Eduardo Pimentel, yoga teacher and the president and founder of the Cuban Yoga Association (CYA), has been instrumental in spreading the teachings of yoga in Havana. Despite difficult working conditions, the practice flourish, and since the improved relations in 2015 between U.S. and Cuba, Pimentel's expertise will now benefit yogis outside Cuba as well.

Eduardo de Jesus Pimentel Vázquez—more commonly known as Eduardo Pimentel, the "Godfather of Cuban yoga"—has taught over 20,000 practitioners in Havana alone. He teaches daily in various locations, such as a rented veranda of a governmental institution, inside of a theater, at a local martial arts center, or at his own apartment with a maximum capacity of 12 students.

The conditions are minimalist—students rest in Savasana on a small area of tiled floor space, surrounded by empty walls with peeling paint and views of lush, fertile jungle outside. Pimentel dreams of one day selling his apartment for a larger space, so that he can open a yoga studio of his own—which as of today, would be the first of its kind.

[…]

Known throughout Cuba as "green medicine," yoga and other forms of holistic healing were backed by the government to promote good health among citizens. Yoga was often broadcast on governmental television networks, featuring Pimentel in many of the segments.

Yoga teacher Rina Jakubowicz Bajos in the photo series "The Cuba Libre Yoga Project" by photographer Robert Sturman:

Featured image: Eduardo Pimentel by photographer Robert Sturman.

During his freshman year in college, the executive director of the David Lynch Foundation and meditation teacher Bob Roth (@meditationbob) worked part time at a Swenson's ice cream store. One of Roth's co-workers seemed to radiate an unusually strong peace and calmness, an observation that led him to learn and teach Transcendental Meditation.

I was not a hippie, I did not take drugs and I was not interested in the plethora of new sects and new age philosophies that were sweeping through town. But I was disoriented and stressed. Really stressed. I had a part time job at a Swenson’s ice cream store—the only job I could find that fit my class schedule. And amidst all the clean-cuts and longhairs and jocks and crazies that either worked or frequented that store there was one guy I worked with, Peter Stevens, who was like a calm reflecting pool.

Peter was centered, energetic, super-smart, kind to all, easy going, never agitated, with an ineffable calm about him. I found out, rather serendipitously that he "meditated." It sounded discordant to me. In my activist-centric world of "If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem," meditation was not in my vocabulary. But I was intrigued and curious, and then grew open when he told me there was nothing to believe in. And equally attractive to my busy, busy mind: he assured me it was simple, easy, and I could actually do it.

Cautiously but bravely (I had never gone to learn something like meditation before), I attended an introductory talk on the technique. A nice, well-dressed man spoke for about 45 minutes. He said a few things that struck me. He said Transcendental Meditation gave the experience of a deeply settled, peaceful state of awareness that already existed at all times deep within the thinking mind of everyone.

Featured image: 1056 E San Lorenzo Rd III from photographer Tom Blachford's photo series "Midnight Modern".

In this cute and adorable short film by stop-motion artist PES, a submarine sandwich is made by using objects such as boxing and baseball gloves and other sports memorabilia.

Image credit: PES' Kickstarter page.

H/t Colossal.

Typeface designer and font developer Mark Simonson watched the beloved TV series "Mad Men" (2007–2015) with a critical eye and found that, although visually pleasing, the typefaces used in the show together with additional props belong to a different era. Simonson's piece "Mad Men, Mad Props" is from 2008, but includes the names of several beautiful typefaces, which I found interesting and valuable for my future graphic design work.

Then there is the Gill Sans (c. 1930) problem. Gill is used quite a lot in the series, mainly for Sterling Cooper Advertising's logo and signage. Technically, this is not anachronistic. And the way the type is used—metal dimensional letters, generously spaced—looks right. The problem is that Gill was a British typeface not widely available or popular in the U.S. until the 1970s. It's a decade ahead of its time in American type fashions.

Via Mental Floss.

Shot in more than fifty locations, the non-narrative time lapse film "Iceland Aurora" directed by filmmaker Snorri Thor Tryggvason, captures the natural wonder of northern lights, also known as Aurora Borealis.

Shot in more than fifty locations, the filmmakers spent one hundred and thirty nights over three years chasing green, purple and pink northern lights, as well as sunsets, sunrises, nocturnal clouds, starry skies, city scenes and barren moonlit landscapes.

Each of Iceland Aurora's seven chapters showcases a unique aspect of the Icelandic winter, with matching scores from musicians Pétur Jónsson, Kajak and Yagya. Together, they will take you on a magical journey through the ideal Icelandic winter week.

Watch the trailer:

And to get a sense of what the film has to offer, the filmmakers let you watch chapter four for free:

In the video "100 Years of Toys" by Mode.com, we learn what kind of favorite toys children have enjoyed over the years.

To experience a winter storm might not be the most pleasing of things if, e.g., you're a daily commuter, but it sure looks good in images. Here at NY Daily News, a gallery showcasing the worst snowstorms in New York City's history.

Featured image: An absolutely mesmerizing image with a caption that reads "Streetcars were stuck during the winter storm of 1936 at W. 45th St. in Times Square thanks to a frozen switch." Copyright by New York Daily News Archive.

Lifehackers series "This Is How I Work" is a real favorite of mine. In the series, you get a glimpse of how skilled professionals, mostly writers and individuals with a strong online presence, manage their workdays and what type of resources they're using to establishing a nice workflow. And another important thing – most of them don't neglect sleep and exercise, which for me was a happy discovery.

Here is my list of the 25 most inspiring "This Is How I Work" interviews:

1. Susan Kare – graphic designer
2. Tim Ferriss – author and entrepreneur
3. Zach Frechette – founder of Quarterly Co.
4. Maria Sebregondi – co-founder of Moleskine
5. Ryan Holiday – author, marketer, and entrepreneur
6. Guy Kawasaki – author, publisher and entrepreneur
7. Anna Holmes – writer, editor, and founder of the blog Jezebel
8. Jamie Todd Rubin – coder, science fiction and technology writer
9. Ryan Carson – CEO and co-founder of Treehouse
10. Kathryn Minshew – CEO of The Muse
11. Brian Lam – editor and founder of The Wirecutter
12. James Altucher – investor, hedge fund manager and entrepreneur
13. Leila Janah – social entrepreneur and CEO of the Sama Group
14. Chris Anderson – author and entrepreneur
15. Walter Isaacson – writer and journalist
16. Pamela Fox – product engineer at Coursera
17. Dave Greenbaum – owner and technician at DoctorDave Computer Repair, and writer at Lifehacker
18. Russell Brown – principal designer at Adobe
19. Clive Thompson – freelance journalist, blogger and science and technology writer
20. Daniel Pink – author
21. David McRaney – author
22. Mike Rowe – host of "Somebody's Gotta Do It"
23. Ryan North – creator and author of "Dinosaur Comics"
24. Charles Duhigg – journalist and author
25. Mark Frauenfelder – editor-in-chief of MAKE and co-editor of Boing Boing

Featured image: hedge fund manager James Altucher

The well-produced documentary "SOLD!: The Lewis Borsellino Story" (2015) by Tastytrade, tells the story about former Chicago Mercantile Exchange S&P floor trader Lewis Borsellino, who alongside his brother got mentored by lawyer and successful gold trader Maury Kravitz, and rose to become one of the nation's top traders.

In this episode of "If Our Bodies Could Talk", James Hamblin, senior editor at The Atlantic, visits NYC's first meditation gym named MNDFL. The gym, founded by Ellie Burrows and Lodro Rinzler, offers drop-in meditation classes ranging from Vedic to mindfulness meditation.

If you're like me, not a New Yorker and unable to visit MNDFL, you can still learn effortless mantra meditation by reading my meditation guide.