Beating yourself up because you could’ve done better on your chem midterm? Feeling anxious about getting a job or being able to pay off student loans? All of these behaviors could be described as addictive and harmful. In a presentation given Wednesday at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, Diana Winston, co-author of “Fully Present,” and Dr. Rory Reid of the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, discussed coping methods for those who struggle with issues such as depression, anxiety, ADD, ADHD and addiction. Here are five tips they shared with the audience.

1. Learn self-compassion.

Self-compassion is being kind to oneself in the same way that you would be kind to another human being. Kindness sometimes comes in the form tough love, and it can include getting yourself help when you know you need it. Do you hate your friends when they fail a midterm? If you don’t, you shouldn’t hate yourself either.

2. Understand the difference between guilt and shame.

Guilt happens when a behavior is deemed bad  (e.g., feeling guilty for eating the brownie). Shame occurs when you feel like you are bad because of the guilt you feel (e.g., I am a horrible person for eating that brownie). Feeling guilty does not have to lead to shame. Once you are able to differentiate between the two, you can stop the self-shaming and learn to accept and let go of the guilt.

3. Stop forming judgments.

According to Dr. Reid, an act itself is neither good nor bad. For instance, if you just went on a summer beach body diet and decided that brownies are off limits, you are deciding that brownies are bad. Then, when you eat that brownie, you decide again that that action is bad. Instead of deciding whether the action is bad or good, acknowledge that it happened, accept the consequences and move on.

4. Recognize you aren’t alone.

During the presentation, Winston asked people in the audience to stand up if they had ever felt alone, hurt, scared and defeated. Most of the room stood up during this exercise, demonstrating Winston’s point that everyone deals with many of the same core struggles that come with being human. Dr. Reid pointed out that oftentimes suffering can be magnified when we think we’re the only person dealing with the issue. Normalizing the problem by realizing other people are just as worried about finding a job or getting good grades can make the suffering a little less painful.

5. Be present and observe.

Using the tiger picture above, Dr. Reid asked us to find the hidden tiger. After looking at the picture for a few minutes, most people in the audience could not see another tiger. He then explained that the stripes spelled the words “the hidden tiger,” and argued that our perceptions are tainted because we automatically assumed that the “hidden tiger” would be another drawing of a tiger, not the phrase  in text. Being present in the moment and observing instead of judging is called being mindful. This practice of mindfulness prevents us from obsessing on the future (anxiety) or fixating on past hurts (depression) and allows us to move forward in a happier state.

Mindfulness has been proven to help those with anxiety, depression, addiction issues, ADD, ADHD and negative thoughts, Dr. Reid said. Learning to forgive ourselves for all the nasty things we’ve said to ourselves can be hard. Harder still is the act of recognizing that we are imperfect humans, Reid said, but there is hope.

—Morgan Dobbins

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This week, I was headed to the Goodwill on Hollywood Boulevard, when I drove right through a thrifting mecca. A Vintage Vortex V, Crossroad’s Trading Co., Goodwill, and a new find, Squaresville, are all conveniently located within a few blocks of each other around the Hollywood/Sunset junction. It’s a kind of heaven for avid L.A. thrifters.

Vintage Vortex V houses a glamorous collection of vintage from many different vendors. Each vendor’s clothing is grouped together, making the space feel more like five to 10 mini stores. Items range from $30-300, so you might want to save your cash for Goodwill, but do your inspiration shopping here. The second room of clothing is much for college budget-friendly, however. Men and women’s vintage tees, frocks and cut-off jean shorts are priced at about $20 each. Vintage Vortex also has a vinyl store on the block if you’re looking for some records. It’s definitely a place to get inspired by the old school vibes and fabulous fashion.

Squaresville is only short walk away at Vermont and Melbourne. Most items in the store cost between $10 to 20. They have a radical collection of dresses and quirky handbags, as well as skirts, tops and coats. This place offers clothes with the perfect price range and it’s located in an awesome neighborhood filled with handmade co-op stores, little cafes and hip eateries.

Crossroad’s Trading Co. is also nearby. At Crossroad’s you’ll have to dig for those really funky pieces, but they have a lot of good basic, recent fashion at second hand prices.

Goodwill beats all other stores in terms of prices and is an excellent place to spend your leftover cash at the end of the day.

Know of any other thrifting palaces near Sunset Junction? Tweet us @dbmojo or comment below.

—Casey Bradford

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Chances are, most of you have probably run on a treadmill. Which also means you’ve probably experienced the feeling that you’ve been running for a century, only to look down and stare incredulously at the little red numbers telling you that you’ve only run 0.3 miles. I’ve logged my share of miles on the treadmill (also commonly known as the dreadmill), but let’s face it: Running in one place with nothing to do but people-watch can get a bit boring after approximately two minutes a while.

I interviewed a variety of students sweating it out at the John Wooden Center, and discovered just a few of the different ways that students stay in shape (and without feeling like a hamster trapped on a hamster wheel).

• Bhangra Bollywood Workout (pictured above)

This class is offered through the group exercise program at Wooden (which costs $25 a quarter for access to a variety of different classes). It combines Eastern Indian dance forms with other dance styles influenced by Bollywood. The music is upbeat and the instructor goes over the choreography a lot, so the class is fairly easy to follow. Third-year art history student Emily Niemann said that the class keeps her moving, yet isn’t as hardcore as some other workouts. She said she keeps coming back because she really likes the instructor, and she has a lot of fun at each class.

• Krav Maga

Krav Maga is an easy-to-learn self-defense system that involves hand-to-hand combat. It was developed by the Israeli military, and in addition to having practical use, the class provides a good cardiovascular workout. Julia Wu, a fourth-year history student, said that she likes how the class is taught because it simulates being attacked on the street. When asked to compare the workout to running on a treadmill, she said that it works out a lot more of the upper body and requires more thinking. Students in the class practice in pairs and learn a variety of punches, kicks and blocks, as well as how to get out of different choke holds. First-year chemical engineering student Jett Appel had never tried a martial art before signing up for Krav Maga, and he said that he liked that the class isn’t about competition, just self defense. Krav Maga is offered each quarter for $35 and meets once a week for 8 weeks.

• Rock Wall Climbing

If you’re like me, you’ve probably walked by the indoor rock wall countless times at the John Wooden Center without a second thought. But you probably didn’t know that after taking one $15 beginner rock wall orientation class, you can come back and climb whenever you want for free. Patrick Nguyen, a fourth-year English student, climbs often, even though he’s afraid of heights. He said rock climbing allows him to use his fitness to overcome that fear. He really likes the social aspect of climbing, too. And if you’re wondering if only the pros go and climb (because they all pretty much look like Spiderman when they’re jumping from hold to hold), Nguyen says that rock climbing is for everyone. “The only way you can get better at rock climbing is by rock climbing,” he added.

• Hula Hoop Workout

Remember those days back in second grade when everyone was good at hula hooping? Well, you can take a trip down memory lane and take this hula hooping class (offered through the group exercise program) that also provides you with a good core workout. Yifang Nie, a third-year biochemistry student, said that she comes back to the class because it’s a great ab workout. She said she likes to run, but that running can get boring. “(Hula hooping) is a more exciting way to work out than running or lifting weights all day,” she said. The class is fairly easy to pick up because the choreography isn’t too complicated. And don’t worry, you don’t need to bring your own hula hoop!

• Musical Theater Jazz

If you’ve ever wanted to know what it’s like to be in a Broadway show, this is the class to take. The class, which is new this quarter, begins with stretches and warm-ups, then some tutorials on basic dance moves, such as chasses, chaines and pirouettes (in English, that’s steps, turns and spins).  The bulk of the class is spent learning a dance from a popular musical. Kellie Selmser, a third-year political science student, said she loves jazz, but the musical theater aspect spices up the class even more. “Musical theater jazz is different because it’s big, cheesy, fun and lyrical,” she said. Although the choreography can be tough for beginners, the class is open to people of all skill levels.

What’s an interesting way that you stay in shape? Comment below or tweet us @dbmojo and let us know!

With blogging contributions by Brian Pham.

—Julianna Foster

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Similar to the quotes engraved on the top of North Campus’ Humanities building, South Campus has its own nod to the power of knowledge. It’s just that South Campus’s public quote is in, well, let’s just say… a different language. The language of mathematics.

While unnoticeable to the common eye, the message is more easily detected by Boelter Hall’s common inhabitants – those students fluent in the language of zeros and ones.

At the southeast entrance to the second floor of Boelter Hall, there is a row of alternating black and brown tiles that represent binary, a computer code made up of zeros and ones.

Viet Nguyen, a first-year computer science graduate student with a specialization in artificial intelligence, made the connection between the tiles and the code a few days ago, and he posted his discovery on the UCLA Subreddit.

To help understand the significance of these tiles, and how they convey a message, we enlisted the help of Ben Lin, a third-year computer science student. He explained that the black and brown tiles represent zeros and ones, respectively. Still confused? Watch the video below.

Starting from the entrance and reading each row from left to right, we were able to decode the message as:

01101100
01101111
00100000
01100001
01101110
01100100
00100000
01100010
01100101
01101000
01101111
01101100
01100100
00100001

While all this just seems like the “Binary Solo” from Flight of the Conchords, by assigning letters from this ASCII table to each line, these tiles clearly translated to “Lo and behold!” (Exclamation mark included!)

While “Lo and behold!” pretty much describes our reaction to finding out that there was a message behind these magical tiles (We’re putting on our red shoes and skipping along them to the Emerald City), it is most likely a reference to the first message transmitted across the Internet from UCLA to Stanford.

The Internet, which celebrated its 43rd birthday last October, was invented in the late 1960s in Boelter Hall by computer science professor Leonard Kleinrock and his team.

According to Kleinrock, the message was supposed to be “login” but after sending the first two letters, “lo,” the system crashed.

And that, kids, is the story of how the first message sent across the Internet was “lo,” as in “Lo and behold!”

Have you noticed any other “easter eggs” hidden on campus? Let us know by tweeting us @dbmojo or commenting below.

*The quotes on top of the entrances at the Humanities building are “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law,” from Psalms 119: 18 and “Nothing is too wonderful to be true,” said by Michael Faraday.

—Kassy Cho

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There’s something happening in Bruin Plaza every day. A few weeks ago, the plaza was packed with organizers promoting Mind Well Week, Volunteer Appreciation Week, Issues Awareness Week and Earth Day. This week, the area is buzzing with activity because of Undergraduate Students Association Council election campaigning.

As UCLA students, we are accustomed to seeing a flurry of activity in Bruin Plaza. Sure, it’s where the Bruin Bear is located. But Bruin Plaza also has a clear “ecosystem” of sorts, and it’s fair to say that it’s the center of student life.

Mojo wanted to find out how it all started, so we got in touch with the Center for Student Programming, which is in charge of scheduling Bruin Plaza for registered campus organizations and helps plan activities. We spoke with the center’s director, Mike Cohn, about the evolution of Bruin Plaza throughout the years.

Surprisingly, Bruin Plaza has not always been the go-to venue for speakers, food sales, concerts and elephants. Yes, you read that right.

It seems that Meyerhoff Park, the small grassy area in front of Kerckhoff Hall, was the place to be before 1994. But after the Northridge Earthquake of 1994, however, Meyerhoff Park underwent some renovations and was blocked off.

Bruin Plaza, then called “Westwood Plaza,” became its temporary replacement. Since then, the plaza has evolved into a hub of student activity.

Here are some bizarre and significant events that have happened in Bruin Plaza throughout the years:

• In 1984, the USAC internal vice-president, who was involved with Bruin Republicans, brought a live elephant onto campus, walked it through Bruin Plaza, up Bruin Walk and into Meyerhoff Park to support Ronald Reagan and the Republican candidates. Cohn, who was an undergraduate at UCLA at the time, said he remembered students’ jaws dropping when they saw the elephant.
• A few years ago, a student group wanted to land a hot air balloon in Bruin Plaza. The center rejected the request.
• A peace group once released 1,000 doves from the area.
• Rev. Jesse Jackson once spoke in Bruin Plaza.
• Bill Clinton delivered his acceptance speech in Bruin Plaza in 1992 when he secured the Democratic nomination for president. More than 5000 people were present.

• Requests are granted on a first come, first serve basis but CSP staff tries to provide programs that support the needs and diversity of the entire campus.
• Only certain set-ups are allowed.
• Any food sales or giveaways need to be approved by the UCLA Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Any “kitchen” set ups also have to be approved by a fire marshall.
• The “X” through the middle of the Plaza has to remain open to allow a vehicle to reach the Ashe Center in case of emergencies.
• Amplified sound is only allowed between 11:50 a.m. and 1 p.m. No amplified sound is allowed during 10th and finals week.
• Registered campus organizations can reserve the plaza for two non-consecutive days each quarter.
• There is now a weight restriction and maximum capacity of 4000 people because of Lot 4 underneath.

—Kassy Cho

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