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2009 September/October
Compassion
Help to Find Out Where T-Shirts Come From
I consider myself to be “tri-polar,” meaning there are three identities that dictate my daily actions: entrepreneur, journalist, and ethics professor. While these three identities …
Latest Remodeling Tip: Install a Faraday Cage
For at least the past 35 years, scientists have debated the health effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation. Does it cause cancer? Does it overexcite our wearied and worrie…Tags:
• Electromagnetism
You May Not Put Down Your Chalk!
“You may not put down your chalk. You may not return to your desk until you have correctly solved the math problem!” bellowed Sister. Once again, I was losing the math relay for my…
Readings and Séances in Central Florida
Looking for a psychic? Don’t dial one advertised on TV. Visit Cassadaga. The Central Florida community, some 30 miles from Orlando, is the oldest active religious community in the …
Material World September-October 2009
START YOUR DAY WITH PASSIONWho wouldn’t want to enjoy premium gourmet coffee while supporting fair trade, biodiversity, bird habitat, organic agriculture, and indigenous rights? Hi…
Friendships Boost A Woman’s Health
A landmark study by the University of Michigan has identified a likely reason why feeling emotionally close to a friend works wonders on a woman’s mood — and even boosts her health…
Last Chance for a Beach Dance
September is the best month to visit the spectacular Oregon coast and the last month to experience something extraordinary: Beach Dance at Cannon Beach. During each event, dancers …
Can Too Much Meat Lead to Diabetes?
Too much protein eaten along with fat may lead to insulin resistance, reports an animal study from Duke University Medical Center, providing a clue as to why the blood chemistry of…
The Sweet Taste of Ancient Winemaking
The ancient world may have struggled with written language, antibacterial medications, and a workable system of democratic governance, but they certainly solved the riddle of makin…
Try This Back-to-School Line Dance
At Naropa, the arts university “dedicated to advancing contemplative education” in Boulder, Colorado, students in the Master of Divinity program are anywhere from 20-something to 6…Tags:
• Meditation
A Celebration of Unprotected Love
Last month we received this invitation from columnist Peggy La Cerra:Dear friends,Last Thursday, my beloved fur girl, Spooky, went into the wilds and never returned. She and her br…
Two Lessons from 30 Years as a Therapist
INDEPENDENCE STEMS FROM INTERDEPENDENCE: Unable to drive due to a foot problem emanating from my lower back, I found that to get to my psychotherapy practice, support group, …
Bring on the Pasta
LOW-CARB DIETS MAKE PEOPLE STUPIDA study from the psychology department at Tufts University showed that dieters who drastically reduced or eliminated carbohydrates from their meals…
To Get an Organ, Agree to Give an Organ
Dave Undis is a retired insurance executive with a passion for helping people to live longer and the ability to look at hard numbers. He notes that 100,000 Americans need organ tra…
Sometimes It’s Healthier to Be in the Then
A couple of centuries ago, nostalgia — the wistful, sentimental yearning for a person close to us, for a significant life event, or for a place important to us — was dubbed a medic…
Need to Solve a Problem? Try Swinging Your Arms
Imagine that you can change the way you think, just by changing the way your body moves. If this sounds hard to believe, consider this: In a study, researchers at the University of…
How Meditation Might Help Break the Cycle of Poverty
In our July issue we reported on studies by Martha Farah, director for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrating that children raised in poverty tend …
Life Is Enhanced by the Right Sound Track
In a research project at the University of London, volunteers were asked to listen to 15-second snippets of music before judging the emotional content of faces. The results were re…
Crucial Practice: The Mindful Diaper Change
Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and the co-director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Group at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Becoming…
Try the Deity with Alcohol Dribbling Down His Chin
The first time I saw him in Guatemala, he was sitting on a chair in a native marketplace, dressed in a black suit, black shoes, and black hat. His mouth was open, shaped into a sma…Tags:
• Travel
Neurons of Compassion: Have we found the basis for empathy and altruism?
Like most great scientific breakthroughs, the discovery of the human mirror neuron system (MNS) was a complete accident. What may end up being the most important neuroscientific di…
What the Dying Taught Me about Living
What is a “good death”?A hospital chaplain reflects on the lessons from her patients.Suffering and death are what initially attracted me to a career in the spiritual care of the si…
Putting Chakras in Their Place
An anatomist studies the maps of our human energy systemsWhile 30 years ago a chakra couldn’t get the time of day in my neighborhood, nowadays they’re a veritable growth industry. …
Rituals for Wastelands
"Pastures ranged over the rolling hills. Tall oak and beech woods lined both sides of the valley, and when sunlight suffused through them, they seemed as enchanted to Lisa as when she and her sister had played there as children."
Is There Still a Glass Ceiling on Enlightenment?
An Interview with Jetsunma Tenzin PalmoIt is the close of the final day of her last teaching tour before retirement, and the legendary Buddhist nun Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, in the ma…
A Conversation about Busy Lives
A client says to me, “My husband and I argue about money constantly. It has gotten to where, when he comes in the room, I just freeze up and think, What is he going to say today? I…
A Return to Bliss
When Sheila Cluff glides across the ice, she feels like she’s flying. Her mind, focused on the details of precise footwork and pretty hand movements, is free from the day’s stress.…
Do I Tell My Dying Daughter That I Don’t Believe in Heaven?
My roommate insists it’s impossible to prove the existence of God. I’m not sure. What’s your take?It all depends on how you define the word “God.” For example, if you define God as…
What Schools Could Teach Us
Imagine what life would be like if we were educated using a curriculum that progressively revealed the interconnected nature of all things. If this were the case, I believe that wa…
Transmogrifying the Gospels
As I was studying the Gospels for my latest book, Writing in the Sand, I came across the passage in Matthew where Jesus is telling his students (that’s the proper Greek term) how t…
Neurons of Compassion
Have we found the basis for empathy and altruism? Like most great scientific breakthroughs, the discovery of the human mirror neuron system (MNS) was a complete accident. What may…Reviews
Fierce Light
Directed by Velcrow RipperAlive Mind MediaDocumentary“Fierce Light was created to empower people,” says filmmaker Velcrow Ripper. “The philosophy that guides my work is the transfo…
The Living Matrix
The New Science of HealingDirected by Greg BeckerDocumentaryThe Living Matrix is an exciting and visually compelling glimpse into what scientists have begun to see as they look at …
Who Does She Think She Is?
Directed by Pamela T. Bolland Nancy C. KennedyMystic Artist Film ProductionsDocumentaryConsider these statistics from the film: Women make up 80 percent of art school classes but o…
The Power of Forgiveness
Directed by Martin DoblmeierJourney FilmsDocumentaryHorror and dismay have been evoked by the Holocaust, the execution-style slayings of Amish girls peacefully studying in their cl…Tribal Music Suite
Journey of a PaiuteArvel BirdSinging Wolf RecordsThis neo-classical world music concerto for violin, Native American flute, drummers, and symphony orchestra is Arvel Bird’s passion…
Smokie Norful: Live
EMI GospelW. R. “Smokie” Norful, Jr., began picking out melodies on the piano at the age of two and — surprisingly, for the son of a minister of the African Methodist Episcopal tra…
Drive Time Rx
Listen De-stress and Be More Relaxed and AlertSteven HalpernInner Peace Music“One of the real-life challenges for many of us on a spiritual path is to remain mindful when driving, …
Love Holding Love
Wah!NuToneAs a student at Oberlin College and Conservatory, Wah! was introduced to African and Indian music, studied the tabla, and learned to play Indian raga on the violin. She a…
A Spiritual Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe
Travel Tips for the Spiritually PerplexedBy Paul RademacherHampton Roads, 2009, $24.95Paul Rademacher’s lighthearted and engaging memoir retraces the convoluted spiritual path that…
Green Revolution
Coming Together to Care for CreationBy Ben LoweInterVarsity Press, 2009, $15.00Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy and a leader in the worldwide movement to save our planet from …
Sacred Desire
Growing in Compassionate LivingBy Nancy K. Morrisonand Sally K. SeverinoTempleton Foundation Press, 2009, $21.95Current research, including that which led to the discovery of “mirr…
Living Beyond War
A Citizen’s GuideBy Winslow MyersOrbis, 2009, $16.00To those who say that the elimination of war is a naïve and unrealistic hope, Winslow Myers points out that what is really naïve…
Cloister Talks
Learning from My Friends the MonksBy Jon M. SweeneyBrazos Press, 2009, $12.99“I sit down with Father Ambrose to talk about love, to ask him about love. He rubs his hands together a…
