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Jean Paul Gaultier · Fashion on Acid

3/31/2014

Madonna corset costume sketch featuring cone bras for men.

About five or six weeks ago I made it to the last day of the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. The place was swarming with fashionistas, tastemakers, passive fashion fanatics, photographers, eccentrics and anti-fashionistas alike. The exhibit had many of Gaultier's signature designs up on display. Some of these legendary threads were draped over animated mannequins, expressed in video format, original Gaultier sketches or featured in monumental photographs.

You didn't need to wander around for too many seconds before you found the obvious element that separates Gaultier from other haute couture designers. What I found particularly inviting about Gaultier's designs is the philosophic mindset that he projects on his avant-garde style of fashion. He is an avant-garde trail-blazer in the fashion world when it comes to pushing the stylish envelope into transcendental androgynous terrain. Gaultier is a master at blending and merging the sexes through fashion. He melts away stringent rules, mindsets and borders and unifies everything through the fabric of space, time and fashion.

I respect individualities and I like particularities. I mix and match, collect, twist, and crossbreed codes. Past, present, here, elsewhere, masculine, feminine, remarkable, humdrum—it all coexists. — Jean Paul Gaultier

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Developing Nerves of Steel · Winter Water Purification

3/14/2014

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Skinny-dipping in Seaside Heights, NJ in mid-December.

It's easy to reach peace-filled meditative states of mind for brief periods during any random point of your day. However, reaching and staying in that state of mental peace and clarity throughout the entire day is another trip to take. And, yet, another practice, maybe equally as difficult, is to maintain a clear and focused ming as you plunge into a freezing body of water. There is a war your mind and body enter against the exasperatingly cold, and your job is to stop your mind from thinking or feeling anything. Do you think you can make yourself do that?

I came across an interesting article depicting some of the ancient spiritual practices of the Shinto a couple of years back. The article explained how Samurai warriors ritualistically took part in Misogi, an ancient Shinto spiritual practice that involves bathing in cold river water every morning. Forget your morning cup of coffee, that's an early morning practice that will surely wake you up.

Ancient samurai warriors would start their day by pouring buckets of cold river water on their heads every morning as part of the Shinto spiritual practice called "Misogi". The samurai warriors believed the cold, clean water cleansed their spirit, helping them start their day fresh and spiritually cleansed from the day before.

After reading about Misogi, I came across John Man's book, Ninja: 1,000 years of the Shadow Warrior. Man explained that ninjas would stand under waterfalls for hours at a time, not in the summer months when standing under a waterfall may be considered pleasurable, but, rather, in the winter months when temperatures often drop below freezing in Japan. That was a required practice for becoming a ninja, so it should come as no surprise that many aspiring ninjas died doing this.

Then I discovered there were several other articles basically praising the beneficial effects of cold water showers. Some of the benefits include strengthening immunity, deepening breathing, improving blood circulation, improving hormone production, increasing energy and well-being, and healthier skin and hair. I even began looking into the human anomaly that is Wim Hof, the Dutch "Iceman," that has swam in the Arctic, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in shorts and sandals, ran a half-marathon barefoot across Finnish snow in subzero conditions, and has spent almost two hours in a tank of ice water by applying his meditative techniques, resulting in his ability to regulate his internal thermostat.

After reading about the health and spiritual benefits of cold water, I decided to start my own personal practice by beginning to take cold showers after my post-yoga, peppermint-and-eucalyptus-infused sauna sessions. I got into the habit of doing this and made an effort of implementing cold water showers into my daily routine. The effects it began having on me were immediate, and are definitely worth feeling for yourself if you aren't already doing cold showers.

The initial shock the cold water gives your nervous system wakes your mind and body up. And after a prolonged period of time of being under the water your system adapts to the cold and you actually begin to warm up from the inside out. This process is known as thermogenesis. Your body begins to produce internal heat, and in turn gives you a surge of energy, and even increases your metabolism. (Cold-water showers as the next diet fad?) I began to realize that cold showers were indeed living up to the hype in multiple areas of health and well-being. The practice even expands itself philosophically, and instills in you the notion of simply knowing what you need to do when you need to do it: turn the water dial all the way to cold and just deal with it. "Just do it."

Late Autumn waterscape in the Adirondacks, NY.

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Krishna Das Kirtan in New York · Bald Eagles, LSD and Maharaji

3/6/2014

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Krishna Das and I at the Garrison Institute.

The world-renowned kirtan master, Krishna Das, was in New York this past weekend. Fortunately for me I discovered he was going to be at the Garrison Institute while writing up this ZOOMDOUT Krishna Das blog last month. After spending my Saturday afternoon at the NJ ISKCON for the second part of a fascinating weekend seminar on comparative religion with the notable Vaishnava scholar, Radhika Ramana Prabhu, I shot up the Palisades Parkway up to the hometown of the West Point Academy, Garrison, NY.

On my way up there I stopped at this semi-frozen scenic overlook of the Hudson River Valley. It was a pleasant surprise when I learned that Bald Eagles specifically migrate to Iona Island on the Hudson River during the winter.

Eagles migrate south to their wintering grounds when the water bodies near their breeding habitats begin to freeze. The lower Hudson River Valley and Iona Island are a critical winter feeding and roosting habitat for the Bald Eagle, which feeds mainly on fish, winters here where the food supply is abundant and accessible. Eagles perch on Iona Island's large undisturbed stands of trees. The eagle's ability to forage from a perched position allows them to conserve energy, which is vital to their survival during the harsh winters.

After about fifteen minutes of searching for the bird without binoculars I thought I was going to leave without experiencing the pleasure of seeing my first Bald Eagle. Then, I decided to get into the spirit of the upcoming kirtan, and I started chanting Hare Krishna as I searched for the eagle. I slowly paced the length of the ledge back and forth and chanted.

Iona Island is part of the 1500-acre Iona Island-Doodletown Bird Conservation Area in which over 165 species of birds have been documented. In 1980, the Palisades Interstate Park Commission declared Iona Island an eagle sanctuary and restricted human activities to ensure the island's continuing use by wintering eagles.

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Jean Paul Gaultier · Fashion on Acid

Developing Nerves of Steel · Winter Water Purification

Krishna Das Kirtan in New York · Bald Eagles, LSD and Maharaji

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