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Poet Jane Hirshfield on the Mystery of Existence
Writer Kim Rosen raises questions about Zen, openness, and the “desperation” of the creative process.
2013 March/April
You Are What You Think
Features
How Imagination Shapes Your Reality
A growing body of research supports what spiritual contemplatives have known for Millennia—that the human capacity for imagination not only shapes our minds but also weaves the fabric of reality itself.
The Stubborn Gladness of Elizabeth Gilbert
Before Eat, Pray, Love was a movie and a travel tour, it was a memoir by the award-winning writer Elizabeth Gilbert, whose story of losing and finding herself resonates with just a…Connections
Enlightenment is to be Lived
My best friend and I are intrigued by enlightenment but can’t define it. What is enlightenment?Rabbi Rami: For me enlightenment is the act or art of embracing what is as it is, acc…
Philip Glass Gets Schooled
It’s a great time to be a Philip Glass fan—last year was the composer’s 75th birthday, and special performances were held worldwide. The Philip Glass ensemble performed Glass’s sco…Tags:
• Music
A River Ran Through It
Amazon environmentalists warn that hydroelectric dams could devastate the world's biggest watershed.
Tags:
• Energy
Out of Her Element
Writer Jennie Dorris thought she left the wilderness behind when she chose city life, but nature continued to guide her.
What's It Really Like to Be ... an Animal Psychic?
Six questions for professional animal communicator Maia Kincaid.
Want to Be More Creative? Tap Into Your Circadian Rhythms
Hope Clark leads a dual life. By day, she writes and edits the newsletter Funds for Writers; by night, she plots murder mysteries.“I’m very good at compartmentalizing,” says Clark,…Tags:
• Innovation
Why You Should Be Eating Ancient Grains
Kamut, farro, spelt, quinoa, millet, barley, amaranth—this isn’t a magical incantation. Or maybe it is. The words are names for ancient grains, whole grains that have been around f…Tags:
• Recipes
Turning the Tide against Fracking
Love. It may sound corny, but it’s what drove Sandra Steingraber to spark an uprising against an industry focused on short-term economic gain at the expense of long-term environmen…
Feeding a California Community
With her Oakland-based nonprofit People's Grocery, Nikki Henderson is leading more than just a food revolution.
Channeling Depression Into a Powerful Tool for Creativity
I wouldn't exactly call depression a gift, but I’ve come to accept the restless emptiness and nagging sadness as signals from my soul instead of merely the symptoms of an illness t…
Conscious Love: Online Dating for the Spiritually Minded
Writer Jane Ganahl dips her toes into the pool of "conscious singles" looking for love online.
Learn How to Lucid Dream as a Tool for Self-Discovery
If you’ve ever wished you had the power to control your dreams, a process called lucid dreaming, you’ve now got a good reason to try—not that it wouldn’t be nice to be able to put …Columns
Spending from the Heart
Money can do so much good if we use it in a spirit of interrelatedness, acceptance, and love.
Natural Medicine: Sleep Trouble, Hormone Replacement Therapy, and Kicking the Sugar Habit
My sleep problems started after age 30 and grew worse as I became a mother. I wake in the night and have difficulty getting back to sleep. Why do we have a harder time sleeping as …Tags:
• Natural Medicine
Out of Stillness, an Idea
My friend Pauline was trying Zentangles—doodling exercises that promise to pull your concentration into drawing in a way that frees the rest of your mind to come up with creative i…
A Beautiful Distortion
One year, my wife and I attended several plays in the Fringe Festival in Dublin, Ireland, where we were living. I remember especially a favorite of mine, Play, by Samuel Beckett. W…Tags:
• Art
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Yoga Dos and Don’ts: Elbow Alert
Hyperextended joints can be a sign of false strength says writer and yoga teacher Shannon Wianecki.
Reviews
Koralations
Foday Musa Suso and Gretchen RoweSUSO MUSICKORALATIONS IS A MEETING of two musical storytellers from distant continents. Foday Musa Suso grew up in Gambia, Africa, in a family of M…
Podcasts for On-the-Go Inspiration
The right podcast can turn a lengthy commute, a slow line, or a long, solitary walk into something you hope will never end. Our favorites illuminate, inform, and inspire us. …
Kon Tiki
Directed by Joachim Ronning, Espen SandbergKONTIKIFILMEN.COMNorwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl’s 1947 Pacific crossing from South America to Polynesia in a self-made raft of balsa…
The Other Side of the Ice
Directed by Sprague TheobaldNORTHWESTPASSAGEFILM.COMIn 2009, author and filmmaker Sprague Theobald had the bright idea of navigating the notorious Northwest Passage (the North…
To the Wonder
Directed by Terrence MalickMAGPICTURES.COM/TOTHEWONDERTo the wonder, an ethereal drama of love and adultery set in Paris and Oklahoma, is American auteur Terrence Malick’s most tra…
Hava Nagila
Directed by Roberta GrossmanHAVANAGILAMOVIE.COMEverybody knows the song “Hava Nagila.” But do they know the origins of this popular folk song, covered by rock stars, country s…
The Dunrobin Session
Pauline Oliveros and Jesse StewartNUUN RECORDSOliveros has explained deep listening as “listening in every possible way to everything possible to hear no matter what one is doing.”…
Amrita
Prajna Vieira and Ben LeinbachMANTRALOGY RECORDSPrajna Viera has honed her golden voice by singing devotional songs for Amma, the humanitarian “hugging saint” from India …
The Passion of Ramakrishna
Philip GlassORANGE MOUNTAIN MUSIC“It would be hard to overestimate the impact that the life, presence, and teaching of Sri Ramakrishna had on the formation of the modern India we k…
The Lunar Tao
Meditations in Harmony with the SeasonsBy Deng Ming-DaoHARPERONE In this book of daily meditations, Deng Ming-Dao reflects on the origins and historical mythology from Taoism, Bud…Tags:
• Meditation
Nurturing the Soul of Your Family
Ten Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday LifeBy Renée Peterson TrudeauNEW WORLD LIBRARYWhen you're swigging a soda to stay awake, yelling at your four-year-old, and fantasi…Tags:
• Family
Happier Endings
A Meditation on Life and DeathBy Erica BrownSIMON & SCHUSTERWith sensitivity, humor, and unflinching honesty, writer and educator Erica Brown explores how fear and denial …
The Longevity Kitchen
Satisfying, Big-Flavor Recipes Featuring the Top 16 Age-Busting Power FoodsBy Rebecca Katz with Mat EdelsonTEN SPEED PRESSWhat do you get when you take the top science-approved nut…
