If you're looking for a soothing, free, mini-respite, check out Pulse Park, an interactive art project in Madison Square Park. You go up to one of two little podium-like stands, hold the handlebars inside and have your pulse taken. It then translates the beating of your heart into pulsing beams of light on the field in front of you. Your pulse will be integrated into 199 other people's in a shifting array of light. When you let go, your heart light will stay in a single beam for a moment. It's a pretty magical New York experience. And apparently the electricity for the whole thing is fueled by biodiesel.

Since it's really hard to explain, you can check it out for yourself from dusk-10pm until November 17th. As a yogi who thinks a lot about heart and breath, I found it especially revelatory to see my inside pumps momentarily translated into light--and then watch it commune with other people's. The artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, told New York magazine that he first had the idea for the piece after 9/11 when he wanted to create something uplifing. Pulse Park he said, "... is meant to bring everyone together, to allow people to express some sort of agency in a public space."

When you're there, remember to look up to see the park's other current exhibit--treehuts.

Yee. Times like this I really love New York.

Have you tried Pulse Park? What did you think?