Charity Spotlight - One Million Lights

 For the innaugural charity spotlight we at Project Iris chose a charity with a mission that resonates well with our own - helping provide a better life for the less fortunate.  The idea behind One Million Lights is to bring the luxery of clean and healthy lighting to children and adults all across the world.  Their goal is to distribute (you guessed it) 1,000,000 solar powered lights, replacing dangerous and unhealthy kerosene lights in underdeveloped countries.  

 

 I had no idea what kind of an impact clean, renewable lighting could have on rural impoverished villages.  With one-third of families' income going towards harmful kerosene lighting it's not hard to imagine the monetary impact solar lighting can have.  In giving children the ability to study after dark and helping adults continue work once sunlight is lost, the 'One Million Lights' cause is easy to get behind.

  With a blog that includes first hand video and stories of the charity in action, we see how other culturesreact to the luxeries we take for granted everyday. In the Andes we meet a village that was grounded to a halt at sunset now able to see at night – Wery moving to watch.

 From providing information on bringing them to your school, to introducing them to your company, One-Million Lights makes it easy to get involved.  They even go as far as saying a simple Facebook 'like' is construed as helping the cause.

 With well over 900,000 to go to, 'One Million Lights' may be short of their goal but are nowhere near short on hope and resilience.

 I had no idea what kind of an impact clean, renewable lighting could have on rural impoverished villages.  With one-third of families' income going towards harmful kerosene lighting it's not hard to imagine the monetary impact solar lighting can have.  In giving children the ability to study after dark and helping adults continue work once sunlight is lost, the 'One Million Lights' cause is easy to get behind.

 With a blog that includes first hand video and stories of the charity in action, we see how other culturesreact to the luxeries we take for granted everyday. In the Andes we meet a village that was grounded to a halt at sunset now able to see at night – Wery moving to watch.

 From providing information on bringing them to your school, to introducing them to your company, One-Million Lights makes it easy to get involved.  They even go as far as saying a simple Facebook 'like' is construed as helping the cause.

 With well over 900,000 to go to, 'One Million Lights' may be short of their goal but are nowhere near short on hope and resilience.

New HBO Show, 'Enlightened,' Takes on Modern Meditation

Enlightened is a new HBO sort-of drama, sort-of comedy starring Laura Dern and Luke Wilson (both apparently making a comeback together) that takes on modern meditation and taming one's inner rage.

"Can people really change? That's the question Laura Dern and Mike White ask in their new HBO series, Enlightened, which premieres Monday night. The show features Dern as Amy Jellicoe, an ambitious executive who has a nervous breakdown at her workplace. She goes to a rehabilitation center in Hawaii, where she experiences an awakening.

When Amy returns home, she wants to put her new philosophy into practice — meditating, communicating better with her mother (Diane Ladd), and fostering a healthier relationship with her ex-husband (Luke Wilson). But she finds her lessons of enlightenment being put to the test."

 Show creator, Mike White (School of Rock, Chuck) funnels his personal experience with meditation in creating the show.  White himself had suffered an on-the-job meltdown which was a catalyst for the show's script.

"From my experience, meditating can bring up the most stressful thoughts ... To actually try to stop that constant chatter of, 'I need to do this, I need to do that ... this is what's wrong with me.' I think that's the hardest thing for many people to do, especially in our modern, achievement-oriented [environment].

 I find it interesting that arguably the hardest part of meditation (for me at least) is also what made HBO the most nervous about green-lighting the show.

"Everyone is running so manic, and what's interesting, too, is when we turned in the show, the more quiet, meditative aspects of the show made HBO the most nervous. Because people, especially in TV, first they want their comedies funny, and they want their dramas juicy and kind of operative, and this is very internal.

"Especially these moments Amy has when she's going inside and where it slows down a little bit, I think that that's just something in general that makes a network executive worry that you're going to lose your audience, and people are going to click off or change the channel. That's not what people are looking for when they're zoning out in front of the TV."

The show has been well received so far, averaging a 7.6 out of 10 from user reviews on IMDB and some are even calling it "the best series HBO has."  Check out 'Enlightened' on HBO, Monday nights at 9:30.

(Via NPR)

4 Must Have Apps for the Yogini on the Go!

 It's funny how a device that is responsible for roughly 3/4 of the distractions on any given day (a statistic I totally made up) can be so helpful in practicing the core concepts of yoga.  

 

The Mindfullness App

$.99

The Mindfullness app was created by two Swedish yoga instructors through a combination of their personal encounters with spirituality and technology, and presumably in between games of Angry Birds.

"The Mindfulness App is a tool for increasing your awareness in life," Wikfalk and Fridh say in a press release. "It helps you with the most difficult aspect of mindfulness practice-namely to remember to be mindful.” (via Economic Times)

The App is touted as more than the normal meditation timer apps.  You set reminders throughout the day for when you want to meditate, tell it how long you want to go for and chose whether to be guided by a voice or to simply sit in silence.

My favorite part is that it looks really, really pretty.

iPuja Pro - The Comprehensive Meditation Support

$1.99

Although fairly similar to the mindfulness app, the Ipuja Pro is a little less pleasing on the eyes.  The reason I love this one so much though is its compatibility with iCloud and intigration with IOS5!

iPuja Pro 2.0 allows the scheduling of meditation sessions and then uses the new iCloud system to synchronise Calendar appointments between Apple devices. Dates and times of sessions are then available on any device to produce a record of progress. Another recent enhancement is the implementation of timeout alerts using the all-new Notification system introduced in iOS 5. Improved graphics round off the new app. (via PRMac)

 iPuja Pro has influence from Buddhist culture, borrowing on principles from Theravada Buddhism.

According to the principles of Theravada Buddhism, iPuja Pro allows adherents to remember the times of the required meditation sessions. iPuja Pro contains everything required to participate in the recommended morning and afternoon sittings, along with the ability to shift them to match a changing schedule. (via PRMac)

Hatha Yoga

$9.99

Don't let the price tag scare you away, the Hatha Yoga app is litterally a portable yoga studio.

 

Bendyware’s Hatha Yoga is the perfect way to practice yoga wherever you choose. Stop-motion visuals show you how to move, while the voice of world-renowned instructor Prahlada guides you through your class. With a wide range of built-in classes, and the ability to easily customize your own classes, anyone can find the right practice for themselves.

The ability to customize your workouts is what makes this app perfect for yoga students of all skill levels.

New Yogis can start out with the basics, but then move on to more advanced postures as they become ready. You can tune your practices for those days where you can only spare 15 minutes for yourself, and also enjoy a yoga marathon when you have more time.

Travel Yoga 3D in the Car

FREE

No more complaining about never having time to do yoga thanks to the Travel Yoga 3D app!  This little gem will help bring out the Yogi in everyone even during the morning commute.

 

Experience the power of Yoga to immediately transform the way you feel and think even while you are sitting in a Car.

It does mention that all videos should be watched before getting in the car.  Probably a good way to minimize those yoga related traffic collisions.

What are some other apps for staying healthy and on top of your yoga game?  Any favorites?