Most Ann Arborites know the Leslie Science & Nature Center (LSNC) off Traver Road is free and open to the public. When was the last time you visited? Maybe you played around on the lawn, in the woods, or in the unique, tunneled playground on a school field trip. Or maybe you showed up for the Annual Earth Day Event or October’s Animal Haunts. The property is still there, better than ever, with a friendly crew to help you when you desire it. Some day you might just want to wander around, or let your mind relax on the Black Pond Woods nature trail.
Posts filed under Issue #93
Kids in the Community:Harvesting Apples, Gratitude, New Knowldedge, and Skills In and Around Ann Arbor
Every fall, children head into orchards with baskets in hand reaching for apples that are finally ready to be picked. They search pumpkin patches for the perfect pumpkin. They fill bags at farmers’ markets with late-season vegetables and jars of honey. Harvest season teaches us to notice what has grown, but the most important harvests aren’t always found in orchards or pumpkin patches.
Advertisers Highlight, October 2026, Week #1
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Out of My Comfort Zone: Batter Up!
Over our lives, when we are shut out from things we want—getting into a school program, scheduling a date with a lovely person, not getting the job in your chosen field—we can tend to dampen our heart’s desire and diminish our joy in the world. We then tend to think of the world as a place to be tolerated. When we follow our open loving heart, we touch into that reservoir of delight and joy which we all have, and then we fully inhabit our precious life. When I get stuck on a project or something I want to do, I often think of this delightful energy we all have, and I reminisce about when I was small, and in my innocence, would not take no for an answer.
When the Body Holds Trauma: Combining EMDR and Dry Needling for PTSD Healing
At Peaceful Minds Counseling Services and Care2Cure Physical Therapy in Dexter, Michigan, we have come together to conduct a research study focused on helping individuals with PTSD improve trauma processing and healing. Through this collaboration, we are exploring the effects of using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) in a mental health setting followed immediately with Dry Needling in a physical therapy setting.
Stephanie Olson: Making Fertile Ground
It has long been proven that one’s mental and spiritual wellness have a huge impact on one’s bodily health. With 22 years of training in multiple traditional disciplines such as neuroscience and kinesiology as well as holistic disciplines such as yoga and aromatherapy, Stephanie Olson treats the whole person. From start to finish, in all aspects of her treatments she expresses loving empathy. Given time, a wildflower will break down a stone wall. Slowly, gently, and lovingly, the wall will turn into fertile soil. Stephanie Olson is such a flower.
Weekend Getaway: The Arc of Appalachia: A Steward's Quest
Soon after arriving in Bainbridge (between Dayton and Columbus), I had my first revelation–The Arc wasn’t a guesthouse or retreat facility per se: it was a conservation non-profit dedicated to preserving and restoring the wildscapes of the Appalachian region within southern Ohio, West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky.
A visit with Sushma the Animal Psychic, or How I Reconciled with Naomi, My Russian Archangel Blue Cat
If you own a cat, then you have long ago figured out that your cat actually owns you. But dogs aren’t like that, oh no. It’s clear from day one that your dog belongs to you and wants to please you in every way. They will do everything they can to anticipate your needs and make you feel happy and content. For example, dogs don’t really want to go for a walk with you. But they can tell that you want to go for a walk. So, they’ll bring you their leash and act happy when you take it in your hands, no matter how they might be feeling.
Perception of Time
Time can seem to come to a standstill when we are waiting. During my grade school days, I would stare at the clock above the classroom door silently pleading for the bell toll to release me. Sometimes, I would avert my eyes, hoping that more time would pass between my longing glances. I’d spot birds outside the window, and my jealousy grew as I sat in a hard plastic chair and ached to stretch my limbs. When I’d look back at the clock face, I was often disheartened to see how little time had passed since my last glance. I wondered whether the clock was growing too tired to make it all the way around the dial, or perhaps whether it had fallen asleep to the lull of my teacher’s voice.
Beyond Kirtan and Sound Bowls: Live Music for Wellbeing
Art has always been vulnerable to public concerns, stemming from its ability to raise complicated feelings. Music is especially targeted because it’s everywhere. A 2021 Harris Poll found that among American adults under 30, 72% reported listening to music by choice and among those, 77% reported choosing music listening as a daily activity.
Spiritual Mentorship for Death and Afterlife Orientation
We were blessed that Mom felt safe enough to share her experiences in the months and hours leading up to her transition from this world. Hers was the fourth close family death in four years. I felt that sharing the sacredness of these journeys—the before, during, and after—could help others refine their anxieties about passing and what it means to be alive. So, let us explore endings, beginnings, and continuations of soul connectivity.
Direct Primary Care: Putting the Care Back in Healthcare
I don’t have health insurance, but I bet I receive better health care than many people who do. Friends and family often understandably express concern about my lack of insurance, but I marvel at how often they then proceed to share with me the troubling experiences they have with the healthcare system: waiting months to get an appointment with their primary care doctor, not being allowed to share all their health concerns during a doctor’s appointment, and the most troubling of all, life threatening circumstances that result from overlooked diagnoses. Though well-meaning, these loved ones don’t seem to understand the relationship health insurance has to the health care—or lack there of—they are receiving.
Kindred Conversations with Hilary Nichols: Matthew Keating and the Embrace of Tango
Matthew Keating discovered tango at twenty-one and fell hard. At once both sultry and stern, playful and serious, tango evokes a powerful theatrical expression. He recalled riding his bike home from work when he first encountered a milonga (a place or event at which the tango is danced) He heard the music drifting around a corner. “Like the scent of Grandma’s pies cooling in a window, I was drawn.
A Place to Breathe: How Emily Adama Found Herself at EarthWell Retreat Center
As far as the eye can see, there are acres and acres of a great nature preserve. Allow yourself to be consumed by it for a moment. Let it envelope you. Let it return you back to the beginning. Maple trees stretch far overhead--taller than any worry could ever be. Streams meander through the land—a burst of movement happening in this otherwise still place. There is a quiet, here, but a quiet that causes introspection. A quiet that feels intentional. A quiet that feels connected to something bigger if only one is willing to stop and listen.
Discerning the Pearl from the Glass Beads: Gifts and Challenges of Spiritual Community
Never in human history has the pull to wholeness and spiritual awakening been as strong and omnipresent as it is today. There is a growing appetite for freedom and truth, and a longing to experience oneness. This hunger for liberation has many sources of fulfillment. Even a cursory look at the internet will reveal the plethora of options yet, it requires powerful discernment and wise and loving support to guide an aspirant through the trials and joys of awakening to True Nature.
