Not So De-Lovely Circumstance(s)? June 9, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.Tags: accident, amputation, Arthur Thompson, cancer, Changing Perspectives, Cole Porter, disability, Dolphin Davis, jazz, Loss, Matthew Sanford, Mind Body Solutions, music, Noel Coward, trauma, Wayman Tisdale, yoga philosophy, yoga practice
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“You can never give up because quitting is not an option. No matter how dark it is or how weak you get, until you take that last breath, you must fight.”
– Wayman Tisdale, professional musician and basketball player
“Sad times, may follow your tracks
Bad times, may bar you from Sak’s
At times, when Satan in slacks
Breaks down your self control
Maybe, as often it goes
Your Abe-y, may tire of his rose
So baby, this rule I propose
Always have an ace in the hole.”
– from “Ace in the Hole” by Cole Porter
Here’s a question: Have you ever experienced trauma, loss, and disability? We all have, on some level, and we all will before we leave this earth.
So, here’s a better question: Have you ever experienced trauma, loss, and disability that changed the way you viewed yourself and the world? Many who would have answered “no” to that question a month or two ago (or even a year ago), might answer “yes” now.
I specifically mention two months ago, rather than two weeks ago, because two months ago I was participating in the seventh annual Kiss My Asana yogathon, which benefited Mind Body Solutions. Known for their adaptive yoga program, which includes teacher training, and training for care givers Mind Body Solutions “helps those who have experienced trauma, loss, and disability find new ways to live by integrating both mind and body.” Founding teacher Matthew Sanford is constantly reminding us that at some point we are all going to experience trauma, loss, and disability. Even if we do not become physically disabled, we can experience trauma and loss that disables us and makes it impossible to do things the way we did them before. The practice of yoga, especially as it is applied by the teachers at MBS, is both simple and complex – because the way we deal with trauma, loss, and disability is simultaneously simple and complex… because humans are both simple and complex. Ultimately, it’s not the if/when/how we experience the trauma, loss, and disability that’s important. Ultimately, what’s important is how we deal with it.
“I am only half a man now.”
– Cole Porter to his friends in 1958
“Cancer might’ve taken my leg, but it can’t take my smile.”
– Wayman Tisdale in an ESPN interview released in 2008, five months before he died (The reporter noted that he followed the words with “that famous, ear-splitting grin.”)
Depending on how you look at them, Cole Porter (who was born today in 1891, in Peru, Indiana) and Wayman Tisdale (who was born today in 1964, in Fort Worth, Texas) don’t have a lot in common. Except for the whole birthday thing… and the fact that they were both professional musicians whose parents started their musical training at early ages. (Porter’s mother started him on violin lessons at 6 and piano lessons at 8. Tisdale’s father bought him his first bass guitar at age 8.) Tisdale said music was his “first love” and, undoubtedly, Porter would have shared the sentiment. They both ended up being known for jazz – although slightly different kinds of jazz. Oh, then there is the fact that they both engaged in highly physical activities (outside of music); Porter as an equestrian, Tisdale as a professional basketball player who was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame (2009), the Oklahoma Hall of Fame (2009), and played in both the Olympics (1984) and Pan American (1983) Games. Both men were extremely well-liked and remarked upon because of their sunny dispositions.
Oh, and they were both (right leg) amputees.
Weird coincidence, huh? But, that’s not really the point today. The point today is how they dealt with their trauma, loss, and disability.
“The doctor had never given anyone chemo that was my size. They just calculated how much chemo to give me and said, ‘We hope it doesn’t mess up your kidneys. If it does, sorry.’”
– Wayman Tisdale in an ESPN interview released in 2008, five months before his death
In 1937, a horseback riding accident resulted in the horse crushing both of Cole Porter’s legs. In 2007, Wayman Tisdale fell down a flight of stairs and broke his leg – an accident that revealed he had osteosarcoma in his knee. Both men were bound and determined to live, despite their situations – which involved immense amounts of pain and uncertainty. By all accounts, including his own words, Wayman Tisdale accepted the amputation and focused on using the support around him to help him heal and move forward. He even appreciated the attitude of one of his master teachers/precious jewels, who he didn’t think wanted him to get better, stating in a 2008 ESPN interview, “At the time, I frowned on that. I look at it today that had I not persevered through a lot of the stuff [USA Team coach Bobby Knight] put me through, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I thank God for that dude because he pushed me.” Cole Porter, on the other hand, seems to have given up. He fought the amputation until he was given no other choice and, while he wrote an immense amount of music after the accident that ultimately cost him his leg, he wrote (so far as we know) not a lick after the amputation.
“The lines of ceaseless pain have been wiped from his face…I am convinced that his whole life will cheer up and that his work will profit accordingly.”
– Noel Coward writing in his diary about his friend Cole Porter, after Porter’s leg was amputated in 1958
“But when we first talked on the phone, he [Wayman] made me feel better. Ninety-five percent of us would’ve gone into a deep depression, but he didn’t.”
– Arthur Thompson, drummer and friend of Wayman Tisdale, in a 2008 ESPN interview, after Tisdale’s diagnosis and amputation
Please join me today (Tuesday, June 9th) at 12 Noon or 7:15 PM for a virtual yoga practice on Zoom, where you can check in with your attitude. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.
Tuesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. (Links will be available on Zoom and I have updated this page, with links, shortly before the Noon class. NOTE: Spotify users may have 2 Eartha Kitt songs. Enjoy.)
“For a man who lives by schedules to not know the next day because of being so fatigued, that puts things in perspective.”
– Dolphin Davis, Sr., Wayman Tisdale’s friend and personal trainer
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Building From the Ground Up (II) June 8, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Art, Changing Perspectives, Minneapolis, Philosophy, Yoga.Tags: architecture, Esperanto, Frank Lloyd Wright, hatha yoga, inspiration, L. L. Zamenhof, Prarie School, truth, Usonia, yoga, yoga philosophy, yoga practice
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“Form follows function – that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in spiritual union.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright
Yoga is the Sanskrit word for union – and we could spend all day talking about what that means in a literal sense, let alone in a spiritual or metaphorical sense. But, let’s just focus on the spiritual for a moment. The 8-limb philosophy of yoga contains several references to a spiritual (or metaphysical) element. That is to say, there is an acknowledgement that people are more than bodies and more than minds. Furthermore, within that acknowledgement is the awareness that inherent in the mind-body connection is the “more,” whatever that means, and that the end goal of the philosophical practice is to be fully aware of not only the “more” but also of our connection to it. Simply put, the end goal can be defined as “spiritual union.”
Born today in 1867, Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect, interior designer, writer, and teacher who designed over 1,000 structures. Over 500 of his designs were actually built, 50 of which were private houses and ~10 of those houses (plus a gas station) are in Minnesota. Almost 60 of his designs were built in his birth state of Wisconsin. Wright believed in organic architecture, the idea that a building should be in harmony with nature/environment and humanity. He pioneered the Prairie School architecture movement in the late 19th / early 20th century and would not only design a structure, but also the furniture contained within the structure.
Wright’s work and work-philosophy is a great reminder to build from the ground up and also to consider how everything works together. We need the reminder, because, sometimes we forget our purpose. Sometimes we get so far into an idea or the development of a thing that we forget its original function. Sometimes we get so distracted by the form that we forget the original intention. And, this way of thinking can become such a habit that we may forget there was/is another way to work.
“Get in the habit of analysis – analysis will in time enable synthesis to become your habit of mind.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright
On a philosophical (and political) note, people all over the US – and especially here in the Twin Cities – are talking about scrapping something and starting over from scratch, versus fixing what exists. I’m not intending to weigh in here on my personal opinion regarding defunding versus reforming an existing part of our government and infrastructure. What I will say is that, both require considering the original blueprint. Also, as a whole, I think we are a society that is in the habit of building and engaging without analysis (with analysis being a type of mindfulness). To me, the question of defunding or reforming is moot if there’s no analysis or consideration of the underlying foundation – which is shaky at best. How do we, as a society, build from the ground up and build in harmony with humanity and our environment if we haven’t really considered the elements which make up our environment?
Frank Lloyd Wright conceived of a utopian America, which would be a reflection of (and reflected by) the architecture. Form and function would be one; people would live, work, play, and pray in harmony with one another and with their environment. The open format of the structures would allow for interaction between family members, even as they engaged in their own pursuits. He called this concept of America “Usonia,” which is very close to the Esperanto name for the United States. (Esperanto being the language L. L. Zamenhof created in order for the world to have a shared language, which he believed would lead to a more unified society.) While Wright’s Usonian designs still influence home and workspace designs to this day, he couldn’t seem to maintain an idyllic home life for himself and his family, let alone idyllic professional relationships.
“Space is the breath of art.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright
Let’s breathe together and build (each pose and every sequence) from the ground up. If it’s possible, please join me on the virtual mat today (Monday, June 8th) at 5:30 PM for a 75-minute yoga practice on Zoom.
This is a 75-minute Common Ground Meditation Center practice that, in the spirit of generosity (dana), is freely given and freely received. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.
If you are able to support the center and its teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” my other practices, or you can purchase class(es). Donations are tax deductible, class purchases are not necessarily.)
There is no playlist for the Common Ground practices.
[Here’s a previous post on building a practice from the ground up. Please note that we have continued this tradition on Saturdays, but are in a different phase. You are free to join us.]
#### MAKE ANALYSIS A HABIT ####
Today is the Birthday of Poets June 7, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.Tags: asana, Gwendolyn Brooks, insight, inspiration, Life, Loss, Louise Erdrich, Love, Nikki Giovanni, Poetry, Prince Rogers Nelson, protests, trauma, truth, yoga
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Today I bring you poetry. True
It is no longer poetry month / but
It is the birthday of poets – and so,
I bring you their words, their lyrics, their music.
I bring you their movement, and
their Movements.
I bring you POC [Poets of Color],
NOT because of what’s happening…
BUT because…
That is what I’ve always done, while you pose… {Did you not notice?}
AND
Today is the birthday of poets.
Nikki dared you to listen to “The Song of the Feet” (and apply
Hear The Painted Drum (Louise, please…more:)
Gwendolyn wrote “about what I saw and heard in the street,”
and asked us what we would do “with all this life.” Then she warned us…
“that we are each other’s
harvest:
we are each other’s
business:
we are each other’s
magnitude and bond.”
Looks like we failed to listen, even
To the royal “Condition of the Heart”
Now, birds cry in the snow and the rain,
“I think I know a better way y’all.”
And I ask,
are you “Willing and Able”
“America”? “Around the World…”?
Anybody?
– whisper, shout, scream, or –
will we continue to be “like a child lost in the wilderness [?]”
If we live, we [still only] have two choices:
“[we’ll] either learn or we won’t;”
“growing up or decaying.”
(One requires love & listening “to [y]our own Black heart[s].”)
Of course…
those were our choices all along.
©MKR 2020
Please join me for a 65-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Sunday, June 7th) at 2:30 PM. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. PLEASE NOTE: Zoom 5.0 has gone into effect yesterday. If you have not upgraded, you will need to give yourself extra time to log into Zoom. You can always request an audio recording of this practice (or any practice) via email or a comment below.
Today’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. (Interlude music is different between the playlists. YouTube is the original.)
### DON’T WASTE ANY SWEETNESS ###
To Play or Not To Play June 6, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.Tags: acupuncture, D-Day, divine play, George Williams, Johan Huizinga, leela, lila, Plato, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Sosthenes, YMCA, yoga, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra, yoga sutra 2.23
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“Let us look at the matter thus: May we not conceive each of us living beings to be a puppet of the Gods, either their plaything only, or created with a purpose-which of the two we cannot certainly know? But we do know, that these affections in us are like cords and strings, which pull us different and opposite ways, and to opposite actions; and herein lies the difference between virtue and vice. According to the argument there is one among these cords which every man ought to grasp and never let go, but to pull with it against all the rest; and this is the sacred and golden cord of reason, called by us the common law of the State; there are others which are hard and of iron, but this one is soft because golden; and there are several other kinds. Now we ought always to cooperate with the lead of the best, which is law.” (Book 1)
– from The Laws by Plato
Yoga Sutra 2.23: svasvāmiśaktyoh svarūpopalabdhihetuh samyoga
– “The union (yoga), alliance, or relationship between our power to see (and what we see) is the way to experiencing our own true nature.”
I’m going to acknowledge, right off the bat, that there are other ways to work – or explore or play – with the sutra of the day. I’ll even go so far as to say that if we were encountering this sutra at almost any other time, even on this day in any other year, I would definitely be all about the play. Play is, after all, essential to our growth and is also an element of the Divine. In Hinduism, divine play is lila (or leela) and the concept occurs in non-dualism Indian philosophy (as a way to describe everything in the universe as the outcome of creative play) and in dualism Indian philosophy (as the interaction between God and God’s disciples, in order to understand the nature of the universe). If you are having a hard time telling the difference, do not despair… play around with it a little.
“According to my view, any one who would be good at anything must practise that thing from his youth upwards, both in sport and earnest, in its several branches: for example, he who is to be a good builder, should play at building children’s houses; he who is to be a good husbandman, at tilling the ground; and those who have the care of their education should provide them when young with mimic tools. They should learn beforehand the knowledge which they will afterwards require for their art.” (Book 1)
And what is the right way of living? Are we to live in sports always? If so, in what kind of sports? We ought to live sacrificing, and singing, and dancing, and then a man will be able to propitiate the Gods, and to defend himself against his enemies and conquer them in battle. The type of song or dance by which he will propitiate them has been described, and the paths along which he is to proceed have been cut for him.” (Book 7)
– from The Laws by Plato
“Life must be lived as play, playing certain games, making sacrifices, singing and dancing, and then a man will be able to propitiate the gods, and defend himself against his enemies, and win in the contest.”
– Dutch philosopher Johan Huizinga summarizing Plato (in Homo Ludens)
Outside of Indian religion and philosophy, you find a similar concept in the ancient Greek philosophers and in forms of ecstatic dance (which exists in various Christian traditions, as well as in Judaism, the Sufism, various Shamanism, and Santeria). You also find it in sacred text. For example, in First Corinthians 3:18 -19, Saint Paul (and Sosthenes), the people who make up the Christian Church in Corinth (Greece) are instructed, “Let no one deceive himself: If anyone among you thinks himself to be wise in this age, let him become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” (Berean Literal Bible) Some translations state that the “wise” should “become fools.” A little later in the letter, the authors will speak of “put[ting] away childish things” (1st Corinthians 13:11 -12); which many people see as a reference to physical age/maturity – when, in fact, the authors are speaking of spiritual maturity. There is, then, an implication in the text that all wisdom here on Earth is, actually, foolishness and that as long as we only “see” the material world (and ourselves in the material world) there is a need to keep playing. (This dove-tails back to the sutra and to Plato, in that there is a definite purpose to playing.)
“On the contrary, Augustine says (Music. ii, 15): ‘I pray thee, spare thyself at times: for it becomes a wise man sometimes to relax the high pressure of his attention to work.’ Now this relaxation of the mind from work consists in playful words or deeds. Therefore it becomes a wise and virtuous man to have recourse to such things at times.”
– from Summa Theologica (2a 2ae, 168 3) by Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas not only points to the need to play, as a way to rest the soul, he also provides very specific guidelines for spiritual. Additionally, in the Second Part of the Second Part of the Summa, when addressing question 168, he cautions against excessive play, as well as “the sin” of too little play. With regard to the guidelines, first and foremost, he says that “[play] should not be sought in indecent or injurious deeds or words” and, ultimately, that “we must be careful, as in all other human actions, to conform ourselves to persons, time, and place, and take due account of other circumstances, so that our fun ‘befit the hour and the man,’ as Tully says (De Offic. i, 29).”
All of this to say that the theme(s) for today beg(s) for a little divine play, as the sutra indicates such interaction helps us to better understand the universe and our place in the universe. Also, in the past, I have played today (mostly at the Y) to celebrate the day the YMCA was founded by George Williams in 1844. I have always endeavored to balance the play with an element of seriousness as today is also the anniversary of D-Day (1944). Add to that everything else that is happening in the world, in my little piece of the world, and in my personal world, and sometimes even I find it hard to play. However, even though I am super late in posting, we are still having class at Noon today.
It is up to you if you play, explore, or work during the 90-minute virtual yoga practice on Zoom today (Saturday, June 6th) at 12:00 PM. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class.
Today’s playlist will be available on YouTube and Spotify. (Links will be available on Zoom and I will update this page, with links, after the class. If you are not feeling particularly playful, you can use the playlists titled “06032020 How Can We See, Dr. Wiesel.”)
Another way, to refresh and restore your body today is with free (outdoor) acupuncture available in Saint Paul today(11 AM – 5 PM, see details here).
### NAMASTE ###
The Power of Being Seen & Heard June 4, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in "Impossible" People, Changing Perspectives, Healing Stories, Philosophy, Suffering, Tragedy, Women, Yoga.Tags: 1919, 1989, Changing Perspectives, June 4th, Life, protest, revolution, six-four
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TANK MAN
If you are a certain age or older (as I am) and from certain countries (ditto), and you don’t even have to click on the link above to see the photo. Just the name immediately conjures up the general timing (1989), if not the exact date (which is June 5th), and circumstances. Even though the picture is still, you can probably “see” the little bits of motion that surround this “incident” in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989. That’s how the people in China refer to it (if they refer to it): the “June 4 incident” or the “six-four incident.” Not the protest and (definitely not) the massacre, unless they are outside of China. The Chinese government initially referred to the events in 1989 as a “counterrevolutionary riot,” but then started diminishing the impact. The “counterrevolutionary riot” became just a “riot” and then a “political storm.” Now, the government calls it “political turmoil between the Spring and Summer of 1989.” They did not initially acknowledge that anyone died in and around Tiananmen Square, after what started out as peaceful student-led protests against the government. Later, they would acknowledge that “some” people were injured and “a few” died…but they still distance the injuries and deaths from the “incident.”
Keep in mind, “some” and “a few” are calculated in the thousands.
More telling than how they speak (or don’t speak) about what happened over the next couple of days in 1989, is the fact that if you grew up in China and you are 35 years old or younger, you can probably identify the location (after all, it is a landmark in Beijing), but you may not be able to identify the time, date, and circumstances associated with this picture. At least this was the finding of PBS interview dated April 11, 2006. When I watched the interview, I was a little surprised. What surprised me even more was that if you grew up in the United States and you are 35 years old or younger, you might not even be able to identify the location. (I asked around.)
Now, consider this second picture.
Tboyd5150 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Do you know this woman? Do you have any idea why (or what) this woman would have been celebrating today in 1919? It’s not surprising if you don’t, regardless of your nationality or age (since if you are reading this blog, you probably weren’t alive at the time). But there are some clues, in particular the date: June 4, 1919. Ring a bell? Does it help if I say she’s connected to the United States?
Feel free to Google it. I’ll wait.
Even if you somehow know this woman is a suffragist, her name (Phoebe E. Burn, “Miss Feeb” or “Feeb” to her friends) may not mean a whole lot to you. Even if you’ve attended one of my August 18th classes and heard me mention her name (and that of her son, then 24-year old Harry T. Burn, Sr. of Tennessee), it still might not immediately register that the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, was approved by Congress today in 1919. It was passed with 56 “ayes” and 25 “nays,” and ratified by the required three-quarters of the Union on August 18, 1920. Harry Burn, the Republican Representative from Tennessee, was the youngest congressman and was expected to vote against the amendment; which would have killed the legislation. When he voted, he was wearing a red carnation, indicating he was against the amendment. However, unbeknownst to those around him at the time, he carried a note from his mother telling him, “Don’t forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the ‘rat’ in ratification.” And, so he did.
Some states got on board relatively quickly, but it would take a while for other states to make the law officially valid. In fact, women would not “officially” and legally have the right to vote (without impediment from the state) in Alabama (until 1953), Florida (until 1969), Louisiana and Georgia (until 1970), North Carolina (until 1971), South Carolina (until 1973), and Mississippi (until 1984).
If you’re wondering why it took so long, consider the fact that many people in power (i.e., men) saw women as little more than children or property. Additionally, they feared what would happen if the power dynamic shifted and women were not only seen as their equals, but also given equal time to be heard as they voiced their concerns about the country. (Speaking of power dynamics, don’t even get me started on how long it took some states to ratify the 13th Amendment, which didn’t even include the right to vote. Yes, I’m looking at you, Delaware, Kentucky, and Mississippi.)
Protests, revolution, and change: it always comes down to this. It also comes down, once again, to perspective. When leadership does not get on board with the changes their constituents are demanding, progress is slow and painful. When individuals do not do the little bit that they can do, for as long as they can do it, very little to nothing happens. When people do not speak up to those they love who may be on the wrong side of history, we find ourselves at a stalemate.
Just consider the historical examples of today.
Despite the quarantine, the political landscape in China looks similar to 1989 – people are once again protesting. And, while women have the right to vote in the United States, own property, drive, and operate a business (that’s not a brothel, boarding house, and/or saloon), there are still major discrepancies in the lived experiences of American men and women.
But, wait a minute. I’m kind of leaving something (or should I say, someone) out of the discussion. Do you see it? Can you see it? If you can’t, you’re in “good” company, because some people couldn’t see it in 1919 either.
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How Can We See, Dr. Wiesel? June 3, 2020
Posted by ajoyfulpractice in Uncategorized.Tags: Alexandra Stéliski, Bear McCreary, Dr. David Hubel, Dr. Gerald Edelman, Dr. Oliver Sacks, Dr. Torsten Wiesel, eyes, ocular plasticity, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, truth, visual cortex, yoga, yoga philosophy, Yoga Sutra 2.20
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“I stopped explaining myself when I realized other people only understand from their level of perception.”
– Anonymous
“‘Every act of perception,’ Edelman writes, ‘is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination.’”
– Dr. Oliver Sacks, quoting Dr. Gerald Edelman (co-winner of the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine)
Yoga Sutra 2.20: draşțā dŗśimātrah śuddho’pi pratyayānupaśyah
– “The Seer is the pure power of seeing, yet its understanding is through the mind/intellect.” [Translation by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (for comparative analysis), “The sheer power of seeing is the seer. It is pure, and yet it sees only what the mind shows it.”]
The beginning of today’s blog post looks like a Saturday blog post. During the Saturday practices, we’ve spent the last year and a half digging deep into the Yoga Sutras, where Patanjali outlines the 8-limb philosophy of Yoga and spends quite a bit of time talking about the mind and how the mind works. The last few weeks (and really most of the quarantine), there has been an emphasis on the “seen” and the “unseen” and how we perceive the world around us (and how the world around us based of those same perceptions). Much of what we’ve been exploring on Saturdays fits in with this week’s theme of how perception connects to ideals.
Remember, what we “see” translates into what we understand (because we can only understand what the mind shows us) and what we understand leads to what we believe, which in turn forms our ideals – and how we live is determined by what we believe. Check to make sure you got that: We live not by what we say we believe (or what we claim are our ideals and values), but by what we actually believe in our hearts. Before, however, we get into the emotional and energetic side of this – before we go deeper into the metaphor of “seeing” – let’s take a step back, and consider how we (literally) visually see.
“The eye and the brain are not like a fax machine, nor are there little people looking at the images coming in.”
– Dr. Torsten Wiesel (b. 06/03/1924), co-winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
“We’re interested in how the brain works, and we work on the part of the brain that has to do with vision. And we…we record from single cells in the brain, and ask how it is you can influence those cells by shining lights and patterns.”
– Dr. David Hubel, summarizing research with Dr. Torsten Wiesel that won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
When Dr. Torsten Wiesel, born today in 1924, started working with Dr. David Hubel in the 1950’s, they were under the impression that animals (people included) saw whole images. By connecting the brain of an anesthetized cat to electrodes which produced a sound when the receptor cells within the visual cortex were activated, they thought they could map the cat’s neural pathways. Eventually they would not only map the cells associated with the visual cortex (and determine the mechanism by which they work), they would also win the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their research on ocular dominance columns. I say “eventually,” however, because they weren’t very successful when they started. Their basic premise was flawed, and it was by virtue of a “lucky” accident that they started making headway (pun intended). This, then, is one of those “aha” or epiphany moments I talk about all the time, where a realization occurs because someone is primed to recognize/understand what they are seeing.
“Science is not an intelligence test. Intuition is important, knowing what questions to ask. The other thing is a passion for getting to the core of the problem.”
– Dr. Torsten Wiesel, co-winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Wiesel and Hubel started off by shining bright lights at the cat, which resulted in no reaction from the electrodes, meaning no reaction from the receptor cells. They then moved on to slides of black dots. The black dots seemed to work – in that the cells fired and the electrodes engaged to produce a sound. However, the cells didn’t seem to fire consistently. When the researchers paid attention to the exact moment the cells fired, they realized the cat’s brain wasn’t reacting to the very pronounced black dot. Instead, the cells deep inside the visual cortex were reacting to the very faint line produced by the edge of the slide as it was moved in and out of the projector.
By experimenting with the placement and angle of lines (of various densities and from various sources), the scientist were able to identify and map “simple cells” and “complex cells.” Simple was the term applied to cells which reacted to lines presented at a specific angle (some cells reacting at one angle, others at another). Complex was the term applied to cells which responded to lines presented at a specific angle and moving in a specific direction. They were also able to determine which cells responded to light versus dark lines, which cells responded to bright versus dim lines, and which responded to lines of different colors and densities. All told, they expand were able to determine that the 125 million rods and cones in each retina sent information to 1 million fibers of optic nerve, which each transmitted signals to a variety of different regions in the brain. Those regions in the brain consisted of over 1 million cables of fibers which transmitted electric signals to additional regions before the signals finally reach the simple and complex cells in the visual cortex (about seven stages beyond the retina). All of this signaling and transmitting happens in the blink of an eye. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
As they went deeper, Weisel and Hubel discovered that if they covered one eye in kittens, preventing stimulation, the now dominate eye took over the areas of the brain (and the corresponding cells) which would normally be activated by the opposite eye. However, the cells of these kittens did not develop in the same way as kittens using both eyes. They did not develop binocular vision, which meant they did not see objects 3-dimensionally within their environment – and this lack of development was irreversible, which lead to a deeper understanding of ocular (and brain) plasticity.
“Innate mechanisms endow the visual system with highly specific connections, but visual experience early in life is necessary for their maintenance and full development. Deprivation experiments demonstrate that neural connections can be modulated by environmental influences during a critical period of postnatal development.”
– Dr. Torsten Wiesel
“We are born with this ability. So, as a newborn, open your eyes, visual system is ready to respond to the outside world.”
– Dr. Torsten Wiesel, explaining significance of research that won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Consider, for a moment, what you (literally and visually) saw as a child. Did you see people from different ethnicities, cultures, religions, and races? Did you see different genders and sexualities? Did you see people of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds? Did you see people of different heights and weights? Did you see people of different abilities? How did you see these people? And, how did you come to understand these people and how they fit into your world?
These are important questions to ask ourselves, in part, because while science has shown that brains can experience quite a bit of plasticity over a lifetime, change and new neural pathways are only created when we understand what we are seeing/perceiving – and understand that what we are seeing/perceiving is different from what we have seen/perceived/understood before. Additionally, the neural pathways are only hardwired when repeated experiences reinforce the new experience. Ultimately, however, if we don’t have reinforced experiences (or we don’t understand what we are seeing/perceiving) then what is reinforced is our tunnel vision and lack of depth. Confirmation bias, the tendency to interpret new information as confirmation or proof of existing beliefs is tunnel vision and a lack of depth. It can also be a bit of hallucination.
“We see with the eyes, but we see with the brain as well. And seeing with the brain is often called imagination. And we are familiar with the landscapes of our own imagination, our inscapes. We’ve lived with them all our lives. But there are also hallucinations as well, and hallucinations are completely different. They don’t seem to be of our creation. They don’t seem to be under our control. They seem to come from the outside, and to mimic perception.”
– Dr. Oliver Sacks in a TED Talk, discussing Charles Bonnet syndrome (a condition where visually impaired people hallucinate)
“I saw people that had been incarcerated and, you know, the whole issue about the rights of people determining their own fate has always been close to my heart.”
– Dr. Torsten Wiesel, discussing his humanitarian efforts as an academic and scientist
Dr. Torsten Wiesel turns 96 today. His career as a scientist, a researcher, and an academic allowed him to be exposed to people from all over the world. And, it seems, he always kept his eyes open. He served as chair of the Committee of Human Rights of the National Academies of Science in the US, as well as the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies for 10 years. He is a founding member of the Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization, a nongovernmental nonprofit established in 2004 to support collaborative research between scientists in Israel and Palestine. In addition to his many scientific awards and accolades, he was awarded the 2005 David Rall Medal from the Institute of Medicine and the 2009 Grand Cordon Order of the Rising Sun Medal (in Japan).
Please join me today (Wednesday, June 3rd) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a practice that’s as much about the brain as it is about the body and the heart. Use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You will need to register for the 7:15 PM class if you have not already done so. Give yourself extra time to log in if you have not upgraded to Zoom 5.0. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below.
Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify.
“For me ‘plus tôt’ is a piece that talks about the sort of space and time that you’re in before things happen to you. The sort of calm you can feel when you don’t know that some events are about to change you. It’s the beginning of the trip. It’s the beginning of the inscape.”
– Alexandra Stéliski explaining the inspiration for the first piece on her album Inscape (the song title translates to “earlier”)
(NOTE: Some blog quotes by Drs. Wiesel and Hubel are from a short biography produced by National Science & Technology Medals Foundation when Dr. Wiesel was awarded the 2005 National Medal of Science.)
### I CAN SEE YOU. CAN YOU SEE ME? ###
