Healers have known for years that practicing qigong reduces stress and energizes the body and mind. Now multiple studies from researchers have documented the exact degree to which qigong aids in balancing cortisol, otherwise known as the “stress hormone.” Besides improving your mood, reducing cortisol levels allow your body to heal and repair itself.

I first came across Victor and Wendy Zammit’s website, The Afterlife Report, around June of 2015. Since that time, I have looked forward with great excitement every week to the latest newsletter. Something always captures my attention from the mix of articles, interviews, videos, and book reviews, and I learn something new each week. I can’t count how many times that I’ve “lost” an hour because I clicked on one or more links in the newsletter!

We all know that we should be thankful for what we have, hopefully not just at Thanksgiving, but all the time. But did you know that it can be good for you as well? Research shows that the more you practice an attitude of gratefulness, the greater the effect. Gratitude confers a multitude of benefits, such as increased health, social connectedness, feelings of well-being and energy, as well as decreased feelings of depression, greed and envy and decreased substance abuse.

Around this Thanksgiving holiday, cook and cuisine author, Nancy Mehagian shares a favorite and easy recipe for organic turkey meatloaf.The leaves of fall are upon us, and on our streets and yards. If you live on the East Coast, your trees may be bare by now. Here, in Southern California, we’re still raking and blowing. I love it! Fall just might be my favorite season, for all the color that abounds, the changes in the air and the sight of some of my favorite produce at the Farmer’s Market. To celebrate the season, I’ve offered a few of my recipes–the ones that taste best eaten around a blazing fire.

“Indeed, there is nothing too little, or too great, for inclusion in a journal. If you are not already keeping one, I entreat you to start today. Write whatever is passing through your mind, or whatever catches your eye in the passing scene around you. If you remember your dreams, start with them. If you don’t recall your dreams, start with whatever thoughts and feelings are first with you as you enter the day, or that interval between two sleeps the French used to call dorveille (“sleep-wake”), a liminal space when creative ideas often stream through.”

A few years ago, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD. restarted his groundbreaking YouTube show with a new name, “New Thinking Allowed” (video). Dr. Mishlove, who ran the original series from 1986 to 2002, interviewed more than 200 leading intellectuals, including Joseph Campbell, Jean Houston, Terence McKenna, Michael Talbot, and more. In his introduction to the new series, he explains his motivation for starting anew, as a desire to “leave a legacy of the best thinking out there for those who desire to understand who they are and what their potential is.”

Reboot and Rejoice is a wonderfully personal account of the author’s full recovery from Parkinson’s Disease using qigong. Ms. Molle shares her regimen, including details of the specific teachers, CDs, websites, etc., that she used to facilitate her healing. Now, more than three years after her recovery, she shares the specifics, as well as her reflections on the healing process.

The Man Who Knew Infinity is the remarkable story of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a brilliant Indian mathematician whose revolutionary ideas took Europe by storm during the years around World War I. The film, released in 2015, stars Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons, and is based on the book of the same name by Robert Kanigel. What made Ramanujan so amazing, were his deeply spiritual and intuitive leaps in fields for which he had no prior background. What made Ramanujan so amazing, were his deep spiritualty and intuitive leaps in fields for which he had no prior background. Ramanujan said that his insights came to him in dreams, which he quickly wrote down upon awakening.

This flavorful “jazzed up” couscous can be served as a vegetarian side dish, or as an entree with the addition of chicken sausage sliced into coins, or shredded chicken, lamb or pork. You can keep it vegetarian by adding crisp cubes of tofu, and make it vegan by omitting the butter and using oil. The leftovers are delicious, and can be served reheated, or at room temperature.