In 2005, just after the tsunami that swept away so many lives and livelihoods, a group of volunteers from The Isha Foundation were starting the job of rehabilitating the devastated coast of Tamil Nadu, Southern India. They noticed that coastal villages that were forested suffered significantly less damage than those that were not, and an idea arose. Could trees be a tool to reconnect people to their hearts, to their grief and to their land?

Divided into two parts, this wonderful article by Adam Khan, author of the book Self-Help Stuff That Works, really offers a lot of important information on meditation as well as an exercise. " After meditating, your reaction to stressful events changes. Events that would normally make you feel stressed don't make you feel as stressed, and your feelings of stress don't last as long. 

A noted gastroenterologist and Mind/Body/Spirit Medicine specialist discusses why we must listen to our guts. A traditional diagram of the gastrointestinal tract usually reveals the organs -- esophagus, stomach, small bowel and colon – but what is often left out are the nerve bundles or plexus (the centralized collection of neurons that are smaller yet analogous to the Hindu notion of chakras) and the enteric nervous system. These are the ‘brain in the gut’.

RAM's work was covered on the show 60 Minutes, Sunday evening, March 2nd, 2008. The Remote Area Medical® (RAM) Volunteer Corps is a non-profit, volunteer, airborne relief corps dedicated to serving mankind by providing free health care, dental care, eye care, veterinary services, and technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the world. At the expedition on Jan. 5-6, 2008 in Knoxville TN, RAM brought 1343 free services to people. There were 504 eyeglasses provided, 1066 teeth extracted and 567 fillings done. There were 276 volunteers and is run on donations. The total value of free care was $235,497.00. The vision for Remote Area Medical^® developed in the Amazon rain forest where founder Stan Brock  spent 15 years with the Wapishana Indians.

Science and spiritual wisdom is becoming more and more entwined as the growing awareness of a wholly interconnected, conscious and holographic universe has radical implications for each of us. It reveals that in the Cosmos, consciousness is primary to the creation of the physical world and that these momentous times are the wave front of a global shift of consciousness.  One of the most profound harbingers of this Shift is that we are individually and collectively able to directly access newly available cosmic energies that transcend our personal sense of self. Our liberated perception assists us in healing and releasing old patterns and limitations. And as we free ourselves, we are empowered to consciously co-create a new way of being in the world.

This experience, and these stories, have changed my life. To come to this powerful awareness can dispel much of the fear of death and loneliness that afflicts many of us. No longer afraid of death, we can embrace life. No longer plagued by feelings of loneliness and worthlessness, we can be comforted by the knowledge that we are never alone. We find ourselves more secure, content and whole. This is an essential component to any notion of healing.