June 2021
EDEN T h e
Magazine
RAISE YOUR
VIBES By Athena Bahri
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MEDITATION By Swami Saradananda
REPROGRAM YOUR Depth & Success with Style & Soul
Sebastian Siegel
CONSIDER HOW UNFAIRLY WE REGARD SHARKS
Thomas J. Madden in By Lumbini, Nepal
SUBCONSCIOUS
MIND FOR A
BETTER LIFE By Sasha Gary
PERSONALITY CODE
ARE THEY REAL? By Michael White Ryan SELF-CARE PRACTICE IN A PERVASIVE DEPRESSION Jayita Bhattacharjee
e t o N s ' r o Edit Welcome to our June 2021 issue.
As we move forward and learn to navigate this new normal, we would like to encourage everyone to make a conscious effort to create change, not just for ourselves but for those around us and the planet. Let’s try to be more aware of our surroundings and not sabotage what is not ours or our well-being. June issue is about self-care and inspiring you to live the life you should. When we are hurt, we try to heal ourselves, sometimes even by being angry or self-sabotaging when we don't want to. This June issue is about YOU. We hope that it inspires you to live your best life by always treating yourself with kindness and love so that you can live a peaceful, healthy, fulfilling life. Raise your vibes, Be Hopeful, Practice Self-Care, Heal Yourself, and Dive into happiness. So be inspired and never give up.
Maryam Morrison
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The Eden Magazine
@The Eden Magazine
Photo by Jess Bailey
@The Eden Magazine
3 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e May 2021
MEET OUR TEAM
Photo by ISABELLE RUEN
Discover the path to a peaceful life among other living beings. We are all made of vibration and light in the universe to manifest our energy around all livingness.
DINA MORRONE
Maryam Morrison
ARTIN MARDIROSIAN
EDWARD HAKOPIAN
MARIA ELENA INFANTINO
ALEXIA MELOCCHI
VITO TROTTA
SHELLY WILSON
ANGELA DUNNING
MICHAEL WHITE RYAN
SHERI DETERMAN
PHYLLIS KING
MARCO NUNZIO ALATI
SASHA GARY
GRETA PAZZAGLIA
MARGARET TOMASZEWIC
ISABELLE RUEN
8 4 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e e May May 2021 2021
JAYITA BHATTACHARJEE
NANCY E. YEAROUT
JOE SANTOS, JR.
GREG DOHERTY
EDEN T
H
E
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 BRAND AMBASSADOR MARIA ELENA INFANTINO 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 June 2021
Table of Contents 10
THE DIVE STAGE
THE DIVE STAGE By Dr. Randall Bell
16
34
RAISE YOUR VIBES By Athena Bahri
23
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MEDITATION By Swami Saradananda
26
SEBASTIAN SIEGEL Depth & Success with Style & soul interview by Dina Morrone
34
10
36
CONSIDER HOW UNFAIRLY WE REGARD SHARKS By Thomas J. Madden
36
REPROGRAM YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND FOR A BETTER LIFE! By Sasha Gary
40
RAISE YOUR VIBES
STORY OF HOPE By Sarah Koeppen
48
44
A NEW WORLD OF PODCASTS FOR CURIOUS KIDS By Jerry Kolber & Adam Davis
48
MASK
By Joey Santos Jr.
50
16
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RELEASING THE BURDEN OF SHAME By Angela Dunning
50
Cover Photo by
VIKTORIJA PASHUTA
Life is Essential, Feel it 58
WHAT IS SELF-SABOTAGE? By Dr. Candice Seti, PsyD
62
58
STEPS TO HEAVEN By El Alma
66
RUBY FALL, WHERE MY LIFE CHANGED By Deborah Goodrich Royce
70
SELF-CARE PRACTICE IN A PERVASIVE DEPRESSION By Jayita Bhattacharjee
62
74
FEELING INSPIRED & LIVING INSPIRED LIFE By Shelly Wilson
82
82
COMING OUT OF COVID By Phyllis King
90
THE SURPRISING WAYS ANGER CAN HELP US HEAL By Lorena Junco Margain
70 74
96
OPEN THE DOOR TO THE ENCHANTED REALM OF FAREIES By Nancy Yearout
FEELING INSPIRED & LIVING INSPIRED LIFE
90 96
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The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man. ~ Charles Darwin
The Dive
Stage
Photo by Kirill Balobanov
By Dr. Randall Bell
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L
ife is good. Surfs up! Everything is cruising along smoothly. We scored high on the last school quiz. We received some recognition at work and even a raise. We have lovely friends. We’ve been on time for our appointments, the family is getting along, and our puppy hasn’t peed on the carpet in more than a week. Then it happens. As Elkhart Tolle observes, every movie can be described in three words, “Something goes wrong.” And just like the movies, it hits us at the most inconvenient time and catches us off guard. It upsets everything. It roars through our life like an unannounced tornado. When it passes, it leaves us stunned and wondering what just happened. What is it? It is trauma in all of its forms. It slaps us right in the face and hard. The “dive stage” is the moment of sirens and emergency status. There is an outcry of disbelief. Feelings, actions, and emotions are at their most intense. Anxiety is at overload levels. This may be a one-time event, such as an assault, or prolonged, recurring events, such as ongoing neglect or abuse. Either way, it profoundly hurts.
Trauma has a way of showing up when we least expect it, and society sends many signals telling us that it’s admirable to put on a brave face and soldier on. But our grief is normal — even healthy, says world-renowned expert on disasters and trauma Dr. Randall Bell. “The hallmark error is to continually dodge the pain. There is a time and place for avoidance. However, to heal and grow, we cannot doge the pain forever …,” he writes in his new book, Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience. “Suffering is our opportunity to stare our moral compass in the eye and deal with the problem in a dignified way.”
The immediate reaction to trauma is to go into shock. Shock proceeds the first of the five stages of grief, which were introduced in 1969 by Swiss-American psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of the University of Chicago. Shock is nature’s way of protecting us from the overwhelming pain or fear in a terrible situation. When our bodies go into shock, there are emotional and physical responses. Our eyes and ears immediately send signals to the brain, which triggers the secretion of epinephrine, more commonly known as adrenaline, a powerful stress hormone stored in our adrenal glands located right above our kidneys. The heart quickly pounds to circulate massive amounts of blood throughout our bodies. Our breathing escalates, and we often hyperventilate. Or, some people hold their breath and stop breathing when we are scared, like a little bunny hopping that the tiger can’t see us. We become hyperfocused, which means that our overall memories may become limited later, and we do not experience the full reality of the situation.
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Photo by Adolfo Félix
As babies, we had what is called a “reptilian” or instinctual brain. We just eat, sleep, and poop. As we grow, so does our brain. Our limbic, or “mammal brain comes next, and then finally, our cortex or rational human brain develops. Yet this inner “reptilian” core always remains and continues to regulate our most basic instincts. During trauma, it kicks into gear. People usually first call for help, and then we can go into a fight-flight-freeze stage, where any of these options become very real. Trauma directly and measurably impacts the brain. Trauma affects our ability to think clearly. In shock, our minds become somewhat numb, foggy, and disconnected from reality. It is almost as if we are watching a movie or having an out-of-body experience. The blood supply is being diverted to the muscles to fight or run, and the objective centers on mere survival. We may feel nauseous, anxious, and our muscles and chest can feel tight. We can feel rage, intense anger, or the urge to scream. Some find superhuman strength. In this state of traumatic shock, we are often overcome with an overwhelming feeling of disbelief and paralysis to the core. This surge of adrenalin is nature’s way to numb the pain and help us survive and get to a safe place. Many of us have experienced an electrical blackout, where the power grid is overloaded, the circuit breaker trips, or the fuses burn out. Televisions, computers, refrigerators, and electric clocks all shut down. When trauma overloads our brains and emotional systems, a similar phenomenon occurs. Normal operations shut down. Often people feel as if they are “looking at themselves from the outside.” The human brain physiologically performs far 12 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
differently under these conditions. Shock is not in one’s imagination. Shock is real. Unresolved Trauma Unresolved trauma is the most significant problem facing humankind. Our present stress is from our unsettled trauma. When trauma hits, the most critical decision we make is to choose whether to be a victim, aggressor, survivor, or thriver.
In shock, our minds become somewhat numb, foggy, and disconnected from reality. It is almost as if we are watching a movie or having an out-of-body experience. By college age, up to 85% of us have been impacted by at least one trauma. In all its forms, trauma shatters our reality. Perhaps with Covid-19, even more, they feel they have been traumatized. It smashes our life’s assumptions and turns our world upside down. Our past traumas are impacting our current state of mind and the relationships of those we love. Ultimately, the quality of our lives, family, career, and community depends on our ability to process trauma successfully. Today we see crime, alcoholism, drugs, anger, anxiety, abuse, and violence everywhere. Recovery centers are packed with patients. Extremist political and religious groups regularly trap more members. Jails and prisons are jammed on an industrial scale.
As dangerous as these are, they are all secondary problems. The common issue underlying each of these conditions is unresolved trauma. Addictions, fanatical extremes, workaholism, and mass incarceration are just the symptoms. Anger, guilt, cynicism, self-righteousness, greed, and anxiety are all secondary reactions. Anger gives you a feeling of power and produces adrenaline, which is physiologically addictive. Violence, aggression, shaming, and rage are ancillary emotions. Scores of people self-medicate in an attempt to numb the pain and shield themselves from harsh realities. Yet, despite these efforts to dull the pain, many of us continue to wallow in our misery. We may or may not be responsible for our trauma, but we are responsible for our healing. When we focus on and address unresolved trauma, we gradually replace “self-medication” with “self-care.” It is a messy process, and sometimes it feels like the directions say to rinse and repeat. At times we take one step forward and two steps back. But we keep going. If we unlock the secret of healing from unprocessed trauma, we can heal our world, nation, families, and ourselves. It is a tall order. Still, the field of psychology, physiology, and social sciences have become so advanced that we now have the verifiable and measurable research that brings authentic solutions. We understand brain chemistry. We can heal and have peace. We can repair the world, and at a minimum, we can change our world. We can achieve post-traumatic thriving. Trauma and the Brain Our body’s brain functions, nervous system, and chemistry are remarkably complex; however, when it comes to trauma, it is helpful to understand some fundamentals. Our central brain’s physiology includes hormones, endorphins, and neurotransmitters, or “HEN’s.” The interactions of these hormones, endorphins, and neurotransmitters regulate emotions widely, ranging from rage to bliss. There are about 50 hormones, which are primarily stored in eight major glands and secreted into our bloodstream. There are also over 20 endorphins, which are chemicals mainly stored in the pituitary gland and secreted into our bloodstream. Finally, there are over 40 neurotransmitters, which are chemicals stored along with our nervous system and released by nerve impulses. Trauma involves four significant categories of HEN’s, and by using the acronym SODA, they are easy to remember. SODA stands for Serotonin, Oxytocin,
Dopamine, and Adrenaline. Serotonin is related to well-being. It is a neurotransmitter released by various activities, such as eating certain foods, exercise, meditation, massage, sleep, laughter, and music. Oxytocin is a hormone associated with a feeling of love and social bonding. This “cuddle” hormone is released by the pituitary gland when people snuggle or connect socially. Dopamine is a pleasure-related hormone regulated by the hypothalamus, located at the base of the brain, near the pituitary gland. It is released during pleasurable situations such as food, sex, and certain drugs—feelings of happiness result from a mix of serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins. A key to healing is to understand that specific activity is proven to result in these chemical releases. This is not wishful thinking. This is science. Adrenaline and cortisol are released when we play sports or exercise. Strong emotions such as fear or anger cause the brain’s medulla to send a message to the adrenal gland, which is located above the kidneys and releases adrenaline into the bloodstream. Adrenaline is a hormone that causes an increase in heart rate, muscle strength, blood pressure, and sugar metabolism. This is what produces the classic fight-flight-freeze reaction. In ordinary life, our brains encode the information, send it down an established pathway, process it, and store the experience as a narrative, or story, at some level in our memories. Our brains are always alert with a variety of routine chemical, electrical, and neurological impulses during a typical day. These impulses tell us to do that, pay more attention here, and forget there. Under normal circumstances, the only messages are those that need attention. We are mindful, fully aware, and mentally present. When our brains are in this mode, we are merely processing specific facts, figures, details, and realities. Our outer brain cortex is busy processing our senses, logic, and facts. Generally, in our “mammal” midbrain, we process our emotions. We work and have fun. Life goes on.
Specific triggers can bring out the trauma all over again. Particular words, images, smells, or experiences can set off the amygdala within our brain, which secretes hormones and triggers adrenalin as if the trauma were occurring again. 13 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
When trauma hits, brain activities change—the focus shifts to our inner “reptilian” brain that is responsible for our most basic instincts. Indeed, our brains shift from routine and normal pathways. Facts, standard memory, and general knowledge are pushed away, and a flood of high emotion and sensations take over. Powerful chemicals and hormones are pumped directly into our bloodstreams, both by our brains and some of the eight main glands located throughout our bodies. To survive, our brains turn down rational, explicit decision-making and switch to implicit emotions. In other words, we switch from an ordinary, logical world to a world of raw instinct. Sensing danger, our brains tell us to run, freeze, or fight like hell. In this state of shock, our memories can be distorted. This is fundamental in understanding the healing process. We first react to trauma with shock because it is impossible to wrap our heads around the situation. It is simply overwhelming. If we see an accident, we are so stunned that we freeze on the spot with our mouths hanging open and our eyes wide. If we are in the accident, we are paralyzed even further. Our normal thought processes are put on hold, and we cannot fathom what is going on. Some people recover quickly and take action. Others stay frozen.
Photo by LoboStudio Hamburg
Because we “simply cannot believe it,” we may shut down. We may dodge discussions of the topic and repress the thought so profoundly that we cannot recall it later. Since our brains did not normally perform during the trauma, the information was not customarily processed and stored. Our memory of the experience is fragmented, repressed, for gotten, or just scrambled up. Consequently, rather than store the i nformation and move on, our brains may continue to send mixed signals that we are still in danger. In an attempt to protect us movingforward, our senses continuouslyscan our surroundingslooking for any slight similarity to the traumatic situation.
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"THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE PROBLEM — THE PROBLEM IS HOW WE REACT TO THE PROBLEM."
We become hypervigilant to prevent the trauma from happening again, even though we may no longer be in any actual danger. Specific triggers can bring out the trauma all over again. Particular words, images, smells, or experiences can set off the amygdala within our brain, which secretes hormones and triggers adrenalin as if the trauma were occurring again. Our heart rate races, we sweat, our breathing speeds up or freezes up, and our muscles tense to get ready to fight or run. Exposure to an event may not be traumatic to one person but can cause trauma to another. What hits the core of one person may be shrugged off by someone else. Some are inherently more or less prone to the lasting effects of trauma. We all handle tragedy differently. Your trauma is valid. Everybody’s hurt legitimate.
Dr. Randall Bell undertook unprecedented research and juxtaposes outcomes of scientific studies with stories of real people who have used their trauma as their fuel to thrive to reveal common denominators. He divides his remarkable insights into three sections: The Dive Stage, The Survive Stage, and The Thrive Stage, and outlines a step-by-step process toward authentic healing. Ultimately, Dr. Bell documents the science of happiness and the individual styles and common thread that all post-traumatic thrivers have to emerge with a fulfilling life. When trauma hits, your most significant decision will be to dive, survive or thrive. If you choose to thrive, this book is for you. As an economist, Dr. Bell has consulted on more disasters on earth than anyone in history and is widely considered the world’s top authority in the field of post-traumatic thriving. His clients include the Federal Government, State Governments, International Tribunals, major corporations, and homeowners. Dr. Bell believes that the problem is not the problem — the problem is how we react to the problem. Often called the Master of Disaster, Dr. Bell is squarely focused on authentic recovery and resilience. His research has been profiled on major television shows and featured in numerous magazines and the international media. More information can be found at www.posttraumaticthriving.com. 15 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
RAISE YOUR
VIBES
Photo by David Hofmann
By Athena Bahri
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A
s the world emerges into the new "normal," many of us wonder what that will look like? There are events in life that change the course of how we interact with others, view ourselves, carry out daily tasks, and communicate with loved ones. The Pandemic of 2020 has certainly been a game-changer! We've had an amazing silver lining to this storm cloud- the opportunity to pause and reflect, do the self-care practices many of us have put off for years, manifest and meditate, take our health into our own hands. Some serious soul searching for our divine purpose in this life. With lockdowns and huge shifts to daily activities, we have had a chance to turn in and tune in to what drives our souls. Suddenly the little things in life like looking up at the moon, taking long baths, clearing away clutter, journaling out our goals and wishes, and reconnecting with loved ones have captured our hearts. This change in focus has been long overdue and a welcome shift in the collective consciousness. These little things and the spotlight on health have allowed us to see and search for what we can do on our own time to raise our vibration and stay healthy. We now know how stress releases hormones in the physical body, wreaking havoc on our energetic system. Imagine what positive thought can do for you emotionally, physically, and spiritually? It's time to learn how to shift your energy and mindset to one of love, happiness, and vitality. With something as simple as a shift in vibration, you, too, will see your lessons as blessings. Here are some ideas for raising your vibes. How do you see the silver lining in the dark and bring that light back to your world? What better than starting with a little candle you've had tucked away in a drawer, Or putting an extra birthday candle to new use! Intention candles are a beautiful way to not only symbolically (and literally!) bring light to your world but as little beacons of light to send your intentions, wishes, and dreams out to the Universe! The color of your candle can bring in that extra touch of magic too, but for now, use what you have on hand. Carve your name and your wishes (love, healing, money, self-love, a new job) into the wax claiming your wish and as you light the candle, hold
your intention in mind. Set a crystal, you love next to it for that extra bit of energy! And if it's a large candle, you can relight it for your meditations any time you want! You can make this as ceremonial or quick as you like. The intention is the key. Have bay leaves in your kitchen cabinet? These little herbs are wonderful for setting your wishes ablaze too! Write down your wish and light it with a match, lighter, or even the stovetop; let it burn in a fire-safe dish or pot near a window or outside to let the energy of your wish rise up and out to the Universe! It's always wonderful to remember to take a moment of gratitude after any energy practice, for the time you've been given to manifest, to the Universe for hearing you, and for yourself for allowing this moment to make your wishes real in the present. Before the pandemic, I was allowed to do my own soul searching, locked down in recovery from major back surgery. After living with debilitating pain for 16 years, it finally came to a head, and I was quite literally stowed away in my "healing room." I didn't realize at the time, I myself would be healing in this space. Much like the pandemic, it was a struggle at first- isolating, lonely, and full of tears, pain, and fear. But during this time of reflection and healing, I found this alone time to be a gift, a silver lining! I took my power back with Reiki and energy healing tools. I grew new bone and a stronger back than ever before, created shower meditation, vision boards, raised my vibration and opened my heart and soul to the wonders and gifts the Universe offers so graciously once we know how to connect. My three children had the gift of a new mom full of life, fun, and energy! I used this new gift of wellness to help loved ones overcome the chains of cancer and clients from around the world release grief, overcome anxiety, and raise their vibration. I am honored to share with you the gift of energy healing, grateful to channel my energy and tools into a space that can serve as a light to those living without hope, embarking on a spiritual path, and overcoming life's struggles. I welcome you to the world of energy healing that you, too, may take your health and wellbeing into your own hands, creating a life you love and can feel proud of!
How can you improve your wellbeing and create a new perspective on your life that will take you to a higher vibration? In Raise Your Vibes! Energy Self-Healing for Everyone, Reiki Master Athena Bahri has created a practical and easy-to-use guide to help you get healthier and happier by tapping into the incredible power of energy healing. It is a beautifully presented book designed with the user in mind. The author's mission is to make the healing power of Reiki and energy healing accessible to all. She has developed an approach that combines simple Reiki techniques with various healing modalities, from crystals to lunar rituals. There are no expensive courses to sign up for. Everything the reader needs is contained in the book. The author's emphasis is on empowering the reader. The tools she has provided create a vibration-raising practice the reader can use in many different situations, from dealing with physical pain to ridding themselves of stress and lingering emotional upset to improving the vibes of their surroundings at work and at home. Athena also delves into the history of energy healing and provides step-by-step meditation guides outlining how you can boost your meditation practices with crystals. All the practices in the book are simple to use. She includes a straightforward process of Reiki's self-attunement that enables readers to access Reiki's healing powers and combine them with other techniques. 17 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
Every journey begins with one step forward. Let us start this one positively with our best foot forward by creating your gratitude practice. This powerful vibration can bring even the darkest moments back to the light. Gratitude is one of the best and easiest things you can do for yourself! When you begin, pause within, or finish your day being in a state of gratitude, your entire world shifts into the positive. Showing gratitude for the blessings in your life each day does two things- it raises your vibration and helps you move forward from a place of love. We all tend to focus on our worries and our troubles, stressing ourselves out before anything even happens or, worse, getting lost in the midst of them. Imagine how different your life will look when you focus on the positive things in your life? Take a moment out of your day to list off three things you're grateful for, and watch as your entire vibration shifts to the positive! Empower yourself to live a magical life with the tools to balance your chakras, manifest positive change, connect with Angels, and enjoy a life you love. We are all connected, and when you are healthy and happy, everyone around you will vibrate higher. Let us all come back to the world better than we left it, lessons learned, loved ones nourished, self-care a new priority. Here's a little exercise as a gift to get you started. Practicing Gratitude Every day, before I do anything else, I take a moment to give thanks for all the wonderful things, people, and events in my life. I get to wake up feeling amazing, open to the possibility and opportunities to make my world even better! I have 3 kids to get ready for school in the morning, so I totally understand the urgency to get moving, yet taking a moment to pause and give thanks is still my 18 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
number one priority. After all, a happy mom/dad, a happy mom is what every child needs in their life. So, forget all those stresses for a moment and put gratitude at the forefront of your mind. Start with the little things – they say these are the things that count, after all. Close each gratitude ritual with "Thank you", as an acknowledgment and a conclusion. Whether you are saying thank you to yourself, God, or the Universe doesn't matter so much as the intention. Morning Practice: As soon as you open your eyes, you can begin! Before you do anything else (use the bathroom, look at your phone, or get out of bed), lay there and take a moment to name three to five different things you are grateful for. You can, of course, add in more, but this is a beautiful starting point, especially if you're short on time, which in the beginning you'll feel like you are. Begin with the words, "I am so grateful..." for each thing you list and finish the ritual with a simple "Thank you." You might say: • I am so grateful for my health. • I am so grateful for my friends. • I am so grateful for coffee!
Athena Bahri is a certified Reiki Master, Crystal Reiki Master, chakra healer, and Crystal Reiki Healer's creator, one of the fastest-growing online presences in the field. In addition to creating content for Instagram and her website, Athena contributes to podcasts and radio shows. She performs Reiki healing locally in California and reaches people around the globe via distance healing. She is the author of Raise Your Vibes! Energy Self-Healing for Everyone, For more information, please visit: crystalreikihealer.com
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H
OLLYWOOD CLOSE UP
NEW FAVORITES & MUST HAVES
By Vito Trotta We live in a world where looking our best and feeling confident is just as essential in everyday life as it is in front of the camera!
Vito Trotta
Freelance Beauty Contributor vitotrotta.com IG: vitotrottahair
Bronze Glow is one of my favorite obsessions and is a must have for anyone wanting that healthy summer glow without the damaging effects of sunbathing. it is perfect on all skin tones (face and body) and absolutely does not turn the skin orange. I love that the formula is paraben, alcohol and sulfate free. So get your summer started early and keep that sun kissed, flawless complexion going all year long! Roxanne Rizzo Bronze Glow | $40 | Roxannerizzo.com
Ok guys this one is for you and also a new favorite of mine! This incredible texture spray leaves the hair feeling clean and with volume for that undone look. It provides uv protection for the hair and is free of parabens and sodium chloride. i have just recently started using this on my male celebrity clients and they are loving it. This amazing company donates a portion of its proceeds to organizations who are fighting for clean water accessibility around the world. Impressive and hopefully more beauty companies will follow and do the same. Gray Labl refresh*d | $23 | Graylabl.com
This multipurpose skin elixir has become a staple in my skin care routine. I use it in the morning before moisturizer and also carry a small travel size in my backpack for a quick refresh during my busy day. It reveals complexion radiance, visibly smoothes features and tightens the appearance of pores. Its aromatic fragrance soothes the mind and the senses with essential oils and all natural ingredients. the company never uses parabens, phthalates, mineral oils or animal derived ingredients in any of there products. Caudalie Beauty Elixir | $49 | us.caudalie.com
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Photo by MAX 22 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e May 2021
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF MEDITATION By Swami Saradananda
M
any people come to meditation seeking relief from ill-health. As a mind–body modality, meditation has a long history of being used to help people cope with the illness of all kinds – both physical and mental. While meditation is not a universal cure, it can help alleviate pain and reduce the symptoms of many diseases. It has, for example, been found to help relieve stress, insomnia, anxiety, and depression, and it can help to lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and the risks of heart disease and stroke. Many of the other recognized benefits of meditation are relevant to coping with diseases, such as greater patience and compassion, more energy and stamina, heightened concentration, enhanced inner resilience, and more openness of heart and cre-
ativity. Regular meditation practice is, therefore, likely to give you an increased sense of all-around wellbeing. Meditation has been shown to positively affect your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), which controls automatic processes in the body such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. Studies suggest that, as a result of this, meditation can bring about a reduction in stress, improved blood flow, and a healthier supply of digestive juices. As meditation can help to lower your blood pressure, it can prove especially useful if you suffer from any medical condition that is worsened by stress. Getting rid of excess stress is extremely important for the immune system, especially if you are prone to any chronic illnesses, such as arthritis, diabetes, obesity, or heart or respiratory diseases.
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Photo by JD Mason
People with these kinds of conditions can often feel helpless and out of control. But meditation can give you the strength to look at your situation more calmly and with greater objectivity and to take greater responsibility for your own health. It also helps you to control your vital energy, prãna, and direct it where it is most needed. This creates increasingly favorable conditions for healthy cell regeneration, as well as helping you to feel that you have more control over your own life. Meditation tends to increase activity in the prefrontal cortex, the right anterior insula, and the right hippocampus – regions of the brain that help regulate emotions and anxiety. When stimulated, these regions support the efficient functioning of the immune system. As meditation tends to make you feel more settled (less stressed), enhance positive thinking, relax your body, calm your mind, increase mental clarity and encourage non-judgmental observation, it can help you to better understand and accept any health conditions that you have, and deal with them more efficiently and compassionately. Many people who meditate regularly develop greater acceptance not only of their illness but also of themselves and the world in general. Meditation also helps you to develop mental discipline and willpower, which can assist recovery from addiction, excessive eating, and other unhealthy habits. Healthcare professionals are increasingly recommending meditation as part of a multidisciplinary approach to re24 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
duce anxiety and chronic pain and to improve quality of life. Studies show that those who meditate often undergo encouraging changes in attitudes related to positive thinking and optimism. As meditation is connected to your state of mind, it has also been shown to help with the perception of pain. Meditating patients showed increased activity in the brain centers known to control pain and also reported greater indifference to pain. Recent evidence also supports the use of meditation as an adjunct or complementary therapy to control blood pressure. This is because it relaxes the nerve signals that coordinate heart function, tension in blood vessels, and the “fight-or-flight” response (the body’s defense reaction when you are in a stressful or dangerous situation). Blood pressure decreases not only during meditation but also over time if you practice regularly. Meditation-based programs also seem to be helpful in reducing common menopausal symptoms. They lessen the frequency and intensity of hot flashes, sleep and mood disturbances, and muscle and joint pain. Research has shown that meditation seems to improve symptoms of stress-related conditions as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and fibromyalgia. This makes sense because, during meditation, you focus your attention, eliminating the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress.
The improvements in attention and clarity of thinking that meditation can bring mean it can also be a useful tool to fight age-related memory loss and at least partially improve memory in patients with dementia. Nearly half the population struggles with insomnia at some points in their lives – usually the result of the mind having difficulty quieting down at the end of the day. Studies have found that people who meditate tend to fall asleep sooner and wake up more rested than those who don’t. Recently, there have been more and more studies designed to help researchers understand how meditation actually works. One interesting finding from this is that meditation has been shown to offer the body and mind more profound rest than deep sleep – a benefit that builds up over time and reduces stress, which accounts for over 60 percent of doctor visits. As you can see, meditation has a multitude of potential health benefits. Please note, however, that although it can be a helpful component in leading a healthy life, it isn’t a replacement for traditional medical treatment. If you plan to use meditation to ease any of the aforementioned or other health problems, it is suggested that you first speak with your healthcare professional. Note: In some cases, meditation may worsen symptoms associated with certain mental health conditions, such as clinical depression and certain forms of psychosis, so be sure to consult a medical professional in such cases. More Positive Perspectives on Life Sometimes people claim that they do not want the sense of calm contentment that meditation brings because they fear it might dull their “cutting edge.” Without the constant goading of dynamic discontent, they worry that they will not be sufficiently driven to get ahead in life. Meditation is not contrary to prospering or to following your dreams. In fact, it might enable you to be more effective in obtaining more of what you really want out of life, as it empowers you to work from a place of inner peace, rather than restless tension and anxiety. A useful analogy might be that stretched and relaxed muscles tend to run better than ones knotted up with stress. A peaceful mind is preferable when trying to achieve advancement of any kind in life. If you are calm, pleasant, and unselfish in your daily life, obstacles are likely to shrink; if you are stressed, negative, and judgemental, they are likely to grow.
Swami Saradananda is an internationally renowned yoga and meditation teacher who has inspired thousands of people to practice. This extract was taken from her new book, Sitting Comfortably: Preparing the Mind and Body for Peaceful Meditation, out on June 8th and available to buy on Amazon and in all good book stores. Swami Saradananda has been teaching for over 40 years and is the author of six other books, including The Power of Breath and Mudras for Modern Life. She worked with Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres for 26 years and directed centers in New York, Toronto, London, New Delhi, and the Himalayas and was an author in residence at the Peacemaker Community in Western Massachusetts before going on to direct yoga and meditation retreat, Haus Yoga Vidya, just outside of Cologne, Germany. Swami Saradananda holds an MA from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London. She may be contacted via her website: yogamentor.yoga
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Sebastian Siegel Depth and Success with Style & Soul
By Dina Morrone
B
ritish-American filmmaker Sebastian Siegel has written, produced, and directed acclaimed trailers, commercials, documentary films, and the upcoming feature Grace and Grit, adapted from Ken Wilber's globally popular book. Sebastian is from Oxford, England, and based in California, where he works as a writer, director, producer, actor, author, and facilitates think tanks engaging numerous modalities of meditation and storytelling. He is currently in development and production on several feature films adapted from both books and true stories. We are very excited to introduce our readers to Sebastian Siegel.
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Sebastian, your movie Grace and Grit, which is adapted from Ken Wilber's acclaimed book and true story, comes out on June 4th. We've seen the trailer. We're excited. Who is the intended audience for this movie? Grace and Grit is a movie for anyone who believes in love, or for anyone who may have lost hope and wants to believe again. It’s for audiences who want to witness and rediscover the miracles that are made possible through love. You write and speak about the relationship between commitment and miracles. What is the relationship? Commitment means giving oneself fully. Imagine every thought, every feeling, every cell inside your body being fully committed to an action. This synergy is the magic that gets you to the top of any mountain and the impetus that carries us to the moon. It is even written into our molecular makeup within the sperm that joins the egg, and even before that as the magnetism that intuitively connects a proton and electron. Commitment yields an opening in the heart that allows us to engage in life more robustly. It brings us to vistas whereupon life may become abundant beyond our imagination - it is the ray of light that is both our saviour and our subtle doing. It is the pulse of God that seeks to move through you. Miracles happen by faith and doing, and commitment is the surrender in loyalty to that calling. The Red Sea doesn't part until after Moses puts his foot into the sea. Commitment is the bridge between dreams and reality. How does one stay committed in a relationship? Faith. Discipline. Wonder. Faith means releasing ourselves to the guidance of our deeper intuition - a wisdom within that we may not always be able to articulate, yet that we know to be true. Discipline means putting off what we want right now for what we really want; it is the mechanism by which we channel faith into action. Wonder is the inherent playfulness and curiosity of the Universe that comes alive when we are loyal to our intuition. It's the magnetic force that gets the party started and keeps the party going, again and again, and every time for the first time. Like listening to the waves, engaging a kiss, or looking at a flower or a sunset - wonder is the requisite that makes what may be mundane into something miraculous. We must let go to hold on. Let go of the little you - that sometimes fearful and always limited one - so that the big You, that abundant, eternal, and unlimited One can shine through. Intimacy implies staying in something, staying in the moment. By wandering, we get span. Through commitment, we yield depth. Wandering seems fresh at first, but eventually, we start to run into the same things and repeat patterns. Depth, however, is exciting because the discovery is within. It yields a new terrain by new eyes, from a new you. Commitment is the new wandering. Depth is the new span. You heard it here first. Maybe I'll make some T-shirts for the cause. 29 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
You are a vehicle for Spirit, for God, and for the happening of consciousness to manifest. You are a sacred ray by which light may draw both spectacle and shadow, undoing and becoming.
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What charities or philanthropic ventures are important to you and why? Best Buddies California, which helps create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I developed a curriculum with incarcerated youth where we explore questions about purpose, love, heaven, hell, and intimacy. The process of enquiry around these questions fosters a deeper sense of self-worth. For all of us, and particularly for some of these kids, developing a sense of confidence that’s based on internal values can translate into more meaningful interactions. “Who am I?” Tell us about what that means? You are not your name, you are not your body, you are not your job, you are not your feelings, you are not your thoughts. These are only objects we identify with. The power of exploring this question - this meditation - is in rediscovering who you really are. It is to re-introduce yourself to the real You. It invites the big, eternal You to reiterate itself through you. You are a vehicle for Spirit, for God, and for the happening of consciousness to manifest. You are a sacred ray by which light may draw both spectacle and shadow, undoing and becoming. You are nothing less than that current of the Kosmos that seeks to find and know itself through your expression. What are some movies you would recommend? The Big Blue, Apocalypse Now, The Impossible, Braveheart, Minority Report, A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Dancing, Something’s Gotta Give, Lawrence of Arabia.
"Like the book it's adapted from, this film is brilliant. Grace and Grit will shake you, and maybe even awaken you in some way. This movie is must-see, especially for anyone interested in love or consciousness." ~ John Mackey
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You say Grace and Grit is "a story about romantic, passionate, courageous, selfless, and ultimately transcendent love." Could you briefly describe those? Romantic love is an ideal, a notion by which we identify with love and seek to bring it into our lives. It's a sense of what that feels, tastes, and looks like to a person. Passionate love is a wanting, a needing, an evolutionary impulse to connect with another. It may bring about a type of surrender that scares us, yet that's strong enough that we may engage it nevertheless. Courageous love is the enactment of presence in love. It is discovered by giving oneself in service to another and by expanding into a broader sense of identity - to identifying with the other and holding the other as sacred outside of our own desires
or hopes. Transcendent love expands that identity even further. It is to be in service to love itself through another. Each of these types of love is a potential gateway to the next, a viable path to a deeper love. Most people, when they talk about love, are doing it with their minds - they're talking about attachment. Love is a space and stream that we exist in and that we can open up to. Martin Buber uses the term "I-thou" in relationship. In transcendent love, we now have a relationship with God, or Spirit, through our engagement with every other. In the eyes of your friend or lover, is it just the colors of the cornea you see around a dazzlingly dark pupil that dilates? Or is there something else happening there? That happening is a miracle. It is happening with you, for you, and through you. Just as you are happening with, for, and through it. There is an intuition that speaks to us through love, one that guides our actions to do things that we may not otherwise equate as being sensible. It's a transrational sense. And when we heed it and are willing to surrender to its calling - when we are courageous, selfless, and trust in that omega point-pull to evolve - we can let love guide us, even shatter us, so that in the end, it may transform us.
Visionary artist Alex Grey says about your movie: "Like The Tree of Life or The Fountain, Grace and Grit is a movie that takes you on a spiritual journey into the depths of love and then beyond. Sebastian Siegel is a dexterous and original director. His movie is transcendent storytelling at its best." What is transcendent storytelling? The uniquely immersive capacity of storytelling by the medium of film can elicit profound state experiences that may act as pathways for the progression of our development. On occasion, a book or a movie may move us to make a change, take action, or simply open us up to a new paradigm or perspective. When you watch this movie, you will see these characters fall for each other. Though I also want you to fall with them, laugh with them, taste the irony and feel the unfairness. Transcendent art or storytelling can prime an opening for us by which we may glimpse that great mystery that is happening through us. It may bring into awareness the deep subtleties of our own sentience. Transcendent
storytelling allows you to rediscover that though life will leave you - that the goodbyes of your own self are inevitable - that your place in your greater Self is here, now, and forever. It speaks to the You beyond you and celebrates the fact that no matter what may be occurring in your life at this moment, infinite beauty still seeks to move through you. Part of my particular mission as a filmmaker, and duty here as a storyteller, has been to suggest that we may touch that eternal Self by bearing witness to the beauty and fragility of life and by sanctifying it through celebrating love. Love knows no boundaries. Love lives on. Grace and Grit will be released on June 4th in select theatres and everywhere movies stream. Watch the trailer online now. Learn more about Sebastian Siegel at www.sebastiansiegel. com or on Instagram @SebastianSiegel1 Special Thanks to: Sebastian Siegel Viktorija Pashuta Photography
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THINK YOUR REPUTATION NEEDS AN UPGRADE?
CONSIDER HOW UNFAIRLY WE REGARD SHARKS
Photos by Gerald Schömbs
By Thomas J. Madden
I
s there a doctor in the ocean? No, but there are medics...called sharks! Sharks will never replace dogs as man's best friend, but maybe they're the ocean's best friend, so perhaps they need better public relations or sometimes even crisis management stressing the good things they do for our ecosystem.
Certainly, never will we hug and pet sharks in the same way we've grown accustomed to doing to our domestic pets, yet oceans appear grateful to have them around. And for a good reason! vidence is emerging that sharks might be one of our planet's best friends, yet they themselves may be in danger due in part to their late sexual maturity and a small number of young per brood. These biological factors make many shark species more vulnerable to overfishing partly because so many find their fins so delicious in shark fin soup. watch this phenomenon. Recently, a study led by Florida International University scientists has found that sharks are like oceanic medics that can help marine ecosystems survive the effects of climate change. I'm sure organizations like The Global Warming Foundation, founded by Peter Ticktin.
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The study didn't find any sharks in some of the world's key coral reefs as overfishing, and destructive gear like gill nets have dramatically reduced their number in reefs.
Recently, a study led by Florida International University scientists has found that sharks are like oceanic medics that can help marine ecosystems survive the effects of climate change.
Yet, when a major hurricane, extreme heat, or other climate threat devastates an ocean's lifeblood, its recovery could be aided by the presence of sharks, our ocean's medics who can help oceans heal after hurricanes. That's the idea behind a study on sharks and their role in the ocean published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Decimate sharks, and you've made oceans less resilient to extreme climate events, said the FIU scientists. Researchers at the University of Washington and Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, also contributed to the study. What FIU Researchers Learned The team found that predators like sharks, including tiger sharks, are critical for maintaining stability and biodiversity in the world's oceans. The study found sharks are important in helping ecosystems recover from devastating hits from hurricanes or marine heatwaves. Top of Form Bottom of Form Sharks eat grazing animals that feed on aquatic plants like seagrass — which helps maintain wa-
ter clarity, stores carbon dioxide, and houses fish and other organisms that can keep seas healthy, the researchers say. Grazing animals like turtles and dugongs eat seagrass. Sharks eat the grazers. Grazers fear the sharks. So, when sharks are around, the grazers often avoid the area. While the grazers are away, the aquatic plants have time to grow and recover. When an extreme climate event strikes, the ecosystem must deal with a whole new set of variables that requires time to recover, the study found. So, next time you see a shark, sure, stay safe, keep socially distant, but you can thank that shark on social media for helping to keep our ecosystem in balance.
Thomas J. Madden is an American author, speechwriter and public relations expert, founder of the international public relations firm TransMedia Group. Thomas Madden received a BS degree in journalism from Temple University in 1962. Madden worked at NBC in both executive administration and programming before leaving and starting TransMedia Consultants, Inc., Author of several books, including a memoir, Spin Man, and King of the Condo. 35 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
The Healthstyle Emporium
Photo by Artem Beliaikin
Sasha Gary
Reprogram
I
your SUBCONSCIOUS MIND for a BETTER LIFE!
n order to not let your subconscious mind run the show, there are many ways that you can reprogram your subconscious mind. Every day we have 6,200 thoughts that run in our mind. 80% of these thoughts are negative. This can be your inner critic, your mean girl; there are many nicknames for it. You can even name yours. I'll call mine Nelly. Remember Nelly Olson from Little House on the Prairie. My subconscious mind is a bit like her. Because this programming has been instilled upon us from the ages of birth to seven years old, it has been imprinted in your subconscious. It's up to you to take control and put yourself in the driver's seat. Your subconscious mind records everything, and it's always alert. It controls up to 95% of your life. It speaks to you in your dreams, and you can access it in your lucid dreams, and it is also one million times more powerful than your conscious mind.
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I love starting my day in a theta state, listening to my meditations, and doing my affirmations. This helps the subconscious mind empower more limitless beliefs and let go of unlimited beliefs holding you back. You are a limitless being! Mirror work is very powerful and can also be uncomfortable at first to face yourself and tell yourself how amazing you are, but it's the best way to practice your affirmations and affirm who you are! I recommend doing one affirmation and focusing on that one until you begin to live, breathe and consciously transform that negative thought into a positive mindset! Do it as much as you can morning, before bed, throughout your day. Record your own voice on your phone and listen on repeat. Before you know it, that critic will have quieted down. Focus on gratitude and deserve ability! Gratitude is your highest connection to the source, the Universe, God, or whoever you connect with. Writing in your gratitude journal will bring to the forefront of your mind what you have to be grateful for! Knowing you are deserving of every wonderful, amazing experience, desire you have ever had because you were born worthy is the key! There are a lot of grateful people out there who have nothing. It's the deserve ability and worthiness that brings things into your existence. If you don't think you're worthy, then start your affirmations with being worthy! Start your day visualizing what you want and create a miniature movie of your life in your mind. Your subconscious doesn't know whether it is real or fake. So whatever you desire, use your imagination and bring it into reality! Be a dreamer! Dream big! So big it scares you to think you can achieve that goal. If it doesn't scare you, then think bigger. I'd rather come up short on a goal than not achieve something big enough! Olympic athletes visualize winning their race over and over before they even begin. It's a mental rehearsal. Right before bed, as your mind goes into the theta state, visualize yourself realizing your goal. Feel it, be it, own it. It's doesn't matter how you get there, the journey will unfold itself, and that's the fun part, just embracing the unknown. Your subconscious mind is like a computer hard drive. You choose what you want to input, the kind of data you want swirling around. That includes the television, film, music you want in your subconscious. I very rarely watch certain movies anymore. I just don't want my subconscious mind having violence, disturbing behavior running in my mind.
I choose to watch things that are more positive and mentally stimulating. You may think to yourself, it's not a big deal, but it's a huge deal! That includes what your children are absorbing day in and day out.
Focus on gratitude and deserve ability! GRATITUDE IS YOUR HIGHEST CONNECTION TO THE SOURCE, the Universe, God, or whoever you connect with. Living a conscious life takes effort, and it's worth every second of it. You are consciously aware of what you think, how you feel in your body, and your emotions. When you begin to live an intentional life, your awareness makes you more present to yourself and your loved ones. It can take up to 7 days to 60 days to reprogram your subconscious mind. I would recommend 21 days as that's the amount of time to change a habit: morning and night. Feel it! Feel every positive affirmation, thought, and visualization. The feeling is emotion, and emotion is energy! You are energy! Underneath that human meat suit of ours, your cells and molecules are vibrating. In order to attract more high vibrational manifestations, you must be on a higher frequency. Doing breath-work, meditation, and always eating high-vibration food will help you daily to connect those thoughts, mind, body, and soul. Being in nature and connecting to the source, sound vibrations, and negative ions will restore you. The reason man may become the master of his own destiny is that he has the power to influence his own subconscious mind. ~Napoleon Hill
Sasha Gary is Gratitude Life Coach. actress, and writerin The Healthstyle Emporium www.theHSE.net. at is a 16 week online health program for women that shows you how to implement small sustainable changes one by one to help you with whole food nutrition, self-love and a conscious movement. Sasha is a yogi of 25 years, a crystal healer, and an avid sound bowl meditation participant and lives in Venice California!
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MOTHER KOMBUCHA Sparkling Water Meets Kombucha IG @motherkombucha
Grapefruit Agua Bucha
Bright and tart, so pucker up!
Meyer Lemon
Light lemon zest with a delicately sweet finishing note
ADD THE GOODNESS OF KOMBUCHA TO SPARKLING WATER, AND YOU HAVE AGUA BUCHA! Evolving out of a demand from Mother Kombucha's loyal customers over the years, Agua Bucha is all-organic, low in calories and sugar, and super easy to enjoy. It's a fun kombucha-infused beverage to add to this year's holiday celebrations! Rich with naturally occurring B vitamins (2200% RDA B12 boost anyone?), it's sparkling with benefits. Kombucha is in the spotlight. The effervescent artisanal drink has grown in popularity for its great taste and health benefits. But not all offerings are the same. Mother Kombucha products are expertly brewed in Florida with a multi-step craft process to ensure the drinks are delicious, innovative, fairly and cleanly sourced, and priced right.
Key Lime
A friendly Florida take on fun with a bubbly twist of lime
Agua Bucha is currently at local independent retailers, Florida Publix Super Markets, and direct to consumers nationwide on the Mother Kombucha website. Availability on Amazon in the next few weeks! Founded in 2014, Mother Kombucha is committed to the belief that healthy choices should also be delicious. The brand is on a mission to create mindfully-sourced, accessible beverages that enhance a healthy lifestyle. Brewed in St. Petersburg, Florida, Mother Kombucha is a WBENC-certified, women-owned business offering craft-brewed bottled and draft flavors, all of which are certified organic, vegan, and kosher. The company puts good back into the world by composting 100 percent of all food waste with local community gardens and offers workshops in homebrewing to promote their belief that everyone should have access to kombucha.
All priced at $28.99 for a 12-pack per flavor and variety pack. Subscribe and get 10 percent off! 39 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM THEEDENMAGAZINE.COMe eJune May 2021 2021 39
S
tory of
Hope
The following are success stories from the nonprofit, The Hope Box Inc., which are featured in Called to Hope The Story of Sarah Koeppen, founder of The Hope Box, Inc. By Sarah Koeppen
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Photo by davide ragusa
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Livyia’s Story
Imagine being a scared seventeen-year-old high school girl, pregnant and in labor, and too afraid to go to the hospital. Imagine Googling home births and delivering your baby in a bathtub, in secret, knowing if your father finds out, your baby will more than likely be sold, and you will be sent back to your foreign country. This is the real-life scenario of The Hope Box’s first baby rescue. What could have been another tragic story on the local news of a baby being found abandoned instead is a beautiful story of redemption? The mother Googled home births and Googled what to do with a baby you cannot keep, and miraculously, she found The Hope Box website. She called the hotline number, and I answered. The rescue team went and met in the parking lot of a nearby church. We walked her through her options – whether she wanted to parent her child, choose adoption, or choose to enact the safe haven law. The mother explained to us that she could not parent her baby because it would place her and her baby in danger. So, she chose to give her baby up for adoption. She chose to do a private adoption. The Hope Box helped her find an adoption attorney who matched her baby with a home studyapproved family. She was able to choose the family she wanted her baby to be adopted by. Baby Livyia was saved and delivered into the hands of a loving family, who had been praying for a child to adopt. Without The Hope Box, this story could have ended much differently.
Chloe’s Story
Baby Chloe was born to two loving immigrant parents living in the United States on work visas. She was very much wanted, and the parents were excited when the day of her arrival came; however, delivery complications ensued, and a vacuum extraction was used. During delivery, Baby Chloe sustained a head trauma due to a fractured skull. Her parents were torn. They loved their daughter but knew they would not get the needed medical help necessary for her upon returning to their home country. They researched on the internet what to do with an infant they could not care for and found The Hope Box. I met with them and explained their options. They were unaware they could choose for their child to be adopted since adoption was not part of their culture. In their country, unwanted or sick female babies did not get the same care as male infants, and her condition only further complicated the potential for quality care. The parents decided to do a private adoption because they wanted to be able to continue to have contact with the adoptive family and with their baby. We were able to help the couple find an adoption attorney and a state-approved family. The parents were shocked that someone would want their baby who had medical problems but gladly signed over 42 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
parental rights to the Roberts family. Don’t get me wrong, and this baby was so loved by both parents. It was the hardest thing in the world for Chloe’s birth mother to place her in someone else’s arms, and even though she was putting her baby girl first, she was also giving away a piece of her own heart. Fortunately, it also was an answered prayer to the Roberts family, who has been praying for a child for ten years. The Roberts had been trying to have a child on their own for years but were unable to conceive. They made the decision to adopt and went through the lengthy process of completing a home study with the state. The biological parents chose them because they knew she would be loved and well cared for by this family who so desperately wanted to be parents. Unbelievably, Mrs. Roberts had suffered the same kind of head injury as a teenager and knew what medical care Chloe would need. Chloe received treatment and therapy for her injuries and received a clean bill of health right after her first birthday! The Roberts keep in contact with the biological parents, sending them pictures of Chloe and updating them about how she is doing. Again, The Hope Box was able to help a child not only find a forever family but ultimately save her life!
Ella’s Story
Baby Ella’s birth mother knew she would be unable to care for her daughter. She knew she did not want her baby to go into the foster care system, as she had been a part of it as a child herself. Not sure what to do, she Googled and found The Hope Box. Our rescue team went to her in the hospital and explained her choices. She decided to do a private adoption, as she did not want to disclose as much detail as required in adoption with an agency. We were able to connect her with a private attorney and then showed her a list of prospective parents who were home study approved. She chose the Banister family. The Banisters are the parents of three biological daughters who felt God had another child for them through adoption. They were beyond excited when I contacted them and asked if they would like to meet the biological mother of baby Ella. They immediately said yes, and within a short amount of time, were at the hospital meeting their daughter. The mother fell in love with the couple and knew they were the ones she wanted her daughter to be raised by. She was happy to know that baby Ella would have three big sisters to love her, play with her, and teach her many things. The Banisters felt an immediate connection with the mother and agreed for the adoption to be open. The Banisters prayed with Allison asking the Lord to help her in the coming days and to bless her. Without The Hope Box, this mother could have made a different choice with a much different outcome.
A Trafficker’s Story
Photo by Obed Esquivel
A caseworker in a local hospital contacted us. She had an “uneasy” feeling about a situation that was happening with an atrisk mother and her newborn. Our rescue team went to the hospital to meet with the caseworker and the mother. When our team entered the room, we saw a beautiful young mom and another woman in the room who was not related to the mother. I asked the woman to leave so that I could speak privately with the mother. I explained to the mother who we (The Hope Box) were and told her we help mothers at-risk. I asked how we could help her. She began to tell me, “but you don’t understand, I thought I was going to have my babies (twin girls) in jail, but I got out and then went into labor. I came here, and this woman showed up, and I do not know her.” I realized that the young woman was in trafficking. I asked her how long she had been trafficked, and she said, “my whole life.” The young woman said that she believed the other woman was a madam or someone connected to trafficking, but she was too afraid to say anything to anyone at the hospital, thinking that she would get in trouble. The madam had signed all of the paperwork, including the birth certificates for the babies. She matched all of the babies’ information as if she were the babies’ mother! I immediately asked the mother if I could notify the hospital of what was going on, and she said yes. The mother was moved to another room, and the hospital was put on lockdown. The hospital was able to correct all of the documentation, including the birth certificates. After explaining to this young woman her options, she chose to do an adoption with an agency. The hospital was very grateful that The Hope Box interceded in the situation, and they filed a police report concerning the stranger. If The Hope Box had not been called, the babies would have been kidnapped by a madam and would more than likely have been sex trafficked. The mother chose adoption through an agency a week later. Sarah Koeppen is the executive director and founder of The Hope Box, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit. Koeppen has personal experience adopting her child, Elijah. She extensively studied law to secure full custody of her child. With her knowledge of the law and passion for helping mothers and children, she founded The Hope Box, Inc. to help resolve children in our country. Koeppen is a public speaker, child advocate, and expert on the issues of the abandonment of babies and works diligently to fight against the sex trafficking of infants. She was instrumental in amending the Georgia safe haven law (House Bill 291) in 2017. Currently, Koeppen resides in Acworth, Georgia, and provides resources to citizens in the United States with her nonprofit. To learn more about The Hope Box, Inc., please visit https://www.thehopebox.org/. 43 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
A New World of Podcasts
FOR CURIOUS KIDS By Jerry Kolber & Adam Davis
Let’s face it: 2020 was the year when every parent in America realized teachers should be paid six figures and have statues erected in their honor. Whether it was struggling to make sense of “new math,” dealing with WiFi issues for Zoom school, or consoling a grumpy child bummed out from not seeing their friends – 2020 was definitely the year moms and dads got the home-school blues. As the creators of the beloved educational series Brain Games and Brainchild, this bummed us out too … so, we decided to do something about it. We decided to turn to the podcast. Photo by Carl Jorgensen
Podcasting was something we could all do from our homes during a pandemic. We could write, record, and edit shows while maintaining impeccable social distance. We hired writers and actors, bought microphones, found an amazing audio engineer, and off we went. We even thought up a great name for our new podcast: WHO SMARTED? There was just one problem: Everything So, what did we learn? For starters, we were stunned to discover the we’d ever done before was visual. Now we had myriad benefits of audio education. Just a few of those include: to teach & entertain kids simply through sound. - Audio education actually engages children’s imaginations more than Uh oh. Both Brainchild and Brain Games drew upon years of research we’d done into the psychology of visual education as well as video games and optical illusions. We’d amassed decades of experience as storytellers and media creators, pioneering a new language of screen-based education. In fact, Brainchild has been so widely used in classrooms, we developed a free curriculum for both elementary and middle school students (at www.BrainchildShow.com), which has been downloaded by educators more than 100,000 times. But now, we were leaving the safety of our screens and venturing out with an audio-only production. We realized we had to re-educate ourselves and explore the research around audio learning, particularly around how audio impacts children. 44 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
video. By letting children use their occipital lobes (visual imaging) to create images, rather than processing incoming visual information from a video, it literally ‘unlocks their minds’. - Audio enables children to comprehend learning at grade levels as much as three times higher than their reading comprehension level, meaning audio can actually accelerate learning - Children who learn concepts from audio lessons are more likely to engage in follow-up conversations about the material vs. reading about the same concepts. And by engaging in conversations, children are more likely to have greater retention and ownership of the material. - Too much screen time teaches children’s developing brains that the world is a passive, endless stream of information, which can potentially lead to issues like ADD. - Children with more than a few hours a day of screen time show reduced comprehension and test scores, and in some cases, actually show a thinning of the brain’s cortex. Learning by audio gives children a much-needed break from screens.
In creating our new educational podcast, Who Smarted? We leaned into this research. Though our target audience is 6 to 10-year olds, the science, history, and other material we present is set at a 7th or 8th-grade comprehension level. And to our delight, the kids and parents love it! Other decisions we made based on the research were to keep episodes short (10 to 13 minutes) and air more frequently (3x a week) as opposed to one longer episode per week. We also decided to publish a free newsletter with each episode of Who Smarted? to give parents and educators insight into that episode’s lessons and provide additional activities. But those were just our big picture thoughts and ideas going in. The real learning began after we started producing, airing, and seeing tangible results of our podcast. Kids want the facts While early episodes of our podcast took their time setting up the topic, we discovered kids want information, and they want it really fast. So now, our episodes get right to the point with whatever topic we’re presenting and hook them in immediately.
One way to bring games into the home education setting: Make a visible scoreboard in your living room or kitchen. Award your kid(s) five points for each properly completed school assignment. Give them a treat they love for achieving Bronze (50 points), Silver (100 points), and Gold (150 points). Gamifying learning is surprisingly effective, easy, and literally keeps your kids’ eyes on the prize. Kids love interaction Throughout our podcast, we constantly ask kids for their opinions on things and or tell them to nod their heads or raise their hands. Of course, we can’t hear their answers or see them nodding or raising their hands, but they’re not thinking about that. Instead, they’re fully engaged with the show. Anything we can do to get them to lean in and participate is a win. Kids love interaction because it puts them in the driver’s seat and makes them feel like they are in control. Another way to “lean in” to a child’s desire to take the lead is a concept called deschooling. Deschooling is a new researchdriven trend in home-schooling. Basically, it is the idea of letting your kid tell you what they want to learn about. Take a 15- or 20-minute break during the day and ask them to pick
Photo by Alireza Attari
Kids want the funny It might seem obvious, but kids really do respond well to comedy and fun. Many podcasts deliver great information but in a very dry manner. We’ve found that Who Smarted?’s quick rise to being a Top 10 Kids & Family podcast is due mainly to the fact that we package the information in a fast and funny scripted world.
Kids love games This may also seem like a no-brainer, but it often gets overlooked in educational settings. Engagement can easily be amplified by turning a question into a multiple choice quiz. And “gamification” is the new buzzword for a good reason: Everyone loves to play and win!
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a topic they are interested in or excited about. Then spend a little time online with them exploring around that keyword. You’ll both learn something new, and you’ll be amazed at how a self-directed, “learning wander” can help make great memories and spark new ideas.
Audio learning may have started out as a fallback, but now we see it as a great way forward!
You can also marry this with a fun idea we call “Get Lucky.” This is the technology-driven flip side of deschooling. You know that little button underneath the Google search bar that you never pressed, and maybe never even noticed? The one that says “I’m Feeling Lucky”? Instead of letting your kid decide where to wander, let Google decide for you. When you hover over this button, it will give you various options, click one and see where it takes you. The content is always G-Rated and will often take you to some cool science, history, art, or puzzle content. For kids, less > more. This was a big one for us to learn. Too many voices/characters. Too many twists and turns in a story. Too much music. Too many sound effects. These factors can contribute to kids getting lost, distracted, or unable to follow what’s going on. And once they’ve reached that stage, you’ve lost them. So, in many cases, we scaled back on the number of characters or the amount of “soundscape” in favor of a simple story told well that is easy to follow. “Less is more” also applies to the number of time kids spend in front of the computer. We’ve all heard about the importance of taking breaks from staring at the screen and getting some activity in during the day. But are any of us really do it? It’s so easy to get caught up in your own work and then suddenly realize no one in the family has stood up for hours. That is a great way to make learning not fun! Experts now recommend taking a short break every 15 to 20 minutes to keep your brain energized and feeling happy. One easy way to remember? Use a free app like Stretchy https://hovancik.net/stretchly/, which works on Mac and Windows and will gently remind you to take a break. Having come from the worlds of film and television, where the visual is often key, we did have that moment of doubt where we wondered if an audio-learning experience would be something kids would even want. The market for podcasts geared for kids (kidcasts) was small, and we all know how much kids love computer/video games, cartoons, and TV shows. But the good news is – not only are kids listening and learning from our podcast – they might be doing so in a way that helps them imagine and retain more, unlocks their minds, and promotes their curiosity and further interest in a topic or topics.
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When Adam “Tex” Davis and Jerry Kolber met as freshmen at NYU film school in the early ’90s, neither imagined they would one day become creative partners and co-founders of Atomic Entertainment, the best-in-class creator of premium edutainment. But that’s just what happened as Adam and Jerry went on to create the genre-defining neuroscience and informational series BRAIN GAMES (National Geographic) and the beloved kids’ educational series BRAINCHILD (Netflix). Before that, Jerry was one of the most sought-after showrunners in the Wild West years of reality television, a show running more than 100 hours of TV. As for Adam “Tex,” he parlayed his comedy writing chops into a steady career as a comedy screenwriter, selling film and TV scripts/ideas to MTV, Miramax, Paramount, Fox, Universal, the CW Network, CBS, and New Line Cinema. His best-known work came as the screenwriter of the cult hit romantic comedy movie JUST FRIENDS, starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris. In the wake of this success, they formed their company ATOMIC ENTERTAINMENT. They soon began creating and producing shows like THE INTERNET RUINED MY LIFE and documentary Features like 14 MINUTES FROM EARTH - about Alan Eustace’s journey to the stratosphere using nothing a spacesuit and a giant balloon. For their latest project -- Atomic has just launched its first podcast, WHO SMARTED? on the Stitcher/Midroll network, a thrice-weekly educational podcast for kids that hides the learning in fun and helps turn curious kids into wise young adults!
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THE WAY I SEE IT By Joey Santos, Jr.
m a s k
1: WEARING A MASK ON ALL OR PART OF THE FACE. 2: ONE'S TRUE CHARACTER OR FEELINGS CONCEALED. INTERESTING, ISN'T IT? We were told to wear a cloth mask over our nose and mouth to protect us from a deadly virus during a pandemic to control it. "Not us, " said some. Many believe, argue, fight, even kill over this suggestion, and fear "their rights are being compromised" or taken away! What has this stubbornness, anxiety, rebellion, stupidity taught us other than so many have been completely clueless or politically brainwashed. Yet, the masks so many are wearing have been worn for centuries. And they are indeed the "real" masks because they are the masks of lies, deception, hypocrisy, contradiction, even hate. These masks are being worn over their eyes and ears. They protect us from nothing. In fact, we are now susceptible to a far greater disease for which there is no vaccine, no treatment, and no cure. Have we learned nothing from our past? Still no contemplation, responsibility? Have we become so desensitized that we won't even take a moment to think about
Where the signs are CLEAR, the messages are BRIGHT, and the lessons are TAUGHT. WHY, then, do we as a people keep making the same mistakes over and over again? HOW are we constantly LOST? what we are doing to each other, ourselves, our planet, our children? Not only does "complacency, not History make," but if it did, on which side would it be? There is only one side to be on in this world. The side of reason. The side of truth, trust, faith, hope. That's the side of God. Where the signs are clear, the messages are bright, and the lessons are taught. Why, then, do we as a people keep making the same mistakes over and over again? How are we
constantly lost? Why? Are we no longer aware of our reflection? Have we ever been? I think if we could see ourselves, really see ourselves, what would we see? Would the answer be obvious enough to be heard, seen, resolved? We have glimmers of who we are, but much is clouded by who we think we are or by those we want to become, and many times not for ourselves but for what we think someone else sees or wants to see in us - again, a different brainwash. We fall for it every time. A sucker for a compliment, perhaps? Hurt? Hurts? Unresolved issues that continue to pulse, deny, confuse, bleed us out of all reason, rhyme, joy, responsibility? Have we become mere "house plants" with complicated emotions that simply need water to survive? Where's our care, air, sun, music, attention, love? Why are so many of us just content with the minimum, barely enough to survive, let alone thrive! The "it is what it is" / "cancel culture" generation has got to change. We've lowered the bar so close to the ground that not even an ant can limbo! We've got to do better, be better! Find kindness, patience, compassion, and joy. So much loss. Why must it all be in vain? There is still so much good left in the world. We must believe this. We must explore and find it. Excavate it. Cherish it. Display it and share it. If we don't, it's our "bad." Our loss. A great loss from which we will not recover. We may very well be at the end of the rope. Either let it go, or tie the knots and climb back up to the top! Those are our choices. I choose to climb!
Joey Santos is a Celebrity Chef, Life Stylist & CoHost 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
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RECLAMING YOUR TRUE SELF By Angela Dunning
Releasing
The Burden Of "Shame hates it when we reach out and tell our story. It hates having words wrapped around it -it can't survive being shared. Shame loves secrecy... When we bury our story, the shame metastasizes." ~Brené Brown
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Shame
Photo by Jacqueline Day
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I
think most of us underestimate just how inhibiting, all-pervasive and crippling shame can be.
Shame lingers closely around all of our fears, self-doubts, and old, old wounds. It prevents us from asking for what we really need and want. It adds a heavy cloud and weight over us, keeping us stooped low, submissive, in need yet unable to ask for help. Unable to reach out and utter the words that we keep so secretly hidden and private, words we can't share even with our closest friends, partner or therapist. Shame attaches itself to both fairly minor things that we feel make us look 'less-than others, as well as to bigger, more profound secrets. Often our perceptions of ourselves and our failings are just that: perceptions rather than reality. But, it is the sense of shame that makes them feel so real to us and which makes us carry our secrets for so long alone. Shame is also quite hard to detect; it elusively hides within other more acceptable psychological defenses, and often it isn't recognizable as shame until we start to share what we've been holding onto for so long. Then, shame starts to rise and make itself known, like it's been hiding in plain sight and deceptively cloaking our pain. Shame arises due to one of two reasons: Either someone has shamed us through projecting something they dislike about themselves, known as 'projected shame.' This often happens in families, in abusive relationships, through scapegoating, and even in the workplace. Or, it arises when we view ourselves as defective in some way, and we attack ourselves from within via our inner-critic/inner-persecutor for our mistakes; blaming ourselves instead of feeling a more healthy state of guilt and remorse and owning our mistakes as a fallible human being. However, whichever way our shame has developed, a lot of the time it is the feelings of intense shame themselves that in the end cause us the most pain, rather than the original wounding or mistake. Therefore, it's no surprise that when we DO finally muster the courage to utter these terrible, awful words and share our seemingly worst deeds that the relief is immediate and immense. We literally feel like an enormous weight that has been pushing us down and keeping us still, and quiet has
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finally lifted. The relief and subsequent flow of energy are often significant and can finally allow change to happen, change that we've been desperately longing for, but something BIG was stopping it: Shame. The ensuing sense of self-worth can be enormous as we are restored to a fuller sense of self with less of a burden to carry.
Whichever way our shame has developed, a lot of the time it is the feelings of intense shame themselves that in the end cause us the most pain, rather than the original wounding or mistake. Never underestimate the power and effect of shame, both in your own struggles and others you live or work with. It takes careful and delicate work to help someone else feel able to share their biggest secrets and burdens around their shame. And a tremendous sense of vulnerability is felt when one finally utters those potent words, so it's important to be extra gentle with ourselves during these releases or with another person if we are supporting someone else to off-load their heavy burden of shame. Many people sadly take their unhealed shame to the grave. Yet, the risk of sharing and relieving oneself of this burden is so healing and rejuvenating that finding the courage to unload is truly a risk worth taking as it enables us to live again fully.
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.
WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
Ashley Share
Empowering Women of all ages through YOGA By Dina Morrone
Ashley Share, Esq, is Founder, CEO & Chairwoman of the Board of ShareLove.Fund, a non-profit 501(C)(3), and a Yoga Alliance certified RYT 500, RPYT, and RCYT yoga teacher. She received a B.A. in English and double minors in Business Administration and Environmental Science from UC Berkeley, an M.Sc. from The London School of Economics, and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. She worked for Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a corporate restructuring attorney. Currently, she works as a real estate professional, yogi, and philanthropist. And she is also a wife, mother of three children, and fur mom to two dogs, Coco and August! As the youngest child in the family, Share remembers coming home from St. Matthew's kindergarten in the Pacific Palisades in California and showing off the somersault she had just learned. Her mother, unenthusiastic, started to walk away when Share begged her to join her on the carpet. Share recalls her mother saying something that shocked her senses. She said, "I cannot do a somersault." Incredulous, Share told herself she had to learn more. Through various further discussions, her mother disclosed that she had done summersaults as a child but somehow lost the ability over the years. Share was comforted that at least there was proof her mother was once a kid but heartbroken that she could not join her in having fun. Share was terrified at the thought that she, too, would be 54 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
turning old one day and that perhaps, just like her mother, she would not be able to do a somersault. That day, she made a pact with her five-year-old self to make sure she would never stop doing summersaults! Through sheer passion, resolve, and commitment to a healthy body and mind, and a focus on empowering women, she took positive steps to be the best she could be. She then chose to share all of her knowledge with as many women as possible. What followed was the birth of her foundation ShareLove. Fund. Share is determined to make a difference in all women's lives - women from all social backgrounds and walks of life. At ShareLove.Fund, during this past year, there have been many success stories. Share is proud of one in particular. ShareLove.Fund is sponsoring a double mastectomy and chemotherapy breast cancer survivor to empower her and lift her out of the trenches through the 1:1 yoga teacher certification program, where she will continue working with the lead yoga trainer, Peter Icovello, for four hours per week over the course of one year to earn her 200-hour yoga teaching degree. Share is thrilled to know that this breast cancer survivor will definitely be doing summersaults again and enjoying her second chance at life!
What was your inspiration for creating ShareLove. Fund? I created ShareLove.Fund out of an overwhelming need to help women during Covid. Specifically with the support of my husband, Greg Jakubowsky, ShareLove.Fund is a non-profit charitable organization. I started it in response to discovering that a mother in our community was living out of her car due to domestic violence and Court delays caused by Covid. I soon realized that there was an exploding population of women suffering as a result of rising domestic violence and that these women had no economic independence. These women needed more than money. They needed a job. They needed a skillset after being stay-at-home mothers for, in some cases, a decade. I also noticed that with gyms closed due to Covid, there was a demand for personal trainers. My idea was to form ShareLove.Fund to train women in-need for free to be yoga instructors and then place those women in jobs as 1:1 personal yoga trainers. My idea worked, and I was able to successfully move our first client out of her car and into a home full of donated furniture so she could be reunited with her children. My idea took flight and turned into a yoga-based women's empowerment program founded on the three pillars of (1) train yogis, (2) empower women, and (3) build lives. Today, ShareLove.Fund celebrates the start of 2021 in a world where we can travel but no longer take travel for granted. We continue to build lives for women across borders as part of our women's empowerment through yoga retreat programs, on-line programs, and in-person leadership experience through yoga teacher training programs for high school girls.
2015.) Anne Penson, Executive Director of Women's Initiatives, Programs, and Community Partnerships for the New York City Department of Corrections has gone above and beyond to welcome ShareLove.Fund and I am incredibly touched by her deep sense of compassion for the women in custody and the high level of professionalism exhibited by her team.
What prompted you to take action and commit to your new lifestyle, with Yoga being a central part of it? I turned 40 this year and was in a rut of my own during Covid. I knew I needed to do something different because I believe in the quote, "you cannot solve a problem with the mindset that created it." I knew I had to change my mindset. I began training for 4.5 hours a week with a leading yoga trainer and healer with 25 years of experience, Peter Iocovello. You are an attorney. How are you able to use your Law background in your daily yoga practice and to advance ShareLove.Fund? Great question, and it is amazing how these two degrees serve each other! First, I started a job training/ work re-entry project for women in custody and new releases from Rikers Island Jail in New York to reduce female recidivism, which has nationally increased by 700% since 1980. (Source: The Sentencing Project,
As an attorney, I believe I can better help the women in custodial care because I understand the legal components of the process they are going through awaiting trial. I can structure the meditations that I prepare for them, keeping in mind the frustrations that they may have pre-and post-hearing. 55 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
What is your perfect meal? One that you crave? It is not actually a meal, but my guilty pleasure is to crack open a jar of manuka honey, and oops, sometimes it just disappears! What does an empowered woman look like? The first step to women's empowerment is NOT to create yet another mold for a woman to have to tailor herself. We are all just imperfect humans doing what we can to survive, and if we can help someone along the way, all the better, and that is the baseline we are starting at.
I believe women's empowerment is more about what you are letting go of, what you are freeing yourself of rather than what you are doing or who you are. I read a quote that provided something along the lines of, "given how quickly people forget those who have passed, why do we spend so much time thinking about what others think of us." For all the women working so hard to prop up and make failed marriages look functional, for all the women hiding the autism or learning disabilities of their children to protect their families, for all of the women living in fear of being homeless if they get a divorce or end a negative relationship, what if they trusted in themselves that they will always find a way into the light, and what if all the other women let go of jealousy and their own insecurities and believed in the concept of "together we all rise higher." In essence, I believe the ultimate empowerment is the elimination of fear. In the absence of fear, the true self emerges, and then each unique woman with her own unique embodiment of empowerment is revealed. That's the yogi in me speaking. Is there a woman in your life you feel has positively impacted you the most? Yes. My mother has been the single most influential impact in my life. Through example, she taught me of
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hard work and sacrifice. She ingrained in me never to go on a "happiness search" because the people most unhappy in life are the ones constantly searching for happiness. As a child, she had me visit churches in deprived neighborhoods. I pray every night to G-d, saying, G-d life is not fair, and I ended up on the lucky side of that equation, and now please tell me what I should do in service to others. ShareLove.Fund has taken off and grown in such a short period of time. To what do you attribute this? I LOVE drafting documents (now yoga curriculum manuals), and I LOVE lecturing (now inspirational women's empowerment-themed yoga classes). When you are passionate + working 24/7 + have a husband with the means to provide the financial backing, it is impossible not to grow at skyrocketing speed. I am thankful to have this perfect recipe for growth.
Please share one success story that really took you by surprise? I designed our program to accept 16-year-olds and older because Yoga Alliance, the most reputable yoga accrediting body, only acknowledges certifications of students 16 years old and above. I had two highly motived young applicants, ages 14 and 15. As it turns out, our local YMCA has offered to interview and potentially hire one of our high school program graduates for a summer job as their yoga instructor. Our 15-year-old is the lead contender! Not only will she be one of the youngest certified yoga instructors in our program, but she will also be the first program graduate to be hired by an external institution. In addition, the 14-year-old secured a summer paid internship with ShareLove.Fund to translate all of our course materials into her mother tongue of Spanish. So, ironically, these two applicants that I thought would be too young for our program have risen to be our program leaders and ambassadors!
What do you find is the one common thing that draws women to ShareLove.Fund? Women love that ShareLove.Fund is a Yoga Alliance accredited yoga school. Yoga is popular among all women irrespective of race, socio-economic status, or life situation. Women who are comfortable in their lives are attracted to our low-impact exercises available for free on our YouTube channel. College students have told me that they love our "10-minute flows" on our YouTube channel. Whether from being incarcerated or from an ugly divorce, women in crisis find that Yoga and breathing enable them to cope day-to-day. Yoga is a tool that every woman can utilize in a way that best serves her. What does a day in the life of Ashley look like? I collaborate with an amazing group of women from Barcelona to Hawaii; so, I wake up to a flood of emails and WhatsApp texts from Europe that I feel an urgency to respond to because the messages are already 5 hours old when I start to read them at 8 am. We are growing so rapidly that my day is largely correspondence to further our initiatives to build our organizational infrastture and develop our arms of outreach, additional certification accreditations, fundraising, and community alliance building. Then, I am interrupted from business affairs five days a week to either be trained in Yoga (and I now film all my training to multitask to create free workout content to share on YouTube) or to teach Yoga to my junior teacher trainees that I teach in
person. After Yoga, I eat my Sakara salad and drink lots of water. Yoga helps me clear my mind and get in touch with my needs. It also helps me better prioritize what needs to get done. I spend the rest of the day completing tasks from my task list and addressing the correspondence that comes in later from California and Hawaii. Because being well-rested should be all of our "jobs," my aspirational goal is to be in bed with lights out by 10 pm, no electronics, but that rarely happens. Are there any parting words for our readers? You are a perfect child. There are no mistakes, just lessons. Breathe. Try to always act from a place of abundance, and every decision that follows will serve you. - WE, stands for Women's Empowerment through the principles and teachings of Yoga. - Over 1,000 women from the ages 16 to 60 have received a benefit from ShareLove. Fund's services. - No Directors or Officers receive any compensation. - The Board of Directors fund 100% of the administrative expenses. - 100% of donations are used to support empowerment programs for teenagers and women. - ShareLove.Fund is committed to the highest disclosure and accountability standards. *For more information, please visit: www.ShareLove.Fund 57 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
An excerpt from The Self-Sabotage Behavior Workbook
What is
SELF-SABOTAGE? By Dr. Candice Seti, PsyD
Y
ou have a voice in your head.
No, you are not crazy. You don’t have multiple personality disorders. You’re not schizophrenic. You don’t need to check into a psych ward. You are a normal, healthy, functioning individual, just like most of the rest of us. And yet, you still have a voice in your head (as does everyone else.) And unfortunately, that voice is out to get you—to stand in your way, to prevent you from achieving your goals and dreams, and to provide every reason not to do what you want to do. That voice is your self-sabotage.
IT’S NOT A QUESTION OF IF WE SELFSABOTAGE; THE BETTER QUESTION IS HOW WE RESPOND TO IT AND WHETHER OR NOT WE FIGHT IT. SELF-SABOTAGE COMPOUNDS ITSELF AND GETS STRONGER AND STRONGER IF WE DON’T STOP IT IN ITS TRACKS AND PUSHIT AWAY. worth pursuing.
What is self-sabotage? The answer probably depends on whom you ask. If we look at Webster’s definition of sabotage, it is “an act or process tending to hamper or hurt.” Now think about that behavior being something you do to yourself, and you have a good idea of what I am talking about here. Urban Dictionary defines self-sabotaging as “one who keeps screwing things up for themselves. Usually not on purpose.” I like to think of self-sabotage as simply standing in your own way. In other words, you are blocking yourself from moving forward from the past or achieving whatever it is you want to do in life—finding a romantic relationship, getting a promotion, losing weight, traveling, or doing anything else that you find
Sounds silly, right? If you want something, why would you stand in the way of achieving it? Why wouldn’t you just go and get it? But unfortunately, the human mind is not that simple. In fact, it is as far from straightforward as you can get. We don’t think from point A to point B most of the time, so sometimes we do things that are against our own interests. The human mind and our thoughts and behaviors are so complex that hundreds of thousands of people have devoted their lives to studying them. The only definite answer when it comes to human behavior is that there aren’t any definite answers!
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Photo by JVika Aleksandrova
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Back to self-sabotage. We can agree that it sounds like a silly thing to do, but we all do it! You do it. How do I know? Well, you’re reading this book, so I’m assuming you’re looking for a way to stop this problem. Also, I know because, as I said above, the human mind isn’t as logical and easy to understand as we might believe. Yes, every last one of us self-sabotages, no matter how intelligent we may be.
see how self-sabotage stands in your way of getting there. In fact, self-sabotage is often the only thing standing in the way of achieving what you want. So, in order to clearly understand your self-sabotage, you also need to clearly understand what you want. Don’t worry: we will figure all that out together!
It’s easy to look at someone who’s achieved success and say he or she doesn’t self-sabotage. For example, let’s look at Ted. He’s been happily married for 15 years and has two delightful children, aged 9 and 6 years old. He’s a director at a large tech company and can easily support his family with his salary. He generally seems happy and well adjusted. On the surface, you would assume that he is someone who simply does not engage in self-sabotage. After all, he couldn’t have gotten to this happy, successful place in his life if he stood in his own way all the time, right? But what if I told you that Ted had had the opportunity to apply for a vice-president job on three different occasions, and each time he failed to submit the necessary documents to be considered for the position? What if I also told you that he and his wife have been struggling for a few years now because she is constantly hassling him to actually finish the things he says he’s going to do around the house? And what if I told you that he has about $120,000 in credit card debt? Would these bits of information change your mind about him? Does he suddenly seem like someone you can relate to a bit more? Have you done similar things? Some of us self-sabotage more frequently than others, and some of us sabotage ourselves in a way that is more debilitating, but we all do it. Actually, it’s not a question of if we self-sabotage; the better question is how we respond to it and whether or not we fight it. Self-sabotage compounds itself and gets stronger and stronger if we don’t stop it in its tracks and push it away. It’s usually the hows and the how often of self-sabotage that differentiates successful people from those who are stuck. That’s what this program is going to help you tackle. When I talk to my clients about self-sabotage, every one of them will nod their head and say, “yes, I absolutely do that!” but when I ask them how or ask them to give me examples, they often have to pause to think about it. That’s because, in order to know how you self-sabotage, you also have to know what you want. If you can’t pinpoint exactly what you want, you can’t
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As a therapist, author, speaker, coach, and former yo-yo dieter, Dr. Candice Seti is committed to helping others achieve health and wellness while gaining self-confidence, stopping self-sabotage from achieving their goals. She maintains a private practice in San Diego, California, where she works one-on-one with individuals, helping them understand their maladaptive behaviors and thought patterns while replacing them with a healthier perspective that allows them to overcome self-sabotage and thrive in their lives. She is the author of The Self-Sabotage Behavior Workbook and Shatter the Yoyo. Find her online at meonlybetter.com.
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 61 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
Photo by Ruffa Jane Reyes
Steps to Heaven
By El Alma
The following is an excerpt from Becoming Soul
Becoming Soul: Seven Steps to Heaven is a spiritual parable following the main character, Asina, and her daughter, Nettie. Asina, a strong woman who contemplated becoming a nun, gave birth to her daughter, Nettie, after losing her mother. Asina and Nettie shared a very close bond as women and were there for one another as they individually faced men who were not there for them. Both women had a thin veil between Heaven and Earth and would find themselves able to regularly connect with the spiritual realm. After Nettie passes away, the reader sees the perspective of Nettie in the spiritual realm as well as Asina continuing life on Earth and traversing her own spiritual path, and taking care of Nettie's children. "Becoming Soul" outlines the very nature of the passages of life that readers all encounter on Earth and how they can seek to find an understanding of their souls' purpose. The seven steps to Heaven that are presented in this book are silence, hope, suffering, loss, survival, belief, and Heaven.
E
arly morning. The other family members, including the young children, wait anxiously for the final call. The children have been sent to a school event at the previous request of Nettie when she'd strongly indicated that she didn't want the children anxiously waiting at home for the call that she'd gone. The call is now made to Nettie's eldest sister, Marni, who is caring for the children and is waiting at home. She leaves immediately to collect them. As soon as they see their aunt arrive before the event is over, they know instinctively that their mother is gone. The shock is immediate. Silence is heavy in the car as they drive home. Once inside, Marni tells them. Nettie watches as each of her children finds out that they no longer have her with them. She watches as their faces contort with great pain and great loss and confu-
sion. Then she sees her father and other siblings' similar reactions. The awareness of those left behind is not the same for Nettie. She feels their pain as love and compassion for them. No fear or panic is arousing in her as she experiences the feeling of traveling. Asina prepares Nettie's body with the nursing staff. She chooses a fresh set of clothing Nettie liked and combs her daughter's hair in the same style she always wore. She takes the hospital scissors and cuts, so delicately, threads of her hair for herself and for Nettie's children for when they get older. She folds these threads into separate tissues and puts them with Nettie's other belongings. She now needs to pack Nettie's suitcase and get ready to leave Nettie in the room where she has been with her. The moment soon comes when all is ready, and Asina is to leave her child. Never has she walked out and left her child. It's a difficult moment, and Asina doesn't know how to leave. Panic ricochets through her body. She calls out to Nettie. She hears Nettie's voice reply, "Take me with you, Mum. Don't leave me here! I'll always be with you." Asina replies to Nettie, "I brought you in here. I'll take you with me as I leave." Both women walk out of the room bonded together. Neena, who has accompanied them throughout the endless days of Nettie's stay in the hospital, has been waiting in the visitors' lounge while Asina tended to Nettie's body. When she sees Asina, Neena tells her that she's just met and talked to the wife of the patient in the room next door to Nettie, who's also leaving life. Neena explains that he's the man who lives in the farming area near Asina and her dog that Nettie knocked and killed some years earlier. Neena explains how she used the encounter with the wife to apologize on Nettie's behalf for killing his beloved dog. Neena explained how it had haunted Nettie all these years, as she didn't know who owned the dog, and she couldn't make amends. Nettie's already tending to things she has left undone on the Earth. She's watching this encounter between the wife and Neena. She's leaving with Asina. She's
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tending to the children and sending loving energy to them. She's following the news of her leaving as it ripples into the wider family and community. She begins to realize that she's continuing and that her full consciousness is still existing as she travels forward along the dark path, calling out, "I'm here! I'm here! Where are you, Jesus? I'm here!" Nettie sees a dim light in the distance appear in the intense darkness. This light brings her comfort, as she sees within the light that a distant figure is appearing. Eventually, Nettie sees the light being stepped through the light. The being reaches out as a gesture of beckoning and welcomes her into the resplendent light. At the same instant, she's with her mother's soul, still traveling towards the being. Asina and Nettie come to two massive open gates. The gates have overreaching arches, and they look like an entrance to a huge and ancient school. Asina is familiar with this practice of standing outside the gates to usher souls to the other side. Through these gates, they see that the path leads to a long, wide-open rotunda entrance, where many souls are gathering inside. The path then leads towards the entrance of a further chamber. Asina stops and explains to Nettie that she can go no further. "Only you must pass through these gates, Nettie," she tells her daughter. Asina feels like she's dropping her daughter off at school for the last time, but this time, she won't come back to pick her up. Nettie must go through the gates without her beloved mother. Saying goodbye seems so normal to them as they turn towards each other for their farewell. Nettie feels apprehensive about going and leaving her mother. Asina feels the fierce rip in her own heart. Neither says goodbye. They just let go of each other and whisper, "See you later." With a wave to her mother, Nettie enters through the gates into the essence of the luminary who offered her the welcoming greeting. Nettie meets, for the first time, her great-grandmother, who is welcoming her home. She is Ezra. With joyful greetings, the two immerse themselves into the space flooded with light within the now-closed chamber. Nettie is blinded by the light. An overwhelming gasp hurtles up in Nettie and tries to escape, but she stifles the sound. Her great-grandmother leads her to a group of people Nettie recognizes.
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Nettie is welcomed by those she's known who've already left Earth, including her younger brother. She is ecstatic to also meet family members she'd only heard of while living on the Earth, especially her great-grandmother. Joyful greetings from many souls she'd met on Earth are infusing the magnificent surroundings of the grand entrance. Asina arrives home with Neena. She has Nettie tightly wrapped in her soul. She stops outside to collect herself before she goes in to see the children. She goes to the trampoline in the backyard and climbs onto it, and starts to bounce slowly to ease the stiff energy within her body. She hasn't cried. She is anxious about seeing the children. She feels silly with the others watching from the house. It's not expected behavior, especially for a grandmother, but still, she bounces with a gamut of confused feelings swirling around inside her. She sees the world from a distorted perspective. Everything is moving and, at the same time, staying the same. The movement matches her feelings. Her head spins with many thoughts of what happens from here, but she's incapable of formulating any plan. The adults come outside to see what's happening. They ask their mother what she's doing. "I need to feel my body," she replies. "I feel as though I've died." Everyone steps back and watches Asina move slowly on the trampoline. The kids have already been told that their mother's gone and have come outside to watch. They don't understand what's happening. "What are you doing, Grandma?" With no reply, they get on the trampoline one at a time with her, and, soon, the four become a chaotic rhythm. Asina soon drops to her knees due to the irregular movement. They follow and fall over her. The release of their pent-up energy comes out in squeals of delight, laughter, tears, and constant movement. In the movement, they feel the tremendous shift of energy in their world. Nothing is the same. They feel lost. Unattached. Floating. Unstable. "Mum, catch them," Nettie calls to Asina, who is struggling with all her strength to reach a plan of action. Moving to the edge, Asina is ricocheted by the propulsion of energy. She lands with her feet on the ground. Asina is exhausted from the continuous bounce and heads inside. The children follow her like lost souls.
Asina feels a somber mood inside. Her older children are looking at her differently. Suddenly, she feels their projections onto her. Not only are the children motherless, but she's also the mother who's lost her child. She felt this same feeling from the nursing staff when leaving the hospital. She and the children felt so conspicuous when they just wanted to melt into the background. They find their way together through the first few days of Nettie leaving, but the feelings don't go away. They meet many people through the preparations for the funeral, and the feeling of wanting to hide is further enhanced. The funeral day culminates in fears, tears, and the strong urge to withdraw, but they need to walk through the pain together is mandatory. The church is almost full of people who the children and Asina hardly know. Nettie has made so many friends and works colleagues. It's a tremendous gathering of relatives as well. Almost as overwhelming as the gathering Nettie is experiencing simultaneously. "On earth as it is in heaven." Asina hears Nettie's voice. Asina knows that souls in Heaven and those on Earth both celebrate together as a magnificent soul such as Nettie's passes through to the spirit realm and arrives home. It's our connection, manifested. She feels the energy of spirit infusing those nearest to Nettie as the portal opens and her soul enters Heaven. The grandmother and all her children are surrounded and blessed by this oozing, etheric energy seeping through from the other side. The blessing is a gift of spirit to help the family cope and survive their grief. El Alma, which translates into English as "The Soul", writes from the perspective of an experienced counselor and spiritual woman. She has worked as a professional in the areas of relationships, grief, disabilities, and spirituality for over 30 years. She is an advocate for traumatized adults and children. El Alma wrote Becoming Soul as a grandmother, like the main character, who has passed through many of life's challenges, growing in her faith in God, and found her soul. Currently, she is semi-retired and counsels those who wish to understand Becoming Soul and the Seven Steps more fully. She resides in Queensland, Australia, on a farm with her husband and family.
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In Ruby Falls, Deborah Goodrich Royce affirms her talent for crafting heart-stopping, jaw-dropping novels around female characters with complicated pasts and psyches. Narrated by its leading lady, a fragile young actress haunted by a childhood trauma, Royce’s expertly plotted encore thriller will keep readers riveted and gasping until the final shocking revelation. On July 12, 1968, six-year-old Ruby suffered a shattering loss: her father. She remembers holding his hand and trying heartily not to be afraid while standing in the pitch-black dark, with the sound of roaring water and feel of dank air surrounding her. They were in a cave—in the middle of a clump of tourists visiting Ruby Falls in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Then, Ruby remembers her Daddy letting go of her hand. and disappearing. How could a full-grown man simply vanish—and worse, abandon his little girl, his own flesh and blood child? Yes, that terrible day and the mystery of what happened to her father took a toll. But, with the help of her strong, devoted mother and therapy, that little girl survived— and vowed to leave Ruby behind.
Photo by Steve Halama
Keeping the tension mounting and the shockers coming, Ruby Falls follows Eleanor as she begins to suspect that her perfect husband is a liar with sinister motives. Then, her work on the set of a chilling movie starts to blur with her life at home. Is Eleanor trapped in a dangerous marriage? Or is the horror and pain of her childhood coming back to destroy her?
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RUBY FALLS, Where my life changed By Deborah Goodrich Royce
I
was standing with my father in the pitchblack dark—the blackest dark I’d ever seen in the few short years of my young life— and the blackest dark that I’ve seen since, which is a considerably longer span.
The surrounding air was dank with flecks from falling water. A disembodied voice rose up from the mist, then swooped back down to submerge in it. First amplified, then muffled, the sounds changed places, each taking its turn at prominence. The drone of the voice, the roar of the falls, and the clammy damp came at me from all directions—from the sides, from above and below—to seal me in a viscous coating and stick me to my spot. The waterfall could have been anywhere. Next to me? Yards away? I dared not move a muscle. The woman’s words transfixed me with a tale of scuba divers—fearless swimmers who, over the years, had plumbed the depths of a fathomless pool. In wet suits and tanks, in masks and flippers, down they had plunged into icy water in an effort to find its bottom. No search had been successful. The roiling cascade dropped into a lake that continued, it seemed, to the center of the earth; To China. To horrible depths, my imagination was fully engaged in conjuring. Cold drops of perspiration ran down my face, my arms, and the back of my neck. I was concentrating hard—trying to locate the source of her voice, trying to pinpoint the crash of the falls, trying not to move and tumble in, and trying most heartily not to be afraid—when my father let go of my hand. That was it, really—that was all he did. He loosened his hand from my grip. And he disappeared, never to be seen again, while the tour guide never stopped talking. July the 12th, 1968. The last day I saw my father. James Emerson Russell was Sonny to most—from the son in Emerson, I imagine. Or maybe from his position in his family of origin. I don’t really
know. He was just Daddy to me, what a little girl calls her father. He was handsome, that Sonny. It is not just my memory. It is what people still say when they don’t stop themselves from talking about him. And, they say it just like that. “He was handsome, that Sonny, I’ll grant him that.” As though his visage were something they grudgingly bestowed on him. Then they change the subject on seeing me. He was long and lanky—six feet even—impossibly tall to me then—a slight stoop to his walk, crinkly blue eyes, and a halfway receding hairline. His taste in attire ran to western, and that was how he was dressed that last day: jeans and a checkered shirt. Madras, my mother had called it. Snaps down the front and a turned-up collar. Cuffed sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms, all covered in downy blond fuzz. He wore cowboy boots, and he carried a hat. In a nod to convention, he would not have worn it indoors. Men did not do that then. Then again, men did not tend to walk out on their children in the middle of tourist attractions, either, but that hadn’t served to stop him. I guess my daddy picked his proprieties from a smorgasbord of options. He wore a watch and his wedding ring, too, and a belt with a silver buckle. He had surprisingly soft hands for a man. I had held his hand for the longest time, twirling his ring, until the darkness commandeered my attention when the lights were abruptly switched off. Then I just stood still, clutching that hand and willing him to protect me. Those large, soft hands that belonged to a man who would use them to wrest himself free of his daughter. But how, you might ask, could a full-grown man vanish from the middle of a clump of tourists visiting Ruby Falls in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, on a sweltering summer day? More precisely, how could a man disappear from a cave under Lookout Mountain—when that very act would require accessing the elevator (through the lightless cave), traversing the entrance lobby, crossing the parking lot, starting his car, and driving away—leaving his own flesh and blood child standing frozen under the earth beneath him?
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In the end, nobody remembered seeing him do any of those things. And his car, a 1962 Cadillac de Ville, in a vibrant shade of turquoise, remained where he— we—had left it in the parking lot. It is an unsolved mystery. And it turns out that people who experience an unsolved mystery in their lives become inordinately keen on unsolved mysteries as a topic in general. I am one of those people. My father disappeared from Ruby Falls in the summer of 1968, when I was six and a half years old. He left me alone and mute, unable to move, even once they put the lights back on and herded the crowd past the stalactites and stalagmites and the God-forsaken falls toward the elevators, en route to the streaming sun above. The tour guides had to pick me up when it became evident that I was not ambulatory. They groused the whole way up to the surface that I was stiff as a corpse, which, as they made clear to each other and to me, added to the overall creepiness of my father’s de-materialization. Had they been superstitious people (and who, really, isn’t?) they might have thought some sort of black magic was being performed by us. Lest I forget to mention—my name is Ruby. Not believable, you say? Well, it is true. My name is Ruby (not Falls, if my name were Ruby Falls, that would be unbelievable). My name is Ruby—Eleanor Ruby Russell—but called Ruby from birth, in the way that Southerners do, being extremely fond of middle names. Thus, I became famous for a while at the age of six, and the press had a field day with my name. Little Ruby Left in Ruby Falls! Did Ruby’s Father Fall in Ruby Falls? Ruby Took the Fall in Ruby Falls! You can imagine, I am sure, the extent to which the headline writers amused themselves. I might have been entertained, too, except for obvious reasons— namely, my age at the time of the incident. But, trailing a close second to that was the fact that my mother shielded me from the newspaper clippings that she studiously pasted into a scrapbook. I was a teenager
when I discovered that macabre memento. Strangely—though what about this case wasn’t strange?—my father had chosen my name. My mother hated it—Northerner that she was, she considered it a countrified name—but my father had won the day. That did not look good for him in the end. Or what everyone has questioned, from that day to this, as being the end or not. Kind of suspect to insist on calling your daughter Ruby, then abandon her and vanish into thin air in the middle of Ruby Falls— bad form no matter how you slice it. It could be taken as intent. But the intent to do what? My mother had not been with us on our outing that day, and the staff had had a hard time figuring out what to do with the rigid child on their hands. Understandably, they had no idea that my father had been the one to leave me alone in the cave. They figured I hadn’t come to Ruby Falls on my own— considering that I was only six years old—but no one had taken much notice of me, or whoever might have been along with me, for the first half of my descent into the cavern. When questioned, some thought they had seen me with a man. But there was no longer a man to be seen with me. There were no security cameras to review, no credit card records to comb. There really was no way of verifying when and with whom I had entered the cave. Or who might have exited without me. And I wasn’t saying much. The police were called. They drove out to the mouth of the cave to have a look at the little girl who was found on her own at the bottom of it. It came to be closing time, and no one knew what to do with me, so the policemen stuffed me into the back of a squad car and took me back to the station. It was around ten o’clock that night, I later learned, after numerous hands of pinochle, when my mother understood that my father and I were not just dawdling over dinner and telephoned the precinct.
It is an unsolved mystery. And it turns out that people who experience an unsolved mystery in their lives become inordinately keen on unsolved mysteries as a topic in general. I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. 68 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
Margaret Russell—her husband’s social superior in every way: birth, breeding, and means—identified herself as if the Tennessee cop might know her. Officer Brady gave his name in reply. And then they got down to business. Officer Brady matched up the child my mother described with the small, silent, staring creature he saw on the bench before him. Pink and green flowered shorts?—check. White eyelet short-sleeved blouse?—check. White socks, red Keds, blond pageboy haircut, and big brown eyes?—check, check, and check. Aunt Hazel, at whose house we had been staying on our annual Southern trek to see my father’s people, drove my mother to the station to fetch me The women floated in on drafts of Jungle Gardenia and bourbon (in fairness to them, it was after eleven p.m. by that point). All scarves and heels and shirtwaists, their pumps clattered their arrival just seconds after their scent had pre-announced them. My mother confronted the officer. Just what did he mean by this? In the face of Peggy’s perfection—her beauty, her cat-eye glasses, her touch of eyeliner and frosted lips—he shouldered the responsibility. He was sorry, he said, for her troubles. He could not say what had happened to my father. He looked to me to save him. And I was not talking. Reminded of her duties by Officer Brady’s glance in my direction, my mother swished over to peer at me. I must not have looked good for, big as I was, she reached down to pick me up. For the first time in hours, my body began to uncoil. Her smell, her warmth, her vitality—her utter familiarity in a world that had become a funhouse—seeped into my cold, hard bones and, on the spot, sedated me. I fell fast asleep in her arms. Sometime later, my mother laid me on the back seat of Aunt Hazel’s Comet station wagon. The woman took me back to my aunt’s and put me in my PJs. They ladled some broth down my throat, offered me Jell-O, which was thought to be curative, and put me to bed, where I remained for the better part of the summer. My condition, and my father’s absence, grounded my mother and me in Chattanooga. She, answering questions and chain-smoking. I face the wall.
Deborah Goodrich Royce made her debut as an author in 2019 with Finding Mrs. Ford. She was an actress in film and television for ten years, and is remembered by soap opera fans for her role of Silver Kane, sister of the legendary Erica Kane, on ABC-TV’s All My Children. She later worked as a story editor for Miramax Films, and was instrumental in the development of such films as Emma, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, and A Wrinkle in Time. With her husband, she restored and reopened the Avon Film Center, a 1939 landmark in Stamford, CT, which now operates as a non-profit dedicated to independent, classic, foreign, and documentary films. Ruby Falls deftly blends classic horror elements with a character study of the corrosive effects of abandonment and betrayal—all in a brilliant, twisty page-turner.
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Photo by Amin Moshrefi 70 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
SELF-CARE PRACTICES in a PERVASIVE DEPRESSION By Jayita Bhattacharjee
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elf-care constitutes the essentiality of feeling whole, which justifies why we need to be indulgent in it. Caught up in stress often leads us to be negligent in practicing self-care. But how do we define self-care in the first place? It is the conscious choice we make in taking time to be attentive to ourselves, not in a self-centered way but in a manner that ensures our well-being. It is an altruistic act though we are doing it for ourselves, as by ensuring our health and wellness, we restore ourselves to life and the very spirit of living. That, in turn, uplifts us to be creative when tomorrows come into our lives. We do not become self-absorbed when we indulge in self-care; rather, we heal ourselves inward and then emerge alive outward. It is a mindful practice of paying attention to ourselves, so we can escape burnout. We develop the capacity to feel for ourselves, be compassionate towards us, as, in that nurturing, we do nourish the body and soul. The sun of light peeks through, and we take the time to lift our eyes to it. It is a powerful moment when we acknowledge deep down our vulnerability, and that it's time, we surrender to the fact that the holiest of holy, the sacred soul, the abode inside, needs to be nourished, and so we do, paying attention to what needs to be done. Beneath that light, we begin to survive and thrive. How do we practice self-care, so we can be the better version of ourselves? Self-care implies knowing we are at the intrinsic levels to admit our strengths and weaknesses unconditionally. It is the recognition of the fact of what we are doing and when it exceeds our handling capacity. It then means taking the time to figure the maze and take the necessary steps to slow down.
Self-care constitutes the right amount of sleep that is needed and acknowledges that rest is needed alongside work. Are we getting enough sleep, or do we warble in our thoughts? Does the mind wear us out? If so, do we acknowledge that as a signal to put it at rest? Do we make a conscious and serious effort to make that happen? As it is so needed for the resting of body and mind. Self-care implies that we are nourishing the body and mind. We need to be attentive to our diet, so the food we gulp provides the energy needed for our smooth functioning. While occupied at work, do we become attentive to take the meals at the proper time and along with it, do we allow ourselves to be indulgent in intermittent meals at work? Or do we starve ourselves, placing the work as a first priority? This choice is a conscious choice; we make, and being mindful of it, we master the art of self-care. Do we integrate healthy foods into our everyday diet, do we plan accordingly, in advance, so we can have adequate nutrition throughout the day as planning is an integral part of a conscious choice. Self-care implies coming up with a way to find new restorative routes to decompress from the morning till night. This again needs mindful thinking. We ground ourselves in restorative acts and become aware, conscious of every act we perform, acknowledging how we think and feel. What are the steps we take to calm down our chattering minds during and throughout the workday? And what do we do after the workday is over? How do we tune out the noise? If we attempt to integrate mini-breaks throughout the day, then it contributes to the refreshment of the body and mind.
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Photo by Briana Tozour/unsplash
Performing some stretching exercises or taking a brief walk, allowing ourselves to talk to friends, getting in touch with a loved one, be that a friend or family member, sharing photos that remind of special moments, to gaze at them purposefully, all bring a meaningful place in our lives. Overall, they make a significant contribution towards restoring what gets lost in the pressure of a hectic work schedule. These pauses nourish the brain. Self-care means being attentive to transform a challenging work situation. We are aware of our capacity to handle things at our very best. Given our absorbing capacities, what are we doing to destress the stressful work situation if we find that we carry that stress on an everyday basis? The hours that we work are they sustainable or unsustainable? That is to be a question, and we need to think and rethink. Is there some solution insight, or is it something that we can approach our supervisor with, as to our working hours or taking an earlier break? While discussing these changes, is the supervisor going to be flexible and understanding, or is he/she a difficult boss to work with? At times, the supervisor might be completely unaware of what the worker is going through mentally, emotionally, and physically. They do not have a grasp of the reality that we live in. an open conversation outlining the stressful things and the factors that are precipitating a crisis might facilitate an improvement in the working condition. Supervisors are caught up in their own world, and an open conversation
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with them can provide them valuable insight so they can rethink the process of how things can be done in the destressing manner possible. Self-care can be defined as taking the time to get to know ourselves better. We learn to know ourselves, our potentials, and our limitations better. The things that make us enraged, furious can be skipped as a vitriolic temper can only add to our daily challenges. We can make a conscious effort to study our mental perspectives, whether we are the sensitive ones, and get affected easily by the events and episodes of this external world. If we can identify what triggers our temperaments, we can plan accordingly, destressing us. Self-care implies identifying the things that give us pleasure and making a conscious choice to integrate them into our daily living. Conscious planning gives us something to look forward to every day, so the daily living can be uncomplicated. E.g., gazing at some artwork after work hours, reading a vibrant story, or having dinner with a loved one whose company can be animating. Self-care implies that after the day's work is done, how are we going to decompress, so we can smoothly transition from work to home. Maybe, listening to some quiet enlivening music, or strolling in the woods to clear the head, or driving in tranquility, or slipping into a serene evening while absorbing the sunset…all these can gradually decompress after the work and can bring out a better version of ourselves as we head home.
Self-care does mean nurturing and nourishing our spiritual selves. It comes in various ways, like praying when we talk to the divine, meditating when we listen to the divine, developing a closeness with nature while stepping into it, being intent on the sky at the break of a dawn, or to lift the eyes at the falling of sunset, attending a religious sermon, or reading something inspirational. They all inspire us to be creative and not erosive. Self-care does definitely mean taking the time out to fall in love with ourselves over and over again, so when tomorrow comes, we can begin again. Sadness comes as a normal human emotion, and with its prolonging, it takes to turn to a pervasive depression, an extreme psychological condition. Sadness can wane by crying or having an open conversation about it with a close person. Venting about it takes the emotion away. Normally sadness is dispelled after something satisfactory comes forth to replace the dissatisfactory one which triggered the sad emotion. While sadness does constitute one element of depression, but depression is far bigger and broader than sadness. Depression can be defined as a mental health disorder that has a profound impact on the personal life and professional life. Its implications are vast and far-reaching. By taking care of yourself, you become the author of your gifted life and not the helpless victim. Immersing yourself beneath the load of work does not let you escape from what is consuming you inside; rather, your exhaustion leads you to self-sabotage in unhealthy ways. By doing self-care, you create a life where you fall in love with yourself at every moment, instead of having a life where you need constant therapy or recovery. Selfcare creates a balanced life, where you are at your point of equilibrium. So, you do not look up to others for meeting your needs, and rather, you enable yourself to meet your innate needs. As depression crawls into every aspect of your life and takes away your ability to feel and make you numb about everything, you become so static and decapacitated, unable to be interested in anything or the world around you. Nothing catches your eyes or heart anymore. There comes a pervasive creepiness of depression that invades you inside. Things no longer hold any meaning or purpose. Apparently, it may seem like you have the life on hold, but beneath all that, you are disguising your authentic emotions. Self-care in this context becomes coming home to yourself. You find the trails back to your soul whereby you
take care of your physical and emotional well-being. Self-care in this context can be nourishing, restoring, and nurturing. It gives you back your lost essence. The fundamental step is self-awareness, where you understand how to engage in self-care. Rather than treating yourself with self-criticism, you treat yourself with self-compassion. You connect with your sight, sound, smell, and texture. You make a deliberate decision to take care of yourself from a place of conscious choice. So, you can re-emerge as a better you. Self-care keeps you away from pushing yourself hard, so you do not shut down and enter a depressive state and withdraw from others. You cease to become critical of others and yourself and turn to be creative. You matter, and your homecoming matters, so you engage in self-care. Depression can be overpowering, and it can conquer the creativity of a person. There is a general sluggishness to get out of bed in the early morning, a feeling of hopelessness, and living with an unmotivated spirit. What once was vibrant began to be tasteless and odorless. It cannot be mistaken as prolonged sadness but a depressive disorder. By engaging in self-care, you invest in your body, mind, and soul, so it gifts you, the enthusiastic and the constructive you, who is a dreamer and a seeker at heart and action.
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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FEELING
INSPIRED&
LIVING AN INSPIRED LIFE
By Shelly Wilson
A
t times, it may seem as though we are functioning on auto-pilot and going through the motions of life as humans on planet Earth until we do begin living our life fully. We embark on this journey into consciousness by asking the philosophical questions that unlock the proverbial door to more – Who am I? Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? Is this all there is? These questions are actually keys that assist with our awakening. Awake refers to being conscious, aware, actively tuning in to our intuition, and exploring more, which does include living an inspired life. I have found that if you love life, life will love you back. ~ Arthur Rubinstein
To begin with, the definition of inspire is to fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. Interestingly enough, another definition for inspire is to breathe in the air; inhale. As we recognize, breath is life force energy. Therefore, living an inspired life can simply involve breathing. However, we know that it can mean so much more.
Photo by Karl Fredrickeson
Creative inspiration flows to us and takes form in many ways. This could be a type of artistic expression, meal preparation, and decorating our home, among other ways. We are often being nudged to do something or go somewhere, but do we follow through on the nudges, or do we wait until it feels like we have no other option. Lean forward into your life. Begin each day as if it were on purpose. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher 74 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
The concept of leaning into our life empowers us to live a life of passion, presence, and purpose. To clarify, this entails pursuing our passions and doing what we love. It involves being present in our everyday life and with those around us. Lastly, our purpose is to embody all of our human life experiences – what we perceive to be the good, the bad, and the ugly. We are each continually receiving guidance from our angels and guides. Our hearts and spirit also speak to us, but are we really listening to what they have to say? To connect more deeply, we may be guided to spend some quiet time in reflection and meditation. This practice requires us to focus on quieting the thoughts that enter our mind so that our heart and spirit can gently, yet powerfully, speak to us. For this process, ask these questions aloud or within your mind - What do I need to know at this time? What experience do I need to release from my energy so that I can heal on every level? What intentional steps do I need to take so that I can grow more fully in my spirit? There may be additional questions that come into your awareness for you to ask as well. Then, listen and trust what is being conveyed to you through thoughts, words, feelings, and impressions. Take a mental note of any bodily sensations that you may feel as well. Allow yourself to embrace the clarity you receive with confidence. The inspiration and knowledge you receive from your heart will help guide you throughout your life journey. It is solely up to you to take action on any guidance you may receive.
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. ~ Oscar Wilde
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In addition, here are a few practical tips to help us as we begin living an inspired life: 1. Be present and practice mindfulness. Mindfulness involves being conscious and aware. Being fully present at the moment is significant with this intentional practice. Become aware if you are dwelling in the past or constantly thinking about the future. Now is where we create. Spending time in the reflection of past experiences and considering our future is part of our human life experience. We just don't want to miss out on the present moment. Practicing mindfulness enables us to be present. 2. Get clear about how you want to feel. Manifestation and conscious creation are something we are all capable of. When we choose to focus on how we want to feel, the universe works its magic on our behalf. To create consciously, we must become aware of our energetic emission with our thoughts, words and actions, and our intention behind our creation. 3. Always do your best. This is one of the 4 Agreements based on Toltec wisdom presented to us by Don Miguel Ruiz in his book of the same name. We are energetic beings having a human life experience. Our present state of indicating what we are capable of in the moment. When we feel healthy and balanced, we will obviously do better than when we are feeling unhealthy and imbalanced. 4. Practice kindness. Kindness is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and others. Being kind to someone will not only make us feel good, but it will also inspire others to be kind as well. Every act of kindness matters, love is all there really is, and each of us is creating the ripple. Greeting fellow life travelers with a kind word and a smile is an easy way to share love. Doing so is effortless and rewarding. We all have the ability to create magical moments if we simply choose to do so. 5. Let love lead. Choose to let love be the guiding force in all of our thoughts, words, and actions. Heart-centered consciousness begins with each one of us. We are creating a positive ripple by intentionally letting love lead, especially when we feel challenged. Previous perceived negative experiences or relationships may cause us to be hesitant or even fearful. This is a reminder to love even more in those instances! 6. Embrace an understanding of consciousness and Oneness. Consciousness is the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings. Regardless of one's religious or spiritual beliefs, we are truly connected, and having this awareness is momentous. 7. Recognize the inspiration that flows to us and through us. Being open and receptive enables us to receive. Therefore, it is essential 76 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
to clear our minds to provide space for inspiration and guidance to flow to us. We intentionally do this through a practice of prayer and meditation. Many times, the thoughts, words, and impressions are subtle, or we may even wonder if it is our imagination making it up. We can absolutely ask for clarification or additional information, so don't hesitate to do so. Inspiration can also come to us while we are driving, in the shower, or even doing yard work. When you are guided, share with those around you. In doing so, the inspiration flows through you. 8. Be joyful and journey with joy. We are energetic being having a human life experience. Explore and discover more of what brings you joy and then choose to experience it. Invest time and energy in who and what brings you joy and feeds your spirit. 9. Live life fully. The time is now for each one of us to wake up to our greatness so that we can truly live a life we love. Have the courage to imagine this reality and choose to journey into consciousness with fullness and aliveness rather than simply existing or going through the motions on autopilot. Don't be afraid to live. 10. Become an inspiration to others by walking your own path and being you. We have free will, the power to choose, and the power to create. There is no need to compare our choices to what another individual chooses. Simply feel into who and what is right for you personally. Once again, inspiration is continually flowing to us and through us. It's up to us to take action on the inspiration we receive as we fully embody this human life experience and discover the joy in everyday moments. Intentionally connecting with our heart and listening to our spirit will enable us to do just that. Each one of us can live an inspired life if we choose to, knowing we will also inspire others to do the same.
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
PERSONALITY CODES Are They Real? 78 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
O
ne’s personality is unique. That’s terrifying for those of you, who don’t know how to conduct one’s self into a social structure, so demanded upon us in today’s cyberspace technological lifestyle.
Would you be interested in performing a small exercise? How would you describe, using your life as an example? What does it mean to live in harmony with your surroundings? So before you read on, jot down, say ten words describing how that actually pertains to you?
The first question to contemplate could be, do they exist? What are these codes? Are they real or some madeup fantasy to entertain one’s ego? Let us discover to what degree, if any, does the significance of understanding these personality codes playout, in how one performs in life. The second question would be, how important is, knowing one’s profile when determining those areas where one may achieve the level of success one desires.
How about …, would that be a large enough statement to convey the spirit-essence of how you live what you’re experiencing? If not, why not? Are you not connected to your external environment? Does it even exist in this life that you are living?
First, though, I don’t want anyone telling me who I am and pigeonholing me into something I am not. What you may discover before engaging on a quest of self-discovery is a power-energy within a positive analysis, at first glance appearing as a negative. Through this obstacle course called life, the way through this obstacle course is limited by just knowing what you are capable of, as it is only a minor part of your story. The personality “who you are” is a whole complete concept, not some half-backed snake oil concept, that pumps you up to avoid the rest of you, which happens to exist, just lying under the surface. Listen in wonder, as every human quest in life is only accomplished after standing in front of the “Star-Gates of Change” then deciding to step forward. Mirror miror on the wall, is there only I. The Conditioning Personality. All responses are a safe-guarding personality strategy, consciously gathered, self-acknowledged, and confirmed. This, via every single experience, acts as our guardian-angel filtering system. In time the system develops, accumulates, and reemerges as one of life’s permanent habit patterns. When one is confronted by any challenges, said patterns are set in motion, building a series of blockages inside our future path. This will ensure to dismantle any future challenges we may conjure up when thinking it’s time to self-evolve. How clever is that?
What do you see when looking upon a dead leaf gently resting on the ground? While alive, a leaf gave humans the air to breathe that comforted young birds before they could fly. Whose tree flowers give honey and bees the opportunity to allow the reproduction of all plants? Gratitude personality is never about what you are getting; it is you becoming aware of what you are missing out on. Never to acknowledge personally on a regular basis your existing invisible relationship, one that allows you to be here. Someone said to me the other day, I want to live life my way, without the help of others. After I get over my anxiety, my fear of expressing my feelings, and making enough money to do whatever I feel like doing every day. Today we can see this personality type in 1000’s humans. Is this you, why of course not? Is it that person over there? Are they someone living a “Waiting Personality” and mistakenly thinking, waiting is a real action? Today, fitting in has become a competitive market, and the need to be is far greater than “the need to know thy self.” If you are playing this game by chance, whatever your success level of achievements may be, they are nothing compared to what you are capable of achieving. Competitive Personality it’s a sad state of mind; no one wants you when you lose. If we are all connected, wake up, you are living in a shared state of mind. During a recent disengagement of two grown persons, one delivered a rather loud statement, I am not afraid anymore. Fear is a self-educated skill gained through personal experience, not unlike any other skill one has become proficient in, via training and education.
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Various cultures observe the parents when choosing a suitable partner to carry on the family legacy. If you don’t believe in personality codes, does that mean they are not real and a complete waste of one’s intelligence? As humans, we are learning all the time about job skills, policies, procedures, management, and so on. As children, how many of us had the opportunity to access our natural-born talents, or were we navigated into a set of predeveloped skills based on our surrounding culture? As we watch the world around us change at an alarming pace, is it possible to take a time-out and discover that which is most important, one’s hidden potentials, and update our current mindset and senses? “Cultural Personality” keeps us bound within safety and security. Everyone is a leader unto themselves. The world is my oyster. What if this is actually a statement of truth? Claiming a profound belief of knowing who and what one is capable of breaks down any unwanted barriers, thus allowing the natural process of continuously rebuilding one’s Future Personality. Now is never the time for hesitation. You are not a label you are a multi-faceted being with enormous potentials, beyond the bonds of yesterday’s thinking.
business to act as a somewhat guarantor when deciding who to enlist as part of the team. Various cultures observe the parents when choosing a suitable partner to carry on the family legacy. If you don’t believe in personality codes, does that mean they are not real and a complete waste of one’s intelligence? Will, we ever know the answer, will there ever be an answer? It’s entirely up to you. Humans are a fickle bunch at the best of times, especially now that truth, reality, and fantasy have blurred into one single idea. Briggs, Freud, Jung, and a long list of others, coined many various words to describe an individual’s archetype for our benefit, or to sales pitch position themselves into history or pay to have NY’s number one bestseller, claiming intelligent science, being above us mortals. Patterns and habits are set-in-stone codes of function. Therefore they exist. Is there anything in this universe that doesn’t function at its core, in the form of a code, probably not? Are there untrained tribes that function as one? How many times have you thought, I am my brother, I am my sister, I am my father, I am my mother, I am they? We are never alone is a code in itself. Personality codes, are they real? If you ever contemplate the desire, am I ever going to discover how to be free? Best you believe they are real in every aspect of living life: yours, ours, the birds, the bees and all between, bound and unbound.
Photo by Rostyslav Savchyn
Throw Gratitude into every breath, and life will be more than good; it will be great every second of your day, day, day. Thank you for the Gratitude blessings received, = friends.
Is it possible for a Personality type to exist when no two persons are the same? Personality categories exist in
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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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Abundance Corner
Photo by Ella Pellegrini
By Phyllis King
4
COMING OUT OF COVID –
Steps to Embracing a New Normal
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inspired by Marc Glasser
When we are in a difficult cycle, it can seem like it will never end. The Covid experience definitely qualifies as a difficult cycle. Most difficult cycles we experience alone. The Covid crisis happened to all of us simultaneously. The entire planet became subject to restrictions, fears of the unknown, and a plethora of unanswered questions. Each of us had to manage these conditions with the awareness we had cultivated to date. Those were and are as diverse as there are people. For many, the impact reached much deeper than was outwardly expressed. Some froze or panicked. Others simply pivoted and thrived with changing environments. Still, others found a place somewhere in between those two points. As we near the summer, news about Covid is beginning to improve. We hear that Covid deaths are decreasing. Most recently, we learned that those who have been vaccinated could opt-in or out of wearing masks. Our children are beginning to return to in-person learning. Restaurants are serving food indoors again. Sporting and group entertainment events are resuming. This should be great and welcome news to all of us. With all this significant change and adjustment in such a short window of time, and for many an experience of trauma, how do we come out of Covid and embrace a new normal? In the past 18 months, I have suggested that the trauma from the pandemic would remain long after the physical threat was neutralized. That’s because our minds move very quickly to solve and delineate problems and challenges. Emotions move very slowly. When we are shocked or traumatized, we do not just bounce back. Simply because we hear things are improving does not mean our bodies will believe it. We have been conditioned to expect less, to live with less, and to hold ourselves back. How do we lean in now and create a new normal? How does all of this relate to abundance? Is there gold to be mined from experience like Covid? We got back to basics. A cornerstone truth in abundance is that we cannot be given a learning experience we do not need. Divine consciousness is not inefficient in this manner. Once we grasp this on a knowing level, we then can navigate the life experience with more grace and ease. We no longer resist the present moment. We surrender to what is as if we chose it. When we choose something, we feel empowered. We claim our power. We are happy.
We are abundant. To emerge from Covid in the most abundant way possible, we want to understand why we responded to the pandemic in the manner we did. To the degree we relinquished our inner peace will provide ample insight as to how to move toward greater personal freedom in the future. To get there, we can ask ourselves, “did I cooperate willingly or unwillingly?” What did I tell myself was true about the reality I was living? It does not matter what we told ourselves. The questions are not to judge yourself but to know yourself. What matters is that we are truthful about our inner narrative. In that truth, we can then mine the gold from experience itself and become bigger. With our newfound awareness, we will easily turn the Covid page and embrace what lies ahead. We will not fear another outbreak, or whether we will have to wear masks or if restaurants will be closed. We will simply continue to practice being in the right relationship to our own being and power, which is the most magnetic and abundant place to be. To begin your ascent into the new normal: 1. Return to basic principles of abundance and what is true. 2. Understand how you responded to the pandemic and why. 3. Mine the gold, “who did I become because of this?” Emerge into your bigger self-awareness. 4. Claim and use your new awareness to navigate the next chapter of life and do so eagerly and with joy.
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 83 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
THE SECRET TO MAKING THE PERFECT ICED COFFEE? It's in
THE BAG
Insanely delicious and 100% foolproof, the classic summer beverage starts with Steeped Coffee’s innovative Eco-Friendly Single-Serve Coffee Packs. Plus: 7 ways to cool down with these iced coffee recipes 84 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
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hen the summer heats up, coffee lovers crave something a little less steamy and a little more refreshing. Iced Coffee fits the bill perfectly. For some, that means driving to the nearest chain, dropping a bundle, and leaving quality to chance. But you can save time and money – and the planet – on a superior brew by making it at home, exactly the way you like it. Steeped Coffee’s pre-portioned, eco-friendly coffee bags allow you to steep a farm-to-cup brew nearly anywhere, sans the machine, waste, or harmful chemicals found in powdered Coffee. No need to give up high-end Coffee. With a Steeped Coffee Bag and a little bit of patience, your great-tasting, ethically sourced glass of cold summer happiness is just a few minutes away.
Steeped, Inc. is all about premium coffee with a conscience. Its proprietary single-serve brewing system features Steeped Coffee Packs (think tea bags for Coffee) to deliver locally sourced and roasted micro-batch Coffee one delicious cup at a time. Nitro-sealed to preserve freshness, Steeped Coffee Packs are made with renewable and compostable materials and presented in recyclable packaging. The award-winning coffee experts at Steeped Coffee have some tips on preparing the perfect iced Coffee. The secret to a classic iced coffee, says the Steeped team, is a well-crafted coffee concentrate. A good concentrate is also the basis for many other refreshing coffee drinks we associate with summer sipping. Read on for tantalizing recipes!
How to make the perfect Steeped Iced Coffee Concentrate For each serving, you’ll need 1 Steeped Coffee Pack 1 10 oz. mug Filtered water Directions Heat filtered water to 205 degrees, or just below boiling Place Steeped Bag at the bottom of the mug Pour hot water over Steeped Bag until the mug is half full Use string to dunk Steeped Bag 20 to 30 times over 1 minute Leaving the Steeped Bag in, let the Coffee steep for 5 to 7 minutes or more to taste. Remove Steeped Bag Tips: To serve a crowd, make multiple batches of Concentrate. Store leftover Concentrate in the fridge. Freeze Steeped Coffee in ice cube trays. Use coffee cubes instead of regular ice cubes to avoid diluting your beverage. Everyone knows the best way to enjoy iced Coffee is through a straw. Be kind to the environment – buy reusable, dishwasher-safe metal straws! Now it’s time to win summer with basic Steeped Iced Coffee and 6 decadent variations.
Steeped, Inc., based in Santa Cruz, California, is a Certified B Corp and Benefit Corporation focused on every detail from farmto-cup and beyond to bring people the most convenient, quality, ethically sourced, and sustainably packaged products available. Steeped is the new standard in Coffee, helping to make quality Coffee more accessible through its proprietary technology and Steeped Brewing Method that is licensed to over 200 top specialty roasters worldwide. Steeped delivers 100% freshly roasted, precision ground, and nitro-sealed specialty coffee pre-portioned within Steeped Full Immersion Filters. Steeped Coffee is the simplest way to make a perfect cup of Coffee by just adding water, with no machine needed. Welcome to Coffee Simplified. Steeped Coffee is available through KeHE and on Amazon with Prime Free Delivery, at premium supermarkets, luxury hotels, and offices with craft coffee and at-home services. For more information, visit steepedcoffee.com. For business inquiries, contact sales@steepedcoffee.com or visit steepedcoffee.com/business.
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EXTREMELY DRY CONDITIONS SPILL ACROSS THE AMERICAN WEST By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue
Drought and climate change are sapping the region’s water. The numbers indicate challenging years ahead.
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Photo by redcharlie
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Photo by Kyra Domonkos | Lake Powell, Big Water, United States
Key Takeaways As western watersheds are increasingly limited in their water availability, water managers are pressed to balance the needs of fisheries, farmers, and at-home use. Lake Powell, the second largest reservoir in the United States, sits at just 34 percent of its capacity. Water levels in California’s two largest reservoirs, Oroville and Shasta, are at about half of what they usually hold this time of year. Instead of calling these dry years a drought, experts recommend the term “aridification,” which implies that the region’s climate, as a result of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, is changing.
S
pring is generally a time of renewal for the watersheds of the western United States.
“This is a drought emergency,” said Becky Bolinger, the Colorado assistant state climatologist.
Warmed by the lengthening days, the region’s towering mountain ranges shed their mantle of snow, releasing freshets of water into welcoming streams and reservoirs.
Bolinger was referring to the latest runoff forecast for Lake Powell, a large reservoir on the Colorado River. The amount of water projected to flow into the country’s second-largest reservoir this spring and summer is 28 percent of the 30-year average. Dan Bunk of the Bureau of Reclamation said this year’s inflows are on pace to be the third or fourth lowest in the last century. Today, the lake is just 34 percent of capacity — or, looking at the math another way, about two-thirds empty. Downstream states like Arizona are bracing for mandatory cutbacks next year.
This year, though, the cycle is in disarray. Outside of the Olympic and Cascade ranges of Washington state, winter snows were subpar. The spring melt has been a dud. From the Klamath to the Colorado and Rio Grande, watersheds are under stress once again, and water managers face difficult tradeoffs between farms, fisheries, and at-home uses. The main thing being renewed is concern over the seeming inadequacy of the region’s water supply. 88 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
What is worrisome is that Bolinger could have been discussing any number of western watersheds. In California on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom expanded a drought declaration to include 41 of the state’s 58 counties. Water levels in the state’s two largest reservoirs — Oroville and Shasta — are about half of what they usually hold this time of year. In the Klamath basin of southern Oregon and northern California, there are already lawsuits over how the Bureau of Reclamation is allocating scarce water from Upper Klamath Lake. The drought is forcing the federal agency to balance the needs of endangered fish species both upstream and downstream. It told farmers in the upper basin to expect very little irrigation water this summer. In New Mexico, water managers say the Rio Grande through Albuquerque could run dry this summer, which would complicate water management efforts. Mike Hamman, chief executive officer of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, told Circle of Blue that his district faces a “three-pronged challenge:” delivering irrigation water to farmers, sending water downstream to Texas that is required under a federal compact, and protecting endangered species like the silvery minnow that rely on the river. Dry conditions do not have uniform consequences, especially across so many states. According to Alvar Escriva-Bou, a research fellow with the PPIC Water Policy Center, California is better equipped to respond than it was during the last harsh drought, from 2012 to 2016. He said the metropolitan areas of Southern California are especially well positioned. These areas boosted conservation and reuse and have benefitted from longer-term investments in storage. Still, with water so scarce, pain is inevitable. In the previous drought, thousands of residential wells in California’s Central Valley failed. PPIC estimates that nearly 2,400 shallow wells are at risk of going dry this summer. Farmers in the Central Valley, meanwhile, will need to fallow fields, pump groundwater, or buy water on the market after state and federal agencies cut their surface water allocation to the bone. That these droughts have been such a persistent problem raises a question. If conditions are dry nearly every year, is it really a drought? Or is it something altogether different? Academics, especially in the Colorado River basin, which has been drier than usual over the last two decades, assert that new language is needed.
Instead of calling these dry years a drought, they recommend the term “aridification.” Drought suggests a temporary departure from normal. Aridification implies that the region’s climate, under the influence of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, is entering a different reality. “Warm droughts are especially challenging,” Escriva-Bou noted. Warmer temperatures increase the risk of wildfires, heat up streams to the point that fish cannot survive, and increase evaporation. As in the Colorado River basin, precipitation in California this winter and spring was quickly eaten by a hot and thirsty atmosphere and dry soils. Water managers like Grant Davis took notice. Davis is the general manager of Sonoma Water, a water agency that operates in California’s Sonoma and Marin counties. Davis has managed water in droughts before. But the speed with which the dry conditions in his region intensified this year is something new, he said. “It’s come on faster, and it’s more dramatic and pronounced.”
This story originally appeared in "CIRCLE OF BLUE” 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.
Brett Walton writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies.
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Photo by Elise Wilcox
THE SURPRISING WAYS ANGER CAN HELP US HEAL
By Lorena Junco Margain 92 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
Somehow, growing up, I came to believe that anger wasn’t ladylike or socially acceptable. “Forgive and forget” was my mantra, but you know what? That works for everyday riffs and mundane disagreements whose significance evaporates with time. But when you’re wronged in a way that alters the course of your life as I was when a surgeon inadvertently removed my healthy adrenal gland rather than the one with a tumor, ignoring your anger can be more damaging than its cause. Anger builds in the body. If you deny your anger, it has nowhere else to go, so it digs deeper inside you. After discovering that the surgery had been botched, my fists were constantly clenched in anger. My stomach was in knots. I held it in at first, fearing its physical and emotional fallout, but soon realized that the fallout of embracing anger is less devastating than the physical and emotional fallout of repressing it.
• • •
How does it feel to keep stuffing your anger away, holding it in? What are the real risks of letting it out? Could it be that the greatest risk is feeling the pain that it brings?
If the greatest risk is feeling the pain, lean into it. Feel that pain. Shed those tears. Scream—wherever you must. The shower? The toilet? Underwater in a pool? Out in the open in your backyard? It’s okay. Your body and your spirit will thank you for the release. Your heart will thank you for your honesty. And those you love will not love you any less. I promise. Instead, they will be grateful to have you back, wounded perhaps, but on the road to healing and forgiveness—and all the stronger and more vibrant for it.
So I decided to own this unexpected gift of anger I’d been given. I’d already paid a terrible price for it, right? It was mine to embrace and use as I saw fit. I let myself weep, scream, and fall apart. I let myself swear (not easy for me!). A good friend advised me to go off somewhere and scream, but that’s hard to do when you’re a hands-on mom of little kids. Do you know what ended up being my anger place? The shower. I made good use of it while my kids were at school, cranking it on as hard as it would go, howling up into the jets of hot water. I even penned angry hate letters to everybody I felt had wronged me, starting with the surgeon and including myself. I write about this in my memoir On the Way to Casa Lotus. What I longed most for was the peace that would come with forgiveness, and at first, I didn’t see how anger and forgiveness could coexist. But the truth is, if you deny your anger, your forgiveness is lip service, an empty prayer. Trying to forgive without anger is like trying to bake bread without yeast. Anger can be a cleansing fire. Even self-pity has its place. The terrifying moments were the times when I felt nothing. Allowing myself to be angry and to come undone was a lesson I didn’t know I needed to learn until I had no other choice. Instead of directing my anger inward to choke me, I let it blaze outward and energize me. Only then could I begin to heal. If, like me, you’ve been taught that anger is too ugly to embrace, that it has no place in a life of civility and good manners, ask yourself:
Born and raised in Mexico (Monterrey and Mexico City), author, art collector, and philanthropist Lorena Junco Margain studied Visual Arts at Universidad de Monterrey before co-founding the Distrito14 gallery as a platform to amplify emerging Mexican artists. Soon afterward, she co-founded and curated the Margain-Junco Collection with her husband Eduardo Margain to support emerging artists, foster the art scene in Mexico and promote awareness of Mexican art internationally. She also played an instrumental role in launching 2015 Shaped in Mexico contemporary art exhibition in London. In 2008, Junco Margain was forced to flee Mexico with her husband, children, parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews due to concerns for their safety. Today she lives with her husband and three kids in Austin, Texas. On the Way to Casa Lotus is her first book. 93 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e June 2021
HIGH ROAD TO HUMANITY By Nancy Yearout
OPEN
the DOOR
Photo by Samanta Santy
to theENCHANTED REALM OF FAERIES
D
o you believe in faeries? Cultures of Old and New consider them to be supernatural beings connected to the energy of the planet, nature, and the stars. Faery's have been recognized throughout the world in China, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and our own back yards here in the United States. 96 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e May 2021
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More and more families are building faery gardens and creating faery trees which is a fabulous way to create something beautiful and share some magic in the world! This way, each person can contribute their unique little sparkle to the fairy tree. Trees have enormous energy, so it makes sense that the faeries would welcome some TLC and attention from people who find joy in leaving little trinkets and treats for those in the faery realm. Faeries are all around us but can only exist in a place where people believe in magic. It is very important that the faery gardens and the faery tree you create be taken very seriously. The faeries are said to have a strong moral code that they live by. They are very polite, and they expect us to reciprocate. They are also known to be kind but will use their magic against us if we lie to them or cross them. "Faeries become one with the purest energy and spirit of creation and travel through the gates between the material world bringing ancient knowledge with them." Says Author of Living the Faery Life, Kac Young. In her writings, she talks about the foods they like, the flowers they are fond of, and more. There are many faery books out today that can assist you in learning more about them. There are many different kinds of faeries; some live in the upper world and fly, some in the middle world where we live, and some live in the lower world, underground. As Summertime approaches and the days grow warmer, we find ourselves outside in our gardens planting flowers and seeds to create beauty in our lives as everything is alive and vibrant. This is the perfect time to set up your fairy garden. I have learned by reading and interviewing experts on the subject that one of the most important things to do in creating your fairy garden is to gather 12 stones and create a circle for the faeries to dance. Apparently, they love to dance and sing, and the stone circle you create will make them happy! The Faeries will need a gate for them to enter and exit through A Fairy Door. The faery door can be handmade, or if you search online, you will find many awesome faery doors that you can put in the garden and add to your space's character. You can add little chairs and tables, and they like shiny trinkets. You can place little plates in the garden with treats for them. This is delightful for them to receive. Some people leave notes for them and have been received messages back!
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The treats can be milk or honey in a thimble or fresh fruit and nuts. Anything you leave for them, they will greatly appreciate. It is said that when you befriend the faeries, they protect your home against harm and use their magic to assist us when needed. I have ordered my faery door and am searching for my thimble to set in the garden. Spread the Magic. Note: Faerie, in turn, derives from the Old French form faierie, a derivation from faie (from Vulgar Latin fata) with the abstract noun suffix -erie. In Old French romance, a faie or fee was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs.Grouping: Legendary creature, Pixie, Sprite, Tuatha Dé DanannRegion: Europe
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
99 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM e May 2021