The Eden Magazine by Maryam Morrison

August 2021

EDEN T h e

Magazine

Fame, Family, & Making a Difference!

GENA

LEE NOLIN FABULOUS AT

THE

COURAGE TO LEARN

By Georgina Hooper

CLIMATE

CHANGE IS

REAL

By Sasha Gary

ECO-FRIENDLY ACTIONS You need to be Doing at Home By Tara Mc Fatridge

Words are

POWER By Shelly Wilson

Animal Medicine Touched by Nature

By Julianne Haycox

INTERVIEW WITH

SADHVI BHAGAWATI SARASWATI

OPEN THE DOOR

TO HELP

By Jamie Edelbrock

e t o N s ' r o it Ed Welcome to our August issue.

Are you feeling depressed, worried, uneased? Having self-doubt and disconnected? Don't feel you are alone. Trust that you were not born to be this way. Something happened within you. But there is no one to blame. Especially, not yourself. In life, we experience many incidents that set us up for a challenge. As long as we walk the path we are on, with a positive mindset, we can help set ourselves on the road towards winning. While feeling sad and unease can be self-damaging. Talking about how we feel can be healing. Speaking openly about what is hurting you inside can be freeing. In our August issue, we share many articles about self-healing. But remember that self-healing starts within. When we are ready to face what is hurting us, and we are willing to free ourselves, then the journey to self-realization begins. I hope you enjoy our August issue.

Maryam Morrison

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The Eden Magazine

@The Eden Magazine

Photo by Jess Bailey

@The Eden Magazine

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MEET OUR TEAM

Photo by ISABELLE RUEN

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

DINA MORRONE

Maryam Morrison

SASHA GARY

EDWARD HAKOPIAN

ALEXIA MELOCCHI

ARTIN MARDIROSIAN

ANGELA DUNNING

MICHAEL WHITE RYAN

SHERI DETERMAN

VITO TROTTA

PHYLLIS KING

GREG DOHERTY

JAYITA BHATTACHARJEE

JOE SANTOS, JR.

SHELLY WILSON

MARCO NUNZIO ALATI

ISABELLE RUEN

GRETA PAZZAGLIA

NANCY E. YEAROUT

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EDEN T

MAGAZINE

Since 2010

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

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

Eden Magazine is a non-profit monthly online magazine. We aim to create a better environment where we live among other living beings in peace and harmony. We support artists that their work matches our criteria. If you would like to submit your artwork, article or/and your photography for our future issues please contact Maryam Morrison at; maryammorrison@theedenmagazine.com The Eden Magazine reviews article content for accuracy before the date of publication. The views expressed in the articles reflect the author(s) opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials, and all other content is published in good faith. 5 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

Table of Contents 8

ANIMAL MEDICINE

ANIMAL MEDICINE By Julianne Haycox

OPEN THE DOOR TO HELP

GENA LEE NOLIN By Dina Morrone

OPEN THE DOOR TO HELP By Jamie Edelbrock

THE COURAGE TO LEARN By Georgina Hooper

TRAUMA CONTROL HOW TO END THE CYCLE THAT RULES YOUR LIFE By Amanda Hainline

AN INTERVIEW WITH SADHVI BHAGAWATI SARASWATI

THE DANCE OF DUALITY & THE JOURNEY OF BEING HUMAN By Phyllis King

WHAT GETS BETTER WHEN YOU'RE OLDER By Aukje Kapteyn

ECO-FRIENDLY ACTIONS YOU NEED TO BE DOING AT HOME By Tara McFatridge

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THE COURAGE TO CHANGE By Angela Dunning

Cover Photo by Tracy Ann Battaglia with “FullyAlive Photography”

Life is Essential, Feel it 64

LA ART SHOW 2021

CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL By Sasha Gary

MY DEATH & TRANSITION By Matthew McKay, Ph.D.

ENLIGHTEMENT, IT'S DANCING DIAMONDS IN THE SKY By Jayita Bhattacharjee

MY PERSPECTIVE ON MY UNCONVENTIONAL UPBRINGING MIGHT SURPRISE YOU By Stacey Aaronson

WORDS ARE POWER By Shelly Wilson

THE LAST EXTINCTION INDIVIDUALISM DINOSAURUS By Michael White Ryan

CHANGING THE CONCEPT OF TIME By Nancy Yearout

MY PERSPECTIVE ON MY UNCONVENTIONAL.....

GO OUTSIDE & TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES, IT'S HEALING 7 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

Julianne Haycox has faced challenges nobody should ever have to. While navigating the unforeseen death of her beloved brother, she was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer while pregnant, resulting in the loss of her baby boy. But Julianne is steadfast on not just dwelling on the hurt in life, but recognizing all of life’s blessings, even during the darker times. Shortly after losing her son, she was able to press on and have a child through the miracle of surrogacy. Haycox is now sharing her moving story of heartache, hope and inspiration to keep moving forward in the face of adversity in her new memoir, Conversations with Grace. In Conversations with Grace, through openly and vulnerably sharing her difficult journey and ability to remain positive in the midst of hardships, Julianne encourages readers to unearth their own individual strength, notice the miracles all around them, and find a greater sense of joy and peace in any circumstance. In gorgeously written prose, Conversations with Grace explores how one can be guided through the most unpleasant seasons of life and not only survive, but evolve and grow as a result. This memoir is sure to appeal to mothers, daughters, mothers-to-be, fathers, and brothers anyone looking for inspiration, and to connect with a higher sense of love. “Even though I faced many hardships, I am still so astounded by the miracles in life we experience, every single day,” Julianne says. “In every heartbreak there is a blessing. I wade through the challenges of life to discover that lesson, and suddenly find myself afloat on that blessing.” 8 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

Animal

Medicine By Julianne Haycox

n all its parables, nature beautifully illustrates and heightens life's truths and wisdom while graciously teaching valuable lessons and bringing the gift of inspiration to those that stand open in its illumination. To be grounded to the earth, witnessing the magical cycles of creation in nature is to encounter the discernible embodiment of the Divine intimately. As an adult, when I found myself secluded in nature as I had when I was a young girl, the quiet felt oddly familiar. I had to welcome it back into my life and remember it in my soul. I had strayed so far from its expansive harmony that I stood in the eye of my own storm. I realized that I had been living like a character in everyone else's lives, and it was then that the winds began to whip in to garner my attention and will back. When there is loss, whether it's a friendship or the life of a loved one, first we see grief and only grief. Nature presents loss in a very different way. During the storm, trees bend and sway in the screaming, testing winds. Leaves are stripped from the limbs. When the air becomes still, the tree stands strong and tall, reaching for the light. Nature imparts upon all of us an understanding of life, but you must listen and follow its lead.

Photography by KATERINA PLOTNIKOVA Model NORMILA

In coming back to myself, my first encounter of an obvious assigned lesson involved a huge snapping turtle. It was late June, and I was driving home midmorning and had just turned onto my quiet, one-lane street. Clawing slowly across my path was a curiously large reptile. I stopped and got out of the car to realize that this wasn't the usual box turtle that I occasionally encountered. This snapper had a sharp pointed nose and folded, thick brownish-grey skin that resembled tumbled stone.

stare and feel the inaugural turn of the key that was unlocking my soul.

His shell was grey and gritty with baked-on mud, looking like a steel helmet in need of a good shine. His leathery prehistoric legs and knife-like claws clenched the asphalt with no obvious intention to retract. His powerful jaw opened fiercely to let me know that he wasn't messing around. Typically nocturnal and rarely seen out of their aquatic habitat traveling across the land, he was my first and most explicit clue to begin the examination of my life. I patiently waited for him to cross the road and clear my path. As much as I knew that this was indeed a sign, I didn't know what it meant. This unknown was an opening, an opportunity to curate. I reached out to my yoga teacher and dear friend, Angela; this made sense to me. Angela had practiced living a conscious lifestyle for decades and nourished herself over the years with knowledge in spiritual development, breathwork, and animal spirits, just to name a few. I was compelled to decipher the meaning of this message, and I knew I needed to be selective in my search—Angela was the answer. She returned my email with an excerpt from the Medicine Cards book. I read how the turtle is the oldest symbol for planet earth in Native American teachings, along with other engaging and very significant meanings. The meanings all correlated with my life, and as time passed, the metaphors were as clear as crystal. The most poignant meaning to me was the understanding of protection. The earth's protection comes in the form of change, new growth, and necessary alterations. There I was, with the edifying hands of the Universe placed upon my shoulders, pointing me in the direction of my learned path and in the direction of change and necessary alterations. The next morning brought a reiteration of the previous days' lesson in case I didn't grasp the loaded meaning the first time around. I raised the shade on my front window letting the morning light into the room and granting me my first glance of the world outside. I stopped in my tracks. There he was, the snapping turtle in my driveway, which was a good 500 to 600 yards away from where we first met yesterday. I couldn't help but stand and

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Nature has an innate and beautifully calming ability to listen to us and command our undivided attention. Nature is fluid and welcoming and forever at the perfect and precise juncture where one is compelled to step into it. Allowing the unexpected in proves its intelligence and grace. A relationship with the natural world is incredibly powerful, and once you commit yourself to it, you find its sincere essence mesmerizing. With a deep understanding and realization of our true connection to all things, we can become virtuous, completely present, and at peace. What we become from this connection, we graciously bring forth into the world. At that time in my life, I found myself dissolving into the natural world. It became my spiritual alchemy. I became its chosen, obedient disciple, embracing its power and standing open to receive. I was connected to the intense spirit.

Albert Einstein once said, "The most beautiful and most profound emotion we can experience is this sensation of the mystical." Nature is an intoxicating mystery. The most esoteric bequests from the natural world are those that are unusual and so out of form that you know to shine a light on them. A few months after the significant visits from the snapping turtle, I experienced another extraordinary visit. I was sitting in my backyard on a Sunday afternoon. The fall air was crisp, so the warm sun felt like a light blanket. Out of nowhere came what sounded like a train off in the distance. What made this sound odd is that we don't live anywhere near train tracks. The sound of rolling thunder soon changed into a colossal chorus of chirps suppressing any and all sound in the vicinity. I looked up to a billowing black carpet that intentionally swept down and covered the trees surrounding me. The green turned to black; hundreds and hundreds of grackles that dominated my attention eclipsed the leaves. I couldn't help but become mesmerized by this dense, elaborate exhibit, and as quickly as the birds came, they ascended in unison in acoustic murmuration. Their rhythmic vibration oscillated through me as they departed with the healthy hum of a well-oiled machine. I watched in amazement as their combined force enveloped me and left me feeling as though the intensity could lift me into their swirling sphere. They ambled west, turning and maneuvering into graceful shapes reminiscent of drifting jellyfish. I had to leave this marvel behind. Life was calling. It was time to drive my daughter to meet another parent driving the girls to lacrosse practice. The dad that was shuttling the girls to practice is one that is thankfully awakened to life's curiosities. I was excited to share. He smiled and said, "I believe you just received a blessing!" I was filled with joy! Like manna from Heaven, I was honorably taking in the spiritual feast for all that it was meant to be. When I returned home, I opened my Medicine Cards book to discover that the teaching of the grackle is to transcend the congestion of old emotions. The message was undeniable and timed precisely with that particular juncture in my life. I went on to read how emotions that are not handled and cleared could cause congestion in the body and, in turn, cause physical illnesses. I knew this, and I knew that an emotional clearing was overdue. I had started the untangling, but this was a process that wouldn't happen overnight. The assemblage of grackles was like my support group, and they were letting me know that I was on track. They were phenomena of nature confirming my work at hand. Indigenous elders have been relating with Mother Earth

and all God's creatures for centuries. Mastering the virtue and intelligence in the messages, these elders hand down the gift of communicating with all living things, showing us that acquiring wisdom nurtures respect. Getting to know all creatures that you come into contact with not only gives you an opportunity to learn something new, but it opens the door to understanding the being rather than fearing it. This opening raises our consciousness and carries us along on our purposeful path. Go, walk down the road that you have not discovered and lean in, feel yourself in close harmony with the natural world and behold the higher powers awakening within you. A simple but mindful walk outdoors can be so rewarding and even induce meditation. Allowing ourselves to be quiet and settled in on a walk is incredibly renewing, nourishing, and powerfully healing. The natural world and the Divine recognize our loneliness, our fear, and our pain. Give the message a chance to come. Our reward awaits in the heightened connection only experienced in the stillness. You will see and hear nature communicate its understanding and impart upon you the ability to tap into your answers.

Julianne Haycox is an abstract artist, photographer, lover of all things in nature, and a curious and fearless traveler. She is the author of Be Still and Know, a book filled with her photography and meditative quotes and Conversations with Grace, a book of inspiration and personal growth. Born in the suburbs of Detroit, she made a solo move at age 17 to Virginia behind the wheel of her timeworn Volkswagen Bug. The bumpy but miraculous ride of her life commenced in Michigan and sustained to the shores and through the years in Virginia. She never backs away from a challenge or trauma because experience has taught her that miracles are always on the way. Julianne lives in Virginia Beach, VA, with her husband and daughter. She graduated from Old Dominion University where her love of writing was ignited. For more, visit www.juliannehaycox.com, and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.

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The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man. ~ Charles Darwin

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Gena

LEE NOLIN Fame, Family, & Making a Difference!!

By Dina Morrone Born in Northern Minnesota, this sexy star of the 90's hit TV Show Baywatch is now a mother of three and blogger of Celebrity Baby Scoop. After a diagnosis of Hashimoto Thyroiditis, she wrote the book Beautiful Inside and Out - Conquering Thyroid Disease with Healthy Happy, Thyroid Sexy Life, which landed No. 1 on Amazon, and Barnes & Noble Top 5 Health Books.

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You were born in Duluth, Minnesota. Tell us about one of your fondest memories of growing up on the North Shore? I have so many great memories. As a kid, we'd bundle up and ice skate for hours at the local outdoor rink. I was making snowmen while drinking hot cocoa with our friends. I'm grateful to have had those years, even though it was freezing. I truly think there's something in that environment that brings people together, neighbors helping neighbors. I learned a lot about the meaning of simple acts of kindness. Your family moved from the icy cold to the warmth of Las Vegas. How did your childhood and teen years influence your career choices? I think they helped me immensely. I never set out to be an actress, so I had my priorities in check when it happened. I never expected it to last, so I enjoyed every moment and worked extremely hard on every series. My early years definitely helped navigate my work ethic and mindset. What have your three children taught you that has changed you and surprised you? My children teach me something new every day. When you have three different perspectives from three different individuals, you learn and see things in ways you'd never expect. I feel blessed to have kids that are truly kind and interested in their world. They care about what's going on and how it's affecting others. I think the only thing that's surprised me is the unconditional love that goes along with being a mother. Tell us about your role on Baywatch, playing the bad girl, Neely Capshaw? That was such a funny story. I was a game show model on The Price is Right with Bob Barker when I got the call from Baywatch. I knew how popular the show was because it was simply everywhere! I’d come home from work, and every night it was about Baywatch. The gravity of it was there, but the reality of me being a part of it wasn’t. I didn’t train as an actor, I was as green as one could get, so I was reluctant at first. I went ahead and auditioned with David Hasselhoff and the other producers. I was extremely prepared and went through the motions but felt a certain comfort in the room. I knew in my gut I’d get the job; I wasn’t qualified, but I knew I’d figure it out. Playing Neely was so much fun! She was this horrid, self-centered, mean girl. I’d read the scripts and howl at what she’d do next. I think it’s important to have balance while playing that type of character. I’d leave Neely at the beach and go home to sew my new Vogue pattern on my Singer sewing machine. I was for sure balanced!

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I'M EXCITED ABOUT BEING 50!

I THINK WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE COME WITH AGE, AND THAT'S SEXY TO ME!

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What was it like playing an iconic female comic book character like Sheena? After Baywatch, I thought I’d take a longer break from television. I’ll never forget the call from my agent asking if I’d (please) meet with Sony for an iconic character. I didn’t know much about the role until I met at Sony with 20 executives! It would be my luck to find out just how important Sheena truly was and what she stood for, and the chance to play her? Bring it on. She was ahead of her time, strong, female, unstoppable, protective, and was a huge part of my role with PETA. I was called to do a PETA billboard that was featured on Sunset Boulevard. I was blown away at how loved she was and still is. The opportunity to play another superhero would be a dream. There is something inside of me that yearns for equality and justice! I’d kick some. Yes, even at my age. What was the turning point in your professional career that changed your life path trajectory? Becoming a mother! Everything changed on June 3, 1997. Things that I thought were important prior were no longer of importance. Always finding a balance but being there for my children is paramount. Where would your dream vacation be with your husband and children? Thailand!

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Before your Thyroid disease diagnosis, when did you first know something was wrong with your health? What were your symptoms? I never knew what was truly going on, but I knew something was off. When I was 27 years old, I would come home achy and overly tired. I chalked it up to my workload and having a young son. A few years later, depression, weight gain, thinning hair, puffy face, and eyes set in. I went from doctor to doctor, desperately trying to figure out what was wrong, only to be brushed off. I once was given a business card to a psychologist from a wellknown doctor simply because he said there was nothing wrong with me. WHAT? That's when I knew I had to figure this out on my own. So, I researched my symptoms over and over, and that's when "Thyroid Disease"kept popping up. I asked my OBGYN if he'd look at my labs, and my TSH was off the charts. I then realized I had to become my own advocate immediately. Mainstream doctors wouldn't listen to my symptoms, just my TSH alone. There's so much more to this story that I write about in my book, Beautiful Inside & Out. I also have an amazing Facebook support page that I started in 2011 called Thyroid Sexy! What should all women know about their Thyroid? Everything! It's the thermostat to our bodies. It controls our metabolism, brain function, sex hormones, fertility, overall health, and wellness. Have routine thyroid labs done yearly. If you feel something is off, find an NPD ( Naturalpathic Doctor) that's opened minded in helping you find a solution to your symptoms. Doctors are more apt to listening now more than ever, and the data is defiantly there. If they don't, fire them! With the Thyroid being such a vital part of our body and hormones, why do you feel there isn't more awareness about this tiny gland? I think the Thyroid gland was overlooked for years by traditional doctors, and because of that, many people suffered. Today, I feel doctors and NPD are more educated on the symptoms that come along with thyroid disease. Most often, thyroid panels are even added to your routine labs without asking for them. We're getting closer to finding the root cause, no more excuses in old data. I can't stress enough the importance of being your own advocate. No one knows your body the way you do! What are your tips for growing old gracefully? Be kind to yourself. Aging is part of life. It's a part of the process. I look back on my life, and I've always lived clean. I'm not much of a drinker. I'm in bed by 9 pm. I'm active, and I've always been pretty good about my skincare routine. With that said, being 50 this year, I do get botox, laser treatments, and frankly, anything that

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will slow things down just a bit. I'm working with Dr. Scott Gerrish in Scottsdale, Arizona, who has more of a holistic outlook on aging rather than surgery. I'm all about the holistic approach! I'm excited about being 50! I think wisdom and knowledge come with age, and that's SEXY to me! You are involved with several charities and foundations. Please tell us about your involvement with them and why you chose them. Every Mother Counts charity, which I absolutely love. After becoming a mother myself, every emotion came rolling in.

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The need to help another Mother in need was something I couldn't look away from. I am also involved with the Make a Wish Foundation. I was influenced by this charity while filming Baywatch. We'd have so many children coming to set who were all brighteyed and excited to meet us and see how the show was filmed. I spoke to many of their parents, and after hearing story after story, I got involved immediately! If you could turn back time, what would you like to say to 18 year old Gena? I would tell her everything is going to be alright. That it's going to be exciting, scary, sad, happy, frustrating, lonely, and amazing all in one. And that it's going to be one hell of a ride, but at the end of the day, you're going to be stronger than you ever thought! Take a deep breath. You can handle everything coming your way, so make sure to enjoy it! What's next for you? I have a book coming out next year. I will be working with my charities, health advocacy, and a new show that I'm so excited and really passionate about! (Mom duty in between). It's safe to say it's going to be a busy year! Is there anything the world doesn't know about Gena Lee that you would like to share with our readers? I'm a comedian. No, really! My dream is to work on ANY project that Judd Apatow is involved with! Okay, I just put it out in the universe. "Oh, Judd"! Special Thanks to: Gena Lee Nolin Photography: Tracy Ann Battaglia with “FullyAlive Photography” Makeup: Gena Lee Nolin Styled by: VICI COLLECTION Hair: Sarah Wilks with “SKW EXTENSIONS” Location: The Scott Hotel

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Open

Help

The

Door

By Jamie Edelbrock

Kids come with a full spectrum of emotions, some of which are too big to keep inside. Each child processes their feelings differently but learning to deal with them is an important part of growing up. Studies show one in six kids between the ages of two-and eight-years-old have a mental, behavioral, or developmental disorder. Navigating this world as a parent can be scary; experiencing this as a young child can be even scarier.

angled Up lessens the fear of the unknown and shines a positive, peaceful light on therapy and mental health. It colorfully shows how the beautiful threads of us can become tangled, and how counselors and therapists are here to help us twirl bravely through life. To say the past year has been turbulent would be an understatement. I feel like it's one bad thing after the next, and despite best efforts, nothing seems to make it stop.

was falling, alarms were going off, our kids were crying, and our dogs were barking. It was madness. Since my husband was deployed at the time, I called every friend I knew to help, but no one was home. I felt helpless and completely out of control. I'm not sure how, but despite the chaos, I heard the doorbell. I was utterly embarrassed to open the door with my house in such disarray, but when I finally opened the door, I was filled with relief. It was a rescuer, a firefighter.

It reminds me of when I came home from church one day to water spilling out of our ceiling onto our kitchen table. Not only was the water ruining the ceiling, but it was also destroying our mail, iPads, and school projects. We rushed to turn off the water, get towels, buckets, and anything to stop the madness. Unfortunately, nothing helped. The water kept coming. There was so much that it somehow reached the smoke detector wires and caused each one to go off. At this point, water

I didn't call 911, I'm not sure who did, but I was so thankful he was there. With tears in my eyes, the only words that came out of my mouth were, "I don't know how to make it stop." He asked if he could go in, and within minutes he and his coworkers helped calm the chaos. The firefighters didn't solve every little thing. Our ceiling and pipes still needed to be fixed, and it took time. Several things needed to be repaired, and believe me, there were still lots of tears.

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Photo by Houcine Ncib

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The fact is, when I opened the door despite my embarrassment, someone was there to help. Things weren't solved instantly, but help was with me, and because of that, I was given the strength to do the next thing in front of me. One of the turbulent situations of the past year was my relationship with my teenage daughter. Being a teenager is hard enough, but once COVID-19 lockdowns hit, things took a turn for the worse. She would lock herself in her room, and the only time I saw her was when she was yelling at me or coming out to eat. Seeing a smile from her was rare, and every time I would hear her footsteps come down the hallway, I would be waiting with a hug and hoping for a smooth moment together. My hopes were usually dashed when instead of a hug, I was met with a glare. I felt helpless and rejected with every interaction. Just like when our pipes burst, I felt helpless. I knew that despite my embarrassment about our relationship, I needed to reach out for help. In this situation, the rescuers were her therapist and a parenting coach. I learned that her behavior had little to do with me, and it was most likely something she was going through. Dr. Cam Ph.D. is a popular Adolescent Psychologist and Family Success Coach. In one of her free resource guides, called 10 Secrets to Raising Teens she says, "It may be difficult to believe, but when your teen is giving you attitude, rolling her eyes at you, or asking you to drop her off a block away from her friend's house, she still needs your support and approval more than ever." With that in mind, I decided not to take it personally, put myself in her shoes, and relentlessly pursue her. Just like repairing our house and replacing damaged items after the pipes burst, it took a lot of hard work, and things weren't solved instantly. I started putting encouraging notes on her bedroom door every morning. She tore them down. I would make her favorite foods and bring them to her room. I never got a thank you. I enlisted a trusted friend to drive her to her activities, so she had another adult to talk to. Sometimes she was silent. I always invited her to watch TV with me at the end of the day. She usually said no. I often got a door slammed in my face, but much to my surprise, my relentless pursuit started to work. She eventually started coming out of her room and engaging with the family again. It took a while, but our relationship became even better than before her reclusive and grumpy behavior. Now that we're through that rough patch, I asked my

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daughter to help me understand what helped. This is what she told me. 1. Leaving notes on her door effectively spoke words of affirmation and love to her, which helped. According to her, it gave her space but also let her know I was there for her. 2. Having another trusted adult in my daughter's life gave her space from me but gave her a safe person to talk to if she wanted to. My daughter felt safe enough to talk when she needed to. 3. When she did communicate with me, I would listen without judgment. According to her, this made her feel secure and comfortable. 4. She said by bringing food to her room instead of demanding, and she comes out of her room, it showed her that I respected her feelings. I met her where she was instead of insisting on the opposite. 5. Inviting her on walks, to play family games, and watch TV, made her feel wanted even if she didn't want to join. Hearing these words from my daughter's perspective made me feel like I did when the firefighters stopped the rushing water. That, my friend, is precisely what it's like when you reach out for help. Things weren't solved immediately, but help was with us, and we could move forward. My hope for all of you today is that despite the chaos in the world or your home right now, you open the door and receive support if you feel overwhelmed. You will be given the strength to do whatever is in front of you. https://drcam.ck.page/top10tips

Born and raised in Salem, Oregon, Jamie Edelbrock is married to her high school sweetheart, and together they have three beautiful daughters. She has worn many hats, some of which include a homeschool mom, preschool director, family ministry director, and author. Through years of experience working with children and raising her own, she knows how difficult parenting can be. She encourages others by sharing her own trials, triumphs, and sometimes hilarious stories. She is an advocate for children's mental health and is best known for her creativity, optimism, and kind heart. She is the author of the recently released book, Tangled Up.

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An excerpt from Mindful Thoughts for Students: Nurture your mind, flourish in Life

The

0 C urag e TO LEARN By Georgina Hooper

For students who need to take a deep breath and ahhh, breath it out, Mindful Thoughts for Students is their guide to transforming what can be a stressful experience into one of the most positive and enriching experiences of your life. Studying can be a stressful and anxious process, with deadlines and a focus on results taking away from the pleasure of learning. Mindful Thoughts for Students is an astute collection of 25 insights into how practicing awareness whilst studying can transform learning into a positive experience every day. In this beautifully illustrated little book, Georgina Hooper guides you on a thoughtful journey through the practice of studying with joyful intention. From mindfully managing the art of deadlines to cultivating a lifelong curiosity for knowledge, she connects us to the path of learning for the love of it.

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Photo by GAELLE MARCEL Photo by GAELLE MARCEL

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Self-efficacy is the belief in our own abilities to meet challenges and successfully complete tasks. It is the kind of belief that can fill our sails with enough wind to propel us through our learning journey and protect ourselves from feedback that might otherwise leave us feeling like a vessel full of holes. For some, strong confidence in learning seems to come naturally. But not all of us have a shining perception of our ability as students. A lack of efficacy can be the anchor that drags us down, preventing us from moving forwards. Without the confidence to learn, we might even keep ourselves safely docked in the bay, checked out of learning entirely before we even start. So how can mindfulness help us fortify our self-efficacy and give us the courage to learn? LETTING GO Our self-efficacy is shaped by the events of our past and influences our ideas of the future. With the practice of mindfulness, we can let go of the past. Our preconceived ideas about how good we are (or aren't) don't serve us when they are built on experiences that we consider to be failures. A loss or failure is not a strike against our character or ability. If anyone has ever watched a baby or small child, it is clearly evident that the process of learning to walk involves a lot of falling down. Recognizing this as an inherent part of learning will equip you with the resilience necessary for success. Self-efficacy gives us the courage to fall because we know that winning is not the be-all and end-all. When I was very young, my father printed and laminated a poem for me by Norman Vincent Peele, part of which captured the importance of self-belief: 'Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.' SAVOUR SUCCESS The belief that you can succeed is built from the experiences where you did succeed, so recognizing your successes is a vital way to build your self-efficacy. Mindfulness can help us not only pause to celebrate our successes but also to savour them. So often in our journey of learning, our sights are always set on the distance, looking ahead to the next assignment, the next test, the next semester. But when we cultivate living in the present moment through a practice of mindfulness, we give ourselves the opportunity to relish the moments of achieving. Savouring your achievements is beyond recognizing them. It is feeling them. When we achieve something, we might feel powerful, elated, excited, surprised, or thrilled. If we don't slow down enough to notice these

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significant moments in our journey of life and study, they can lose their impact, and the reward is watered down, drowned out by the lists of tasks that are still waiting to be done. Frame your degree or diplomas and put them on the wall. Take yourself out to lunch when you finish an assignment and toast yourself for a job well done. Tick off your lists as you get through them, and set aside time to notice and dwell on the times you meet your goals, no matter how small they are. Cultivate the verbal reinforcement of your capabilities by surrounding yourself with people whom you admire and who speak positively about you and themselves. THE FIRST STEP Don't make judgments on your capacity to learn just because there are things you don't know or can't do. Not knowing is simply an opportunity to learn something you have not yet mastered. I like to remind my students when they say 'I can't do this,' to rephrase with 'I can't do this yet. Acknowledging or discovering what we don't know how or can't yet do is the first step to mastery. All you need is the self-belief that you can do what needs to be done, as long as you try hard enough. Being smart is not a thing we are or are not, but is developed and acquired over time. It is estimated that our brain has around 100 billion neurons – around the same number of stars as there are in the Milky Way galaxy. Each neuron can form thousands of links, and these synaptic pathways are being made and pruned constantly. Your brain's ability to learn can be trained and cultivated, like any muscle. "Is very simple awareness can be a powerful beacon to return to, whenever you need reminding that your capacity to learn is probably far greater than you give yourself credit for.

Georgina Hooper is a visual artist, painter, and lecturer based in Australia. She trained as a yoga teacher after 6 months of artists' residences in China and Japan, and her work is in personal collections across the world, including a 100-year ceiling installation in a Buddhist temple in Japan. Georgina is also an art researcher specializing in Eastern artistic traditions, visual language, and philosophies. As part of her practice-led research, she draws together neurology and art history to understand how painting as concentrated meditation can shape the brain and bring about enlightenment.

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Trauma Control

How To End The Cycle That Rules Your Life

By Amanda Hainline

ur experiences shape us. For some, this means overcoming unthinkable trauma. Last February, I got a message on Instagram from a girl — we'll call her Nicole — asking me about one of my YouTube videos on etheric cords, which are energetic connections between people. She wanted to speak with me about it, so I agreed to do a quick call.

more advanced the level of trauma, the more distorted our view is of both ourselves and the world around us. To cope, we develop ways to deal with our lives that may not be the most supportive of our best and highest good. Still, by understanding our traumas and the process that causes them to imprint us, we can better understand ourselves and why we act the way that we do in certain situations.

After a couple of questions, she stopped. "I just think I need to tell you a little bit more about me," she said. Having talked to many young women her age, I had already anticipated in my mind what she would say: I'm in college, and there was this boy… We broke up, but I still think about him.

The Traumatic Energetic Imprint Process A traumatic imprint starts when we experience a traumatic event. At the time of the event, an imprint is formed that contains all of the aspects of that event — including the sights, smells, sounds, feelings, taste, and touch of that moment and the mental development of the person at that time age. This imprint causes a distortion in the human energy system, and, as a result, beliefs are formed and filtered through that traumatic imprint. To deal with the distortion of beliefs, negative coping mechanisms (such as lashing out, withdrawal, or passive-aggressiveness) start to form, which create long-term patterns that are experienced repeatedly until the trauma is resolved.

Instead, Nicole started describing her childhood to me, and it was all I could do to keep my jaw off the floor. She recounted years of horrific abuse by both of her parents, being denied food and traded for drugs. Only to end up abandoned in an apartment with no electricity when she was seven, living off of the cat food her neighbor would leave out for strays and doing her best to keep her six-month-old brother alive. She and her brother were discovered after the neighbor repeatedly called child protective services and the police. Nicole was declared feral and lived in a high-security foster home for two years before being transferred to another foster home, where she lived until the age of 18. She struggled with substances in her teen years, having tumultuous relationships with friends, boyfriends, and foster parents. In her late teens, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and after an intense relationship ended, she found my YouTube channel. She was reaching out to me for help in processing the breakup. I knew, though, that breakups are one thing. This was another thing entirely. Being an Intuitive Healer, I deal with traumas all the time, but this was outside my usual scope. I was comforted that Nicole had seen a therapist ever since she was discovered in that apartment 13 years ago, even though she stated she didn't trust him. Nicole dealt with layers and layers of abuse, or what I like to call traumatic inhibitory imprints. These imprints of trauma dramatically shape how we see the world and interact with it. They distort reality and give a false sense of self that is more often than not detrimental to how we function in some way. The

In Nicole's case, many of her traumatic imprints were formed before she could talk, making them even harder to deal with. Without language to link to the trauma, the memory of the event is limited, which can make the trauma even more difficult to process. Traumas Freeze Parts of Us in Time As I spoke with Nicole, I could see that she had been heavily affected by the trauma early on in her life. When she started to talk about things that had happened in her past or current events that resembled them, she reverted to a young child's logic and emotional maturity. This is because when we experience a traumatic event, our energy system does something very interesting. It takes a snapshot of the event and everything related to it in our energy system and arrests our development, meaning the psychological development in regards to that trauma will always be dealt with as if the person was at the age that the trauma occurred. There has probably been a time when you have been in a confrontation with someone and said (or at least thought), "You're acting like such a child!" More often than not, that person had a trauma they suffered at a young age that was triggered in that situation. This causes them to revert mentally and emotionally at that moment to a younger age, and they act out in a childlike way as a result.

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In Nicole's case, she was repeatedly beaten and abandoned by her parents since birth and, since parents are our first relationships with people that are supposed to care about us, Nicole would push anyone away that didn't treat her like her parents did. She was very suspicious of anyone who was nice to her. When I was speaking with her, she recounted her past relationships using the terminology and logic of a three-year-old rather than that of a 20-year-old woman. She simply did not have the psychological development that she should have had for her age to process the nuances of a relationship. This made functioning in the world very difficult, but despite all of it, she was very determined to make her way. When I first spoke with her, she was finishing up massage school and knew that in order to work with people effectively, she had to somehow leave the past behind.

2. Get in a quiet place if you can, but in a pinch, just get quiet in your mind as much as you can. 3. Identify the emotion(s) you want to release. Say it out loud, if possible, as the intention statement: "I choose to release (emotion) and whatever it is attached to." If you have to say it in your mind, do so. 4. Next, envision the emotion(s) leaving your body. 5. You can take a couple of deep breaths to help. 6. When you envision the emotions coming out of your body and floating away, simply envision a gray-to-black or dull-colored cloud of energy or smoke that rises out of you and floats off. 7. The more relaxed you are, the easier this is to do. 8. Keep up the envisioning technique until you feel like the emotion has dissipated or you don't "see it" anymore. 9. Take a couple more deep breaths.

Healing Changes Everything As I began working with Nicole, teaching her how to release her buried emotions and heal her traumatic imprints, I saw a tremendous change in how she conducted herself in her life. Her decisions became less impulsive and more considered. Her moods stabilized, and she was able to put the traumatic breakup behind her. Through healing, she began to understand why her past relationship was such a traumatic loss; the guy she had been dating was very much like her biological father. She was seeking validation from her father through the relationship, and when it ended, she felt abandoned all over again. As she healed, she was able to make that connection, which helped her to process the traumas of her past and let her losses go.

WHEN TRAUMAS ARE HEALED, THOSE PARTS OF US THAT HAVE BEEN ARRESTED BY THEM START TO GROW UP. WE ARE THEN ABLE TO VIEW OUR LIVES AND OUR WORLDS THROUGH

When traumas are healed, those parts of us that have been arrested by them start to grow up. We are then able to view our lives and our worlds through an adult perspective rather than through the distortion of the traumatic imprint. As the traumas fall away, we are more capable of having healthy relationships and successful careers, and we can finally find happiness and satisfaction in our lives. Our traumas no longer control us. A Simple Technique This technique is from my new book, Feel Better in Five Minutes, and is a great way to empower you to begin releasing emotions in a new way. This is one of the many techniques I taught Nicole to help her heal. TECHNIQUE 7.3. ENVISIONING FOR EMOTIONAL RELEASE 1. Make a note of how much emotion is affecting you on a scale of 1–10. This will help you assess your progress with the technique.

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AN ADULT PERSPECTIVE RATHER THAN THROUGH THE DISTORTION OF THE TRAUMATIC IMPRINT

You can repeat this technique with additional emotions by stating other emotions that come to mind that you need to release. If you are still feeling "off," but nothing specific comes to mind, you can make a more general statement, such as, "I choose to release any other emotions that I need to let go of right now that are not in my best and highest good." Now repeat the envisioning technique: a gray-to-black or dull-colored cloud of energy or smoke that rises out of you and floats off. Doing this technique on a regular basis can help you start to peel away years of buried emotions.

Amanda Hainline is an emotional freedom mentor, intuitive healer, and author of the upcoming book Feel Better in Five Minutes — An Empowering Guide to Gain Control Over Your Emotions. She helps people find freedom from anxiety, depression, and stress through energy healing. Learn more at amandahainline.com.

WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT

Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati A Journey from Hollywood to the Himalayas

he journey from a dark and traumatic girlhood beneath the shadows of the Hollywood sign, to an enlightened spiritual leader, is recounted in the honest and compelling memoir, Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation by Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswat.

upbringing hid dark secrets about sexual abuse, depression, anxiety and bulimia. As expected of her, she excelled in her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and had worked most of her way through a Ph.D. program in psychology when, in the summer of 1996, her life unexpectedly changed forever.

Today, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati (Sadhviji) is one of the preeminent female spiritual leaders of our time and a renowned writer, speaker, and social activist. But few know how Sadhviji reached her spiritual awakening and found inner peace.

Her husband insisted they travel to India so he could continue his spiritual studies and find his guru. Sadhviji, who was a non-seeker, reluctantly agreed as she loved Indian food. In Rishikesh, India, the first city they visited, she had an unexpected, powerful, transformative experience standing on the banks of the sacred Ganga river, an experience of the Divine which brought her to her knees in tears.

Born to an upper middle-class Jewish family and raised among the glitterati of Hollywood, the veneer of Sadhviji’s glamorous 36 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

Knowing she was meant to stay on the banks of this sacred river, she was drawn to the ashram of Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh and asked permission to stay there. She was told no—she was a woman and a foreigner. The only way she could stay was with permission from the ashram’s president, a holy man whose arrival date was uncertain. Sadhviji knew she would stop at nothing and let nothing stand in the way of her staying there. After a week of twice-daily inquiries, Sadhviji finally met the president, H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji (Pujya Swamiji), a world-renowned guru to whom she was deeply, unexpectedly, and instinctively drawn. He granted her permission to stay at the ashram. Soon, Sadhvi admitted to Pujya Swamiji that she was filled with fear and anxiety due to her traumatic past. He asked her if she wanted to carry her pain to her grave—or choose to let it go. He told her to enter the

Today, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati serves as on the United Nations Advisory Council on Religion and on the steering committees of the International Partnership for Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) and the Moral Imperative to End Extreme Poverty, a campaign by the United Nations and World Bank. She is also the Secretary-General of the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, an international interfaith organization dedicated to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; president of Divine Shakti Foundation, a foundation that runs free schools, vocational training programs, and empowerment programs; and director of the world-famous

Ganga and give all her anger, pain, fear, and grudges to the river and let them be swept away. As skeptical as Sadhviji was, she agreed to follow his instructions. As Sadhvi stood in the waters, offering her pain and anger to the rushing waters of the sacred river and finding deep forgiveness within herself, she was transformed, imbued with the unshakable belief she was destined to walk a new path in life. She was willing to give up everything she knew and commit herself to understanding the nature of the divine and the path to happiness and fullness. This soon led to being ordained into the monastic tradition of sanyas by Pujya Swamiji. Although she thought she had come to India to please her husband and because she liked Indian food, it was Sadhviji’s destiny to find and walk this path to enlightenment.

International Yoga Festival at Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh—which has been covered in Time, CNN, the New York Times and other prestigious publications and has been noted by both the Prime Minister and Vice President of India. Sadhvi has lived for the past 25 years at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, India, where she oversees a variety of humanitarian projects, teaches meditation, lectures, writes, counsels individuals and families and serves as a unique female voice of spiritual leadership throughout India and the world.

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One day, as I walked through the ashram, I heard a clear, stable voice, a man’s voice, saying, “You must stay here.” I looked around to see who had spoken, but the pathway was empty. I looked up, and there was no one on the balconies above. If the voice had come from the central gardens, it would have had to be a shout, not the gentle voice I’d just heard. No one had spoken. If no one was around, there couldn’t have been a voice, I reasoned. I must have imagined it. So I kept walking. Thirty seconds later, I heard it again—a soft, calm male voice, as though spoken by a gentleman in the seat next to me on a plane or a train. “You must stay here.” Again, I looked, and the pathway and balcony were still empty. Meditative though I had become, I was sure I hadn’t lost my common sense. Clearly, if there was a voice, there had to be a speaker. If there was no speaker, there was no voice. The only people who heard voices were schizophrenics and Joan of Arc. My experiences since I had first laid eyes on Ganga had been expansive and whole, not the fragmentation of schizophrenia. I was not delusional. Yet, if I wasn’t delusional and I wasn’t Joan of Arc, who had spoken? No one was there, so no one had spoken. I could not have heard a voice. Then I heard another voice, recognizably my own. It said, speaking in the authoritative, commanding second person to which I was accustomed, You are about to ignore a very strong sign. You are about to pretend that you didn’t hear a voice, just because it doesn’t make sense. You’re free to do that. But it is a violation of your vow to keep your heart open. You promised you would keep your heart open to any signs of why you came to India. You promised that if you couldn’t keep your heart open,

you would leave. The internal reproach continued: So, if you are going to pretend that you didn’t hear a voice, you must go back to Delhi and get on a flight home to San Francisco. You cannot break your own vow. I was not in the mood to navigate a return trip to Delhi or to leave India yet. Along with the ecstasy, I was fighting a cold. I had, therefore, one choice. Conceding to my own ultimatum, I walked off the central pathway and onto a smaller pathway in the Parmarth Niketan ashram toward a large sign with OFFICE painted on it in English. “I would like to stay here,” I told the man behind the counter. He and three other gentlemen sat cross-legged on a thin mattress behind a low wooden desk. He did not respond; he just looked at me. “Excuse me. I would like to please stay here,” I repeated, slower and louder, careful to enunciate my words. He continued to stare at me. Was I actually speaking? Were my lips making sound, or was I imagining this as well? Is it possible? Can I stay here? How much does it cost?” He continued just to stare at me—not the kind of lascivious stare that makes you feel naked; he just stared as though it were too much trouble to move his eyes away. He clearly had no intention of responding. I turned to the other two men. They immediately busied themselves shuffling papers from one side of the desk to the other. “Excuse me, please.” I tried again.

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“Can I please stay here?” One of the paper-shuffling men rose and returned a moment later with a fourth man, who spoke to me in English. “You want to stay here?” he asked. “Yes, please,” I gasped, grateful for someone who spoke at all and doubly grateful it was English. “There is nothing for you here,” he responded matter-offactly. “All of our programs are in Hindi. Even the yoga classes are in Hindi. There is nothing in English. Also, you must get up early in the morning for the five o’clock prayer ceremony, and that is also in Hindi. You should go to the ashram down the road. They have classes in English.” “Oh, thank you so much.” I walked quickly out of the ashram, excited to tell Jim that I had found a place with classes in English, and equally pleased to ignore the implication of the mysterious voice I had heard. When we arrived at the ashram further downriver, I immediately felt repelled. This was not where I was supposed to be. They did have a full day’s activities in English—yoga, meditation, philosophy—but I needed to get back to Parmarth Niketan. The voice had become a rope pulling me back. I hurried back to Parmarth Niketan and pleaded with the man in the office who spoke English, “I will get up at any time that you say. I will sit through whatever you say I need to sit through, whether I understand it or not. It doesn’t matter. I just want to stay here. Please.” “Actually,” he replied, “we do not have the authority. You are a girl, and you are a foreigner. You can only stay here with permission from our president.” “OK, great. No problem. Please let me meet the president so I can ask him.” “Actually, he is out of town.” “Oh,” I replied, my heart sinking a bit. “When will he return?” “Maybe tomorrow,” the tall man replied. “Great. I will come back tomorrow.” I had not read the section in the India guidebook that explains that people in India, and especially in the service class, will tell you whatever they think you want to hear. Truth is less important than goodwill, and the highest goal is to keep you happy: “Is my faucet fixed?” “Oh, yes, Ma’am, faucet is fixed.” You’re happy to hear this news, so his goal is accomplished.

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HOLLYWOOD TO THE HIMALAYAS is her fascinating story, detailing her time of learning, sacrifice, unbridled joy, deep challenges, ecstatic experiences, and peaceful contentment in India as well as her meaningful international work as a faith leader in the development sector, planting and nourishing seeds for peace, focusing on world health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and the rights and empowerment of women and girls. All proceeds from the book will be donated to the Divine Shakti Foundation a charitable organization dedicated to women, girls, and education.

MEDITATIVE THOUGH I HAD BECOME, I WAS SURE I HADN’T LOST MY COMMON SENSE. CLEARLY, IF THERE WAS A VOICE, THERE HAD TO BE A SPEAKER. IF THERE WAS NO SPEAKER, THERE WAS NO VOICE.

Buddha Board

This blank slate offers you a chance to paint away the daily stressors that sap us of our creativity and energy without needing a long list of supplies or a lengthy chunk of time. Simply grab your board when things start to get overwhelming and let the act of putting brush to tablet absorb your focus. Water “paint” in the abstract, make a picture, or give shape to your feelings. As the water evaporates you’ll be left with a clean slate and a clearer mind.

Buddha Board Highlights:

• Designed with a sleek, modern aesthetic • Reusable • Quick to set up • Painting is truly MESS FREE • Encourages mindfulness • Doesn’t add to your digital footprint • Taps into your creative side • Fun for all ages • Helps kids explore the creative process judgment free • Perfect for relieving stress at home, in the office, or when traveling • Original Buddha Board measures 12” x 9.5” x 1/4”

Take care of yourself, and you’ll help take care of the world with a little help from Buddha Board 41 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

Abundance Corner By Phyllis King

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The

Dance ofDuality

& THE JOURNEY OF BEING HUMAN

When we are born into the world, a compassionate mind suggests that we shower a baby with love, embrace its uniqueness and give all measure of support we can to bring that child to a healthy and wealthy life existence. Common sense would say this is the formula for a “good” life and to become a well-adjusted human being. Human beings strive to live pain-free life. It is not possible to do, but the goal is often to avoid pain at all costs. In the human experience, the definition of happiness is pleasure and comfort. Does happiness truly come from pleasure and comfort? I am not knocking well-adjusted human beings or pleasure and comfort. But for those who have lived in angst, devastation, and pain, I wonder what would inspire great art and

music. I wonder where we would find inspiration to be our best selves or know the nature of ourselves more deeply. I think of Anne Frank and her experience hiding from the Nazis, showing such courage and resourcefulness. How can one not be inspired? I think of Victor Frankl imprisoned by Nazis, yet he provided some of the most inspiring and enriched written works anyone can read, including Man’s Search for Meaning. The depth to which examples such as these provide us, and many more whose names we do not recognize, is priceless and useful and, yes, inspiring. We could argue that, but for these horrific experiences, the beauty that emerged from these examples would not have emerged.

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As a classically trained musician, I have often reflected upon Beethoven. It was after he lost his hearing that critics suggested he wrote his best works—what an incredible thing to consider—gifted with prodigious musical talent yet unable to hear the beauty of his own creations that have provided so much joy and fullness to millions of lives, for now, hundreds of years. I remember my colleague, Dr. Wayne Dyer. I was fortunate to co-author a work with him. Wayne was in nine different foster care homes during his childhood. Extraordinary difficulty and trauma. Still, he became one of the most highly regarded thought leaders of our generation. He contributed so much to spiritual understanding and expansion. The path he had to walk to develop into a spiritual leader and teacher was one most of us would shudder even to imagine.

EVERY DANCE IS UNIQUE TO THE INDIVIDUAL. IT IS A DANCE. WE DO GRACEFULLY OR STUMBLE THROUGH IT. THERE IS NO RIGHT WAY. IT SERVES US WELL TO REGARD OUR INTERACTION WITH LIFE AS SUCH TO KEEP IT IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE. THINK ABOUT YOUR DANCE. When we consider these ideas of loss, trauma, tragedy, and pain but see what they can produce, how do we reconcile the question of happiness? Where does happiness really come from? Is it truly from a painless existence? Is it from comfort? Or does it come from the ability to grow beyond the pain that life inevitably gives to but still allow the majesty of life itself to dominate our awareness and point of view? In this idea, we become stronger and full of dimension. When we see the challenges of life as opportunities to grow into the fullness of our being, it suggests we have trust in life itself. We understand and recognize the interconnectedness of all things. This phenomenon of understanding is what I refer to as the Dance of Duality. We recognize that we are more than a body flopping around on the rock we call Earth and that experience is a teacher, nothing more. Yet, we must balance that existential awareness with the very real truth that we have a human experience. That experience can be scary, difficult, painful, and traumatizing. The difference appears to be in our ability to develop a framework within which we put meaning to our most difficult experiences. In that practice, we foster joy, inspiration, and strength no matter what situation we face. 44 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

An article in Psychology Today, which studied happiness, and getting what we want, said that when we get what we want, the average time we feel happy about it, depending upon the thing, is roughly 20 minutes. Other achievements may last up to a week. Achievement does not make us happy. This article makes the point that real sustenance and joy come in the pursuit and development of inner selves. The inner mastery we must achieve to realize something we think we want us to feel happy. I paraphrase now the famed leadership guru, Jim Rohn, who said, “everyone should become a millionaire. Not for the money itself but for who you have to become to get there.” It does not matter what we want to improve or have in our lives. It can be more well-being, a Ferrari, a partner, or a vacation. When the pursuit is complete, what remains is our state of being, our point of view. This includes our inner narrative, which always tells the truth about our life relationships and what we believe creates happiness. In the dance of duality, we can still pursue wants, needs, and goals. The greater pursuit is to learn to be happy at the moment we are in while we get to our goals. This is what Anne Frank and Victor Frankl and Beethoven and Wayne Dyer taught us. Every dance is unique to the individual. It is a dance. We do gracefully or stumble through it. There is no right way. It serves us well to regard our interaction with life as such to keep it in proper perspective. Think about your dance. Name it. Own it. Allow it to help you emerge into the unfolding journey of your life.

Known as the Common Sense Psychic (tm), Phyllis King has worked with tens of thousands of peoplein 25 countries. She is known for her practical and down to earth approach. She has been featured on, ABC, CBS and NBC TV, radio programs across the country, and has been published in over 70 print and online publications. She has four books, including Bouncing Back, Thriving in Changing Times, with Dr. Wayne Dyer. Her latest book The Energy of Abundance is available in bookstores now. Phyllis holds a B.A. in Sociology. www.phyllisking.com

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Oteas

he world produces more than 380 million tons of plastic waste every year, with 50% of it in single-use plastic (like food packaging). And this number is set to double in less than 15 years! As the president of Oteas, a zero-waste tea company that uses plant-based materials, we understand that it can be challenging for businesses to make the necessary changes in order to remove plastic from their products. But as a small tea company, if we can do it, anyone else can. We prove that you can make great products for consumers without contributing to our world's plastic waste crisis. This plastic is seeping into our oceans, our soil, and even our own bodies. Plastic products provide a few moments of convenience and a millennium of waste and health issues. We cannot continue at our current pace without destroying our planet. This July, we celebrated Plastic-Free July, where consumers had to challenge themselves to avoid single-use plastics for an entire month. While that is a great initiative, and we salute them, the onus is still on the consumers and not the producers of plastic waste.

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COMPANIES DON’T HAVE TO BE WASTEFUL Great Taste & Far Less Waste

Corporations have often complained that there were no feasible ways to stop using single-use plastics. Indeed, we have seen a significant rise in single-use plastics during the pandemic. More than three billion face masks are estimated to be discarded daily during the pandemic, adding to the billions of pieces of plastic already in our environment. We are producing so much waste. Our consumer-driven lifestyle demands cheap and convenient STUFF. And it's not even things that we truly value. Did you know that of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic produced, more than 90% has ended up as waste? We demand so much, and yet we do not even want it! So much of it ends up in the ocean. One million marine animals are killed by plastic waste each year. Our addiction to plastic is driving marine wildlife to the brink of extinction, If we want a world for our children, we as consumers need to be willing to do things like using reusable metal or glass containers instead of plastic. That does not like too much to ask. Does it? It's terrible for our health. A single tea bag can release 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nano plastics into your cup of tea. Microplastics are found in many animals and in our bodies. Chemicals in plastic are lowering the fertility rates in men and women across the board. Exposure to plastic has also been linked to metabolic disorders such as obesity. We also know that obesity can lead to myriad health issues, from heart disease to stroke to increased cancer risk. Therefore, we are destroying the environment, causing mass extinctions, and hurting our own health all with one material! Greenwashing has masked the real problem. While many consumers are now actively seeking sustainable products, many companies have made it much harder to make green choices. Greenwashing allows brands to present themselves as sustainable when they are really not. Many brands note their plastic is recyclable, yet only 9% of all plas-

tic produced ever has been recycled. Products that are called "green" and "earth-friendly" give off the impression that they are biodegradable. In reality, they are still going to end up in a landfill for more years than we have to give. Other brands take half measures. Many large beverage companies use a small percentage of sustainable materials or only use them in specific markets while still using new plastic for much of the product. For example, other tea companies make biodegradable tea bags but then still use plastic in their packaging. And again, it is possible to eliminate plastic completely. We use zero plastic at Oteas it can be done, and it does not hurt your business!! Brands are taking the lazy way out and using marketing slogans and misinformation to fool consumers into thinking they are not contributing to more waste than they are. And the sad thing is they do not have to. Zero waste plastic is real. We have the technology to produce zero-waste plastic right now. In fact, here at Oteas, all of our tea bags are completely compostable. We are a zero-waste company, and we are not alone. Companies such as Metabolix are creating biodegradable and compostable plastic. It can be done. Companies have to invest in the new technology, and there are expenses, but many of these companies have billions of dollars in revenue. We are a small company with limited resources and were able to do this and be profitable. If we can do it, there is no excuse for anyone else. Being wasteful is a choice. This Plastics-Free July, we should think about the choices we make. Are we purchasing single-use products like bottles of water? Or are we making small steps to have a better world? We should demand companies to take a look at themselves. We know they could do more – we are proof of that. And if they do not take the necessary steps, we need to demand it. Our planet and our children deserve nothing less. We are proud to be doing our part at Oteas, but we will not solve this alone. 47 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

WHAT

GETS BETTER

WHEN YOU'RE OLDER? Photo by DHAYA EDDINE BENTALEB

Photo by NIKOLAS NIKOLIC

By Aukje Kapteyn

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Here is a new generation of grandparents leading the way these days – it is one filled with wisdom as well as restlessness in response to the world around them. They have the vantage point of life experience while at the same time still being a student of modern-day technology, social media, and current modes of communication. To help address these newfound challenges while staying grounded and present, wellness counselor, author, and grandmother of seven, Aukje Kapteyn, has released her new book Grounded Grandmothers. “I wrote this book to reach an aging population who struggles with purpose and meaning while navigating limitations, losses, and the challenges of a very quickly changing world,” said

Kapteyn. “My book is also for those who want to be relevant and impactful while finding calm within and renewing a sense of fulfillment. Furthermore, this generation seems to have a need to enhance a real connection to both the natural world and the generation that is now growing up in it.” Kapteyn utilizes meditation, journaling and Bioenergetic exercises and other processing techniques to enhance the reader’s grounding while integrating the spiritual and sensual. Through new perspectives filled with humor and down-to-earth guidance; the book presents stories, anecdotes, and reflections and each chapter has a section on practical exercises to help the reader move forward. 49 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

t becomes a strange, unsolicited focus of everyday life to contemplate all the things in our lives and with our bodies that seem to work less well as we age. It is kind of depressing to think that nothing gets better; everything gets worse as we get older. I do not believe that is true. Things that were once important are less so now. Yes, some things are uncomfortable, embarrassing, even unappealing, and unfortunately, those are the things most noticeable by others and even more so by ourselves. I’m thinking of physical things. It takes effort to maintain fitness, continence, facial appearances, clothes that fit right and look good. And even then, with effort, we can’t always stay ahead. Then there are those moments of brain fog, slowed-down reaction time; our jokes come out way past the optimum timing. It is hard not to bemoan those losses. While staying fit and doing what we can to remain mentally astute and alert, we do lose ground, and that can be hard to accept. While we’re experiencing a detachment from these skills and characteristics that used to define us, we now have an opportunity to prioritize new ways of being that we might not yet see as being profound and powerful. There are two areas where we are challenged to be more than we ever were: emotional maturity and spiritual transformation. I watched in appreciation that when my mother aged mentally and in physical mobility, she would still want to be close enough to her great-grandchildren to watch them play. My mother was always interactive with her grandchildren with games and activities, and now we found her quietly watching the little ones. I was not sure at first whether this quiet, almost imperceptible watching filled her with nostalgia or not, but soon I saw that it was deep contentment that settled over her, and I believe it settled over all of us. Her need to be seen or noticed had disappeared, and her focus was like a mist of light that came from a loving beingness and not ego and thus had a profound effect.

What gets better is the way we show up— the role of ego and self-enhancement changes throughout our lives. As we get older, we hopefully have done some work to become more mature emotionally through honesty, congruence, and forgiveness. Her stuff did not get in the way of her love for us, and though it would be impossible to measure, her presence was palpably missing when she could no longer be there.

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We underestimate presence. It feels uncomfortable, unfamiliar – for me – when out for dinner with my young adult grandchildren, that the conversation no longer naturally includes my input. I find myself listening, observing, and taking in what is happening without a need to put in my two cents. (In fact, my two cents are as outdated as the Canadian penny.) It takes me a minute to be ok with that and not feel like my presence is not needed or wanted. I know it is wanted. It is a sense of calm and groundedness that prevails when our interactions are unassuming. There are other times when I’m with a grandchild, usually in a one-on-one get-together, where the conversation is deeply mutual and meaningful. What gets better is the way we show up—the role of ego and self-enhancement changes throughout our lives. As we get older, we hopefully have done some work to become more mature emotionally through honesty, congruence, and forgiveness. Now our ego can take a back seat as we are focussed on communication and presence that goes way beyond whatever witty or smart things we might need to add to a conversation. It is up to us to value our own presence because, at some level, it is already valued by those around us. We don’t need to try so hard. Trying is counterproductive. This leads us quite naturally to spiritual expansion. Our need to be seen, appreciated, or heard, changes to a need to love and to be compassionate. We begin to radiate love without effort, and as we do so, we first bask in our own acceptance and then generously endow others with this love. So yes, our spiritual awareness and spiritual health do get better. And the by-product of this process of detachment from what used to be important is that we are also physically and mentally OK with who we are. Self-acceptance is easier when our spiritual health is blossoming when our connection to spirit is grounded and unruffled. Slow, tranquil gratitude for life seeps into our very breath and bone. And then, what is even more spectacular, we experience joy. Aukje Kapteyn is a wellness counselor and 72-year-old author of “Grounded Grandmothers,” published by Balboa Press. She worked as a counselor for 32 years in private practice, at her retreat centre, and in Indigenous communities in Canada. Her passion is guiding others to self-empowerment to follow their paths. Kapteyn is also a mother of three and grandmother of seven and has published poetry, feature articles, short stories, and journal projects. For more info, contact her at aukje@ thejournalcoach.ca.

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Photo by DHAYA EDDINE

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Photo by DANE DEANER

Eco-Friendly Actions You Need to Be Doing at Home By Tara McFatridge Although the current condition of our planet can seem overwhelming at times, there are actions you...yes, YOU can take to start making a difference. For example, you might consider becoming an environmental activist or participating in a climate strike. You can volunteer to help clean up your local community. You can reach out to government officials or speak up/fight for environmental justice and equality. In all honesty, the number of actions you can take on behalf of the environment is almost limitless. We need a place to start, however. So, why not start at home? If you begin by doing some simple, eco-friendly actions around the house, you might find being 54 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

eco-friendly becomes almost second nature. Then, once that happens, it'll be easier for you to branch out and start doing other actions to help the planet. Let's get started! SOME OF THE ECO-FRIENDLY ACTIONS YOU CAN DO AT HOME Conserve Water Water conservation is a simple action we all can take to help make a difference starting right now. If you've been watching the news recently, you're probably well aware of the severity of California's drought. As such, the state is asking we all take steps to reduce our water consumption and help conserve wherever possible.

Some of the ways you can conserve water in your area, regardless of whether you think you're impacted by drought or not, include: Turn Off the Tap Many people have gotten into the habit of leaving the water faucet running while brushing their teeth, washing their hands, shaving, and more. According to the EPA, you can save close to 5,700 gallons per year just by remembering to turn off the tap. You should do the same when you're showering, too. Get your body wet. Turn off the water. Lather yourself up. Then, turn the water back on to rinse off. Limit Shower Time Limiting shower time is another way to avoid using too much water. You can also install an inexpensive aerator in the shower (and faucets) or a low-flow faucet to further reduce overall consumption. Reuse Grey Water Another easy way to conserve water is to put greywater to

good use. You can use it to flush your toilet, water your plants or irrigate your entire garden. If you do use greywater in your yard, you want to be aware of the soaps, shampoos, and cleaning products you use, so you don't end up adding toxins or chemicals into your local environment. Use Appliances Only When You Have a Full Load Dishwashers and washing machines should only be used when you have a full load. This will help conserve the amount of water used and save energy at the same time. Regularly Check for Leaks If you're looking to save money and conserve water, I recommend doing routine checks for leaks around the house. Check faucets, showers, under sinks, and anywhere water could be leaking. Keeping an eye on your water bill can also help identify excess water usage. Reduce Energy Usage Energy conservation goes hand in hand with water conservation. Fortunately, energy conservation is another action you can take from home starting right now. It doesn't require any tools or new purchases.

IF YOU BEGIN BY DOING SOME SIMPLE,

ECO-FRIENDLY ACTIONS AROUND THE HOUSE, YOU MIGHT FIND BEING

ECO-FRIENDLY BECOMES ALMOST SECOND NATURE.

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Adjust Your Thermostat Even if you don't have a smart thermostat, you can still adjust your thermostat to prevent your air conditioning unit from going on unnecessarily during the hottest hours of the day. The recommended temperature settings for summer are 78 degrees Fahrenheit when you are home and 10 degrees more when you are away. Turn Off the Lights When Not In Use Even though my kids have grown up hearing me say, "turn off the lights, please," every time they leave an empty room, I still find myself having to say it now and again. Fortunately, I don't have to do this as often as when they were little. The simple rule of thumb is, if nobody is in a room, the lights should be off.

Use Your Blinds to Help Naturally Control Heat and Light You can use your blinds to help naturally control heat and light. For example, I leave my living room and office blinds closed in the morning hours when the sun is hitting that side of the house. Then, I open the blinds to illuminate these areas during the remainder of the day naturally. This helps prevent too much heat from getting inside (and it's been hot here recently) and makes it so I can have natural light rather than paid-for electricity. Check For Air Leaks Even the most well-built homes can have air leaks. It's recommended you check your home for potential places where air could be leaking out. These leaks could prove costly in terms of energy consumption, as they can let warm or cold air in and vice versa. As a result, you could end up using more and paying more to keep your home at the ideal temperature. Eliminate Vampire Power Vampire power is another name for standby power. An easy way to reduce vampire power is to unplug items, not in use. You can also plug electronics into a power strip and then simply turn off the power strip when not in use.

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This can help save you money, reduce energy consumption and help the planet. Use Major Appliances Only During Off-Peak Hours Energy providers charge different rates throughout the day, depending on the demand and load. We recommend only using major appliances, like your dishwasher and washing machine, during off-peak hours. Not only can this help save you money, but it reduces the demand on the energy grid as well. Lower Overall Consumption Reducing your overall consumption can go a long way towards helping the environment. I'm sure many of you have made purchases in recent months you didn't really need. While it's nice to have new things now and again, it isn't always necessary. This doesn't mean you have to become a full-blown minimalist, but you should take a look at your own consumption and see what you can do to lower it. Shop Smart and Sustainably You can start by shopping smart and sustainably. Shop for the long-term as you'll produce less waste, and that's always a good thing for the environment. Be sure to do your research ahead of time and find companies focused on sustainable design and manufacturing. Shopping local is another way to support your community and reduce harmful emissions from shipping.

Repurpose and Reuse Before you decide to throw something away, try to figure out how you can either reuse it or repurpose it. Many items can be given new life if you simply take the time to figure out how. You can repurpose used towels and shirts into cleaning/dusting rags. You can take an old or broken chair and turn it into a planter for the garden.

Recycle You should always do what you can to avoid single- or one-use items, especially if they're made of plastic. Your goal is to avoid sending items to the landfill. So, if you can't repurpose or reuse them, then make sure it is recyclable. The less trash you generate, the better.

Grow Your Own Growing your herbs and vegetables is a wonderful way to minimize food waste. When you grow your own, you can pick the amount you need to use and leave the rest. Compost Don't Toss Many food items can be added to a compost bin or pile rather than being dumped in the trash. Some of the things you can compost are vegetables, fruits, peelings, bread, coffee grounds, tea leaves, egg shells, cooked plain rice, melon rinds and more. GOING ECO-FRIENDLY STARTS WITH A STATE OF MIND Even though going eco-friendly may seem like a chore to some, it will actually become more of a way of life. It all starts with a state of mind. Once you get yourself thinking about the positive and negative environmental impact your actions have, you'll find yourself making more eco-friendly choices on a day-to-day basis.

Minimize Food Waste According to Action About Hunger, more than 690 million people worldwide go to bed hungry each night. What makes this statistic even worse is that an estimated 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year. Needless to say, doing your part to minimize food waste is one of the most basic actions you can take for the planet and the people on it. Meal Planning Before Grocery Shopping One of the first steps in minimizing food waste is to do your meal planning before you go grocery shopping. This can help significantly reduce how much you buy at the grocery store and how much ends up getting wasted. Learn to Cook from Root to Stem You may not realize it, but many vegetables can be cooked and eaten from root to stem. You can make pesto out of carrot tops (aka carrot greens). Turnip greens, beet greens, broccoli stems, and more can all be used to either flavor recipes or be the focus of their recipe. Make Good Use of Leftovers If you do end up with leftovers, don't toss them. Please put them in the fridge or freezer and use them later. You can either reheat and eat or add the leftover ingredients to another dish. Both ways allow you to prevent food waste.

While this list is in no way complete, it does give you some activities to focus on and a place to start. You can also do things like eat less meat, plant a tree, make a pollinator garden, install a low-flow toilet, walk or bike instead of drive, use public transportation, invest in solar, and more. The key is to pick one eco-friendly action and go from there...each one makes a difference. Photos by: Artur Rutkowski, Alex Block, Nadine Shaabana, Clever Visuals, Matthew Hamilton, Superkitina, Hamza Javaid and Annemarie Grudën As the Editor-in-Chief of Biofriendly Planet Magazine, Tara McFatridge has been a nature-lover her entire life. Being outdoors, and really anything green, is right up her alley. Since beginning her career with Biofriendly more than 10 years ago, her articles, the magazine, and the Twitter account have received multiple awards. Biofriendly Planet and its precursor (The Biofriendly Blog) have been used as a required reading resource in numerous university classes, and have been recognized among the most-influential eco-friendly sites including being listed recently as one of the Top 100 Eco Friendly Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2020. In addition, Tara was honored to be asked, along with only 364 others around the world, to be a contributor to the book "Global Chorus: 365 Voices on the Future of the Planet".

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RECLAMING YOUR TRUE SELF

Photo by JOSHUA RONDEAU

By Angela Dunning

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The

Courage to Change "Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light." ~Brené Brown

he courage it takes to willingly look at yourself and seek to change should never be underestimated.

Some of the bravest people are those who take themselves off to the therapists office week in, week out. Or to AA meetings, treatment centres, life coaches, or spiritual counselors. Yet, our culture doesn't support or even really acknowledge the immense bravery it takes to change old, harmful habits that wreak havoc on individuals' lives and those in their immediate lives. But also on wider society through the economic impacts of missed work, health services, police, prisons, and general societal problems. Yet, take it from one who's spent much of their adult life trying to come to terms with and move beyond the emotional neglect and harm I suffered as a small child: brave is the only word. What it takes to place yourself under the scrutiny of another's intense gaze and honestly and frankly assess how you are living takes a tremendous amount of courage and a willingness to be seen for who you are in all your glory and darkness. Great bravery is required to truly want to change and to embark on the lifelong process of becoming who you were truly born to be. To slough off the layers of conditioning, programming and falsity. This journey is definitely not for the faint-hearted, and most people never undertake this vital yet highly challenging task.

Wanting to actually change, to remove your layers of defence and pretence, requires not only courage but also the willingness to be humble. To step into humility, not know, assess yourself objectively and wisely, and allow others to give us feedback about how they experience us is a very uncomfortable experience. Again, most people aren't strong enough to endure such painful revealing and so stay blissfully albeit unhealthily within the confines of the person they have been molded into from a very young age. It is far, far easier to stay as you are and focus instead on external things, people, and objects than it is to plunge into your inner depths where goodness knows what is languishing in the dark and murky waters of psyche and soul. Undergoing psychological change requires us to undertake a very vulnerable process. We start to remove layers of defences, habits of behaviour, comfort zone layers, and coping mechanisms. If any of our crutches are also addictions, whether substance or behavioural, attempts to stop and change these through willpower alone are futile. As the wise addiction expert, Dr. Gabor Maté, says, iit is the pain beneath the addiction, the emotional suffering and longing to be loved and belong, which create and fuel our addictions, both of which are outside the reach of conscious will power alone. Therefore, we must tend to our emotional wounds, needs, and longing with great attention if we are ever to break these life and soul-destroying habits. Brené Brown talks a lot about how much courage is needed to be vulnerable; how brave we need to be, and how learning to be in the presence of others in our and their vulnerability is the key to healing, growth, and change, as well as to establishing more fulfilling connections and a life worth living.

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It takes risk, commitment, dedication, and great amounts of patience with ourselves to undergo this task. As well as revisiting our most painful old wounds and traumas, we also risk exposure to our dark, shadow side, our less pleasant aspects of our character and personality. We start to learn how to feel and express previously forbidden emotions, particularly anger at those who've hurt us when we were young, as well as the people in our lives currently. Carl Jung termed this journey "Individuation," and he was clear that it must involve facing our shadow and taking off our persona's many masks and revealing who we are beneath this; the ''us'' who got lost in all of the experiences of early childhood and a lifetime fitting in with society. He summed it up in this quote: "The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are." Change means change, and so it is not only hard work for us but also those around us as they have to start relating to us differently, and so for a time, change creates turbulence in our main relationships as we start behaving and relating differently, perhaps with more confidence and assertiveness than we ever previously have. All of this is challenging for the people in our lives, and many will want us to "change back"! But, we know the price we'd pay if we undid all of our hard work, and so sometimes change also means releasing old relationships and connections so that we may create a new life based on the changes we've worked long and hard for. Ultimately, embarking on inner change is the greatest act of self-care and self-love. There is no more important undertaking than facing ourselves and being willing to step into a place of vulnerability to do so. So if you are on such a path, applaud yourself, be kind and generous with yourself even if it feels like the change is happening at a frustratingly slow pace. And also, be kind to others on their path, as they too are inhabiting vulnerability each day. So a kind gesture of support can make all the difference to alleviating another's sense of isolation and struggle.

Photo by JOSHUA EARLE

Angela Dunning is a regular contributor to The Eden Magazine. She is the author of The Horse Leads the Way: Honoring the True Role of the Horse in Equine Facilitated Practice. Angela writes regularly on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thehorsestruth. You can learn more about Angela and her work helping people and horses at: www.thehorsestruth.co.uk.

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THE WAY I SEE IT By Joey Santos, Jr.

Photo by MARCOS PAULO PRADO

JUST CHECKING!

There's an old saying. "Check yourself before you wreck yourself". We've all heard it, but how many of us do it. If there were ever a time to do so, it's now. In every way, we should be taking accountability, thinking before we speak, thinking after we speak! Every night before I go to sleep, I replay my day. Did I give enough? Did I give too much? I think it's so important to review ourselves: reactions, overreactions, our manners or lack thereof, patience, kindness. Forget counting sheep. This can put one to sleep in no time or keep us up all night with regret. There are so many lessons presented throughout our lives. Some are taught to us by our parents, family members, friends, clergy, school. Others simply by living life. How many do we recall? More importantly, how many do we practice? Some believe that we will be judged or held accountable for our deeds here on earth at the end of our physical life, whether good, bad, or indifferent, and from there, our afterlife will be determined. Yikes! What a thought! Talk about something "keeping us up all night." No thanks. I much rather sort my deeds one by one by myself. Protect some, correct others but always take responsibility for them all and do my best not to repeat them - the bad ones anyway. Life comes at us from every direction constantly. Some days are great, some not so great. But I go with the adage, "Every day I spend above ground is a good day". If we all take more time in gratitude, we'll live better. We do have a choice each day on how we want it to go. I'm not saying we won't get hit by a bus in the process, but isn't it better to get hit by that bus while skipping and humming across the street than sitting on a curb brooding and feeling miserable? Let's face it, the things we don't know, we don't know. But, the things we do know are the things we can change, avoid or grow from. Our outlook is what helps us to look out - look out for that bus, look out for each other and look out for ourselves! Let's try and remember to set our standards each day. Set them high. Our behavior, our integrity, our spirit, our faith. Keep a sense of humor and keep time. Always keep our word and keep enough of ourselves for ourselves. That's called being self-full. This way, we will always have enough for someone else when and if they need it, and they won't have to ask for it. We'll already know and have it in hand.

Joey Santos is a Celebrity Chef, Life Stylist & Co-Host of The Two Guys From Hollywood Podcast on iHeart Radio. A Columnist for The Eden Magazine since 2016. Joey was raised in NYC, Malibu, and West Hollywood. He is the son of Film & Television Actor Joe Santos, and his Grandfather is World-Renowned Latin Singer Daniel Santos. To follow Joey on IG: @jojoboy13 To contact Joey; whynotjoe@gmail.com 63 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

THE

LA ART SHOW 2021

he most comprehensive international contemporary art show in America, the LA Art Show, was honored to officially kick off the city's 2021 art season at the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 29, 2021. This special Summer Edition--on the heels of the landmark 25th anniversary--took a closer look at some of the latest technological trends in the art world while still offering a traditional lens art from around the globe. In order to best cater to their loyal and large fan base, the LA Art

Sitting among the exciting additions and traditional staples was the return of DIVERSEartLA, an important and highly anticipated part of the show curated by Marisa Caichiolo. This part of the show was focused on the presence, contributions, research, and documentation of women and non-binary artists at the forefront of work at the intersection of art, science, and technology, represented by guest museums and institutions. The San Marcos Museum of Art (MASM) from Lima, Perú, by Peruvian artist Angie Bonino. "THE SYMPHONY OF NOW"

Art Museum of the Americas (AMA) has joined with a special project curated by Fabian Goncálves featured a compilation of material and an exhibition of the work of women artists who have played a central role in the development of new media practices throughout history and women and non-binary people whose forward-thinking practices are currently reshaping the field. The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center was a special project curated by Chon Noriega titled Immersive Distancing by LA-based artists Carmen Argoteand Zeynep Abes, which examined recent media art produced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The show had developed some unique programming to highlight some of the most exciting advancements in art, including AR, VR, and NFTs provided visitors a space to observe, learn, and enjoy. In addition to the design and more classic mediums the show was known for, the new programming was designed to expose people to something new and make digital art and technology more accessible. With this, the LA Art Show will be the first LIVE show to join the NFT conversation. 64THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

consists of a video installation and interactive sound installation was focusing on the Andean techno de-colonial shamanism. Museum La Neomudejar from Madrid brought _DATA |ergo sum RELOADED by artist Ana Marcos, an interactive art installation that visualizes the capability of viewing machines using artificial intelligence to extract data by simple observation of visitors.

Continuing the Los Angeles presence, Now Art LA and Building Bridges Art Exchange have joined forces as local non-profit organizations to exhibit the work Agua by Luciana Abait, a video projection created as part of the LUMINEX Project by Now Art LA. This work was inspired by the flood-myth motif that occurs in many cultures, in which water acts as a healing and rebirth tool, often referencing ideas of creation, purification, and sustaining life. The most unconventional and anticipated contribution to the section was Tiffany Trenda, a multidisciplinary performance artist known for exploring the female body's relationship to today's ever-changing technologies.

SUPERRARE Founded in 2017, SuperRare is a pioneering online, peerto-peer marketplace for premium, single edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs), most notably CryptoArt, built on the Ethereum blockchain. Created to reinvent art collecting for the digital age, SuperRare has facilitated artists and collectors around the world to sell and purchase more than $71M worth of art in the last year alone. On the heels of a the successful first round of funding in 2021, SuperRare continues to work with key art curation and auction partners across the globe. Vellum LA, the first physical gallery for NFT-backed digital art in Los Angeles, launching in September, presents Sea Change, a physical NFT exhibition in partnership with SuperRare, the show's official marketplace partner. This exhibition featured work by new media and digital artists whose work embraces our inevitable technological immersion, exploring the metaverse's new language, materiality, and logic. The exhibition included Claudia Hart, Krista Kim, Marjan Moghaddam, and Itzel Yard (Ix Shells),

from Spain, In The Gallery from Denmark, and Gallery KITAI in Japan, to name a few. Citibank was a return from Virtual Gallerist Talks, a series of in-person and live-streaming events and discussions that highlighted some of the LA Art Show's most popular galleries.

LA ART SHOW The LA Art Show creates one of the largest international art fairs in the United States, providing an exciting, immersive, insider art experience to sponsors, their select guests, and VIP clients. The show attracts an elite roster of national and international galleries, acclaimed artists, highly regarded curators, architects, design professionals, along with discerning collectors. This innovative, exceptional cultural environment attracts executives and board members of Southern California businesses, state, county, and municipal government representatives, and leaders of the region's cultural institutions. Attendees are trendsetters, influencers, and alpha consumers who seek and demand the newest and the best in all areas of their lives—art, design, food, technology, and travel being specific. https://www.laartshow.com

Curated by Nxt Museum curator Jesse Damiani and StandardVision curator Sinziana Velicescu, the artworks exhibited on StandardVision's LumaCanvas displays explicitly developed for Sea Change and designed to be the first-ever collector/museum-grade digital art display canvases. The 2021 roster had some of the LA Art Show's favorite galleries: Arcadia Contemporary, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Simard Bilodeau Contemporary, and Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery from London for the lineup of Modern + Contemporary. The show was once again had an international presence with the Pigment Gallery returned

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The Healthstyle Emporium Sasha Gary

Climate change is real

and is happening

now!

All of the different weather patterns that have occurred in the last few months

HAVE BEEN UNREAL

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hat is climate change? Climate change describes a change in the average conditions such as temperature and rainfall in a region over a long period of time. The earth's climate is always changing, but it has increased significantly in recent decades. Carbon is stored all over the planet. It is plants, the ocean, in the soil. Human beings release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning coal, oil, and using gas. When we deforest and cut down trees destroying the wetlands and rainforests. All of that carbon dioxide builds up and creates a greenhouse effect. The energy of the sun gets trapped, and the earth's temperature rises. In 2019 the earth was the warmest year on record. You should care or start to care because of the freeze in Texas, the devastating fires in California, which have double since 2020. The extreme flooding in Pennsylvania, where it rained 11 inches, and residents had to leave their homes, the fires in Oregon, and the heat waves on the West Coast! And the water reservoirs have reached an all time low. What does the future of climate change look like for us? Worsening air quality, rising prices for certain products, seasonal allergies, and my biggest water supply concern. Sea levels will rise, and hurricanes will become stronger. More droughts and heatwaves. Diseases like E. coli bacteria and pandemics are stronger than those we are currently dealing with and are just the beginning. As I write this article, 17 million gallons of sewage have been dumped into our ocean! The industry pollution affects us right in our backyard. How will this affect our ecosystem? Our children playing in the water? Is this a public health alert that can bring diseases to us all? Where does that sewage go? This is an unfolding story and event, and the public was not told it even happened, and they continued to waddle and wade in waste! There is a difference between the terms Climate Change and Global Warming! Global warming refers to the earth's rising temperature, and Climate change includes the warming and the side effects of warming like these disasters that are occurring. These two terms are used interchangeably but differ in meaning. There is a lot you can do to reduce your carbon emissions. We all need to help the planet NOW! You can commute, carpool or use mass transit. You

can power your home with renewable energy with solar power, and some utility companies offer wind or solar energy. You can reduce your water waste in your home by taking shorter showers, turn off the water when you brush your teeth, which my father always made us do as kids. He was very environmentally friendly. You can grow your own food as I do with my Tower Garden, which saves water, doesn't use as much water, and reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. Or grow in your own garden. Make dinners that are meat-free at least 2-3 nights a week. There are so many delicious alternatives to choose from. Buy energy-efficient light bulbs. LED lightbulbs use 80% less energy than regular bulbs. Drive a fuel-efficient car! There are so many amazing options to enjoy on the road. Hybrids, fully electric vehicles, and will be the norm and cut back on emissions. The earth has its own frequency of 7.83 hertz. When people are exposed to this level of hertz by connecting to the earth in nature, grounding in harmony will feel the benefits of body rejuvenation, less stress, balance. The next time you go to the park and take off your shoes, you know you will be connecting to Mother Nature. An amazing film to learn more about climate change is David Attenborough and Johan Rockstrom's documentary Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet. We can all do our part to make this beautiful planet, Gaia, Mother Earth, a beautiful place to live for our children and us. We are all connected! It's not too late!

Sasha Gary is Gratitude Life Coach. actress, and writerin The Healthstyle Emporium www.theHSE.net. at is a 16 week online health program for women that shows you how to implement small sustainable changes one by one to help you with whole food nutrition, self-love and a conscious movement. Sasha is a yogi of 25 years, a crystal healer, and an avid sound bowl meditation participant and lives in Venice California! 69 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

Photo by AZHAR

Excerpt from The Luminous Landscape of the Afterlife

Death &

Transition By Matthew McKay, Ph.D.,

Here is no better source of information on death and the afterlife than someone who has died and lives in spirit. Channeling his late son, Jordan, psychologist Matthew McKay offers a post death guide for the living, revealing in vivid detail what to expect when we die and how to prepare for the wonders of the afterlife. Specifically describing the transition experience and the early stages of the afterlife, including how to navigate each stage, Jordan shows how death is a fluid realm of imagination and invention, a luminous landscape created entirely of consciousness. He explains how a soul that has newly crossed over is an amnesiac, arriving without senses, a nervous system, and all that has anchored us to the world. Jordan details how to navigate without a body, how we learn and grow in the spirit world, and how to release anxiety about the end of life and instead view it as another stage of being. He shows that the inferno described by Dante is an optional nightmare caused by thought projections that overwhelm the newly transitioned soul, and he reveals that the bardos are where souls who are beset with fear and false beliefs spend time learning and recovering. Providing profound relief from the fear of death, as well as exercises to prepare you for navigating and communicating in spirit, Jordan’s message reveals how love is the bonding element that holds all of consciousness—and the afterlife—together. He also documents the unbreakable bond between the living and the dead and teaches the skill of channeling, allowing you to connect to loved ones who have passed.

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hen I finished Jordan’s life review, I was led to a passageway of light. Other passageways branched out as intervals as I began to move, but they didn’t feel familiar. Hallways leading to city-size collections of soul families flashed by, and sometimes I had a brief curiosity about where they led. A passageway to my left, appearing exactly like the others, nonetheless had a familiar energy pattern. It was like a place on Earth that has a familiar, unmistakable smell. I turned. Now there were other souls going in the opposite direction. I knew I was close to home. If you think of each soul as a point of light, the spirit world is a vast array of such lights. It has far more lights than the population of Earth because souls reincarnate to so many other planets and dimensions. And there are souls who have never incarnated, souls who have completed their incarnations, and souls who cluster to create, who are the source, who turn knowledge into energy and matter. You might think of the spirit world as a gigantic brain, with each cell (soul) located in a particular place and performing a particular function. This brain contains all of consciousness, all of the thought, all that has been learned, all creativity, and all love. This brain--the spirit world--is collective consciousness, all that is.

I was home. But all that I had loved and learned as Jordan was still alive in me. Jordan Describes What’s at the Gate The landing place lies at the gateway to the world of spirit. It’s not an actual location, like on a map, but an energy field reserved for calming and instructing incoming souls. It’s like orientation when you go to college, but in this case, the focus is on adjusting to being discarnate--no sensory or nervous system, no functional limbs. While you often still have the residual shape of a body, it is made of energy vibrations, not matter. The problem is projection. In spirit, whatever you think or feel or believe can show up as very real-looking images. Remember my experiences of seeing everything I thought about--elephants, waterfalls, monsters? That’s typical. Souls can get stuck for periods of time in bardos thinking they are still on Earth, hallucinating their house, work setting, and friends. They can make up whole dreamlike scenarios with elaborate plots, dramatic crises, and surges of intense emotions.

I was now heading back to my region--my town and my family. And as I drew closer, the familiar energy and vibrational patterns were like the rooflines and storefronts on Main Street of one’s hometown. My soul group, the farm, appears to live in an old Victorian house. This isn’t a physical house, but the energy we project--by agreement--to resemble a house. We create the image that is comforting to us--much the same as souls who incarnate as water creatures might project a quiet lake or bay.

Each caressed me with a particular expression of love. Though my incarnation was expected to be short, I was held in a kind of group embrace to soothe the sudden loss of my Jordan life. They were telling me it was a good life, a life well-lived. Each soul with a signature and unique energy looked at me, saw the true nature of who I am, and offered a love that can only come from such knowledge. All the loneliness of my life on Earth was suddenly gone.

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Photo by DINO REICHMUTH

They were all waiting for me, just outside the door, appearing as they looked in our most recent shared life. Eleven of them, and I make twelve. There was also a scattering of souls from nearby families--souls with whom I’ve experienced significant lives.

Meditation to Prepare for the Landing Place We suggest recording this, with pauses where indicated and listen daily. To begin, select a talisman, a small object that connects you in some way to the feeling of love. It could be something that represents or belonged to a loved one on the other side. It could symbolize God or infinity or a higher power or the love of all there is. Choose the object, and you can use it whenever you do the meditation. Here’s the meditation: • Touch or look at your talisman. • Notice your breath. Say to yourself, “In” on your in-breath and “Out” as you exhale. • Continue to watch your breath, keeping your attention there as much as possible. (Long pause) • Now and then, briefly check your thoughts. Notice, whatever they are, that they exist in your mind. They are not real in the world. Acknowledge whatever you’re thinking as a thought - “There’s a thought,” you can say to yourself. • After briefly noticing your thoughts, return to your breath. Go back and forth: thoughts - breath - thoughts - breath . . . Accept the thoughts as something your mind needs to do and then just let go of them. Return to your breath. • Now, become aware of your feelings. Notice any emotion you have right now. Just observe it. It may feel strong or not so strong. After a while, it will change. • Go back to your breath. In and out. • Notice your thoughts; they are in your mind and not in the world. • Notice your feelings. • Watch the in and out of your breath. • Your thoughts • Your feelings • Your breath. In and out. • Again, be aware of your talisman, your connection to love. Bring love into awareness-of a soul or God or all there is. Hold the love as best you can. Listen to the love as you would sound or picture it or feel it in your body. Feel you are part of the love, one with it. Feel it connect you to all. Let yourself expand to be love, to be part of all.

Matthew McKay, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, professor of psychology at the Wright Institute, cofounder of Haight Ashbury Psychological Services, founder of the Berkeley CBT Clinic, and cofounder of the Bay Area Trauma Recovery Clinic, which serves low-income clients. He has authored and coauthored more than 40 books, including The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook and Seeking Jordan. The publisher of New Harbinger Publications, he lives in Berkeley, California

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Photo by MADDI ESCREATION

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Enlightenment,

its DANCING

DIAMONDS in the SKY By Jayita Bhattacharjee

hat lies as a dormant seed in your deeps cracks open under the showering of his blissful light, and we uncurl as the light penetrates gracefully into the hearts of our slumbering darkness. The universe is vast in its fathomless beauty, and we are intricately entwined with each other to be a part of that creation. The time has come to burst forth your inner seed that holds a thousand virtues of divinity. Herein flows your evolution as the seed begins to germinate in the sunrise of your soul. You come out of our self-created cages of security that touch you with the solace of familiarity. In a moment of truth, life is stirred in the sea of our souls, and we are never ever the same. The journey of expansion embarks upon the grounds of our hearts. As the glimpse of timelessness has reckoned in the realm's four minds, our spirits find their way in the soaring to the mighty heights of the limitless joys that sing in the firmament. For all the smiles and tears that life gives us, may we find it in our hearts to touch the beauty of this life that God showers on us! As we behold on the manifold glimpses of an eternal mysticism through the eyes of our heart, we twinkle as dancing diamonds in the sky of humanity! The light sheds on the myriad divine aspects of our inner

being, and gradually the unfurling of our inmost wings begins in the holiness. We breathe in the sacred breeze, fill our spirits with love and compassion. As we inhale that air, our hearts get pierced by the stars of joy shining on a horizon of far-stretching darkness. But it is the seemingly vast expanse of darkness that awaits the light of joy, the vision of peace as the tunes inside keep singing nearby. As the manifold experiences manifest in our lives, our spirits get fortified, and somewhere from inside, we find the courage to release our knots of the heart and unfold in every way wrapped in the soul's sacred light. The light of life washes our spirits in holiness so pure that purity engulfs our souls with solace and empowerment. As enlightenment strikes in a moment of truth, the abundant possibilities are embraced with a silent heartwarming inspiration. We venture into the unknown miles ahead of us to taste the bliss of life! It is the many passages of life that create us, shaping us into who we are today. We penetrate through the enclosed vision of life and reach out for an all-encompassing beauty, embrace the desires and sacred dreams that will take us to the portals of wisdom which is the finest cut. 75 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

The true path to the ultimate happiness is to be able to sing with the stars twinkling in the sky. To commune with the rustlings of the leaves, with the silence of nature dropping its bliss. To tune in to the song of this earth in a rhythm, to joyously sing the song of jubilation, humming in the heart of nature. The mountains have something to tell us. Let us give them our listening ears. The dewdrops dancing on the edge of petals have a love to share with our souls. Let us make the music of love with those drops so abundantly from the lap of nature! That drop of dew, that ray of a golden sun all melt in our deeps to form an eternal soul, one that gushes a fountain flowing ceaselessly through the heart of nature and all the living souls on this singing earth. The human flower breaks out from the bud and reaches its blissful blossoms in the harmonious tunes that nature playfully sings to our ears. And we are in a sacred dance, wrapped in the skin of light as enlightenment has shed the ageless streaks deep inside of us. We tremble in the shuddering joy of a sacred discovery, one that takes us to the gates of heavenly enlightenment. The overflowing blessings of spring flood our hearts that make us drop the garb of self-consciousness and ego, and we bask in the light dripping through the windows of our souls.

existence, it opens a thousand portals for us where miracles come penetrating through. Existence dances as we dance; it sings as we sing. We ride the waves of joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure together. Moving into the clouds of this heavenly existence and immersing ourselves in the holy joy of merging, there we feel a sacred delight of commingling. Our soul's commune, the harp strings of our heart play together, and we form a song, of a cosmic interweaving, a connection that transcends the boundaries and takes us to the limitless fields of a hearty delight mingled with an earthly aroma, a cosmic fragrance. And there it diffuses in the breeze, the holy fragrance of a bonding. The sacred glowing light that comes from the dormant seeds of unconditional love leaves us as we are flowering beneath the divine sun, shining from the heaven above. A thousand promises that the light holds in the sky above, an escape from the earthly desires, give a ripening to the bud inside our souls. Each day brings its own basket of love silently waiting to be unwrapped. Instead of clinging to yesterday's pain and sorrow, we open our eyes to the vision of a sacred wonderment that comes as a new day dawns with a new promise of its own.

They flow endlessly at all the seasons of our souls. We inhale as they inhale. We exhale as they exhale. And a divine love drops its bliss musically on this earth. We are entwined with one another, all being a part of a greater whole. As one cries, the existence cries. And as one smiles, the existence blossoms in a smile of wholeness. Our souls are interwoven intricately with one another to weave a holy interconnection, one that can stand the test of time. This whole creation streams in its gentle flow through us as we flow through it. Moving into the heart of this creation, the core of this

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Photo by ROSANIO JANZA

We face the sunrise in the hearts of our innermost beings, and eternally, we are bathed in its light that has dawned on us to bring a blissful transformation, to carry us from our ego-selves to a divine being clothed in a garment of pure enlightenment. We learn the art of dropping the ego and touch the blissful grace of being egoless. This art we master when we realize our souls are getting suffused with the beauties of loving, touching kindness. The gentle waters of the river are running through our hearts, and the trees are standing in a splendid green, their leaves are rustling in a glorious delight, the hills, orchard groves are making their silent songs that know not how to cease.

Listen to its whispers. They waft in the breeze, an air of heavenliness. Come, let us suffuse ourselves with the fragrance of this bliss. In the transformation, you unfold yourself as a breaking bud under the light of these gentle blessings. The light of a promising sun, the clear cerulean above, the warbles of joy fluttering in the breeze, and we hear a call for the sacred blessings to nourish our souls with this bliss. You loosen your heartstrings at the human call in the wake of new dawn laden with the light of love. It unveils the inner flower of a bliss-dipped beauty, and you fly like a bird who has tasted the joy of unbounded freedom, the one that soars, jocund and shimmering in joy. The delicate blossoms of delight spread in the cerulean high above. Eternity is held in the sun of your heart as you behold the beauty of infinity in the melting rays of its light. The golden touch on the bosom of our joy calms the restlessness in an ocean of our hearts.

Our soul's commune, the harp strings of our heart play together, and we form a song, of a cosmic interweaving, a connection that transcends the boundaries and takes us to the limitless fields of a hearty delight mingled with an earthly aroma, a cosmic fragrance. From it arises the essence of love in its grace, one that longs to reach out and connect, touch, and feel the joy and sorrows of others. And so, the soul goes through the blissful journey of evolution. A song gently comes out, unheard, unsung for so long. When mercy and tenderness, pity and kindness blend in a beauty that is purely divine, strains of heart notes, a melody too sweet to go unheard, plays within, and our souls leap in a dance, a dance of love where compassion melts, and kindness streams in an unceasing flow. As we delve deeper into the beauty of a sacred portrayal, we search for the mystic secret within in a drowning silence and emerge as enlightened beings, radiating the holy aura of divinity, light streaming from the souls. We begin from within to be able to see an unwritten story, a story of silent compassion, as we turn the pages of a book of divinity written on our hearts. The richly ripe love in our hearts, desires for the vision of all that is, and the longings come welling and surging from

the mystic ocean of our hearts. The waves of intense yearning come crashing down the beach of serenity. And herein lies the vision of a heavenly tint on the far horizon. Some call it a sacred glow, and as the beauty radiates in its consecration, we call it the vision of Omnipresent, the nameless, placeless, the one and Almighty. He transforms our pain into joy, awaits the wisdom we need to learn, gifts the vision of a mystic seer that shines through our eyes. He is the embodiment of one love and one heart that flows through all. We discover it in the deepest ocean of our souls! God is in every blissful breath we take. And out of our sacred breaths, miracles shower and hence flows the rivers of spiritual awareness from our hearts. Let the light of soul shine, and may it illuminate all the darkness that prevails amidst the hearts of those who have lost the vision of divinity, the beauty of mysticism as we are the soul-searchers, the mystic seers, the dreamers, and the illuminated hearts with the sparkles of enlightenment. The sound of the heart becomes the music of soul with all the love that flows within, and the dance in ecstasy, drunk with the divine. Solitude becomes the sacred altar of meditation! A song of love, so it calls for a symphony of souls in the greater whole! A rebirth dawns inside as a thousand diamonds dance in the sky while enlightenment makes its profound strike.

Jayita Bhattacharjee was born in Calcutta, India and later on pursued education from University of Houston in Economics, she had chosen her career as a trustee and teacher. Her Indian residence is in the vicinity of the famous Belurmath. Currently, she is settled in Tampa, Florida. Her love for writing on a journey of heart and soul was hidden all within. Looking at the moments captured in love and pain, joy and grief, the hidden tragedies of life... it was a calling of her soul to write. Her books "The Ecstatic Dance of Life', " Sacred Sanctuary", " Light of Consciousness", "Dewdrops of Compassion" are meant to shed light on what guides a person to respond to the mystical voice hidden inside, to soar in a boundless expansion with the limitless freedom of spirit."It is in the deepest joy that I write with every breath of mine."

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Photo by KEVIN GENT

MY PERSPECTIVE on My Unconventional Upbringing Might

SURPRISE YOU By Stacey Aaronson

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While I was growing up in the 1970s, my little red Samsonite saw its fair share of use—weekends with my dad, moving with my mom to northern California in the third grade, flying back down to southern California every month for family visits, extended stays with my grandparents, the list goes on. Yet, bouncing between my mom, dad, and grandparents—despite what most people imagine—carried its own brand of ideal. Enveloped in the boundless love of all three, I got to grow up in three distinct environments, each with its own particular magic. From the outside, having teenage parents who were forced to marry, then divorced before I was one, tends to conjure a fault line zig-zagging across the foundation of my childhood. It certainly doesn't fit most people's image of "ideal," and for some kids, it might not be. Or is it merely perspective that edges a person to one side or the other of the fine line that delineates a fortifying vs. dispiriting upbringing? I recently received a moving note from a reader of my memoir, Raising, and Losing, My Remarkable Teenage Mother, telling me she was born close to the year I was and that her father claimed including her (the only child) in family decisions and treating her as an adult was "the way things were done then." She had grown up believing this philosophy was merely her parents' excuse for abdicating their parental responsibilities. But, after reading my book, she saw her childhood in a bit of a different light. This is precisely the type of reflection I hoped telling my story would evoke in others, and it admittedly touched my heart. Like most of us, in the midst of my growing-up years, I wasn't consciously thinking about how my unconventional childhood was working its magic on me. It was simply my life. Though it contrasted with some of my friends' intact families and select TV clans, I intuitively knew that I had something unique in the bubble of equality I resided in. While I did weather

a few storms with my young mom as she sought love and her own path, and it's true that a lot of factors are involved in how a child turns out because of, or in spite of, the environments into which they are born, there is no doubt that I had some of the greatest factors in my favor. —————— For one, I never knew my parents as a married couple, so I never had to lament them breaking up. I also recognized from a very early age that my parents were not a couple of material because they were so different. They were amicable for the most part, and it certainly helped that my dad held up his responsibilities as a father and then some, but I could just tell that the two of them didn't belong together. That was fine with me, though. In place of having two unhappy parents as a duo, I had a life with each one separately that had its own special flavor. On top of that, I had a wonderful life with my grandparents that had its own flavor too.

MAYBE ALL ANY OF US

SOMETIMES NEEDS TO UNCOVER HIDDEN BLESSINGS IN OUR LIVES IS

A LITTLE SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE. To give you an abbreviated glimpse: The world of my mom was unstructured, free-spirited, playful, mischievous, silly, irreverent, and full of music. The world of my dad was structured, responsible, practical, fun, and filled with educational activities, sports, and games of all kinds. The world of my grandparents was stability, manners, appreciation of fine things, comfort foods, soap operas, and game shows.

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As you can imagine, each of these environments influenced me in its own significant way, and I treasured my time in all of them. But there were also some things that crossed over all three that truly shaped the person I became. Without exception: I was adored. I was respected. I was listened to. I was given a voice. I was valued. I was treated with dignity. I was showered with affection. I was encouraged in my gifts and passions. I was provided generously. I was accepted as exactly who I was. I was loved unconditionally. And, despite the circumstances, I was never, and I mean never, made to feel anything but completely wanted. ——————

Photo by ANNIE SPRATT

With my mom, in particular, I always had an innate feeling that I had come here to look out for her, and to be honest, I loved it. In our quirky, often role-reversal relationship that paralleled Gilmore Girls in astonishing ways—and that was uncommonly natural and nurturing for both of us—I was given free reign to stand firmly, and unapologetically, in who I

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was from the time I could talk. Not only did my mom and I enjoy open conversations, but my opinions were also always welcome and considered. And I must confess that from kindergarten all through high school; I delighted in not only having the youngest mom of all my friends and classmates but the coolest and most fun. But it went even deeper than that. —————— For all of her quirks and teasing me at times, one thing my mom did brilliantly and seamlessly was to, without fail, display genuine joy and pride in my achievements. Sure, most parents want better for their children than they might have had, but others, in their immaturity or insecurity, aim to keep their children down so that they can feel superior. But my mom, despite how young she was and despite the emotional wounds she carried deep within, never resented that I had opportunities she never had or excelled in areas she didn't. In fact, I was often the one to compare myself to her, wanting to be as radiant, winning, and attractive as she was. As dissimilar as we were in many ways, and as solid as I was in my own convictions and personal choices that differed from hers, I was proud of the ways we were alike, and she was still that glowing presence to me that all the kids had oohed and aahed over whenever she came to my school.

My mom and I ended up living apart during my teen years, and though I had a wonderful dad, it was tough not having the constant presence of my mom. When we moved in together as adults, however, it was like playing old songs you know all the lyrics to and whose beats and melodies are part of you. Cultivating our signature witty banter, replete with a host of favorite movie lines, and honing our particular us-ness miraculously happened as if we picked up right where we'd left off. This is not to say we wouldn't be separated more than once in subsequent years or that we wouldn't experience degrees of heartache. But one thing that never waned and that I never failed to recognize and cherish was her ever-present brand of unconditional love. Over the years, I've often been met with surprise that I "turned out so well," considering my nontraditional family and being born to a 16-year-old mother who was always more playmate than the parent, or even more daughter than mother to my old-soul sensibilities. "Didn't that rob you of your childhood?" people have asked me. "Did you ever resent your unusual dynamic?" When I smile and say with complete honesty that I experienced neither of those things, I'm met with even more surprise. I suppose I could have chosen to view my childhood as coming from a broken home, or wished I had a more traditional mom, or even longed to have married parents in one stable family home my entire life. But in my case, I saw my childhood for what it genuinely was: remarkably carefree. Perhaps it was made up of fragments, but those fragments that comprised my family fit together like a prism that sparkled with love and acceptance on all sides. As for having a more "traditional" mother, it never crossed my mind because I was enamored with having a mom who was young and fun and such a wonderful friend and whose offbeat parental instinct gave me enormous freedom, allowing me to always be my authentic self. And that two-parent family residing in one home? Sure, I loved having stability, and my dad and grandparents provided that in spades. But I honestly couldn't imagine how having married parents under a solitary roof could compare with the wonderfully varied life I enjoyed with all the angels who came together with such love to raise and support me. It's natural to ponder the what-ifs of life; the "Is the Grass Really Greener Over There?" point of view. But like the reader who told me my story helped her see her childhood through a different lens, maybe all any of us sometimes needs to uncover hidden blessings in our lives is a little shift in perspective.

The product of an exceptionally loving, accepting, and big-hearted family that has always encouraged her to be no one but her authentic self, Stacey Aaronson is the author of the memoir Raising and Losing, My Remarkable Teenage Mother. She is also the founder of The Book Doctor Is In, where she takes writers by the hand as a ghostwriter, editor, book and website designer, and publishing partner to bring books of excellence to life. Stacey lives on Whidbey Island, WA, with her soul mate of twenty-one years, Dana, and their rescued Maine Coon kitty. Visit Stacey at www.staceyaaronson.com and www.thebookdoctorisin.com.

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The Founder Stephen Richards

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BETTERBODY FOODS OFFERS NEW

OAT-BASED PRODUCTS The move to a more sustainable lifestyle often begins with our diet. Just look at the increased popularity of plant-based foods and non-dairy products lately. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, more people are reporting an increase in eating a plant-based diet. Oats are one of the most sustainable grains on the planet and require 80 percent less water to grow than almonds. BetterBody Foods, a trusted brand for healthy and natural food products, introduces a new offering in its product line - Organic Oat Flour. This heart-healthy addition is great news for those with gluten sensitivities and others looking to move away from dairy. If you suffer from gluten intolerance or are simply in search of a healthier alternative to regular flour, this Organic Oat Flour is the perfect solution. Use this versatile baking flour for dredging, breading, and baking. With only 3 simple ingredients - whole-grain organic oat flour, whole-grain organic rice flour, and xanthan gum for baking - it has everything you need to make tasty treats. Oat Flour Blend is so versatile, it can be used to bake cookies, cakes, brownies, and even banana bread. It’s also a great source of fiber that’s so important for maintaining a balanced diet. Purchase it on Amazon and in stores at Albertsons and Walmart. To see the other products and more recipes please visit: https://betterbodyfoods.com/ To Follow @betterbodyfoods.

INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup Virgin Coconut Oil/ butter 1 1/2 cups Oat Flour Blend 1/4 cup Coconut Palm Sugar 1/2 tsp salt 4 Tbsp ice water DIRECTIONS 1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until well blended, 6 to 7 times. 2. Add in solid coconut oil and pulse 6 to 7 times till coconut oil is combined into the flour mixture. 3. While pulsing continually, add ice water, and process until dough begins to clump together. 4. Transfer to your work surface. Pat dough together. Shape into flat disks. Wrap in plastic wrap. 5. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. 6. When dough is ready roll out, prepare as the pie recipe directs

We believe the journey to a better life starts with better food. That’s why we travel the globe to find better ingredients so we can provide you with better food choices… because we know that life is better when you eat better.

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WORDS are

POWER

By Shelly Wilson

he thoughts that we think and the words that we speak are energetic emissions. Once we are able to recognize the incredible power we behold and that everything is indeed energy, we can truly become conscious creators. It is essential to become aware of when we feel unable to express ourselves fully or are fearful of how others will receive our words. In his best-selling book, The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz provides four principles to practice to create love and happiness in our life. 1. Be impeccable with your Word 2. Don’t take anything personally 3. Don’t make assumptions 4. Always do your best Clear Communication Communicating clearly and choosing to infuse love into our

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communication is beneficial. The 1st Agreement – Be Impeccable with your Word – reminds us to speak with integrity and with positive intention. This includes saying what we mean, speaking our truth, and doing our best to come from a place of love. It is also a reminder to become aware of our self-talk and also what we express about others. Furthermore, the 3rd Agreement – Don’t Make Assumptions – encourages us to ask questions and to express what we really want. Through open, honest communication, we can more easily avoid misunderstandings due to miscommunication. With just this one agreement, we can completely transform our life. Both of these Agreements are powerful reminders for us to speak our truth. Whenever possible, we should avoid making hints or having the listener or reader read between the lines. Communicating clearly may take practice but is well worth the time investment.

Photo by BARAN LOTFOLLAHI

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Healing through Words We must allow ourselves to heal in order to embrace our magic fully. Our healing may entail speaking our truth, saying what we mean to say, and communicating our needs and desires to others. However, this process isn’t always an easy one or one we choose to pursue. Some people may choose not to forgive those that have hurt them when they feel wronged or abused, and to them, the reason may be justifiable. No one should tell us what is personally right for us. However, from my perspective, practicing forgiveness provides us with an opportunity to free ourselves from the ties that may bind us to another in regards to the anger, frustration, disappointment, pain, and other emotions that we are also holding onto. If possible, we may choose to reach out to those individuals we need to in order to express our truth. Ideally, face-to-face is best but may not be realistic initially. Formulating our thoughts and feelings in a letter or email is wonderful, too. Otherwise, a phone conversation will work just as well. I do suggest refraining from communicating via text in this particular instance, as it can easily lead to miscommunication. As part of the healing process, we may also consider writing a love letter to ourselves or from someone we need to hear. Putting thoughts into written form establishes a deeper level of communication with our hearts and spirit. If at any time we have felt hurt, shunned, invisible, without a voice, or disempowered in the past, our inner child and Higher-self are always willing to be a part of our healing journey. When we offer a statement of love to ourselves with kindness, patience, and tenderness, our hearts will open up and share with us the wisdom that promotes healing, growth, and expansion. In addition, we may be guided to spend some time in reflection. Feel into these questions and answer them authentically without fear of being judged: What are the words I never heard that I always wanted to hear? Who in my life caused me to feel hurt and pain? What do I need to hear so that I can move forward from this pain and begin to heal? Consequently, when we notice a tightness in our jawline and recognize that we may grind our teeth or clench our jaws, this can indicate holding in feelings of frustration or other emotions. It may also mean

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that there are words that we are holding back and not expressing. If we realize that we are not expressing ourselves fully and cannot verbalize the words, we may be guided to at least say what we need to say telepathically and energetically. When we are feeling annoyed, bothered, or triggered, at that moment, we state aloud or within our mind, “This bothers me. This is affecting me. I feel annoyed.” Express whatever wordage that would apply. In doing so, we are choosing to clear the energy at that moment rather than allowing it to build. Who are you? - The Power of I AM The words I am, which we use to define who we are and what we are capable of, are expressions of the highest aspect of ourselves. Every time the words I am are thought or spoken, we are knowingly or unknowingly directing the Universe to manifest what we are saying, thinking, or feeling. Rather than focusing on lower vibrational energies and negative thoughts, aspire to focus on higher vibrational energies and positive thoughts. With that said, we need to become more conscious of our own self-talk, especially as that is typically when we unknowingly invoke the I am in a lower vibrational way. Some examples of this include the statement: I am stupid. I am ugly. I am fat. I am lost. I am struggling. I am a loser. I am such a disappointment to my family.

These statements may be words we had spoken about ourselves when we were feeling frustrated, disappointed, angry, and unloved. Undoubtedly, these are words we may have heard others speak, or they may have been directed towards us at one point in our lives. To put it simply, negative self-talk encompasses any thoughts or spoken words about ourselves that may be demoralizing and inhibiting our ability to believe in ourselves and what we are capable of. Ultimately, these self-limiting beliefs may prevent us from achieving our full potential. Therefore, knowing that words are powerful, it’s time to acknowledge and then banish the negative self-talk, which is often detrimental to our psyche, well-being, and overall physical health. Then, we can make a choice to re-direct the energy emission to one of selflove, compassion, positivity, empowerment, and kindness. Actively choosing to engage in positive self-talk will make us feel good about ourselves and the life we are living.

INVOKING THE ENERGY WITHIN,

PAUSE FOR A MOMENT AND THEN ALLOW ALL OF YOUR DESIRES, DREAMS, ASPIRATIONS, AND INTENTIONS

TO FILL YOUR CONSCIOUS MIND. BASK IN THE EMOTIONS YOU ARE FEELING AT THIS MOMENT.

FOCUS ON HOW YOU WANT TO FEEL AND LET THE UNIVERSE WORK ITS MAGIC THROUGH YOU. Subsequently, we must see ourselves as the beautiful, miraculous creations that we are. We can then accept our uniqueness and dismiss any perceived flaws or imperfections because we are perfect just the way we are. We are energetic beings who have chosen to experience life in physical form, which involves having human life experiences. Individually, we can each choose to accept and embody the unlimited power of our inner spirit by declaring an empowering statement, such as one of the following statements: I am unconditional love. I am energy. I am beautiful. I am amazing. I am confident. I am empowered. I am joyful. I am successful. I am smart. I am attractive. I am resourceful. I am healthy. I am creative. I am financially stable. I am happy. I am loved. I am wonderful. I am making a difference in the lives of others.

What words do you wish to embody? Setting Intentions with Power Words The power of choice involves invoking the energy of words through clear, honest communication. In turn, we can use this same power to create consciously, and it begins with setting intentions. Setting intentions involves working with our intuition and requires an awareness of our inner desires. The process includes connecting fully with our being – body, mind, and spirit – in order to align with the desired aspect of life or feeling. As part of this practice, we are choosing to create an intentional statement or Word of declaration. In addition, the action of setting intentions also requires addressing our resistances and may even involve shadow work. Invoking the energy within, pause for a moment and then allow all of your desires, dreams, aspirations, and intentions to fill your conscious mind. Bask in the emotions you are feeling at this moment. Focus on how you want to feel and let the Universe work its magic through you. We may choose to embody some power words, including joy, love, peace, creation, connection, magic, happiness, whole, healthy, and so on; in addition, we can formulate a power statement or intention by combining a series of words. A few possible examples may include: embrace the magic, attain peace within, embody love, create consciously, be happy, let love lead, and so forth. The options are endless. What words or statements do you wish to embody? As a reminder, everything is energy, and words are power. It’s time to realize just how powerful you truly are!

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

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LANGUAGE OF SPACE

By Michael White Ryan

The

Last Extinction

INDIVIDUALISM DINOSAURUS

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omething has shifted; yes, it will be hard to put normal back once again to where it used to reign. For those with eyes wide-open, it's a comforting reminder, as we all know, in this universe, life only happens due to changes?! Seems so natural for some individuals to move forward, get up and go with the flow, full, well knowing moving forward back to the so-called normal, was, will never be in their physique. For others stuck in the, if it's not broke, leave it alone system, change has always been and will remain "The Mysterious Phenomena." Individualism is something we all think we have, and yet, in reality, it's a rather small minority group, unfortunately shrinking at a fast pace. True individualism is what the issue is here, not the egoic pretense; I am in control of my life. While never being aware, one is living within the square, a defined designated system administrated by another source.

problems that have plagued the world since the wheel was discovered, alas, created by the very same reasonings of logic. Plus, with some additional help, now that diversity has finally, supposedly, graduated to become more acceptable to mainstream thinking. Building madness on madness is living in limbo today, tomorrow. It's a wonder we managed to get this far. That says a lot; it basically says that here and now is the absolute proof, this human race, if they ever decide to function in unity, dismantle the "we are only doing this for the future good of mankind" greed-corporations and individuals. Get them out of the way. What are we going to do, become, if not? Take notice, we are capable of solving every issue at this moment in time and any time in your future, with a, is it a human mindset or a humane mindset, you choose? The changes developing around all of us is not slowing down any time soon

It is more like a riddle, this illusion of happiness. We see it, feel it from so many different sources, so much so it delivers unto us an umbilical cord that feeds our every desire. The pain to fuel our fire and those pleasures remind us, we are human. The elderly are not old; their stories are good for entertainment. The secret is finding that someone who has lived to see the bigger human picture. Buy them a coffee, just listen, and just maybe, you will get a wee glimpse of another picture, see your big picture for the very first time!

Logic and Reason are sources for ideas, which has been our guiding post to where we are now. One thing is certain; they cannot guide who we are and how we move forward as a human race into our future. We individually, via our feelings, intelligence, and moral values, are the united guiding principles needed now to guide us to a healthy free future, for all mankind. Think and believe.

Logic yesterday Science today Madness tomorrow Yes, it's a sad state of affairs. Mankind tends to unknowingly reflect and replicate the ideas that got us here in the first place. Instead of thinking outside of the box, we continue to rescue the same processes. Designed with what appears as a different format, we try in vain to solve the

Somewhere along the way, humans got lazy. Now, today, this gives new meaning to what is already on the horizon for mankind's future. Our lives are engaged with the speed of time, which does not leave much time to smell the roses which will matter, impact us over the long term. What is the question? Is it really a concern as the crowds of momentum continue to push all of us into the unknown?

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There are two attributes one must possess in order to move through life with certainty. First, there is this thing called Trust that one has with self. The second, hardest of all, is to Love yourself no matter what life throws at you. Look beyond the internal gossip you are constantly feeding to you, the nonbeliever. Believe in yourself above all, not in what you can accomplish, just you with no frills attached. Leave the stories to someone else who needs them for a personal foundation. Remember also, in this universe; change is "the constant" at every turn of events; therefore, always remember, run with this... It all depends!? What is a belief? It is invisible; it is an idea or thought. It is rooted to the ground as if it were a large mountain. A belief is a large living self-contained universe, thousands of years young that develop hiccups now and then, interrupting one's flow.

pects that make up a human being, creates each one of us as a unified field. Via our innocence and mistaken use of choice, we have managed to make separation the go-to way of living. To overcome the issue, we have chosen to belong by conforming to the side that makes one acceptable by others. In the "right" is how we all want to be seen. Being an individual in 2021 is not a myth; it's an important foundation for one's self-acceptability. When is the right time to cross over in search of one's I am? Now now now is as good a time as any. Remember, on this planet, time and tide wait for no human, and if one is breathing, like the sands of time, it is running short. You were born a specific energy manifestation, a special individual at the core, by the very essence of natural progression, change, the transference of one energy onto another energy form. In order to discover who the individual is, forget what you know, forget those successes and all else one holds to as identity, individuality is not, never will be an identity. Forgive who you have been in the past, look in the other direction to what is missing and Bingo, there awaits a prize, your prize, "you are."

INDIVIDUALISM IS THE UNIFICATION OF ALL THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS THAT MAKE UP A HUMAN BEING, CREATES EACH ONE OF US AS A UNIFIED FIELD. VIA OUR INNOCENCE AND MISTAKEN USE OF CHOICE, WE HAVE MANAGED TO MAKE SEPARATION THE GO-TO WAY OF LIVING. LIVING. Let you be not The Last Extinct, Borders are incorrect assumptions and thoughts one may have about self. They exist in every source of information one is connected to. This includes the innocent views we have of the world around us. Some connections we hold dear are not worthy of our engagement, and yet we do, time and time again. An idea can hold immense power over an individual for a lengthy period of time, which brings us to this moment. Do we have the courage to acknowledge these facts? Are we incapable of determining what is a positive and what is a negative? Yes, we do this every day. How? Why it is so easy, we are prompted by popular choice, which is and which is not. And people, you are such good students. Individualism is not about the brand of coffee you enjoy, the brand of clothes you admire. Which side of whatever you belong to. It is not about a sailing yacht versus those stink explosives. It matters not which type of boat. What matters is humans enjoy being on and in the water. We, via choice, create the dysfunction amongst ourselves by the very beliefs we hold to, told we have the choice, therefore it is our choice to do so, chaos ensues. Individualism is the unification of all the different as-

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INDIVIDUALDINASAURUS..... Blessings to our mother Earth

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

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Photo by CHRIS RHOADS

GABON BECOMES

FIRST AFRICAN COUNTRY TO GET PAID

FOR PROTECTING ITS FORESTS By Jim Tan

• • •

Gabon recently received the first $17 million of a pledged $150 million from Norway for results-based emission reduction payments as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Gabon has 88% forest cover and has limited annual deforestation to less than 0.1% over the last 30 years, in large part possible due to oil revenues supporting the economy. With oil reserves running low, Gabon is looking to diversify and develop its economy without sacrificing its forests by building a sustainable forest economy supported by schemes such as CAFI.

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n 2019, Norway committed to pay $150 million to Gabon to protect its forests under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). After independent verification of the country’s deforestation rates in 2016 and 2017, Gabon recently received its first $17 million payment, making it the first African country to receive a results-based payment for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). “I think it’s good news,” said Denis Sonwa, senior scientist for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Cameroon. “It shows that REDD+ is technically possible, but for it to become a reality we need some sort of dynamic domestic policy.” CAFI is based around the REDD+ mechanism developed by the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The idea that underpins REDD+ is that developing nations should be able to financially benefit from the ecosystem services that their forests provide, such as carbon storage and as reservoirs of biodiversity. The REDD+ concept has been around since 2005 and trialed in various forms, with varying degrees of success. With 88% of the country covered in tropical rainforest and an average deforestation rate of less than 0.1% over the last 30 years, Gabon is what’s known as a high-forest, low-deforestation (HFLD) country — one of only 11 in the world to claim this status. The forests of Gabon have immense biodiversity, with more plant species than all West Africa’s forests combined. Gabon is also one of the few places left in the world where forest elephants can roam all the way from forest to sea and can be found sauntering along the beach.

Gabon’s situation is unusual. Discovery of oil in the 1970s radically changed the country’s fortunes and the dynamics of its society. In 1970, urbanization in Gabon was 30%; by 2020, more than 90% of Gabon’s population lived in urban areas, compared to a sub-Saharan Africa average of 41%. Gabon also has a very low population density, with just eight people per square kilometer (about 21 per square mile) compared to the average of 45 per km2 (117 per mi2) for sub-Saharan Africa.

Photo by MOHMED NAZEEH-

“In terms of carbon emissions, we were actually positive,” Lee White, Gabon’s minister of forests, oceans, environment and climate change, said in a BBC interview. “We absorb 100 million tons of carbon dioxide over and above our annual emissions.”

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This rare combination — low population and high urbanization, supported by oil revenue — has limited the human impact on Gabon’s forests. Oil has been the foundation of Gabon’s economy, accounting for 80% of exports and 45% of GDP between 2010 and 2015. However, oil reserves are now running low, and with oil prices unstable, Gabon’s government is looking for new ways to power its economy. With limited agricultural land available, Gabon has to import food — $591 million worth in 2018 alone. The country wants to generate more income from its forests as well as preserve them, and CAFI is one part of that plan.

What is undeniable is the value of the Congo Basin and the global consequences if countries like Gabon cannot find a way to achieve the development they need without sacrificing their rainforest. “The Gabonese and Congolese forests help to create the rainfall in the Sahel, so if we lose the Congo Basin we lose rainfall across Africa,” White said. “If we lose the carbon stocks in the Congo Basin, which represent about 10 years of global emissions of CO2, we lose the fight against climate change.”

“We’re trying to come up with a new development model for a high rainforest country that preserves the forest but allows us to develop,” White said. To be financially as well as ecologically sustainable, the timber industry needs to make and retain as much value as possible in-country. Since 2010, Gabon has only allowed timber to be exported once it has been processed to some degree. Gabon has also adopted a sustainable approach to forestry to minimize degradation, with timber companies required to harvest on a 25-year cycle to allow regrowth. In 2018, President Ali Bongo also declared that all forestry concessions must be FSC-certified by the end of 2022. Recognizing that Gabon’s deforestation rate is already low, CAFI’s payments to Gabon focus on reducing CO2 emissions from degradation through sustainable forestry practices. CAFI will also pay for the CO2 Gabon’s natural forests sequester, hoping to give the forests value as they stand, beyond timber. The money received from Norway will be put toward further developing Gabon’s sustainable forest model.

It’s still early days for CAFI’s other initiatives. CAFI committed to investing $200 million into programs designed to address deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016. Since the deal was signed, instability in the country has hampered CAFI’s efforts, and the discovery of oil beneath the peatlands of the Cuvette Central have raised concerns about the effectiveness of any deals signed. CAFI has not yet made any significant commitments to the other four partner countries. It remains to be seen if the other countries can emulate Gabon’s success in achieving results-based payments for protecting their natural forests or whether Gabon can diversify away from oil while keeping its forests intact.

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Photo by ZA TOURIST

With oil exports of $4.7 billion in 2019, Gabon faces an uphill struggle to replace oil revenues in a sustainable manner. As well as sustainable forestry, oil palm has featured prominently on Gabon’s diversification agenda, raising concerns over potential forest conversion.

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

HIGH ROAD TO HUMANITY

Photo by ENGIN AKYURT

By Nancy Yearout

CHANGING the Concept of

TIME

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Remember when you were a kid, and time seemed to pass by so slowly. The days were long, and it seemed to take forever for summer vacation to arrive, and it felt like an eternity for your birthday or the holidays to roll around. It was ridiculous how long the years stretched while attending Elementary and even Middle School. Do you recall the anticipation and pure agony of waiting for the time to pass for you to grow old enough to drive, have a boyfriend/girlfriend, go out on a date or catch a movie with a friend? But then the time comes when you enter your High School years, and time begins to speed up! Before you know it, you’re in college, and the time flies by, almost too quickly, and you are thrown into the real world. Do you remember?

When you choose to do the work that is in your heart, it will change your life and for the better. Do not be afraid, just go for it! What are you waiting for? The right timing? There is much joy and fulfillment when you are doing what you love. When you are living your life’s purpose, time seems to melt away. As we use our creative energy, it changes the concept of time! When you are living your life purpose, you are connecting to the universal forces that be, love, joy, and prosperity will flow naturally to you in no time as all. I must mention to you to do all the things that your heart desires now! As we all have an expiration date, and who knows when your time is up?

As adults, we have been told that timing is everything, and I believe that this concept is genuine. Being at the right place at the right time is key. All of us have experienced this phenomenon. There are many stories of how people’s lives were changed when they were at the right place at the right time. You may have experienced this in your own life by arriving at the perfect time to meet your mate or to buy the winning ticket! It is incredible how many synchronicities occur in our lives as we look back and see how our story unfolded up to this point with precision timing. When you’re in sync with the universe and the energy that space holds, your timing can become even more synchronized. As we connect to the Source, God, a Higher Power (whatever you call it), we begin to connect to the flow of the universal divine timing, and life smooths out for us, and the road is not so bumpy. It s funny how society had conditioned us to hurry up and get it done or go quicker to win the race, but I have learned that it is not the path to a happy, fulfilling life. When you slow down and get into the flow of the universe, you don’t watch the clock as much. It’s amazing what happens when you choose to connect to the universal forces. Life propels you to do the work in your heart and soul, the work you love. Do you desire to write, teach, paint, dance, or sing?

Nancy Yearout is an Psychic Reader, Intuitive Life Coach, Author and Inspirational Speaker. Her religious and spiritual work has enabled her to help many people to live the life they desire! Nancy feels inspired to share the wisdom and the messages she receives with others. Her real-life experiences are shared each week on her Radio Show/Podcast, High Road to Humanity where insightful, spiritual guests share their story. This is Nancy’s way of each sharing new insight about raising the vibration and consciousness for all of us to create a healthy, Loving and kinder people as well as a safe harmonious place to live. My Credentials: Sales Coordinator for General Motors Corporation, Sales Manager for multiple, Owner and Qualifying Broker of The Harville Estates Real Estate & Development LLC, Owner of Energy Girl Publishing LLC., Author of, Wake Up! The Universe Is Speaking to You, Author of Monthly Contributor to Eden Magazine, Motivational/Inspirational Speaker, Intuitive Personal Coach Intuitive card reader, Energy Healer, Radio Host/Podcast High Road to Humanity. Nancy Yearout Hosts a Radio Show/ Podcast every week on Toginet radio and iTunes called High Road to Humanity. Visit her website www.NancyYearout.com or her Podcast www.Highroadtohumanity.com 97 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e August 2021

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