 |
 |
|
 |
|
Expert Series:Furry Soul-Mates: Spiritual Contacts With Companion Animals
By Shiri Joshua
 Shiri and “fuzzy soul-mate” ‘Pfizer’ (because she is a natural anti-depressant).
In truth, we don’t own anything or anyone. We are not “pet owners,” we simply rent time with those we love (be they in a human or animal form). Working and speaking with hundreds of animal lovers over the past decade, I have come to humbly appreciate how precious is the love we share with our companion animals. Those who have not experienced – or have not allowed themselves to experience – this kind of an open heart kinship, simply do not really understand that this is a relationship like all others in our lives.
Yet sometimes we come across a particular companion animal that penetrates so deep into our heart, we can’t even explain the depth of the connection… It feels familiar as if we’ve known each other our whole life time! Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rebirth: After A Home Invasion
By Chris Shin
 One day when I was about six years old, my uncle, my mother’s younger brother, was murdered and my brother, three years older, attacked with a knife in our house by the same perpetrator. We were living in Korea at the time; my father was in Vermont alone, pursuing a master’s degree. Miraculously, my mother and I were spared as we had left the house in the morning. Earlier that morning, my mother had gone over to a friend’s in the neighbourhood. I wanted to go with her but recall being afraid to ask for fear of being scolded. After she left, I mustered the courage to ask her if I could come over too. She said, “Of course you can” with such warmth and welcome, I wondered why I was afraid to ask.
Later that day, while my mother and I were protected in a neighbour’s home, a deranged man rang our house, pretending to be a salesperson, entered, demanded money from my uncle, stabbed him in the back and then attacked my brother. By a miracle, my brother managed to defend himself, escape and find us. I recall a lot of commotion in the neighbourhood, then standing out on the street and seeing my brother run towards us, crying and screaming, covered in blood. Everything else is a blur. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ganesh
By Nayanna Chakrbarty
 It was a glorious day. Maneuvering the car every morning through the rush-hour traffic was a frustrating routine for many, but I enjoyed it. There were drivers who kept changing lanes and tried to nose in at the first gap between two cars. I gave way to such stressed commuters and used the time to eat muffins and catch up on the chart-topping music.
The morning sun glimmered, peeking through the lofty buildings. The rays danced on the reflective exterior  of the large towers and bounced its radiance on my rear view mirror. Quickly, I adjusted the direction of the glare, and the light now added a sparkle to my gilded locket. It was a pendant of Lord Ganesh. He is the elephant-headed deity of the Hindus – the destroyer of obstacles and an embodiment of wisdom and bliss. I clasped the pendant in my fist and thought what had compelled me to wear it always. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y Yoga Movie
By Michelle Morgan
 On 13th September 2001, film-maker Arthur Klein received an email from a friend of a friend, who had escaped the collapse of World Trade Center Tower One, and had decided to put his feelings into words. The email was poignant, heart-felt and amazing, and after forwarding it onto some friends, Arthur left his desk in the middle of the day, and walked out into the Santa Monica sun.
“I left the office in my street clothing and went to a 1:30pm yoga class around the corner from work”, remembers Arthur. “It seemed like a far better idea to regain a sense of peace and wellbeing, instead of going to the mall and shop or go on vacation as the American leadership advised. The teacher was Ashley Turner and her words were magic… I went to that class every day for many months after that…”
Walking into the yoga class that day, literally changed not only Arthur’s life but his career too. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Volken’s Welcome Home Program: A Second Chance For Addicts
By Emily Rose
 I always thought faith was the ability to believe in something that cannot be proven, some intangible element woven into our lives like threads we can sense, but never see.
As I grew older my belief in faith was questioned, as is often the case for people during difficult times. It has only been recently that I learned there is much more to faith than finding the answers to questions that are not based on evidence.
Real faith takes courage and trust. Often, it requires the helping hands of others to provide you with faith when your own supply is running low. And, as I learned during an evening spent with John Volken, real faith takes determination, and the desire to succeed. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Day My Life Was Saved
By Patrick P. Stafford
 Nothing tastes as bad as the Indian Ocean. Not turpentine. Not rotten eggs. Not sulphur. And certainly not soap, cod-liver oil or mud! Especially not when you are in the middle of it, swallowing and choking on heaps of it, and it is mercilessly drowning you. The Indian Ocean.
And that’s where I was, although not really in the middle of it, but only a few miles out from shore, off the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1974. Thrashing wildly to breathe and stay afloat and fighting desperately for my life. And slowly, inexorably…drowning in the beautiful, sunlit waves of an inhospitable Indian Ocean. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
An Interview With Olivia Newton John
By Michelle Morgan
 From clean-cut singer of ‘Country Roads’ to leotard-wearing disco diva in ‘Physical’, Olivia Newton John has had a career that’s spanned nearly five decades. She is loved by everyone from school children to grandmas and yet still remains as down-to-earth as she ever was. Here Olivia talks about yoga, life, and her trek along the Great Wall of China….
*******
Say the words Olivia Newton John and most of us will automatically think of her most famous and successful role – that of Sandy in the hit movie ‘Grease’. But while ‘Grease’ was – and still is – a worldwide phenomenon, there is so much more to Olivia Newton John than dancing with John Travolta. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transformed By The Re-Newing Of The Mind
By Marilyn Hurst
 It was a quiet spring day in March 1990, the day my father died. I had visited him at home just the day before and though it was apparent he was in the last stages of the “disease”, I was still expecting that any time he’d reverse the diagnosis and pull out of this horrible thing that was consuming his life. His passing hit me so hard I could barely remember to keep breathing myself.
Over the following months, slowly at first then like a speeding train coming at me, the past, present and future closed in and I felt I was staring into a black hole. I could see no light at the end of the tunnel. Although it appeared to everyone around me I had lapsed into depression, I knew that a major life-altering event had occurred and the pain was so intense, I wanted to die myself.
I looked at the shambles of my life and realized I’d been sleep-walking through it for the better part of 40 years. My marriage was only held together because of our 9 year old son and were it not for my job as a flight attendant, which took me away for long periods every month, I probably would have ended it years before. This empty void wasn’t just the passing of my father; something within me was desperate to “get out”. At the time I didn’t recognize this as a symptom of a transformational process that was in the beginning stages. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bipolar Disorder…And Me…Discovered & Embraced
By M. LaVora Perry
 For almost 40 years, I struggled with depression and a nagging feeling that something was “wrong” with me.
In 1983, at age 21, I’d dropped out of college because I had been too depressed to get out of bed and attend class. A few months later, I spent seven weeks in a mental hospital because I’d abused LSD and other drugs, including the bottle of antidepressant medication I’d tried to overdose on. The drugs had made me manic and psychotic. I didn’t sleep, I had excessive energy, and I thought God was telling me to do things like set my high school photograph on fire, which I did.
In my mid-twenties, I stopped doing drugs. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
No Arms, No Legs….No Worries
By Nick Vujicic from his Attitude Is Altitude website
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Click on picture above to view inspirational video.
Imagine being born without arms. No arms to wrap around someone, no hands to experience touch, or to hold another hand with. Or what about being born without legs? Having no ability to dance, walk, run, or even stand on two feet. Now put both of those scenarios together: no arms and no legs. What would you do? How would that effect your everyday life?
Meet Nick Vujicic… Born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia, without any medical explanation or warning, Nicholas Vujicic (pronounced Voy-a-chich) came into the world with neither arms nor legs. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
How Smiling Meditation Changed My Life
By Billie Criswell
 I have always been the type of person that one might associate with meditation…..or New Age healing and Eastern healing concepts. I was even, at one time, a self-proclaimed “hippy.” But the truth was, I had never so much as tried to quiet my mind– I was too busy being busy to even ponder the concept of slowing down.
At a certain point, though, it seemed that meditation came to me much as other things had in life: on a whim, as though I invented the concept. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Turning Trash Into Beauty – Kat Nicotera’s Unique Art Therapy
By Ernest Dempsey
 Kat-Fasano Nicotera, an ex-heroin addict, believes, because of her passion for doll making, and art therapy in general, that in order to come out on the other side of addiction a different person, a whole person, we must find something that inspires us more than the pain we’re familiar with. This is her story.
Ernest: Hello Kat! I am honored to be speaking to you about your art and healing! Before we move on to talking about doll making, how long was your addiction period, and how did you put an end to it, returning to normal life? Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Chances
By Cindy Gundrum
 Everyone has experienced it. At least once in their lifetime, we all do, and say, things that we wish we could take back. This is one of mine.
My beautiful Golden Retriever Ruby died of cancer in May 2002. I swore to myself, I would never get another Golden. She was my best friend for 11 years. I couldn’t ask for a better dog. It would be impossible to replace her, and I resolved to never try. In 2007, along came Dory. A beautiful golden puppy who was sweet as could be. I was in love. In 2008, just as Dory was turning one, we re-located from Saskatchewan to British Columbia. We packed up our lives in Regina, including of course, our two dogs. Dory, and Murph, our wiener dog. We moved in with relatives, who were not dog lovers. Dory went into heat and bled all over the floors in the house. This distressed the family who we were staying with, and to make matters worse, we were finding it very difficult to find a place to rent with 2 dogs.
I decided that maybe we should rehome Dory. I was kidding myself, “Ah, she’ll be OK, she’s young, she’ll adjust and move on.” Truth be known, I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kaloo, The Black One – Endless Loyalty And Love!
By Ernest Dempsey
 I am running with all the excitement and energy of a child, and the playful dog is running after me. He is the child of my beloved pet dog Kaloo – the one who died years ago. I have the feeling that Kaloo’s son is a continuation of his loyalty and dedication to me. He is playing with me as Kaloo did years ago. I have only a very slight awareness of the large house I am in, and am indifferent to the setting sun and growing darkness of the evening. Running with Kaloo Jr. has left me breathless, and as I sit on the roof of the house, the dog snuggles at my side. I embrace him, and breathing heavily, I think what a bliss it is to have Kaloo with me in another body, just like his own. Suddenly, I feel how long it has been since Kaloo died. The thought brings an instant feeling of loss. I look at the dog snuggled beside me, and he is no more there. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
How A Near Death Experience Changed Everything
By Eva R Marienchild
 For many of his 50-something years, a severely depressed Bill Smyth* was living his life as if it didn’t matter. “Looking back,” he says, “I don’t know how I kept going.”
In 2000, he and his then-wife lost a son who was less than a year old. As happens with many marriages where the loss of a baby is involved, the marital union came undone. “My ex said she was miserable having me around. She couldn’t look at me without seeing a baby,” said Bill. “In order for her to be happy, we parted. We’re still good friends.”
Talking about his son’s death still hurts, says Bill. “Joseph’s little lungs hadn’t developed. A decision was made to take him off life support.” He pauses, his voice far away. “The only time he smiled was right before he died. Then, he just seemed to relax and let go.”
That observation was a striking forerunner of what was to follow. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
St. Francis’ Feline: A Miraculous Healing For Felix The Cat – Part Two
By Melissa Roberts
 My Felix the Cat wears a Virgin Mary blue collar with a St. Francis medal. She is a Franciscan kitty, though I am not a Franciscan myself. Felix and St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, have a special relationship.
In 2007, Felix lived in a small St. Louis apartment while I worked as a hospital chaplain. Used to being an indoor/outdoor kitty on the grounds of Mum and Dad’s small town Kansas Victorian house, Felix had trouble adjusting to her new home and lifestyle.
Felix wasn’t happy, and I wasn’t happy. Together, we journeyed through one of those chapters in life full of stormy uncertainty and misery, waiting for the sun. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saving My Marriage
By M. LaVora Perry
 What happens when you’re already in deep with a partner—way past the “getting to know you” phase—but lately you feel certain that you blew it by hooking up with this person, and now you’re stuck with him or her.
We all know about some of the most radical options, especially the big “D” or the big “B” (divorce or breakup). There’s also the big “I”—infidelity. Other options are marriage counseling, or individual counseling if your partner isn’t game. And perhaps the least appealing choice of all is to simply continue suffering.
However, there’s another option: decide way down deep inside yourself that you’re going to turn your situation into a mind-blowing victory. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hundred Pounds Of Love Healed Our Family
By Denise Morini
 It seems to me that there are two kinds of people in this world, dog lovers and cat lovers. A dog lover, I was not. On my son Joey’s sixth birthday, my husbands’ parents presented Joey with a puppy, without my knowledge and permission. A Jack Russell Terrier, just what my husband had requested. My husband wanted a small dog that would not shed. No one bothered to look up the highly energetic disposition of Jack Russells or that some of them are not recommended for small children. We named him Jack (very original, I know); he sure was a cute fellow though.
Fast forward to a few months down the road: Jack was still not house trained. Everything was chewed up, including woodwork and the wall to wall carpeting. One night he peed on me as I slept. The worst, though, was when he constantly nipped at my son. I could not leave the room for fear of him injuring my child. It was during this time that my mother, Joey’s beloved grandmother, was diagnosed with 2-60 days to live. I decided that I could not live like this any longer. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expert Series: How To Ask For And Receive Guidance: IFSF Formula
By Shiri Joshua
 IFSF: *Intention *Focus *Surrender *Faith
are the ingredients necessary for this formula to truly work in your life!
On a peaceful Saturday in April, I sat in the sun by the river, watching the glittering rays bless the cleansing flow of water. I closed my eyes for a moment and took in the warmth and serenity of the space around me. I watched an Eagle sitting patiently on a tree top, gracefully trusting that the next meal would be provided. Not fretting, obsessing, or flying about frantically, Eagle showed me the importance of true trust and patience. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Learning To Thrive While Learning To Run
By Angelika
 When I first began running, I had no idea how far it would take me. I was an overweight child. Throughout elementary and high school I hated P.E. Yes, I was the kid that got picked last, and I could hardly run half a lap around the track, let alone the 12 that were required to pass our yearly physical test. I would pray for rain, snow, anything to get me out of running the obligatory 5 minute warm-up laps before class begun. I hated running.
Fast forward 11 years or so and I thought I’d be the last person considering a marathon. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expert Series: Overcoming Adversity. Some Survive. The Great Ones Thrive.
By Steve Kayser
 In a mall bookstore, I began flipping through a book at random. It could have been any book. But it was “The Beethoven Factor,” by Dr. Paul Pearsall. A random flip had landed me on page 101. Every once in a while, in one of those delightfully rare and magical moments of accidental discovery, a jarring thud of healing inspiration and hope occurs. I had one of those moments. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
Expert Series: Service Is Our Only Purpose
By Shiri Joshua
 The other day on the bus I could not help but lock my eyes on a beautiful Black Lab dog that was guiding his blind human. The grace, determination, and patience with which he sat by his person was profound! In his quiet way, the dog would lovingly glance at his human’s face once in a while, likely to check in, while his human would smile at him and pet his head with gratitude. It was an honour to watch this exchange of energy. Read more
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
