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Each and every day, 10,000 people in North America turn 50. Within a few years, the entire Baby Boomer generation (400 million of us in North American and Western Europe) will be in our 50s and 60s. And though the headlines scream endlessly about the “pension bomb” and “agequake,” I’ve been asking myself what else might happen when all these people move into a new phase of life at once. What benefit might there be?
I’ve been writing about what I call “ripening” — finding new passion and purpose after

Stressed out? Feeling stretched with too much to do? Want to just escape from your life for a bit to a faraway island for some peace and serenity?
I have learned from years of meditation that some simple techniques help anchor us through difficult times and make the good times more enriching.
Here are some tips I have used to find serenity in my life:
1. “I am” Breathing Exercise. You can do this any time, any place (even when you are stuck in traffic). Its a simple breathing exercise: Every time you inhale, mentally say the word “I”; and every time you exhale, mentally say the word “am” Pay attention to how the breath flows in and out of your body, and visualize the breath spreading from your lungs through your chest, down your arms and

How is it that so many people today want a quick fix, an instant solution, the immediate answer, or the “magic bullet?” The most enjoyable aspects of life are those that are a journey, even with the trials they bring. A reward that comes too easily is hardly a prize. Enlightenment, although trite in today’s usage, is still all about transcending the mundane, the physical boundaries that bind our bodies, the intellectually programmed notions of limitation. It means the spiritual nobility of the truth in “knowing.” But what is there to know?
We with a Western mindset expect an answer to every

In response to a recent blog, “Wealth School is Fun!” one reader commented: “Wealth School could give me lessons on altruism and spiritual awakening”.
On Monday this week, I went to view the winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, “Tree of Life” which I very much enjoyed. It was long, colorful and did not have a strong plot, nor dialogue. What I caught my attention at the beginning was that it was about the force of nature and the presence of grace.
I believe that the dynamic force of nature and the presence of grace may be in a fundamental conflict. Do we give in to our more animal natures? Or do we ascend into higher planes of thinking? The choice is not either or, as I see

The 2011 federal election was historic in many ways and most of us are still trying to process the outcome. It is crucial that we pause to reflect on its meaning and think carefully about the next steps we must take.
While it is true that the remarkable surge in support for the NDP means a more dependable progressive voice in the House of Commons than we have had for years, it is equally true that the most socially and economically right-wing government perhaps in Canadian history has just won a substantial majority in the House and — along with their control of the Senate — is now free to implement its agenda even if every member of every other party votes against it.
The Harper Conservatives are now free to:
cut corporate taxes and transfer payments;
go after public services, public sector workers and public pensions;
allow the growth of private health services to undermine Medicare in the lead-up to the expiry of the Canada Health Accord in 2014;
vigorously promote more unregulated free trade agreements like the Canada-European Union CETA, that will drastically curtail the democratic rights of local governments to promote local economic development, local resource sovereignty, or local food production;
kill the Canadian Wheat Board;
fast track the security perimeter deal with the United States that will violate the civil liberties of Canadians and give away crucial pieces of our sovereignty;
kill the long-gun registry;
continue to decimate environmental regulations, under fund source water protection, promote dirty energy projects such as the tar sands, gas fracking and Arctic oil and gas drilling, while ignoring the rights of nature;
and spend our money on military equipment and prisons we don’t need and don’t want.
This means we at the Council of Canadians and civil society in general have our work cut out for us as never before.
However, there are important signs of hope. The Harper Conservatives do not have the support of the majority of Canadians. Almost 40 per cent of eligible Canadian voters did not cast a ballot in the election and of those who did, fully 60 per cent voted for parties other than the

Do you know the story of Narcissus? He was the very handsome fellow in Greek mythology who, because of his indifference and disdain toward others, was punished by the gods by falling in love with his own image. He was so enraptured by his beauty that he was unable to pull himself away from his own reflection, and he wasted away and died.
Well, according to recent research (to be discussed below), Narcissus has spawned many offspring in our current generation, and narcissism is alive and well and living in America. Just so we are all on the same wavelength, narcissism is a personality characteristic associated with self-absorption, egocentrism, an overestimation of one’s own importance and abilities, a sense of entitlement and a disregard for others.
One study found that 30 percent of young people were classified as narcissistic according to a widely used psychological

On a recent trip to London, The Guardian interviewed me during Depression Awareness Week about the UK release of my book “Unstuck”. The reporter was particularly interested in Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s Global Trauma Relief program and our work to bring population-wide psychological healing to places around the world that are afflicted by war and natural disaster.
I’m certainly pleased that the author recognizes CMBM’s groundbreaking efforts to teach and support hundreds of thousands of people in Kosovo, Israel, Gaza, Haiti, Southern Louisiana, and U.S. military bases where soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a shame, however, that his tone is so dismissive of integrative medicine and that he fails to recognize the fundamental importance of self-care for psychological and physical healing.
Please note that as of this writing, corrections are being made online for several factual errors, including the following:
In Gaza, we trained 90 clinicians initially; only a few of these were “educators” (as the article states).
CMBM now has 160 groups meeting in Gaza each week, not 48, as reported.
Beyond factual errors, though, I’m disappointed with the tone of the

I spent three days mulling over what I would say at PFC Ara Deysie’s memorial service. There I sat with ringing ears in my hospital bed at Forward Operating Base Salerno making the conventional notes about his heroism, character, honor and the like. In my eyes, the memorial would be a chance to regain my composure after the near ambush on May 9, 2008 upended my confidence that my soldiers and I might come home from Afghanistan alive. By the time the hour came to return to Combat Outpost Wilderness for Deysie’s service, I thought I was

One thing you have come to expect when shopping is that you’ll come home with most of the things you intended to get on your trip as well as a few things that you did not leave the house expecting to buy. I used to go to the hardware store to get light bulbs or air conditioner filters and come home with a new tool or extra plants for the garden. Somehow, it felt like those other items just leapt into the cart.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you pick up a few extra items at the store, but other times those impulse purchases can get you into

Mariah Carey is quoted as saying, “Never, never listen to anybody that tries to discourage you,” and she’s right. She is just one example of a person who faced adversity and challenges yet continued to work hard until she achieved success and then some. When most people think of individuals like Mariah Carey, Barack Obama and J.K. Rowling, they often view their great achievements as effortless and fail to acknowledge the years of hard work they put into getting

“Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.”
The recent New York Times article about the 11th Tradition and anonymity stirred up a lot of controversy. But I think the 12th Tradition is ultimately more important.
When you walk into a 12-Step meeting you drop a big part of your identity. Certainly you drop your last name, but you typically don’t bring your job title, your bank account, social role and many other unique identifiers. Although you’ll very likely talk about some of your life’s story, it’s usually in the context of your “disease.” And the point of that is to talk about what you share with everyone else in the room — whether it’s alcoholism, drug addiction, compulsive eating, relationship dysfunction, sex addiction or

Both read the bible day and night; but you read black where I read white. –William Blake
No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means. –George Bernard Shaw
More than 20 centuries after the Bible’s production, people still bring it to bear on practically every important social and political issue in the Western world (and much of the Eastern world). In the 18th and 19th centuries, both proponents and opponents of African slavery quoted chapters and verses to support their

Evangelical Christians are committed to something called the gospel. It’s central to everything we do. The word gospel itself means “good news,” and this good news is all about how Jesus came into this dark and broken world to make a way back to God. Over the past few centuries the evangelical version of the gospel has changed and is now something quite different than ever

The world did not end May 21.
The calculations of the Family Radio prophet Harold Camping that believers would be taken up to heaven that day as an earthquake struck the Earth did not come to pass.
Just like it did not come to pass in the 1840s, when followers of William Miller sold belongings, quit jobs and gathered on mountaintops in anticipation of the Rapture. Or on Sept. 6, 1994, or any of the other earlier dates Camping himself set forth.
But if it seems foolhardy to forecast the date of the apocalypse, predicting the future of religion is not so far-fetched, as some scholars say they have an increasing number of scientific tools to make such projections.
Under at least one scenario, Hispanic Catholics will be the big winners and predominantly white religious groups will lag behind.
Age patterns, plus fertility, immigration and conversion rates project that Hispanic Catholics may nearly double to 18 percent of the U.S. population by 2043, according to an article by Vegard Skirbekk and Anne Goujon of the World Population Program and Eric Kaufmann of the University of London in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
The three researchers predict the secular population will grow in coming decades before reaching a plateau by the middle of the

Not for the faint of heart, red lipstick is like vibrance and confidence in a tube. But where did its sultry reputation originate? And why doesn’t a pale lip or a smoky eye conjure the same mood as only a red mouth can? Here’s where apothecary meets anthropology.
Putting on your red lipstick — whether it’s second nature or for a big night out — is not just a choice. It’s a cultural expression and constant

It will soon be four years since my double mastectomies following a diagnosis of breast cancer. I usually celebrate this milestone on that date, and not on the date I was diagnosed. I just felt that the day I had the mastectomies was the day I got rid of the cancer in my body.
Cancer changes you in so many

One morning in late May, the baseball world, and the mainstream sports world in general, finally woke up to an unfamiliar but unavoidable fact: the best hitter in baseball doesn’t live in St. Louis. Or anywhere in America for that matter.
No, the diamond’s latest superstar slugger calls the Rogers Centre home, and his mind-boggling home run totals since opening day 2010 can’t be written off as a byproduct of the

Several fancied Republicans may have ruled themselves out of the 2012 race for the White House but one woman could yet ignite the campaign, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington DC.

With one announcement, the slow burning – some might say barely-smouldering – Republican campaign for the White House has, if not caught light, then at least caught the attention of those outside the circle of Washington's campaign professionals.

That announcement was from Sarah Palin's Political Action Committee; the former vice-presidential candidate would, the PAC said, begin a tour of north-eastern states, visiting historic sites and patriotic events.

The aim of the "One Nation tour", she said on her website, will be "to connect with our founders….to clearly see our way forward".

Until this point, most of the noise in the Republican camp had been made by those saying they aren't going to stand – three former and present state governors have ruled themselves out, as did the extrovert property developer and television star Donald Trump.
Some of those in the frameInOutMaybeTim Pawlenty
Haley Barbour
Michele Bachmann
Newt Gingrich
Chris Christie
Rick Perry
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
Jon Huntsman
Ron Paul
John Thune
Sarah Palin
Rick Santorum
Donald Trump
Mitch Daniels
Seasoned campaign watchers are surprisingly united on why they think so many have ruled themselves out of the 2012race for the White House.

It is, many say, because potential candidates cannot face the sheer grinding ghastliness of the

Another Memorial Day, another holiday filled with rhapsodies by politicians and citizens alike about the sacrifices of American military personnel. But if these summer patriots really cared about their neighbors in uniform, they would stop putting servicemen and women at risk for frivolous reasons.
America was born in war. The existence of evil means that war may always be an ugly necessity. But these days most of Washington’s conflicts are wars of choice, military interventions for almost any reason other than protecting vital American

There were two key announcements this past week relevant to the human exploration of space beyond low-Earth orbit and the space station.

The first was the confirmation by Nasa that it would press ahead with the development of a Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) based on its "cancelled" Orion concept.

Orion, originally conceived under the US agency's now defunct Constellation programme, was to be equipped with the systems needed to sustain astronauts on long journeys away from our planet. The MPCV (Orion in all but name) will be similarly equipped.

The other important bit of news was the selection of Osiris-Rex [2.5MB PDF] to launch in 2016.

This robotic mission of Nasa's will travel out to an asteroid called 1999 RQ36; its arrival is expected in 2020. After some remote-sensing of its target, Osiris-Rex will then attempt to pick up some grit and dust from the space rock before returning those samples to Earth for study in labs across the world.

What links these two announcements? Well, President Obama has set Nasa the objective of getting humans to an asteroid by 2025. The crew will undertake that venture in the MPCV, and their encounter will benefit from the lessons learned on Osiris-Rex.

All this ought to be viewed with some relish. As I've written on many previous occasions, asteroids are anything but dull, dumb rocks.

• In exploration terms, these objects are stepping stones to even more distant destinations. The 2025 asteroid expedition would be followed at a later date by a mission to circle Mars, perhaps even to land on one of its two moons, before trying to get down on to the Red Planet's surface itself.

• Asteroids are also key science targets right now. It's oft said that they are left-overs from the formation of the Solar System – bits of rubble that never quite got incorporated into planets proper. The more pristine examples out there hold critical clues to those early formation processes and the materials involved.

• Asteroids will be a resource one day, too. Some contain large amounts of platinum and other precious metals; some contain substantial quantities of

Shock waves emanating from a trombone have been caught on video for the first time, researchers say.

It was first suggested in 1995 that the intense pressure waves, which can briefly exceed the speed of sound, could come from trombones.

Shock waves can form when energy is quickly put into a confined channel; weak shock waves can be formed as trains enter tunnels.

Researchers revealed the video at the Acoustical Society of America meeting.

Shock waves are just a particular kind of pressure wave – which is what sound itself

Staying on a diet long enough to achieve major weight loss can feel like a journey down a deserted highway: there are no signs to tell you where you are, no radio programs to ease the boredom, no restaurants to break the tedium and no one to whom you can complain.
A professor who mentored me when I was a new scientist lost about 120 pounds over the two years I worked with him. After he had lost almost 100 pounds, he confided to me that losing the weight was the hardest thing he had ever done: “I got over the hunger and cravings for foods that I couldn’t eat pretty quickly, but after a few months the excitement from losing the first twenty pounds or so had worn off and I felt alone, in the middle of a weight loss tunnel with no end in sight. No one was particularly interested in my weight loss anymore, and very few people continued to offer encouragement.”
We tend to forget how lonely dieting can

Our pets are precious to us. We want them to live forever, but we are distressed to see their troubling signs of aging.
A decade ago, when my dog Tundra was eleven years old, I felt she might be nearing the end. Because she looked like a German shepherd mix, I guessed her lifespan to be about twelve

An American man who was detained in North Korea for six months on unspecified charges has been released.

Eddie Jun Yong-su, who was reported to have been involved in missionary work, left Pyongyang with a delegation from Washington led by envoy Robert King.

The North had said he would be freed on humanitarian grounds following repeated requests by visiting US officials.

Mr King, who was in the country assessing food needs, said the North had not been promised aid in return.

Mr Jun appeared to be health and in good spirits as he left Pyongyang with Mr King's delegation, but did not speak to