Natural Awakenings Magazine, February 2011 issue

FREE Natural

Awakenings Magazine Secrets to a Great Love Relationship Chocolate G Green L Local O Organic W Wholistic

p.30

Harville Hendrix, Marriage Whisperer, p.20

Valentine’s Shmalentine’s!

A Celebration of the Many Kinds of Love, p.8

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February 2011 February 2011

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February 2011

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February 2011

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Natural Awakenings is your guide to nutrition, fitness, personal growth, sustainable building, “green” living, organic food, Buy Local, the Slow Food and Slow Money movements, creative expression, wholistic health care, and products and services that support a healthy lifestyle for people of all ages.

Publisher Carolyn Rose Blakeslee, Ocala Managing Editor Clark Dougherty Editors Sharon Bruckman S. Alison Chabonais Kim Marques Linda Sechrist Design + Production Stephen Gray-Blancett Carolyn Rose Blakeslee Contact Us Email: GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com Call: 352-629-4000 Mail to: P.O. Box 1140, Anthony, FL 32617 Fax: 352-351-5474 Visit: www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com Subscriptions Mailed subscriptions are available for $36/ year. Digital is free. Pick up the printed version at your local health food stores, area Publix and Sweetbay stores, and other locations—that’s free, too. Locations listed online at www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com.

~ Features ~ 8

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Yin & Tonic

by Melody Murphy

Valentine’s Shmalentine’s. Here’s a fresh look at this overwrought drama of a day, as re-intentioned and experienced by three college students 15 years ago ...

Mindful Kids Inner Awareness Brings Calm and Well-Being

by Daniel Rechtschaffen

The power and peace of being present in the moment

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Exercise Now! Stick-with-It Tips

by Gretchen Rubin

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Gardening in February

by Jo Leyte-Vidal

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Harville Hendrix, The Marriage Whisperer

by April Thompson

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Secrets of a healthy relationship, and a detailed account of how one couple reignited their love

Greener Ways to Dry Clean

by Brita Belli New eco-friendly methods

Natural Awakenings Gainesville/Ocala/ The Villages/Mt. Dora/Leesburg/Clermont is published every month in full color.

20,000 copies are distributed to health food stores, public libraries, Publix and Sweetbay stores, medical offices, restaurants and cafes, and other locations throughout North Central Florida.

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Acceptance Brings Contentment

by Lama Surya Das

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Reflexology: How Our Feet and Hands Talk

by Linda Sechrist

Natural Awakenings cannot be responsible for the products or services herein. To determine whether a particular product or service is appropriate for you, consult your family physician or licensed wholistic practitioner.

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Foods that Fight Pain

by Michelle Schoffro Cook

Copyright ©2011 Natural Awakenings. All rights reserved.

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Happiness Is Chocolate

by Gabriel Constans

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Dark and delicious, it’s even blissfully healthy!

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~ Featurettes ~ NewsBriefs

EcoBriefs HealthBriefs CommunityResource Guide ClassifiedAds CalendarofEvents

PublisherLetter

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Coming in March: Integrative and preventive medicine To be a sponsor in this issue, call 352-629-4000 Advertising & Submissions AdvertisING n To advertise with us or request a media kit, please call 352-629-4000 or email GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com. n Our media kit is online at www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com. n Design services are available, FREE (limited time offer). n Advertisers are included online FREE and receive other significant benefits including FREE “Calendar of Events” listings (normally $15 each).

Editorial AND CALENDAR submissions n For article submission guidelines, please visit www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com/services.htm. n Calendar: visit www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com /news.htm. n Email all items to GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com.

MATERIALS DUE n Deadline for all materials is the 15th of the month (i.e.

February 15th for March issue).

Hello, Dear Reader, We have lots of good news for you this month.

First, you can now pick up Natural Awakenings Magazine at Publix, Sweetbay, and Winn Dixie stores. We are excited about this—even though you can still find the magazine in Mother Earth and several hundred other locations as before, we think the addition of these major stores will make it even easier for you to find the magazine every month.

Next, we’re preparing to launch a new edition for The Villages and the surrounding area. We’re going to need some support staff to do this—if you are an experienced advertising sales executive who lives in the Lady Lake area, we would like to talk to you. Please call 352-629-4000 or email us at GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com Happy Valentine’s Day!

ª Carolyn

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February 2011

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by Melody Murphy

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t is universally acknowledged that single people hate Valentine’s Day.

Ironic, that a day which celebrates love should also stir up the antithesis of it.

V-Day haters are everywhere, and most of them are not at a table for two. Valentine season can be as painful to lonely hearts as if they were pricked by the sight of every Cupid’s arrow and every red rose’s thorn.

And yet, dear reader, I submit, with great authority on the subject, that this should not be so. Valentine’s Day is a holiday to celebrate love. But it should not necessarily be limited to romantic love. There are more kinds of love than the passionate or erotic. The song does not go, “All you need is Eros; Eros is all you need.” (And don’t get me started on that song; love is not all you need, because try paying with it at the electric company: “Yes, I’d like to pay this staggeringly high bill with some love.” It’s a good way to get yourself arrested for solicitation. But I digress.)

Let us say that you are in a romantic relationship. Unless you are French or unusually broad-minded, this is probably with just the one person. However.

No matter how wonderful this Special Someone may be, is this favored individual the only person you love or who loves you? Unless you have some very serious issues, no. If you have managed to leave your home long enough to engage in the world around you and connect with other human beings, you also have probably met and bonded with and developed other loving relationships with assorted humans.

In short, you have friends.

You probably also have a home and a family of some sort, unless you are a Dickensian street orphan, in which case you still probably roll with a tight entourage, because petty thieves and hookers can have hearts of gold, too. And if this were a musical, we’d sing about that right now.

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All that is to say: Special Someone notwithstanding, there are other people you love, and other people who love you. You have not just one but several special someones in your life, be they friends or family or a wonderful hybrid of both, who fill this role for you.

So there is no reason, even if you are single on Valentine’s Day, to despise the day and go around feeling unloved and sorry for yourself, lamenting your lack of romance and moping about your loveless state. Chances are very good that you are not loveless. Find someone to enjoy the day with, and if you lack love the way Hallmark would define it, celebrate the other kinds of love in your life. The love of friends and family are equally as important as romantic love, just different. We use the term “in a relationship” to describe a romantic union—but we are in many different kinds of relationships, and they are all worth celebrating. A lack of romantic love doesn’t negate all the other kinds of love you have in your life, any more than being alone means you have to be lonely.

My favorite V-Day memory, and the Valentine’s Day I enjoyed most, was during college. My two best friends and I were all single, and we agreed that instead of feeling cosmically thwarted over our dateless state, we would spend the day together and celebrate it as a day of friendship. It was a school day, so we began with a breakfast picnic of strawberries and cream on the front lawn of the fine arts building, then ran rampant in the parking lot, tucking anonymous Animaniacs valentines beneath the windshield wipers of friends’ cars.

After our morning classes, we did what we often did, since we were poor college students: We met in the parking lot and pooled our money, spare change from our pockets and the floorboards of our cars included, to see what we could afford for lunch. We decided we could

afford the soup-salad-and-breadsticks combo, and a shared appetizer, at the Olive Garden. We felt adventurous, so we tried the fried calamari, which we had never had before. (To an unschooled adolescent palate, fried squid seems quite exotic.) We weren’t terribly impressed by it, but we washed it down with pink lemonade, and we laughed about it—so much so that our waiter became intrigued by the three giddy girls sharing soup and squid, and wanted to know our story.

“Don’t you girls have dates?” he said in wonderment. “It’s Valentine’s Day!”

We cheerfully told him no, but we were celebrating it as a day of friendship instead of getting bummed out about the current absence of romance in our lives. He thought this was very cool, and was quite taken with us and our alternate take on Valentine’s Day. At the end of the meal, he brought us each a chocolate truffle, told us to take the roses from the centerpiece on our table, and wished us a very happy Valentine’s Day together celebrating our friendship.

When we left the restaurant, one of the friends, who at that time was working at Baskin-Robbins as a cake decorator, told us she needed to stop by work first to pick up her paycheck.

Moments later, she came out, proudly bearing a small, heart-shaped, cookiesand-cream ice cream cake, with “Happy V-Day!” and all our nicknames written on top in red icing.

It was an awesome surprise. We hurried back to school to eat it before it melted, and before we had to get to class.

But then we discovered we didn’t have forks. Or spoons. One friend pilfered a knife from somewhere, I dared not ask where, and we cut melting slices of it, picked them up, and ate them quickly, ice cream dripping everywhere. It is hard

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to eat ice cream cake with your fingers, especially when you are laughing that hard. You soon give up trying to maintain any semblance of decorum, and just enjoy the messy, ridiculous indulgence. (We generously offered to share the cake with our other friends, but for some reason, they politely declined. I still remember the look of sheer horror and disgust, yet mixed with envy, on one friend’s face as he watched us, mesmerized by our frenzied ice-cream orgy.)

That night, we fixed spaghetti for dinner, and sat down with mugs of hot chocolate to watch, for whatever reason, Disney’s 1973 animated version of Robin Hood. Equally inexplicably, we regaled ourselves with the hilarity of assigning a character to each of our friends and professors.

I may never have laughed so hard and for so long at something so bizarre, but I tell you, it was true comedy.

This day of whimsy was admittedly not at all romantic, or the way most people would aspire to spend V-Day. For all I know, this story has made you very sad and you are shaking your head with pity. But it remains my very favorite Valentine’s Day ever. It was gloriously silly, and we reveled in it.

Valentine’s Day is not known for silliness. It is grand and serious and over-the-top. Red roses in profusion.

Sweeping declarations of undying passion. Champagne, chocolates, jewelry, poetry, expectations as high as the stars in the heavens. A meal that requires reservations and uncomfortable clothing and sets you back half a paycheck.

Vows of eternal love, printed in swirling typefaces, in words so flowery they should come with a bag of mulch.

V-Day in our society often represents love as depicted by a Lifetime historical miniseries. This is heavy, serious business.

Love portrayed like you’re up for an Oscar for it. This is not just love, but Love, written with a feather-plumed quill in elaborate calligraphy on antique parchment scented with a thousand roses crushed under the heels of dancing nymphs and brought delicately to you in the beaks of turtledoves borne aloft in a gilded cage by dying swans on the wing at sunset to the soaring violin strains of Tchaikovsky.

But I don’t think this is the way most people love, or stay in love. I think love is really more of a divine comedy.

Even the best drama contains lighter moments, a little comic relief here and there. Any couple who’s been together happily a long time can tell you the value of humor. Love doesn’t always have to be so serious, and neither does Valentine’s Day, as three silly college girls proved in 1996.

So however you spend your Valentine’s Day, and whoever you spend it with, remember all the loves of your life. Approach the day with the same reckless whimsy as eating ice cream cake with your fingers. It’s messy and uninhibited, but so is love. And both should be entered into with abandon, a complete lack of self-consciousness, and a healthy dose of humor. Have a light-hearted day of love and laughter, keep your expectations low and your spirits high, and try a little silliness. And don’t forget the ice cream.

Melody Murphy dedicates this column as a valentine to the beloved friends and family of her life, and thanks them for their silliness, their sweetness, and their wonderful wit and whimsy. Love & ice cream to you all. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

February 2011

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NewsBriefs Qi Revolution National Gathering Coming to Orlando

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igh-powered breathing techniques, Qigong exercises, and food-based healing will all be taught for four days, April 30-May 3, at the Orlando Convention Center.

During his 15 years as a full-time Qigong practitioner, Jeff Primack healed himself from life-long asthma and taught more than 20,000 people

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through his workshops to discover for themselves the same secrets of maximizing their own healing potential. Jeff Primack, the “Ice Man” Wim Hof, and 100 certified instructors will teach all three levels of Qigong healing and breathing applications for only $99 for the four days. High-quality lodging is available within walking distance for as little as $38/night.

Seating is limited and advance registration is required; call 800-2988970 or visit www.Qigong.com. See ad on the back cover.

A Month of Valentine Workshops in Sarasota & Orlando

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or a romantic Valentine’s celebration this month, couples have three different opportunities to honor and heighten their love with an Intimacy Retreat. Two will be held on Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL: February 11-13 and 18-20. The third will be at the Tranquiliti Wellness Center in Orlando, February 25-27. All three workshops are led by Richard & Diana Daffner, CS, M.A., internationally-known relationship experts, creators of Tantra Tai Chi, and authors of Tantric Sex for Busy Couples.

Intimacy Retreats offer couples a system of exploring and enhancing their love relationship, through teachings that are presented in an uplifting, supportive and fun atmosphere. The Daffners present both ancient and modern understandings of intimacy to guide couples toward connecting on a richer, more dynamic level and to deeply express and experience their love. Couples will learn the arts of Tantra, Loving Touch and Authentic Communication through exercises that are easy, meaningful and practical for busy live styles. “Homeplay” assignments between workshop sessions allow couples to reinforce and personalize the training in the privacy of their homes or hotel rooms. (No public nudity or sexual activity.)

The weekend retreats, $595/couple, begin Friday evening at 7 pm and end Sunday at 2 pm. For details and a complete schedule of upcoming dates and locations, visit www.IntimacyRetreats.com or call 941-349-6804 for a free brochure or to speak with the Daffners.

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Bishop Spong Weekend on New Christianity

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etired Bishop John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, is coming to Ocala Saturday and Sunday, February 19-20.

He is a beloved teacher who makes contemporary theology accessible to all, and he is considered the champion of an all-inclusive, loving faith by people both within and outside the Catholic Church.

A visiting lecturer at Harvard and other universities and churches throughout the world, Bishop Spong delivers more than 200 lectures each year to standing-room-only crowds.

The schedule of events: n Saturday, 9:30-noon, seminar “My Journey Out of Fundamentalism Into a New Christianity.” n Saturday, 1:30-4, seminar “The Human Condition: Fallen Sinners or Incomplete Human Beings.” n Sunday, 11-noon, musical worship service. n Sunday, 1:30-4, seminar “The Christ: A Call to Love, to Love and to Be.” The musical worship service is free. Registration fees start at $20 for the three seminars, with early (before February 7) discounts offered. All events will be held at the Marion Technical Institute, 1614 SE Fort King St., Ocala.

For more information or to register, call 352-436-4963.

See ad, p.12.

We don’t just talk about the environment— We respect it.

At Natural Awakenings, we know the cost of glossy coatings on a magazine’s pages: n 33-54% increase in energy consumption, wastewater, air pollution emissions, solid waste n Coated paper is very difficult to recycle (the quantity of waste clay coating removed nearly equals that of the usable paper fiber) n The sealant coating/varnish commonly contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) n Inks that often contain heavy metals and VOCs n Higher costs to print, resulting in higher costs for advertisers —Sources: Buy Recycled Business Alliance; Turning the Page by the PAPER Project partnership; Magazine PAPER Project (CoopAmerica.org/programs/woodwise/publishers/ magazines/index.cfm For more information, visit www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com/WhyRecycled.pdf Join our family of “green” readers and advertisers. Call 352-629-4000.

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February 2011

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Holistic Holiday at Sea with Amrit Desai

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urudev Yogi Amrit Desai and Chandrakant are teaming up for this year’s Holistic Holiday at Sea for your mind, body and spirit. Share the experience and wisdom of some of the world’s leading authorities and experts in holistic living and natural health. Cruise the Western Caribbean on one of the world’s premier Italian luxury liners, the MSC Poesia, which combines the style and sophistication of Europe with American comforts and convenience. February 27-March 6, 2011. For reservations: TravelGroup International 561-447-0750 or 866-447-0750.

Two Gainesville Farmers Markets Now Accepting Credit/ Debit and EBT Cards

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BT cards are now being accepted at the Alachua County Farmers Markets EBT Project Booth. The booth provides technology for EBT card users to use their SNAP (formerly food stamp) benefits to purchase eligible food items every Wednesday at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza in Downtown Gainesville and Saturdays at the intersection of NW 13th St. and 34th St. As an incentive to eat healthy, fresh local food, card holders may redeem $1 dollar of SNAP benefits and receive $2 dollars to spend on SNAP-eligible purchases at the markets. The project is made possible

by Alachua County.

In addition, debit and credit card users may now use their cards at the farmers markets and purchase from a variety of vendors. Farmers Market Gift Certificates, available in $5 denominations, are also available.

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Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

EcoBriefs

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eusable totes can be an environmental boon, vastly reducing the number of disposable bags that wind up in landfills. If each reusable bag is used twice a week, five of them can replace 520 disposable plastic bags each year.

Source: Nick Sterling, research director, Natural Capitalism Solutions

Green Rollout

2011 = Electric Rental Cars

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nterprise Rent-A-Car leads the competition in rolling out the first round of rental electric vehicles this month in eight markets supported by charging-stations. Customers can initially rent these gas-free vehicles in Los Angeles, Knoxville, Nashville, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.

The cars can be charged using a standard 110-volt home outlet or a 220-volt or 480-volt commercial charging station. Most EVs can travel about 100 miles on a single charge, accommodating the travel habits of the typical commuter who averages 30 to 40 miles a day.

“With airport and neighborhood locations within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, [we can] test the market viability of new alternative fuel technologies like the electric vehicle with daily commuters nationwide,” says Lee Broughton, director of sustainability for Enterprise Holdings, operator of the Enterprise, Alamo and National brands. The company already manages the world’s largest fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles, including nearly 7,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles.

Additional corporate sustainability initiatives include Enterprise Institute for Renewable Fuels’ research into biofuels aimed to reduce both energy use and energy cost by 20 percent over the next five years.

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For more, visit KeysToGreen.com. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

February 2011

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MINDFUL KIDS

Inner Awareness Brings Calm and Well-Being

by Daniel Rechtschaffen

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“You feel... more

hen I walk outside, students Mindfulness, in the forms of medical run to me from the school and psychological modalities such playground, but they don’t as Mindfulness Based Stress Reducyell out my last name as they circle tion and Mindfulness Based Cogniaround and grab onto my legs, as it can tive Therapy, is gaining attention as be a bit much to remember and proresearch suggests that it can improve nounce correctly. Instead, I usually hear mood, decrease stress and boost im“Hey, Mr. Mindfulness,” or even, “The mune function. Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindfulness Dude!”

Ph.D., and others have been studying

My job is to help to bring the art the medical effects of mindfulness for and science of mindfulness to students 30 years with impressive results.

Excerpt from a fourth-grader’s and teachers in schools, juvenile deten Brought into schools, it can be a Mindfulness Journal tion centers and sports teams, as well as powerful antidote to many struggles to clients in my private psychotherapy facing our youth. practice.

In the California Bay Area, for example, the Mindful

Happily, research is beginning to show that applying Schools program has used mindfulness to teach concentramindfulness can decrease stress, attention deficit issues, tion, attention, conflict resolution and empathy to 10,000 depression, anxiety and hostility in children, while benefitchildren in 38 schools; 66 percent of these schools serve ing their health, well-being, social relations and academic low-income children. performance. Children can easily learn the techniques, and

Inside Oakland’s juvenile detention centers, the Mind when learned young, they become lifelong tools.

Body Awareness Project offers daylong, silent retreats for teens; although they presently live behind bars, they are Mindful Benefits learning to access greater inner freedom.

In sports, a season invested in training the Alameda

Mindfulness means intentionally and compassionHigh School’s boys’ basketball team in mindfulness techately opening our awareness to what is here and now.

connected to

everything. It felt

sort of like flying.”

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niques helped us reach the Northern California playoffs, an unprecedented achievement in the school’s athletic history.

These youth are learning the attention skills they need to succeed in today’s fast-paced, multitasking world. With practice, students are also learning emotional balance and new ways to feel connected to their communities. The most vital result I see is a new baseline of peacefulness evident in these young people’s minds and bodies. Mindfulness offers a general sense of well-being that all other skills for learning and productivity can build on.

True Education

The word “education” comes from the Latin roots ex, “from within,” and duco, “to guide.” Thus, education originally meant to draw out, to guide a student in unfolding the wisdom that is inherently within each person, at any age.

This is a fundamentally different approach than the conventional educational paradigm that approaches students from the outside in and from the top down.

In using what I call the “fire hose” method of learning, spewing information at students and penalizing them when they can’t retain what the powers-that-be deem important, we make the mistake of assuming what each child should be, instead of seeing them as they already are. Think of how different each of our own lives would have been if parents, teachers and other mentors helped us learn to become the person we were inherently meant to be.

This approach requires us all to discover and utilize our own mindfulness. When parents ask me, “What is the best mindfulness technique to teach my children?” my answer is always, “Your own mindfulness.” Our own mindfulness is already present within us; it isn’t something we need to create.

Notice all of your thoughts in this moment: your doubts and interests, as well as sensations. Simply become aware of phenomena, without judgment or preference. The natural capacity to open up in the present moment to everything that is happening within and around us is mindfulness, an open, intentional, non-judgmental awareness.

When we embody mindfulness practices, we become a living example to the children in our lives. If you are interested in learning how to bring mindfulness practices to youth, begin by offering it to yourself. Join a mindfulness group, do some reading or even better, finish reading right now, let your eyes close, check in to your body and let go into this present moment.

Daniel Rechtschaffen, MA, a pioneering trainer in his field, helps implement mindfulness-based curricula in schools and organizations. Collaborations include the Mind Body Awareness Project, Mindful Schools and Mindfulness Without Borders. He also convenes an annual Mindfulness in Education conference and teacher training at Omega Institute (search eomega.org). He has a private psychotherapy practice in the San Francisco Bay Area as a marriage and family therapy intern. Visit MindfulChildren.com and NowCounseling.com.

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

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February 2011

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HealthBriefs The Scent that Helps Us Sleep

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nsomnia, feelings of restlessness and irritability are widespread symptoms that negatively impact our quality of life. But there’s an alternative to sleeping pills and sedatives, say German researchers. At RuhrUniversität-Bochum, they have discovered that a nose full of jasmine scent is as effective in soothing, relieving anxiety and promoting sleep as the most commonly prescribed medications.

In their study, the researchers worked with mice that inhaled jasmine scent released into their Plexiglas cage, and then ceased all motion and sat quietly in a corner. The researchers explained that the calming scent molecules proceed from the lungs into the blood, and then are transmitted to the brain, where they affect neurons responsible for the sleep-wake cycle.

When the mice were injected with a chemical variation of jasmine, the results were similar. In working to balance neurotransmitters in the brain, the researchers suggest that the scent of jasmine acts as strongly as a range of today’s psychotropic drugs.

Remarks Bochum cell physiologist and smell researcher Hanns Hatt, “The results can also be seen as evidence of a scientific basis for aromatherapy.”

Rethinking Calcium Supplements

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ew research warns that calcium supplements can be associated with a 30 percent increased risk of heart attacks. The findings were consistent across trials and were independent of the age and sex of those researched, as well as the type of supplement. The researchers stress that these findings only pertain to calcium supplements, and not to higher dietary intake through calcium-rich foods.

Source: British Medical Journal, 2010

Brain Function Lessens with Obesity New research from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine confirms that being overweight adversely affects the brain function of older women in terms of their memory, reasoning and other mental skills. The surprise is that the effect appears to be even more pronounced in women who carry excess weight around their hips, known as pear shapes, than those who carry it around their waists, called apple shapes.

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Why Sodas Age People

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ere’s another reason to kick the soda habit. Research published online in the FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) shows that high levels of phosphates may add more fizzle to sodas and processed foods than previously thought. New evidence shows that ingesting these accelerates signs of aging by increasing the prevalence and severity of age-related complications, such as chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular calcification and severe muscle and skin atrophy.

When the researchers fed mice with a high phosphate diet, the mammals died prematurely. Dr. M. Shawkat Razzaque extrapolated that, “Keeping the balance of phosphate in the [human] diet may be important for a healthy life and longevity,” speaking for his team at the Department of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

This gives us all yet another reason to read food and beverage labels.

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Most Scientists Don’t See Science/Spirituality at Odds

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The Mystery of Attraction

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urns out it’s true that when it comes to choosing a mate, women are as complicated as men claim they are, say psychologists who have tested how women evaluate a man’s facial attractiveness. They discovered specifics of masculine appeal on two levels— a sexual level based on individual features like jawbone, cheekbone and lips; and a nonsexual level based on overall attractiveness or aesthetics.

The Penn State psychologists showed 50 female college students images of a variety of male faces, some of which were split horizontally with upper and lower halves shifted in opposite directions, and then asked them to rate what they saw as both hypothetical dates and hypothetical lab partners. Most women chose the whole faces as lab partners and the male split faces as dates.

It appears that seeing a man’s whole face enabled the women to evaluate him more on a nonsexual basis. When the face was split, their way of processing a male face was based on a purely sexual perspective. The study concluded that, for women, while attractiveness appears to be perceived on the whole, they find sexiness can exist in parts of a potential mate’s face. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

esearch for a new book, Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think, reports that a significant number of scientists from elite universities do not see much of a conflict between their work and their faith. (Those who do see such conflict tend to be atheists or agnostics.) Author Elaine Howard Ecklund, a Rice University sociologist, also learned that the younger scientists, who are more likely to be religious, feel less of a sense of conflict than their older counterparts.

Believing scientists comprised 70 percent of the nearly 1,500 survey participants. “What religious scientists fail to realize, however, is that a significant proportion of their colleagues, [even if] not religious themselves, are open to talking and thinking about matters of faith,” she comments.

Scientists who say they are “spiritual, but not religious” range from those who find their secular spirituality in nature or teaching science, to those engaged in such practices as yoga and meditation. Ecklund writes that such spiritual entrepreneurs may help in bridging the perceived gulf between science and religion, because they see their practice of spirituality as flowing into their scientific discipline, yet they tend to avoid politicized science-religion conflicts.

Source: Religion Watch

Chocolate Calms Emotions

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hocolate can indeed assuage emotional stress, according to a new clinical trial. Researchers reporting to the American Chemical Society found that “highly stressed” volunteers, eating about an ounce-and-a-half (about 40 grams) of dark chocolate a day for two weeks, experienced reduced levels of stress hormones. The chocolate even partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances by modifying metabolism. For more, turn to p.30.

February 2011

17

Exercise

Now! Stick-With-It Tips

by Gretchen Rubin

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Find a way to exercise that doesn’t require a shower afterward. Each week, I get into a challenging weighttraining session, but it’s in a format that doesn’t make me sweat.

8

Look for affordable ways to make exercising more pleasant. Could you upgrade your gym, buy yourself a new iPod or pedometer, or work with a trainer? Exercise is a high life priority, so these are worthwhile ways to spend money if they help get you moving.

9

Think of exercise as preparation.

It readies you for times when you want to be in top form in performance (to be sharp for an important presentation), appearance (to look good for a wedding or another formal occasion) or mood (to deal with a stressful situation).

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E

xercise is a key to happiness, as well as fitness, according to mounting research. Newsweek reports that people who exercise are healthier, more energetic, think more clearly, sleep better and have delayed onset of dementia. Studies by the Karolinska Institute, in Sweden, and California State University are among those that further show why exercise leads to relief from anxiety and mild depression.

Research at Leeds Metropolitan University has also demonstrated that people who exercise perform better at work.

Though it’s tempting to flop down on the couch when you’re exhausted, exercise is actually a great way to boost energy levels. This conclusion is supported by a metastudy by the University of Georgia. They concluded that feeling fatigued is a reason to exercise, not a reason to skip exercise. Even when you admit you’d feel better if you exercised, it can be hard to adopt the habit. My idea of fun has always been to lie in bed reading, preferably while eating a snack—but I’ve stuck with exercising by using these tricks:

1

Always exercise on Monday. This sets the psychological pattern for the week.

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2

Exercise first thing in the morning.

As the day wears on, you’ll find more excuses to skip exercising. Get it checked off your list, first thing. It’s also a nice way to start the day; even if other things don’t get done, you’ve accomplished that.

3

Never skip exercising two days in a row. You can skip a day, but you must exercise on the next day, even if it seems to be inconvenient.

4

Give yourself credit for the smallest effort. A friend says all he had to do was put on his running shoes and close the door behind him to get going. Many times, by promising myself I could quit 10 minutes after I’d started, I got myself to start—and then found that I didn’t want to quit.

5

Think about context. Examine the factors that might be discouraging you from exercising. Perhaps you are distressed about grubby showers in your gym or recoil from running if it’s cold outside. Try alternatives.

6

Exercise several times a week.

If your idea of exercise is to join games of pick-up basketball, you should be playing practically every day. Twice a month isn’t enough.

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Don’t decide it’s only worth exercising if you can run five miles or if you can bike for an hour. Even going for a 10-minute walk is worthwhile. Do what you can.

11

Suit up. Even if you’re not sure you’re going to exercise, put on your exercise clothes. Pack your bag.

Put the dog’s leash by the door. Get prepared. If you’re ready to go, you might find it easier just to go ahead and exercise. Sometimes a trivial thing, like not knowing where your shoes are, gets in the way.

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Don’t kid yourself. Paying for a gym membership doesn’t mean you go to the gym. Having been in shape in high school or college doesn’t mean you’re in shape now. Saying you don’t have time to exercise doesn’t make it true.

People often ask me, “So, if I want to be happier, what should I be doing?” and I always say, “The first thing to do is to make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep and exercise.” It’s a stance backed up by research psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness. Good exercise is a good place to start.

Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, blogs daily at HappinessProject.com.

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Gardening in February

by Jo Leyte-Vidal, UF/IFAS Marion County Master Gardener

the sun. Fill in between with some annuals for early color.

Come to the annual Master Gardener Spring Festival the weekend of March 12 and 13 for more information and an opportunity to see what is current in gardening.

There is a phrase used in the study of Florida Yards and Neighborhoods principles which is: “Right plant, right

place.” Plants want to grow and it is our job to not put obstacles in their path. When you choose a plant, please consider its drought resistance, pest resistance, sun/shade needs, nutritional requirements, wind resistance, mature size, and if it is Florida friendly. Considering these traits at purchase/planting time results in a healthy plant and a happy gardener.

I

t is cold outside but we look at the calendar and see that Florida’s spring is not too far off.

This brings to mind that fertilizer time is also almost here. What do we fertilize and when?

That brown lawn will be fertilized in March for the first time in 2011.

When you shop, use one that is labeled 15-0-15. If you have had trouble with weeds in the spring, purchase one that has a pre-emergent included. A pre-emergent will prevent dormant seeds from last year’s “crop” of weeds from germinating. Read the label carefully for the following:  The pre-emergent is suited to your type of turf. One for Bahia will kill St. Augustine.  The amount to be applied per square feet. Not more than suggested.  It is 50% slow release and 50% soluble. The slow release for will yield months of feeding, and the soluble will give it a jump start.

Azaleas are about to burst into bloom. Soon our landscape will be covered with those spectacular blooms that signal the arrival of spring. Do not prune or fertilize until after they finish blooming. Clean up around them and add fresh mulch.

Other shrubs such as camellias, gardenias, hydrangeas, citrus, and other woody shrubs can be fed now.

Most vegetables take approximately 55 to 90 days to mature. Planting in mid-February allows crops to mature before high temperatures set in and pests find them. Plant seeds for collards, cucumbers, endive, beans, cantaloupe, corn, kale, and carrots.

This month is also a good time to put in flower bulbs such as canna lilies, caladiums, dahlias, gladiolus, tritonia, tuberose and watsonia. Daffodils should be forming buds and will show their yellow and white faces to

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

February 2011

19

A Conversation with Harville Hendrix, Marriage Whisperer

The Secrets of a Healthy Relationship

by April Thompson

H

arville Hendrix, Ph.D., knows the sorrow of a broken relationship. In 1975, after a 16-year struggle to make a failing marriage work, Hendrix and his wife decided to split up. On the day the divorce was final, he was scheduled to teach a class on marriage at a university graduate school. As Hendrix responded to audience questions, he realized that everyone wants to know the secrets of successful marriages— including him.

That “Aha!” moment spurred years of research with couples and led to his seminal book, Getting the Love You Want, and the creation of Imago Relationship Therapy with his second wife, Helen LaKelly Hunt, Ph.D. Their partnership of 28 years has produced nine books on intimate relationships and parenting, most recently Receiving Love, and six children. Imago Therapy seeks to unearth the hidden agendas that we all bring to our relationships and address them with openness, compassion and fearlessness.

What should you know before getting into a relationship?

You need to know what pushes your buttons, whether it’s someone not looking at you while talking or someone being late. You should also know what happened in your childhood that made you sensitive to that. Why? Because the person you will be attracted to is going to push that button. It’s an

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opportunity to repair the shut-down part of yourself as you stretch to meet your partner’s needs and become whole in doing so.

The divorce rate has been 50 percent for the past 60 years, because people think conflict means you’re with the wrong person.

But conflict is growth trying to happen. Every person who falls in love goes through this drama: You meet someone who activates the negative aspects of your parents or caretakers, and your unconscious wants this person, who acts as a parental surrogate, to fulfill the unmet needs of childhood.

When such conflict occurs, you know you are in a relationship with the right person.

Many people may go to therapy or read self-help books, but if the issue you need to address is triggered only by certain types of people, you can’t work on it until it’s triggered. If you do go to therapy, go together. Therapy can actually be bad for your marriage unless you are in the same room at the same time with the same person helping you work through these issues.

How does real love feel?

Romantic love and real love are two forms of the same thing. The feeling of romantic love is one of joy, pleasure, relaxation, excitement and euphoria.

Couples eventually will lose that feeling and encounter conflict; if they can work through that, they can get to a point of

real love. Real love feels like romantic love, but romantic love is fragile and driven by expectations, whereas real love is durable and lasts through frustrations.

What can we do to keep and develop intimate connection?

We teach couples how to have a different kind of conversation. It is called an Imago Dialogue, in which partners listen deeply to each other with curiosity, empathy and respect: what the other person thinks, how they feel and particularly, what they want in the relationship—and it is all done without criticism.

In a dialogue, I will tell you what frustrates me. Time is often a big factor—whether it’s being late or early, time together or alone or time management. We have a primordial need for reliability; what scares children most is parents not being reliable.

So I might say, “I need you to show up on time. In childhood, I couldn’t count on people.” You might respond, “Not having parents who kept promises, I imagine you feel frightened when I don’t show up.”

Then you come to the behavior needed to respond: For example, “If I’ll be late, I’ll give you a call, so you know when I’ll be there.” It’s all about communication.

If we fail to fix a past relationship, what does it take to make the next one work well?

It takes changing the notion that between our marriages, we can get fixed. You are going to take any unresolved problems into the next relationship. The best and only thing you can do is be aware of this and resolve to respond to it differently the next time.

Ultimately, the best thing anyone can do for a relationship is to agree to end all negativity. If criticism is the basis of conflict, then appreciation, adoration and empathy are the basis for safety and passion in a relationship.

April Thompson is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C. Connect at AprilWrites.com.

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Intentional Dialogue

“I

mago Dialogue is a communication process that creates contact with another person and deepens it to [create a] connection and a level of empathic attunement. Such intentional dialogue is a way to speak to each other from a place of equality and acceptance,” says Harville Hendrix.

“The procedure is to mirror what you’re hearing, validate the logic of what you’re hearing and reflect the feelings in what you’re hearing— and do [all of] that without judgment.”

Such intentional dialogue involves three steps: mirroring, validating and empathy.

■ Mirroring is paraphrasing what is said to you, and then requesting confirmation that you have received the whole message. The magic words are: “If I am getting you correctly, you’re saying x, y and z. Did I get it?” The magic question is: “Is there more about that?” This response replaces the reactive response and is the beginning of growth towards contact and connection.

■ Validating is seeing something from the other’s point of view and telling him or her that you can see the logic in their statements: “You make sense; and what makes sense is ... ” You don’t have to agree with what is said; you just have to see the logic in it.

■ Empathy is being able to imagine what the other person is feeling: “I can imagine that you must be feeling sad and hurt about that...” Even if you have to grit your teeth at first, you’ll produce a positive result with most people.

When you can do it authentically from your core, it takes the danger out of your relationship: Neither of you has to be defended against the other anymore.

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

Relationship Repair: How One Couple Retrieved Their Love

by Harville Hendrix

I

counseled one couple—let’s call them Peter and Mary—who were on the brink of divorce. They run a coffee shop and bakery together; Peter is the primary businessperson and Mary is secondary.

Mary works from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., then goes home and makes dinner, which is supposed to be at 6 p.m.

Mary feels unappreciated by her husband for two reasons: “Peter never thanks me for fixing dinner, and he’s seldom ever home for dinner on time. I can’t seem to get him to understand that I need appreciation.”

Peter responds by saying, “I don’t think you should be thanked for doing what you’re supposed to do—I don’t expect you to thank me for doing my job. Second, there are often customers in the store when it’s time to close.”

It sounds like an easy thing to fix: He just needs to close up the store on time and say thank you. For them, it’s been a 20-year conflict that relates to something deeper. As we worked together, Mary remembered two things about her childhood: being told no man would ever love her and meet her needs, and that her mother never kept her promises. Peter noted that he grew up in a family where nobody said thank you and where boundaries weren’t set.

Both individuals had been dealing with wounds and defenses for so long that these mechanisms had become a lifestyle, and as a result they were close to divorce. As we continued the conversation, Peter said, “Well, I know about your mother, but I didn’t know I was treating you the same way she did. I really do appreciate your meals and I can see that it frustrates you when I don’t come home, because you feel valueless and dinner gets cold. Now I see I was delaying going home because I was dreading having the inevitable fight with you.”

The partners got clear on why they did what they did, and then made some simple adjustments. He was to come home at 6:30 p.m., and communicated, “I say I don’t need appreciation for the store, but I would like to be thanked for being responsible for the majority of our income.” She agreed. In their newfound mutual appreciation, the relationship took off like a new love affair.

When we stretch out of our comfort zones into our partner’s world, something magical happens. When we sustain that, we are in the real love phase of the relationship.

February 2011

21

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New Eco-Friendly Methods

by Brita Belli

I

t makes no sense. First, there are the harsh chemicals used to clean the clothes. Most facilities continue to use PERC (short for percholorethylene), a suspected carcinogen that is released in cleaners’ airborne emissions, from where it can eventually contaminate soil and groundwater. With as many as 35,000 dry cleaning facilities nationwide, this poses a major public health and environmental concern.

Additional commonly used drycleaning chemicals with toxic repercussions include petroleum-based solvents such as Pure Dry, EcoSolve, and GreenEarth, a silicone-based solvent that breaks down into sand, water and carbon dioxide.

Beyond the chemicals, standard dry-cleaning practices come with lots of built-in waste, the most obvious being the ubiquitous plastic garment covers and disposable hangers.

A New Era Aware of their planet-harming public image, dry cleaners, many of which are small, family-owned businesses, have set out to reinvent themselves in recent years. Unfortunately,

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sometimes this involves little more than adding the word “organic” or “green” to a company’s name. To be clear, customers must inquire whether or not a particular cleaner uses PERC or one of the other harmful chemicals to determine if a green-sounding name has merit.

The good news is that more dry cleaners across the country are actually shifting to alternative cleaning methods that leave less harsh impact on the environment.

A new certification agency called the Green Cleaners Council (GCC) is helping to lend weight to a cleaner’s green claims.

Fresh Technologies One alternative to traditional dry-cleaning, known as CO2 cleaning, uses liquid carbon dioxide—the type used to carbonate soda—as its active solvent, mixed with dry cleaning detergent. During cleaning, the excess CO2 released is captured and reused.

Even better, an EPA-approved wet cleaning method uses water and “environmentally preferable detergents” to safely clean delicate clothes, and emits no air pollution, nor does it leave hazardous waste behind. It does, however, use additional water.

The EPA estimates that 10 percent of the industry has shifted to wet cleaning, a number that’s on the rise.

All cleaners have the capacity to wet clean at least some items using existing equipment, the agency reports, and some 3,000 establishments are likely offering some degree of wet cleaning (based on equipment sales).

Ann Hargrove has the distinction of operating the first wet cleaning business in the United States. Today,

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she is a member of the GCC, providing the environmental certification the industry has lacked. Much like other green standards groups, the council rates dry cleaners based on a long list of environmental attributes. After verifying claims, the council awards cleaners between one and five leaves, based on their green credibility. “The nice part about what we’re doing,” says Hargrove, “is that once cleaners fill out the form, we give them their ratings and give them an itemized list: ‘Here are some things you can do….’”

She says no cleaner can earn a five-leaf rating while using PERC, but adds that new equipment is expensive and smaller steps deserve recognition, too. The GCC website offers a stateby-state listing of its certified green cleaners—yet many states still have none listed. The EPA provides another, more comprehensive, greener cleaners guide, which lists CO2 cleaners and wet cleaners by state.

A Florida-based company, Sudsies, has earned a four-leaf rating by offering wet cleaning and instituting a recycling program (Sudsies.com).

“We use plastic hangers made from recycled plastic that can be re-recycled,” says Sudsies CEO Jason Loeb. The company also has reduced paper and plastic bag use and prints its brochures on recycled paper.

With the economy down, Loeb says it’s a tough time for the industry to take major green steps. He observes, “For now, most of those with the time and money to invest in eco-friendly practices limit their investment to the use of a particular dry cleaning solvent, rather than moving to evaluate all areas of their environmental impact.”

The Green Cleaners Council’s mission to evaluate more cleaners should spark more widespread interest while helping customers to readily differentiate the green-in-name-only cleaners from those committed to cleaning clothes in a whole new way.

It’s up to us to create demand.

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Brita Belli is the editor of E – The Environmental Magazine. EPA Green Cleaners: tinyurl.com/22oaz6v Green Cleaners Council: GreenCleanersCouncil.com www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

February 2011

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Acceptance Brings Contentment

by Lama Surya Das

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have been thinking a lot lately about acceptance and its transformative magic. It helps us become more patient, tolerant, flexible, empathic and open-minded. It can bring contentment and also change.

Acceptance does not mean condoning the evils, injustices or inequalities in life. It can help us more clearly see what is, just as it is, and how and why things work the way they do. When we calmly observe and investigate the causes of things and the fact that nothing happens by accident, the truth reveals itself, whether it is to our liking or not. Cultivating patience and acceptance provides the mental clarity and spaciousness that allows us to examine input before unthinkingly reacting in a way that may escalate the problem.

In taking a sacred pause, we dramatically increase the chances of making better choices and undertaking wiser actions. We simply have to remember to breathe once and relax, enjoying a moment of mindfulness and reflection, before responding.

Sometimes, we may not know what to do. That is a good time to do nothing. Too often, compulsive overdoing creates unnecessary complications. When at a complete loss, many truth seekers bow their head, fold their hands and rely on their higher power for clarity, guidance and direction. The way to go forward comes.

Such patience does not mean passivity. Neither does acceptance infer weakness, apathy, indifference or carelessness. We can cultivate patient forbearance and loosen our tight grip a bit by remembering the Buddhist mantra, “This too, shall pass.� Is it really a matter of life or death, as my emotional reaction seems to insist? Or, is this drama only an ephemeral local weather condition, which soon will be replaced by other thoughts and feelings?

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Ask: “How much will this matter to me next month, next year, five years from now?”

Here is one secret of spiritual mastery and inner peace, freedom and autonomy: It is not what happens to us, but what we make of it, that makes all the difference. We can’t control the wind, but we can learn how to sail better.

Unconditional acceptance is not static, but ecstatic; vibrant, dynamically engaged in and connected with reality. The spiritual hero strides fear-

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lessly into life’s depths, facing its incessantly undulating waves without holding back. Unconditional acceptance is the kind of love Jesus spoke of when he taught us to love our neighbor, and what Buddha meant when he said that an enemy, adversary or competitor can be one’s greatest teacher.

We must first love and accept ourselves before we can love and accept others. To quote Carl Jung: “The most terrifying thing in the world is to accept oneself totally.” What are we afraid of?

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Reflexology How Our Feet Talk

by Linda Sechrist

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he body has an amazing ability to regularly heal, repair and revitalize itself, but it can occasionally use an assist with its daily workload. Reflexology, a natural approach to rebalancing and encouraging internal healing processes, could be just the boost the body needs, according to The Ingham Method® of Foot Reflexology. This complementary therapy uses alternating pressure on reflex points located on the feet and hands, and is sometimes used in conjunction with other modalities, such as massage and aromatherapy.

“If you’re feeling out of kilter, don’t know why or what about, let your feet reveal the answer, find the sore spot, work it out.” That’s the personal philosophy of Eunice D. Ingham, who created the world-renowned Ingham Method, considered the RollsRoyce of reflexology. Ingham, working alongside her mentor, Dr. Joe Shelby Riley, researched and documented the theories and techniques used today by 25,000 reflexologists throughout the world.

Her work was based on Dr. William Fitzgerald’s zone therapy of the 1920s; he was the first to pioneer the concept of reflex areas on the feet that correspond to body parts. The Original Works of Eunice D. Ingham, published in 1984, includes Stories the Feet Can Tell Thru Reflexology, correlating the connections between specific organs and glands with reflex areas in the feet.

As a nephew of the late Ingham, Dwight Byers’ 70-year love of reflexology began early. He still remarks how, “Her signature thumb, finger and hand techniques brought relief to my childhood symptoms of hay fever and asthma.” Byers is the author of Better Health with Foot Reflexology, and president of the International Institute of Reflexology, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The institute provides both

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training for reflexologists and continuing education for massage therapists, nurses and chiropractors worldwide.

During the past 23 years, Ingham’s work has served as a foundational resource for Mary Ann Mugas, owner of Feet First Reflexology, in Naples, Florida. Trained by the institute, Mugas agrees with Ingham that the feet jabber. “When I sense an angry response from feet,” explains Mugas, “I know it will take me three to four treatments until they open up and allow me to get into the deeper reflexes.”

A reflexologist’s experienced hands and thumbs, which travel over feet dusted with non-talcum powder, pick up on textures such as grittiness, sponginess, lumps, hard spots or a callous formation. “I had a client,” notes Mugas, “who had a callous forming over the heart reflex. Several months later she reported that her physician diagnosed her heart problem.”

Lucy Scarbrough is secretary of the American Reflexology Certification Board, an independent testing agency for certifying the competency of reflexologists. The graduate of the International Institute of Reflexology is a nationally certified aromatherapist and a Reiki master, who works part time at a Memphis, Tennessee spa.

“Reflexology sessions are really good for foot problems, especially the loss of feeling,” says Scarbrough, who finds that her clients are often delighted to find that treatments relax the entire body and relieve emotional stress.

“Nurses and waitresses who stand on their feet all day are especially good candidates for reflexology,” advises Scarbrough, “because treatments help increase circulation.”

Responses to reflexology vary widely, from feelings of calm and sleepiness to a sense of renewed energy and rejuvenation. “The more frequently you experience reflexology,” remarks Byers, “the more likely you are to notice overall benefits.”

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February 2011

27

practitioner for possible herb-drug interactions.

Turmeric

Turmeric (Curcuma longa), the yellow spice commonly used in Indian curries, is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and for suppressing pain without harmful side effects. Its main therapeutic ingredient is curcumin. Research from institutions such as the University of California, San Diego, and Cornell University indicate that curcumin appears to be a safe, natural alternative to COX-2 inhibitor drugs.

FOODS THAT

FIGHT PAIN A TASTY, COLORFUL BANQUET

by Michelle Schoffro Cook

W

hile many foods taste great, they can also be powerful healers, naturally packaged in vibrant, multicolored disguises.

Plus, these foods won’t cause the nasty, common side effects that often accompany the use of drugs. Here are some fabulous-tasting favorites that can yield extra benefits.

Cherries

Muraleedharan Nair, Ph.D., professor of natural products and chemistry at Michigan State University, found that tart cherry extract is 10 times more effective than aspirin at relieving inflammation.

Only two tablespoons of the concentrated juice need to be taken daily for effective results.

Sweet cherries have also been found to be effective.

Other Berries

Nair later found the same antipain compound in other berries,

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specifically blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

Celery and Celery Seeds

James Duke, Ph.D., author of The Green Pharmacy, found more than 20 anti-inflammatory compounds in celery and celery seeds, including a powerful flavonoid called apigenin. Add celery seeds to soups, stews or as a salt substitute in many recipes.

Ginger

Ginger reduces levels of paincausing prostaglandin in the body and has been widely used in India to treat pain and inflammation. A study by Indian researchers found that when people who were suffering from muscular pain were given ginger, they all experienced improvement. New research from the University of Georgia supports these findings. If you’re taking medications, check with your health

Fatty Fish

Many fatty fish like salmon, mackerel and herring contain omega-3 fatty acids that convert in the body into hormone-like substances that decrease inflammation and pain. According to research reports from arthritis specialists associated with the National Institutes of Health, omega-3 is an effective antiinflammatory agent; ingesting fish oil acts directly on the immune system by suppressing 40 to 55 percent of the release of cytokines, compounds known to destroy joints. Many other studies similarly demonstrate that eating moderate amounts of fish or taking fish oil supplements reduces pain and inflammation, particularly for arthritis sufferers.

Flax Seeds and Flax Oil

Freshly ground flax seeds and cold-pressed flax oil contain plentiful amounts of the omega-3 essential fatty acids. Do not cook with flax oil, however, as it then can have the opposite effect of irritating the body’s tissues and causing pain.

Raw Walnuts and Walnut Oil

Raw walnuts and walnut oil also contain powerful omega-3 fatty acids that fight pain and inflammation in the body.

When it comes to relieving pain, food really can be the best medicine.

Michelle Schoffro Cook is a registered nutrition consulting practitioner and doctor of natural medicine. Her latest book is The Phytozyme Cure. Learn more at DrMichelleCook.com/HealthSmartNews.

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February 2011

29

Happiness Is…

CHOCOLATE Dark and Delicious, it’s Blissfully Healthy

by Gabriel Constans

D

id you know that more than half of U.S. adults prefer chocolate to other flavors and spend $55 per person per year to indulge their hankering? That’s a lot of chocolate—some 3.3 billion pounds annually, or about 12 pounds per chocoholic. The International Cocoa Organization further estimates that by 2015, U.S. chocolate sales will top $19 billion.

Yet, Europeans still enjoy the majority of chocolate per capita. Switzerland leads the trend, with its citizens each forking over the equivalent of U.S. $206 a year for the treat. Worldwide, 21st-century chocolate consumption continues to climb year after year; cocoa seems to be a recession-free commodity. That’s good news for Indonesia and the West African nations that produce 70 percent of Earth’s cocoa beans.

It’s widely known that dark chocolate, in particular, is good for our emotional and physical health. The only debate that remains is what quantity is the most advantageous to include in our daily or weekly diet.

Why Chocolate Appeals

Eating dark chocolate makes people happy, researchers have learned, because it contains phenylethylamine, the same nurturing hormone triggered by the brain when we fall in love. It’s

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no wonder that Madame du Barry and Giacomo Casanova both believed that chocolate was an aphrodisiac. Further, according to the California Academy of Sciences, the theobromine in chocolate acts as a myocardial stimulant, dilator of coronary arteries and smooth muscle relaxant, all inducing good feelings.

Researchers at the Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine recently reported in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that subjects who consistently consumed dark chocolate showed a 40 percent lower risk of myocardial infarction and stroke than those who did not.

A study published in the European Heart Journal that tracked almost 20,000 people for 10 years found that people who ate about 7 grams of dark chocolate per day had lower blood pressure and 39 percent less risk of experiencing a stroke or heart attack, compared to those who ate an average of 1.7 grams daily.

Scientists have learned that cocoa powder and chocolate contain rich sources of polyphenol antioxidants, the same beneficial compounds found in red wine and many fruits and vegetables that help to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Professor Frank Ruschitzka, head of cardiology at University Hospital, in Zurich,

Switzerland, comments: “Basic science has demonstrated quite convincingly that dark chocolate, particularly with a cocoa content of at least 70 percent, reduces oxidative stress and improves vascular and platelet [appropriate blood clotting] function.”

Chocolate lovers also will be glad to know that dark chocolate contains more antioxidants per 3.5 ounces than prunes, raisins, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, plums, oranges, red grapes, red bell peppers, cherries, onions, corn or eggplant.

Gabriel Constans, Ph.D., is a counselor, journalist and author of a dozen books, including Luscious Chocolate Smoothies: An Irresistible Collection of Healthy Cocoa Delights and Great American Smoothies. For more information, visit GoGabriel.com.

A Bite of History Xocolatl was the Aztecs’ word for chocolate, which they called “bitter water” and considered a gift from the gods.

Cultivated for 1,000 years, the cacao tree is prolific once it reaches maturity, producing cocoa pods every six months for about 20 years. The beans must be fermented before they begin to taste like the chocolate we know and love.

Cocoa was first introduced to Europe when explorer Hernán Cortés brought the beans from Mexico to Spain in the early 1500s. The Spaniards kept their discovery a secret for almost a century, until it was smuggled by monks into France. By the 1650s, cocoa had crossed the channel to England and the North American colonies of the English and Dutch; 1831 heralded the invention of the first chocolate bar in the United States.

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The Naked Truth

Chocolate Smoothies for Valentines The Sweetie 2 cups orange juice 1 banana ½ cup raspberries ½ cup blueberries ½ cup guava slices ½ cup mango slices 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 cups plain low-fat dairy or non-dairy milk (soy, rice, nut, coconut or grain) ¾ cup vanilla ice cream (dairy or non-dairy) 1 ½ cup chopped walnuts 1 cup canned pineapple chunks, drained 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted 2 Tbsp brandy 1. Place all ingredients, except brandy, in a blender and mix on high for about two minutes; add brandy and blend for a few seconds more.

2. Pour into tumblers or wide-mouthed glasses.

Yields: 6 cups

The Latin Lover 6 oz melted bittersweet dark chocolate 2 cups milk – dairy or non-dairy (soy, rice, nut, coconut or grain) 2 bananas ½ Tbsp flax seed oil 1 tsp cinnamon powder 1. Place ingredients in a blender and mix on medium for one minute.

2. Pour into tall cups and serve.

Yields: 5 cups Source: Luscious Chocolate Smoothies: An Irresistible Collection of Healthy Cocoa Delights by Gabriel Constans

1. Place all the fruit and cocoa in a blender. Mix on high for one minute.

2. Pour into clear glasses and serve.

Yields: 4 cups

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February 2011

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CommunityResourceGuide ... Connecting readers to leaders in holistic health care and green living services in our community.

To be included here, visit www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com, call 352-629-4000, or email GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com.

These attractive, full-color ads include two FREE Calendar listings per month (a $30 value).

Biologic Dentistry Cornelius A. Link, DDS 352-629-0700 / Ocala / www.drlinkdds.com There must be a biologic balance in the mouth as part of total body health. This means being concerned about infections in the teeth and gums, the relationship of the teeth to the jaws, the teeth to each other, saliva ph and metal toxicity. As a member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, we follow a recommended safety protocol for removal of amalgam fillings, if necessary.

Dental materials compatibility testing available.

Colonics Gentle Waters Healing Center 352-374-0600, Gainesville info@gentlewatershealing.com The therapists at Gentle Waters Healing Center will assist each individual with detoxing using colon hydrotherapy, Far Infrared Sauna, and/or Aqua Chi Lymphatic Drainage. We also carry probiotics, digestive enzymes, and other products for overall health. Proud sponsors of Barley Life Nutritional Products. Call Dawn Brower for more information or visit www.gentlewatershealing.com. MA41024, MM15426.

Holistic Medicine Michael J. Badanek BS, DC, CNS, DACBN, DCBCN, Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition, Certified Applied Kinesiology 3391 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Suite #B Ocala, Florida 34470 / 352-622-1151 www.alternativewholistichealth.com www.ocalaalternativemedicine.com 30+ years in clinical practice with alternative wholistic complementary health services.

Treating the body to support all health challenges with Wholistic Integrative Medicine. Treatments include Autoimmune disorders, Lyme disease, Autism, ADD/ADHD, Musculoskeletal conditions, Heavy metal toxicity, Cardiovascular and endocrine conditions, Nutritional deficiencies/testing.

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James F. Coy, M.D. Life Family Practice Center 1501 U.S. Hwy. 441 North The Villages / 352-750-4333 More than 20 years in the General Practice of medicine, with a focus on allergies, and treatments using environmental bio-nutrition and other natural methods including N.A.E.T. and acupuncture.

Providing detox therapies including chelation, anti-aging treatments, natural hormone replacement, and alternative testing.

Nelson Kraucak, M.D., ABCMT, ACAM Life Family Practice Center 1501 U.S. Hwy. 441 North The Villages / 352-750-4333 For 15 years in The Villages, Dr. Kraucak has been committed to bridging the gap between clinical medicine and complementary therapies to promote the body’s natural healing mechanisms. Embracing a medical approach to alternative treatment and by using cutting-edge technologies, he is able to treat chronic auto-immune and degenerative disorders. Providing treatments such as Immune Biomodulation, Chelation, Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement, PRP, Prolozone and much more.

Hanoch Talmor, M.D. Gainesville Holistic Center 352-377-0015 www.betterw.com We support all health challenges and the unlimited healing potential of God’s miracle: your body.

Chelation, Nutrition, Cleansing, Homeopathy, Natural Energy Healing, Detoxification, Wellness Education and more.

Fitness Hip Moves Fitness Studio Rona Bennett, BS, CPT Holistic Health, Personal Fitness Coaching 708 N.W. 23rd Ave., Gainesville www.hipmoves.com / 352-692-0132 An intimate fitness studio focusing on creativity and holistic health. Classes and private lessons in Belly Dance, Yoga, Pilates, and Personal Training.

Rental space available.

Holistic Psychotherapy Diane Alther, LCSW, RN, CHt Traditional and Karuna Reiki Master/Teacher Ocala and Dunnellon locations / 352-425-1992 www.emdrtherapistnetwork.com Combining conventional counseling with body, mind, energy therapies including EMDR, EFT, hypnosis, full wave breathwork, meditation and Reiki to facilitate change and mental and emotional balance.

Hypnotherapy Christine Green CHt Hypnotherapy Gainesville Hypnotherapy 1212 NW 12th Ave., Suite C-3 Gainesville FL 32601 / 352-339-6078 www.OneStepDeeper.com Invite amazing changes into your life through Hypnosis.

The powerful process of Hypnotherapy guides you naturally and easily to the life you truly deserve. Free consultation: www.onestepdeeper.com and 352-339-6078.

Joshua Vlahos Hypnotherapy Nationally Certified Hypnotherapist www.SpiritOfHypnosis.com 352-443-0007 I can help change your life. The subconscious is the director of your life experience, and if you haven’t consciously trained it, you’re on auto-pilot. Hypnosis really works!

Life Coaches Cynthia Christianson, M.A., CCC ThetaHealing™ Advanced Practitioner 352-374-7982 or 352-284-1107 www.thetahealingworks.net ThetaHealing™ coaching is using the Belief and Feeling Work to empower people with the ability to remove and replace negative emotions, feelings and thoughts with positive, beneficial ones. Change your negative beliefs and you will heal on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels thus really seeing this relief show up in your life.

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Massage

Piano Services

Tiara L. Catey, LMT Center for Balance 1705 N.W. 6th St., Gainesville 352-642-4545 / www.tiaracatey.com Relieve pain, manage stress and cultivate joyful relaxation and balance by including massage as an essential part of your self-care practices. Therapeutic massage, relaxation massage and lomilomi. Includes aromatherapy. Holistic approach. Some insurance accepted. Visa/MC. See www.tiaracatey.com for details. MA41831.

Hendrix Piano Service 352-895-5412 Serving north central Florida Tuning, repairs, cleaning, fine custom maintenance of your acoustic piano. Playing services including accompaniment, weddings, other church services, concerts. Experience: churches, cabarets, Marion Chorale, Duelling Divas, much more. Fine used pianos available. Call today!

Clark Dougherty Therapeutic Massage Clinic 850 N.E. 36th Terr., Ocala 352-694-7255 / www.ClarkDougherty.com Offering a variety of therapeutic massage techniques for pain relief, improved flexibility, and other wonderful benefits. PIP and WorkComp always accepted, also group/private insurance in some instances. All credit cards accepted.

Gift certificates are available now for Valentine’s Day and birthdays with 25% discount on a second session. MA27082, MM9718.

Reiki

Traditional Thai massage Ariela Grodner LMT 900 N.W. 8th Ave., Gainesville arielasthaimassage.com / 352-336-7835 Ariela offers an ancient massage modality known in the west as Thai Massage, sometimes referred to as “lazy man’s yoga.”

It is a fusion of yoga and the martial arts in a massage modality. Call to reserve an appointment or to find out about classes held locally.

MTT Sandra Wilson, EFT-ADV Meridian Tapping Techniques Practitioner 352-454-8959, www.SandraWilson.org A positive change is a tap away!

What’s keeping you from the life you want? Meridian Tapping is the painless, drug-free method to bring positive change! Remove negative emotions and blocks to success. Sessions in Ocala and The Villages.

Phone sessions also available.

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

Kim Marques, CHt, Reiki Master Teacher www.ItsAllPerfect.com 352-804-9006 in Ocala Change your vibe, change your life!

Free Info and Spiritual Energy by appointment. Embrace the mind, body and spirit with hypnosis, energy sessions and training, spiritual guidance, Life Wise workshops and support groups, meditation, Goddess Weight Loss, attraction power kits and more.

Rolfing Carol L. Short / Certified Advanced Rolfer™, Craniosacral Therapist, Gainesville and North Central FL / 352-318-0509 Rolfing® is a system of body restructuring through systematic manipulation of muscle and fascial tissues. It promotes the release and realignment of long standing patterns of tension and dysfunction, bringing the body to greater balance, mobility, vitality, and ease.

A holistic approach to mobility, vitality and balance. MA16337/MM18921.

Veterinary Care Medicine Wheel Veterinary Services Shauna Cantwell DVM, Ocala, FL www.shaunacantwell.com / 352-538-3021 Holistic veterinary medicine for small animals and horses.

Preventative health, arthritis, neurologic and hormonal dysfunction, skin, allergies, cancer, pain, immune and chronic disease, more. Certified Veterinary Acupuncture, certified cAVCA animal chiropractic, herbal therapy, tui na medical massage, functional neurology, postural rehabilitation, ozone therapy, homotoxicology, nutrition. Available for workshops.

Classifieds Professional Advanced Continuing Education The best value for continuing your massage education! Core classes March 6th, 8:30am to 4pm. For more details, email wildseed@embarqmail.com or call Linda, 352-625-1665.

Skin Care Handmade Skin Care by Saundra. Natural and organic skin care: Lotions, oils, soaps in many popular scents. Arthritis rubs, burn-relief salves also available. Visit www.HumbleSkinCare.com or call 352236-2003.

Staff Seeking interns and experienced sales staff for our new The Villages edition of Natural Awakenings Magazine launching this spring. For more information, call 352-629-4000 or email GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com.

Ads: Per-issue cost is $25/up to 30 words, $1/each additional. Fax ad with credit/ debit card info to 352-351-5474, or email to GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com.

Yoga

Gentle Yoga Studio Gentle Yoga Chair Yoga

Claudia Saldarriaga Certified Yoga Instructor

www.gentleyogabyclaudia.com

352-362-2791 February 2011

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CalendarofEvents January 31-February 1

Auditions, “When Bullfrogs Sing Opera.” Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 W. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-2362274, www.OcalaCivicTheatre.com.

February 3-27

“The Marvelous Wonderettes,” musical play. Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 W. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352236-2274, www.OcalaCivicTheatre.com.

Friday, February 4

Open house and celebration of Chinese New Year. Free, 6-8pm, food and entertainment. Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine, 1000 NE 16th Ave., Building F, Gainesville, 352-371-2833, www.dragonrises.edu.

Saturday, February 5

Crystal Healing Sessions with Fran Oppenheimer, RN, LMT. 12-5pm, $30 and up. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs, 386-454-8657, www.

HighSpringsEmporium.net.

Sunday, February 6

Sacred Gongs Concert and Workshop with Richard Hite, 1pm. $10. OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 N.E. 28 Ave, Ocala, FL 352-629-3897.

February 11-12

Annual Inside Yard Sale. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113.

February 11-13

Ayurveda and Astrology Conference with Ayurvedic Physician, Dr. Vasant Lad, MASc, aand Vedic Astrologers Sri Sneha Amritananda, Chakrapani Ullal, Gudrun Schellenbeck, and Nalini. Event includes yoga, pure food, bhajans and live music. Held at Radhadesh Retreat, Alachua. www. friendsofayurveda.com/events.php, http://nalinikanta.com, 800-505-3887 or 386-418-1147.

Valentine Beach Getaway & Workshop. Friday 7pm Sunday 2pm. Deepen intimacy and passion, discover Tantra. $595/couple. Intimacy Retreats, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota, FL, 877-282-4244.

Saturday, February 12

Valentine’s Day Fair. Readings with Omialadora Ajamu, Mary Alice Warren. 12-5pm, $20. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs, 386-454-8657, www.

HighSpringsEmporium.net.

February 12-13

Manifesting Abundance class, Gainesville. Cynthia Christianson, 352-374-7982, www.AvantiCoaching.com.

Thursday February 17

Lecture: Chelation for Heart Health, 6pm, free. Life Family Practice Center, 1501 Hwy 441 North, The Villages.

Reservations: 352-750-4333, www.lifefamilypractice.com.

Friday, February 18

Kirtan with Bhagavan Das. Space is limited. Reservations: www.AmritYoga.org, 352-685-3001 February 18-20

Couples Beach Getaway & Workshop. Friday 7pm Sunday 2pm. Deepen intimacy and passion, discover Tantra. $595/couple. Intimacy Retreats, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota, FL, 877-282-4244.

Temple of Sound Weekend with Yogi Amrit Desai and Bhagavan Das for a weekend of Kirtan and Nada Yoga.

Space is limited. Reservations: www.AmritYoga.org, 352685-3001.

February 18-22

Medical QiGong Course, Session One. No prerequisites required. Teacher: Bernard Shannon. Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, 305 SE 2nd Ave., Gainesville, www. acupuncturist.edu, 352-335-2332.

Saturday, February 19

Stones to Open the Heart Crystal Workshop with Sharron Britton. 1-4pm, $20. High Springs Emporium,

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660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs, 386-454-8657, www.

HighSpringsEmporium.net.

Spiritual Living, 1009 N.E. 28 Ave, Ocala, FL 352-629-3897, www.oakbrookcsl.org.

Thai Massage: Expanding Vocabulary. Ormond Beach. Ariela Grodner, www.arielasthaimassage.com.

February 19-20

Best-selling author, Retired Bishop John Spong, offers a weekend of worship and seminars. Marion Technical Institute, 1614 SE Fort King St., Ocala, www.UnityOfCitrus.org.

For more information or to register, call 352-436-4963. See story, p.11.

Thai Massage: Advanced Poses.

FL School of Massage. Ariela Grodner, www.arielasthaimassage.com.

February 25-27

Couples Beach Getaway & Workshop. Friday 7pm - Sunday 2pm.

Deepen intimacy and passion, discover Tantra. $595/couple. Intimacy Retreats, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota, FL, 877-282-4244.

Saturday, February 26

Spiritual Wisdom on Relationships: Group discussion with FREE Book. 1pm with HU Chant at 2:15pm.

Refreshments follow. Gainesville headquarters library, 401 E. University Ave. Eckankar, 352-378-3504.

Sunday, February 20

Acupuncture Among the Crystals with Jeanette Westlake, Acupuncture Physician. 1-5pm, $60. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs, 386-454-8657, www.

HighSpringsEmporium.net.

Saturday, February 21

Scrying with Meteorites Workshop with Pat High. 2-4pm, $35. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs, 386-454-8657, www.HighSpringsEmporium.net.

Tuesday, February 22

Open House: “Meet the Doctors and learn about what we can do for you!” Practice Orientation. Free, 5:30pm. Life Family Practice Center, 1501 Hwy 441 North, The Villages.

Reservations: 352-750-4333, www. lifefamilypractice.com.

February 23-March 20

“Spendib,” play. The Hippodrome, 25 SE 2nd Pl., Gainesville, 352-375-HIPP, www.thehipp.org.

Thursday, February 24th

Dismantling Stress w/Integrative Relaxation, with John Ernest Hiester (Chandrakant), 7-8:30pm, following Amrit Yoga w/Veda (5:30-6:30), Downtown Public Library, 401 E. University Ave, Gainesville, 4th floor. Free; dress warmly, bring light blanket. jehiester@ amrityoga.org, vedalewis@aol.com.

Friday, February 25

Armand and Angelina in Concert.

7:15pm, $10. OakBrook Center for www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

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West Coast Workshop & Dance, 7-10pm, $15/person. A WCS workshop with Stephen White from 7-8pm followed by a dance party from 8-10pm. Light refreshments. Dance Dance Dance, 307 North Main St Wildwood, FL 34785. 352-748-3279, www.dancedancedance.biz.

February 27-March 6, 2011

Holistic Holiday at Sea with Chandrakant and Gurudev Yogi Amrit Desai.

Holistic living and natural health.

Cruise the Western Caribbean on the MSC Poesia. Reservations: TravelGroup International, 561-447-0750.

ONGOING EVENTS Sundays

12-week course on metaphysics.

Every Sunday, 1-2:30pm. Love offering.

ALSO, services every Sunday at 10am.

Spirit of Truth Independent Unity Church, 2251 N.W. 41 St., Gainesville, FL 32606, 352-377-6825.

Farmers Market, 12-4. Mosswood Farm Store, 703 NE Cholokka Blvd, Micanopy, 352-466-5002, www.mosswoodfarmstore.com.

Master Mind Prayer Circle, 9:30; Healing Hands Circle, 10; Sunday Service and Youth Education, 11; NGU, 12:30. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefl.org.

Meditation and Spiritual Lesson, 10 am. Unity of Ocala, Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.unityocala.org.

Science of Mind and Spirit Meditation 9:45am, Celebration /Message 10:30am, Youth and Children’s Celebration 10:30am. Love offering. OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 N.E. 28 Ave, Ocala, FL 352-629-3897, www.oakbrookcsl.org.

Mondays

Abraham Study Group, 6 pm; A Course in Miracles Study Group, 7:30 pm. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefl.org.

Belly Dance Techniques and Abs, 6-7pm. $10/class. Hip Moves, Gainesville. www.HipMoves.com.

Reiki Healing Circle, 5:30-6:30pm.

Catherine Wendell, $5. Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 352401-1862, www.mystic-realms.com.

Monday-Friday

Rosas Farms delivers grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, wild-caught fish to Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville, other locations. 352-620-2737.

Organic Food Pickups. Monday, Ocala; Tuesday, Eustis and Mt. Dora; Wednesday, Ocala and Gainesville; Friday, Oxford/The Villages. Homegrown Organics by Doreen, 352-5984184, http://www.homegrownorganics. vpweb.com. Recipes: http://homegrowngainesville.wordpress.com/

Yoga with Joe Ferrara. Monday, 7-8:30 pm, Amrit Yoga Institute. Tuesday, 12-12:45 pm, Serenity of Central Florida, 301 Skyline Dr., Ste 1, Lady Lake. Wednesday, 8:30-10 am, Ocala Inner Center, 205 S. Magnolia; and 5-6 pm, Serenity of Central Florida, Lady Lake. Thursday, 6-7:30 pm, Ocala Inner Center. Friday, 7-8 am, Premier Medical Center of Ocala, 7960 SW 60th Ave. prakash@amrityoga.org.

Monday-Saturday

Dance and movement classes. T’ai chi, Ladies and Gents Styling, Samba, Adult Jazz, Belly Dancing, Yoga,

British Medium Jan Marshall at Unity of Gainesville in March n Demonstration of Mediumship: March 11, 7:30-9pm n Workshop in Mediumship: March 12, 10am-4pm n Private readings available Check Web for complete 2011 program

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Zumba, Ballroom, Children’s classes, Dance Workout. Dance Dance Dance, 307 N Main St., Wildwood, 352-7483279, www.DanceDanceDance.biz.

Tuesdays

A Course in Miracles, 12 noon and 7 pm. Unity of Ocala, Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.unityocala.org.

Wednesdays

A Course in Miracles, 7-8:30pm.

Amrit Yoga, Salt Springs, 352-6853001, ganga@amrityoga.org.

Meditation and Visioning, 6pm, followed at 7:15 with Speaker, Spiritual Craft, Drumming, or Spiritual Film, depending on the week. Love offering.

OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 N.E. 28 Ave, Ocala, FL 352-6293897, www.oakbrookcsl.org.

SupportLocalFood.com.

Readings with Kayla, 1-5 pm. $25.

Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala 352-401-1862, www. mystic-realms.com.

Seven days/week

Abraham, yoga, breathwork, reiki, much more—something every day. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefl.org.

Bellydancing, fitness, yoga classes, personal training as early as 5:30 am,

as late as 7:30 pm. Hip Moves, 708 NW 23rd Ave, Gainesville, 352-6920132, www.hipmoves.com.

Yoga classes as early as 5:30 am, as late as 8:30 pm, beginners (including “Stiff Guys”) to experienced Hot Yoga. Big Ron’s Yoga College, Gainesville, 352-367-8434, www. bigronsyoga.com.

Yoga classes at 8-9:15 am and other times. Ayurveda Health Retreat, 14616 NW 140th St, Alachua, Alachua, 352-870-7645, www. ayurvedahealthretreat.com.

Thursdays

A Course in Miracles, 10:30am.

Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave, 352-373-1030, www.UnityOfGainesvilleFl.org.

Healing Yoga with Marque. Movement class combining yoga, Pilates, body alignment, breathing. Bring a mat. $25/4 weeks, Feb. 3-24 every Thursday, 12:30-1:30 pm. To register: Sheila, 352-867-9660. Class held at Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113.

Fridays

Hoop Fitness Class, 8-9pm. $10/ class. Hip Moves, Gainesville. www.

HipMoves.com.

Saturdays

Ayurvedic Vegetarian Cooking Classes, 5-7. Ayurveda Health Retreat, 14616 NW 140th St, Alachua, Alachua, 352-870-7645, www. ayurvedahealthretreat.com.

Farmstead Saturdays. Free, 9-3 pm. Crones Cradle, 6411 NE 217 Pl, Citra. 352-595-3377, www. cronescradleconserve.com.

Hoop Dance and Fitness, 10-11am. $10/class. Hip Moves, Gainesville. www.HipMoves.com.

Open House, 9-3. Free samples, special prices. Rosas Farms, 13450 N Hwy. 301, Citra, 352-620-2737, www. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

February 2011

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