The Eden Magazine February 2021

GARY QUINN International Life Coach, and Best-Selling Author

February 2021

e zin ga Ma

EDEN T h e

Climate Change Uproots Global Agriculture

by Kimberly M. S. Cartier

Learning to Listen

by Vir McCoy

& Kara Zahl

The Power of Simplicity

by Raman Pathik

Narcissism & Self-Healing

by Jayita Bhattacharjee

Simple Kindness Matters

2021 SYMPHONY

The

By Lavandaia(Paula, Marco & the Team)

by Karen Ann Harden

75

ANNIVERSARY OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF YOGI

Table of Contents 8

GARY QUINN

18

34

THE FREQUENCY OF FOOD: ENERGETIC SIGNATURES OF MORE THAN 300 FOODS

By Candice Covington

20

75 ANNIVERSARY OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF YOGI

25

SIMPLE KINDNESS MATTERS

By Karen Ann Harden

32

20

38

LEARNING TO LISTEN

By Vir McCoy & Kara Zahl

34

YAMUNA ZAKE VISIONARY HEALER & HELATH INNOVATOR

38

THE AUDACITY TO BE DIVINE

By Judith Halbreich

LEARNING TO LISTEN

44

48

ONE BAD DECISION

By Linda McCain

48

COVID-RELATED STRESS & BURNOUT IN HEALTHCARE WORKERS

By Diana Hendel Pharm D, & Mark Goulston, MD

52

32

THE BLESSING OF NATURE

By Angela Dunning

52

Cover Photo by

UTE VILLE

Happy Valentines 58

I AM LOVE- CHOOSING TO EMBODY THE ENERGY OF LOVE

By Shelly Willson

58

64

CLIMATE CHANGE UPROOTS GLOBAL AGRICULTURE

By Kimberly M. S. Cartier

68

NARCISSISM & SELF-HEALINGS

By Jayita Bhattacharjee

74

80

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE SWEET LOVE

By Joey Santos Jr.

68

78

HOW TO HONOR YOURSELF WITHOUT BEING SELFISH & WHY YOU SHOULD

By Phyllis King

80

THE POWER OF SIMPLICITY

By Raman Pathik

86

STEPPING OUT OF YOUR SHADOW

74

By Sasha Gary )

94

THE 2021 SYMPHONY

By Lavandaia (Paula, Marco & the Team)

HOW TO HONOR YOURSELF WITHOUT BEING SELFISH

78

86 94

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EDEN T

H

E

Since 2010

MAGAZINE

The Eden Magazine is a free online publication that focuses on spreading compassion to all Sentient Beings living in a healing and peaceful world FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MARYAM MORRISON EXECUTIVE EDITOR/ CONTRIBUTING WRITER DINA MORRONE COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR/ CONTRIBUTING WRITER ALEXIA MELOCCHI BRAND AMBASSADOR MARIA ELENA INFANTINO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS SASHA GARY VITO TROTTA PHYLLIS KING JOE SANTOS, JR. ANGELA DUNNING NANCY E. YEAROUT MICHAEL WHITE RYAN MARCO NUNZIO ALATI JAYITA BHATTACHARJEE TARA-JENELLE WALSCH MARGARET TOMASZEWIC CONTRIBUTING STYLISTS + MAKEUP ARTIST EDWARD HAKOPIAN GRAPHICS & PHOTOGRAPHY GREG DOHERTY ISABELLE RUEN SHERI DETERMAN ARTIN MARDIROSIAN (Nexision) WEBSITE

www.theedenmagazine.com 325 N. Maple Dr. Po Box 5132 Beverly Hills, CA 90209 To purchase a copy visit us in www.theedenmagazine.com

Eden Magazine is a non-profit monthly online magazine. We aim to create a better environment where we live among other living beings in peace and harmony. We support artists that their work matches our criteria. If you would like to submit your artwork, article or/and your photography for our future issues please contact Maryam Morrison at; maryammorrison@theedenmagazine.com The Eden Magazine reviews article content for accuracy before the date of publication. The views expressed in the articles reflect the author(s) opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials, and all other content is published in good faith.

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MEET OUR TEAM

Photo by ISABELLE RUEN

Discover the path to a peaceful life among other living beings. We are all made of vibration and light in the universe to manifest our energy around all livingness.

DINA MORRONE

Maryam Morrison

ARTIN MARDIROSIAN

EDWARD HAKOPIAN

MARIA ELENA INFANTINO

ALEXIA MELOCCHI

VITO TROTTA

TARA-JENELLE WALSCH

ANGELA DUNNING

NANCY E. YEAROUT

SHERI DETERMAN

GREG DOHERTY

MICHAEL WHITE RYAN

MARGARET TOMASZEWIC

ISABELLE RUEN

6 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2020

SASHA GARY

SHELLY WILSON

JAYITA BHATTACHARJEE

JOE SANTOS, JR.

MARCO NUNZIO ALATI

PHYLLIS KING

7 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e March 2020

Photography by: Artin Mardirosian Makeup by: Edward Hakopian Hair by: Matthew G.Hair 8 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e January 2021

GARY QUINN International Motivational Speaker, Life Coach, Strategist, Educator & Best-Selling Author

Gary Quinn is an international motivational speaker, life coach, strategist, and best-selling author. Several of his recent books are recognized as essential tools for people who seek to improve their personal lives, succeed in business, and find balance. He is the founder of The Touchstone for Life Coaching ProgramÂŽ, which empowers individuals towards uncovering life-changing insights, self-awareness, and personal growth.

His seminars, workshops, keynotes, and private coaching sessions, leave clients with a blueprint for clarity and manifestation. He frequently holds events and seminars in the USA, Switzerland, England, Japan, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Canada, Costa Rica, Romania, and Australia. Quinn's books have been published in 11 languages internationally.

His popular books offer readers simple yet effective methods to access the true power within themselves.

He offers strategies for breaking old habits, taking positive action, and discovering what you really want to do with your life. His new book Be Your

Own Business Guru: A Balanced Path to Well-Being, Success, and Happiness will be published this year.

Quinn is often described as an inspirational life shifter. He is a skilled, intuitive, and trusted advisor to many business leaders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, fashion designers, marketing directors, and executives for many international companies. Among his many coaching clients are Academy AwardÂŽ winners, Emmy Award winners, Grammy winners, and even an Olympic gold medalist.

In addition to his talents as a life coach, Quinn is also a co-producer with director Emmanuel Itier and executive producer-actress Sharon Stone of two new documentary film projects titled: The Cure and We The People. He was in the documentary The Invocation, which was produced and narrated by Sharon Stone. It featured Deepak Chopra, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Michael Beckwith, Oliver Stone, Dave Stewart, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mark Wahlberg, Dave Stewart, and with music by Annie Lennox.

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What projects have you been working on during these challenging times?

I've just completed my brand-new business handbook Be Your Own Business Guru. I've also been filming and recording new episodes of Ready Set Live, which is my personal development, lifestyle, health, and wellness podcast.

Could you give us an idea of what your new book is all about?

Be Your Own Business Guru is your own personal guidebook dedicated to helping you restore balance to your life by learning how to enrich your spirit and bring your most complete and authentic self to the workplace.

For many of us, our work environment will never be the same after the global Covid-19 experience. Every element of life between our professional and personal lives has changed forever. My practical guide to spiritual recovery is filled to the brim with insight and wisdom that will allow you to leave your old negative thought patterns behind and take control of your new future.

of uncertainty and adversity. People need to be reminded how to be courageous and use their burning desire to manifest personal success. In the modern world, people stress the most about their job, or their achievements, or their wealth. I just want everyone to be able to refocus and put more energy into their mental, spiritual, and physical well-being so that they can find more success in their personal and business endeavors. Remember, you are not a "human doing." You are a "human being."

What are the steps one needs to take in order to achieve a goal?

I write about this in detail in my previous book, The Yes Frequency. Each of us has the freedom to live as we choose. When we make a choice, it is backed by all of the will, purpose, and intent in the universe. Since there are no limits to the power of the universe, there are no limits to our lives. We all have the potential to create a great life for ourselves. It's essential to say YES before you take steps to find your passion, purpose, and goals.

My new business handbook takes a closer look at key techniques to overcome barriers to success and encourages readers to make changes that will bring health and balance into their lives. By the time you finish this handbook, you will know how to take 100% responsibility for your mentality and make changes that will have a life-long impact on your personal and professional success. I want to empower readers and teach them how to become more conscious of their everyday actions and attitudes in order to take some of the fear and anxiety out of their lives. This handbook is all about how to finally find spiritual balance and have a breakthrough in life and business.

Tell me more about your new video podcast Ready Set Live?

Ready Set Live focuses on recurring problems and issues that confront all of us in today's hectic and toxic world. I give simple and practical strategies for those seeking to improve their lives and relationships. The show has featured celebrities and expert guests in personal development, health, fitness, and lifestyle. It is an entertaining, inspirational, and informative show that gives you the tools to create health and happiness in all areas of your life.

What was the inspiration for writing Be Your Own Business Guru?

Through my global coaching work, I have realized that many people all over the world are still struggling with internal issues that are not in alignment with their daily business aspirations. I want to help people take charge and become the creators of their paths during this time 10 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

IN THE MODERN WORLD, PEOPLE STRESS THE MOST ABOUT THEIR JOB, OR THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS, OR THEIR WEALTH. I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE ABLE TO REFOCUS AND PUT MORE ENERGY INTO THEIR MENTAL, SPIRITUAL, AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

Step #1: Focusing on YOU is the most important step in manifesting your goal. Pay attention to your thoughts and actions on a daily basis. Are you taking a "NO" approach to everything?

Don't resist the opportunity, and remember that your words and thoughts have energy that creates a cause and effect situation.

Step #2: Eliminate or greatly reduce the NO response. Get in the habit of resisting the NO. When you always think or say NO, you'll find more NO in your life, which will shrink your life into an unfulfilling and unhappy state.

Step #3: Replace your daily NO habit to a YES habit. Think and say YES instead. Especially say YES to the hurdles and challenges ahead of you, seeing them as opportunities. The more you say it, think it, and believe it, the closer you arrive to your goals.

Step #4: Expand from YES habits to affirmations. Write out simple, positive sentences that keep you focused on your goals and highly motivated. You could say, "today I attract an incredible new job" or "today I release all old habits or patterns that stopped me from living my dream.

Step #5: Now, it is time to take action. Action is critical. When you're walking through life in a YES state, it acts as a powerful magnet to manifest your dreams. You will quickly begin to attract the right people and opportunities to help you obtain what you want. Accepting the YES is the important part, as you can always choose to use the power of that YES at a later time.

How can I start feeling better?

One of my proven models of success is taking action steps each day towards achieving a specific goal. Focus your mind and body on having discipline, implementing repetition, and restructuring your belief system. It all starts with you. As you begin to modify your thoughts, words, and actions, you will start to feel differently about yourself and your environment.

Whether you realize it or not, your life is directed by the choices you make and the beliefs you hold. Before you know it, you will be a calmer, more centered person with reduced levels of fear and anxiety.

How can I manifest happiness?

Essentially, happiness is results without expectations, so if your expectations are low and your actions are powerful, then you will generate more happiness. If you keep raising your expectations, then you may stay motivated, but you will never truly be happy, no matter how much you manage to achieve. You'll still feel just as unfulfilled as you did at your previous, less successful stages of life. Happiness is not something that can be found or purchased. It is a state of well-being that we put ourselves into. When we maintain a core belief that life is meant to be enjoyed, then all of the setbacks and disappointments we face will never take away from our current happiness.

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Photography by: Artin MardirosianMakeup by: Edward Hakopian Hair by: Matthew G.Hair

Is money everything in life?

Having success with money is a result of your behaviors, so it's important to begin by self-improving mentally and spiritually, even if what you desire is material wealth. Someone very intelligent who has no control over their actions or emotions can often end up in financial ruin, while the average person with zero education in finance can end up successful and abundant if they possess a few key behavioral habits. Many people who are in search of money have lost sight of the importance of maintaining balance in their lives. All the money in the world will not make you happy if you don't work on your spiritual growth and alignment. You must remember to seek happiness whenever you seek wealth.

What are some pitfalls on the road to success?

Getting stuck in a toxic cycle of negative thoughts or falling into the victim mentality. Many individuals see themselves as a victim and don't believe they have any control over their lives. It can be very difficult, especially in the business world, to always stay positive and build good habits. Without a positive core mindset and consistent action items, we will always get in our own way and hinder our own success. It all comes down to steering clear of all forms of negativity.

How can we escape from negativity?

Begin by ridding your minds of negative attachments. Negative attachments are thoughts that echo in your head over

12 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

and over again. We expect the worst outcome to a situation in business or life, and we can't stop obsessing over the situation we imagine. If you truly wish to experience your authentic self and inner peace, you must learn to let go of your negative attachments. It is so easy for the mind to dwell on past problems and mistakes. Let the emotional experiences that you would rather forget to be remembered as helpful learning lessons. Practice the power of forgiveness by putting aside feelings of unworthiness and incompleteness, and start seeing yourself as being centered and validated. Forgive yourself and forgive the past, and then continue onwards to achieving your business and personal goals.

How do I deal with stress and anxiety?

Without question, stress and anxiety will appear suddenly in our lives and cause mayhem. Since these negative emotions are unavoidable, how we cope with them is of the utmost importance. Some people panic when confronted with the slightest hardships, while others masterfully navigate the most devastating kinds of circumstances. Most of us function somewhere between these two extremes, but we need to learn to handle our "crisis situations" in the most constructive and spiritually sound ways possible. If we can acknowledge the strong emotions of anger, frustration, guilt, and anxiety that surface during stressful and challenging times and not deny or suppress them, then we will have a breakthrough instead of a breakdown.

Photography by: Artin Mardirosian Makeup by: Edward Hakopian Hair by: Matthew G.Hair

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What message would you like to leave with our readers?

All the answers to your questions are within you. Trusting yourself is an affirmation of trust in life. All you need to do is restore yourself to whom and what you truly are. You can have exactly what you want when you want it, all the time. To live with vision is to live with passion. Living is empty without passion.

Passion is the source of your vital energy, enlisting the support of your heart and soul. Combine that passion with persistence and commitment, and the world is yours.

To learn more about Gary Quinn please visit: www.garyquinn.tv Listen to Gary's interview with Alexia Melocchi pleaae visit: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1572592/7094458-the-power-of-yes-with-gary-quinn Special thanks to: Gary Quinn Dina Morrone Alexia Melocchi Artin Mardirosian (Nexision) Ute Ville Photography Edward Hakopian makeup Matthew G.Hair

Photography by: Artin Mardirosian Makeup by: Edward Hakopian Hair by: Matthew G.Hair

So how do we go about capturing and internalizing this new energy?

We have to live life and do business with a positive attitude in the face of overwhelming stress and anxiety. Positive thinking, good eating, proper exercise, and meditation are great ways to reset and refocus. These actions allow our highest level of spiritual energy to guide us through every moment of the day.

How can people continue to be successful, even during a pandemic?

Unfortunately, this pandemic has been devastating for the employment and financial opportunities of many individuals worldwide. However, it is important to reframe everything in a positive state of mind. This is our chance to look within and change the way we have been working, rediscover our talents, and find better ways to apply ourselves. Thanks to widespread and accessible technology, each and every one of us have more opportunity than ever to learn valuable skills and improve our ability to reach people all over the world. We have to learn to adapt and stay current with technology so that we have some stability and advantages in an ever-changing world.

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WITHOUT A POSITIVE CORE MINDSET AND CONSISTENT ACTION ITEMS, WE WILL ALWAYS GET IN OUR OWN WAY AND HINDER OUR OWN SUCCESS. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO STEERING CLEAR OF ALL FORMS OF NEGATIVITY.

Photography by: Artin Mardirosian Makeup by: Edward Hakopian Hair by: Matthew G.Hair 15 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e January 2021

From "Vibrational Nutrition: Understanding the Energetic Signature of Foods"

THE FREQUENCY OF FOOD: ENERGETIC SIGNATURES OF MORE THAN 300 FOODS

By Candice Covington

M

ost of us are familiar with the physical health benefits of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices and their nutritional effects on the human body. It is well known, for example, that turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory and carrots significantly improve eyesight, but what about the vibrational benefits of foods? How does our diet affect the energy body and our emotional, mental, and spiritual states?

In this comprehensive guide to vibrational nutrition, Candice Covington explores the vibrational signatures of the foods we eat and how they help form the energetic structures that influnece our behaviors and spirit. She explains how, by choosing foods that resonate with your natural vibrational patterns, you can use your diet to fine-tune your energetic body, remove negative energy patterns, and consciously craft a positive state for body, mind, and soul.

Photo by Hermes Rivera

She explores how each food affects you on multiple levels, how a food’s color determines which chakra it resonates with and how to work with dreams to decode the divine role of foods in your life. The author explains how to interpret food cravings and aversions on an emotional and spiritual level and provides exercises to help you identify the vibrational meaning of your current diet and deepen your relationship with the foods you eat.

Offering a selection of recipes along with interpretations of their energetic stories, Covington explores how to intuitively select foods and food combinations to reinforce your energy patterns, support you in any endeavor, and provide nutrition for body, mind, and spirit.

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The natural world with its vast and wondrous array of forms and energies offers us a treasure trove of vibrational tools that we can use as antidotes for negative energy patterns and to support the cultivation of positive qualities. The vibration of each plant and animal can be understood as an energy pattern with a specific and unique structure or signature. When these energetic signatures resonate with our natural vibrational patterns, we can use them to fine-tune our own energetic bodies. Because we are vibrational beings in a constant state of flux, a significant key to our well-being and growth is the reinforcement of our desired energetic patterns. Food is an effective medium for holding matter at specific vibratory rates.

SAMPLE FOOD ENTRIES Tomato Tomato, first and foremost, teaches togetherness in many forms. Be it a loving family, a robust community, the dance of relationship, passion, or even courtship, this fruit is about the heart. A part of this dynamic is the ability to be open to differences and new circumstances, and joyfully embrace them.

Broccoli Broccoli offers the gift of achieving balance, helping one to be responsible and respond to the challenges placed before you.

Fascinatingly, broccoli helps you choose your tasks with freedom and joy, so your “to-do list” comes from a place of service.

Broccoli also helps you “get it right” and clear up loose ends that nag at you internally: taking care of promises unkept, duties unfulfilled, including those that matter to others.

Potato Potato dramatically increases future sight, telepathy, clairvoyance, and the ability to use these gifts for healing, often resulting in practical solutions for everyday problems. It also helps in assimilating and grounding into the earthly plane, allowing one to ultimately thrive.

Avocado Avocado signifies positive touch. It harmonizes the body and mind by dissolving emotional tension and the negative influence of past pain that causes one to turn inward and harden against love offered. Offers shelter when feeling overwhelmed with emotion. Avocado allows the individual to become more vulnerable to others without fear and facilitates intimacy and healing through touch.

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Sage Sage is a master cleanser and purifier and can nullify all discordant energy. This does not mean it’s permanently removed (you still have to do your personal work to shift the cause of the disharmony or circumstance), but sage can offer refuge and hold space for you while you do so.

herbs like rosemary or thyme for additional depth of flavor. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Black Beans Black beans bring wild unbridled energy and will energize any situation (good or bad). They are amplifiers. So when black bean calls to you remember to be attentive to your personal energy, environments, and intentions. A great deal of energy is available to you at this time; make sure it is going where you want it!

Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic from their coverings, smash the cloves to desired texture, and add olive oil to taste. A pinch of sea salt is optional.

Narrative of Whole Roasted Garlic: Amplifies the divine light that dwells in your core, bringing warmth and receptivity, fostering the energy of inclusiveness and true caring. Respecting the freedom of those you love, teaching by example, and holding space for others to find their way without pushing them along before they are ready.

Almonds Almonds help to arrest the fear of aging and make the passage of time sacred and not solely experienced through the physical body. They open one to the complex beauty of self and a strong inner vitality.

You might serve this dish to hold space for someone when they are in an emotional or spiritual “growth spurt” to help them anchor their newly acquired understanding, allowing them to feel completely adored and nourished while in the process.

Egg The egg contains “all that is possible,” full of promise and new life. It expresses the rebirth of nature, the fruitfulness of the earth and all creation. In many traditions the egg is a symbol for the whole universe, the “cosmic egg” containing a balance of male and female, light and dark, in the egg yolk and egg white. The golden orb of the yolk represents the divine masculine enfolded by the divine feminine, in perfect balance.

Garlic Garlic brings the energy of affirming the divine light that dwells in your core and using this inexhaustible source to warm your soul. In this light, you are protected from negative energy and malevolent forces, coupled with the ability to protect others. Garlic also offers the gift of respecting the freedom of those you love, teaching by example and holding space for others to find their way without pushing them along before they are ready.

Recipe: Whole Roasted Garlic Take as many heads of garlic as you would like and peel most of the paper off leaving the head intact with all the cloves connected.

Trim about 1/4 inch off the top of the head of garlic to expose the tops of the garlic cloves.

Preheat your oven to 325 and place garlic in a small baking dish and drizzle the exposed tops with 1 to 2 teaspoons of olive oil. If needed make a ‘nest’ out of tinfoil to help keep the cloves upright. Sprinkle with 18 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Candice Covington is a certified aromatherapist, massage therapist, healing arts master, and energy worker.

A former instructor at Ashmead College and former aroma¬therapist for the Chopra Center, she is the founder of Divine Archetypes, an essential oil and flower essence company, and the author of Essential Oils in Spiritual Practice. She lives on a farmette in Oregon City, Oregon. https://divinearchetypes.org Vibrational Nutrition by Candice Covington © 2021 Healing Arts Press. Printed with permission from the publisher Inner Traditions International. www.InnerTraditions.com

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2021 MARKS

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI Autobiography of a Yogi, which helped pave the way for yoga’s proliferation in the West, turns 75 this year. Written by Paramahansa Yogananda, widely regarded as the father of yoga in the West, the book has been in continuous print since 1946.

This critically acclaimed spiritual classic remains the go-to book for millions of seekers and yoga enthusiasts around the world.

Autobiography of a Yogi has captured the hearts and minds of people from fields as diverse as academia, business and popular culture—from Harvard's Diana Eck to the Beatles' George Harrison to Apple founder Steve Jobs, who gave instructions for the book to be gifted to all those attending his memorial service. Recognized around the world as a literary masterpiece, it has been translated into more than 50 languages, ranging from Icelandic to Kazakh.

For more information about Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, and other books and recordings published by Self-Realization Fellowship, please visit: yogananda.org

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Excerpts from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

“WITH MAHATMA GANDHI AT WARDHA” This year marks the 75th anniversary of Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, the spiritual classic that has influenced the lives of millions of readers, including Nobel Laureate Thomas Mann, Beatle George Harrison, and Apple founder Steve Jobs (who arranged for the book to be gifted to all those attending his memorial service). An apostle of peace and harmony among all people and all nations, Yogananda shared many of the same spiritual ideals as Mahatma Gandhi, and devoted a chapter of his book to the Mahatma. Following are excerpts from that chapter. Reprinted with permission. Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles, California. www.yogananda.org.

“Welcome to Wardha!” Mahadev Desai, secretary to Mahatma Gandhi, greeted Miss Bletsch, Mr. Wright, and me with these cordial words and the gift of wreaths of khaddar (homespun cotton). Our little group had just arrived at the station in Wardha on an early morning in August, glad to leave the dust and heat of the train. Consigning our luggage to a bullock cart, we entered an open motorcar with Mr. Desai and his companions: Babasaheb Deshmukh and Dr. Pingale. A short drive over the muddy country roads brought us to “Maganvadi,” the ashram of India’s political saint.

Mr. Desai led us at once to the writing room where, cross-legged, sat Mahatma Gandhi. Pen in one hand and a scrap of paper in the other, on his face a vast, winning, warmhearted smile!

“Welcome!” he scribbled in Hindi; it was a Monday, his weekly day of silence.

Though this was our first meeting, we beamed on each other affectionately. In 1925 Mahatma Gandhi had honored the Ranchi school by a visit, and had inscribed in its guest book a gracious tribute.

The tiny 100-pound saint radiated physical, mental, and spiritual health. His soft brown eyes shone with intelligence, sincerity, and discrimination; this statesman has matched wits and emerged the victor in a thousand legal, social, and political battles. No other leader in the world has attained the secure niche in the hearts of his people that Gandhi occupies for India’s unlettered millions. Their spontaneous tribute is his famous title—Mahatma, “great soul.” For them alone Gandhi confines his attire to the widely cartooned loincloth, symbol of his oneness with the downtrodden masses who can afford no more.

“The ashram residents are wholly at your disposal; please call on them for any service.” With characteristic courtesy, the Mahatma handed me this hastily written note as Mr. Desai led our party from the writing room toward the guest house.

Our guide led us through orchards and flowering fields to a tileroofed building with latticed windows. A front-yard well, twenty-five feet across, was used, Mr. Desai said, for watering stock; nearby stood a revolving cement wheel for threshing rice. Each of our small bedrooms proved to contain only the irreducible minimum—a bed, handmade of rope. The whitewashed kitchen boasted a faucet in one corner and a fire pit for cooking in another….

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Observing Mr. Wright’s travel diary, Mr. Desai opened it and wrote on a page a list of Satyagraha vows taken by all of the Mahatma’s earnest followers (satyagrahis): Nonviolence; Truth; Non-Stealing; Celibacy; NonPossession; Body Labor; Control of the Palate; Fearlessness; Equal Respect for all Religions; Swadeshi (use of home manufactures); Freedom from Untouchability.

These eleven should be observed as vows in a spirit of humility.

(Gandhi himself signed this page on the following day, giving the date also—August 27, 1935.)

the Wardha rooftop meditation under the early stars.

Punctually at eight o’clock Gandhi ended his silence.

The herculean labors of his life require him to apportion his time minutely.

“Welcome, Swamiji!” The Mahatma’s greeting this time was not via paper. We had just descended from the roof to his writing room, simply furnished with square mats (no chairs), a low desk with books, papers, and a few ordinary pens (not fountain pens); a nondescript clock ticked in a corner. An all-pervasive aura of peace and devotion. Gandhi was bestowing one of his captivating, cavernous, almost toothless smiles.

Two hours after our arrival my companions and I were summoned to lunch. The Mahatma was already seated under the arcade of the ashram porch, across the courtyard from his study. About twenty-five barefooted satyagrahis were squatting before brass cups and plates.

A community chorus of prayer; then a meal served from large brass pots containing chapatis (whole-wheat unleavened bread) sprinkled with ghee; talsari (boiled and diced vegetables), and a lemon jam.

“Years ago,” he explained, “I started my weekly observance of a day of silence as a means for gaining time to look after my correspondence. But now those twenty-four hours have become a vital spiritual need. A periodical decree of silence is not a torture but a blessing.”

The Mahatma ate chapatis, boiled beets, some raw vegetables, and oranges. On the side of his plate was a large lump of very bitter neem leaves, a notable blood cleanser. With a spoon he separated a portion and placed it on my dish. I bolted it down with water, remembering childhood days when Mother had forced me to swallow the unpleasant dose. Gandhi, however, was eating the neem paste bit by bit without distaste.

“Mahadev,” Gandhi said as Mr. Desai entered the room, “please make arrangements at Town Hall for Swamiji to speak there on yoga tomorrow night.”

I agreed wholeheartedly. The Mahatma questioned me about America and Europe; we discussed India and world conditions.

In this trifling incident I noted the Mahatma’s ability to detach his mind from the senses at will. I recalled a much-publicized appendectomy performed on him some years ago. Refusing anesthetics, the saint had chatted cheerfully with his devotees throughout the operation, his calm smile revealing his unawareness of pain. ******* The seven p.m. prayer hour found us back at Maganvadi ashram, climbing to the roof where thirty satyagrahis were grouped in a semicircle around Gandhi. He was squatting on a straw mat, an ancient pocket watch propped up before him. The fading sun cast a last gleam over the palms and banyans; the hum of night and the crickets had started. The atmosphere was serenity itself; I was enraptured.

A solemn chant led by Mr. Desai, with responses from the group; then a Gita reading. The Mahatma motioned to me to give the concluding prayer. Such divine unison of thought and aspiration! A memory forever:

22 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

California Lt. Governor and Mrs. Goodwin J. Knight with Paramahansa Yogananda during the dedication ceremony of the SRF Lake Shrine and Mahatma Gandhi World Peace Memorial

As I was bidding the Mahatma good night, he considerately handed me a bottle of citronella oil.

“The Wardha mosquitoes don’t know a thing about ahimsa, Swamiji!” he said, laughing.

The following morning our little group breakfasted early on whole-wheat porridge with molasses and milk. At ten-thirty we were called to the ashram porch for lunch with Gandhi and the satyagrahis. Today the menu included brown rice, a new selection of vegetables, and cardamon seeds.

Noon found me strolling about the ashram grounds, on to the grazing land of a few imperturbable cows. The protection of cows is a passion with Gandhi.

“The cow to me means the entire sub-human world, extending man’s sympathies beyond his own species,” the Mahatma has explained. “Man through the cow is enjoined to realize his identity with all that lives. Why the ancient rishis selected the cow for apotheosis is obvious to me. The cow in India was the best comparison; she was the giver of plenty. Not only did she give milk, but she also made agriculture possible. The cow is a poem of pity; one reads pity in the gentle animal. She is the second mother to millions of mankind. Protection of the cow means protection of the whole dumb creation of God. The appeal of the lower order of creation is all the more forceful because it is speechless.” ******* “Mahatmaji,” I said as I squatted beside him on the uncushioned mat, “please tell me your definition of ahimsa.”

“The avoidance of harm to any living creature in thought or deed.”

“Beautiful ideal! But the world will always ask: May one not kill a cobra to protect a child, or one’s self?”

“I could not kill a cobra without violating two of my vows—fearlessness, and non-killing. I would rather try inwardly to calm the snake by vibrations of love. I cannot possibly lower my standards to suit my circumstances.” With his charming candor, he added, “I must confess that I could not serenely carry on this conversation were I faced by a cobra!” *******

On the previous night Gandhi had expressed a wish to receive the Kriya Yoga of Lahiri Mahasaya. I was touched by the Mahatma’s open-mindedness and spirit of inquiry. He is childlike in his divine quest, revealing that pure receptivity which Jesus praised in children, “ . . . of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

The hour for my promised instruction had arrived; several satyagrahis now entered the room—Mr. Desai, Dr. Pingale, and a few others who desired the Kriya technique.

I first taught the little class the physical Yogoda exercises. The body is visualized as divided into twenty parts; the will directs energy in turn to each section. Soon everyone was vibrating before me like a human motor. It was easy to observe the rippling effect on Gandhi’s twenty body parts, at nearly all times completely exposed to view! Though very thin, he is not unpleasingly so; the skin of his body is smooth and unwrinkled.

Later I initiated the group into the liberating technique of Kriya Yoga.

“THE COW TO ME MEANS THE ENTIRE SUB-HUMAN WORLD, EXTENDING MAN’S SYMPATHIES BEYOND HIS OWN SPECIES,” On my last evening in Wardha I addressed the meeting which had been called by Mr. Desai in Town Hall. The room was thronged to the windowsills with about 400 persons assembled to hear the talk on yoga. I spoke first in Hindi, then in English. Our little group returned to the ashram in time for a good-night glimpse of the Mahatma—deep in peace and correspondence.

Night was still lingering when I rose at five a.m.

Village life was already stirring; first a bullock cart by the ashram gates, then a peasant with his huge burden balanced precariously on his head. After breakfast our trio sought out Gandhi for farewell pranams. The saint rises at four o’clock for his morning prayer.

“Mahatmaji, good-bye!” I knelt to touch his feet. “India is safe in your keeping.”

Years have rolled by since the Wardha idyl; the earth, oceans, and skies have darkened with a world at war.

Alone among great leaders, Gandhi has offered a practical nonviolent alternative to armed might. To redress grievances and remove injustices, the Mahatma has employed nonviolent means which again and again have proved their effectiveness.

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24 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e January 2021

SIMPLE MATTERS

By Karen Ann Harden

I

t takes an exchange of hearts and a deep willingness to understand the broken man and the wounded child – or the wounded child who becomes the broken man (or woman). Which is first?

As the author Mark Nepo shares in a powerful, powerful book, As far as The Heart Can See, “The whole world lives in each of us. Where the Auschwitz? Where the sun? How do I breathe in a sky that has accepted it all?”

This goes for all of us. The pain we keep will eventually spill out into the world around us. Where, when, and how is up to us. It can spew out as anger. It can internalize as victim.

It can paralyze us as sorrow. It can strike as fear. It can cause harm to others unknowingly. It can spill out today. It can spill out tomorrow. Or we never allow it to spill out, so we bleed internally causing harm to ourselves. If we want to heal, however, it must come out. The safer and sooner we let it out, the better.

The joy we keep can shine. Joy for this life we are all born with.

Where, when, and how it shines is up to us. It can shine as compassion. It can shine as empathy. It can shine as happiness.

It can shine today. It cans shine tomorrow. Or we never allow it to shine. If we want to heal, however, it must shine When a person can transform the suffering, so as not to shed their pain onto others with an intent to injure, do harm or transfer, but share safely, healing is imminent.

We can then take forth compassion to shine onto others and bring forth joy. Empty then open. Broken heart…broken

open. It is a beautiful experience. Why would we think, in a million years, that we are the only ones who have experienced pain and suffering? We are human. It is the human story.

Every person can heal well. Become an agent of your own good heart. It is just a choice. It is just one radical decision away to invoke the resilient nature we are all inherently born with as human beings. Everyone can change the story of their life.

I think a good message for folks who have never experienced personal trauma is that we must communicate the acceptance that cruelty and kindness are experienced in the very same second all around us. This creates for me, anyway, a visual of the dichotomy of the world in which we must give our notice.

Cruelty comes from hurt and pain, which feels like hate – a lack of love. Kindness, empathy, and wisdom comes from love. We live in a world of spiritual dichotomies – good and evil. We can also live in spiritual harmony.

At the moment my dad, with his mis-guided heart, was sneaking in my room to abuse me at night, the young girl next door slept peacefully in the safety of her heart-full dad. We both went to school the next day. One bleeding on the inside with a hidden wound, unseen to the world around her; one shining on the inside with a different kind of energy or clarity – the energy of safety. Both were living in the same world, in the same neighborhood for that matter, with the same expectations from others. One judged as a troubled kid. One not. The difference was obvious.

Become an agent of your own good heart.

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The Human Condition. Seek to Understand.

An exchange of hearts could change everything – I mean this metaphorically, of course. My dad and I did not speak for a long time due to my unwillingness to include him in my life. Then he had a heart exchange. With a diagnosis early in life of chronic heart disease, he needed a heart transplant to live. After his transplant, he had physical challenges I, frankly, knew truly little about. He was living in his own created prison. All I knew is that he had a new heart.

He contacted me to visit just years prior to his passing.

I was 37 years old and married with two young boys. I agreed. This would be the first time I had seen him in person since my wedding thirteen years earlier. Prior to that I had seen him once to voice my anger and confusion over what he did with my sister and me.

At that time, he asked me for forgiveness for what he had done. Even though I granted it, I kept my distance. I also knew that forgiving him did not mean I could or would condone his behavior. But I knew he loved me.

He sent me a birthday card every year with an inscription of how proud he was to have me as his daughter and signed it, “Love, Dad”. It was only later in life, years after his passing, that I would come to understand more of his childhood story through my older brother. This was the real exchange-of-hearts moment I needed to bring true understanding of his pain that he transferred to me.

I finally released for the least time, with this understanding, the last drop of sorrow. I felt empathy toward him as a wounded child. I felt joy, that I, also a wounded child, was now an adult who did not spill out or project harm onto my own children. I did not have to wait until my reflective deathbed to heal and ask forgiveness. I broke the chain of historical abuse in our family. I altered our family’s cultural story. So did my sister, my adorable, loving and kind sister, who would not hurt anyone, ever, on purpose.

I signed up for this. So, I could help heal this wound that too many women silently carry. I decided long ago that I was strong enough to carry this message. Yet, until now, I have been somewhat hiding my journey, except to those who I felt needed understanding in their own lives, especially girls who I knew had experienced this type of trauma in the home. And there have been many. I knew that my story could help others – to spark resilience, invoke strength, and inspire them to realize the message of the heart and to love themselves and each other better.

I had to go through my own learning before I was ready to share. I had to learn my own power. I had to discover and embrace my voice. I am grateful for the lesson and the 26 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

blessing of my wounds. I am grateful for the understanding that people do not always understand the dynamics of their misguided actions. They are a reminder to me that empathy and understanding are necessary in a world full of human mistakes. It provides us with perspective and allows us to dig deeper. At times, the human condition saddens me. I have always had this sadness.

Understanding deep sadness is solely responsible for my understanding of joy. As I have allowed sadness, I have allowed joy. One cannot have one without the other.

So, as I am sensitive to others, I feel their energy and can bring my energy to them. It allows me to connect with the plethora of people I have met from all areas of life – the rich, poor, successful, downtrodden, healthy, sick, joyful, angry, hopeless, and hopeful – as I can relate to all of it.

I am in constant conflict with myself. One side of me wakes up and wants to enjoy the world; the other side of me wants to heal the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. I am serious!

Mostly I relate to children, because as a child, I was incredibly happy. I thought the world had magic in it. But so early in life I was very, very hurt through the mis-guided actions of my father. So, when I bend down to listen to a young person in pain, to really hear them, I first seek their eyes so they can feel safe to speak. This is when I am quiet. Seek to understand. Always. Doing so validates their existence at the time when they are most vulnerable to their thoughts of insignificance, allowing them to voice safely. Most especially kids in pain or shame. They do not need judgement. We may not see their wounds on the outside. Treat them with the same simple kindness as if they had a broken leg. We all know that outside wounds lend us to say empathetic and encouraging words to help a child who had a visible, outside wound.

Why is it so hard to be kind to a hurting child with invisible wounds?

Seek to understand. Simple kindness matters.

Karen Ann Harden has spent her life overcoming childhood trauma and advocating for others. Her journey has taken her on a career path as an advocate, volunteer, director, program developer, grant writer, and fundraiser for youth programs locally, statewide, and nationally. She has two grown sons, three grandchildren and currently resides in Northern Wisconsin.

BORN TO DO IT

HOW TO INTEGRATE COSMIC ORDERING INTO YOUR BUSINESS

By Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith

28 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

What Is Cosmic Ordering?

The person who introduced me to cosmic ordering was Ellen Watts. Ellen explains that essentially, cosmic order asks the Universe for what you want – and it arrives. It’s not something she has created all by herself either; rather, it’s been around forever. You’ll even find cosmic ordering in the Bible, where it is referred to as ‘miracles.’

Ellen shared with me her cosmic ordering technique, which is to say: “What I really want is X” and finish by saying, “For the good of all concerned.” Ellen stresses that it is very important to finish each cosmic order with that final sentence as it ensures that no one should ever lose out for you to gain. This is very important to her when she places her orders, especially orders relating to money, as she doesn’t want anyone to die in order to leave money to her.

It is important to remember that you must never wish for anything bad on someone else as that is just a way to create bad karma for yourself. In fact, orders asking for something terrible to happen to someone else will never be delivered. Cosmic orders are about you – specifically what you want for yourself – and are therefore delivered to you. It’s similar to when you go to a restaurant and place an order for your food. You order what you want to eat for yourself (pizza with a side order of chips) – not anyone else.

What is also crucially important is to remember always to let go and do something else once you have placed your order. If you can’t let go and your body and emotions feel anxious, you will block your order from coming through. Remove all emotional attachment and expectation – forget about it and trust that it’s all in order (literally!) and working in your favor.

The Luis Cosmic Order I think the most memorable (and miraculous!) cosmic order I placed related to one of my favorite people, Luis – or my ‘Mexican Dream’, as I’ve nicknamed him. Ellen had mentioned that it was okay to place a cosmic order involving another person if this individual was someone I knew and was part of my inner circle.

I met Luis at the film festival circuit in Arizona in 2018.

Luis had starred in a film I was representing called Frontera, and he was attending the festival to support the screening of the film with the other members of the team: the director Jake and his best friend and co-star Omar. Luis is one of the most hilarious, sweetest

people I’ve ever met. He has a lovely smile and is always very positive. We quickly formed a close bond, and we would always hang out with each other when I was in the USA. In addition to being a great actor, Luis is also a very successful Florida-based realtor.

Before I moved to Los Angeles, I was flying back and forth to the USA a lot, attending festivals and growing my business. During 2019 I stayed in an apartment in LA for two months, and I was due to meet Luis when I was next in Florida attending a film festival to represent a wonderful film, The Cunning Man, on behalf of my client.

Cosmic orders are about you – specifically what you want for yourself – and are therefore delivered to you.

However, I was also going to be in the USA for my birthday in August, and I wanted to celebrate it with Luis. I decided to place a cosmic order. “What I really want is to celebrate my birthday with Luis during the month of August, for 127 the good of all concerned.”

I didn’t want to specify LA or Florida, as I was open to celebrating it anywhere. When I placed this order, I had my doubts about it. I wasn’t sure how this would be delivered or if I was asking for far too much. What I was experiencing was a bit of disbelief; however, this was a good thing as it helped me to remove attachment to any outcome and forget about it quicker.

I flew to Florida for the film festival and met Luis. I’d totally forgotten about the order I’d placed, but I was planning on asking him at some point during the night if he would be up for coming to Los Angeles to celebrate my birthday with me.

Shortly after he arrived, he asked me how long I was staying in LA. “Two months,” I replied. “Oh, cool!” he said. “I’ll be coming to LA with my brother towards the end of August to visit my aunt.” “Oh, wow. When?”

I asked. “23rd to 26th,” he replied. My birthday was on the 25th of August! We did indeed see each other during the time he was in LA, and it was so much fun to celebrate with him – and it’s all thanks to the Universe for organizing this for us! The moral of the story is to trust that your cosmic order will be delivered – but not always in the way you expect it to come.

This story also shows that miracles happen all the time (as Ellen points out in her book), and that anything is possible.

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Born to Do It: Becoming the Leader of a Business Niche Using Powerful Spiritual Tech Rebekah takes you on a journey to: • Grow your business niche • Energetically brand your business • Create a solid business infrastructure and craft a strong sales pitch • Implement cosmic ordering, manifestation, and Feng Shui techniques into your business for maximum success Using her own experiences as examples and saluting the experts who guided her in the process, she shows precisely what she learned and how you can apply that wisdom.

This book will quickly clarify what you are born to do and empowers the drive and ambition to create the business your heart and soul desires.

30 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith (aka Rebekah Film Dr) was born in Worcestershire, United Kingdom. From humble beginnings working as a Personal Assistant at lots of corporate companies, she worked her way up to become an award-winning consultant and media personality who now has more than 10 years of film festival strategy consulting experience.

After choosing not to pursue a career in Academia teaching film studies, Rebekah began her film industry career in 2009, working as one of the producers of Wales most successful national horror film festival, the Abertoir Horror Festival.

During that time began to develop a great knowledge of the film festival business, which led her to become inspired to start her own innovative company in an industry she loved.

Rebekah and the hard-working team behind her company, The Film Festival Doctor, are creators of success and are committed to nurturing filmmakers to help them secure film festival screenings, win awards, and a positive recognition within the film industry.

Her company has currently won more than 800 awards for their clients, and her team has supported nearly 850 creatives across the world, enlightening and inspiring their journey towards achieving their goals and following their filmmaking dreams.

Her new book Born to Do It: Becoming the Leader of a Business Niche Using Powerful Spiritual Techniques helps others who are pondering the leap into entrepreneurship or are already on the journey but yearning for more success and profitability.

Rebekah now also offers personal mentoring.

Described by many of her clients as a deeply knowledgeable and inspirational mentor, Rebekah supports individuals in adopting new strategies, mindsets, and communication techniques that produce extraordinary results.

For more information, visit www.rebekahlouisasmith.com or follow her on IG @RebekahFilmDr

A

bout a year after I was diagnosed with Lyme disease, I went into the hospital to do intravenous antibiotics for forty days. Six months earlier, I had finished a course of doxycycline after being initially diagnosed with Lyme, and at the time, I thought it was all over, that I was cured. Little did I know it was just the beginning. Lyme had entered my brain, and a kind of meningitis was ravaging my head and body. As I lay in the hospital bed, I began to cry. I was in a state of utter despair. What in the hell was going on? Why was I sick again after taking antibiotics? I began to pray for help, for anyone or anything to show me what was going on, to show me the way.

As I worked with my sensory perception, I began to learn that my body’s intuition would symbolically speak to me and to think outside the box.

Photo by Hayes Potter

I could still breathe, so I focused on my breathing. Because I couldn’t think properly (Lyme jumbles your brain), I began to feel more. If I can still feel, and I can still breath, and I can still love, I still exist, I thought. Then I “felt” into my brain and asked, What’s the matter? as if my brain were a little baby.

I felt like a mother who senses something is wrong with her baby, even though he or she can’t speak. With all of the love and tender feelings I could muster, I “cradled” my brain and asked again: What’s the matter? I love you, brain. What’s the matter?

Learning to Listen

By Vir McCoy & Kara Zahl

32 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Then a miracle happened. I had a vision. I saw a beautiful large oak tree in the woods, and up the side of the trunk, shelf mushrooms were growing. Rows and rows of these beautiful mushrooms spiraled up the tree toward the sky.

I remembered three kinds. Two I recognized from my work as a field biologist as reishi mushrooms, another was a turkey tail mushroom, and the third I had to wait till I got out of the hospital to look up, but it was called Chaga.

I need these, I thought.

The vision was so clear, and from a place of love that I knew, there must be something to it. Once I was out of the hospital, I researched the mushrooms. It turns out that reishi mushrooms have been used for thousands of years as an immune booster in Chinese medicine. Turkey tail mushrooms are also immune boosters and are part of an anticancer drug currently being developed and tested called PSK, and Chaga is another incredible immune booster (Stamets, 1999).

Intuitive Science After I got out of the hospital, I began to hone my intuitive skills, much like one would practice an instrument or develop a muscle. I began to practice the art of intuitive sensory perception inside my own body and write down what I was seeing, tasting, smelling, and hearing during my motherly loving meditations.

Then I had another breakthrough. One day during my inward viewing, I saw the cysts, those nasty little “eggs” that Lyme transforms into. The cysts can lie dormant for up to a year or more (see chapter 6 for more information about the cysts). I saw these round little eggs inside my brain. I saw rows of them like peas in a peapod, coated with slim (a biofilm). But I also saw a pencil on top of each egg. I couldn’t understand what this image was. A week later, I saw them again in my meditation--pencils on top of eggs. OK, then, I thought, what the hell does a pencil over an egg mean? As I worked with my sensory perception, I began to learn that my body’s intuition would symbolically speak to me and to think outside the box.

I thought, A pencil, hmmm, a pencil contains lead. Does this mean I have lead poisoning? Wait, a pencil contains black lead or graphite, right? But that’s poisonous too. I couldn’t figure it out, and I gave up. Then about a week later, I wandered into the supplement section in Whole Foods Market (as nearly every Lyme patient does) and noticed the homeopathic aisle. I saw one little blue tube identified with the word “Graphites.” Graphites, I thought. That’s black lead! Holy Moses! What do Graphites do exactly? I read the homeopathic pamphlet in the store on Graphites: “Graphites can dissolve toughened skin, scars, boils, and cysts.” Oh, my God, this is what my intuition was telling me! Pencils over eggs! I now believe that Graphites and similar homeopathic remedies are important for dissolving Lyme cysts, and this substance became a key component to my healing.

After this particular incident, I began to write down everything I could, and I started trusting the deeper wisdom that came through the senses and from a place deeper than my mind.

Liberating Yourself from Lyme is written from the intuitive information I have received, as well as investigating the science to back up what I was intuiting. As an artist and a scientist, I have been blessed with the ability to intuit remedies and then do my best to back them up with science (although that wasn’t always possible).

By utilizing my intuition, I am in no way invalidating science, as I believe the scientific process is essential for collecting information and facts. This intuitive process is a kind of spiritual science, like an inner Sherlock Holmes looking for clues. It has been both a humbling and validating process in many ways, teaching me to trust my intuition just as much as I would trust the knowledge of a doctor. I would often be “shown” a remedy and then find the medical research that confirmed what I had intuited.

This method helped me validate what I was seeing and sensing. In addition to many common antibiotics and herbs, I discovered several unusual medicines and techniques for Lyme that I had never heard of, and I offer them here to help others as they have helped me.

By 2010 Kara and I were completely done with Lyme disease and back to full health

Vir McCoy is a teacher, healer, author, lecturer, musician, and ecologist who works both as a bodywork healer and as a field biologist and botanist focusing on endangered species. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Kara Zahl is a healing arts practitioner, yoga instructor, and intuitive counselor with a bodywork practice combining massage and energy work modalities.

She lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Liberating Yourself from Lyme by Vir McCoy and Kara Zahl © 2021 Healing Arts Press. Printed with permission from the publisher Inner Traditions International. www.InnerTraditions.com 33 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

WOMEN'S

EMPOWERMENT

YAMUNA

Zake

VISIONARY HEALER AND HEALTH INNOVATOR 34 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

V

has dedicated her life to understanding how the body works and helping others to create positive change in their bodies. She has trained an international network of 800 holistic certified practitioners and hosts sell out classes around the world for clients of all ages.

She advocates that good health stems from our feet, they’re our foundation and crucial to the well-being of our entire body, yet they’re often neglected. In her new book, The Foot Fix she shows you how many health issues are connected to your feet - back, hip and leg pain are associated with feet alignment and how to realign your feet so your injury won’t return. She also teaches mindfulness of the feet and how to walk and stand properly - most foot problems are caused by walking and standing patterns that send our weight into the inner sides of the feet.

35 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Please tell us about your new book, The Foot Fix, which was out on January 12th?

The Foot Fix is a book I have wanted to write for years.

I have seen so many people suffer from foot problems over the last 40 years that I wanted to write a book that would be accessible and make fixing and maintaining our feet easy. Since our feet don't come with an educational manual and we stand on them our whole lives it's not surprising that more than seventy-five percent of western people end up with foot problems at some point in their lives. I believe you have to get people working on their feet before any problems start.

en suffer more from foot problems, but that is not the case. The number of men suffering is rising every year.

Experts think it is because of sports shoes. They are so comfortable that our feet don't work while wearing them 3. The alignment and function of our feet determine how well the rest of our body functions. Collapsed arches are the main cause of why our posture worsens with age.

What are the most important takeaways from The Foot Fix? The most important take away's from The Foot Fix are just how simple it can be to rebuild healthy foot function. Anyone can do it and have positive results.

Focusing on developing the 4 parts of your feet over the 4 weeks makes you smart when it comes to taking care of your feet. Most foot problems can be fixed when you learn how to include the 4 parts of your feet when you walk. You learn tips on how to stay mindful and connected to your feet throughout the day.

How can looking after our feet heal other parts of our body, such as back and hip pain?

Since our feet are connected to the rest of the body, when we begin to develop healthy foot habits, the first thing we notice is our posture improves, and that chronic lower back or hip problems have suddenly vanished. When you learn how to stand strong on your feet, so many structural problems resolve themselves.

Why did you get into feet?

I got into working on the feet because of my mother. Her feet are terribly deformed, and this began post-menopause; when I looked at her feet and realized this was my genetic heritage, I began to focus intensely on building healthy foot function so I would not wind up suffering in the same way. I have been a body therapist for over 40 years. Each time someone comes to me with an injury, I watch them stand and walk, and it becomes obvious that their feet played a huge role in why the problem occurred. We can correct a hip problem, but our hip problem will return over time if we don't address the feet.

Can you tell us three things that we may not know about our feet?

Things most people do not know about their feet. 1.

The muscles that begin from our hips end in our feet.

By wearing shoes and exercising in them, our leg muscles never get a full work out. Our cramped toes and feet slowly begin to contract, shortening our leg muscles, eventually causing injuries. 2. People think wom-

36 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

You've trained a network of international practitioners in your techniques – can you tell us how that came about?

We have over 750 certified Yamuna practitioners worldwide. These are people who are dedicating their lives to helping others fix structural problems in their bodies through education. We commonly hear people tell us their stories of how they have spent years trying to fix their feet or another part of the body without success.

They come to us, and we make the body simple to understand and to fix step by step. I think professionals in movement therapies began to take notice of my work over 35 years ago. It became obvious that we needed to set up world certification programs so we could grow our work worldwide and help more and more people.

I was interested that you're not anti high heels and appear to wear them regularly yourself.

Can you tell us why that is?

I believe people should be able to wear whatever type of shoe they want as long as they know how to take care of their feet. I teach people a simple exercise of how to walk their shoes out of their feet. It doesn't matter what shoe you wear. Your feet get stuck in the form of the shoes and by the end of the day,

your feet have lost their healthy shape. You don't want your toes curling in and getting squashed into any shoe. Having a way to free your feet each day is fabulous for all of us.

these online classes showed me how far-reaching online classes could be. We had people from all over the world attending. If I can't travel to teach and lead retreats, I can still do so much online.

What sparked your passion for body sustainability?

I coined the term Body Sustainability because I was unsatisfied with the message the fitness world sends out.

Most people wind up injured from most fitness choices. Body Sustainability's message is to think about your body before you choose what physical exercise you do.

Look at your personal history, your accidents, injuries, and surgeries. Determine where your body's weaknesses are, and then, with intelligence, make choices that will help you to maintain and build a healthy body that will last. I often tell people that just because doctors say walking is good for your health does not mean it is a good choice for you. If you have a foot, knee, or hip problem that you don't take time to correct before walking, your daily walking will probably do more harm than good. Body Sustainability's message is to think and plan before deciding to jump into any challenging physical activity.

What are your hopes for the future?

I started what I called The Body School several years ago. I usually choose beautiful places where people can come and spend four hours each morning with me in class, learning how to use each part of their body. We start every morning with an hour of breathing, followed by one hour of foot class, and then each day, the last two hours focus on a specific part of the body. The first day is legs from the hips to the feet. The second day is hipping to lower back, the third day is the entire back and shoulders, and the fourth day is how to put it all together, and we allow for Q & A's so people get all their questions answered. It's powerful, and my clients normally go home transformed and usually want to attend again. I am always growing the work, so people never have the same Body School experience twice. Some people attend yearly to see what I am doing next. The Yamuna Retreat is on a whole other level.

We take only nine people. We focus on each person's goals and their personal issues. Each day begins with a four-hour class, but we are assisting and doing much more hands-on work based on individual needs in the retreat.

You've also written another book, The Ultimate Body Rolling Workout – can you tell us about this too?

I began Yamuna Body Rolling over 30years ago. It started to grow rapidly, and so we began certifying people in the work. Yamuna Body Rolling teaches people how to work every part of their body to remove restrictions, old injuries and free up their movement potential. In the beginning, whilst the feet were included in the training, we only taught how to use them in the last hour of the certification training. Over time I realized how important the feet were and began to develop more and more foot education until the feet became a separate training program. With Yamuna Body Rolling, we use various sized small balls, and we teach people how to roll from origin to insertion through their muscles aligning, improving our body's organization.

The results are improved posture, higher energy levels, better circulation, and people learn a program that can help them maintain their bodies and prevent and heal injuries at every age.

You have incredible energy, run classes and retreats worldwide, and are a real role model for the over 60s. Do you ever feel tired?

I usually get tired when I am not doing the work I love.

I feel fortunate to do what I love and support others to solve issues in their bodies. During this year's quarantine, when we had to cancel retreats and training worldwide, I created over eighty new classes that people can take online and work on themselves. Teaching

After lunch, we begin the personalized, hands-on therapy time where each person gets a daily bodywork session based on their personal goals. They can include Yamuna Body Logic, the master hands-on modality I first developed over 40 years ago, Yamuna Table Treatment, Yamuna Save Face Treatment, or Yamuna Foot therapy. There are also clay treatments, including Yamuna Detox clay, anti-stress clay formula, and Yamuna circulatory formula. These are all my proprietary formulas. The day is usually about 6-7 hours for each participant. The locations we choose are top-level and include 3 healthy meals daily. In India, an afternoon Ayurvedic treatment is added instead of the clay treatments.

I have several charities I contribute to annually, and they are mainly about feeding the poor and hungry with a particular focus on feeding starving children. I also contribute to a few women's rights organizations.

I believe you always have to give back.

The future for me is to keep helping more and more people. I have always seen myself doing what I love until I die. I look to see what each decade teaches me about the body to help more people live with greater ease.

37 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

THE AUDACITY TO BE DIVINE

By Judith Halbreich

T

his is the true story of Mary Mrozowski, an ordinary NYC 1950s housewife turned divorcee and single mother who became an extraordinary social activist, international organizer, and world-renowned spiritual leader.

The Audacity to be Divine is a compelling story of the eternal quest for spiritual truth in the context of our time.

The Audacity To Be Divine is a groundbreaking, compelling, and inspirational book about the arduous journey towards transformation and illumination.

38 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Photo by Jenna Norman

Mary was a quintessential New York housewife living in the depth of despair.

Bearing the secret of her family's tumultuous past, Mary reclaimed her truth and strove for redemption against all odds transcending as a social activist, international organizer, and spiritual leader for the masses. Mary was able to transcend worlds. Having integrated Christian modalities with Eastern philosophies, she established a monastic lay house of contemplation called Chrysalis House. She mingled as an equal with spiritual and religious leaders, companions, and strangers. As her teachings led her across five continents, thousands followed, considering her a modern-day saint, role model for transformation, and sage for self-fulfillment. Seeking truth was her religion.

Amidst a sea of neutrally-dressed spiritual leaders, out would walk Mary - a vision in a bold red dress and heels. She did not fit in, and she did not want to --she was embraced by those who found solace in her relatability and charisma beyond measure.

The sun is shining—a cool breeze.

The meadows filled with color and light.

Today, I feel expansive, lite, and filled with life.

You ask who I am.I am a hummingbird.

My rhythm is in the sound of movement.

I carry within me the sound of the universe.

It is not always known, but I am nurtured by the sweet life.

This is the movement of in and out and rest.

I have been very happy with my life.

The colors of my being are more vivid and pleasing to me.These days, I live in harmony with myself and other creatures and the world around me.

My being is in time and in touch with another dimension of life, as if the veil is parted and I fly in and out. Being happy and free, I live to share life with others.

These days, with the music inside, as well as outside of my beingness. In my tininess, I experience being a great capacity for love and life.Because of my creatureliness, I know the truth that I am cared for and loved.

Unconditionally by my creator (GOD).

I was named many years ago…

The name given is, ~SOPHIA.

M

y mother wrote this meditation shortly before she died. Sophia—the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and the personification of the Hebrew, Shekinah—is the feminine dimension of God, and it might strike some as strange, even blasphemous, that Mary should associate herself with Sophia.

How is it, some might ask, that she could call herself a hummingbird and talk about her ‘tininess’ and ‘creatureliness’ and yet, assign herself the role of wisdom incarnate?

Such a bifurcation of Mary’s meditation misunderstands the nature of the revelation afforded to her in the final moments of her life. In reflecting on the sounds of the universe, in the movement of ‘in’ and ‘out’ (the inspiration and expiration of all creation), and in the heightened sensory awareness that marked her last days on this earth, we can detect the breath of

God that fills all of his creatures. She is whole of this world and yet, offered an awareness of ‘another dimension of life’ beyond the veil. She is, like the mustard seed mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 13:31-32, a minuscule vessel that contains the entire universe.

She is present on this planet, and at this time, yet, she contains within her the essence of all of those who have been presented with a vision of their place amid the constant flow of God’s revelation within the universe. In such a vision, Sophia’s infinite receptivity to all that is creation, in her ‘great capacity for love and life,’ the nurturing, tolerant, and endlessly forgiving feminine aspect of God was expressed through my mother, as it can be through all of us, once we surrender to the creator of all things.

SHE IS PRESENT ON THIS PLANET, AND AT THIS TIME, YET, SHE CONTAINS WITHIN HER THE ESSENCE OF ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WITH A VISION OF THEIR PLACE AMID THE CONSTANT FLOW OF GOD’S REVELATION WITHIN THE UNIVERSE. This was the Mary who, in the few days remaining to her, became present to us. She was transformed into a condition of pure transparency and joy. Every moment that she spent with us and with others, every gesture of her body was an invocation to and of God’s presence within and around us. People who saw Mary spoke of her interstitial state of existence as if she was a vibrating membrane between the mundane and the eternal, this world and the next, the conditional and the absolute. It was as if she was connected to the divine to the fullest extent that we humans can tolerate without leaving our bodies permanently. The radiance that illuminated her was of a love that filled her up to overflowing, a love bestowed unreservedly and without end.

39 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

I understand that it’s hard to comprehend just quite how she manifested that state of being. Those who’ve undergone near-death experiences or achieved illumination during meditation have likewise found it difficult to communicate just what it is they encountered.

I’m also very aware, as a daughter, that Mary was reckless to assume that she had no need to see a doctor, following her fall off the stage—a legacy, as she admits in this book, of her wariness with the medical profession. On the other hand, having seen her in those last days and worried as any daughter would be about her mother’s health, it’s hard for me not to conclude that at some deep-psychic level, Mary was already leaving us for another plane.

Of course, such an observation is necessarily speculative, as much of this book has been, about what was transpiring in the deepest recesses of Mary’s spiritual life. I’m aware that I wasn’t privy to what she was experiencing, except to the extent that it showed itself in her body and in the lucid and compelling observations and counsel that she offered to those who came to see her at the end of her life. All I can offer in response to that skepticism is to say that, in my judgment—and in the judgment of many of those who came into contact with her—my mother was a saint.

Now, I can imagine that many of us might roll our eyes when someone is pronounced a saint. We might put the observation down to a loving daughter’s rose-tinted views of her mother; or assume that ‘my mother was a saint’ is just another way of saying that Mary put up with a lot in her life and did so without complaining; that she wasn’t self-pitying, but was generous and oriented toward the welfare of other people. To a certain extent, that characterization has merit: she did undergo a lot of trials and tribulations; she was concerned about the welfare of others. But it’s also true that my mother also wasn’t afraid to ament what was happening to her, and there were times (especially when she brought mytroubled brother into the family) where her concern for the welfare of others placed her other children at substantial risk.

In the popular imagination—fostered by innumerable images in stained-glass windows and hagiographies through the centuries—a saint is a man or woman, hands clasped in prayer, eyes lifted to the heavens, and with a halo circling their head. Or, as Thomas Keating said in his eulogy, the plaster saints in church.

We may read about how they remained true to their faith in terrible circumstances and how they were tortured or beaten or killed by authorities that refused to accept their beliefs or that considered them so 40 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

subversive that they were compelled to silence them.

Likewise, when we think about what it means to be a ‘sinner,’ we may conjure up ideas of evildoers rubbing their hands in glee as they plan to perpetrate a crime or people who visit unimaginable cruelties upon the innocent.

WE’RE ALL LESS-THAN-IDEAL INDIVIDUALS, PREY TO THE PULLS

AND PUSHES OF OUR FALLEN HUMAN CONDITION. Yet, as my mother showed and Keating suggested, the holiness of a saint is not to be found in the explicitness of their piety or in a kind of neutered blandness.

Mary was an earthy, brassy, even outrageous individual, who made lots of mistakes in her life—perhaps more than most. Far from being plain and sexless and contemptuous of this world and its so-called temptations, Mary was a fully embodied being, who liked material possessions and enjoyed and even flaunted her femininity. She had a warm and embracing presence, a robust sense of humor, and a strong temper.

She was also a sinner, in the way that all of us are sinners. We’re all less-than-ideal individuals, prey to the pulls and pushes of our fallen human condition.

There were times in her life that she lost contact with God, even moments as she herself acknowledged when she turned away from the heart of the faith that had sustained her. She was controlling and impulsive, stubborn and open to new possibilities, a woman who, all her life, searched for God and who struggled at every moment with resentment, fear, and an ego that craved acceptance and attention. But she kept on returning to God, and, eventually, was visited with the kind of hard-won and yet, paradoxically wholly unearned presence of the divine that we call grace, and which was so visibly expressed by her in her last years.

Her saintliness, therefore, had less to do with the travails that she was subject to in her life. It had more to do with the fact that, like the Samaritan woman at the well in John four, she wasn’t afraid to approach Jesus and challenge him (and be challenged by him) on the meaning of faith. Like the Samaritan woman, she wasn’t always appropriate. She didn’t intone the scriptures in a measured manner but had a thick New York accent and unvarnished guffaw. Like the Samaritan woman, she wasn’t married for much of her life. Like the Samaritan woman, she ran afoul of the religious authorities, with their dictates about who is or who isn’t an appropriate vessel for God’s word.

Mary wasn’t hidebound by liturgy or dogma, or the kind of Pharisaical nitpicking that stultifies belief and turns it into an account ledger of which rules and regulations you’ve followed and which you’ve bent or broken. Indeed, she didn’t wait around to get the approval of the religious authorities. I recall how worried I was as a young woman in the 1970s that Mary might be excommunicated for establishing the chapter of Divorced and Separated Catholics in the United States. But she shrugged off my concerns.

People needed love and reassurance that God hadn’t forgotten them because their marital relationship hadn’t worked out. She certainly needed them, she reasoned, and if the church wouldn’t provide that love and reassurance, then she’d make sure she did.

this planet, she attempted to confront the world with candor. For her, the truth was a form of prayer. Not supplication or penitence or propitiation, but an honest confrontation with our fallen human condition, frank recognition of how vulnerable and weak we are, and then, an openness to the divine grace that is given so freely and so generously and which we have deserved so little. That surrender to the love of God, and that welcoming of his grace into her open mind and open heart, was never more present than in her final days. And together, they took her home.

That directness was another feature of my mother’s sanctity. She was blunt and honest and open to everyone—even total strangers, such as prisoners, who were, in turn, touched by her acceptance and compassion. Her insights weren’t pious platitudes but practical and revealing (if sometimes uncomfortable for the person receiving them). She didn’t preach or pronounce but would instead step back and allow the person who’d come to her to hear and receive what she was saying in their own way.

In sum, she was entirely human—both sinner and saint—and thus, completely accepting of the divine expression of God’s love.

If I have a blind spot about my mother, it comes from the fact that I grew up with her, filled with my own foolishness and false self—the one grasping for approval from others or seeking advantage over them; the one filled with vanity and self-regard. In other words, also human—like all of us. Like Mary.

My sister and I have never forgotten that Mary shouldered a lot: the responsibility of being a father and a mother, taking in ironing to make ends meet (barely), living in and then leaving an abusive marriage, adopting and fostering children and then losing her faith at the outset of her divorce. I’m forever grateful for her honesty. Even in the messiness of her life immediately before and after the divorce, she was never anything but real with us. Yes, she was opinionated and testy and direct. She believed in telling the truth without sugarcoating it. She perceived what needed to be said, but even when she chastised or corrected you, she did it with love—and, more importantly, you knew that she did it with love.

Judith Halbreich is the author of The Audacity to be Divine: A Soul’s Journey Towards Illumination. She is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and psychotherapist with an extensive, successful executive career in Social Services, Clinical Research, and mental Health. She is the founder and CEO of Home of Champions (HOC), a unique nonprofit program that exists to inspire leaders emerging from the foster care system to become champions of their best selves. When Judith is not devoting her time to HOC, you can find her making a delicious tagine and dancing salsa in her living room.

And that, I believe, is the final example of her saintliness: that, for the time that was allotted to her on

For more information please visit: https://theaudacitytobedivine.com 41 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Photo by Vladislav Muslakov

42 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

How

to awaken your body

from an isolation induced serotonin slump Steps to make this “happiness molecule” … well … happy again

By Bryce Wylde, BSc, DHMHS

Being home 24/7 can mess up our day and night cycles. And the lack of social interactions can affect our moods. These days, we can also throw uncertainty and anxiety into the mix. It turns out that all of these things can impact our body’s supply of serotonin. Serotonin isn’t just a molecule that contributes to our happiness and wellbeing. It’s also very much in charge of the circadian rhythm. So, when it’s out of whack, our sleep cycles suffer..

I

s it any wonder we’ve got a sleep deprivation epidemic going on? Lack of social interactions plus uncertainty and anxiety can affect your moods.

Staying home 24/7 can mess up your day and night cycles.

Restorative sleep isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ The negative effects of a night spent tossing and turning amount to more than just walking around the next day with dark circles under your eyes. Chronic lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain and skin wrinkles. It may increase your risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. You may be less able to cope with stress. It can even reduce your libido!

Research has found that after 17 hours without sleep … that’s just one sleepless night … our alertness is similar to the effects of a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05 percent. That puts you in harm’s way, especially if you’re behind the wheel.

It’s also important to understand that our brains do their detoxifying when we are in deep REM sleep. The spaces between the brain’s cells enlarge, and accumulated waste can be flushed away.

43 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Detoxifying is essential because accumulation of toxins is associated with cognitive decline. But it can’t happen during waking hours. It would be like a railway crew trying to repair tracks while the trains are running. Worse, sleep deprivation can become a vicious cycle. Lack of sleep contributes to further lack of sleep. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, address the issue right away.

2. Get better at sleeping. Your depth of sleep matters as much as how many hours you’re clocking on your pillow. Start with a cold, dark room; a comfortable mattress and some white noise. Use a sleep mask.

Some people find sleep success by taking melatonin or tryptophan supplements but those only work depending on your body’s chemistry. Plus, most of those products will put you to sleep but won’t necessarily help keep you asleep.

A more reliable approach is to take Zenbev within an

Photo by Bruce Mars

Serotonin helps with sleep and better moods Stress, anxiety and disruptions in your routine can cause a slump in your body’s supply of serotonin, a molecule that contributes to your happiness and well-

ing, where you wake up and fast until about noon.

being. Serotonin is also in charge of the circadian rhythm. So, when it’s out of whack, your sleep cycles may suffer.

If you’re faced with this situation, these three simple science-based steps may help you build more serotonin in your system: 1. Balance your serotonin by balancing your blood sugar. Right now, your body may be craving cakes, breads and doughnuts. But as you follow a blood sugar balancing diet, you’ll have fewer of those cravings.

Stay well hydrated. And start eating more whole grains, fresh fruits and non-starchy vegetables, nuts, beans and seeds. Also try a modified intermittent fast44 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

hour of going to sleep. This is made from a balanced combination of simple, food-based ingredients that encourage the body to make melatonin at night and serotonin during the day. Zenbev contains pumpkin seed powder that is still wrapped in the intact protein bundle that allows for slow release. That’s why it works. It has to do with its molecular size. You can’t achieve the same thing by putting pumpkin seeds in the blender.

3. Bring your lunch outdoors. Anxiety burns serotonin. When you start feeling stressed, do some deep breathing. Better yet: Spend time in nature, especially a heavily wooded environment. Plant life emits negative ions, which increase serotonin output in the human body.

Creative ways to improve your ability to sleep In addition to the good sleep hygiene techniques mentioned above, here are some ideas you may not have considered.

1. Practice holding your urine. Nighttime trips to the bathroom are a common cause of sleep disruption.

Not only do they interfere with your sleep cycle, you may have trouble falling back asleep. Getting used to holding your urine longer may help. Unless you have underlying bladder control or prostate issues, within three to five days, you may be much less likely to wake up during the night.

2. Give yourself an eating window of 8 to 10 hours each day. Avoid eating two hours before bed. This gives your stomach time to empty, which is especially helpful if you’re prone to indigestion when you are in bed.

3. Get moving. Exercise causes a surge of serotonin production. It also helps the body to manage blood sugar levels. This is why people who exercise frequently tend to be happier and more energetic overall. Just avoid strenuous exercise before bed.

4. Prep for the next day. Feeling worried or anxious about something that will happen the next day can rob you of a good night’s sleep. Get as much done the night before as possible, so you’re not waking up multiple times before your alarm goes off.

5. Try progressive muscle relaxation. If you feel wide awake when you should be starting to doze off, close your eyes and focus on relaxing your toes. Slowly move up your body, willing your mind to relax each set of muscles.

6. Get rid of the lumps. You may be tossing and turning due to an old, uncomfortable mattress or worn-out pillow. Do you get better rest at a hotel? It might be time for new bedding.

7. If you wake up during the night, don’t look at the clock. Checking the time may stimulate your brain because you start counting the hours of remaining sleep and thinking about the day ahead. If necessary, turn the clock so it faces the wall so you won’t be tempted to look at it.

8. Spend 10 minutes practicing gratitude before shutting off the lights. Keep a tablet or journal next to your bed, and write down all the positive things that happened during the day. Gratitude helps to counteract stress, and promotes relaxation. Some studies have found that gratitude journalizing may also increase sleep time and improve sleep quality.

Snoring may not just be annoying Snoring can disrupt your sleep as well as your partner’s ability to rest. If you’ve been told that you snore, or you routinely wake up exhausted, with a dry mouth, have morning headaches or unexplained leg swelling, get evaluated by a sleep professional because it could be sleep apnea. This is a condition where your breathing repeatedly stops and starts while you’re sleeping.

Snoring is often a symptom of the most common type of sleep apnea called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

This is when the muscles in the back of your throat become too relaxed, limiting airflow. Left untreated, OSA is associated with high blood pressure, moodiness, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and perhaps even memory problems.

By the way, even if you don’t snore, you may be losing sleep if you’re a mouth breather. People who breathe through their mouths at night may sleep lighter, wake up more easily during the night and awaken less refreshed. Wearing an over-the-counter nasal strip may be a simple solution.

Sleeping and jet lag For some people, jet lag can greatly interfere with their ability to function once they arrive at their destination.

If you are traveling eastward, do your best to go to sleep at your usual time, even if that means excusing yourself from events happening the day of your arrival. You want your body to naturally adjust to your new time zone.

Slogging through the day doesn’t need to be your normal. Stop staring at the clock, counting the hours until morning, and instead start training your body to sleep through the night. Aim for quality of quantity. Your mind and body will thank you!

Bryce Wylde, BSc, DHMHS, Homeopath is a leading health expert specializing in integrative and functional medicine, homeopathy, clinical nutrition, and supplementation. As associate medical director at P3 Health in Toronto, and director of My Health Report, he blends the latest in science and technology with traditional and ancient remedies. Wylde is the author of three national best-selling books, previous host of CTV's Wylde on Health, and regular guest health expert and medical advisor on “The Doctor Oz” show.

45 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

By Dina Morrone

The annual observance of Black History, which takes place during the month of February, originated in the United States and has since spread to many countries around the world where, except for Canada and the United States, they celebrate it in October. In 1926, historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Studies of Negro Life and History announced that the second week of February would be "Negro History Week." Many ask, "why the month of February?" It coincides with Abraham Lincoln's birthday (February 12th) and that of Frederick Douglas (February 14th). As this celebration grew over the years, the first official Black History Month-long celebration took place in 1970 in Kent, Ohio, at Kent State University. Black Educators had proposed the idea of a onemonth celebration with the goal of advancing African American culture, history, acknowledging their contributions, and recognizing often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans.

In 1976, President Ford officially recognized that February would be Black History Month.

At The Eden Magazine, we would like to do our part in celebrating with all of our Black brothers and sisters during this time.

Theatre West, one of the non-profit arts organizations we sponsor, presents the virtual presentation of WHO I AM, a celebration of African-American Heritage, which can be viewed for free on YouTube. https://theatrewest.org Seven professional actor-writers share their TRUTH about the significance of Black History Month. Unspooling personal stories as well as life lessons learned from their parents and grandparents, they explore the impact of their heritage in shaping the artists they are today. Words and images collide in a frank examination of what it means to be Black in America in the wake of 2020's call to action.

The cast of these truthful storytellers includes Karen Bankhead, James A. Goins, Angel Guice, Andrew Lloyd Preston, Shalonda Reese, Levy Lee Simon, and Kevin Tomlinson.

Produced by Dina Morrone. Edited by Clara Rodriguez. I'm Tired poem and slide show by Angel Guice. Original music by James A. Goins. Theatre West's Managing Director, Eugene J. Hutchins. Graphics, Doug Haverty. Publicist, Philip Sokoloff.

47 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Excerpt from Why Cope When You Can Heal?

COVID-RELATED STRESS

Photo by engin akyurt

& BURNOUT IN HEALTHCARE WORKERS:

11

EVERYDAY HABITS THAT CAN HELP

By Diana Hendel, PharmD, & Mark Goulston, MD

48 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

The year 2020 was extremely tough for healthcare workers. They were exhausted and overworked—especially as staffing shortages become ever more critical— and they had endured months upon months of traumatic stress. But Diana Hendel, PharmD, and Mark Goulston, MD say healthcare workers aren’t doomed to suffer until the pandemic is over (whenever that may be). Healthy habits are the key to building resilience, preventing burnout, and starting to heal right now.

“Healthcare providers need to embrace proven self-care habits during these tough times,” says Dr. Hendel, coauthor along with Dr. Goulston of Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD “Don’t think of them as tasks to check off a ‘to do’ list. They’re intentional practices you turn to every day to stay calm, grounded, and present.”

Why Cope When You Can Heal? shares therapeutic approaches that are currently used to effectively treat traumatic stress and introduces powerful exercises to help you move through the trauma and further your healing. Read on to learn the habits that will sustain your mental and physical health and help you thrive during COVID and beyond.

Start with sleep, diet, and exercise. They are your foundation. Arrange your life so you can prioritize these things. Go to bed early enough to get the rest you need. Cook a batch of healthy meals at once so you can have several lunches and dinners ready when you are. Make time to exercise; you will feel physically and emotionally better when you move your body several times a week.

How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD “Don’t think of them as tasks to check off a ‘to do’ list. They’re intentional practices you turn to every day to stay calm, grounded, and present.”

Meditate daily.

A simple meditation routine can help you maintain a more relaxed state overall and manage anxiety and stress. If you’re new to meditation, try not to overthink it. Simply find a quiet moment, close your eyes, and begin slowly breathing in and out. Focus on your breathing but allow your emotions and thoughts to rise and flow through you naturally. Don’t fret if you can only meditate for a few minutes at a time. Start small and add more time when you are ready.

“You can also use your meditation time to do a quick body scan,” says Dr. Goulston. “Start at the top of your head and intentionally scan your entire body, noticing any areas where you may be holding onto extra tension.

Mindfully release any tension you become aware of.”

Establish a “grounding practice” Grounding is a great way to reduce anxiety and arrive in the here and now. Do it morning and evening as a way to begin and end the day. (It’s also a good way to recenter yourself when you feel triggered by upsetting memories or flashbacks.) When used daily, grounding will help you remain centered, grateful, and in touch with your calling to care for others.

Photo by Damir Spanic

“Be sure to avoid too much alcohol and caffeine during this time,” says Dr. Hendel. “It can be hard to abstain when you’re under frequent stress, but these seemingly harmless crutches can cause problems quicker than you might think.”

49 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Stay in touch with family and friends.

This can be tricky, especially for healthcare workers who may need to quarantine even from immediate family members. Use services like Zoom or Skype (or an old-fashioned telephone call) to stay connected to those you love. You need social support right now, and a fifteen-minute catchup session each day—or even just a few times a week—will support your mental and emotional health.

Make room for hobbies, laughter, and lightheartedness. Daily joy is more important than you may realize.

“You might find it difficult or even guilt-inducing to laugh and enjoy your life when experiencing death or the extreme anguish of others at work, but making time for joy is crucial to your own wellbeing,” says Dr. Hendel.

“Remember that you can’t help others when you yourself are not okay. Give yourself permission to get absorbed in your favorite hobbies, or watch your favorite lighthearted talk show, or laugh with abandon at your favorite funny movie.”

Become aware of what “triggers” you.

Do not be surprised if certain sights, sounds, or events cause feelings anxiety, fear, or panic. You have been through a lot, and it’s not unusual for events in the present to trigger feelings of distress or revive painful traumatic memories. For example, if a siren wailing makes your heart pound or causes you to gasp for breath, it could be reminding you of the traumas of COVID-19. It’s important to learn what triggers you so are not caught off guard.

Express your feelings every day.

You are bound to have a number of feelings and emotions come up as a result of your work during COVID-19. Make time each day to regularly express how you feel to another person, if possible. It might be a coworker, a partner, or a friend outside of work. You can also record your thoughts and feelings in a journal if you wish.

Let the tears fall.

It is normal and natural to cry when you are surrounded by the tragedies of COVID-19. Of course, you may not be able to break down in the middle of your shift, but don’t suppress your tears longer than necessary.

Give yourself time to have a good cry and let the pain out. Afterward, you will likely feel revived and capable of returning to work.

50 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Establish a “fire team” to support you at work.

“If your organization doesn’t have a support group for its employees, consider starting an informal meeting so you and your coworkers can get together and talk about what you are going through,” says Dr. Goulston. “This group is called your ‘fire team’—the colleagues fighting by your side in the battle against COVID-19. You can meet with them for a few minutes every day or set up a longer weekly meeting. This gives you a community to share your mental and emotional struggles, and yes, your triumphs too!”

Let people know exactly what you need (and what you don’t) when you’re stressed out.

The people in your life want to support you, but they may not know how to go about it—especially when your anxiety or stress levels are high. For example, tell family members, your partner, and coworkers that you prefer they give you a few minutes of privacy when you’re visibly struggling, and ask them not to bombard you with chit chat until you’ve had a chance to calm down. It is much easier when everyone is on the same page.

Consider checking in with a pro.

It can be helpful to talk out what you’re experiencing with a trained professional at least once. Use the resources you have available to you to set up a confidential check-in either with your EAP, a social worker, a mental health professional, or a chaplain and discuss how you are doing. You might find that this is very beneficial to your wellbeing and decide to make it a routine practice.

“COVID won’t last forever, but while it is here, you can use these habits as a stabilizing anchor,” concludes Dr. Hendel. “Later, when the pandemic is a thing of the past, you will have a set of practices and tools to keep you strong and healthy as you continue to move forward.”

Dr. Mark Goulston is the co-author of Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD and Trauma to Triumph: A Roadmap for Leading Through Disruption and Thriving on the Other Side. He is a board-certified psychiatrist, a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a former assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA NPI, and a former FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer.

He is the creator of Theory Y Executive Coaching—which he provides to CEOs, a TEDx and international keynote speaker.

Dr. Goulston is the creator and developer of Surgical Empathy, a process to help people recover and heal from PTSD, prevent suicide in teenagers and young adults, and help organizations overcome implicit bias.

His books including PTSD for Dummies, Get Out of Your Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior, Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, Real Influence: Persuade Without Pushing and Gain Without Giving In, and Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life. He hosts the My Wakeup Call podcast, he also is the co-creator, and moderator of the multi-honored documentary Stay Alive: An Intimate Conversation About Suicide Prevention. He frequently appears as a human psychology and behavior subject-area expert across all media, including news outlets ABC, NBC, CBS, and BBC News, as well as CNN, Today, Oprah, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, Fast Company, Huffington Post, and Westwood One. He was also featured in the PBS special Just Listen.

Dr. Diana Hendel is the co-author of Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD and Trauma to Triumph: A Roadmap for Leading Through Disruption and Thriving on the Other Side. She is an executive coach and leadership consultant, former hospital CEO, and author of Responsible: A Memoir, a riveting and deeply personal account of leading during and through the aftermath of deadly workplace trauma.

As the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital CEO, Hendel led one of the largest acute care, trauma, and teaching hospital complexes on the West Coast. She has served in leadership roles in numerous community organizations and professional associations, including chair of the California Children’s Hospital Association, executive committee member of the Hospital Association of Southern California, vice-chair of the Southern California Leadership Council, chair of the Greater Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, board member of the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and leader-in-residence of the Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University Long Beach.

She earned a BS in biological sciences from UC Irvine and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UC San Francisco. She has spoken about healthcare and leadership at regional and national conferences and at TEDx SoCal on the topic of Childhood Obesity: Small Steps, Big Change.

About the Book: Why Cope When You Can Heal?: How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD is available in bookstores nationwide and from major online booksellers. https://whycopewhenyoucanheal.com

"COVID won’t last forever, but while it is here, you can use these habits as a stabilizing anchor,”“Later, when the pandemic is a thing of the past, you will have a set of practices and tools to keep you strong and healthy as you continue to move forward.”~

51 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

ONE Bad Decision

Photo by DAn Edge

By Linda McCain

52 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COMe February 2021

When the day gives way to night and danger is in sight, it is the one least expected who will make sure you are protected." Shelby Malloy, a recently married twenty-eight-yearold who works for the Law Firm of Cordial, Queria, and Stein, befriends two coworkers, Ricky Clay and Paula Queria. Ricky and Paula soon become her closest friends, but are they true friends? While traveling to work one morning by way of the train, Shelby is approached by a small homeless woman named Augusta, who asks her for money. Without hesitation, Shelby gives it to her. Unbeknown to Shelby, Augusta continues to watch her and waits for Shelby to exit the train, then follows her off the train until she learns where Shelby lives. Having discovered where Shelby lives, Augusta starts to show up at her apartment continuously. Moved by the woman's plight and wanting to help her, Shelby does the unimaginable, taking a risk that only an exceptional mind could even begin to understand.

When Shelby's husband is found dead, her life is eventually threatened; she starts to realize too late, the serious and irreversible impact that making one bad decision can have on a person's life forever.

Shelby stood in front of the mirror, eyeing herself in the black dress she had decided to wear to Myron’s funeral. She smoothed it out over her stomach area and tried to pull it down a little lower past her knees. “You bought me this dress years ago, Myron, for our second wedding anniversary. Who would have thought I would be trying it on today to wear to your funeral soon,” Shelby said softly to herself.

“Shelby,” Augusta called from the living room.

“Yeah,” Shelby said without turning away from her reflection in the mirror.

“The detective is out here to see you. Can you come out here please?” Shelby stood and thought for a second, “What could he want? I’ve answered his questions over and over again. This is really beginning to irritate me.” Snatching open the door to her bedroom, she walked swiftly to the living room.

“Detective Maye, I just got in, and I’m very tired. Do you guys make it a habit of just popping up whenever you feel like it, without warning?” Detective Maye made no effort to conceal his pleasure in seeing Shelby in the black dress.

She was so mad she had forgotten she was wearing it. “Detective, is there something I can help you with? I thought I had answered all your questions already.”

“If he could stop gawking at you in that dress, he might be able to remember why he came here tonight,” Augusta said and walked back to the kitchen to check on dinner.

Ignoring Augusta’s comment, he walked over to the sofa and, before doing so, asked Shelby if it was all right with her if he had a seat.

“What is it, Detective?” By this time, Shelby’s patience had worn thin.

“We found an interesting piece of evidence at the crime scene of your husband, lying next to his body. At first, we didn’t give it too much attention, but now think it might prove helpful in solving this case and worth mentioning to you.”

Shelby tried to brace herself for the detective’s answer before she asked, “Really, what did you find?”

“A broken heel was belonging to a pair of women’s stiletto shoes.” Shelby licked her lips and sat down on the loveseat opposite the detective.

“You said Haverty discovered Myron’s body…

Perhaps the heel belongs to her?”

“We’ve checked with her already.”

“And of course, she said it didn’t belong to her.”

“That’s correct. Shelby, is there anything else you can tell me that might help us in this investigation? Talk to me; it’s just you, and I know.”

“Talk to you? I have nothing else to tell. I’ve told you all I know what I know.”

“Are you romantically involved with this Ricky you were asked about from the start?”

“What kind of question is that? How dare you insinuate that Ricky or I had anything to do with Myron’s death!”

Detective Maye leaned forward, rested his arms on his knees, and paused for a second. “Okay, Shelby, if you think of anything else, you have my card, right?”

“Yes, if I think of anything else, I’ll be sure to call you.”

“Goodbye, Shelby.”

“Goodbye Detective.”

Standing with his hands on the doorknob, Detective Maye turned and said, “Oh, Shelby, one more thing.”

“Yes?” “A pair of stilettos would go nicely with that dress.” He then slowly opened the door and walked out.

Linda McCain is also the author of My Father, My Son, celebrating the strength of family and the importance of loyalty and friendship. Her love for writing started in college, where she majored in Secretarial Science and wrote poetry in her spare time.

It was then that she submitted her first article to Essence Magazine on The Cruelty of Child Abuse.

McCain is currently working on a children’s book, titled Goodnight, and Mr. White. www.lindamccain.com. To follow Linds's blog: www.letstalkbookswithlinda.com.

53 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

RECLAMING YOUR TRUE SELF

By Angela Dunning

THE

BLESSINGS OF NATURE

As

we continue to stay lockeddown in our homes all around the world, many are finding that some form of access to the natural world is a vital lifeline and stress reliever in these chaotic and turbulent times.

The painful lessons being brought home to us right now are clearly emphasizing just how out of balance we have become as species with the rest of the natural world, of which we are but one part.

Yet, it is also true that for many people, nature and especially animals have always been a vital lifeline, sometimes literally helping them survive difficult childhoods or later traumas and losses in adult life. For me, personally, this is most definitely the case. Animals were my primary caregivers and sources of love, stability, and non-conditional acceptance growing up.

Whereas adults consistently let me down, particularly my mother, who couldn’t give me the attention, love, and support, I needed to grow adequately and strongly.

The pets we had in the house growing up were my sources of love, joy, and much-needed comfort. In particular, one small dog who came into our home when I was aged around 5 or 6 became almost like a surrogate mother to me. It was to her that I went for love and affection, to share my worries and troubles with and for warmth, comfort, and some sense of peace amidst the turbulence of our family life. Her small warm body helped me feel calm, safe, and comforted; she also helped me feel alive. She was ALWAYS happy to see me, welcoming me home, unlike anyone else in the house. I could rely on her 100% to be there and to always love me no matter how I was feeling or behaving.

54 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

One friend I told my story to said I should write a book titled: “My Mother Was A Dog”; this is no exaggeration. This little dog, who looked like a fox with her multi-colored brown, red, and white coat and her long thick bushy red and white tail, was quite simply my best friend and my comforter. She lived until she was 20 and even moved away with me when I left home to attend university. Now, she visits me regularly in my dreams, and she always brings that same warm, unconditional love with her in each dream situation, and always I wake feeling okay again, comforted and safe no matter what is going on in my life.

Almost 50 years on from these tender early beginnings, I still bear these deep wounds and scars from childhood, and just living each day is an almighty challenge some days. And to this day, it has been animals and the natural world around me, no matter where I have lived, in urban inner-cities or rural small towns, that provides me with my greatest source of well-being and safety. I only have to step outside and walk a short distance to a small woodland on my doorstep for all my cares and worries to fade into the background for a short time, leaving me reveling in the peace and sacredness of the trees, earth, birds, and animals who live there. For almost a full year now, during this pandemic, this small woodland has been my sanctuary and oasis. It has helped me maintain a sense of connection to Life, and it brings me back to a deep and abiding knowing within that I am okay, safe, and held once more by nature.

It is no surprise that given my innate connection to animals and nature, combined with my earliest life experiences, that I eventually made my professional career out of working alongside animals, in my case horses, through providing emotional support to people who need help healing from similar childhood wounds; building self-esteem and finding trust and love once again in the world. Through gentle interactions with horses in a peaceful and safe space, my clients learn once again how to simply be themselves, how to trust another who isn’t going to judge them, and how to experience love once more through the horses’ generous willingness to give to people needing help.

Many more people nowadays are turning to animal-assisted therapies and eco-therapy to bring a greater sense of balance and to heal mental health problems. This speaks volumes to the essentialness of being a part of nature; how vital it is for our wellbeing and for our soul. In contrast to being split from the natural world in a top-down abuse-system, which

has endured for hundreds of years, which has led to this very pandemic and the wider climate breakdown.

I know for many people during this pandemic that access to the natural world isn’t possible or is very limited. Yet, there are ways to bring the natural world inside to give yourself a daily dose of this vital medicine, which speaks to the heart and soul and which can bring a sense of both awe and comfort. This might be through following nature photographers or artists online; reading nature-based books and poetry; getting involved in online environmental campaigns; watching the birds out of your window; gardening if you are able to; drawing images of animals or flowers, and watching your dreams to appreciate your nightly visitors of animals or landscapes or oceans which call to your soul and uplift you, giving you the nourishment your soul needs to endure this unusual internal lifestyle we are all now required to adjust to.

Companion animals are one wonderful way to bring nature indoors and can bring so much joy and love into a home, particularly if you live alone. Or, just looking into the beauty and wonder of a flower can re-set your nervous system, as appreciation and wonder are great sources of soothing comfort.

In whatever way you can, find time to focus on nature each day to balance your anxieties and to return yourself to a place of inner peace where you just KNOW you ARE safe, supported, and going to be OKAY. Nature’s innate wisdom and acceptance of the cycles of life can bring us to a calmer inner state and help us stay centered in the face of turbulence, rapid change, and chaos. Nature knows these processes intimately, and if we let her, she can take us by the hand and companion us through these rough stormy times.

Angela Dunning is a regular contributor to The Eden Magazine.

She is the author of The Horse Leads the Way: Honoring the True Role of the Horse in Equine Facilitated Practice. Angela writes regularly on Facebook: www.facebook. com/thehorsestruth/and Patreon: www.patreon.com/angeladunning.

You can learn more about Angela and her work helping people and horses at: www.thehorsestruth.co.uk.

55 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Bee K’onscious Artisanal Honey Denver-based Purveyor of Raw

56 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Denver-based startup Bee K’onscious Artisanal Honey is now offering its nutritious raw honey online at https://bkshoney.com. Each jar of Bee K’onscious’s single-origin honey is sourced from the finest beekeepers around the world, with a QR-coded label that allows customers to scan and trace the honey to the single beekeeper who produced it. The “hive to home” honey brand has partnered with TagOne, a provider of blockchain technology, to provide customers the ability to ensure the source of the jar is producing 100% pure, unfiltered, unpasteurized, non-blended honey.

Bee K’onscious only partners with beekeepers that maintain ethical and sustainable beekeeping practices. The company is also committed to packaging their honey in glass jars and shipping to customers using only recyclable, corrugated packaging.

The Many Health Benefits Of Honey Honey is more than versatile, varied and delicious.

Research has shown that honey contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants3 Alleviates Allergies: Honey acts like a natural vaccine. It can trigger an immune response that produces allergy antibodies.

Cough Suppressant: The consistency of this delicious treat coats the throat while the sweet taste activates nerve endings that protect from incessant coughing.

“Many people enjoy high quality honey, not only as an alternative sweetener, but for its natural antibacterial qualities and disease-fighting antioxidants. What consumers don’t know is that many mass-produced supermarket honeys are cooked and, thereby, lose their nutritional value,” says Bee K’onscious owner Matt Kollmorgen. “Every jar of Bee K’onscious is raw, un- Sleep Aid: Honey promotes the adulterated and uncooked and retains all the good stuff release of serotonin. The body your body needs to fight disease.” converts this to melatonin, which regulates quality and duration of sleep.

Anti Microbial: Honey is a natural antibiotic. Honey has been used for centuries to remove bacteria from cuts and burns.

Superfood: Honey contains many life sustaining substances Bee K’onscious currently offers four varietals: Brazilian enzymes, vitamins, minerals, amiCipo Uva, Brazilian Marmeleiro Prateado, Montana no acids, antioxidants and water.

Clover and a much sought-after California Sage. The selection of unique honeys will continue to expand as Boosts energy: With 17 grams of the Bee K’onscious team continues to search the globe carbohydrates per serving, its unfor beekeepers that have integrated best practices. Bee processed sugars enter the bloodK’onscious Artisanal Honey retails for $18 per jar. stream quickly giving extra energy.

According to Dr Fessenden, author of "The New Honey Revolution," honey can have numerous positive effects on the body and restore the health of future generations.

"Since ancient times, honey has been known for its many health-

ful benefits, but what many don't know is that the current medical research has validated many of those long held beliefs" 4 Heating honey removes many of the health benefits provided by this natural sweetener. We will never pasteurize our honey, ensuring you get all of the benefits of consuming raw honey.

Check out "The New Honey Revolution" and see how for just pennies a day, the consumption of honey could reap enormous health benefits.

The list includes Honey for: • Detoxification of alcohol and liver health • Oral health and gingivitis • Superfuel for exercise • Wound care • Antimicrobial benefits • Hypertension • Alzheimer's • Sleep • Thyroid conditions • Depression • Cardiovascular disease • Brain health • Obesity and weight gain • Diabetes • Gastrointestinal health including Crohn's disease

Founder Matt Kollmorgen 57 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

F

As we embody love, we inspire love in everybody. ~ Harold W. Becker

ebruary is often referred to as the month of love since Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14. We can choose to embody this loving energy every moment of every day as we pursue living from the heart.

The words I am, which we use to define who we are and what we are capable of, are expressions of the highest aspect of ourselves. Every time the words I am are thought or spoken, we are knowingly or unknowingly directing the Universe to manifest what we are saying, thinking, or feeling. Rather than focusing on lower vibrational energies and negative thoughts, we can aspire to focus on higher vibrational energies and positive thoughts.

We can intend to become more conscious of our self-talk, especially as that is typically when we unknowingly invoke the I am in a lower vibrational way. Seeing ourselves as the Divine sees us as we step fully into our power enables us to accept the unlimited power of our inner spirit by declaring I am Divine Love.

If we could look into each other's hearts and understand the unique challenges each of us faces, I think we could treat each other much more gently, with more love, patience, tolerance, and care. ~ Marvin J. Ashton The foundation of heart-centered consciousness is love — pure and simple. When we choose to

58 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

embrace and practice living from the heart, we are allowing love to be the guiding force for all that we think, say, and do. In doing so, we are shifting from a fear-based paradigm into a love-based awareness.

To distinguish between the two, lower or heavier vibrations are fear-based vibrations that stem from a reaction to an outside source. If we bring the energy of lack, fear, anger, desperation, or any lower vibration emotion into the intention of anything in our lives, we begin creating from that energy.

Higher vibrations are heart-centered and lovefilled. These love-based vibrations are light, bright, playful, and tend to feel good. Consciously or subconsciously, we make a choice to live in lower or higher vibrations.

Love for Self Heart-centered living begins with the practice of self-love, which is compassion for the self. With this practice, we actually start to put ourselves first, not from an ego-perspective but from a heart-perspective. When we choose to accept and practice heart-centered living, we understand that we are the central point of the creation of our personal reality — we are the center of our Universe.

Granted, some individuals may view this concept as being selfish or inconsiderate. In certain instances, one could possibly deem it as such if neglect for others is involved.

I Am Love:

CHOOSING TO EMBODY THE ENERGY OF LOVE

Photo by Klara Kulikova

By Shelly Wilson

PRACTICING

HEART-CENTERED CONSCIOUSNESS IS WORTH WHILE AND REMINDS US THAT LOVE IS ALWAYS HERE REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCES. WE SIMPLY HAVE TO CHOOSE TO LET THE ENERGY OF LOVE GUIDE US. Until we are able to understand unconditional love and to learn to love ourselves fully, we may be unable to bring the feeling of worthiness to our relationships.

Of course, this has nothing to do with selfishness but with being awake and aware enough to know that we can only give what we are and what we have. Therefore, if we do not have love within us and for ourselves, how can we give love, kindness, respect, consideration, or compassion to others?

Unconditional love really exists in each of us.

It is part of our deep inner being.

It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being.

It’s not ‘I love you’ for this or that reason, not ‘I love you if you love me.’

It’s love for no reason, love without an object. ~ Ram Dass Love for Others Secondly, heart-centered living includes a unitycentered attitude in how we interact with others.

Placing a value on connection and community, we come to understand that we are all from the same source, and thus one human family. Heart-centered living involves seeing ourselves in all beings, especially those whom we come into contact with every day. Discrimination, judgment, divide (racial, cultural, gender, or sexual orientation), and prejudice get released as we come into full awareness of what it means to be one. Subsequently, we stop fearing our differences, and instead, we choose to acknowledge, embrace, and even celebrate our unique diversity.

Love for Nature and our Earth Lastly, the concept of heart-centered consciousness entails a high degree of awareness and regard when it comes to nature, the planet Earth and all sentient beings. The more we love ourselves and love the communities that we share this Earth with, the more we make sure that our home is kept in the healthiest state possible. We are choosing to show the highest level of compassion for all animals, plants, and other spe60 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

cies of life on this planet. We also have a strong reverence for nature, knowing that it has a sacred balance. We learn to work with this balance; rather than against it.

Living from the Heart When we intentionally live from the heart-space, we are not supposed to abandon the power of our mind.

There is no need to deny any part of ourselves - not our mind, not our heart, and not our soul - to live from our highest potential. We are truly multidimensional beings, both on a physical and spiritual level.

Ultimately, at our essence, we must remember that we are love. As we continue to awaken and evolve, we will continue to grow in love and compassion. By choosing to focus on the solutions rather than the problems, we can truly be the change we wish to see.

Practicing heart-centered consciousness is worth while and reminds us that love is always here regardless of the situation or circumstances. We simply have to choose to let the energy of love guide us.

A heart-centered love-based intention reminds us to stay in the space of grace, especially when faced with adversity and challenges. Each one of us is creating a ripple by letting our love flow and embracing the magic within. We can plant conscious seeds of intention with loving-kindness and watch them bloom and grow.

Being the embodiment of love provides us with an opportunity to welcome each moment of life and to love whatever arises. In doing so, we are tapping into the well of Divine love. This love is accessible, unconditional, and unfaltering. It transcends yet also embraces.

Shelly Wilson is an author, intuitive medium and conscious creator who is passionate about helping people wake up to their greatness. She supports others as they navigate their own journey into consciousness to experience aliveness. Shelly’s books, 28 Days to a New YOU, Connect to the YOU Within, Journey into Consciousness and Embracing the Magic Within are available in paperback and eBook. She is also the creator of Cards of Empowerment and Clarity Cards. ShellyRWilson.com EmbracingTheMagicWithin.com

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Photo by Ashraful Haque Akash

CLIMATE CHANGE UPROOTS GLOBAL AGRICULTURE Climate change is shifting where ideal growing conditions exist and is leaving farmers behind. How can we secureour future food supply and support the people who grow it?

By Kimberly M. S. Cartier This story originally appeared in "EOS” It is republished here as part of The Eden Magazine partnership with Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic collaboration to strengthen coverage of the climate story.

I

n much of the world, climate change is altering regional growing conditions and making them more unpredictable.

Farmers are finding it harder to consistently grow enough food to meet increasing demand. Securing the world’s food supply for the future, experts assert, requires us to tally the good and the bad in the current agricultural structure, including the infrastructure and technology in food distribution systems.

Small farms, which account for about 90% of the world’s 570 million farms, are particularly vulnerable to changes in seasonal climate. Land tended by families for generations may suddenly become nonarable. A change in the timing or intensity of yearly rainy seasons or the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), for example, could bring rains or drought that wipe out a family’s crops.

In early May 2020, the Nzoia River burst its banks. The floods

62 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

that resulted in western Kenya capped off particularly heavy long rains that killed 237 people and adversely affected more than 800,000. Floods and landslides destroyed homes, schools, roads, bridges, and more than 8,000 acres (32 square kilometers) of Kenyan farmland.

Kenya’s March-May rainy season (the long rains, as opposed to the short rains of October-December) provides vital moisture to the country’s croplands—indeed, maize production was at least 10% above average in 2020—but most Kenyans continue to face some level of food insecurity. In the past few years especially, climate change has caused a geographical shift in which areas receive rain and which suffer drought.

“Normally, we know where the flood areas are,” but the rains the past few years have been “unprecedented,” said Ruth K. Oniang’o, founder of the Rural Outreach Africa Program and a 2017 Africa Food Prize Laureate. “We have rain falling in areas that never used to have rain. I used to write all the time about famines and drought…but right now is something different. We can say, ‘Okay, climate variability, it changes every year.’ No. This is different right now.”

The differences extend beyond Africa. Farmers in Iran, for example, share similar problems anticipating cycles of drought and floods despite being separated from their Kenyan counterparts by more than 7,000 kilometers. “The recent harsh droughts and heavy floods in the [Middle East] region ruined a major part of food resources,” explained Mohanna Zarei, a water resources engineer at the University of Kurdistan in Sanandaj, Iran. Sporadic precipitation cycles not only reduce crop yields but can also lead to secondary impacts that worsen food security, like the wildfires that have ravaged thewestern United States, Australia, Brazil, and elsewhere.

Financial and social inequality compound climate-related food security issues. Many of the world’s smallholder farmers are poor and food insecure; even one lost season can push them from struggling to failing. “Climate change plays a key role as a catalyzer” in amplifying preexisting resource problems and “will influence the quality and quantity of food we produce and our ability to distribute it equitably,” Zarei said.

“It’s not quite as simple as moving into less climate-affected areas. It remains an issue of climate and socioeconomic and technological development,” said Weston Anderson, a hydroclimatologist at the International Research Institute (IRI) for Climate and Society at Columbia University in Palisades, N.Y. Understanding how agricultural practices and policies need to change along with the warming climate and then sowing the seeds of that change could be the difference between farmers thriving where they are or migrating to greener pastures.

Stressing the Climate System A region’s agricultural stability depends on reliable, natural climate variations to bring seasonal shifts in weather. Large-scale climate modes like ENSO and the Indian Ocean Dipole govern a region’s temperature, precipitation, and storm activity for months at a time. Climate modes also causally connect distant regions, something that has been increasingly important as agricultural trade has become more global: A climate shift in one food-growing region can also affect crops half a world away.

Maize farmers around the world felt the impacts of climate teleconnections during one of the strongest El Niños of the past 150 years. The 1983 El Niño coincided with the largest global synchronous failure of maize crops in modern record, and recent research has shown that ENSO played a major role in causing that failure.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, because it organizes global weather and global precipitation, provides struc-

ture on the risk of global agriculture by rearranging where we get more drought and less drought in the year,” Anderson explained. “It’s not necessarily creating more drought over the entire year, but it might be arranging those droughts in a way that disproportionately affects some of our crop growing regions.”

Anderson’s team found that ENSO is the only mode of climate variability that can affect maize, wheat, and soybean crop production on a global scale. Other large-scale climate modes have more localized influence on certain crop yields. The tropical Atlantic variability, for instance, influences maize production in western Africa and wheat and soy production in southeastern South America simultaneously, but the North Atlantic Oscillation affects only wheat production in northern Africa and Europe.

“Climate will largely continue to affect our food system through climate variability,” Anderson said. “Often you see climate change acting on top of this climate variability and exacerbating stresses that are already existing in our food system.” For example, he said, a regional crop might withstand a normal ENSO-related drought but could fail if climate change-induced drought worsens, too.

Down in the Dirt Moreover, climate change also affects what goes on beneath Earth’s surface. To sustain an agricultural system with consistent, high, and high-quality yield, “you need the soil system to first and foremost be able to support plants,” said Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a soil biogeochemist at the University of California, Merced. “Plants need physical support from the soil, and they also need nutrients and water to be available in the right forms and in the right time when plants need them.”

According to a 2015 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about one third of the world’s soil is moderately to highly degraded, and the conditions causing that degradation are, overall, getting worse. Unsustainable agricultural practices cause some of the decline in soil health, and some is caused by climate change, Berhe said. “Hot temperatures, for example, are associated with rapid loss of organic matter from soil. This is a major issue, as organic matter is the

“OFTEN YOU SEE CLIMATE CHANGE ACTING ON TOP OF THIS CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND EXACERBATING STRESSES THAT ARE ALREADY EXISTING IN OUR FOOD SYSTEM.”

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major storehouse of food and energy for microbes in soil that are key for regulating nutrient availability.”

“Moreover, “the episodic high-intensity rainfall, wet periods, and droughts, the going back and forth between extremes, could also lead to conditions where soils are actually eroding at a fast rate, especially under intense precipitation events,” Berhe added. “That’s a major concern.” Altered rainfall patterns can also unbalance a soil’s oxygen availability, acidity, salinity, and water-holding capacity and can hinder the formation of new soil.

Climate change reshapes the relationships among crops, pests, pathogens, and weeds,” Zarei said, “and it intensifies several trends, including declines in pollinating insects, increasing water scarcity, increasing groundlevel ozone concentrations, and fishery declines.

Climate change [has] posed pressures on availability of water resources for agriculture by shifting precipitation patterns, earlier seasonal snowmelt, and intrusion of saltwater into coastal aquifers.”

It is true that some areas of the world are becoming more arable in the face of climate change, especially the Arctic. The warming planet pushes the agricultural frontier poleward and into carbon-rich areas of thawed permafrost and peatland. “The climate envelope moving means that certain areas are now able to support different types of habitats,” Berhe said. “But I think it’s a little hard to call that improving soil health because of the way we got there.”

“A northward shift in where we grow foods commercially is one of the most likely new agricultural frontiers,” said Merritt Turetsky, and “the cost of imported foods in the Arctic can be exorbitant.” Turetsky is an ecologist at the University of Colorado Boulder and a science adviser for Eos. “Could an increase in commercial or local food production at high latitudes solve this problem of high food prices? Maybe, but it is likely to introduce some complex challenges for northern regions and the people who depend on those lands.”

Declining soil health around the world also encourages governments to cultivate untouched ecosystems, which can worsen environmental problems in the long run. For example, “we know that drainage of tropical peatlands for palm oil production has released large amounts of stored peat carbon to the atmosphere,” Turetsky continued. “As a society, we must protect our northern peatlands and carbon-rich soils from drainage and cultivation.”

Short-Term Fixes Make Long-Term Problems When it comes to humanity’s role in the decline in soil health and the growing unpredictability in crop yield, 64 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

some aspects are out of farmers’ hands: rapid urbanization, inefficient infrastructures, unstable political relations, war. Problems like widespread poverty, hunger, government corruption, gender inequality, and lack of education multiply food security issues around the globe.

However, some of the ways in which farmers mitigate agricultural uncertainty, which may raise short-term yields, actually worsen growing conditions in the long run. The lands’ “ability to provide the food, feed, and fiber that we were getting from them is getting compromised,” Berhe said. “And so the only way to keep the lands productive, then, is to keep pumping them full of supplements in the form of fertilizers, in the form of irrigation water, in the form of tilling them even more destructively” than we do now.

When crop yields go down, farmers try to expand into new land. “But sometimes extending into other areas means that people are now working on marginal lands that we know are susceptible to degradation,” Berhe explained. Marginal lands often already have poor soil or are prone to erosion. “That could play out in very disastrous ways when people move away from their home or expand their production systems.”

Too, lands might be marginal because they are wet, Turetsky added, and wetlands and seasonally flooded lands tend to store more carbon than more productive lands do. “This means that extending agricultural practices can release more greenhouse gas to the atmosphere as those new soils are disturbed.”

The use of fertilizer can also cause significant longterm environmental damage. “The issue of fertilizer is a central concern in the Senegal River valley,” said Mor Ndiaye, an agricultural engineer and soil scientist who works with smallholder rice farmers in the valley.

Ndiaye works at SAED, an organization that promotes sustainable agriculture in Saint-Louis, Senegal.

“As the use of fertilizer in agriculture has become more and more essential, however, the quality of the soil is not very often taken into account when it comes to the purchase of fertilizer by farmers [and] producers,” Ndiaye said. “Many growers believe that increasing the amount of fertilizer is synonymous with good yield.”

However, “adding nitrogen fertilizers into agricultural areas is one of the most important causes of nitrous oxide emissions to the atmosphere and the one that we have the hardest time taming,” Berhe said. Nitrous oxide is the third most prevalent greenhouse gas. “It’s a pretty vicious cycle.”

Moreover, smallholder farmers are more likely to thrive if they can analyze soil samples before buying and cultivating new land, but those data “are sometimes difficult to obtain given the often exorbitant cost,” Ndiaye said.

And satellites can’t collect data on “things related to food systems around trade and access” like market prices, Cooper said. However, many governments lack resources for on-the-ground data collection initiatives as they tackle more immediate concerns, or as they attempt to mask the extent of environmental problems, for example, as has happened with deforestation in Brazil.

Photo by Alice Karolina

A lack of data also crops up as a problem when trying to secure agricultural production. Remote sensing data via satellite can provide environmental information like temperature, moisture, and plant cover, but it has data gaps.

“Often, remote sensing can get us 90% of the way there,” said Matthew Cooper, an environmental geographer at the Harvard Data Science Initiative in Cambridge, Mass. “You do need a lot of ground data to validate the remote sensing variables. Measuring the actual rainfall on the ground or measuring actual crop yields on the ground will always be more accurate than what you’re trying to estimate from space.”

Cultivating a Food Secure Future The agricultural market has become irreversibly global, and with most nations far behind on climate goals, the impact of climate change on farmers is unlikely to abate.

What can geoscientists do to support more sustainable agriculture in current food-growing regions and maintain soil health in new growing areas?

In some of the most food-insecure regions of the world, it’s difficult to pinpoint what actions are needed because food security research simply doesn’t cover those areas.

According to a recent study that text mined more than 16,000 abstracts from the food security literature, some of the most food-insecure regions of the world have very little presence in food security research, whereas some regions with high food security are overrepresented. “Researchers tend to cluster in the countries where you’re not at risk of a sudden civil war or there are already established research institutions or where people have already built full careers,” said Cooper, who was the lead researcher on the study. In more unstable areas, “local policymakers there are pretty well informed of the local situation but…it seems like places outside the Anglosphere are less visible to the global community.”

Improving data access is key. Even without on-the-ground data networks, “we can tell a ton of stuff, especially about anything environmental, from remote sensing,” Cooper said. “You can get indices of vegetation health, precipitation, rainfall, droughts,” but that information needs to make its way to farmers in a way they can use.

Work like Ndiaye’s helps connect smallholder farmers in developing agricultural areas with high-level data products like digital soil maps. Access to that information has helped rice farmers in the Senegal River valley strengthen the capacity of their agricultural sector and establish trade partnerships between farmers, suppliers, and buyers.

Most experts agree that water availability will continue to be a bottleneck in expanding current agricultural areas and establishing new ones. “Irrigation uses 66% of annual water withdrawals and is the single largest human use of water,” Zarei said. But in some areas of the world, including some Middle Eastern countries, she explained, water resources are being used as political leverage rather than as a common resource to support regional stability.

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Moreover, the past 70 years or so have seen “something like a 200% increase in irrigated agriculture area,” Anderson said, “and around 50% of that is not sustainable in the sense that we’re drawing irrigation water unsustainably from either surface water or groundwater.”

Cities like Aqaba, Jordan; Bangkok, Thailand; Kampala, Uganda; Lima, Peru; and Manila, Philippines, have shifted to more sustainable water usage “by reusing their wastewater and using this recycled water in the energy sector, food industry, agricultural irrigation, water sector [and] transitioning to a circular economy,” Zarei said.

Looking back at agricultural production since 1950, Anderson added, much of agriculture’s geographic shift is tied directly to improvements in irrigation such as where rice is grown in China. “When we’re thinking about the future and future responses to climate change and the possibility of moving things out of these hotter regions,” Anderson explained, “it really remains intertwined with our ability to sustainably use water and to build irrigation infrastructure in a way that is conducive to growing these crops where we have the available land and nutrients.”

Vulnerable Beyond Climate This past year’s East African floods may have boosted crop yields and eased food security concerns for people in rural areas, but the relief is temporary. “Climate impacts are triggers, not the main drivers” pushing smallholder farmers into poverty and insecurity, Ángel G. Muñoz said. Securing the world’s future food supply is as much about equity and economic stability as it is about sustainable agriculture, he said.

Consider, for example, factors driving the recent caravan of thousands of people from Central America, and Guatemala in particular, toward the United States. “What we have found…for the human migration that we saw in recent years from Guatemala is that it’s related to a multiyear drought that occurred between 2015 and 2017,” explained Muñoz, a climate scientist at IRI. Smallholder farmers on the brink of poverty faced year after year of poor harvest, lost income, and political instability that finally forced them to migrate northward in search of a way to support their families.

“What we have found is that, actually, although there is a clear climate signal,” he said, referring to the drought, “we do not see a very important climate change signal in this particular migration…. Socioeconomic factors and understanding the local vulnerability of the population are far more important than actually thinking in terms of only one stressor,” such as climate change, driving farmers to new areas.

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problems as Guatemala, but that example highlights the need for climate-smart agricultural policies to consider vulnerabilities beyond climate and account for socioeconomic context. “That makes it a difficult problem to approach,” Anderson said, “because it’s certainly not something that can be solved entirely by scientists, or entirely through climate forecast-related approaches, or entirely in a policy sphere. You need all of these components, and so a lot of the work really is getting the right people talking to each other.”

The particulars of those components, Oniang’o said, greatly depend on the country, but each vulnerability makes any agricultural adaptation solution that much more difficult to accomplish. In many U.N.-designated developing economies, girls and women are severely undereducated and underrepresented in the workforce.

In some countries, government corruption prevents monetary aid from reaching farmers in need. Most countries, however, are missing the mark at organizing a migration of agricultural areas and supporting the farmers needed to make it work, she said.

“IT NEEDS TO BE NATIONAL POLICY, BUT IMPLEMENTED LOCALLY, AND KEEPING VULNERABLE PEOPLE IN MIND SO THAT WE DON’T PUSH THEM TO THE EDGE.” “Even when new policies come up, or new trade practices come up, or when the world order changes—even if it’s supposed to be in a positive way, it doesn’t affect smallholder farmers positively,” she said. “I see increasing vulnerability because we have not been able to address the poverty issue, low income, and hunger for many of the people I have been working with.”

“The people themselves say, ‘We have to move. We have to move from here.’ But someone must organize them to move,” Oniang’o added. “It needs to be national policy, but implemented locally, and keeping vulnerable people in mind so that we don’t push them to the edge.”

In the end, the paths leading toward a climate-smart global agriculture may already be well-worn by generations of farmers. “Indigenous communities in the north who rely on country foods that they harvest or hunt tend to be the most food-secure communities,” Turetsky said.

“This is because these communities and traditions value the health of the boreal forest or the Arctic tundra.

Any changes in local or commercial food production that do not uphold this value of the land or water may interfere with cultural traditions and practices. We must take the lessons learned from historical and existing food producing regions and ensure that we don’t repeat the same mistakes.”

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& Narcissism SELF-HEALING

By Jayita Bhattacharjee

F

acing narcissists can be perplexing and disappointing. Life can be full of angst and anguish as it eventually leads to a lack of self-esteem. The inclination for perfectionism, lack of self-consciousness pushing one to uncertainty and selfblame, troubling to trust others, struggling in self-assertion, emotional turbulence, silent exhaustion, and ultimately, the lack of vitality, despite facing all these challenges, we need to stay balanced as it is only from a place of authenticity that we can thrive. There comes the need to empower ourselves, and this becomes essentiality beyond any shadow of a doubt.

Feeling unseen or belittled can make us struggle inside.

Narcissists do lack empathy as they are inclined to see others for their gratification. They have this inherent need in them to win over others, whether people or objects. From this innate need arises their desire to be cynical to conquer.

They are driven by the need to feel superior and be the prime focus.

an essential element in their psychological health, which leads to a malformation of their fully developed selves. If you live with a narcissist, you may wonder how someone who is supposed to be affectionate with you is so apathetic, unresponsive, and detached. How can passivity fill the other person when you are actively engaged in fulfilling him/her? The narcissist's insensibility can induce a lack of worth, purpose, and meaning in your life.

Others in the presence of a narcissistic person may be dismayed for repeatedly being talked to condescendingly. It might induce a need to seek constant approval instead of disapproval. It then becomes a relentless pursuit, and this wild chase eventually leads to self-exhaustion. You may be filled with indignation and for the right reasons. The reason narcissists behave the way they do is that they lack

Narcissism is a personality disorder that happens to bea deviation from a healthy norm when it comes to feeling. Their thinking patterns become distorted, and relating becomes an impossibility for them. They are contorted individuals masking their own flaws from society as a whole. As per research, personalities do not go through a substantial alteration after we cross the teenage years.

A narcissist walks around with an air of superiority, a feeling of invincibility as in their depths, they feel flawed and suffer from emptiness. They struggle with the feelings of unworthiness, and as these inadequacies horrify them, this horrification then gets manifested in their outward behavior towards others. They are aware of this gaping void deep down, but they attempt to deny and disguise them. They are in an expectation to seek constant admiration from others, and any shortage of that flares their rage.

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However messy they are inside, yet their messiness becomes the prime trait of their personality. Driven by the need to dominate, they are conscious of their image and status. But inside, their ego is extremely fragile. They are in constant denial of their own flaws. They are chased by the powerplay of presenting themselves as perfect, powerful, and successful. Their inner self is power-hungry and domineering. Some can be crafty and calculating. While some other narcissists portray themselves as sad victims. They have major deficits in the self-visualization. Their selfdoubt can be biting others. Most narcissists have a penetrating sense of internal deficiency, which can lead to chronic depression in another person. Their takeover attitude in a relationship leads to a complete makeover. A demeanor of haughtiness and self-righteousness replaces Their feelings of inadequacy.

Some narcissists can be vindictive and constantly criticize in the most personalized manner. Being around a narcissist loses your sense of worth, and that undeniably is a high price to pay. Trying to change a narcissist can eventually burn you inside. As they innately lack their sense of worth and self-esteem, they are in need of seeking it from

not have to be that way. Self- restoration might seem complicated, but eventually, it becomes possible with fierce courage and he light breaks through the clouds.

Though narcissists are unable to love someone else other than themselves genuinely, the other non-narcissist person was accepting, sacrificial, and surrendering in the relationship. Confronting a narcissist almost always results in losing the battle.

Interaction with extreme narcissists can be frustrating and agonizing. With the destructive variety of narcissists, they need mental health professionals' guidance as you deserve the right to honor your personhood. Do not allow their words and decisions more authority than yours. The best course of action would be to extricate yourself from them emotionally. Try to develop an in-depth understanding of how your relationship with a narcissist has negatively impacted you. Enforce boundaries with them. In facing a malevolent narcissist, though you may not be able to defend yourself assertively, but still, you cannot allow them to walk over you. As in that way, you lose your personhood and eventually start questioning your sense of worth. So, try to grasp the understanding that the nar-

THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION WOULD BE TO EXTRICATE YOURSELF FROM THEM EMOTIONALLY. TRY TO DEVELOP AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF HOW YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH A NARCISSIST HAS NEGATIVELY IMPACTED YOU. ENFORCE BOUNDARIES WITH THEM. others. It is from this seeking that they indulge in a harsh harangue. From their dysfunctionality, they are driven by the need to use others. They are constantly demanding attention but will never reciprocate that towards others.

A relationship with them becomes a one-sided relationship.

A narcissist will not and can not honor your feelings. But you have a right to honor yourself. As feelings are not unjustified; rather, they are a healthy flow from your psyche. At times, we are driven by the need to survive and get our needs met. But a time comes when we realize that we have to survive emotionally as well. Even though they excessively indulge in condescending speech and shake you inside, still trust yourself to know the difference that stands between a healthy and unhealthy relationship.

The question is, how do you restore yourself being around a narcissist? Can you reclaim your old self that once was soft and tender, optimistic, and confident? Though a relationship with a narcissist seems like a deadlock, it does 70 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

cissist's malicious ways of treating you stem from their own deep-seated insecurities, self-doubt, and despair.

Their offensive demeanor is actually one of their desperate defense. If you can detect their inherent weakness, which they had managed to camouflage from you, then you can strengthen yourself for an emotional detachment from them.

Never minimize their dysfunctional self, rather acknowledge it and be vigilant about it with a conscious step.

Recognition of their narcissism can liberate you from false expectations. As their sense of entitlement and grandiosity leads them to believe that others are undeserving of any compassion at all, so it would be fair not to expect any compassion at all.

Never expect any apology from the narcissists as they believe they are entitled to more rights compared to others.

They have no interest in any sort of introspective study.

They have the zeal for the display of their successes but not the slightest desire to delve inside.

So, when humanly compassionate behavior is almost impossible from them in any circumstance, in that case, allow yourself to set up healthy boundaries if you have to stay connected to a narcissist, be that for whatever reason.

Setting your boundaries in a relationship with a narcissist is crucial. You do not owe any justification, explanation to the narcissist. Neither do you need to defend yourself? Narcissists engage in intimidation to make others doubt themselves. Refrain from giving them that power and authority over you. Be decisive in what you share with a narcissist. As the less you share, the less he/she has a hold over you.

Exit the destructive interaction when it feels unhealthy. You remain in the power of controlling the time spent in the conversation. OR else it gets abusive and has its cruel clutches on your emotional health. Self-care needs to be the first and foremost thing to you. Excuse yourself from that interaction or directly confront an unhealthy interaction that is prone to throw you off balance emotionally.

Be firmly decisive about your tolerance and what falls outside of it. That becomes a key component in setting healthy boundaries when you decide to what and when you need to say' no.' If the aggression continues from a narcissist, then leave the situation or excuse yourself. Be stern about your refusal to engage in further interaction.

Learn how to sidestep the narcissists' repertoire of blame game that uses arguing, minimizing your feelings, posing as a victim. When a narcissist gets intrusive, learn to sidestep it gracefully—transition to other topics for further interaction. Skip the topics that agitate them and shift to the ones that they are willing to discuss. By making the shift to their favorite topic, at least they will shift their focus from you.

Deliberately intervene by counteracting their bully as they attempt to counteract their feelings of emptiness and unworthiness. Name out loud what is really happening beneath their verbal attacks by pointing out," Are you trying to put me down?" Give the narcissist a conscious reminder that you grasp from where the condescending remarks are stemming.

Have compassion for yourself. Do not be unnerved by narcissistic strategies. As narcissism is based on the distorted views of self, others, and the world around, setting healthy boundaries becomes the first

step to curtailing abusive and argumentative interactions.

Choose consequences for violation of the boundaries. This way, when the boundaries are transgressed, you can feel free to act on the chosen consequences.

Be firmly decisive about it and not hesitant.

In addition, be mindful about what you share with a narcissist. The things you disclose can be thrown right at you when you are most vulnerable or at the weakest point in your life.

You can understand a narcissist's emptiness inside but refrain yourself from falling into their word trap.

Going through narcissistic abuse for the long run can be defined as trauma. An ongoing assault takes place on their sense of identity, and their wholeness is impacted in the most profound manner possible. That, in turn, has lasting physical and emotional repercussions. Such people are prone to hypervigilance, depression, deep-seated pain, and illness. It is then manifested as a complex trauma whose symptomatic treatment becomes essential as the step to healing.

To restore oneself from the gripping narcissism is the recognition as that's the way you move through a complex trauma towards happiness. To take care of yourself needs to become the essentiality of freedom.

That is called healthy living.

Jayita Bhattacharjee was born in Calcutta, India and later on pursued education from University of Houston in Economics, she had chosen her career as a trustee and teacher.

Her Indian residence is in the vicinity of the famous Belurmath.

Currently, she is settled in Tampa, Florida. Her love for writing on a journey of heart and soul was hidden all within. Looking at the moments captured in love and pain, joy and grief, the hidden tragedies of life...it was a calling of her soul to write.

Her books "The Ecstatic Dance of Life', " Sacred Sanctuary", " Light of Consciousness", "Dewdrops of Compassion" are meant to shed light on what guides a person to respond to the mystical voice hidden inside, to soar in a boundless expansion with the limitless freedom of spirit."It is in the deepest joy that I write with every breath of mine."

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72 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e January 2021

THE WAY I SEE IT

By Joey Santos, Jr.

Photo by Ava Sol

"WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE SWEET LOVE"

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Call it a clichĂŠ. I call it overdue. There has never been a better time to share love than now. We have been and are still going through the strangest, if not, the scariest of times. The difference is, we've been given some hope.

This is not about who we believe in anymore. It's about what, how, and why we believe at all.

As a kid growing up, I was given a remarkable opportunity to choose my faith. My Parents were not religious.

They were Spiritual. They believed in a higher power/ force who speaks through our silence and deed.

A force whose voice is heard through reflection. Not through representation. My Mother would often joke that "God doesn't need an agent." They raised me with freedom and consequence - if I don't follow the rules, my freedom is taken away. Or choice through thought think before you "act" and speak. Or guilt by association - don't blame others. A few simple rules, but when we listen, learn, understand and adhere to them early on, it helps define us, build our character, and strengthen our integrity.

The funny thing about this last year, in particular, is the amount of "we" time we've been given. Some call it free time. I call it "we time" because, firstly, nothing about this lesson we are to learn from is free. Not one bit of it! And, secondly, the lessons we are being taught need to be shared. We must force ourselves to see what we are truly made of. It's time to peel away and remove all of the paint, paper, paste, and plastic to find our foundation for all its strength or weakness and start over. The time to remember, rethink, redefine, and respect our purpose is now. Instead of complaining, let's start embracing. Our children need to be taught. Let's teach them. Our partners need to be heard. Let's listen. Our souls need to be filled. Let's pray. Our minds need to imagine. Let's read.

Our spirit needs to soar. Let's set it free. Our hearts need to be full. Let's laugh. Let's love.

When we heal, the world heals. Let's not forget, the earth doesn't need us. We need it. It's done just fine for millions of years without us. Truth be told, when negativity and abuse challenge its core, it has a funny way of getting rid of it. Does extinction ring a bell? A lesson I've been taught and remind those I love is, let's remember, "they whisper, the voice and the scream." The whisper is how God speaks. Call it instinct, a gut feeling we get (and with much consequence if ignored) is what we must learn to trust. The "voice" a reminder we may hear from someone else to tell us to listen and trust the

whisper. And then, when that too is ignored, comes the "scream." The last sound we hear as the bus comes racing down the street to annihilate us.

The point is that through all of these whispers, reminders, and near misses, it may finally be the time for us to wake up/wake in. Listen to our God, listen to our earth, and trust them. If something doesn't smell right, avoid it before it stinks. If something doesn't look or sound right, it probably isn't. And most importantly, when something doesn't feel right? RUN!

Joey Santos Jr. was raised in NYC, Malibu, and West Hollywood Hills.

He is son to Film & Television Actor Joe Santos.

His Mother, Mary, was a former Showgirl who became a "stay at home Mom," Joey's Grandfather is World-Renowned Latin Singer Daniel Santos, and his Grandmother Rose was a Business Woman who owned Nightclubs in NYC, Havana, Miami, and LA. She also started a Record Label and a Film Studio. Early on, Joey worked as an actor. He had a recurring role in NYPD Blue's, as Officer Aiello, and also performed on stage doing live theater.Joey embarked on a singing career, recorded a couple of CDs, and performed in various venues throughout the US. His ultimate passion, however, was the result of following in both his Grandmother's and Mother's footsteps. He became a Restauranteur - (Co-owned the El Mocambo in LA, Owner and Chef of JoJo's Americana Supper-club in Saugatuck, and JoJo's Juke Joint in West Hollywood). This experience would lead Joey to embark on his own very successful private business of catering/hosting events for the Hollywood elite.

For the past four years, he as been Private Chef to Brad Pitt. Since 2016, Joey writes a monthly column, "The Way I See It " for The Eden Magazine. He is teaming up with life-long friend (Literary Agent) Alan Nevins, to develop a PodCast called, "Two Guys From Hollywood" where they will talk about everything you always "didn't want to know!"

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Abundance Corner

By Phyllis King

HONOR YOUR SELF WITHOUT BEING HOW TO

SELFISH

Photo by Jonatan Becerra

& WHY YOU SHOULD

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I

n the 1980s, the “me” culture became an interesting topic of conversation. Mainstream culture began what I consider to be an ascent into self-realization through the idea of “me first.”

“Me first” has created controversy owing to the idea that if one puts themselves first, they are selfish and self-centered. As we moved into the ’90s and 2000s, “me first” mostly garnered negative connotations.

As it pertains to attracting abundance, love, or aligning with purpose, we must listen to our inner voice with authenticity and clarity of vision. We all have inner navigation that directs us if we allow it to do so. That voice rests in the seat of abundance itself.

Culture tells us who we are supposed to be. It tells us what the rules are and what is acceptable and unacceptable. Further, if we do not follow the proscribed rules, we can be shamed in many different ways. Through expulsion from family systems, penalties in the workplace, or pointed criticisms of our viewpoints or actions. That external guard rails too often override our inner navigation.

This is how “me first” began, attempting to give breath to the inner voice. But it got off track toward selfishness.

We instinctively know that we must orient our lives from a place of generosity. We are all connected. We are one.

However, we struggle against thousands of years of cultural programming telling us what generosity needs to look like and how we are supposed to do it.

We did not go far enough with the “me first” idea to understand its true purpose.

All input and societal norms are not bad.

When they come first in our thought process and then impose themselves on our inner navigation, we become servants to our life as opposed to masters of our destiny.

From a servant position, we create life from a place that lacks authenticity and power.

The difference between selfishness and self-love is that when we love ourselves as a spiritual responsibility rather than a gratification, we show up in life with more power and influence to effect good in the lives of others and on the planet. If we show up as “me first” as a response to external expectations, we are not showing up at all. We are feeding an unconscious belief system based on scarcity.

The great opera singer, Beverly Sills, said, “there are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” She could not have been more right. We think we can avoid the stillness of being with ourselves. We can. We have free will to do so. Without being in the right relationship to self, we limit our ability to thrive and receive the unlimited benevolence available to us.

When we want to attract love or abundance into our life and have it be enjoyable as opposed to draining, we must be good receivers. What is a good receiver? It is someone who cultivates a state of being that is open and high vibration. It is a being who can welcome the divine food of life; however, it shows up. We see an

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inherent abundance in life. I liken being a good receiver to planting a garden or flowers. If you put a seed in dry baron soil and never give it water, it will not prosper as well as soil that is fertile and rich in nutrients.

We want to see our energy and our state of being the same way. To expand into the fullness of our being, as the divine intends for us to do, we must attend to ourselves. Create fertile soil energetically. That means we become skilled at seeing the filters we use in daily life. We learn to delineate the cause of our reactivity or heal residual wounding that is present in all of us.

All this takes time and attention. If we do not give ourselves the attention required to be in the right relationship with ourselves, we will measure our wellness externally.

That approach toward wellness is a hungry beast that can never be satisfied.

I believe that generosity and compassion for others are critical to wellness in general. We are one. We must be there for each other. That same generosity and compassion must extend to ourselves first. Otherwise, what we contribute to others is tainted with our own unconscious energy. If we want to give in meaningful ways, we want to give from our most authentic center.

In that, we give the best energy and the most love. We truly raise others up.

Rather than “me first,” see it as “self-love” first as a spiritual practice causing us to be available to others at the highest level possible.

Known as the Common Sense Psychic (tm), Phyllis King has worked with tens of thousands of peoplein 25 countries. She is known for her practical and down to earth approach.

She has been featured on, ABC, CBS and NBC TV, radio programs across the country, and has been published in over 70 print and online publications.

She has four books, including Bouncing Back, Thriving in Changing Times, with Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Her latest book The Energy of Abundance is available in bookstores now. Phyllis holds a B.A. in Sociology. www.phyllisking.com

Have you seen Gretchen?!

Missing since 11/11/2016 Please contact us

info@theedenmagazine.com

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SIMPLICITY THE POWER OF

Photo by Amy Tranni

By Raman Pathik

T

he Meaning of Simplicity. We all know what simplicity means. It is used to describe ideas, theories, concepts, and written/visual materials that are easy to understand or explain. It is the opposite of complex or complicated.

For the purpose of this book, I use the term “simplicity” to express getting back-to-basics for a simple, self-sufficient lifestyle and the ease of understanding the concept of The Simple Solution! In no way do I use the term “simple” to imply the negative connotation of “lack of mental acuteness,” but instead, I use the “human nature of simplicity” to indicate the beauty, purity, honesty, and wholesomeness of a child in the mindful awareness of the adult.

The Science of Simplicity; The Simplicity of the Gift Bestowed at Birth. A newborn baby’s basic needs are simple: Oxygen, water, nutritional food (mother’s milk), physical activity, and sunlight. When a baby’s basic needs are met, the simplicity of the gift—love, peace, joy, wisdom, and purity—is shown in a joyful, content, playful, curious, imaginative, and happy baby. Newborns have a certain amount of self-sufficiency when their needs are met. No one needs to teach them how to breathe, drink, eat, move around, or enjoy sunlight and nature. This is the science of nature, the science of simplicity. There are no preconceived attachments, greed, anger, ego, lust, or prejudices. Newborn infants are non-violent and non-judgmental. This is pure, natural simplicity!

As adults, we can learn much from watching the simplicity of babies and children at play. In the last chapter, I pointed out how we can learn the full natural breath that leads to the silence and calmness of a quiet, serene mind that creates a balance between the Inner and Outer Minds. Children play at life by mimicking family, friends, and other children around them in simplicity. Simplicity leads to each child’s unique environment from which they create their future!

Simplicity in the environment keeps children and adults content with what they have achieved in life. The simple

lifestyle makes every member of a family, community, or nation equal and healthy, happy, and loving. When your lifestyle is complicated and overly complex, your mind is filled with unnecessary fear, worry, and stress.

People in a simplistic state of mind tend to be more optimistic, focused, mindful of their actions and how those actions affect others, aware of each and every moment of their lives with a sense of wonder, imagination, and creativity. These are the individuals who reach out to serve others and become role models for the generations to come.

Simplicity is the foundation of a self-sufficient society, and it all begins with the simple, natural basics of life that sustain newborn babies. If it can sustain life in an infant, it can sustain life and equilibrium in the adult. This is what I want to share in The Simple Solution!

The Art of Simplicity; The Simple Solution Plan IS Simplicity! If you are not aware of the joyful presence of simplicity around you—the calm, mindful silence of the breath; your use of time and money; wholesome, nutritious foods; the beauty of nature; exercise to achieve better mental and physical health—you have not yet become aware of the benefits of The Simple Solution!

Even if you understand the logic behind The Science of Simplicity, “awareness” of The Art of Simplicity has to occur in each individual’s mind and spirit to begin the transformational process that will create The Simple Solution Environment. Do you want to remain unhealthy, unhappy, unable to love your family, filled with anger, fear, and stress?

In this section on The Awareness of The Art of Simplicity, I will provide you with pointers and road-markers on the journey to simple healthy living to become a healthy, happy, and loving person with the strength of will to serve others as a role model. What road do I follow for a Simple Healthy Lifestyle? How Simplicity Creates The Simple Solution Environment.

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A simple breathing exercise to experience the full breath like a newborn baby. This quiets the mind and brings silence to the chaos raging in our lives. After a relatively short period, this will become automatic, and you will find yourself breathing in this manner almost all the time. It calms and soothes a mind filledwith fear, worry, and stress. Becoming aware of how you spend your time and money allows you to control wasted time and unnecessary spending. You will become aware of what is a basic need to sustain life, versus wants and desires.

As you free up time and money, you’ll also have more energy for simple pleasures, such as sharing a family meal; more time to spend with your spouse/partner, children, and friends; taking a walk or making music together, camping, or other family outings.

Photo by Maria Molnarova

There is no set pattern, timeframe, or step-by-step procedure to create simplicity in our hectic, stressful, modern world. You take baby steps one day at a time to ease your mind and transform your reality.

weight training, dance classes); emotional health by sharing feelings and intimacy; mental acuity by more education, reading, and research. Spirituality is a great by-product of the silence of the breath with a clear, peaceful mind, compassionate demeanor, and heartfelt empathy. Your observances of holidays will be more spiritual and less commercial. This spirituality gives you a grounded link with the earth and the ecology of our natural resources, caring for your body as an extension of the universe and humankind, so you treat yourself and others with respect and justice, no matter what class, race, or ethnicity. You will help the poor, sick, and homeless.

Photo by Ale Romo

As you eat a nutritious organic diet, you will find you appetite sated with less food, fat, sugar, and salt, eliminating highly processed foods, fatty meats, junk food, and sweets. You will also find you need fewer commercial products, such as clothes, gadgets, and the newest fad on the market that will be obsolete in a few months. You purchase durable, efficient, non-polluting, and easily repairable products with less ostentatious displays, such as jewelry, shoes, cosmetics, the newest cars, the biggest house, the most money, and possessions.

You may find time to do volunteer work and know the pure, simple joy of helping others less fortunate. One smile goes a long way, and when you receive a smile in return, it will brighten your day! More time could also allow you to help improve the quality of life in your community through civic associations, community groups, and neighborhood functions.

More time and energy allows you to reflect on your personal talents, skills, and gifts: Your physical health improves with exercise (walking, running, biking, swimming,

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Not only will there be less clutter in your mind, but there will also be fewer unnecessary items in your home that require storage, tucked away in closets, the basement, attic, garage, or even a separate storage facility. These items that you cannot see will probably never be used.

As time goes on, perhaps you will boycott goods and services from large polluting corporations and companies whose actions and policies you find unethical. The need to recycle metal, glass, and paper products will become important to you as your family reduces or eliminates products made from nonrenewable resources or on biodegradable substances.

Your environment will be a home to share with your family, not a house or structure to be bought and sold. The amount of space you need maybe a smaller, human-sized habitat with direct personal contact with your neighbors, friends, and community. Society is embracing non-sexist stereotypes, which may expand your views on traditional role models.

Your communication skills will include simple non-verbal disciplines, a human touch, a hug, the expression on your face or in your eyes as you and another person share the silence when no words can express the depth of feeling that binds family members and dear friends.

You will raise your family using preventive medicine and the holistic healing of the body and mind. As your compassion grows beyond the bounds of the self and family, global causes will attract your attention as you become involved in groups to save the rainforests, save animals from extinction, and use non-violent means to control the human and animal population.

As you go off to work to a job you love some wonderful day in the future in modest clothes, comfortable and long-wearing, you may opt to use public transit, car-pooling, more efficient smaller cars; maybe living closer to work so you can enjoy a healthy walk or riding a bike. You’ll know where your children and spouse are and that they are safe, healthy, happy, and loving individuals just as you are. This is The Simple Solution Plan in action!

Your ease of tension will allow you a serious look at your job to see if it contributes to the well-being of the planet and fully uses your creative assets. You will develop skills, both at work and at home, that gives you more self-sufficiency to meet the challenges of self and property upkeep, such as people skills, first-aid, simple carpentry, plumbing, appliance repair, gardening, crafts, etc. You will be pleasantly surprised at the joy of self-reliance and accomplishment.

Raman Pathik lived in a Gandhiinspired Ashram as a child in India.

Coming to the United States, he e xperienced a stressful society. Now, as an applied knowledge mentor in quality of life and transformation, he shares with others the secrets to taking control of their lives to find true happiness and peace. To learn more about the author and his book, please visit http://www.thesimplesolutionbook.com.

SIMPLICITY

IS THE FOUNDATION OF A SELFSUFFICIENT SOCIETY, AND IT ALL BEGINS WITH THE SIMPLE, NATURAL BASICS OF LIFE THAT SUSTAIN NEWBORN BABIES.IF IT CAN SUSTAIN LIFE IN AN INFANT, IT CAN SUSTAIN LIFE AND EQUILIBRIUM IN THE ADULT. THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO SHARE IN THE

SIMPLE SOLUTION!

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WALKING IN LOVE: WHY AND HOW?

By Suzanne Miller

I

t was the early 1990s, the end of the Cold War. I was living in Los Angeles at the time and was a program manager in a company called TRW. I was growing weary of doing defense work without an imminent Soviet threat to motivate me.

Photo by Jana Sabeth

I prayed to God for guidance as to what I should do. Then someone told me about a local hospital with an excellent program for training and using hospice care volunteers.

They asked if I had ever considered doing such a thing.

No, I said, but I immediately got in touch with the hospital. Maybe I could do a pious act and learn from the experience.

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The training was excellent. They then put us to work as caring companions for patients who were approaching death. Our job was to visit the people, get to know them, listen to them, and generally be there for them, so they didn’t feel so totally alone and abandoned. Many of them had been abandoned by their families or had no surviving family or friends to visit them.

to navigate through these aging challenges. It also led me to enter a seminary and embark upon a new career in pastoral care ministry.

Even under the best of circumstances, what was happening to these patients was cruel (not because of what the facility could do but because of what it could not do). Here were human beings, many of whom had lost their sense of dignity and humanity. When they looked at themselves in a mirror, they often did not recognize themselves because of the ravages of disease and the aging process. They were connected to tubes and wires and often were incontinent or just generally smelled bad.

I tell you this story because it shows, by example, what I’m talking about when I say “walk in love.” God answered my prayer for a new career focus, and in the process, he gave me a quantum leap forward in unleashing my human potential to love. God was perfecting me in the terms I previously discussed.

This was why I subsequently spent five years in a parish in Baltimore, Maryland, as Lay Vicar and pastoral care minister.

I understood my job. I was to be there for them to ease their feelings of helplessness and abandonment and try to help them get back some part of their humanity and self-respect. Otherwise, I had no therapeutic function.

That was up to God. My greatest qualification for doing this, besides having had the training, was that I was notably not squeamish about the unpleasant physical side of humanity. Babies, older people—it’s all the same.

Then something wonderful happened.

As I got to know the person, something welled up from deep within me. I was amazed to discover I had this previously unnoticed capacity to love in an incredibly powerful way. This was totally unexpected but tremendously fulfilling and joyful. Can you understand how thrilling it is to discover something like that abides inside us, just waiting to be awakened by the touch of the Lord under the right circumstances?

I could see the real person through all the outer barriers. I could hold their hands and give them the touch of another human being that humans are so often hungry for. I could even bend over and kiss them on their foreheads when that seemed appropriate.

My first patient began to really look forward to my visits.

She sensed the love and began to return it in small ways.

A smile of joy and a sparkle in her eyes was the tip-offs.

God had answered my prayer and was using the opportunity to teach me something about the capacity each of us, as human beings, has to grow in our ability to love.

So many benefits flowed from that experience. It equipped me to help my own mom when the time came

Suzanne Miller is a former licensed lay vicar in the Episcopal Church, retired naval officer, and was the president of her own consulting company, where she led major new technology initiatives for the intelligence community. With her book, Walking in Love, she hopes to inspire other older people to achieve their dreams. It also builds on her other two books, “Spirituality 101” and “Spirituality 202.” Miller is a gifted singer who spreads her gift to her local church community in the Los Angeles area, sings across the world, and recently released her debut album: “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over.” To learn more about Miller and her book, Please visit her website: www.suzannermiller.com.

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The Healthstyle Emporium Sasha Gary

STEPPING OUT OF YOUR

Photo by Danilo Piacentino

SHADOW

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A

s we enter into 2021, the past year was a time of revealing shadow in ourselves and the world! As we continue to move into the Age of Aquarius, we have to continue to work on ourselves, and this is the best work you can be doing for yourself. To integrate all aspects of who you are: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

What is shadow work? Shadow work was a concept from Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Every day we judge someone else because we don’t want to be the one judged. You point out the insecurity in someone else, and it’s your own insecurity—the constant victim who blames everyone but their responsibilities.

The shadow is the “dark side” of our personality because it consists chiefly of primitive, negative human emotions and impulses like rage, envy, greed, selfishness, desire, and the striving for power. The shadow lies in our unconscious mind. We repress it and disown it. But, it’s always underneath, and in order to live your truest, most authentic version of yourself, you must incorporate your shadow self. You must own it, out of your shadow, and integrate it.

The shadow can operate on its own. It’s as if our conscious self goes on autopilot while the unconscious takes over.

Owning your shadow can be the ugliest qualities of who you are. Picture a monster-filled with your insecurities, weaknesses, and hatred. That’s how I visualized it in my mind. The beauty of owning your shadow is your truest, most authentic version of yourself. Don’t you want to be that person? It’s liberating.

Carrying these shadows around can feel heavy; when you are begging to release and heal, you will feel lighter and brighter. I have outed my shadow in the light on social media on purpose. I did it for me, with a lot of speculative eyes.

Working with a professional in therapy can be very beneficial, or you can seek out classes or a coach that specializes and help you learn how to do it yourself.

You can meditate, which helps you become more aware and in tune with yourself.

Journaling every day and allowing the subconscious mind to dump everything out and figure out your thoughts and feelings. When you are triggered by someone else and their action, it’s a good cause to ask why and figure out your own projection of your-

self. If you keep asking why and uncovering the layers will help you get to the root.

You are asking yourself questions about how do certain situations cause you to react. How you speak and interact with other people.

Being aware of any labels you have around you are, what they are and why you have chosen them. This can be a coping mechanism for the shadow self.

Sitting in silence, in meditation, allows the awareness to be brought to you.

As you did into this work, remember to be kind to yourself. This is a deep healing process. It is finding comfort in nature, breathwork, and self-care. This helps raise the vibration of the collective consciousness.

As we enter the next 200 years of the Age of Aquarius, we will collectively begin to become more conscious over time, and that is why this work is so important to begin now. This does not happen overnight. It’s not the switch of a button. This will unravel over time, over the next 200 years.

The world is connected more than ever with technology, this virus, and we will begin to become more connected as one, in connection, in love, and in unity. We are here on this earth to end up going back to where we came from. Your soul’s journey is unraveling in truth; in the light, you are on the right path. Trust it!

By engaging in shadow work and deep inner healing, you will become your highest, truest, authentic self! You owe it to yourself, and the world needs you now!

Sasha Gary is Gratitude Life Coach. actress, and writerin The Healthstyle Emporium www.theHSE.net.at is a 16 week online health program for women that shows you how to implement small sustainable changes one by one to help you with whole food nutrition, self-love and a conscious movement. Sasha is a yogi of 25 years, a crystal healer, and an avid sound bowl meditation participant and lives in Venice California!

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SUZANNE TUCKER Founder of Generation Mindful

Suppose you've got toddlers, preschool age children, or early elementary school-age children. In that case, you've likely at some point experienced one too many meltdowns, hit an emotional wall and became convinced that your child is broken, you're a terrible parent, and you're at your wit's end. Time-outs prove ineffective and typically result in endless power struggles. First, relax! Nope, your child isn't broken, and neither are you. When your child is first learning to walk or use the potty, you don't punish them if they stumble and fall or an accident.

You understand it's a process, and you don't beat yourself up. Well, the same goes for teaching your child to understand, navigate and regulate their own emotions. It would help if you had the right tools.

As a parent educator, also known as "The Parent Whisperer" by her 1 Million Facebook followers, Suzanne's Generation Mindful nurtures the parent/child relationship and teaches parents how to help their pre-school age children to regulate their own emotions through relatability exercises, communication techniques, play and her trademark Time-In Calming Corner. It's nothing short of sorcery. All of Suzanne's toys and instructional materials are science-based and help parents effectively work with their child's developing brain. Generation Mindful's tools have helped hundreds of thousands of parents in 40 countries, and the company has earned $3.5 Million in sales revenue during the first three quarters of 2020.

"Positive discipline nurtures emotional intelligence and shapes behavior, fostering cooperation and problem-solving better than punitive methods. This data is supported, not only nationwide but internationally.

The United Nations is banning corporal punishment, and 53 countries and counting have signed on in opposition of corporal punishment. The U.S. is not one of them yet, but we do know there are another 56 countries rumored to be ready to sign," states Suzanne.

Suzanne Tucker – Midwestern Mom, 27 Year Parent Educator, and Founder of Generation Mindful. Suzanne's company, Generation Mindful, is a line of tools and toys that connect the generations and nurture emotional intelligence playfully. They are an e-commerce website, a thriving community, and on top of everything else, they are playful! Why? Because, as Suzanne explains, "Play is the superhighway to learning, and, yes, to positive discipline."

Positive discipline nurtures emotional intelligence and shapes behavior, fostering cooperation and problem-solving better than punitive methods. This data is supported, not only nationwide but internationally. https://genmindful.com 88 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

Hello Suzanne, thank you for your time. You are the founder of Generation Mindful and the Timein Toolkit, an engaging collection of illustrations and games. Please tell us more about it.

The Time-In Tool Kit replaces Time Outs and behavioral management charts.

Instead of reinforcing the false notion that if "you do bad, you are bad," Generation Mindful teaches parents how to manage misbehavior, nurturing vital social-emotional skills through mindfulness and positive reinforcement. Children aren't born knowing how to regulate their emotions. It is a learned skill.

Punishment is not shown to nurture emotional intelligence, nor is it shown to teach these vital skills.

What is the mission behind Generation Mindful?

Our mission is to raise an emotionally healthy world and to change "stop crying" into "I'm listening" for this new generation. New parents today have the science that older generations didn't have, but they lack the skills. Most parents were raised with some form of punishment-based parenting methods, and we learn from our experiences, so it's very challenging to parent in a way that you were not parented. That's the need that we meet. Generation Mindful provides parents with the tools, support, education, and community to successfully apply this new science with their children.

We teach parents how to bring this Science of Connection and Positive Discipline into everyday life in a practical way.

How did your life path start towards being an entrepreneur and dedicate your life to teaching children?

As a physical therapist, I founded a health center 20 years ago, and my favorite hour was teaching baby massage. I would sit on the floor with new parents and their babies, and I witnessed the miracle and healing/ transformative powers of connection. What I saw and what made it so profound for me was the simplicity of it. I saw how beautiful and empowering it was. The connection between parent and child (or educator and child) and control; meaning how we interpret, regulate and express our emotions to our children and teaching them to identify, name, feel and express their emotions in a healthy way is the way and the answer.

Tell us about positive parenting and how parents can positively disciple their children?

Let them know that boundaries are a form of love and positive discipline is not permissive discipline. Meaning we are clear, firm, and respectful. If you feel your-

self going from 0-100, then you are allowing boundaries to be altered.

We are empowered by intentional, inclusive, teaching conflict resolution and using healthy relationship skills with our child. You are their training wheels to their future relationships. Emotional intelligence is the number one predictor of future success and happiness.

How do we build healthy emotional intelligence in our kids?

You model it. You practice and model it and give yourself the grace to not be perfect. Embrace your mistakes and your child's mistakes. Mistakes help us learn and grow and be human. The next step would be to follow our three-step curriculum: Name it, Feel it, Heal it.

Just like learning the ABCs and 123s, these are the basics of healthy brain and mind development. Our mission is to mainstream these tools, and you can't start too early. It starts in utero, and it never stops.

Can we as a parent build self-esteem on our children?

I see our role as parents as nurturers and to be a guide on their side.

We are not responsible for their experiences, gifts, and challenges. We, too often, take responsibility for them.

Our responsibility is to nurture, lead, and guide. The messages we send them are subtle, yet they provide a foundation for how our children react to their life experiences. That is why taking our class or joining our community is so important. Self-esteem is a complex concept. Much of a child's self-esteem is established very young and create a sort of baseline. We have the opportunity to nurture, and it is best to look at our own self-esteem and sense of self-worth first. If you're looking In the mirror and say, "I look bad," your child will learn through your example.

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What are some of the biggest mistakes parents can make when raising their kids?

Setting the bar too high. Research tells us 75% of parents aren't setting their goals on age-appropriate norms. We expect too much too soon and are focused on what we don't want instead of what we do want. Feed the wolf that you want to grow. Set goals in the positive and be creative. Thinking that you have to parent the exact same way with a cookie-cutter approach will be ineffective. Stand on the same platform, but be unique to you. We all want to protect our kids from the hard stuff, but it makes our kids resilient, and we can't control those things.

What is your advice in this critical time that we are facing with homeschooling our children?

I call it learning from home. Remember that you can home school or embrace what's called "learning from home," supporting your educators and communities. In terms of 90 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

support, we all need more of it right now. When things hit critical mass, we need to do a little less and expect a little less of ourselves. Recognize the toll the stress has on the body, and that is active and present right now – Think about where your stresses are in your body. Your stomach, your head, your heart and make it tangible. Think of it as a color and shape, maybe a green squiggly line and take a deep breath and let that go. Once it is seen as tangible, it is much easier to let it go.

Tell us about your life when you are not working?

I love yoga; I love the beach, in particular St. Simon's Island in GA, and Kayaking. I'm a mom of four, coming from a big family, myself.

I'm one of seven living in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. I love what I do, so it is hard to feel like it's work.

LANGUAGE OF SPACE

By Michael White Ryan

A

BREAKING GROUND CHOCK CHOCK 21

pproaching any crossroads has always been a choice of eeny meeny minu moe, at the best of times. And yet, we are still here.

Living begs the question, how big a role does fear to play out in our lives? For we didn’t invite fear in 2020, humans gave permission for its invasion way back when one’s mindset was and still is functioning as in the era of our Homo-Habilis forefathers and mothers.

By the time you read this article, the 2021 YIN OX year will have finally left the starting gates. I say plural, for one’s paths, are many. Are all roads paved equally with the same opportune experiences?

Yes, you’re right; it doesn’t appear or feels like that.

This occurs when we perceive all experiences via our existing thought process in definition and do not see experiences as energy forms. As humans, we function through one’s systematic programs, experiencing all life within a multitude of self-serving dual systems.

It’s understandable; how else could this existence have been prescribed in any other manner?

Choice is Foundation As humans, we talk about evolution individually and as a species, while the essence driving all lifeforms living on this planet, including Earth, has survived through mutation within the confines of this universe.

The time has arrived for us to think mutation if we are to fit in with the surrounding progressive movements, of all that’s existing. Look around; the signs are everywhere. Waiting for someone to tell you what to do is nothing other than just waiting for a train to arrive!

Have you noticed how green the plants are at the moment? The colors are amazing, and it’s not just in one plant variety; it’s all trees, grasses, flowers, all plants.

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Photo by Sam Farallon

Everyone will be explaining 2021 in some form or another, how 21 will play out, and all the expectations imaginable. No matter the situation, all interactions will come down to the choices one decides. That choice will emanate from the character you have chosen to be, now that personal survival is at the forefront of all human existence.

Awareness, the choice is yours and yours alone. It always has been yours and will always be that way from birth to whatever; move now, or wait for the Pied Piper to guide you in a direction not worthy of your presence.

Tomorrow knows it will arrive. Like humans, tomorrow is also a program. For humans, the pictures they paint are prescribed, according to the choices one has permitted. 2020 has moved us to be better; better just means doing saneness better. When did a sideways movement ever amount to anything different for one’s life? There are always exceptions in everything.

Do what inspires, do routine different, do quiet space, wake awareness juices.

What does one contribute and how, not just in this moment, rather contemplate will the thing I do today have relevance for me in twenty, thirty, or forty years?

This may seem ridiculous now, yet when one arrives forty years later and reflects, it will all be about one’s selfevaluation. Could it have been different? How did I get to this? Was it all worth the sacrifices? Was I happy with myself? The lists of questions one may ask are many.

How about, did I discover the meaning of love, and did I follow up?

Is life about accumulation yes, no, maybe?

Our greatest threat to human existence is not global warming. It’s our needs, desire for consumption. What is consumption exactly? It’s the accumulation, people, money, materials, knowledge, happiness, food, winning, and addictions. The list is so massive it leads a pathway to infinity and beyond. Actually, this article was going to be about infinity.

I find it fascinating that we draw, perceive infinity as a horizontal symbol. We are living a sideways human affair.

On the other hand, we talk about living in an ascending, standing still, and descending motion; it’s a vertical affair.

Why is infinity lying down? Is it sleeping?

We can’t see the forest for the trees!

What is 2021 all about? It’s about choice, coming to terms with redefining who you will decide to show up as in your future. You get to define now, do I climb that mountain, buy flowers for the partner, laugh with the kids, volunteer, take up dancing, a sport, a hobby, just go for it. From your end, life looks long; from the other end, life was short.

Now is Time

The reason will always interrupt the could-of, shouldof choices. Reasons manage to squeeze themselves in there and separate us from vision. They are only thoughts, which we give over our power too. Find an equalizing thought, and you may just wind up surfing. That should tickle your happy button.

21 is a seller’s playground, and they will sell you “what you want” as if you know what is good for you. It’s a frenzy selling game, and you’re the game. They will sell you the kitchen sink; you are aware you already have three of them. Their choice is to sell you, your choice, chock chock sold.

21 is a time for you to sell you to YOU. Breaking ground is building a foundation. 21 offers each and every single one of us a new opportunity for a restart.

Knowing, imagining who you would like to be, what you would like to be, the skills you would like to have begun now if you choose this mission. The reason will provide the excuses to second guess you, why to not upset the status quo. Yep, expect that it will all rain down on you hard. Strong ideas are like umbrellas, and they ward off the crap, so you don’t have to get wet. Find those umbrella-thoughts, hold them tightly close, and move forward.

Remain strong, and support will come and find you.

Trust erodes old stubborn ground, habits, beliefs, goals, so new life may grow for a greater future. You know where to go. They built coffee houses, so you could sit drink while planning your daydream, into reality, Break ground and enjoy those chock chock 21 MOMENTS, much blessings…..

Michael White Ryan is a co-founder with his wife Pamela Edwards of Language of Space. They are leaders in sustainable business growth via Performance Design and Performance Code. Sustainable design encompasses both Western and Easternphilosophies including advanced Feng Shui principles, \Environmental Design, Buildings, Alternative Health, Business Advisory Consultants and 20 plus years as entrepreneurs. Recognized in the top 100 globally and are Americas Leading Feng Shui BusinessConsultants.They are on faculty at CEO Space International one of the oldest business organizations in America today, currently operate in 7 countries and reside in Australia. www.languageofspace.com 93 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

By Lavandaia & Marco Nunzio Alati & the Team

2021 94 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e February 2021

After only one month since the beginning of 2021, we can all acknowledge that this year has already welcomed us with its unique matrix and signature symphony. Many of us are still facing its loud and clear message, which we must comprehend and fully integrate. 2+0+2+1= 5. 5 is the number of freedom and change, the number of inner revolution. It is time for us to free ourselves from old belief systems, from the slavery of our limited perception of reality. Reality is not just a merely physical occurrence; it is the invisible becoming visible. Reality is the manifestation of our daily thoughts, feelings, and actions, as we constantly float on oceans of decisions and discernment. It is essential to integrate within us the understanding of experiencing a holographic reality as a projection of our consciousness and our thoughts. It is necessary to understand the Spirit and dominate emotions with the will, the emotions that separate the individual from the unity in which God manifests himself.

anyone else thinks. Take a moment to ask yourself, where did I put God? Is His place still out there in Heaven? Or it is in you; you are God, you are the nature of God. It is your state of being!

The original point, the zero point, contains the greatest awareness and energy. It is the indivisible substance, the primordial fire from which creation originated. It is the Spirit and the essence of everything. It is the Holy Spirit (the fire) that allows us to define God as ourselves.

We are the principle that embodies the Divine faculties.

When you think you create. When you observe your thoughts, you become an observer, consciously creating energy forms that become a reality. Everyone does this, not just a group of elected officials. And, we all influence the Field.

WE CAN CONSTANTLY CREATE, SO WHY NOT CREATE BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, BRILLIANT, SUPERLATIVE, LOVING, PROSPEROUS, ABUNDANT, JOYFUL THOUGHTS? IT IS TIME TO GIVE OURSELVES PERMISSION AND, IT IS SIMPLE!

Now, we are called to be observers of the reality we want to live, the reality that we will become. Everything we think is constantly manifesting. This is the greatest teaching of quantum physics. It is, therefore, essential to recognize and honor our importance as living beings.

We must take 100% responsibility for our lives, never as victims, but always as creators.

We can constantly create, so why not create beautiful, wonderful, brilliant, superlative, loving, prosperous, abundant, joyful thoughts? It is time to give ourselves permission and, it is simple! What is holding us back from trying? The fear of not making it? The fear of not having enough knowledge? The fear of not being worthy enough? Or even possibly, the fear of admitting it works?

The simplicity comes in creating what you can now accept in your life. Find You, void of fear, void of what

What do you want to believe? In any case, your reality will prove you right by always providing you with evidence and confirmations of your own perception.

So why not starting now? Allow yourself to be a conscious thinker, the observer, the creator. Decide now to become the grandiose director of your own orchestra, start producing your signature symphony, the symphony of your passion, of your dreams, and your purpose.

Let your heart sing, let your brain dance, and your legs will automatically move towards a higher level of freedom and change. Start your inner revolution, and you will be participating in the co-creation of a newlywoven matrix of this magical 2021.

LAVANDAIA (Paola, Marco and the Team) Lavandaia's mission is to provide clarity and awareness to those who decide to embark on a serious journey towards the discovery of their deepest self, with humbleness and inner courage. The pioneer and founder of Lavandaia is a gifted woman named Paola. Her loving patience, firmness, and wisdom are a source of resonance and inspiration for hundreds of people, as well as a distinctive trait of the life she chooses to embark upon and live. As Paola receives deep and profound messages from Mother Earth and what she calls "The Sky," Marco and Lavandaia's team translate them into written compositions and opportunities to share this Timeless Intelligence.

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Photo by Maeve Plouffe

BREEDING GROUNDS SWELL With Record Cuttlefish Numbers

By Belinda Willis

G

iant Australian Cuttlefish have returned to their South Australian breeding ground in higher numbers this winter than have been seen in decades.

Early estimates are hovering higher than 200,000, numbers not seen since the population of the world’s largest cuttlefish species began to decline in the 1990s.

South Australian tourist numbers are rising along with the cuttlefish as locals flock to see the bizarre cephalopods perform their unique mating pattern.

The Giant Australian Cuttlefish (Sepia apama) gather along an 8km stretch of rocky reef at Point Lowly in the Spencer Gulf, about 20km east of Whyalla and almost 400km northwest of the South Australian capital Adelaide.

Nicknamed the “rock stars of the ocean” because they live fast and die young, the cuttlefish have a life span of just 1218 months.

This makes each May to August breeding season critical because the number of surviving eggs one year directly impacts

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the number of adult cuttlefish that return the next year to breed.

The unique congregation is linked to the cuttlefish being drawn to dark rocks and crevices at Point Lowly that help protect their eggs from light.

Males, which can reach 50cm long and weigh 10kg, employ a fascinating mix of camouflage to match rocks or seaweed, sparring and changing colour to win female attention in a colourful dance.

The females lay between 100 and 300 eggs that hatch babies the size of a thumbnail, and then these baby cuttlefish move along the sea bottom and into the Upper Spencer Gulf.

Whyalla dive and snorkelling tour leader Tony Bramley said his snorkelling tours and scuba diving trips have been booked out over the past weeks because of the increased numbers.

“Compared to even the last two seasons that have been very good, this has been exceptional,” Bramley said.

Scientists are still crunching this year’s numbers but Bramley estimates some 250,000 of the largest cuttlefish sub species in the world have arrived in their Point Lowly winter breeding ground.

“There’s absolutely nothing like it in the world, it’s so reliable to see the cuttlefish, it’s safe, accessible, South Australians are so lucky to have one of the most precious marine attractions on their doorstep,” Bramley said.

Some controversy is surrounding this year’s breeding season after the South Australian government allowed fishing of the cuttlefish outside the restriction zone around Port Lowly for the first time since the grounds were protected in 2013.

Bramley said numbers had dropped to devastating levels after fishing targeted the species but in the past few years as numbers again flourished the cuttlefish had been attracting attention from all over the world.

Carl Charter is a co-founder of the not-for-profit Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries group that hosts talks and visits to the Giant Australian Cuttlefish breeding grounds.

The group is currently organising a live streaming session on the state’s great southern reef for National Science Week including one event featuring leading cuttlefish researcher Professor Bronwyn Gillanders.

Professor Gillanders from the University of Adelaide said that the breeding season was attracting more interest and researchers each year.

“It really is quite spectacular,” she said.

“Film crews come from around the world to film that aggregation and researchers are also coming from around the world to study things like camouflage, you get a large sample size.

“I think the public is becoming more aware of the phenomenon.”

Photo by Maeve Plouffe

He too thinks there could be double the numbers visiting

this year compared to last year.

“It’s great news, I was up there myself a couple of weeks ago and there was probably double the numbers it was last year, you could walk directly into the water and see the cuttlefish in the shallows,” Charter said.

THE UNIQUE CONGREGATION IS LINKED TO THE CUTTLEFISH BEING DRAWN TO DARK ROCKS AND CREVICES AT POINT LOWLY THAT HELP PROTECT THEIR EGGS FROM LIGHT

HIGH ROAD TO HUMANITY

Photo by Aaron Burden

By Nancy Yearout

I

THE POWER OF PRAYER

t is important that I address prayer's power, as many people do not realize what powerful energy prayer holds. When you believe in the Universe and its energy, you start to understand that nothing is accidental. God, our creator, orchestrated the energy to work for our benefit. Prayer is part of the energy we can tap into to better our lives and the lives of others. Prayer is written about in the Bible numerous times. The concept of prayer should make sense to you, for as we have learned thus far, your words' energy and intention are extremely powerful.

Now that you understand this concept imagine how a group of people praying for the same results can create miracles.

That is why when a large group of people all pray for the same outcome; the results are favorable.

Miracles are created. Imagine the energy of many people focused on the same result. The energy is magnified.

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When Jesus spoke to the masses, he told us to ask for anything in his name.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks finds, it will be opened to the one who knocks. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 1 If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children good gifts, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

He was teaching us spiritual law; this concept makes a lot of sense. The following is a passage from the Bible reiterating his teachings. Mark 11: 24 reads: Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Prayer is answered only by God with his divine power.

When you are praying for something, believe your prayer is already answered. This is imperative that you have faith that your prayer will be answered. After you pray for what you desire, let it go.

Let the energy go out into the Universe for God to answer, do not dwell on the outcome. This is the same concept as saying positive affirmations. You are directing the energy at the person to achieve the intended result. Have faith that the Lord will answer your prayer with what you requested or something even better. This is reiterated in the book of James 1: 6-8 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is doubled minded and unstable in all they do.

Remember, our creator only gives us what is good for us.

You may pray for a better position at your present employer only to receive an even better job with an increase in pay at a new company. God knows what is best for us, even when we don't. When you begin to pay attention to this concept, you will recognize a pattern.

I have witnessed many times how prayer can help with relationship issues. You may be in a relationship that is not working out for you, and pray for the situation to get better. If the relationship is the best thing for both parties involved, the relationship will work out. If it's not, God will send the right person to you who is perfect for you.

In the past, I have prayed for a relationship to work out, but it did not. Now I am glad that my prayers were not answered. God made sure I met the right person for me,

and my relationship is better than I could have imagined it to be. He knew what was best for me even when I did not.

It is up to you to recognize this. Your prayers will always be answered; the answer may not be what you were expecting. When prayer is sincere and comes from within your heart, you should expect miracles. Pray for one another often. Your prayers will make a difference. I love these words from Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama.

"I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our sense of wellbeing becomes. Thus, we can strive gradually to become more compassionate. That is, we can develop both genuine sympathies for other's suffering and the will to help remove their pain. As a result, our serenity and inner strength will increase." The Power of Prayer The more you pray and the more compassion you have for others, the more blessed you will become.

Nancy Yearout is an Psychic Reader, Intuitive Life Coach, Author and Inspirational Speaker. Her religious and spiritual work has enabled her to help many people to live the life they desire!

Nancy feels inspired to share the wisdom and the messages she receives with others. Her real-life experiences are shared each week on her Radio Show/Podcast, High Road to Humanity where insightful, spiritual guests share their story. This is Nancy’s way of each sharing new insight about raising the vibration and consciousness for all of us to create a healthy, Loving and kinder people as well as a safe harmonious place to live. My Credentials: Sales Coordinator for General Motors Corporation, Sales Manager for multiple, Owner and Qualifying Broker of The Harville Estates Real Estate & Development LLC, Owner of Energy Girl Publishing LLC., Author of, Wake Up! The Universe Is Speaking to You, Author of Monthly Contributor to Eden Magazine, Motivational/Inspirational Speaker, Intuitive Personal Coach Intuitive card reader, Energy Healer, Radio Host/ Podcast High Road to Humanity.

Nancy Yearout Hosts a Radio Show/ Podcast every week on Toginet radio and iTunes called High Road to Humanity.

Visit her website www.NancyYearout.com or her Podcast www.Highroadtohumanity.com

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