December 2010 "Natural Awakenings" Magazine

natural G L O W

Green Local Organic Wholistic

HEALTHY LIVING

FREE awakenings Special Edition

FulďŹ lling Holidays

NATURAL HORSE

Trailer Loading

ALL-YEAR GRACE Finding the Sacred Every Day

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

December 2010 December 2010

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December 2010

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

~ Features ~ 13

Wine Talk

Editors Sharon Bruckman, National CEO, Naples, FL S. Alison Chabonais, National Editor, Naples Kim Marques, Regional Calendar, Ocala Linda Sechrist, National Editor, Naples

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Yin & Tonic

by Melody Murphy

Design + Production Stephen Gray-Blancett, Naples Carolyn Rose Blakeslee Stephanie Ricketson

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Publisher Carolyn Rose Blakeslee, Ocala Managing Editor Clark Dougherty

Contact Us Email: GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com Call: 352-629-4000 Mail to: P.O. Box 1140, Anthony, FL 32617 Fax: 352-351-5474 Visit: www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com Subscriptions Mailed subscriptions are available for $36/ year. Digital is free. Pick up the printed version at your local health food store— that’s free, too. Locations listed online at www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com.

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

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

Copyright ©2010 Natural Awakenings. All rights reserved.

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The recent upsurge in organic wines has created some joy, but some confusion as well. This article explains the difference between “certified organic” wine and wine “made with organic grapes,” and offers an introductory explanation to the “biodynamic” wine-making method.

O Tannenbaum

Natural Pet: Are Your Pet’s Toys Safe?

by Ann Brightman

Safe stocking stuffers for your furry friends

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Gardening in December

by Jo Leyte-Vidal

The joys of camellias, liriope, and milk-jug cloches

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Gift Rapt

by Sally Kempton

Practicing generosity

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Natural Horse: Trailer Training

by Carolyn Blakeslee

“Trailer Loading”—Two words that strike terror into the hearts of many the novice horseperson, and even experienced horsefolk. This learned-from-experience method is quite practical!

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Everyday Grace: Finding the Sacred in Daily Life

by Lisa Marshall

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Healthy Kids: Kid-Centered Ceremonies

by Charlotte Eulette

Shared family rituals deepen bonds and create lifelong memories.

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~ Featurettes ~ NewsBriefs

EcoBriefs NationalBriefs HealthBriefs CommunityResource Guide CalendarofEvents ClassifiedAds

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Coming In January January 9th Film & GLOW Festival “The Full Monty” Abundance, Joy, & Health in the New Year For more information about advertising and how you can participate, call

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

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

MATERIALS DUE n Early deadline for all materials is the 12th of the month (i.e. December 12th for January issue).

NATIONAL markets Advertise your products or services in multiple markets.

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CoverArt

All Burned Out

by Charles Wysocki

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harles Wysocki’s professional roots, turning out commercial artwork for his own advertising agency, eventually gave way to his true love of creating primitive paintings. His lasting affection for Americana became his legacy. Though trained at the Art Center of Los Angeles, much of Wysocki’s inspiration came from the simplicity of farm life and wholesome values that he found in California’s San Fernando Valley as well as his eventual hometown just to the east in Lake Arrowhead.

Wysocki’s first American Calendar published in 1972 signaled the start of a 30-year career licensing his images on a host of items. Two books followed, appropriately titled An American Celebration and Heartland. He painted right up to his death in 2002 at the age of 73.

For information on purchasing artwork or reproductions, visit The Charles Wysocki Gallery at www.Charles Wysocki.com. For information on licensing artwork, visit MosaicLicensing.com or call 925-934-0889.

Merry Christmas!

from Carolyn Clark & all of us’ns

Read us online! n Free, easy, instant access n The same magazine as the print version with enhancements n Ads and story links are hot-linked

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December 2010

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NewsBriefs Level I Biosyntonie

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Gainesville Practitioner Publishes Book

A

riela Grodner, Thai Massage practitioner and instructor, has just completed a book about Ayurveda and the application of Traditional Thai Massage. This book offers information on energy lines, marma points, doshas, vayus and how to incorporate a yogic lifestyle into your Thai Massage practice. It also covers the information needed to practice up to three hours of Thai Massage.

For information on upcoming courses and to purchase this book, visit www.ArielasThaiMassage.com or call 352-336-7835.

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Level I Biosyntonie professional workshop is coming soon. Open to professionals and non-professionals, the workshop will enable participants to experience the therapy and learn to utilize all 11 healing modalities personally and with their family, friends and patients.

Biosyntonie is a natural, harmonizing modality that uses the laws of natural physics for healing. Energy is the primary matrix of the universe and the body. Man-made energetic pollution is the primary cause for most of our health problems and is more serious than chemical pollution. Biosyntonie allows you to resolve the interference of modern artificial physics, and reconnects you with natural laws, where the solutions to the problems we have created already exist.

Participants will learn the difference between natural vortex-shaped waves, which regulate and modulate our body; and artificial sinusoidal waves, which contribute to disease and stress. Students will learn how to eliminate the effects of harmful electromagnetic waves.

The workshop will be held from 9-5 on January 22-23, 2011 at Gainesville Holistic Center, 4041 NW 27th Lane, Suite C, Gainesville. The fee is $500 (for reviewers, $350). For more information, call Dr. Hanoch Talmor, M.D., 352-377-0015, or visit www.BetterW.com.

Yoga Teacher Training

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ant to deepen your yoga practice and share your knowledge with the world, but don’t have weeks of vacation to do so?

If you have one weekend each month, you can learn to teach the art of yoga at the Ayurveda Health Retreat’s Inspiration Yoga Institute, 14616 NW 140th St., Alachua.

The Institute is now accepting students for its 9-month 200-hour teacher training program which meets one weekend each month, beginning Jan. 9, 2011.

The program includes instruction on Ayurvedic principles and practices, as well as an eclectic mix of traditional Hatha, Vinyasa Flow and Sivananda yoga. Yoga Institute is a Yoga Alliance registered and approved school. Tuition is $2,300.

For information, visit www.InspirationYogaInstitute.com, or call Richard at 352-870-7645.

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Mediation Class

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mrit Yoga Institute will host a three-day Core Mediation Intensive Class with Shauna Ries, January 28-30, 2011.

This course is the first step in becoming a professional mediator.

Participants will begin preparation for employment as a professional mediator in government, education, law, social work, insurance, and corporations.

Mediation is a rapidly growing field of study providing communication, negotiation, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills that are transferable to a variety of fields, and enhance and advance any career.

The course includes 60 hours of professional training, including a three-day on-site Core Mediation Intensive Training; 36 hours of distance learning; and a six-month membership to Mediators without Boundaries International Society of Conflict Resolution.

The course will be held at the Amrit Yoga Institute, Salt Springs, Florida.

Tuition is $995 plus accommodations.

For more information or to register, call 1-877-268-5337, x.114 or visit www.MediatorsWithoutBorders.com.

Alternative Wholistic Health Care Michael Badanek, BS, DC, CNS, DACBN, DCBCN, Board Certified in Clinical Nutrition, Certified in Applied Kinesiology, and Promoter of Alternative Complementary Medicine.

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December 2010

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EcoBriefs Toy Story Join our Natural Awakenings group on Facebook and we’ll directly alert you of upcoming happenings and events. Keywords: Natural Awakenings Gainesville/Ocala

Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.

Sustainable Toys Are In

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ith Walmart, the biggest toy seller, now stocking its store shelves with more toys made from natural or recycled materials, industry analysts expect other big retailers to follow. Reyne Rice, a trend specialist for the Toy Industry Association, told Reuters that about 25 percent of retail buyers at last year’s American International Toy Fair wanted to see and consider more eco-friendly products. Thus, the Toy Fair earlier this year featured a green pavilion, exclusively showcasing such toys for the first time.

It’s a step toward propelling green toy sales toward an anticipated $1 billion market in the next five years, representing some 5 percent of overall toy sales.

While sustainable toys tend to cost a bit more than traditional ones, many are priced at less than $25 retail.

Meanwhile, even though many major manufacturers aren’t yet on board, several are making moves to green and reduce the amount of packaging they use.

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December 2010

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Happy Balancing Center Seminar: Foundations of Medical Qigong Teacher: Paul Fraser Date: January 7-9, 2011 CEUs: 16.5 CEUS Available for Acupuncturists Cost: $200 if registered by November 1st Info/Register: Contact Angela at Happy Balancing Center 211 SW 4th Ave., Suite 6 Gainesville u 352-871-6703 By appointment Monday-Saturday, 8am-8pm

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Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. –Hamilton Wright Mabie

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NationalBriefs

Greenest States

Visit us online at http://HerbalAdvantages.com

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he National Marketing Institute’s in-depth query of 3,000 consumers from varied demographic groups in the 25 largest U.S. states (by population) reveals where demand is greatest for everything green.

Leading states, while not without flaws, are known for pioneering new environmental policies, having avid enthusiasts of outdoor activities, and driving the market for green products. Research questions focused on the proportion of consumers who have purchased organic foods, renewable power, and hybrid vehicles; and those who compost, reuse grocery bags, and donate money to environmental groups.

Based on the prevalence of these characteristics, the top 10 greenest states are Washington, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, California, Maryland, New Jersey, Minnesota, Michigan and Missouri. They are followed by Florida, Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona and Texas.

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New Newscape We Want More News about Health & Spirituality

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ine in 10 American adults now get their daily news from multiple media platforms, including the Internet, television, radio, and local and national newspapers, according to a new survey (visit www.PewResearch.org). The Internet is at the center on how people’s relationship to news is changing; it has become increasingly portable and participatory. Today, 33 percent of cell phone owners access news on the device; 28 percent of Internet users have customized their home page to include news sources on topics of personal interest; and 37 percent of Internet users have contributed, commented on, or disseminated news via postings on social media websites.

The third most popular online news subject, following weather and national events, is health and medicine. The top three subjects people want to receive more coverage on are scientific news and discoveries, religion and spirituality, and health and medicine, closely followed by state and community news. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

December 2010

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WineTalk

and-green “certified organic” label.

This is because, like many conventional wines, sulfite preservatives are added to prevent oxidation and bacteria.

While trace amounts of sulfites he recent upsurge of interest occur naturally in wines durin organic foods hasn’t ing the fermentation process, escaped the wine busimost producers add more, later ness and, yes, organic wines in the winemaking process, to are more popular and more prolong shelf life. An estimated readily available than ever.

1 percent of consumers, primar According to the Orily those with asthma, report ganic Trade Association, an sensitivity to wines with larger industry group representing amounts of sulfites.

Symptoms organic food producers and can include a quickened pulse, distributors, U.S. sales of lung irritation, skin redness and wines made with organic rashes.

The U.S. Food and Drug grapes reached $80 milAdministration (FDA) banned lion in 2005, a 28 percent the use of sulfites on fruits and increase over the previous vegetables in 1986 after 13 year. Such sales represent deaths were linked to them. little more than 1 percent

Current USDA rules alof the total U.S. domeslow wines containing fewer tic wine market, but than 10 parts per million the association expects (ppm) of sulfites and made organic wine sales to from organic grapes to carry grow about 17 percent the “certified organic” label. per year through 2010, But organic wines may mirroring growth only advertise that they are across all sectors of “made from organic grapes” organic agriculture. if they contain 10-100 ppm

There are two of sulfites. Some organic types of organic labelgrape growers consider it ing on wines. The unfair that the addition of vast majority of wines sulfites—which occur natumade with organically rally and are not synthetic grown grapes do not chemicals—should disqualqualify for the U.S. ify their wines from “certiDepartment of AgriculPhoto courtesy of Bonterra Vineyards. fied organic” standing. ture’s (USDA’s) white-

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www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

Moving beyond organic, a handful of vineyards have adopted so-called “biodynamic” (BD) grape growing methods, adding to organic methods the practice of cultivating, pruning and harvesting on a strict calendar in sync with lunar cycles.

Many view such practices skeptically; nonetheless, proponents claim that BD wines taste better and remain drinkable longer. The website Wine Anorak (“anorak” is British slang for “geek” or “nerd”) lists biodynamic wine labels from around the world.

Some leading organic (and lowsulfite) wines include varieties from Ceago, Frey, LaRocca, Bonterra and Organic Wine Works. Meanwhile, the California-based Organic Wine Company sources and distributes organic wines from around the world. Additionally, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), a trade group representing that state’s organic agriculture industry, provides a free online directory of California organic products and services, including the state’s many purveyors of organic and biodynamic wines. n Wine Anorak, www.WineAnorak. com/biodynamic3.htm n Ceago, www.Ceago.com n Frey Vineyards, www.FreyWine.com; n Bonterra, www.Bonterra.com; n Organic Wine Company, www.

TheOrganicWineCompany.com; n CCOF Organic Directory, www.

CCOF.org/directories.php.

December 2010

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by Melody Murphy

I

t’s Christmas, and I’m not here to talk about peace on earth or goodwill to men. There are plenty of people who will bend your ear about that this month. I’m not one of them.

Me, I want to talk about trees.

I am not ordinarily a demanding or a high-maintenance girl. I am poor like a Cratchit and cannot afford to be too particular. But when it comes to my Christmas tree, I am the biggest snob you ever did see.

First of all, I must have a real Christmas tree—specifically a sixto seven-foot-tall Fraser fir, of sturdy branches and pleasingly full shape.

I hiss at Douglas firs. I snarl at your spruce. Bring a Scotch pine into my house and I will cut you.

I require a real tree to create the proper holiday scent. An evergreen-scented candle or air freshener spray is not the same. At Christmastime, my home must be redolent of the mingled fragrance of Fraser fir and snowy-fresh peppermint candles; the oranges, cinnamon, cloves, and lemons of Russian tea simmering on the stove; cookies full of brown sugar and toasted pecans baking in the oven; and wood smoke wafting from the fireplace. That is the proper fragrance tapestry of Christmas in my home. It is to be woven of real components found in nature, not an aerosol can.

Also, I find fake trees soulless, the equivalent of a bowl of wax fruit.

Would you pose a mannequin on the cover of a magazine and hope nobody notices? Did Cole Porter profess to get no kick from sparkling cider? Does Paula Deen cook with oleo? I think

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you know the answers to these questions. If you do not, you are one of those people who has “planted” silk flowers in your front yard, and you and I need to have a talk about that.

My quest for the perfect tree is a long-standing tradition. When I was growing up, my father and I would go together to get the family Christmas tree. When I was very young, my mother would go too, but then my dad and I took over the task, mostly due to time constraints, i.e., we needed to get this done within the month of December.

My mother is a precise and particular lady. She needs to see every

single tree that is for sale within the county lines, and her standards are more exacting than those of a quality control inspector for NASA.

My father and I were easier to please. Often we would find a tree we were perfectly happy with at the first place we visited. It was only knowing that my mother was at home waiting to inspect our choice that raised the bar a tad for us.

If we came across a Boy Scout troop selling Christmas trees, it was a done deal even faster. Dad was a sucker for tree-hawking Scouts, having been one himself. For them, without blinking, he would shell out money he would have grumbled about had it been anyone else.

Having no nostalgia for the Scouts myself, I have found the past few years that if one waits until later in December, one can find marvelous deals on live trees. Last year I got wind of some $5 Fraser firs (yes, Virginia) from my bargain-hunting BFF’s father. Another BFF and I sallied forth to see if these glad tidings were true. They were. While I was distracted in line, BFF plunked down a fiver and bought my first tree for me for my new house. “I had to,” she said. “Call it a Christmas present. How could I pass up a perfectly lovely five-dollar Fraser fir?”

How, indeed?

The BFFs have become a big part of my Christmas-tree excursions. As an adult, and since my dad passed away, my quest for the Holy Grail of Trees has now become like Dorothy’s journey to the Emerald City: I take friends along. And I often wear red shoes, too.

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It’s just more festive.

One BFF has a pickup truck, named Tallulah, in which we go hunting each year for her tree as well as mine. We are even quicker on the draw than my dad and I were. We typically have fabulous luck, get the first trees we see (and at a steal, at that), throw them into the back of Tallulah, and go out for Thai food for dinner. This is now our tradition: Trees, Tallulah, and Thai. You can’t beat that.

Once one acquires the perfect tree, there’s the decorating of it. Back in the day, it was my mother’s job to put the lights on it. Then, when I was old enough, it was my job to hang the ornaments. All the ornaments.

We had a lot of ornaments, and it was my mother’s resolute decree that they should all be hung on the tree—the oldest and the newest, the plainest and the prettiest. There is not one ornament that does not have sentimental meaning to her. Therefore, it goes on the tree.

I appreciate the sentiment of this spirit, but I also like an aesthetically pleasing tree. So I compromised. I put the prettiest ornaments on the front, and hid the ugly ones (at least to my way of thinking) on the back. This suited us both.

Now that I have my own tree, I hang my ornaments selectively. I don’t hang all of them, just the prettiest and most meaningful ones. But I do think maybe there is something to my mother’s philosophy of ornaments. It’s a nice metaphor for life, and for Christmas, too. There’s a place for everything, whether it’s old or new, beautiful or homely, battered or bright and shiny.

That’s a good philosophy. There’s room on the tree for all different kinds of ornaments, and they all add up to a thing of beauty and joy for the holidays.

I am single, and people have questioned my decision of having a tree every year. It perplexes their minds. “But ... why go to the trouble of putting up a tree just for yourself?”, they ask.

Trouble??? Dear people, I shake my head sadly at you. It is not trouble.

It is a glorious artistic expression and a source of infinite cheer. It is, primarily, just for me. If no one darkened my door for the entire month of December, I would still put up a tree. How www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

sad I would be, to see an empty spot by my fireplace where my tree should stand. After all, it is the perfect spot: hearthside, where it can be seen, lit up and glowing merrily, through the wreath-hung glass of my front door.

I moved into my house last Thanksgiving weekend. The first cold evening in December after I’d decorated my tree, I lit a fire in the fireplace and went outside to stand on my front walk to admire my illuminated Christmas tree through the front door and the wood smoke curling up from my chimney into the twilight. I felt the ghost of Norman Rockwell, and maybe my father, too, clap me on the shoulder in approval. “Well done,” they said.

“Fellas,” I said, “there’s no place like home.”

So have yourself a merry little Christmas. I hope you find a good tree the first place you look, good gifts under it, and good times and good people all around it.

Melody Murphy adores Christmas because it is the time of year when the world is full of red and shiny things.

Her favorite colors are red and green, so this is just an all-around aesthetically pleasing season to her. She plans to spend as much time as possible this season by her fireside admiring her Christmas tree, and implores you all to please, don’t shoot your eye out.

Homegrown Organics Organic buying club.

Start eating right today! n Fresh organic fruit and veggies n Organic and free-roaming poultry n Grass-feed beef Doreen, 352-598-4184 HomeGrownOrganics.vpweb.com

December 2010

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NaturalPet

swallow. Either stay away from squeak toys, or only let your pooch play with them under supervision. Discard the toy as soon as it shows signs of coming apart.

Hard rubber is a good material for dog toys. It’s a tough, natural, durable substance that can’t easily be destroyed, even by the most persistent chewer. A perennial favorite is the Kong; it comes in all sizes and can be stuffed with treats for hours of entertainment. Rubber toys in the shape of bones are also suitable.

Another good option for canines is a thick, stout rope toy with knotted ends. It’s ideal for tug-of-war games, but shouldn’t be left for the dog to chew on, as the rope can fray and shred over time.

Are Your Pet’s Toys Safe?

by Ann Brightman

T

he holidays just wouldn’t be the holidays without some brandnew toys for your four-legged friend. Before heading to the pet store to stock up on playthings for your favorite pooch or kitty, however, keep in mind that not all toys are created equal. Many poor quality toys just aren’t made to withstand a dog’s teeth or a cat’s claws and may come apart easily, causing a swallowing or choking hazard. Others are made from toxic materials that can be equally dangerous if chewed and ingested.

Similarly, many household items that you think might make good playthings for your animal can also be hazardous. By learning what to look for when shopping for (or making) toys, you not only ensure your best friend hours of fun and entertainment, but also his health and safety.

Many toys that are ideal for cats aren’t safe or suitable for pooches. Take balls, for example. Golf or ping-pong balls may be ideal for frisky felines to bat about, but are too small for most dogs and could get swallowed or caught in his throat.

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What’s the toy made from? For dogs, anything made of plastic should be avoided, since most canines like to chew and sharpen their teeth, and can shred most plastics. Steer clear of all toys made from PVC, for both dogs and cats. This type of plastic leaches toxic chemicals which can cause a variety of health problems when chewed, licked or mouthed.

Also stay away from painted toys, unless you are absolutely certain the paint is non-toxic. Wooden toys are another no-no, since wood can easily splinter when chewed.

Tennis balls are a popular dog toy, and perfect for fetch games.

Again, though, chewing shouldn’t be encouraged; the fuzz on tennis balls is quite abrasive and can actually cause wear to your dog’s teeth. Discard tennis balls as soon as they show signs of being split or punctured.

Soft toys for young children are usually made from non-toxic materials and are free of small parts, such as eyes, which can be swallowed.

For the same reason, they can also make good toys for some animals. Most dogs, however, should be supervised when playing with stuffed toys, since these products are easily torn apart.

Fillers are often made from nutshells or polystyrene particles, which won’t do your animal any good if eaten. Replace soft toys as soon as they tear.

Rawhide treats and toys of various shapes and sizes are widely sold in many pet stores, but they’re an unwise choice for your canine companion. Not only are they often treated with toxic chemicals, but broken chunks can damage a dog’s GI tract.

Larger pieces can even cause intestinal blockages.

String, elastic bands, ribbons, yarn, cords, and similar items should be kept well out of reach of both dogs and cats. If you buy a cat toy with a string or wire attached, be sure to supervise your kitty when she’s playing with it, and put it away the rest of the time.

Squeak toys are usually fine for cats, but they don’t make the best dog toys, especially for larger breeds. A lot of dogs will try to tear these toys apart in an effort to extract the squeaker, which they might then

If you’re playing Santa to your pet this year, take the time to make sure his new toys are both safe and non-toxic. That way, you’ll both have a happy and healthy holiday season!

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Gardening in December

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

H

appy Holidays to all of our faithful readers. It’s a busy time of the year, but it’s also the month in which the first frost may occur. Be ready to cover your tender plants. Have light blankets, towels, or—even better—lightweight row cover.

Do not use sheets of plastic. Plastic becomes very cold and will freeze any part of the plant that it touches.

If you have seedlings in the veggie garden, gallon milkjugs with their bottoms cut off make excellent mini-greenhouses (pictured, left). Take off the cap to enable heat to escape when the sun comes up. Water the soil around your plants before evening, so evaporation will help create heat under the protective covers. Keep them from blowing away by punching a hole in the handle and threading a heavy wire down into the soil to anchor it. Large soda bottles work, too.

Camellias are going to bloom very soon. It is a perfect time to buy and plant new camellias. Check out the local nurseries and buy the ones you love. My favorite is the “Pink Perfection” (pictured above).

Camellias like filtered light and well-drained, slightly acid soil high in organic matter. Space them according to their mature size, on average eight feet tall and six feet wide. Therefore, plant them six feet apart. Water weekly, for the first six weeks, to encourage new root growth. Planting this time of year allows the camellia to grow a good root www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

system before being subjected to the heat and stress of summer. Start a four-times-per-year fertilization program starting in February. Use an acidic fertilizer in the amount recommended on the label. Keep the area mulched two to three inches deep, and clear of dropped leaves and dead flowers.

We are fortunate in Florida to have vegetable gardens available to us year-round. You can still plant beets, broccoli and cabbage seedlings, carrots, mustard, onions, and radishes. These will tolerate frost well.

One plant we tend to ignore in the garden is the liriope (pictured, right), also known as lily-turf. It is a garden workhorse which does its job well without any fuss. A perennial ground cover, its dark green grass-like foliage is interspersed with spikes of blue flowers in spring and conspicuous shiny, black fruits during the winter. It is very useful as a ground cover in areas where turf has been shaded out, for shaded planters, and to edge woodland walks. Lily-turf is offered for sale under other names such as giant, dwarf, or striped.

We’ll see you in the New Year—enjoy your holidays!

The Marion County Master Gardeners are based at the Extension Center, 2223 NE Jacksonville Road, Ocala, 352671-8400. They are happy to answer your gardening, lawn, pasture, tree, and other land/landscape-related questions.

Holistic Integrated Veterinary Medicine Acupuncture / Herbals

Holly Samko, DVM www.YourFavoriteVet.com

Blitchton Road Animal Hospital 10397 NW US Hwy 27 Ocala, FL 34482 352/369-9711

December 2010

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HealthBriefs Tap Away Food Cravings

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electable morsels are traditionally hard to resist, but psychologists from Griffith University’s School of Medicine, in Australia, show us how we can successfully reduce food cravings by using a technique they refer to as psychological acupuncture. It involves gently tapping on pressure points along the body’s energy meridians using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), while focusing on particular emotions and thoughts.

“Participants in the trial were surprised by how quickly the technique works—that it doesn’t take a lot of time to eliminate food cravings they may have had for many years,” notes Peta Stapleton, Ph.D. Food cravings for sweets and salty snacks significantly lessened after just four, two-hour sessions, and were confirmed as being maintained at a six-month follow-up consultation.

Find more information on EFT at EFTUniverse. com. In Ocala, practitioner Sandy Wilson can be reached at 352-454-8959, www.SandraWilson.org.

Kindness is Contagious— Pass it On!

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he best gift of all can be as simple as an act of kindness, generosity and cooperation.

Even better, we hope that our good acts may spread. Now, a study published in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides the first laboratory evidence that kind behavior is indeed contagious and that it spreads from person to person. In short, the researchers found that when just a few people benefit from kindness, they pay it forward by helping others who were not originally involved. This cascade of cooperation can influence many known and unknown participants in a broadening social network.

Here’s how researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and Harvard University illustrated the principle: When one person gave money to help others in a public-goods game where people had the opportunity to cooperate, the recipients were more likely to give away their own money to other people in subsequent games.

This type of behavior created a domino effect, in which one person’s generosity spread first to three people, then to nine and then to others in subsequent waves of the experiment. Better yet, the effect of being part of such a kindness circle persists, observes James Fowler, associate professor at UCSD, who co-led the study, observing, “You don’t go back to being your old selfish self.”

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Holiday Binge Alert

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ere’s another reason to take it easy at the holiday buffet: A study published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Nutrition & Metabolism has found that just a four-week episode of excessive food consumption, accompanied by limited physical activity, can have long-term negative impacts on our body weight and fat storage, even after weight initially gained is lost.

Research participants were in their 20s and early 30s.

Cinnamon Extract

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favorite holiday spice might soon be recognized as a natural medicine.

An investigative study led by Richard Anderson, a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chemist, suggests that a water soluble extract of natural cinnamon, which contains antioxidant compounds, could help reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and heart disease.

Cinnamon is also said to reduce bleeding.

Source: USDA/Agricultural Research Service, 2010

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HealthBriefs Frankincense

A Wise Man’s Remedy

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rankincense, the herb Boswellia carteri, is often found in festive aromatherapy blends, due to its warm, sensual aroma.

Originating in Africa, India and the Middle East, researchers have now discovered that this relatively inexpensive herb has potential as a therapeutic aid for bladder cancer, the fourth most common type of cancer for men in the United States.

Researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Oklahoma City VA Medical Center discovered that frankincense oil has the unique ability to discriminate between normal and cancerous bladder cells in culture and kill the cancer cells. The oil also suppresses cancer cell growth.

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Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2009

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December 2010

19

Gift Rapt

by Sally Kempton

Practicing generosity not only makes you feel good, but also connects you with the essence of who you really are.

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ell Kravinsky is an investment broker who for years has been giving away his money—$45 million at last count. He made news years ago by donating a kidney to a woman he didn’t know. That was also the moment the Kravinsky family began saying that his altruism bordered on the obsessive.

A New York Times reporter wrote that talking to him was “unsettling”—especially when Kravinsky said that he’d gladly give his other kidney to a person whose life seemed more valuable than Kravinsky’s own. His wife worried that he was depriving their children. Friends confessed that his gesture made them feel guilty.

“I don’t think I’m a bad person,” Kravinsky’s longtime friend Barry Katz told the reporter. “I give money to charity and I think I’m fairly generous, but when I look at what he’s done, a little voice in the back of my head says, ‘What have you done lately? Why haven’t you saved a life?’”

Whether you think Kravinsky’s generosity is saintly or

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bizarre, it’s hard to read about him without asking yourself the same sorts of questions: What am I really giving in this life? How much could or should I give? Where am I truly generous, and where do I hold back? When is generosity out of balance?

These questions show up with special intensity during the holiday time, when the air seems to vibrate with invitations to max out your credit cards on gifts, and when your desire to buy for friends all the stuff you’re too sensible to buy for yourself wars with uneasy guilty feelings. The questions arise more insistently after watching a movie like The Constant Gardener or, for me, when I drive past the pickers’ camps that line the back roads around Salinas, California.

That’s when I wonder when I last sent a check to the farm worker’s union and why I’m not teaching meditation at the local high school.

Generosity is a core virtue in every spiritual and religious tradition. It may also be the one virtue that most of us believe we possess. The department store’s Christmas tag line, “Everyone has a gift to give!”, is not only a brilliant marketing ploy, but also a reflection of our need to believe that in a pinch we’d choose to offer rather than grasp.

In one sense, generosity is natural: We can no more help giving than we can live without the support of every-

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thing we receive. Verses in the Vedas describe the generosity of the natural elements—the way the earth supports us without demanding thanks, the way the sun shines and the rain falls. The universe is, in fact, a web of giving and receiving; to grasp the truth of this, we need only to think about the life of a city, with its symbiotic, mutually dependent networks of relationships.

Even if our essence is naturally generous, the ego fears not having enough, worries about getting hurt or losing out, feels anxious at the thought of looking silly or getting ripped off, and, above all, looks for a payoff. So for most of us, there’s a continual pushpull between our natural generosity and genuine desire to share, and the ego’s feeling of lack and its desire to drive a bargain.

That’s why practicing generosity can be such a boundary-expanding thing to do. Every time we form a generous thought, especially when we can do it for its own sake without thought of reward, we strengthen our essence.

In that way, generosity truly is an enlightening activity. It opens us to the loving, abundant, good-natured core of ourselves.

Gifts of the Heart

Problems may arise, however, when pride, regret or self-doubt infects the pure impulse of offering. You might know people whose generosity is a power ploy, designed to buy loyalty or social advancement, reward favors, or cover shady business practices. Often what looks like generosity is a form of bribery. We may be generous in one area because we can’t or won’t be generous in another—the classic example being the busy parent who buys endless toys for a child she can’t or doesn’t want to spend time with.

At the other extreme, we might be compulsively open-handed, giving because in some way we devalue ourselves and our gifts. These are varieties of unbalanced generosity, as are gifts that subtly diminish the recipient, or gestures that squander our resources without actually being of help.

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Then, there’s the problem of malaise, the automatized, dulled feeling that sets in when our giving becomes a matter of routine. As a friend said, “The first time you write a check [to a charity], your heart swells with happiness at being able to help. But when you get solicited for more money every week, the act either turns into a rote reflex or a source of guilt as you throw the letter in the trash. What happens to your generosity then?”

My friend gave another example of volunteering to do an extra dishwashing shift at a meditation retreat— and of the annoyance she couldn’t suppress when she was then asked to take on one more. People who have worked for volunteer organizations know that humbling moment when the enthusiasm for helping gets derailed by a supervisor’s demands or by a selfrighteous co-worker’s snapped orders.

Of course, if all of us insisted on feeling generous before we wrote the check or volunteered, nonprofits and spiritual organizations would grind to a halt. Still, there is a difference between dutiful generosity and the heartfelt kind. For one thing, heartfelt generosity just feels better, as dancing with someone you adore feels better than dancing with a polite stranger.

PURE Generosity

Beyond passionate generosity is something I’d call pure generosity, or natural generosity—generosity that doesn’t have to wait for passion, save itself for special occasions, or make a big deal out of giving.

I identify natural or pure generosity by three signs. First, it arises from a sense of rightness strong enough to take one past the ego’s comfort zone.

Often, there’s a feeling of inspiration behind it. One of my teachers said true generosity is a movement of the life force itself. The most generous people I’ve met offer without thinking about it, much the same way nature offers.

Second, pure generosity is balanced, free from compulsion and appropriate. It neither bankrupts nor weakens the giver or recipient.

Third, pure generosity contains no regret. Recently, a friend admired a piece of jewelry that I was wearing, so I took if off and gave it to her. Two minutes later, I was sorry. I loved that pendant. I knew I’d never get another one like it. Confronting my giver’s remorse, I realized I was experiencing the age-old battle between generosity and its opposite, avarice.

However, even when being generous feels forced, when giving time and money feels about as attractive as getting into a cold shower, you can still do it as a practice. Even imperfect generosity is beneficial. Being generous transforms us, which means that the more we do it, the better we get at it, just as practice improves our meditation, tennis serve, or social skills.

Despite missing my pendant for a few hours, I’m still glad I was able to offer it before second thoughts kicked in. I’ve noticed that every time I give away something I’m attached to, I get a little further beyond the tendency to hang on to things. Practicing generosity is an antidote not only to basic selfishness but also to a fear of loss.

The practice of generosity confronts us on several levels. It tests our ability to empathize with others. And it calls us on our sense of separation. The more “different” we feel from other people, the harder it will be to give freely. The more we recognize that we are one and that other people’s happiness is as important as ours, the more easily we can offer what we have.

Ultimately, acts of generosity strengthen our feeling of interconnectedness with the rest of the world. Then, rather than being something special or contrived, giving begins to seem like a natural overflow of our own brimming life force. And sooner or later we see that giving to others is really giving to ourselves—because in truth there is no other. That’s the true fruit.

Sally Kempton gives workshops and trainings in meditation and spiritual awareness and writes the Wisdom column for Yoga Journal. Visit www.

SallyKempton.com.

December 2010

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Send Love

GIVE YOURSELF AWAY

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enerosity is a whole-being practice, and we experience it most deeply when we practice it on several levels simultaneously. On a physical level, we can practice giving away money or time, or volunteering our labor.

Mentally, we “do” generosity by cultivating an attitude of offering and a willingness to examine our motives for giving. On an emotional level, we can learn to notice how the impulse to give feels, and how to use imagery and generous thoughts to summon our generous feelings. Energetically, we can notice the tightness that sometimes forms in the heart around giving and work with breath to help release those contractions.

As you give of yourself, it helps to be aware of potential pitfalls. Notice your expectations around giving. Do you expect thanks? Do you expect your gifts to be used in particular ways? How unconditional is your giving? Can you offer in a spirit of equality without subtly feeling “better” than the recipient?

The following acts will open your heart—and benefit others in your life: Come Bearing Gifts. For a week, try giving something away every day. Offer a piece of fruit to a friend, some money to a favorite cause, $5 to a street person.

Buy a flower or a latte for someone at work. Think of a Christmas present for someone who doesn’t expect it—and give it anonymously.

Give just a little past your edge. This does not mean to break your budget.

However, if you can go just a little beyond your comfort zone, carefully monitoring your reactions, you’ll find that the act of giving, little by little, dissolves the instinct to hold fast to possessions and expands your ability to open your heart.

Be of Service. Consider volunteering your service in your community, working an hour or two at a shelter or in an after-school program. Or give time to a friend who needs company. Help someone move. Volunteer to do errands for a busy mom or feed a neighbor’s pet while they’re out of town.

Imagine Good Things. When it comes to inward giving, you have no limits.

In India, there is a meditation practice called mental offering in which you create lavish gifts and offer them to God. You can do the same for a friend. If there is something you know that someone would love to have—such as a brand-new house or a wonderful career opportunity—imagine it happening for them. You can also make offerings to the environment: Imagine the oceans healthy and teeming with fish, verdant trees springing up in dying forests, and food growing in drought-stricken fields.

Offer Blessings. A subtler version of this practice is the offering of blessings or prayers for another’s welfare. During meditation, or a few minutes every day, sit and bring to mind the people in your life. Then mentally touch each one with your awareness and ask that they be blessed. If there is something you know they need, ask that they receive it. Or simply ask for their well-being.

This practice is one you can do many times each day, or whenever someone you know comes to mind. It is especially powerful and transformative when you do it on behalf of so-called enemies, or people you dislike or of whom you disapprove.

Again, as you make these mental offerings, also observe your own state.

Notice whether reluctance or smugness arises. If so, don’t judge yourself; simply see whether you can hold these feelings in awareness. Often, the very awareness of them will allow them to change.

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Sally Kempton believes that the most radical and transformative technique for cultivating generosity is a traditional practice from Tantric Buddhism, giving and receiving the Self in an exchange with others. Contemporary Buddhist texts carry descriptions of this practice, particularly Pema Chodron’s Start Where You Are, which Kempton adapts here.

“In our normal relationship to life, we hope to take in what is pleasurable and pleasant and get rid of whatever is painful,” writes Kempton. “The sending-and-taking practice reverses this tendency. Its purpose is to cultivate the kind of deep compassion that can arise only when we understand that there is nothing outside of our Self—that other people’s pain is also ours because they are part of us.”

The Practice • Think of someone who is suffering physically, emotionally or from any sort of lack.

• Breathing in, imagine that you are taking in their suffering in the form of dark smoke.

• Breathing out, imagine peace, abundance and happiness flowing into that person in the form of energy or golden light.

As you do this practice, you may notice fears arising. However, the Tibetan teachers who pass the practice along say that it does not cause one to take on the suffering of others (though they also say that it would be great if it could). What it does instead is to open our hearts and our awareness to the truth of our unconditional connectedness. When we breathe in others’ sorrow and breathe out love, we are recognizing the oneness among us, the fact that everyone’s pain is ours and so is everyone’s happiness. This is natural generosity in its highest form. It transforms us, and it transforms the world.

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Intuitive Touch Reiki and Massage Therapy

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December 2010

23

NaturalHorse

Trailer Training

by Carolyn Blakeslee

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railer loading! Those two words have been known to strike terror into the hearts of inexperienced horsepeople, and have flummoxed many an experienced horseman too.

There are many methods of trailer training. All of them (the best ones, anyway) involve time, kindness and patience.

I’ve come up with a method that is simple and works for us. The horse teaches himself out of his own natural curiosity, and builds his own confidence at his own pace.

Caveat: This method is suitable for a horse that has a sensible approach to most things and calms down fairly quickly when he is upset. If your horse if extremely highstrung, you’ll probably feel more secure trailer-training your horse with a more hands-on type of training.

Anyhow, here’s the method. Attach your trailer to your truck, and park the rig in a safe flat place in the horse’s paddock or pasture. Turn him out by himself. (Company in an adjacent paddock is fine, but you don’t want two horses loading themselves at the same time and potentially hurting each other.) If you feel your horse’s legs need protection, wrap them.

Leave the trailer horse-doors (not the people doors) wide-open, and secure the doors so they don’t flap in the wind. Secure windows as well. Put hay into the trailer to make it a more enticing place. Put shavings down on the rubber mats (and the ramp, if the trailer has a ramp) so the horse won’t slip. If the trailer has a divider, secure the divider in the “open” position.

Each day, move the truck to a different place in the field. When the

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horse is inside the trailer and calm, you can go in with him and groom him, talk to him, feed him—vary the routine so that he gets used to different “normal” events occurring in the trailer. Always speak as you approach the trailer so he doesn’t spook.

When you first shut the divider (ditto for the doors), do so quietly, when the horse is calm. Be sure to leave a window open so he can look out. Don’t leave him closed in for long, but do wait for him to calm down if he gets excited—you don’t want him to squirt out and potentially hurt himself, or you, in the process.

Eventually, take a short drive around the paddock, and gradually extend the horse’s acceptance of what is “normal” in a trailer.

The key is to take off as much pressure as possible at every step of the way.

Trailer loading, like other challenging horse tasks, boils down to the horse trusting both himself, his person, and his situation.

When you progress to teaching him to go into the

trailer on your leadline (or if you start there), always “Reward the try,” as trainer Mark Rashid says. Don’t fight him when he resists. You can’t compete with 1,200 pounds of equine fear, but you can win with patience; he will go further as he feels safe.

For a good roundup of trailer-training methods, visit www.squidoo.com/ trailertrainingahorse.

Slant- or straight-load?

Personally, my horses prefer the slant load. They can see out the back more easily, they seem to be better able to handle traveling in that position, and when it’s time to offload, I simply turn them around easily and lead them off facing front, in contrast to having to back them off of the straight-load.

Ramp or step-up?

My horses have all seemed to prefer the step-up (left) to the ramp (below).

The ramp apparently “gives” beneath their weight more than they like, it tends to be slippery (use shavings!), and for whatever reason they prefer to put one foot in front of the other going onto a step-up rather than a ramp.

To tie or not to tie?

My horses clearly feel freer, and thus more trust in their situation, if not tied. If your horse slips and falls, a tied head could result in a disaster. Whether you tie or not, seal the deal after the divider is set—in other words, if you

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How to ship one horse in a two-horse trailer?

If it’s a straight-load, put the horse in the left slot. If it’s a slant-load, put the horse in the front, closest to the truck.

Safety recommendations?

Check the tires’ pressure, age and tread routinely, and be sure the brakes, connections, and brake lights work before setting off on any journey, whether it’s to a local show or a long distance away.

Check the integrity of the floorboards. With a few months’ or years’ worth of horse poop and pee, warping, cracking and separating can occur.

Be sure the rubber mats are well aligned and clean, with minimal gaps between them.

Before loading your horse, do an inspection of the inside of the trailer to ensure no nails, screws, sharp edges, or other potentially flesh-ripping items are sticking out. If they are, repair them if you can. If you can’t repair them quickly enough, cover them with several layers of duct tape until you get home.

Be sure your truck is sufficiently matched to your trailer. To pull a twohorse trailer, your truck must have a V-8 engine, heavy-duty transmission with the correct gauge of oil and transmission fluid for the job, a correct tow package installed, and a towing kit which will enable the conveyance of brake lights, tail lights, and turn signals to the trailer.

Stock trailer or closed-in trailer?

A closed-in trailer is better than a stock trailer. Cigarette butts thrown from cars, gravel thrown from tires, and dust/rain/hail can hurt your horse.

What about cleaning?

The interior of a horse trailer can seem like a daunting place to clean.

Poop, sweat, slobber, pee, and kick marks are the most common challeng-

don’t tie, release your lead-line clip from the halter after the divider is in place (under the divider or from a window). If you do tie, secure the horse’s head after the divider is in place.

At offload time, clip the leadline to the halter before freeing the divider.

Hay bag or hay on floor?

Again, this is personal preference, but we put hay on the floor. Horses graze head-down naturally, hay fed above their normal head-set results in more dust breathed in, and a hay net is just one more thing for them to get caught in.

Windows in back/front or not?

Nah. At first, I thought, the more windows the better. However, that’s all the more air flow (noise and flying objects) and all the more things they can see in fast motion and become afraid of. The beauty of the side window of a slant-load is they can see things going past at a reasonable relative speed.

es, and the best product I’ve found to clean all of these offenders is (ta-da!)

Scrubbing Bubbles.

Carolyn Blakeslee is the publisher of Natural Awakenings Magazine and a horse owner.

Side window open, slant-load trailer.

Advantages: the horse’s person can drop hay through the open window, the horse can look out, the horse’s person can clip/unclip leadline through the window. Caution: Do NOT leave the window dropped down during travel, for the same reason we caution our children to keep their arms inside the car.

Windows up or down?

This one’s a continuation of the previous question. Ideally, a window has three layers: bars (closest to the horse’s nose and face), screening, and sliding plexiglass. If it’s terribly cold, or the weather is horrible, you’ll likely want to close the slider. The screen will protect the horse from pebbles and cigarette butts, and the bars will protect the screen from being pushed out and broken by the horse’s nose.

Rubber mats?

Mats protect the plywood floors of the trailer. However, treat them like an ordinary stall: use shavings so the horse won’t slip on the mats. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

December 2010

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Everyday

Grace

Finding the Sacred in Daily Living

by Lisa Marshall

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sunrise jog, a home-cooked meal with a friend, the smell of moist soil in a freshly tilled garden, a smile from a stranger on the subway…

Most would agree that such earthly experiences can give us something to look forward to or add a spark to an otherwise ordinary day.

But to an increasing number of people, these experiences are nothing short of spiritual opportunities—a chance to tap into the Divine, beyond the walls of any synagogue or cathedral.

“For a long time, there was an idea that there was only one way to do ministry, and that was within the church walls,” says Barbara Brown Taylor, author of An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith. “But there is an explosion of spirit going on right now, and people are experimenting with other ways to serve and seek that go way beyond that definition.”

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Taylor, an Episcopal minister, left a 15-year stint as a parish preacher for life as an organic farmer and professor of spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary, in Decatur, Georgia. She is among a host of faith leaders who have moved beyond the confines of the altar to shine a light on the sacred nature of the outdoors, physical activity, food, gardening and even mundane workaday tasks.

The proliferation of such unconventional sacred practices comes at a time when the number of Americans who identify with one religion is dwindling, while those who consider themselves “spiritual, but not religious” is at an all-time high.

According to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the number of adults who say they are not affiliated with any particular faith has grown to 16.1 percent, twice what it was 20 years ago. Among adults younger

than age 30, one-quarter say they are unaffiliated. Meanwhile, 92 percent of Americans believe in God or a “universal spirit,” three-quarters pray, and two in five meditate.

With the recent publication of such atheist tomes as Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and the meteoric rise of conservative Christian personalities like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, those on either end of the spiritual spectrum have taken center stage in a divisive dialogue in recent years.

Meanwhile, former Episcopal priest J. Pittman McGehee points out that the more moderate seekers have been quietly creating a modern-day alternative all their own.

“There is a 21st-century spirituality out there that is neither fundamentalist nor atheist,” observes Pittman, a University of Houston psychology professor and co-author of The Invis-

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ible Church: Finding Spirituality Where You Are. “People are looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary, the miraculous in the mundane, and the sacred camouflaged in the profane.”

God in the Wilderness

Raised in a devoutly Jewish family and ordained at the prestigious Hebrew Union College, Jamie Korngold was following a fairly typical rabbinical path in the 1990s. She presided over Saturday services at an ornate synagogue in Calgary, where she led a large congregation in songs, chants and readings. Still, she often found herself thinking about the people who weren’t there. “No matter how great my sermons were, I knew I wasn’t going to reach beyond the pulpit,” she recalls, noting that 70 percent of Jews are not affiliated with a traditional congregation. “I needed to meet the people where they are.”

Today, she has no synagogue at all. Instead, through her rapidly growing Boulder, Colorado-based Adventure Rabbi program, she leads brief Shabbat services at a mountaintop warming house at the Copper Mountain ski resort, before spending “a holy day” carving turns on powder-filled slopes with her congregants. For the Jewish New Year, she leads them on a hike to a mountain top, where they unroll a giant Torah and toss snow into a rushing stream to bid farewell to past mistakes and welcome new beginnings.

At Passover, they—like their Biblical ancestors—gather in the desert, where she tells the story of the Jewish Exodus from Egypt during their hike to a striking red-rock arch in Moab, Utah.

“It was an experience like none that I’d ever had,” says Lori Ropa, 45, a lifelong Jew who attended an Adventure Rabbi Rosh Hashanah retreat with her husband, a Christian. “The opportunity to have a peaceful connection with God and with myself amidst all of that beauty really created an intense experience for me,” says Ropa, who now attends Korngold’s services regularly.

“I go because I want to be there, not because I feel I need to.”

Korngold’s God in the Wilderness: Rediscovering the Spirituality of the www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

Great Outdoors, includes a reminder that Moses had to hike across the desert and climb a mountain to receive the Ten Commandments.

“The physical exertion of the desert climb, coupled with the stark desert beauty, helped Moses to arrive spiritually and emotionally in a place beyond internal chatter—a place often called awe,” she writes, suggesting that regardless of one’s faith, the very act of experiencing awe (for example, over a beautiful sunrise or the life cycle of a tree in the yard) connects us with something bigger.

“So, you spend much of your day in a cubicle … Get a spider plant, and watch the miracle of its growth on top of your file cabinet,” Korngold advises.

“Change your route to work so you can drive through a park.”

The Sacred Track

For 58-year-old Warren Kay, Ph.D., a track coach and religious studies professor at Merrimack College, in Boston, the act of running represents a moveable sanctuary where mental clutter falls away and time seems to bend to allow him to connect with himself and his higher power.

Kay, author of Running: The Sacred Art, believes, “Running is the new yoga,” and notes that spiritual traditions have embraced running as a sacred activity for centuries. In the village of Mount Hiei, Japan, members of a small Buddhist sect, known as the Marathon Monks, engage in a grueling, sevenyear challenge in which seekers run as many as 50 miles a day in 100-day blocks in pursuit of enlightenment. In Tibet, the Lung-gom-pa runners use multi-day running journeys as their meditative practice. In Copper Canyon, Mexico, 50-mile barefoot races across the rugged desert comprise an integral part of the Tarahumara Indians’ spiritual fabric.

For Kay’s sought-after class, The Spirituality of Running, students read scripture from the religious tradition of their choice, and then go for a run, using the time to reflect on what they read. Or, they run first, and then come back to journal their thoughts.

Across the country, at the Shamb-

hala Mountain Center, in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, 51-year-old Marty Kibiloski, an Ironman veteran, combines Buddhist teachings with trail runs during a three-day running meditation retreat.

“What we are trying to show is that you can overlay the practice of meditation onto many aspects of your life, not just sitting on a cushion,” says Kibiloski.

He once lived what he called “… a high achievement, low satisfaction life” as a competitive marathoner, but has developed a less competitive, more thoughtful pace in both his running and personal life.

Whether running for miles or walking from the car to the grocery store, simply focusing on your cadence and your breath and being mindful of where your thoughts take you can illuminate great things, he says. “Once you start really paying attention, you will be amazed at all that you’ve been missing.”

Delicious and Divine

L. Shannon Jung, a professor at Saint Paul School of Theology, in Kansas City, Missouri, says he sees the burgeoning local food movement and surge in backyard gardening as welcome signs that people are rediscovering the heavenly roots of earthly bounty.

“We are rediscovering food as a link between us and God,” he says, adding that many of his students have gone on to start congregational community gardening programs in churchyards. “When you watch a tiny green bud of spinach break through the surface of the soil, it really reminds you of our dependence upon things far beyond us.”

Meanwhile, in Liverpool, England, members of the Somewhere Else “bread church” meet twice a week to bake bread and talk about life as they wait for it to rise, the comforting smell filling the kitchen. Half of the bread, the staff of life, feeds the homeless.

To McGehee, the mere act of eating can be a reminder of what a divine wonder our own body is, as it stimulates every sense: the smell of an orange, the sound as we bite into it, and its texture

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Seven Ways from Sunday

Attend to Community

by Lisa Marshall

E

xtending our individual spiritual practice into everyday activities may present a challenge, especially during the hectic holiday season. Authors Barbara Brown Taylor and J. Pittman McGehee have uncovered additional ways that some people are tapping into their definitions of a Higher Power.

The Practice of Paying Attention

Spend 20 minutes observing a patch of earth outdoors. Observe what lives there. Think of how it came to be and what it takes for it to survive.

The Practice of Encountering Others

Start a conversation with the cashier at the grocery store. Exchange eye contact and a smile with someone on the subway. Offer help to a mother with a crying child at the airport.

Says Taylor: “The hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self—to encounter them not as someone you can use, change, fix, help or save, but as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself if you will allow it … to entertain the possibility that this is one of the faces of God.” The Practice of Living with Purpose

Show your gratitude for being alive through contributing to some common good, whether it is via a vocation you love or volunteer work.

“Give your stuff away. Share your food. Pray for those who are out

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on our tongue. But when a meal is prepared lovingly and shared with a friend, it becomes even more sacred.

“If you buy a sandwich at the drive-up, you are probably just fueling your body,” he comments. “But if you invite someone you care about to sit down with you for a sandwich, it can become a transcendent experience.”

to get you. Be the first to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” counsels Taylor.

The Practice of Saying No

Say no for one whole day: to more work, to shopping, to the Internet. Use the time you gain to pay attention. “If you slow down for just one day, amazing things can happen,” observes Taylor.

The Practice of Doing Without

Go without power for a day.

Light candles. Dry laundry on a clothesline. Sleep by the fire. Feel your heart swell with gratitude when the sun comes up.

The Practice of Creativity

Create something. Paint, write, cook, dance or plant a garden. “Find the creativity, and you will find yourself experiencing the mystical presence of the transcendent, in the most simple and available way,” says McGehee.

The Practice of Dreaming

Write down dreams and pay attention to recurring symbols. Honor them as a divine opportunity.

Taylor, whose acclaimed book, Leaving Church, recounts her parting with parish ministry in 1996, finds that some of her greatest moments of spiritual connectedness now come while digging her hands into the soil to find potatoes, bringing water to her chickens or sowing seeds. But she still believes that the traditional, walled church plays an important role, in that it brings us together physically.

“My worry is that in a culture that is individualistic and busy, if we aren’t careful, we might end up alone, with no one to talk to about the things that matter most to us,” says Taylor. She encourages everyone to make time for community—whether it is at church on Sunday, a running group, book club or something else—wherever one’s spiritual life resides.

Most importantly, adds Korngold, pay attention to the moment: “The point that is often overlooked in the story of Moses and the burning bush is that he was busy tending his father-inlaw’s flock, when he saw a bush out of the corner of his eye that was burning, but not consumed by flame. It was only when he stopped what he was doing, turned aside, and paid attention that God spoke to him.

“If that were to have happened today, Moses’ cell phone probably would have gone off and he may have missed it altogether.”

Lisa Marshall is a freelance writer and mother of four whose spiritual life resides along the running trails of Colorado’s mountains. Connect at LisaMarshall08@gmail.com.

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to write down or draw pictures of their goals and dreams for the coming year.

The whole family can then gather to consider, “What do we want to do this year?”

It’s fun, too, for parents and siblings to recall and reflect upon individuals’ special moments and accomplishments, so that everyone can join in tooting their own horn in sharing the good news on New Year’s Eve. Here’s another idea: Show home movies of good experiences, while crossing things off last year’s list as “done,” “do over” or “do again.”

KID-CENTERED CEREMONIES

Shared family rituals deepen bonds and make memories.

by Charlotte Eulette

C

eremonies and rituals are powerful stuff, bringing people together to magically transform the ordinary into something extraordinary. Humans everywhere seem hard-wired to ceremonialize, having gathered to mark milestones essential to healthy and happy coexistence since the dawn of recorded time.

First Nation Chief Sun Bear has eloquently stated the vital importance of ceremony: “When humans participate in ceremony, they enter a sacred space. Everything outside of that space shrivels in importance. Time takes on a brilliant dimension. Emotions flow more freely. The bodies of participants become filled with the energy of life, and this energy reaches out and blesses the creation around them. All is made new. Everything becomes sacred.”

Making kid-centric rituals a reality in our own family not only unites and strengthens us, but also creates unforgettable memories. They remind www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

us of how we are journeying together on this adventure called life. The following ideas, straight from family life, are contributed by Melissa Mendez, of Edina, Minnesota, and Deb Goldman, of Arlington, Massachusetts.

Redress Christmas Encourage children to make their own Christmas tree, totem or other seasonal object, decorated any way they wish, to display in their room or another special spot. Ask them to take a photo of their festive creation and add it to the family album or notebook.

Benefit: Kids discover their inner creativity and enjoy expressing themselves individually.

Keep a Family Notebook On New Year’s Eve, make it a custom for every member of the family

Benefit: Make and realize plans for the New Year. Letting children know that the family pays attention to and praises what they do each year empowers kids to realize what roles they play in the family. Everyone knows how they are making it possible to accomplish individual and family goals.

Engage the Senses Maybe Grandfather has a special holiday cranberry-mango-lime relish that he is now passing along to his grandson in the kitchen tonight. The holidays are all about passing down stories, songs, recipes, readings from sacred texts, and the ritual lighting of the treetop or candles, from one generation to the next.

In other seasons, take the whole family for a walk in the woods to collect small mementoes of nature’s beauty that won’t disturb the environment. Return with autumn leaves, pine cones, seed pods and berries for a seasonal cornucopia, displayed either in a basket on a table or in an old unused fishbowl or tank. Mostly, kids will remember the time they spent skipping through the forest with their parents.

Benefit: The child is engaged in the process of both being in the moment and experiencing connections and continuity. Introducing repeated rituals like these welcome children to be involved in a family ritual from beginning to end. From year to year, they can anticipate and prepare to participate with relish. ... Continued on the next page

December 2010

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Embrace the Neighborhood

Cultural cross-pollination expands understanding and cooperation for all.

Invite neighbors over for a potluck of their favorite holiday food and to share stories of their heritage.

Benefit: Children will learn about different cultures and life histories, and enjoy and appreciate the diverse tapestry of life in their own neighborhood.

Children in Charge

Engage children in creating ceremonial foods and decorations for any holiday in any season. Teach your children to prepare the special ceremonial foods in the traditional way, so they feel the excitement of making it happen themselves. They will feel the connection with past and present when they hand-grind the wheat, bake the bread, and then smile with pride when everyone says how great it tastes. When they hand-roll candles, they’ll discover details about the art of candle making and come to value the intricate process of creation.

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Research the family’s cultural heritage and shine light on a festive tradition that focuses on the children. For instance, the Swedish festival of St. Lucia, on December 13, customarily includes an important role for the eldest daughter. Early in the morning on this day, she lights special candles, wakes her family, and serves Swedish pancakes and cornbread for breakfast, with a little help from Mom.

Also, facilitate children’s natural urge to perform plays by suggesting that they might tell about and dramatize the origins and meaning of the holiday. Have them take charge of making the sets, costumes and props, choosing roles, memorizing lines, shaking rattles, or playing bongos for background sounds … and getting the adults involved.

Benefits: Assigning children to be center stage in ceremonies builds their confidence and makes them feel more an integral part of the family and community.

Highlight the Seasons

Michaelmas, on September 29, celebrates the fall equinox. Its title is derived from the archangel Michael, who is said to protect us from the dark as light diminishes and winter nights become longer. For this glimmering festival, children parade around, wearing golden capes and crowns with tiny electric candles on top that light up. In this pageant for their family and community, children may sing songs, dance and otherwise show their gratitude to Mother Earth as they honor this natural phase of the seasons.

Benefit: The dark is something many children are afraid of, so in celebrating light and hope, this festival helps dispel their fears, makes them feel stronger, and enables them to better understand and celebrate the coming of each season.

Charity Begins at Home

A Jewish harvest festival called Sukkot crosses cultures to teach all kids the key virtue of charity. During the fall, kids from an area school travel to a nearby farm to select or harvest fruits and vegetables to take to a local homeless shelter. They also build a three-sided shelter structure with no roof, called a Sukkah, to symbolize the story of an arduous journey of an ancient people who had no food or shelter, while celebrating their spirit and strength to survive. This festival eloquently involves children and teaches them their responsibility for taking care of everyone in the community.

Benefit: Children feel a part of the world and responsible for nurturing and caring for it, as they realize the importance of shelter and food to sustaining everyone.

Passing the torch of tradition on to our children gives every occasion special meaning. Begin a new tradition today.

Charlotte Eulette is the international director of the nonprofit Celebrant Foundation & Institute, of Montclair, NJ. The institute educates individuals in the art of facilitating meaningful ceremonies to mark the milestones in people’s lives in ways that reflect and symbolize their values. Reach her at CharlotteEulette@CelebrantInstitute.org. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

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

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

These attractive, full-color ads cost as little as $66 per issue, and include two FREE Calendar listings per month (a $30 value).

Biologic Dentistry

Holistic Medicine

Holistic Psychotherapy

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

Dental materials compatibility testing available.

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

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

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

Breastfeeding Nurturing Mothers & Babies Lactation Service Teresa Glaser, BSN, LM, IBCLC 352-317-1771 / tglaser1124@msn.com www.NurturingMothersandBabies.com Our goal is to help you and your baby enjoy nursing. Teresa is a Board-certified lactation consultant serving Gainesville, Ocala and the surrounding area.

Offering home and office visits.

Colonics Aaron Perry, AP, LMT Life Family Practice Center 1501 U.S. Hwy. 441 North The Villages / 352-750-4333 Focusing on your health and well being, I integrate acupuncture, massage, homeopathy, colonics and NAET (allergy elimination) to enhance your quality of life.

Medicare, Insurance accepted.

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

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Nelson Kraucak, MD, ABCMT Life Family Practice Center 1501 U.S. Hwy. 441 North The Villages / 352-750-4333 Look into Holistic Integrative Medicine for your health.

Chelation is a holistic approach for heavy metal toxicity and is believed to benefit those with heart disease. Neurotherapy, acupuncture, and many other services.

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

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

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

Rental space available.

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

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

Joshua Vlahos Hypnotherapy Gainesville, FL www.SpiritOfHypnosis.com 352-443-0007 Lose weight, experience more peace and joy, heal the body, enjoy spiritual growth, overcome addictions, stop smoking; have better sex, improved concentration, financial prosperity.

Hypnosis really works!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stuart Feinman Healing Springs Massage Therapy www.healingspringsmassage.com 352-812-3853 / ambrosia108@yahoo.com Quality mobile therapeutic massage. Home, hotel suites, or office. Relaxation, pain management, stress reduction, increased range of motion, and personalized yoga therapy. Complimentary Kripalu Yoga Flow, Sathya Sai Baba Study Circle and Jyoti Meditation Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m., Namananda Yoga Center, Ocala. MA49878.

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

Neuromuscular Massage By Design 1920 S.W. 20th Pl., Suite 202, Ocala 352-694-4503 Offering neuromuscular massage, craniosacral release therapy, ETPS acupuncture. Most insurance accepted, as well as PIP and WorkerComp. 20% discount for prepurchase of four or more sessions. Referrals from physicians and chiropractors accepted. MA22645.

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

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

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

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

Phone sessions also available.

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

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

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

Skin Care Consultant DC Natural Skin 352-284-1138 / 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. www.DCNaturalSkin.com ECZEMA, PSORIASIS, Pain and Irritation sufferers: Now you can experience relief from itching, redness, blisters, scaling and scratching. Tired of creams that don’t work? Try our “green” botanical products that bring RELIEF! Call or visit the website NOW. The only thing you have to lose is your discomfort. You’ll love the relief!

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

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

Yoga Your Yoga with Karen Adair, 200RYT www.KarenAdairYourYoga.webs.com Cell 904-237-0257 Two locations in Ocala Hatha yoga, all ages, all levels.

Gain strength. Clear your mind.

Relieve stress. Breathe. Increase physical, mental, and emotional flexibility. Brick City Center for the Arts; Zanetti-DeBolt Family Wellness Center.

December 2010

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CalendarofEvents November 26-December 19

“A Christmas Carol,” The Hippodrome Theatre, 25 SE 2nd Pl., Gainesville, 352375-HIPP, www.TheHipp.org. “Kids Get in Free” week (with a canned food donation), Nov. 28-Dec. 6.

“This Wonderful Life,” The Hippodrome Theatre, 25 SE 2nd Pl., Gainesville, 352-375-HIPP, www.TheHipp.org.

“Kids Get in Free” week (with a canned food donation), Nov. 28-Dec. 6. Natural Awakenings Magazine is this show’s Media Sponsor.

Wednesday, December 1

“GrAttitude is Everything: Fun and Simple Ways to Make Yours a Positive One!” with Rose Feldman, 7:15 pm, Love Offering, OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 NE 28 Ave, Ocala, 352-629-3897.

Friday, December 3

2012 … And The Coming Wave of Love, 7 pm. Presentation by Marque Germain Kolack. Love offering. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113.

December 3-5

Couples Beach Getaway & Workshop with Richard and Diana Daffner, authors of Tantric Sex for Busy Couples. $595/couple, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota. 877-282-4244.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” Youth Production. Ocala Civic Theatre,

4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352236-2274, www.OcalaCivicTheatre.com.

Yoga Nidra Weekend. $295 includes meals and accommodations. Amrit Yoga, Salt Springs, info@amrityoga.org, 352-6853001.

Saturday, December 4

Crystal Resonance Therapy Sessions with Fran Oppenheimer, RN, LMT. 11:306, $20. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd., High Springs, 386-4548657.

First Annual Craft Fair, 9 am-1 pm, Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352687-2113.

Rock and Mineral Sale, 11-4, Wild Iris Books, 802 W University Avenue, Gainesville, 352-375-7477.

Styling and Technique Class, 2 pm, with Pavel and Svetlana, Ten Dance/Show Dance Champions. Dance Dance Dance, 307 N Main St., Wildwood, 352-748-3279, www.DanceDanceDance.biz.

December 4-5

Phase I Introduction to Thai Massage, with Ariela Grodner, held at Florida School of Massage, Gainesville. 352-336-7835, www.ArielasThaiMassage.com.

December 9-12

Veterinary Tui-Na, with Shauna Cantwell, DVM. The Chi Institute, Reddick, 352-591-5385, www.tcvm.com

Friday, December 10

Dream Analysis with Jinnie Toliver, 1-5 pm. 30-minute session, $30. Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-4011862, www.mystic-realms.com.

December 10-12

“Holiday Duet,” cabaret-style concert, Appleton Museum, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-236-2274, www.

OcalaCivicTheatre.com.

Saturday, December 11

Darkness into Light: Stones of High Ascension Workshop, with Sharron Britton. Chakra work. 1-4 pm, $20. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd., High Springs, 386-454-8657.

Mediumship Spiritual Development Class, 2-4:30 pm, $25. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave. International Foundation for Spiritual Knowledge, www.ifsk.org, 407-673-9776.

Sunday, December 12

Acupuncture and Crystals, with Jeanette Westlake, Acupuncture Physician. 12-5 pm, $60 and up. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd., High Springs, 386-454-8657.

From Recovery to Self-Discovery Series. Amrit Method/integrative Zero Stress Zone. $25 includes continental breakfast and vegetarian lunch; $50 includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, one night accommodation & morning yoga. Amrit Yoga Institute, Salt Springs, info@amrityoga.org, 352-6853001.

December 13-14

Auditions, “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” musical theatre production. Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-236-2274, www.OcalaCivicTheatre.com.

Tuesday, December 14

Detoxify Your Home. Free, 7-8 pm.

Herbal Advantage, 535 NE 36th Ave, Ste 2, Ocala, 352-629-1110.

December 15-17

Advanced ThetaHealing training, Gainesville, 352-374-7982.

Thursday, December 16

Dismantling Stress w/Integrative Relaxation. John Ernest Hiester, 7:00-8:30, following Amrit Yoga w/Veda (5:30-6:30), Downtown Public Library, 401 E. University Ave, Gainesville, 4th floor. Free. Dress

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CalendarofEvents warmly, bring light blanket. jehiester@ amrityoga.org, vedalewis@aol.com.

December 16-19

Basic Veterinary Acupuncture, with Shauna Cantwell, DVM. The Chi Institute, Reddick, 352-591-5385, www.tcvm.com Saturday, December 18

Peace on Earth Celebration. Free gifts, chair massage, isotonic footbaths and holiday treats. 11-6, free. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd., High Springs, 386-454-8657.

ONGOING Sunday

Celebrating Community and Inspiring Message – Science of Mind and Spirit.

Meditation 9:45 am, Celebration /Message 10:30 am, Youth and Children’s Celebration 10:30 am, Love Offering, OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 NE 28 Ave, Ocala, www.oakbrookcsl.org

Master Mind Prayer Circle, 9:30; Healing Hands Circle, 10; Sunday Service and Youth Education, 11; NGU, 12:30. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., 352-3731030, www.unityofgainesvillefl.org.

Monday

Abraham Study Group, 6 pm; Course in Miracles Study Group, 7:30 pm. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., 352-3731030, www.unityofgainesvillefl.org.

Tuesday, December 21

Winter Solstice and Full Moon Drumming Circle at sundown. Free. Bring something to sit on. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala (352)687-2113

Friday, December 24

Dream Analysis with Jinnie Toliver, 10 am-2 pm. 30 minute session $30. Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala.

352-401-1862 www.mystic-realms.com December 30-January 2

Couples Beach Getaway & Workshop with Richard and Diana Daffner, authors of Tantric Sex for Busy Couples. $595/couple, Siesta Key Beach, Sarasota. 1-877-2824244.

December 30-January 16

“The Full Monty,” musical theatre production. Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-236-2274, www.OcalaCivicTheatre.com. Natural Awakenings Magazine is this show’s Media Sponsor.

Friday, December 31

World Healing Day. 7 am, Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-6872113.

Sunday, January 9

Natural Awakenings Film Festival and GLOW (Green, Local, Organic, Wholistic) Expo. 6-10 pm, Ocala Civic Theatre, 4337 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala. Movie: “Tapped.” Tickets $5 in advance, $7 at the door. To receive an exhibitor’s packet or order tickets, call 352-629-4000 or visit www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com.

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

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CalendarofEvents CalendarofEvents

Reiki Healing Circle, beginners welcome, 5:30-6:30 pm, $5 love offering. Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-401-1862, www.mystic-realms.com.

Monday-Thursday

Gentle Yoga. 11 am-noon and 5:30-6:30 pm., Ocala. www. gentleyogabyclaudia.com, 352-362-2791.

Monday-Friday

Organic Food Pickups. Monday, Ocala; Tuesday, Eustis and Mt. Dora; Wednesday, Ocala and Gainesville; Friday, Oxford/The Villages. Homegrown Organics by Doreen, 352-598-4184, http:// www.homegrownorganics.vpweb.com.

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

Monday-Saturday

Dance and movement classes. T’ai chi, Ladies and Gents Styling, Samba, Adult Jazz, Belly Dancing, Yoga, Zumba, Ballroom, Children’s classes, Dance Workout. Dance Dance Dance, 307 N Main St., Wildwood, 352-748-3279, www.DanceDanceDance.biz.

Tuesday

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

Meditation and Buddhist Advice for a Healthier, Happier Life for All People, with Liana Dawson. Meditation teachings for all regardless of religious affiliation. 7:30 pm, 1738 Kingsley, Orange Park in the solar building behind the Granary. ld@southernneurological.com or www.southernneurological.com.

Wednesday

Farm to Fare Basket Pickup, Ocala and Crones Cradle. Crones Cradle, 6411 NE 217 Pl, Citra. 352-595-3377, www.cronescradleconserve.com.

Meditation and Visioning, 6 pm, followed at 7:15 with Speaker, Spiritual Craft, Drumming, or Spiritual Film, depending on the week. Love Offering, OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 NE 28 Ave, Ocala, www.oakbrookcsl.org.

Quest Study Group, 7 pm, Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., 352-373-1030, www.unityofgainesvillefl.org.

ThetaHealing Phone Practice Group, 7-9 pm. $80.00/month.

352-374-7982.

Wednesday-Friday

Yoga w/Marque Kolack. Wed. and Fri., 10 am.; Thurs., 6 pm.

Love offering. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-6872113.

Thursday

Readings with Catherine, 1-5 pm, $25. Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-401-1862, www.mystic-realms. com.

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Saturday

Farmstead Saturdays. Free, 9-3 pm.

6411 NE 217 Pl, Citra. 352-595-3377, www.cronescradleconserve.com.

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

SupportLocalFood.com.

Readings with Kayla, 1-5 pm, 15 minutes/$25. Mystic Glenn, 3315 E Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, 352-401-1862, www. mystic-realms.com.

Seven days/week

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

UPCOMING TRAININGS Monday, January 3

Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine’s new semester begins, 1000 NE 16th Ave., Building F, Gainesville, 352371-2833, www.dragonrises.edu.

Tuesday, January 4

Academy for Five Element Acupunc-

ture’s new class begins, 305 SE 2nd Ave., Gainesville, www.acupuncturist.edu, 352335-2332.

January 7-9

Foundations of Medical Qigong, with Paul Fraser. 16.5 CEUs available for Acupuncturists. To register, call Angela, Happy Balancing Center, 352-871-6703.

January 22-23

Level I Biosyntonie workshop at Gainesville Holistic Center, 4041 NW 27th Lane, Suite C, Gainesville. $500 (for reviewers, $350). For more information, call Dr. Hanoch Talmor, M.D., 352-377-0015, or visit www.betterw.com.

January 28-30

Core Mediation Intensive Class with Shauna Ries. Course includes 3-day onsite Core Mediation Intensive Training; 36 hours of distance learning; and sixmonth membership to Mediators without Boundaries International Society of Conflict Resolution. Course held at Amrit Yoga Institute, Salt Springs. Tuition: $995 plus accommodations. To register, call 1-877-268-5337, x.114 or visit www. mediatorswithoutborders.com.

March 28-April 1

Lomilomi Training - 5 day intensive Hawaiian restorative healing, Davenport, FL. NCBTMB And Florida Approved for 42 CEUs. Tuition $595.00 (with lodging $795).

Early registration: save $100 off tuition if registered with 50% deposit by 12/30/10.

Contact Gloria at massageproce@gmail. com visit: www.Lomilomimassagece.com.

Classifieds Business Opportunities Currently Publishing Natural Awakenings Magazines for sale in Austin, TX; Lexington, KY; New York, NY; Pensacola, FL; Southwest VA; and Ventura/Santa Barbara, CA. Call for details 239-530-1377.

Intimacy Product Topical ointment guaranteed to increase a woman’s sexual responsiveness and sensation. Womaninvented and woman-made. All natural, safe, and beautifully scented. $29.95 + $5 shipping. Call 352-286-1779.

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

Ongoing Monthly Development Classes British Medium Jan Marshall Coming in March 4-Day Intensive Mediumship Workshop in August Check our complete program for 2011 on the website

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

December 2010

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Join Our Family of Publishers...

Be your own boss and make a difference in your community

Elaine Russo Gregory, San Diego, CA “Publishing Natural Awakenings-San Diego has helped me and my 80 fellow publishers become the change we want to see—for ourselves, our communities and the Earth. I’m grateful to be part of this joy-filled journey and adventure... ”

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Through the sharing of these products, services and information, my life has been enriched beyond words.”

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Our Family Tree Is Growing Strong As a Natural Awakenings publisher, your magazine will help thousands of readers to make positive changes in their lives, while promoting local practitioners and providers who support natural, Earth-friendly lifestyles.

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February 2010 2010 December

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Film Festival + GLOW Expo Sunday, January 9, 6-10 p.m.

Ocala Civic Theatre 4337 E. Silver Springs Blvd.

Showing the film “Tapped�

The award-winning movie explores our water supply. It gradually reveals a stunning story about not only municipal water but also the bottled water we consume. A fastmoving and eye-opening documentary!

GLOW Expo

Green, Local, Organic, and Wholistic products, services and practitioners

Admission

$5 in advance, $7 at the door. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.GoNaturalAwakenings. com, or call 352-629-4000.

To Exhibit

To exhibit, call 352-629-4000 or email us at GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com

Confirmed exhibitors:

n ELISA Technologies Inc., www.ezgluten.com, www.elisa-tek.com n Natural Awakenings Magazine, www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com n Clark Dougherty Therapeutic Massage Clinic (MA27082, MM9718), www.ClarkDougherty.com

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We still have room for selected exhibitors including organic growers, nutritionists, health food stores, wholistic/integrative physicians, solar companies, hybrid cars, chiropractors, and more. For information about reserving a display table, email GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com or call 352-629-4000.

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment