In puppy kindergarten class we are working on stay. Like most of the important commands, stay is taught in stages. Stage 1 is Duration. At first, the dogs only have to stay for a second or two before we release them and reward them with treats. Then, gradually, we up the ante. The dogs have to stay for ten seconds, then thirty, then a minute before the release.
Twenty Years of Reiki by Suzy Wienckowski
October marks my 20-year anniversary as a Master in the Usui System of Reiki Healing. Reiki is a gentle, hands-on healing practice that encourages balance on all levels of being — body, mind, and spirit. “Reiki” means universal life energy, and it is that energy that flows through the hands of a practitioner.
CWJ Kids — Music and Movement for the Very Young: Gari Stein Adds “Baby and You” Class to Her Offerings By Nieka Apell
Many Ann Arborites are familiar with the name Gari Stein and her acclaimed music classes and curricula for children. What families with young children may not be aware of, however, are her group classes for babies as young as three months old with their caregivers.
CWJ Kids — Nuzzle! Cuddle! Cram! Best Comics for Kids from the Nerdiest Family Alive by Truly Render
I’m raising a nerd. Academic nerdom is totally supported but ultimately my daughter’s prerogative, but in terms of familial and cultural indoctrination, Lila has been knee deep in comics since birth.
Conscious and Tasty Eating and Nutrition — Best Gluten-Free Menus in Ann Arbor by Brandi Lyons
Carefully curated by Brandi Lyons, this list will provide you with a very handy resource for seeking out the tastiest gluten-free dishes around town.
All Creatures Great and Small — If You Could Talk to the Animals by Judy Ramsey
When behavioral issues occur with animal friends, it can be annoying, frightening, or downright dangerous. We interpret their behaviors through our human perspectives and act accordingly. However, an animal’s behavior, influenced by survival issues and past experience, makes sense to that animal.
San Slomovits Interviews Izabela Jaworksa on Walking the Way of St. James
For much of her life, Izabela Jaworska’s most frequent travels have taken her on two, three-minute counterclockwise circles around the hardwood dance floors of ballrooms all over Europe and Asia and throughout the United States.
The Way
It's 5 a.m. and there is a slight chill in the air. In the distance there is the faint sound of a helicopter. As it gets closer, with great frustration, I say out loud, "Really?!? Again?" As it gets even closer, I can hear the moaning and fidgeting of other sleepless souls. The helicopter hovers over the campsite for a moment and then lands, it sounds like, right outside our tent.
Crysta Goes Visiting by Crysta Coburn
In this column, Crysta Coburn writes about crazywisdom-esque people and happenings around Ann Arbor.
Permaculture Projects Take Root Across Southeast Michigan by Nathan Ayers
It was 2008, and the economy was crashing. I was scared about peak oil, climate change, and economic instability, and grasping for answers. A group of women in Ann Arbor were starting a new organization, and had heard about some of the community work I had done around sustainability. Through Transition Ann Arbor, I first hear the word “permaculture.”
Discovering Vedic Astrology and Its Ancient Roots
By Brandi Lyons
If the word “Veda” is familiar at all, it is likely to evoke images of Hindu mythology.
Healing with Nutrition — Real Food is Real Medicine
By Darren Schmidt
For many years now, reports have shown that the American medical system could be doing more harm than good . . .
Joan and Will Weber’s JOURNEYS International: Exploring the World, Expanding the Soul
When Joan and Will Weber founded JOURNEYS International 35 years ago, the term “eco-tourism” did not exist. Today the Ann Arbor company is widely lauded for its environmental consciousness and its meticulous planning. National Geographic’s Adventure magazine ranked JOURNEYS International among the best adventure travel companies on earth and set JOURNEYS on its list of top ten tour operators.
Seeds for the Future — A Local Organic Seed Grower Explains the Importance of the Emerging Seed Movement
By Erica Kempter
Let’s stop and envision an ideal food system. One that gives us the collective ability to feed ourselves sustainably for generations to come; one that provides healthy, safe food for all. A system where most of this food comes from local, organic farms that don’t work against nature, but with it. . .
Every Day a New Adventure: Psychiatrist Nirmala Nancy Hanke, Meditation Teacher at the Lighthouse Center, on Retirement and Conscious Living
By Dr. Nirmala Nancy Hanke | Photos by Joni Strickfaden
"Your life is a grand adventure. Take risks. Explore the unknown.
Journey forth into the great wide open without preplanned outcomes."
– from The Original Angel Cards Book by Kathy Tyler and Joy Drake
This quote certainly applies to the phase of life we call retirement. One of my friends, who retired three years ago, checked in with me recently to see how retirement is going
An Interview with Heather Glidden on the Gyrotonic Method
Photography by Joni Strickfaden
Heather Glidden, age 33, is the co-owner of the recently opened Gyrotonic Tree Town & Pilates Loft Studio. . .
Animal Educators: The Creature Conservancy Provides a Home for Animals and Educational Opportunities for the Community
Zoos provide opportunities to see unique animals, but where can children and adults go to touch exotic animals and ask questions about them? The Creature Conservancy, an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit organization, provides that type of hands-on learning experience for children and adults.
Enlightened Selfishness and Ninjutsu
By Keith Copeland
What is one thing we all have in common? What are three things that trouble each of us? What are the nine ways to resolve these quandaries? In my practice of ninjutsu over the past couple of decades . . .
Yoga and Cultural Connection in the Swiss Alps
Jody Tull, owner of Ann Arbor's Be in Awe Yoga, recently led her ninth yoga retreat in Soglio, Switzerland, just an hour’s walk from the Italian border.
Cantor Annie Rose, A Jewish Seeker
By Rachel Urist | Photos by Susan Ayer
Cantor Annie Rose will retire in July 2014. By then, she will have been the cantor at Temple Beth Emeth (TBE) for twenty years. She has trained countless bar and bat mitzvah students and created and conducted the Temple’s adult and youth choirs, Kol Halev (Voice of the Heart) and Shir Chadash (New Song).
