You know those MRIs they've taken of monk's brains that are literally glowy from all that happy, relaxed meditation? Chances are (given your post-vacation to-do list) yours is not looking like that right now.
The Exploratorium After Dark, which goes down the first Thursday of every month, turns to meditation tomorrow, exploring the cutting-edge research being done in the area. If you need to work on improved attention (how many minutes ago did you check Facebook?) and emotion regulation (how many passive aggressive work emails have you sent today?), meditation might be for you. Appropriately, this After Dark series is called Chill, and will feature a lecture by special guest Dr. Clifford Saron, a researcher at the Center for Mind and Brain at UC Davis.
As a follow up to the trippy Cubatron from one of last year's After Dark events, local artist Mark Lotter will also showcase his new work, Diamond Tree. Its a 20-foot tall sculpture, with vertical strings of lights assembled from small translucent balls, each individually programmed by Lotter. Every angle gives a mentally and visually stimulating symphony of color. Take that, monk's brains.
And for a meditation of the (life-sized) rock garden variety, check Vanity Fair and Vogue-lauded artist Joe Mangrum at work on an elaborate sand painting, a piece that he creates over a period of eight hours.
If all this hippy dippiness gets to be overload, there's of course the (cash) bar, as well as After Dark admission to the legendary Tactile Dome, something we think every San Franciscan needs to check off their list.
