replaced some women employees for the duration of a 20-minute visit by monks from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS. As a scholar of South Asian religions, I have studied the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a religious community founded in India in 1801, for nearly a decade. BAPS is one of several denominations within the group. I argue that at the center of this controversy lie different reactions to a long-standing Hindu religious practice known as “brahmacharya,” which the monks of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya follow. While it is often translated as “celibacy,” the practice is aimed more expansively at developing inner control over one’s senses to attain spiritual perfection and immerse oneself in God. The discipline …

A Powerful Practice to Help Process Regret

A Powerful Practice to Help Process Regret

Published by Jenni Sidey

Sometimes wisdom appears in the least expected places. I was walking down a busy main street in Cambridge, MA, past a homeless man who had requisitioned a park bench as his temporary abode. His hand-written sign stopped me mid-step: “Pain is temporary, regret is forever.” The feeling is a resoundingly familiar one. About a year ago, the renowned restaurateur Keith McNally penned a best-seller whose title summed up the sentiment unforgettably: I Regret Almost Everything. As a clinical psychologist, I am often humbled by how difficult it is for people to let go of regret. People often ruminate on this emotion, returning to the story again and again over the course of a long treatment. What Makes Us Feel Regret? I took a look at the recent research. Regret is thought to be a universal emotion. However, it can help us learn from our mistakes, as acknowledging the mistake can guide us to make better choices. There is a wide range of what people regret. There’s inaction—not taking a chance in a relationship or a …

The case that madness is philosophy in practice

The case that madness is philosophy in practice

Published by Jenni Sidey

I have twice undergone uninterrupted periods of roughly two months each in which I was “mad” and was diagnosed as “psychotic” by psychiatrists. Both periods are sharply etched in my memory; they differ from all the other periods in my life. During these two periods, I experienced many thoughts, perceptions, and interpretations that were decidedly different from those I had in “normal” life. For example, I believed that everyone over 40 immediately understood all the world’s languages, which meant there were no real linguistic differences. I felt, and became convinced, that there was no gulf between thinking and being. I feared that it was my turn to be crucified. I believed that I was telepathic. I worried that the internet had been invented by my father and my uncle, and that I was being surveilled with spyware by a secret alliance (or conspiracy) of wise old men, all for the greater good. I thought that the Earth was flat and that flying was an illusion, the work of another widespread conspiracy. I was certain that …

Net Art Pioneer Olia Lialina on the Practice of Preservation

Net Art Pioneer Olia Lialina on the Practice of Preservation

Published by Jenni Sidey

Editor’s note: This story is the latest edition of Link Rot, a column by Shanti Escalante-De Mattei that explores the intersections of art, technology, and the internet. Olia Lialina has been distributing herself online since 1994, counting her among the first artists in the net.art scene. 30 years worth of her fascination with the poetics of servers, browsers, and GIFs is now on view in “Network Portraits” through October 3, at Berlin’s Panke Gallery. (Elsewhere, at the Galerie Stadt Sindelfingen in Stuttgart, she is the subject of “online since 1996“, on view through mid-October). Source link

You May Not Be Antisocial, Just Out of Practice

You May Not Be Antisocial, Just Out of Practice

Published by Jenni Sidey

There’s something I’ve been hearing a lot lately, usually said with a kind of hesitant self-consciousness: “I think I’m getting worse at being around people.” Not meaner. Not less caring. Just rustier. Like a skill that hasn’t been used in a while and nobody quite noticed until it was needed. People describe dreading dinners they actually want to attend, going blank during pauses in conversation, or feeling quietly relieved when plans fall through. The people describing this to me are thoughtful, warm, often professionally accomplished adults who genuinely like other people. And yet somewhere along the way, real-time human interaction started to feel like a muscle they’re no longer sure how to use. I’ve watched this up close. I spend much of my working life around students at a large, diverse university. I’ve noticed a hunger for connection and a simultaneous unease with its unpredictability. What I’ve come to believe is that what many of us are experiencing is not social failure. It’s something closer to social deconditioning. Deconditioning, Not Deficiency Physiologists use the term …

Science reveals people are capable of multitasking — it just requires practice

Science reveals people are capable of multitasking — it just requires practice

Published by Sam Flores

Your brain is capable of learning to multitask without your realizing it, according to a new study. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. It has long been thought that using your brain to work simultaneously on multiple things was impossible. That’s because problem-solving, logical planning and abstract thinking are all carried out by a key region of the brain known as the prefrontal cortex, which is notoriously inflexible. “It’s made to do one thing at a time, which is often a good thing,” said Maximilian Riesenhuber, a professor of neuroscience at Georgetown University School of Medicine and senior author of the research published Thursday in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. “You can focus on something and suppress everything else to stay on task.” Neuroscientists previously suspected that when it was forced to juggle, the overworked prefrontal cortex tried to rapidly switch back and forth between tasks. An experiment carried out by Riesenhuber and colleagues has revealed that the brain has a workaround that can be activated …

Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets practice stomping and flapping

Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets practice stomping and flapping

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. The babies are growing up. Since hatching in early April, Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets have sprouted new feathers, developed keen vision, and now, they’re practicing some vital grownup skills. Sandy and Luna can be seen engaged in lively wing-flapping sessions. While it might look a little awkward, the movement helps the chicks develop their pectoral muscles, an essential step in learning to fly. “It [also] helps them learn the ‘wingspan’ of their own bodies so they don’t hit the nest walls or their siblings,” Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBVV), the non-profit group that maintains the eagles’ livestream, explains. But don’t expect them to fly away anytime soon. The chicks are only about six weeks old and fledging won’t happen until 10-14 weeks of age. Last year, Sunny and Gizmo each fledged around 13 weeks. 5-12-2026 Nest Bestie Bonding Viewers might also notice the pair stomping around their nest. Again, the eaglets aren’t exactly graceful, but this behavior is …

If you struggle to meditate, try this mindfulness practice to relax instead

If you struggle to meditate, try this mindfulness practice to relax instead

Published by Jenni Sidey

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear as a meditation practitioner is that you need to be sitting still, cross-legged on a yoga mat with your eyes closed to practice mindfulness. While there are many types of mindfulness practices—from breathwork and guided meditation to visualization—there is one technique I return to regularly and always recommend to clients. And it can be done seated in a chair, standing or lying down. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a relaxation technique developed by an American physician in the early 1900s. It involves tensing and releasing muscle groups in turn. Article continues below You may like It’s common to carry physical tension, often without realizing it. Think hunched shoulders or a clenched jaw, both of which can be seen as symptoms of modern, busy lives. A PMR practice helps to bring awareness to stress in your body, and through the muscle contraction and relaxation process, it releases both physical and mental tension. The practice involves tensing a specific muscle group for a few seconds as you inhale, then releasing …

After Five Years, Social Practice CUNY Initiative to End in 2027

After Five Years, Social Practice CUNY Initiative to End in 2027

Published by Jenni Sidey

“I don’t think that anybody ever starts with a clear plan to sunset, but nor did I think that this would necessarily institutionalize in a way that would make it exist forever,” artist and Chloë Bass told ARTnews in a recent interview about Social Practice CUNY, the initiative she has co-directed for the past five years. “Somewhere in between those two things comes the decision to sunset.” Social Practice CUNY will sunset in February 2027, with its 2025–26 fellowship cohort being its last. Housed at the CUNY Graduate Center, the program provided fellowships to graduate students and faculty at any of the 25 campuses of the City University of New York. In addition to the funds it created, Social Practice CUNY has helped foster a network and community between its fellows. Source link

What to know about the controversial practice of ‘orgasmic meditation’

What to know about the controversial practice of ‘orgasmic meditation’

Published by Sam Flores

In 2009, the New York Times ran a story about Nicole Daedone and her wellness company, OneTaste, which promoted women’s empowerment through a practice known as “orgasmic meditation” (OM). “I don’t think women will really experience freedom until they own their sexuality,” Daedone said at the time. The company was tremendously successful. At first, it operated out of a San Francisco warehouse where many practitioners lived communally, practicing OM day and night. Later, it opened locations in cities around the US, including San Francisco, Austin and New York City. Gwyneth Paltrow promoted it on her podcast, and actors like David Schwimmer, Orlando Bloom and Brian Cox reportedly attended presentations. In 2017, Daedone sold OneTaste for $12m. Fast forward to this March. Daedone was sentenced to federal prison after a judge ruled she had used psychological, emotional and financial coercion to force vulnerable women into sex acts with company clients and investors. The ruling came after a series of damning investigations into OneTaste’s top executives. In 2022, Netflix released the documentary Orgasm Inc, which explored the …