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Happy Brain

Moods are most certainly a byproduct of circumstances and individual context but it’s important to remember that we are also an incredibly dynamic and complicated soup of biochemistry.  Our composition is operated by many systems of the body, all of which are governed by chemicals. I find this not only fascinating but also liberating, particularly on those days that nothing is really ‘wrong’ but I am feeling “off”.  Moods aren’t just contingent on the factors of emotional stress or deep…

The Mindful Brain

When I was about 15 years old, I had just moved from Montana to the Tempe area and I was doing some deep soul searching.  I was finding ways of connecting to a place of peace within myself and learning how tame the monsters in my complicated, teenage mind.  One day while walking around Kiwanis park, I stumbled, literally, upon a beautiful, antique looking, gold leafed Buddhist meditation book….which, years later, I intentionally left at the same park, hoping it…

Teach the Children Well

Recently my boys and I decided to create art from nature found objects.  We made little paintbrushes from dried, stripped and frayed yucca leaves, paste from ground mesquite beans, and textures from leaves, fibers and dirt.  We smashed up and grinded flower petals, seeds, cacti and pomegranate fruit to make rich colors and we painted on flat stones and the soft under belly of bark from our Eucalyptus tree.  Our hands and feet were stained with earth colors and it…

Local To Global Justice

I am honored to be participating in the upcoming event, Local to Global Justice teach-in event at Arizona State University.  Local to Global justice is a two day annual event,  which seeks to connect local diversity, sustainability, social justice, and human rights issues to larger global struggles. It has become an outstanding space for the sharing of experiences and knowledge between scholars and activists working on a wide range of social justice, human rights and sustainability issues. The goal of this…