Can you imagine that the only time I am able to find a moment of peace from the phones and the hustle and bustle is on a plane to Kona, Hawaii?

It’s been so long since I have been able to write, and believe me when I say that I have missed my journalling.

I know so many don’t enjoy flying, but for me it is a time when I can actually take a moment for me. . .well, sort of. I do have a child so I should say that I am able to take a moment for us.

Since the Virtual World Yoga and Meditation conference in February, we have been shifting non stop. Very exciting shifts. I feel like I am moving with the energetic waves that have been whirling and tossing us around for the past months. (more…)

Mer-Folk In the Great Lakes

I am going to take a leap into a realm that I have recently been visiting. The leap is not that I have been experiencing the life of others, in a realm that we don’t often think about. The leap is about sharing it.

And sharing is what these gentle mer-folk have been doing with me.

While in the waters of Hawaii, I had many experiences of interaction with dolphins and whales. These were physically tangible experiences. I saw, heard, and even touched them occasionally. I could feel the energetic vibrations of their sonar, I could listen to the messages within the vibrations, and I could hear their thoughts.
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After leaving Saul’s yoga experience, I’m hungry and ready to check out the food offerings at the Eco-Conscious Marketplace. There are some wonderful food vendors and, if you are a vegan, gluten-free, lactose intolerant foodie, this would be heaven for you. Being a non-vegan omnivore, I’m surprised by the incredible selection of vegetarian fare available.

I really enjoyed the samosas just the right amount of spice and heat infused into the potato and peas, fried crispy crust and served with a hot and sweet plum colored sauce. There is lots of raw food too. I opted for the raw curry vegetables, which was tasty and crunchy, with lots of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and onions. But in the foggy coolness, I would have preferred the hot cooked version.
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As I enter the grounds of the Tadasana Festival of Yoga & Music, I have to walk through the Eco-Conscious Marketplace, which is a cluster of many tents, each one offering many amazing and green products to purchase. But I need to check in and get to a class, so shopping and browsing can wait.

There are classes and speakers held in five major tents with the top yoga teachers and experts in healing, all sponsored by yoga friendly advertisers, like GaiamTV.com, Yogaworks, Kevita, thedailylove, Namaste Interactive and Subaru. The tents are arranged in a circular position. It is like a little village, where you can see everything that is happening. The whole vibe here is peaceful and serene. There are long lines for each class. But everyone is really relaxed and courteous – no jumping the line or road rage behavior here.
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Stop the planet, I want to get off! Well, not really – I’m kind of enjoying myself at the moment, even though I feel like I’m caught in a vortex and would appreciate having a bit of time to come up for air…

My sister is visiting and we’re having a lovely time catching up on our lives and spending quality time with Mumsie, who’s absolutely thrilled to have her two daughters with her. Of course, when we gang up on her to try and get her not to do something she shouldn’t, she’s somewhat less thrilled! (more…)

During a recent trip visiting my family, I had the opportunity to observe an interesting juxtaposition between the mind of my 92-year old father(a former educator), who is losing many of his mental capacities, and my nine-year old nephew (diagnosed with autism and delayed development), who is succeeding in his efforts to gain mental capacities. Throughout my life I have appreciated the vast diversity of minds. During my medical school training, I chose a psychiatric elective in a locked ward where I would be in a room with 20 people debilitated by various psychoses. Many were a danger to themselves and others. None were capable of interacting safely in society. They were all hearing voices of various deities and devils giving them information and instructions. Some spoke “in tongues” that were not comprehensible to me, although they all seemed to be in full communication with each other. I realized that I was in the minority, the only one not hearing the voices or understanding the language. Most of these people had either a deficiency or excess of specific chemical neurotransmitters that created their “state of mind”. Just a few drops of one of these chemicals determinded the fine line between normal and abnormal. (more…)

She said it herself, but it bears repeating: Felicia Marie Tomasko’s workshop, Ingest, Digest, Rest – Ayurvedic Tips for Healthy Digestion was perfectly timed for the evening of the last day of the conference. After five days of constant wisdom ingesting, I think we all needed to hear about how to take time and let things settle. And Felicia, being a yoga and Ayurveda expert, had tons of helpful advice about how we can take simple steps to aid our digestion, physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. (more…)

In the era of pads, pods, berries and droids, the radio has become obsolete, except for a few of us troglodytes. The other day I had my radio on as background for the soundtrack of my life and I realized it was not on my station. Someone had moved the dial. As I was tuning back to my station I started thinking about the clarity of the first signal, the static and noise as I shifted, and finally the new signal. I knew I was back on my station once I heard Queen singing “Radio Ga Ga”. (more…)

In the future, medical science may eliminate the need for surgery. However, we happen to exist in the present and surgery is still a very important treatment modality for various human conditions. My guess is that many of you will have one or more surgical procedures in your lifetime.

Surgery is a team effort. The surgical team does its part in preparing through education and training. But how are you preparing? (more…)

I’m a Libra, so it’s all about balance for me…except that these days it’s more like IMbalance!

We have visitors staying with us again – seven in all this time. My sister and her family left a couple of weeks ago and we had just a few days’ break before Hubby’s cousins came. And while they are wonderful and easy going people, there’s still a lot to do and there are times when I’m not sure which “cap” I’m wearing (chauffeur, tourist guide, chef, etc). I also have to take Mumsie into account to make sure she’s not overdoing it or encouraging me to overdo it. As I think I’ve mentioned before, she’s from the old school of hosting, so she thinks it’s only natural for me to add “personal slave” to my already full repertoire. Bless her – she tries her best to help but, at 92, there’s not much fetching and carrying she can do. (more…)