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.

Welcome to India: You’re under “house arrest.” — I’ve just passed nearly five weeks of perfect serenity in Auroville, India’s homegrown spiritual community. It is the Tuesday before Easter and I’m ready to return home for family festivities when my trip takes a turn toward Hell. One moment I’m in line at Chennai airport waiting to pass through…

Don’t see shattered glass, see black diamonds and rhinestones. — In San Francisco the streets are paved with jewels Don’t see the flash as shattered glass, All that fine silica sand and soda ash Some clear as truth, some tinted to fifty shades of charcoal gray See it as black diamonds and rhinestones Worth their weight in the power of…

For women: Men to get tango’ed up with or not — You can tell a lot about a man in the first few minutes of any encounter. But partner dancing, where you touch intimately, speeds up the flow of such vital information. And no other dance, perhaps, is more of a lightning rod of messages, than Argentine tango. It’s a slow…

The Museum of the Infant of Prague hosts a true fashionista. — Prague has more than 20 museums, housing such treasures as the works of Czech Art Nouveau master Mucha (at the Mucha Museum) and such curios as instruments of medieval torture (at the Museum of Torture) and such bygones (one hopes) as a secret police interrogation room (at the Museum of…

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…