Featured Stories December 2007

The Genie in Your Genes
An Interview with Dawson Church

by Sydney Murray

Best-selling author Dawson Church has written and edited over 200 books in the fields of health, spirituality and psychology. In his latest book, Genie in Your Genes (Author’s Publishing Cooperative, 2007), he presents a new way of looking at the factors that affect human DNA. Vision Magazine spoke with Church recently about a new terminology for physical and psychological healing. Continued...

Same-Sex Couples
The Struggle for Civil Rights

by Elizabeth H. Florio

Few topics (with the exceptions of the war in Iraq and abortion) bring up such a marked polarity in the American viewpoint than the issue of homosexual marriage and whether homosexual couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples. The topic is widely debated in religious and political arenas. In many cases, the discussions turn contentious. Although there is much more to being gay than legal marriages and securing (at minimum) the same benefits enjoyed by heterosexual people, this is a highly important issue and one that will be dealt with more frequently in the years to come. Continued...

Astrology December 2007

Sagittarius: Lovers (7 of Swords)
11/23-12/21:With affairs of the heart come choices. The deeper your connection with another, the harder your choices may seem. In the same way that others act as a mirror to you, so do your particular choices reflect your values. Some of your recent choices are beginning to reveal the cracks in your façade; are you avoiding an issue and upholding pretenses for the sake of security? Pretending that you are happy, compromising your feelings, and dancing around that big elephant will only put off the inevitable. The New Moon will likely expose the truth behind your charade and the purpose for pretending. Continued...

Visionary Artist December 2007

Charlotte Mitchell

Viewpoint December 2007

by Sydney L. Murray

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. - African Proverb

It was one of those years—a year that portends growth, frustration, elation and disbelief. It has been told to me that every seven years, we go through a period of cataclysmic growth. I know this year started out that way and is most definitely finishing out in this manner as well. I have questioned myself, and everyone around me, more in this year than in the previous five or six years combined. One lesson I learned early in 2007 was that I must trust my instincts, my intuition.
Continued...

Reviews December 2007

	YogaSing—Yoga for Performers and Singers Continued...
	Holiday Mantra and Meditation Gift Set Continued...

Mind States December 2007

Soul to Soul an Interview with Gary Zukav

by Nicole Pugh

For years, best selling author and philosopher Gary Zukav (The Dancing Wu Li Masters, Seat of the Soul) has challenged us to see the depth of our potential in the world—and to act on that awareness. With his new book, Soul to Soul: Communications from the Heart (Simon and Schuster, 2007), he communicates intimately with all who long to know how to truly love, how to develop trust and an open heart, and how to learn to be a compassionate, spiritual person. Continued...

The Fires Of Change

by Jesse Wolf Hardin

The Earth is a magical set of processes, forever subject to the cycles of natural stress and catastrophe. Some mountain ranges were midwifed by great uplifts and others by fearsome volcanic surges. The arrival of new life forms has often signaled the disappearance of others, throughout the long history of this Gaian Earth Mother. It is nonetheless difficult to name a period in history when there’s been the amount of natural and man made disasters than what is occurring right now. Continued...

The Fine Art of Noticing

by Nan Kyra, D.S.S.

A look back over the past few decades reveals that nurturing, self-care, rest and relaxation are playing second fiddle to our current hurry-up lifestyle. The amount of time spent in quiet repose is often miniscule, if any, compared to time spent talking, texting, working, multi-tasking, worrying, and doing, doing, doing. Continued...

Living Arts December 2007

High School on the Horizon:
Waldorf to Break Ground Soon

“If there is one thing that the Waldorf system does, it nurtures, protects and develops the intelligence of the true child.” — Joseph Clinton Pearce, author of The Magical Child

The Waldorf School of San Diego (WSSD) has been in the area for over twenty-six years. After multiple moves, the School was able to purchase a site of their own in the mid-nineties. Since then, the school, and support for it, has grown by leaps and bounds. Because of the hard work of Waldorf parents and a generous anonymous donation, the school will soon break ground on a new high school for grades nine through twelve. The first class of 20-30 ninth graders will begin studies in a temporary building next Fall. Continued...

Growing Up with Energy Medicine

by Tanya and Dondi Dahlin

Energy Medicine is the new “buzz” term in alternative health care and is used to describe a myriad of healing methods. There was a time growing up in San Diego, however, when we recall having to explain in detail what our mother did for a living. Our mother, Donna Eden, author of the best selling book Energy Medicine, has been at the forefront of the alternative medicine movement since the early 1970s. As Donna Eden’s daughters, growing up with Energy Medicine seemed very normal. Characteristic of the seventies, our mom was a hippie healer. She was on a search for self and for a redefinition of society. She was a natural healer and emulated a talent she learned from her own mother. Growing up in the small rural town of Ramona, California, Mom assumed everyone had their own sixth sense of “seeing energies” in the human body. Continued...

LifeQuake™

Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor
Dr. Toni Galardi

Dear Dr. Toni:
I have spent thirteen years and over a quarter of a million dollars learning about health and wellness, disease prevention and psycho neuro-immunology. Yet I’m afraid to launch my health and wellness seminar business that I dream of. It’s based on a very specific topic that I believe in and I am very excited about sharing it with people. However, I just seem to tread water on getting it up and running. I can’t find a location for the talks and I haven’t secured a website designer. I also have ten business and domain names written down on paper, but I haven’t been able to pick one out. Continued...

Human Rights December 2007

Human Rights During A Crisis
The Undocumented and the Firestorms of 2007

by Nicole Pugh

Regardless of how we [may] feel it is wrong for them to cross the border and all the rhetoric that is being used to criminalize and dehumanize them, we have to remember that [the undocumented] are human beings—they are somebody’s father, somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter. - Tina Jillings, Vista Human Rights Coalition

Last October’s fires created hardships for thousands of San Diego residents who lost homes, personal belongings and memories in the flames. Continued...

Holistic Products December 2007

Abrioné Chakra Masques

A mind-body connection in a facial? The critic in me wanted to scoff, but the rainbow colors in the set of Abrioné Chakra Masques brought out the little kid in me. The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk and is a center of activity that receives, assimilates, and expresses life force energy. Continued...

Do You Know What Your Pet is Thinking?

My father and his cat, Tsunami, are like two peas in a pod. They even sit on the couch every night watching reruns of CSI together. Some of “the Nam’s” habits, however, have always been a mystery. Why, for instance, does he intermittently spray at random pieces of furniture for no apparent reason? And what is he trying to tell my dad when he stands up on his hind legs and “head butts” him on the shoulder like a rutting billy goat? Continued...

Holistic Health December 2007

The Evolution of Organic Cosmetics

by Ana Yoerg

Dove Evolution is the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty’s short film on the countless hours it takes a typical model to prepare before a photo shoot. The end result is an impossibly perfect woman, with flawless skin and immaculately styled hair—a far cry from the woman they started with. A decade ago, American audiences would have shunned a film such as this one. Continued...

The Legacy of Ida Rolf, Ph.D.
Structural Integration of the Human Body

by Archie Underwood

“When the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself.” - Ida Rolf, Ph.D.

Ida Rolf Ph.D. developed her unique method of working with the body after many years of practicing Tantric Yoga and studying multiple holistic disciplines including Osteopathy, Homeopathy, Chiropractic and the Alexander Technique. Dr. Rolf also had experience with, and training in, the scientific side of connective tissue and how it responds to chemical and physiological changes. Continued...

The Gift of Health and Beauty

by Sydney L. Murray

As the holidays beckon and the hectic pace of the season sends a brief moment of panic into my system, I have the urge to do something for myself during this period of extra social obligations and celebratory gatherings. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Cove Wellness Detox Spa of La Jolla. As I entered their space, I was immediately aware of the very warm and inviting atmosphere that they have maintained in La Jolla for over sixteen years.
Continued...

Greek to Me December 2007

Finding the Christmas Present in the Ghost of Christmas Past

©2007 by Michael Raysses

I don’t know what it is about the holidays that compels me to reminisce. On the one hand, I want to be here now. On the other hand, my impulse to muse over holidays gone by is so strong that I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience this Christmas without comparing it to those past. So, in the face of these competing forces, let us attend… Continued...

Earthwatch December 2007

“Sealing” the Deal

by Derek Shaw

Records tracing back to the late 19th century reveal that harbor seals were among the first settlers of Southern California, even predating the establishment of the coastal town of La Jolla in San Diego County. Casa Beach, better known as the Children’s Pool, is a public setting that allows visitors to view wild animals in their natural habitat. Continued...

Culture December 2007

Critical Possibilities:
Finding Ways Out of Darfur Now

by John Esther

This year, director Ted Braun traveled to Darfur, Sudan, to make a documentary about an area of the globe the United Nations has called, “the world’s greatest humanitarian and human rights catastrophe.” Although he and his crew were routinely under government surveillance, Braun managed to garner interviews from members of nomadic communities and the Sudanese Liberation Army as well as from Sudanese government officials. Continued...

Beyond Belief

by Dr. Ron Shane

Roger Bingham, a TV producer at the Salk Institute, recently produced a program entitled “Beyond Belief.” Although the program’s execution was problematic, it did demonstrate that there is a need for contemporary humans in the Western world to reflect upon their way of knowing and their religious belief systems. It also pointed to the fact that humans must awaken from what Blake referred to as the “lethe sleep of urizen.” How much of our present belief systems are based in illusion? Continued...

Vision Cafe December 2007

Youth Without Youth

Francis Ford Coppola’s Youth Without Youth stars Tim Roth as Dominic Matei, an aging professor of linguistics who questions the meaning of life as his own life nears its end. Then an event changes his life by restoring his youth. Youth Without Youth is a movie that is cinematically beautiful. The story is surreal and enchanting. Continued...

The Tibet Gift House

On Adams Avenue in San Diego, there is an unpretentious, little blue house. A stream of colorful Tibetan prayer flags waves playfully in the breeze along the walkway leading up to the front door, inviting the curious to come see what is inside. This is the Tibet Gift House, opened three years ago as a way to educate the community in San Diego about Tibetan culture as well as support Tibetan refugees living in South India, Nepal and elsewhere. Everything sold at the Tibet Gift House, from embroidered jackets to jewelry, is hand-crafted by Tibetan refugees, who have been without a home country since Chinese occupation began in 1959. Continued...

Cellphone Voyeurism As Art

Public Privacy: Wendy Richmond’s Surreptitious Cellphone is a new exhibit at MoPA Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park that runs through January 6, 2008. It is a study of the way Americans occupy space and how 21st century technology can be used for art and to document social interaction. Richmond shot ordinary folks doing ordinary things—sipping coffee, riding a train, walking to work. Continued...