BY LINDA EGENES Thailand is a mystical land of Buddhist temples and an ancient culture steeped in spirituality. Yet when the modern world collides with traditional cultures extreme poverty, dissolution of families, and exploitation of children—especially girls—can result. Unlike Thai boys, who receive a free education in Buddhist monasteries, disadvantaged Thai girls have far fewer…
One of my favorite ways to revitalize my writing is to spend an evening sinking into a soft couch in my friend Christine’s living room and journaling with our women’s writing group. We’ve become super close over the years, sharing our birthdays, triumphs and setbacks. Some of us write or teach professionally, others write for…
BY LINDA EGENES We all do it. We make grand resolutions on New Year’s day and break them the next. Yet there are ways to make your healthy resolutions stick. Here are some ideas. 1. Break it into baby steps. Most resolutions involve long-term goals, which can be daunting. If your dream is to get into…
BY LINDA EGENES When Keelan Dimick was three years old, he started tinkering on the piano. At first he taught himself to play by ear, then took two years of instruction in classical piano. But it wasn’t until he switched to jazz that great things started to happen. At age 13, just four months after…
The first day my husband and I arrived on Kauai’s north shore we were resting after meditation. Suddenly we became aware of two small eyes peering at us from the top of the stairs. Soon we were chatting with Micah, aged six, like we’d known him his whole life. Micah and his brother London, nine,…
I just interviewed Dr. Pam Peeke about her new book, The Hunger Fix: The Three-Stage Detox and Recovery Plan for Overeating and Food Addiction, and I have to say it was one of my favorite interviews of all time. Known as the “doc who walks her talk,” she is also a marathon runner, NIH researcher,…
One of the best things about spending last winter in Oakland, California, was the availability of fresh, locally grown produce. Coming from the frozen Iowa farmscape, this felt miraculous. There’s a farmer’s market for every day of the week and more—four in Oakland and four in Berkeley. Being a fresh-foodie, I decided to sample a different…
Here is my friend Jane Dean’s book review of SUPER HEALTHY KIDS: A PARENT’S GUIDE TO MAHARISHI AYURVEDA. Jane is a writer and former radio host who is the executive assistant to the Director of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment and mother of two. In the past three years she has traveled to…
Last fall I traveled to New Jersey to see my friend Joy Kreves and her solo eco-art show, Translating Nature, at Rider University Art Gallery. Joy has been a transforming influence in my life since high school (I credit her with introducing me to two life-long passions—vegetarianism and Transcendental Meditation), so this trip was a…
I love it when you happen into a sustainability pocket while you’re traveling. Last summer my husband Tom and I were vacationing in Traverse City, Michigan, with our niece Carina. Here’s what I wrote in my journal about the trip. July 21, 2010 We’ve swapped houses for the week with our friends Joe and Victoria,…