Soul in the City
By Summer Bowen
In the so-called “conscious community,” alarm bells are plentiful: BPA-laden baby bottles are poisoning your toddler! Soy foods are slashing your sperm count! Your old yoga mat will leach PVC into the landfill for all eternity! It’s enough to make you want to swap your fair trade coffee for Kahlúa (continue reading...)

Magical Mystery Tour
By Dani Katz
Shamanism, schmamanism. These days, it seems like you can’t throw a rune without it bouncing off the turban-wrapped skull of some bead-draped, hemp-swaddled seeker billing himself a shaman. Indeed, if my life is any evidence, these past few years have witnessed somewhat of an urban shamanic revival, as I’ve worked (continue reading...)

What the Heck is Enlightenment, Anyway?
Conversations — Interview By Jessica Kraft
Andrew Cohen defies any kind of cliché about spiritual teachers. A self-described “vocal critic of the extreme individualism characterizing much of contemporary spirituality,” Cohen’s “Evolutionary Enlightenment” teachings pose that spiritual evolution happens not by transcending but rather by passionately engaging with the modern world. He practices what he preaches as (continue reading...)

2008 Eco Holiday Gift Guide
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Ready to start holiday shopping? This year, before heading out to the mall — and the big crowds, check out our 2008 Eco Holiday Gift Guide! (continue reading...)

Small Change Changes the World
On Our Radar —
If the turbulent economy has you ready to stuff your mattress with your savings, here’s how to get a better return for your money — while helping to alleviate global poverty to boot. MicroPlace (microplace.com), an eBay-owned business, connects the working poor to would-be lenders, allowing you to invest as (continue reading...)

Saving Salvia
On Our Radar —
In a traditional Mazatec vision quest ceremony, before eating the psychoactive herb Salvia Divinorum — Latin for “sage of the seers” — a shaman gives you a series of instructions. First, he explains, the spirit of Salvia Divinorum is a female entity who imparts wisdom and healing visions. You should (continue reading...)

Eco-creative tips for wrapping up gift season
On Our Radar — By Ginny Figlar
’Tis the season for living rooms around the country to be covered in a sea of crumpled paper and tossed-aside bows. Yup, wrapping paper from holiday gifts is largely to blame for a 25 percent spike in waste generation between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, according to the EPA. (And (continue reading...)

Giving Gifts that Give Back
On Our Radar —
The holiday season can be a great stress on your wallet, but this year there’s no need to stress the environment with your wish list. Chicago is full of places to find that perfect gift — from charity donations to local crafts and recycled wares. (continue reading...)

What Counts?
On Our Radar — Compiled by Jenny Rough
80%: Americans who feel the economy is a significant source of stress. 1 out of 3: Americans who are worried about losing their jobs. 53%: Americans who are worried they will have to work longer due to dwindling retirement savings. 60%: People who report feelings of (continue reading...)

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Rethink
From the Commish — By Suzane Malec-McKenna
December is a time for celebration and reflection. Families will celebrate the holidays and take this time to reconnect with one another. There will be gifts exchanged, meals cooked, merriment and festivities that we all partake in. But what happens to all the waste associated with holidays? Can we take (continue reading...)

Earth Angels
Urban Essentials — By Andrea Manitsas
Slip your little darling into the Angel Sweater from Oeuf Be Good, and she’ll instantly be cute enough to forgive any devilish behavior. Fashioned from 100 percent Fair Trade Alpaca wool, each purchase comes complete with the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re supporting and sustaining the livelihood and (continue reading...)

Good Day Sunshine
Healthy Living — By Kristy Lund
December 21st is Winter Solstice — the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. Celebrated by cultures across the globe for more than 6,000 years, it signifies the return of light and with it, life. At age 23, having just returned home from a (continue reading...)

Defining yoga, one style at a time
Healthy Living :: Yogapedia — By Julia Steinberger
Origins: Reading the news, chatting at the water cooler or even taking a walk downtown can leave many of us feeling angry, shocked and sad about the suffering in the world. If you’re ready to channel that energy into positive action, the most powerful transformation must begin from within. That’s (continue reading...)

Chicken Soup for the Heart
Healthy Living :: Body Talk —
Chicken legs — a soup staple in certain cultures — may be packed with proteins that help ease high blood pressure, according to new research from the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Working with rats, scientists found that collagen sourced from chicken legs had effects similar to ACE inhibitors (continue reading...)

Karyn’s Cooked
Healthy Living :: Tastebuds — By Tanya Fritz Catalano
Finding vegan restaurants in Chicago is not easy. We are smack in the middle of meat-and-potatoes country and therefore being a vegetarian, much less a vegan, is a challenging life choice when surrounded by folks who might think “vegetarianism” means you only eat fish and chicken. So when you’re a (continue reading...)

Holiday Parsnips
Healthy Living :: Savor the Season — By Terra Brockman
You don’t often hear “holiday” and “parsnips” in the same sentence these days, but since Roman times, roasted parsnips have been an essential feature at holiday dinners throughout northern Europe. And for good reason — parsnips develop their full flavor and sweetness only after temperatures sink below 32 degrees (continue reading...)

Drawn to Peace
Tune In — By Shell Fischer
Do you remember a time, back in your childhood, when you would plunk down with a large box of crayons and spend the next several hours happily engrossed in a coloring book? Perhaps you remember singing along, blissfully unaware of everything but the new swatches of color coming alive on (continue reading...)

The Present of Presence
Prophet Motive — By Daniel Pinchbeck
Most people have not yet fully processed the magnitude of the economic crisis that will continue to deepen in the next years. Our lives may depend upon working through the causes and logical consequences of this disaster, which can be blamed on the greed and ineptitude of our ruling elite. (continue reading...)

2012
Art & Soul — By Eric Larson
Just as the early November election result ushered in a long-awaited springtime of the spirit, The Mystery of 2012 landed on my desk, its black dust jacket and heavy lettering reminding me (lest I get too heady with hope) that according to ancient Mayan prophecy, the world is still on (continue reading...)

Reviews
Art & Soul —
Karl Rove did not crawl out from under a rock; he crawled out from under (the tutelage of) Lee Atwater. A political operative so unscrupulous his friends refer to him as a “wolf,” “a killer” and… (continue reading...)

Paving the Way
From the Publisher —
Not long ago, I was taking my weekly trip back to rural northwestern Illinois where I have a little farm. I am not sure who started calling it that — someone at work, I think. The word farm is misleading. It is really just a bit of land where I (continue reading...)

A Shot in the Arm
To The Editor —
I had a strong reaction to the opinions you ran on whether to get flu shots (“A Picture of Health,” Nov. ’08). As a person with no health insurance or sick leave, a day (or three) off sick is a day without pay, pure and simple — so I get (continue reading...)

Kevin Edwards
People In Your Neighborhood — Interview by Christine Mangan
Interested in matters of spirituality for as long as he can remember, Kevin Edwards founded Enter the New after finding himself dissatisfied with traditional religion and enlightenment. Edwards wanted to create an alternative that did not do away with the importance of individuality and which allowed that individual the freedom (continue reading...)

Zen and the Art of Family Maintenance
Life, the Universe and Everything — By Michael A. Stusser
When things are good, when I’ve had enough sleep, sex and solitude (and not necessarily in that order) I try to be a Zen Parent — calm, tranquil, at peace and prepared to maximize my moments with the little ones. During these enlightened times, I’ll notice the beauty of my (continue reading...)