I receive the question quite often about meditation in my clinical practice. What is meditation? How do I do it? And what are the benefits? Quite simply, meditation is the intentional practice of experiencing life in the present moment. It's about realizing the power of now vs. the power of the past or future.

When we meditate, we can feel our breath trickle past our nose, tickle our throat, and expand our lungs and diaphragm. It is the moment when we lie down in bed after a long day, and luxuriate in the warmth and comfort of the sheets. And it is the sipping and enjoyment of a frosty mug of beer.   Read more...

Good news rarely makes the headlines... except in Ode. To celebrate 2008 - and anticipate more good news to come in 2009 - here are Ode's 10 most positive stories from the year that was.   Read more...

J. Craig Venter discusses his work with Synthetic Genomics, where he studied carbon feeding organisms in ocean sinks.   Read more...

Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, speaks at the Long Now Foundation about the history of the X Prize. The X Prize Foundation bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity by creating and managing prizes that drive innovators to solve some of the greatest challenges facing the world today.   Read more...

Intelligent optimists are generally health conscious people who know how to take care of themselves and their families. All of us probably realize that what you put IN your body is very important. So hopefully you are eating a clean diet. My favorite book on the subject is Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". In it he encourages us to avoid "manufactured food-like substances" or processed foods.

One area of toxicity that often is overlooked though, is what you put in your ears, eyes and mind. I am talking about what you ingest mentally; the news, newspapers, movies, etc.   Read more...

Fly2help is a charity lifting the spirits and horizons of people suffering from life threatening and chronic illnesses, families who have suffered tragedy, and those who are working to recover a sense of self-worth.

Established in the UK in 2006, the charity offers flight lessons to individuals, groups and like-minded charities. They say their core focus, however, is disadvantaged youngsters, "...with whom we aim to inspire imagination, determination, self-esteem and confidence."   Read more...

Ethicalsingles.com is an online dating & friendship site specifically for like-minded singles who are striving to make positive changes in the world. They help connect people who share interests in humanitarian issues, social justice, animal rights, nature preservation, alternative energy, recycling, organic farming or endangered species.

Their website says, "Are you looking for a green dating site? A vegetarian dating site? A vegan dating site? Look no further for your personals! ethicalsingles.com is a global online dating service for people who are interested in human rights, animal rights and environmental issues, and are looking for meaningful, long term relationships, love, romance, marriage and friendship with like-minded individuals.   Read more...

1. Eat Healthy-Let your dog chow down on food made with organic, all natural, human grade ingredients free of animal by-products, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, artificial preservatives & ingredients or genetically engineered ingredients. Anything that you would normally not eat yourself. Treats such as Polka Dog Bakery and more use all natural, organic, human grade ingredients that is even good enough for you to eat.

2. Clean up your dogs poop - Scoop up your dog business with biodegrable earth-friendly alternatives and retire those plastic bags. Plastic bags take 100’s of years to break down when thrown in the landfills and help to preserves that squishy mess. An eco-solution to the "poop-lution" problem is Spike brand Business Pick-up Bags which are convenient, earth-friendly & biodegradable.   Read more...

Citizen space takes the best elements of a coffee shop and a workspace and melds them together to create a place where you can get work done and socialize with other visitors. They rent desks in their San Francisco location for $425 a month and hold events in the space as well.   Read more...

It is becoming harder and harder to believe NGO's, charity's and other organisations who are claiming to be making a difference in the lives of economically poor people in the south when you know they are going for your donating dollar or euro. Fundraising promotion campaigns work on our cultivated image of "the poor" filled with all our prejudices about what's the problem and what's should be the solutions. Wouldn't it be much more fair we ask them what their perspective is on how we are trying to help? With other words to let them tell the story...   Read more...