The very earth at Monument Valley in northern Arizona felt sacred. Silence overwhelmed my being as I watched the early rays of the February sun reach the tallest of the red sculptures. It is certainly worthwhile to wake up early and catch the sunrise there. I wasn’t dressed for the cold morning temperatures, but the…
Priests, pundits, experts and fundamentalists may all know something about the mind. In religion we are trained from childhood to think a certain way and believe that our religion is the best. These days fundamentalists like the Taliban are at the top when it comes to conditioning people to think a certain way. In this…
A bowl of salad sits on my table, and I’m not quite sure if its come out right. I’ve watched Tyler Florence or even Jamie Oliver dip their hands into large salad bowls, gently folding the fresh greens with unusual dressings, and I’ve seen Giada’s elegant touch to Italian salad or even Emeril’s exotic recipes,…
Jovan Herrera, a Phoenix 10th-grader with ADHD, used to sit in class trying to focus on his exam questions but could not. His worried mother, Vanessa Herrera says, “He had to take seven to eight breaks during his exams because he would get frustrated.
From the shimmering courts of kings and queens to the simple rooms of meditators, music has played a large role in soothing people. Combine music with meditation and you have a double expresso with whipped cream! What that means is if you have a hard time meditating or calming your mind, music should be able…
“Music is the language of the soul,” reads an inscription on a wall at the MIM in Phoenix. The roughly 180,000 square foot museum features musical instruments from around the globe, a first of its kind in the U.S. From ornate stringed instruments of the east to rustic drums of Africa and South America, the…
My husband and I often wondered about our very young Bougainvillea plant. “Is it dead or alive?” or “Does it need more water?” We could never figure it out until one winter morning when my mother-in-law, who was visiting, decided to see for herself. She had always been great with plants and took to gardening and…
My friend and I were among the 800,000 people who attended President Obama’s inauguration last Monday. After standing in various lines and making our way through the security and the crowds, we finally made it to our area by the lawn facing the Capitol. Within an hour, the place was packed. We could see masses…