Soothing sounds guides? Many people associate aesthetic quotes with art, which is quite untrue. On the contrary, aesthetic quotes are quotes that are intended to help you see and appreciate your inner beauty, as well as the magnificence of your surroundings. Let’s face it; when was the last time you took a break from your busy schedule to appreciate your beauty? Or the beauty of that one person that gives you a reason to live a day longer? Or just the beauty of Mother Nature and its unparalleled grandeur?

Unexpected encounters with adversities often fail our natural coping mechanisms and make us vulnerable to burnout and hypertension. By developing the habit of regular meditation, we can successfully tame our mind to survive the storm. Studies have shown that Open Monitoring Meditation and Mindfulness-based Stress Relaxation Techniques reduce the stress hormones and make us more vigilant and self-aware. Research suggests that if we introduce meditation into the work culture and encourage professionals to practice the same regularly, they surely could work more efficiently under stressful circumstances and prevent the workload from taking a toll on their health (Lazar et al., 2006).

One of the most interesting studies in the last few years, carried out at Yale University, found that mindfulness meditation decreases activity in the default mode network (DMN), the brain network responsible for mind-wandering and self-referential thoughts – a.k.a., “monkey mind.” The DMN is “on” or active when we’re not thinking about anything in particular, when our minds are just wandering from thought to thought. Since mind-wandering is typically associated with being less happy, ruminating, and worrying about the past and future, it’s the goal for many people to dial it down. Several studies have shown that meditation, through its quieting effect on the DMN, appears to do just this. And even when the mind does start to wander, because of the new connections that form, meditators are better at snapping back out of it.

Before, I was constantly running things through the lens of theory and philosophy, creating multiple dramatic voices in the text. I am still thinking about the phenomenology of romance, but the problem of romance is something that’s passed to you as a child, through the family, through the entire world around you. It’s something I’ve always known so intimately, so maybe that’s why in addressing it. There’s a softness, there’s lyricism. I was beating that out of the poems before. This didn’t go without controversy. Some took issue with her feelings about her own experience, something to the effect of it being unethical of her to exploit her own exploitation. She was even accused of being a “fake” sex worker. Her accusers were not sex workers, so it’s anyone’s guess how they might know enough to tell a fugazzi from a genuine article, but this is neither here nor there. A few porn stars bowed up to troll for White, and that was the last of people saying she was a fake. Find a lot more information on the boy and the apple tree. Write different versions, then look them over and compare. How do they look on the page? Dense and heavy, or light and delicate? How well does their appearance fit your poem? What about the sound? Try reading them out loud. What is the rhythm like, for example, short and choppy, bouncy, smooth? Are there places where your eye or voice pauses? Are these the right places? Which versions are most interesting to read? Are there any places where the look or sound becomes distracting (for example, if you have one very long line that sticks out too much)?

You seem to inhabit a few different personas. There’s Rachel the poet, party girl—and you’re also a sex worker. Which personas did you inhabit while you were writing these poems? I think there is this me facing the idea of melting off the escort persona at times, and then also trying to hold on to a sense of self and politics, which is where the more manifesto-style lines enter [my work]. There is also the “I just want to have fun with my friends and have the orgy” voice, and there’s a a colloquial text message [persona] too. I think you can tell there are direct text messages from me to my friends and the other way around.

The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is the centrepiece of the north-eastern Belleville neighbourhood. It’s perhaps a little less formal than other green spaces in Paris, but so worth the uphill stroll. It’s often missed by weekenders keen not to stray too far from the tourist loop, but this 19th arrondissement beauty is one of the city’s most magical spots. The park, with its meandering paths, waterfalls, temples and cliffs, was designed by Adolphe Alphand for Haussmann, and was opened as part of the celebrations for the Exposition Universelle in 1867.

Do you know someone who has struggled with addiction? One of the most beautiful effects of meditation is that it can help people overcome powerful addictions. One fascinating study found that Vipassana meditation can be incredibly effective at helping people overcoming alcohol and drug related addictions, and similar effects have been found for various types of meditation.