Serenity and inner solace — one step, one breath at a time — The Weekend Wind-Down is a series from The Bold Italic highlighting ways to explore the Bay Area and wind down from your stressful week. If you have an idea or tip, email us, or DM us on Twitter or Instagram. If you have ever wondered what is the sound of…

Where dancing feet meet a San Francisco beat at American Bites — This article is part of My Favorite Corner of SF, a feature series that pays homage to a special place in the city. How many lamentations have I shared with friends about how North Beach just isn’t the Italo-Bohemian hotspot it used to be. No question, tourism, and socio-economic factors…

A ‘greenhouse’ for the soul hides in plain sight — I feed on solitude the way bees feed on nectar. It’s my energy recharger, my soul-sustaining nutrient. Even living in a dense city, I can find a favorite sanctuary of mine less than a mile from home. …

Zen-practicing neuroscientist discusses the flow and center of no-self, common to skills like tango and surfing. — There is no dearth of evidence, scientific and anecdotal, about physical activities’ health effects on body and mind. The euphoria-inducing dopamine release, the elevated endorphins, and the chemical cocktail that changes brain waves inducing the physiological glow and flow, have been much discussed.

On whimsy and wonder, from dawn to dusk — Some years ago, I arrived in Anza-Borrego Desert a month beyond the vernal equinox with the mercury dabbling in the low 100s. I stood with a guide, suddenly roused from lethargy, on the ledge of Font’s Point above the aptly named Borrego Badlands. The scene at our feet was stock…

A routine visit to Palermo shines a light on the island’s underbelly in the No Mafia Memorial, a museum with a vengeance. — Felicia Impastato recalls that it rained May 9, 1978, the day her son Peppino was murdered. Peppino had promised to meet his mother at a cousin’s home in Cinisi, a village west of Palermo, where they lived. But he never showed. She remembers that when she learned how her son…

This March the Iditarod, a dog musher’s race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, celebrates its 50th year as an annual event. It’s a grueling challenge that raises the bar for mettle-testing to mind-numbing heights. …

In an ironic twist of fate, a patient ends up praying for her doctor months after he gave her a death sentence. — Dr. O tells us, “Your mother can go into the rehab and have it all covered by Medicare,” Later, I’ll imagine him smacking his lips as he adds, “if she goes on the chemotherapy. Just think about it.” Let the blood be on my hands. …

Black bears, unless you come between a mother and her cub — or have an aromatic dark roast in hand—don’t want to harm us — For many years, every summer, my brother Chuck and I would backpack over the High Sierra for up to a week. Strong blood ties aside, we possessed diametrically opposed politics, lifestyles, and to some extent, ideas on backcountry etiquette. Yet wilderness survival is a sort of bonding ritual, even for…