The All Women Police, Tambaram, has filed a first information report (FIR) and taken up the investigation into complaints of sexual abuse and physical torture of minor boys who were inmates of an unauthorised home run by two administrators of an ashram in Nedunkundram.

Following a complaint from L.Sasikumar, an advocate and devotee, the police raided the premises of Sri Sathananth Swami Ashram, Sadhanthapuram, Nedunkundram on Sunday morning. They found that there were nine boys aged 13 to 16 years lodged in the home. It was under the administration of Anand, 55 and his friend Sampath, 56.

Anand brought the children from Arakonam and Tiruttani to the facility. They were admitted to local schools near the home. One of children complained of sexual abuse to Mr. Sasikumar, who frequently visited the ashram. He, in turn, complained to the police.

Police said a few of the children staying in the orphanage were allegedly sexually abused by both Anand and Sampath. The case was booked under section 7(Sexual Assault) and 8 (Punishment for sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The police said the process is on to arrest the duo and further investigation is on.

The children were shifted to other homes.

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Business EconomyPosted at: Jan 9 2020 3:09PM

NEW DELHI, Jan 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxford University Press, the world's largest university press, launched Krishna's Playground: Vrindavan in the 21st Century by Professor John Stratton Hawley on 8th January, 2020. The book was launched in the august presence of Mr. Purushottam Agrawal - renowned writer, academician and former professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. The event began with a musical rendition by Padma Shri awardee, Shubha Mudgal who was accompanied by tabla maestro and classical harmonium player Aneesh Pradhan and Sudhir Nayak respectively. The evening saw the celebration of this book and of Professor Hawley's meticulous scholarship. This was followed by a brief presentation by the author and conversation and remarks on the books from eminent panelists including Ms. V. Mohini Giri - Chairperson, Guild of Service and Ma Dham Ashram; Mr. Rimpesh Sharma - Director, InGenious Studio and Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir; and Ms. Vishnupriya Goswami - Jai Singh Ghewra, Vrindavan. This book is about a deeply beloved place - many call it the spiritual capital of India. Located at a dramatic bend in the River Yamuna, a hundred miles from the center of Delhi, Vrindavan is the spot where the god Krishna is believed to have spent his childhood and youth. For Hindus, it has always stood for youth writ large. Now, though, the world is gobbling up Vrindavan. Half the town is a vast real-estate development - and the waters of the Yamuna are too polluted to drink or even bathe in. Temples now style themselves as theme parks, and the world's tallest religious building is under construction in Krishna's pastoral paradise. Professor Hawley's book is based on over forty years of visiting and working in Vrindavan, especially the last decade and a half, when it became clear that the town was being dramatically, perhaps irreversibly, transformed. His talk is structured, in part, as a walk through this startling new landscape, evoking questions about the town's status as a heritage landmark.

Originally posted here:

Oxford University Press Launches Krishnas Playground: Vrindavan in the 21st Century - United News of India

Looking for an adventure near or far? Lori Faren can be your guide. Start stateside by taking part in her Transformation 2020 project.

What was promoted as a Women's Wellness Journey turned out to be the trip of a lifetime for 10 women last November. Led by local health and wellness expert Lori Faren of Lake Oswego, the women ranged in ages from 40 to mid-70s, and came from Canada, the U.S., Australia and the U.K. Among the adventurers were Lake Oswego residents Joan Robbins and Erlin Taylor.

Faren was inspired to lead the women's group after she traveled to India with her father in 2018.

"We took a 28-day tour of India," she said. Organized by Bestway Tours and Safari, Faren's trip with her father proved to be a wonderful experience for them both. Faren's glowing blogs of the tour prompted Bestway to ask her if she would like to host a tour of her own.

"It was great to do this with my dad, but I thought, 'wouldn't it be fun to take a group of women?'" she said. She took what she enjoyed most from the original tour visiting textile centers, eating Indian cuisine, attending cultural events and taking yoga classes and curated a special tour of activities.

"Bestway has offices in New Delhi which allows them to take a hands-on approach in selecting only the best activities, accommodations and guides," Faren said. "They have been a specialist in unforgettable India tours for more than 38 years."

The women on her tour were of different abilities, stamina and interests. Faren said only a few knew each other before the tour began. One woman from Toronto learned about the tour via a Facebook ad; three women from Connecticut came together, then invited a childhood friend from Australia to join them; Robbins and Taylor had learned about the tour from Faren via Trainer's Club where Faren teaches yoga. From around the globe they bonded quickly for their adventure in spiritual India.

The tour included four different yoga experiences at ancient monuments; an intimate cooking class with a local family; attending the annual Pushkar Camel Fair; visits to the textile weavers at Varanasi; and a visit to Rishikesh in Northern India, where the English rock band the Beatles trained in advanced Transcendental Meditation at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, also known as the Yoga Capitol of the World. They enjoyed floating down the Ganges River, accompanied by sitar and drum. They also visited an elephant and tiger sanctuary and carpet weaving centers.

"We stayed in beautiful four- and five-star hotels," Faren said. "And used 10 different modes of transportation: airplane, train, bus, tuk-tuk (auto-rickshaw), rickshaw, bicycle, ferry, small boat, camel, elephant and Jeep."

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise, and again in full moonlight.

"It glows in the moonlight," Faren said. "They allow just 250 people in to view each night, about 50 people each half-hour. And it is viewing only, no photos. The security (level) was high."

Other highlights included visiting a spice market, attending a dance performance after being dressed in colorful saris, and shopping for unique Indian crafts such as marble tabletops, rugs, scarves and jewelry.

For the most part the women enjoyed the foods, noting they were all fresh foods made from scratch in a farm-to-table manner.

"I was struck by the dedication the Indians have to wellness and religion," said Taylor, when asked how the trip had changed her perspective.

In India, yoga focuses on the self first, Faren explained.

"There is a difference here: is it exercise or yoga? Exercise you repeat over and over, but with yoga you hold (the pose) and maintain one position," she said. "It is much more meditative, you following the breathing."

At the time of the interview the women had been back in the country for less than a week, and Faren was planning to survey the group for what might be next.

"Traveling with women is really special," she said. "This was a lovely trip for me, and we all bonded."

Faren is an expert in fitness, nutrition and personal growth with a passion for guiding others in living a healthy, balanced lifestyle. She is a certified World Beauty Fitness and Fashion pro and is the resident health expert on Portland's KATU Channel 2.

You can learn more about her and upcoming tours online at lorifaren.com.

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Join Lori Faren for Transformation 2020

Lori Faren invites all to turn your New Year's resolutions inside out by participating in Transformation 2020, running Feb. 6 through March 5. With Elizabeth Borcelli, an ICF Certified Professional Coach, she is offering a two-part live workshop and online community for lifestyle results that last. The live sessions will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 6 and March 5 at Stafford Hills Club, 5916 SW Nyberg Road, Tualatin. Whether your goal involves wellness, personal or career growth, these women will share their resources, support and community to get you there. Price is $80. Register online at StaffordHills.com/Transformation.

You count on us to stay informed and we depend on you to fund our efforts.Quality local journalism takes time and money. Please support us to protect the future of community journalism.

Original post:

Women's sojourn to India proves to be trip of a lifetime - Pamplin Media Group

(MENAFN - NewsIn.Asia) By Suryamithra Vishwa/Harmony Page/DailyFT

November and December are months that are coolest in the North of Sri Lanka, and 2019, the year that just ended, saw these two months being quite damp, with intermittent heavy rains.

One thing that never fails to impress this writer, who has lately developed the habit of spending especially the Christmas holidays in the North-East with friends there, is the laidback tranquillity and culture of the place.

The focus of this particular reflective article is on Jaffna.

The unfortunate and bloody war is a thing of the past, although the scars remain deep within many people. Whatever the changes happening in the macro political theatre, for the ordinary people of Jaffna, each day is yet another day to strive for their own economic wellbeing. The welcoming smile for the visitors of the South, be it Sinhalese or Muslim, is heartening, as one witnesses zero racism.

Talk of politics is shunned by most people, who turn the focus on day-to-day work, which they point out is what will keep them able to provide for their families. Irrespective of political identity or ethnicity, the people of Jaffna continue to be magnanimous and kind to outsiders who come to their district.

Below is a typical scene witnessed in a restaurant in Jaffna town towards end November. A group of Jaffna residents were having their lunch. The next table was occupied by five Sinhalese, who had come on a business visit and were speaking in English, thus the ethnic differentiation was not clear. When asked if they were from the South and one of them answering yes, there began an enthusiastic discussion where soon details of their education, schools and employment backgrounds were shared. Phone numbers were exchanged, and even the possibility of meeting in another district regarding the renting of two houses owned by the Jaffna origin residents in the South discussed. A young waiter meanwhile joined in as well, stating that he had been born in a 'Sinhala district' and could speak Sinhala well. Thus was a glimpse into the everyday unravelling of peace-building, without the machinations of any NGOs.

Later on in the Jaffna town, the same beauty of human interaction was observed as some Sinhalese purchasing some brass puja lamps were given special discounts, after they laughingly asked for a price reduction because they had come 'all the way from the South.'

'War and racism are abominations. Every human being should stand for peace and understanding each other,' stressed A. S. Roy, manager of one of the most popular bookshops in the country, especially for academic books, the Quency Bookshop.

'Each human being can contribute to preventing the seed of racism from sprouting in the human heart,' opined Roy, who is an active member of the Don Bosco Mission. He recalls how he once was tasked by a Catholic priest to take the church-owned vehicle to the Buddhist temple, where a well-known Buddhist monk resided, and drive the monk back to attend a function. Having gone to the temple and after approaching the said monk, the then much younger Roy soon realized that he had not addressed the monk in the way he should a Buddhist priest as culturally practiced, but had been stunned when the monk smiled and said 'Putha, don't worry, even if you abuse me, my mind is trained not to react. We monks are trained not to be attached to anything, including how people address us, and not to activate our ego.'

That reaction from the monk had had a lasting impression on Roy, as any positive or negative reaction from any individual would have on us, and make us associate the person's social position or ethnicity with that reaction.

Meanwhile, at the Jaffna University, amidst a detailed discussion on books and the potential of contemplative knowledge dissemination to bring people together, Dr. Kalpana Chandrasekar, who holds a doctorate in Library Sciences and is a librarian at the Jaffna University, recalls an incident that left her with a lasting impression.

'This occurred around 1999 in Colombo University, at an IT workshop I was nominated to attend from Jaffna with another colleague. I had never been to Colombo, and had never seen any Sinhalese civilian. The LTTE had brainwashed us about the Sinhalese, and what they told is what we believed. Therefore it was with much trepidation that I travelled to Colombo to attend the workshop. I did not understand a word of Sinhala. My friend and I were wondering how we will understand anything that is taught, if the workshop is fully in the Sinhala language, as the main instructor and all those involved in organizing it were Sinhalese. Some friends in Jaffna, who had never had a chance to interact with the Sinhalese, put more fear in us, saying that the Sinhalese instructor would likely purposely do the workshop entirely in Sinhala because two Tamils were attending. What happened was the opposite. This instructor asked at the outset if we, the two Jaffna participants who were the only Tamils at the workshop, understood any Sinhalese. We said no. Thereafter we were stunned when he proceeded to do the entire lecture in English, occasionally asking us and the others if they were following what he was saying, and if we all needed further explanation. From beginning to end, that Sinhalese instructor did not speak a word of Sinhala, because two young people from a war-torn region could not understand the language. Gratitude for speaking in a language that we understood welled in our hearts, and we returned to Jaffna with a very high opinion of that instructor in particular, and the Sinhalese in general. Because that single individual acted with humanity, we developed a high opinion of the Sinhalese,' said Kalpana.

This above example shows an ordinary Sinhalese civilian's respect to the concern of language of another ethnic community of our country. In contemplating on the above two examples, we can imagine what would be the impression if the reaction was opposite to what is described.

Later on, at the Sri Sathya Sai Baba centre in Jaffna, the only place I have witnessed where the statue of Jesus Christ, the Lord Buddha, and symbols of all spiritual traditions such as the cross of the Christians and star and crescent moon of the Muslims are under one roof, a group of youngsters singing devotional songs were soon joined by senior members of the organization.

One such member was Dr. S. Sivakonesan, an MBBS doctor who also has educated himself on the Ayurveda Siddha tradition of indigenous medicine. In the discussion, he opined what one would probably not hear often from an MBBS doctor: that over 90% of the malfunctioning of the body begins in the mind. Prejudice of another human based on his religion or ethnicity, and allowing one's attachment for one's own racial or religious identity to become fanatic at the cost of deriding or irrationally condemning others based on their faith or identity, are all part of the larger mental ill-health of a person, no doubt.

'Wrong thoughts, wrong emotions such as prejudice, jealousy, anger, and inability to purify one's mind, and consuming the wrong type of foods, are the main reasons why a human becomes unhealthy, and finally when these all culminate, there are diseases such as cancer that take over the body,' said Dr. Sivakonesan.

About 7 kilometres away, located at Bankshall Street in Jaffna, is the Ashram of Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, a Sufi saint who lived from the 1930s to the 1980s, and who was an influential Sufi saint in Sri Lanka, as well as the United States. The Jaffna ashram has been kept in order for decades by two Hindu females, who are now aged and feeble but continue to reside at the premises with their medication attended to, a kindness sanctioned by the current main trustee of the ashram, Mohammed Pichei.

'Only in the world we have religion. For God there is no religion,' said Pichei, who had been the student of Bawa from a very young age.

Kingsley Jerome, the security guard at the premises, had a Rosary and Catholic Bible at his table. 'This ashram is a holy place. A place where a holy man once lived. His things are preserved as it is. I work long hours, and I read the Bible and say the rosary when I am here,' said Jerome, who is a Catholic of Burgher ancestry. He had a basic understanding of the Sufi Islamic philosophy, which he considered 'very peaceful.'

Further away, in a small bookshop called the Sri Lanka Book Depot, was the manager Aiyadurai Kandasamy, a self-taught man who recalled his early days as a labourer at the Highways Department in Ratmalana in the 1980s, before he left for Saudi Arabia for employment. His inability to get academic qualifications was the poverty of his family. Having amassed sufficient funds to educate his children and live a healthy retirement, today he is both a reader and manager at the bookshop where he works. Located in the vicinity of the Nallur area, the bookshop sells mostly Hindu spiritual-oriented books, alongside those pertaining to disciplines such as agriculture. The conversation shifted to the true purpose of education, and he opined that it is to 'bring purpose, joy and wellbeing to the self and others as well as the planet.' 'If one is educated in the conventional sense and has hate in the heart, that is then not true education,' said Aiyadurai.

We will continue the North-East narratives next week to include narratives from Batticaloa and Kattankudy.

(The picture at the top shows the Sai Baba Center in Jaffna which has symbols of all major religions)

(Suryamithra Vishwa is the founder of the thought movement Earth Life Water Knowledge Trails Lanka and has a keen interest in comparative spirituality and indigenous knowledge).

MENAFN0801202001910000ID1099525174

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Each human being is an ambassador of peace and understanding: narratives from Jaffna - MENAFN.COM

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INDIAN RIVER COUNTY He's sung about New Orleans, Los Angeles and Massachusetts, but when it comes to calling a place home, the Sebastian River area has sung to Arlo Guthrie's heart.

"Simply said, I love the area," said the 72-year-oldlegendary folk singer who lives on the riverside in the Roseland area in northern Indian River County, about 15 miles north of Vero Beach. "Although its changing rapidly, the area around here has some sensibilities that suit me personally."

Guthrie's home is up for sale for $1.65 million, but he's not packing his guitars and furniture and moving too far away. His partner, Marti Ladd, has a home in Micco in Brevard County, just a few miles from his current home.

They'll move there once the house, which was listed in December, is sold.

The two-story, four-bedroom house he built on Indian River Drive is bigger than his current needs. But Guthrie said the Sebastian River area fits him just fine because "it isnt too built up, therere no huge hotels along the coasts, the traffic is reasonable, theres great food and shopping without the desire to continuously make it bigger and better."

Arlo Guthrie performs 7 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Sunrise Theatre, 117 S. Second St. in Fort Pierce.(Photo: AP FILE PHOTO)

Realtor Janyne Kenworthy ofTreasure Coast Sotheby's International Realty is handling the sale of the home. The online listing touts the home at 13690 N. Indian River Drive as "Arlo Guthrie's home!" and highlightsits wide river views, private riverfront decks and tropical courtyard garden.

Guthrie was one of the performers at the legendary Woodstock concert in 1969. He rose to fame on his song, "Alice's Restaurant," which chronicled a1965 littering arrest in Massachusetts andseguedinto a Vietnam War protest. He's the son of another folk legend, the late Woody Guthrie.

More: Jupiter actress featured in 'Woody Guthrie's American Song'

Guthrie begins his "20/20 Tour" next month, with a Feb. 9 concert in Clearwater. He'll hit 22 cities in 3 1/2 months for the tour.

"Ive spent the better part of the last 50 years as a touring musician," he said. "I loved returning here for a few weeks at a time, restoring myself, visiting friends, and generally being under the radar. It gave me time to enjoy the river,the sunshine,the sense of being a local in a kind of old Florida that almost doesnt exist anymore."

Guthrie's travels brought him to Florida many times in his younger adult life. Specifically, he would visit his in-laws in West Palm Beach in the 1970s and 1980s.

More: Review: Alice's Family Restaurant famous for fluffy omelets, friendly wait staff, fair prices

He eventually became friends with many at the Kashi Ashram ranch in Roseland. The ranch is an interfaith spiritual community based on kindness, compassion and service, embracing the sacred practices of many traditions, according to its website. It was founded by Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati in 1976, whohas since died..

"I still have many dear friends there," he said. "So our trips to the area included spending time with bothfamilies'.

In 1987, Guthrie and hiswife, Jackie,purchased the property known as the "Crabhouse." It was once a U.S. Coast Guard station, then became a crab business. The couple intended to restore the building and place his recording studio there, but damages from hurricanes across several years curtailed those plans.

Instead, the Guthries built their home there.

"It took a long time, but we finally finished construction in 2010," Guthrie said. "By the time we finished it, all the kids had moved out and began having kids of their own. For a couple of years Jackie and I enjoyed the place, especially when the kids visited."

Jackie Guthrie died in 2012 at age 68.

"The house remains as it was originally designed;areally big place," Guthrie said. "It would be better suited for a young family. In other words, its time to let it go."

He hates to part with at least one aspect of the home.

"The thing I will most likely miss is sunrise on the Indian River," he said. "Its simply magical, and this home is essentially on the water. I dont expect Ill find that anywhere else."

Stancil is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm.Contact Stancil at 321-987-7179or lamaur.stancil@tcpalm.com.Twitter: @TCPalmLStancil

Read or Share this story: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-county/2020/01/07/arlo-guthrie-selling-roseland-home-moving-micco/2812988001/

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Arlo Guthrie selling $1.6 million Indian River County home, moving to Brevard County - TCPalm

Not the best way to deal with a stressful commute

The evidence suggests weve never been richer or healthier, yet we are always being told how stressed and discontented we are. Jonathan Compton assesses the industry making money from our misery.

Over a bottle or two in a Hong Kong bar many years ago my neurosurgeon friend was unusually excited by a freak opportunity to study the effects of the mind on the body. In the same week he had operated on three adult men of similar health, size and age with near-identical injuries. Each had suffered the loss of three fingers to a chopper attack, a form of punishment often used by triads. Meticulously he had reattached each mans fingers.

A few months later he reported that one had recovered 95% of the use of his hand, the second about 50% and the third hardly any at all, reflecting in his view the impact of their mental approach to their injuries and subsequent efforts to recover. This was the first time I realised that mental attitude could affect physical health.

The subsequent decades have seen huge improvements in surgical techniques and in almost every measurable facet of human existence. Globally, life expectancy today is 73 years higher than any single country in 1950. There has been a surplus of food since 1978, local famines being a function of poor distribution or worse politics.

In developed countries you were at least ten times more likely to be murdered, assaulted, robbed or injured at work 100 years ago; women were nearly 50 times more likely to die in childbirth. Very few people had any chance of higher education, inside sanitation, or owning any form of transport. In short, we are astonishingly well off to an extent unimaginable to previous generations.

Nevertheless, we are told that we are suffering more mental health disorders than ever before. This is best demonstrated by the astounding growth in two overlapping industries: mindfulness and wellbeing. The definitions of each are slightly fluffy, but the NHS defines mindfulness as paying more attention to the present moment to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you to improve your mental wellbeing. Confusingly, wellbeing has been defined by the World Health Organisation as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Mindfulness has its roots in two areas: a monastic and lifelong Buddhist practice aimed at renunciation and detachment, and a long-standing American obsession with spirituality and oriental mysticism. A 19th-century example is Mary Baker Eddy and the Church of Christ Scientist, whose widest-known belief is that disease is a mental aberration best cured through prayer. The Buddhist ethics, duties, discipline and theological roots have been swept away for the 21st century.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a leading and early proponent of mindfulness and inventor of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MSBR). One of his more interesting quotes is that mindfulness is not just about helping with stress, but may actually be the only promise the species and the planet have for making it through the next couple of hundred years. A fundamental tenet of mindfulness is that the causes of stress, upset and dissatisfaction are in our own minds so they are ours to fix. Wellness, meanwhile, has its roots in the 19th-century alternative-medicine movement including (again) Christian Science and German and Swiss Lebensreform (back to nature). It has eight dimensions (social, financial, spiritual, etc.) and the term was created, bizarrely, by the US Office of Vital Statistics in 1954.

It continues to morph into new iterations, but is essentially a holistic approach whereby ones mental, physical and emotional health are in sync. Proponents of wellness and mindfulness are quick to point out that they are vital in a rapidly changing world where the stresses of work, money and living continue to worsen and that each offers not only a solution, but also a guarantee of happiness.

Unless youre a hermit you will know of people with serious mental health problems. These are as real as flu or a broken bone. Treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) often produce remarkable results, with 50%-75% success rates in cases of depression. And despite serious disputes over the claimed cure rates in other illnesses, results from Alcoholics Anonymous show that after CBT, even under the worst-case scenario, around 10% of problem drinkers are cured for life, about half cut their intake substantially, and more regain some control. In other examples, a combination of drugs and therapy have measurable effects on bipolar or eating disorders.

However, distinct from mental health issues, there is a growing obsession with the pursuit of happiness. I blame Thomas Jefferson, who lifted the term from the English philosopher John Locke and snuck it into the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. He meant it to mean aiming for liberty, prosperity and thriving, not polishing your own karma. Yet this cannot explain why mindfulness and wellbeing have become mainstream so fast.

For not only have we materially never had it so good, but on other measures we also seem to be doing fine. Every year the UN produces a World Happiness Report, assessing national and regional happiness. It shows that in most countries most people are pretty happy most of the time and in most cases have never been happier.

The countries in fine fettle are developed nations where wealth is widely distributed, corruption low and legal systems robust; they also boast strong health systems. The top ten include the five Nordic countries, Holland, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand and Austria. I do not believe it is coincidental that, apart from the Dutch, all ten are relatively underpopulated, have huge open spaces with mountains, lakes or both, clean air and a strong sense of social cohesion. Similarly the miserable countries are, as you might expect, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

Yet these contented and civilised nations are suffering an outbreak of mindfulness and wellbeing. This is known as the Easterlin Paradox: as countries get richer they tend not to get much happier. Yet the happiest people on the planet, according to Pew Research, are the actively religious, who are far more likely to describe themselves in every country as very happy compared with those who are inactive or have no religious affiliation. This applies across all religions: Christianity, Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, Confucianism and even the wackier ones. They are also far more likely to join non-religious societies and clubs, to vote and participate in society generally. One inference is that wellbeing and mindfulness are simply filling a hole previously occupied by various faiths. Religion any religion seems to provide a sense of purpose, engagement with others and group support.

Yet the prime cause for the supposed increase in unhappiness may be the rise of robust individualism. It is hard to recall how much we were collectivised; not just in the obvious sense of the now defunct USSR, but also in more liberal countries, be it through trade unions, political clubs, family groups or even by class. Many of these boundaries have weakened or disappeared. The individual is more free, but far less anchored to any group or set of ideas. Into this void has stepped the big business of mindfulness and wellbeing.

A commonly cited number is that the health and wellness industry is now worth $4.2trn. This looks a wild guess. Yet a Google search for meditation companies produces 51.7 million results; on Amazon books, over 60,000 titles contain mindfulness and 40,000 wellbeing (including 1,000 on wellbeing for dogs and 643 for wellbeing colouring books).These happiness twins have gone mainstream. New Zealands government has prioritised national wellbeing over GDP. Bhutan and Abu Dhabi, not previously known for their liberal attitudes, have appointed happiness ministers, while the UN and OECD are gearing up to make happiness a priority.

As always, however, private enterprise has moved faster. All the giant tech companies even in China have happiness departments and directors, as do many corporate giants such as GlaxoSmithKline and BP. Japan is building a huge wellness tourism industry. Lower down the food chain thousands of firms are introducing mindfulness and wellbeing courses with leaders and coaches for their staff. This outburst of caring politics and huggy companies is creepy; I smell a large rat.

There is everything right about many workplace changes over the last two decades, such as hugely improved childcare packages and progress in tackling discrimination. It can only be good too that companies and governments want to reduce workplace stress. But there is something suspect about mindfulness experts being welcomed at the most capitalist of meetings such as Davos. The solution, as always, is to follow the money. L. Ron Hubbard made one sensible remark in a sea of largely insane and inane ones: If you want to get rich, found a religion. He duly created and made a fortune through Scientology, one of the most controlling cults on earth. This outbreak of official niceness seems as much designed to save money as to improve peoples lives. Mindfulness is very introverted: its your fault if things are bad and up to you to cure it. For a few dollars a month you can buy an online MSBR course and become a better employee. Or your firm might buy you one of the many apps where the handful of iterations claim to fit all comers, even though some reports suggest they can often worsen your condition. The hard evidence on effectiveness is scarce or unsupportive.

For example, in 2019 the American Medical Association published a report on an experiment sponsored by the Harvard Medical School. It was unusually large, covering 26,000 workers over 21 sites for 18 months. Yet although the participants self-reported significant improvements in their health behaviour, there was no discernible outcome using clinical measures, nor better productivity than in a control group. Nor has any other large-scale research found any significant changes. Perhaps thats no surprise. The world of wellbeing contains thousands of consultants and therapists groups no qualifications required.

Still, the trend is set to grow. For companies where the boss is useless, the product poor or the working environment dreary, mindfulness and wellbeing offer a get-out-of-jail card its your fault and your negativity. For governments too, the fact that you arrive at work stressed from a commute on woeful public transport is no longer their fault; heal yourself.

Youre not underpaid you hold the solution. Costs can be lowered too; the NHS is looking to move many patients from proven CBT treatments (cost 900 per course) to more relevant therapies at 300. What I find creepiest of all is that mindfulness and wellbeing encourage the acceptance of the status quo without question. Non-compliance with mindfulness meetings in the US is increasingly a black mark on your record. It will be the same here soon.

I have no doubt that in ten years time we will look back on many current therapies or proven psychological cures with derision. The advances in studying the human genome have been enormous, but constitute just a fraction of what is still to be revealed be it heredity traits or propensity to certain types of behaviour and mental illnesses making treatment less guesswork and more science-based.

At present were in a strange limbo between new cults, proven therapies and useful medication. While scientists continue their work, the mindfulness and wellbeing businesses will continue to make exaggerated claims for their apps and courses. Many therapies do proven good and even if they dont, if it works for you, then why not? The best approach for long-term investors, however, is to steer clear of quackery or faddish therapies and look into firms that are genuinely working on improving our physical and mental health.

The world of wellbeing contains several companies over-promoting themselves as wholesome, flying too close to the sun, then crashing. Beyond Meat (meat-free burgers) has collapsed from $240 to $74 in six months; WeWork nearly pulled off a $60bn listing before investors woke up to its fantastical claims.

There are many firms doing pioneering and fascinating work into mental health and genome therapies, but most are either private, small parts of large corporations, or likely to become strapped for cash because such research and development eats money.

One closed-ended investment trust stands out, however: Syncona Limited (LSE: SYNC), with a 1.3bn market cap. It concentrates on investing in and building up life-science companies. It is 28% owned by the respected Wellcome Trust. Performance last year was disappointing, but five-year numbers are good. Volatility is largely a function of when investments are realised or flop. I dont like buying at a 14% premium to underlying net assets, but the valuation of its unlisted holdings tends to be conservative.

For a wider healthcare fund the Healthcare Opportunities Fund managed by Polar Capital fits the bill; it covers the industry well, ranging from pharmaceuticals to biotechnology.

The one-year numbers are also poor, but those for three, five and ten years are good. With a fund size of 1.1bn it can maintain flexibility better than the near equally well-performing but much larger Janus Henderson Healthcare fund.

The standout player in gene sequencing and analysis is US-listed Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN), which was recently forced to call off a proposed merger with the smaller Pacific Biosciences because competition watchdogs in both the UK and US feared the merged company would dominate the industry.

But the reality is that it does so already, with an 80% share of the gene-sequencing market globally. It is hardly cheap, but it is at the forefront of new medical technologies while net income has doubled to over $800m over the last five years.

Another interesting American company developing therapies for serious neurological and auto-immune diseases is Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB). Recently the share price has been strong thanks to its promising prospective Alzheimers drug Aducanumab. Approval is by no means a done deal, but it is on a modest 11 times earnings (partially because of imminent patent expiries), while revenue growth has been strong.

A similar company, but much smaller, is Denmarks H Lundbeck A/S (Copenhagen: LUN), a relative minnow with a 6bn market cap. It is very active in crucial areas such as Alzheimers, bipolar, depression, schizophrenia and several others. Free cash flow is very variable, but at 16 times earnings and a 4.7% yield the risks are in the price.

My last pick, which I have tipped before, is the UKs largest pharma group GlaxoSmithKline(LSE: GSK), with its broad portfolio of pharmaceuticals and vaccines.A 90bn giant, it needs blockbusting new drugs to have a major impact on the share price, but investors can enjoy a 4.5% dividend yield while they wait.

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Mindfulness and wellbeing: the relentless, creepy rise of the enforced happiness industry - MoneyWeek

Memorable Alan Watts Quotes

These famous quotes by Alan Watts will inspire you to explore your consciousness. During his lifetime, he helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the Western world. He still shows us how to live in the present moment through his teachings.

Alan Watts has written many popular books that spread his beliefs. In fact, we owe many ideas associated with modern yoga and and meditation to his influence. Many of his philosophies explore the mysteries of life and the universe, something we often find ourselves questioning.

If you're ready to open your mind to new possibilities, these enlightening quotes by Alan Watts will do the trick. Forget everything you thought you knew about your own existence, this wave of spiritual growth is exactly what you needed.

"Society is our extended mind and body."

"Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way."

"Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them."

"Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know."

"Words can be communicative only between those who share similar experiences."

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

"This is the real secret of life to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play."

"A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily."

"I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is."

"No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now."

"But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything."

"Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth."

"No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time: he is like a steel bridge without flexibility, and the order of his life is rigid and brittle."

"Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command."

"You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean."

"You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself."

"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."

"But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be."

"One is a great deal less anxious if one feels perfectly free to be anxious, and the same may be said of guilt."

"You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you."

"We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society."

"Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the Gods made for fun."

"What we have to discover is that there is no safety, that seeking is painful, and that when we imagine that we have found it, we dont like it."

"Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself."

"Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone."

"When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us."

"The world is filled with love-play, from animal lust to sublime compassion."

"Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe."

What was your favorite Alan Watts quote? We want to know!

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These Alan Watts Quotes Will Light A Fire Inside Of Your Soul - Women.com

When Vancouver native Keith Alessi says that tomatoes tried to kill him but banjos saved his life he means it both literally and metaphorically.

Alessi was a corporate executive whose job was to fix ailing companies. In the fall of 2015, he decided to retire only to be hit 13 days later with a diagnosis of stage 3 esophageal cancer.

The doctors told me I had a 50 per cent chance of living a year and a 15 per cent chance of living five years. It came as a crushing surprise to me because I had never smoked, say Alessi.

After a series of tests, the doctors concluded his cancer was the result of a lifetime of acid reflux and the big culprit was tomatoes.

I come from an Italian household where tomatoes in all forms were a big part of my diet. Thats the literal explanation. My Italian father was a highly abusive man and that is the metaphorical way in which tomatoes tried to kill me.

For decades before his cancer diagnosis Alessi had been collecting banjos.

I was fascinated by them. Collecting them became my passion. I never learned to play them. Just to collect them. When I was diagnosed with cancer I became determined to learn to play the banjo and I vowed I would become skilled enough to get on stage and play before an audience no matter how small.

Alessi says he dragged himself out of his man cave and learned to play. He also began telling people his story of triumphing over adversity.

I had so many people tell me I should create a show and so I decided to enter the Toronto Fringe lottery. More than 1,000 people applied for the 100 positions at the fringe and my name was first out of the hat and thus began the journey that has brought me to Calgary, Lunchbox Theatre and the High Performance Rodeo.

Keith Alessi brings his show, Tomatoes tried to kill him but that banjos saved his life, to Lunchbox Theatre and the High Performance Rodeo. Courtesy, Erika Conway Calgary

Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life, Alessis solo show in which he tells his story and plays several of his banjos, plays at Lunchbox Theatre from Jan. 11 to 25, beginning its run as part of the 2020 High Performance Rodeo.

If truth be told, and Alessi insists he holds nothing back in his show, that first summer at the Toronto Fringe was a disaster.

They gave me six performance slots and I think I might have played to a hundred people total. I had to cancel one show because nobody turned up and the critics panned me, but I was not about to give in.

The next year I entered the Edmonton Fringe Festival lottery and received a slot and kept working on the show, making it more conversational and more personal and at my last performance I received a standing ovation.

Alessi has kept entering fringe lotteries and, beating the odds, has won a slot each time. In 2019 he got into eight fringes including New York, Orlando, Regina, Windsor, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver and even Brighton, England.

That summer, the show really caught on and I sold out every single show at every fringe and after every performance people came up to me to thank me for my story and to share theirs with me.

Alessi didnt get a slot in the Calgary Fringe Festival but Lunchbox Theatres Shari Wattling caught his show in Edmonton and booked him for the theatre.

Ive been on the wildest of rides and it doesnt appear to be stopping any time soon. Great things keep happening for me. The universe has been very good to me and I am grateful and I am listening.

Co-presented by One Yellow Rabbit and Lunchbox Theatre, Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life runs between Jan. 11 and 25 in Lunchbox Theatre during the High Performance Rodeo.

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HPR: Deadly tomatoes led former executive to riveting solo performance - Calgary Herald

Russell Wilsons hope is to play football into his 40s. A lofty dream for sure but not impossible. Of course, we all know 42-year-old Tom Brady is going strong. So, while living the life of an NFL player into middle age isnt likely for most, it can happen if the individual is committed.

The Seahawks Russell Wilson is committed, according to ESPN, and he backs it up with an unusual routine.

The quarterback stays in excellent physical shape with help from a variety of experts, according to GQ. His staff includes personal chef Andrea Witton as well as a recently-assembled personal performance squad. This team includes trainers, therapists, movement specialists, and a mental coach.

Wilson does anything necessary to maintain his health and fitness, including soaking in Epsom salts, using a hyperbaric chamber, taking ice baths, receiving deep tissue massages, and practicing yoga.

Chef Witton more or less lives with Wilson, his wife Ciara, and their kids. When the family travels, the whole performance squad goes along. Witton knows Wilson loves tasty food like those he ate growing up in Virginia, but he seeks to eat healthier versions.

The quarterback says Witton makes everything from scratch, and she uses clean and fresh, nutritionally dense ingredients.

The NFL stars 2016 season was, well, painful. In Week 1, Wilson sprained his ankle, reports ESPN. Then, in Week 3, he sprained the MCL in his left knee. These injuries forced him to be less mobile, which limited his running game.

With a career-low of 259 rushing yards and the Seahawks ranking 23rd in rushing efficiency, Wilson suffered a tough year. To add insult to injury, a side effect of his injuries involved substantial weight gain.

At the time, Wilson told ESPN he typically runs a lot in and after practice, on his off days, and everything like that. He added, I couldnt do much because of my ankle and knee.

Eventually, his weight peaked at over 225 pounds, which made him feel too heavy and not mobile enough. Its not like Wilson wasnt eating healthy hes had a personal chef for years but the injuries and weight gain forced him to reexamine all aspects of his routine.

After wife Ciara recommended food coach and nutritionist Philip Goglia to Wilson, things began to change. According to Goglia, [Wilson] was an animal about [Goglias diet plan]. Goglia then added, The fing guy buried himself in this, and its epic to see because that really validates him as a complete athlete.

The famous nutritionist provided Wilson with a diet that may seem counterintuitive. The QB had been eating around 2,700 calories a day, but Goglia told him to bump it up to 4,800 calories.

His explanation for the calorie increase was that a calorie is a unit of heat, and metabolism is a function of heat. He explained that fat is a lipid and converts to energy in a hot environment, so a person must consume enough calories to generate enough heat to burn fat.

Wilson lost weight and body fat following Goglias system. He went from 225 pounds with 16% body fat to 214 pounds with 10% body fat. It wasnt easy; even though he could eat more calories, they had to be the right kind.

Foods offered comfort to Wilson, who says that his family didnt have a lot of money for food when he was a kid. He and a friend often scrounged for change so they could get something to eat. When possible, his parents did cook tasty meals. Wilsons favorites include mac and cheese, his mothers specialty, and his fathers spaghetti.

Dont tell coach Pete Carroll, but Wilson pilots helicopters. And this hobby must hike up the cost of the teams insurance. The QB claims he gets a lot of peace of mind when flying.

Wilson puts a lot of focus on his career and works hard. The guy deserves to have a fun hobby. Obviously, for Wilson, the sky is the limit.

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What Russell Wilson Eats in a Day Is Nearly Impossible for 'Regular People' - Sportscasting

Wintry mob drama Martin Scorseses The Irishman, with Jesse Plemons, Ray Romano, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Photograph: Netflix

The best film category is dominated just like everything else in the cultural conversation around movies by Netflix, which has the majority of the nominees: Martin Scorseses The Irishman, Noah Baumbachs Marriage Story and Fernando Meirelless The Two Popes.

The other two are Sam Mendess 1917 and Todd Phillipss box-office smash Joker. This is a really good list, in my view, with one exception: I am unconvinced that Joker is anything other than an amazingly crass, boorish and shallow movie, stridently but incorrectly congratulating itself on its own supposed supercoolness: there is a decent, but overrated performance from Joaquin Phoenix.

1917 is one from the heart, a one-shot nightmare that succeeds in being tremendous, exhilarating and affecting. Scorseses wintry mob drama is a magnificent film, one of his very best. For me, the film flew by.

Marriage Story is a gorgeous, beguiling film desperately sad, and yet with a persistent heartbeat of romance. The Two Popes is the kind of undemanding middleweight biopic that tends to be rewarded during awards season: an imagined dramatic account of the confrontation between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and the cardinal who succeeds him: Francis (Jonathan Pryce). I regretted the absence of Claire Deniss sci-fi High Life and even more the snub to Greta Gerwigs wonderful new version of Little Women.

Will win: Marriage Story.

Should win: The Irishman.

Shoulda been a contender: Little Women.

This category is traditionally where the often-mocked Globes scores, because it makes space for the crowd-pleasers at which most awards bodies turn up their noses.

It is a lively list this year, although I am astonished at the way pundits have rolled over for the fatuous and pointless Jojo Rabbit. It strikes a very queasy series of false notes.

Dexter Fletchers Rocketman is a rousing and entertaining account of the early life of Elton John with a great (singing) performance from Taron Egerton, although it is clearly the authorised version permitted by Sir Elton himself.

My favourite on this list is Quentin Tarantinos dizzying, dazzling Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, a black comedy about late-60s Los Angeles which is brilliantly conceived and designed. Rian Johnsons Christie-esque whodunit, Knives Out, has been much praised, although I have to admit to being the tiniest bit disappointed with the big reveal. Eddie Murphys Dolemite Is My Name is a hilarious Blaxploitation biopic comedy, and thoroughly deserves its nomination.

But where on Earth was Booksmart? That really was an out-and-out comedy, without any pretensions to anything other than getting laughs.

Will win: Knives Out.

Should win: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Shoulda been a contender: Booksmart.

Here is where this years Globes look a little bit under par. It is great to see Adam Driver get his nomination for Marriage Story, while Antonio Banderas establishes a gold-standard with his great performance in Pedro Almdodvars autofictional movie Pain and Glory. But I found Christian Bales mannered and twitchy performance as the hot-tempered racing-car genius in the middling Ford v Ferrari almost insufferable (the same goes for Joaquin Phoenixs Joker). Jonathan Pryce does an honest, good-natured job with the role of Pope Francis in The Two Popes. It is very surprising that Robert De Niro somehow didnt get a nod for his gloomy hitman in The Irishman, Brad Pitt probably deserved something for his troubled spaceman in James Grays Ad Astra.

Will win: Adam Driver.

Should win: Antonio Banderas.

Shoulda been a contender: Robert De Niro.

Cynthia Erivo brought sheer passionate commitment, charisma and verve to the role of the anti-slavery campaigner Harriet Tubman; her closest competitor is Rene Zellweger, who won hearts and minds with her very intelligent and heartfelt portrayal of Judy Garland. It is a good performance, although the film itself puts a sugary soft focus on the wrenching agony of Garlands decline. Saoirse Ronan is characteristically forthright and excellent in the role of Jo in Gerwigs terrific new version of Little Women. Scarlett Johansson is also very good in Marriage Story, with flashes of passion, anguish and rage that are all the more powerful for bursting out of that kind of opaque reserve that she habitually creates.

I am very unconvinced by Charlize Therons mannered and odd impersonation of Fox News star Megyn Kelly in Bombshell; the films confusion over the fact that Kelly is no feminist shows up in her performance. Perhaps the Globes should have looked outside Hollywood and rewarded Yong Mei for her heartwrenching turn as the grieving mother in Wang Xiaoshuais So Long, My Son.

Will win: Rene Zelleweger.

Should win: Cynthia Erivo.

Shoulda been a contender: Yong Mei.

Some really great stuff here from Leonardo DiCaprio as a failing TV cowboy actor, and the singing especially from Egerton in Rocketman. There is a blast of comic energy from Murphy as the 70s Blaxploitation comic Rudy Ray Moore; as for Daniel Craig, he brings plenty of amusement and drollery to his performance as the intellectual private detective in Knives Out (although I sometimes wonder if he really does have comedy bones). It is a bit dismaying to see Roman Griffin Davis in here for his moderate child-actor moppet turn in the worryingly overindulged Jojo Rabbit. I would have liked to see Robert Downey Jr nominated for his very distinctive and personal performance as Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame.

Will win: Taron Egerton.

Should win: Leonardo DiCaprio.

Shoulda been a contender: Robert Downey Jr.

My feeling is that Awkwafina has this sewn up for her starring turn in The Farewell, a heart-rending and sweet movie about the Chinese-American experience. Cate Blanchett can never be anything other than a potent and intelligent screen presence, and her performance as the agoraphobic architect who goes missing in Whered You Go, Bernadette? has been much admired. As for Emma Thompson, she has been nominated for her role as an acid-tongued British talk-show host in Late Night a good performance although, oddly, she is more obviously funny in a far inferior film, the box-office smash Last Christmas, in which she was the grumpy Croatian mum. Ana de Armas is really good in Knives Out, but again I have to say in terms of real comedy not comedy-drama, not drama with bittersweet comic touches, but actual comedy Feldstein is streets ahead of anyone here. One person who deserved to be on this list is that great singer and actor Jessie Buckley for her full-throated performance in Wild Rose, the story of a Scottish woman yearning to be a country music star.

Will win: Awkwafina.

Should win: Beanie Feldstein.

Shoulda been a contender: Jessie Buckley.

There are some big names and revered silverback gorillas in this list all of whom are doing an excellent job, although I couldnt help wondering if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association could cast its net a little wider? For opaque reasons, Anthony Hopkins has a best supporting actor nomination, despite being of equal importance to Pryce in The Two Popes. Tom Hankss performance as the American TV legend Fred Rogers is causing critics to gibber with awestruck delight, although Brad Pitt may pinch it with his wonderfully mature performance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which showcases his marvellous Gary-Cooper-like ease.

But the frontrunners have to be Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for their fantastic performances as the Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa and the coolly understated mobster Russell Bufalino in The Irishman. I reckon Pesci will get it to a roar of pleasure from the assembled crowd.

Will win: Joe Pesci.

Should win: Joe Pesci.

Shoulda been a contender: Wesley Snipes (Dolemite Is My Name).

Jennifer Lopez started as an actor; do not rule out the possibility that she will be rewarded for her performance in the widely enjoyed raunchfest Hustlers, as the mentor-stripper who takes Constance Wu under her wing. Yet the Globe might well go Kathy Bates for her part as the everyman-heros mother in Clint Eastwoods biopic drama Richard Jewell. Elsewhere, there is Margot Robbie for her (fictional) role in Bombshell; very uninhibited performance, and Robbie is not hampered like her co-stars by having to produce a quasi-impersonation of a real-life person. Annette Bening gives an intelligent, careful but uninspired performance inThe Report. But the winner here is surely Laura Dern, for her hilarious portrayal of a cunning divorce lawyer in Marriage Story.

Will win: Laura Dern.

Should win: Laura Dern.

Shoulda been a contender: Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).

What on earth happened to Gerwig for Little Women? Or indeed Alma Harel for Shia LaBeouf drama Honey Boy? At any rate, there are some heavy-hitters here: Mendes has a well-deserved nod for his superlative 1917, as do Scorsese and Tarantino. Perhaps the most notable nominee is the Korean film-maker Bong Joon-ho for his fascinating social satire Parasite; fast becoming the talking point of the 2020 awards season.

Will win: Martin Scorsese.

Should win: Martin Scorsese.

Shoulda been a contender: Greta Gerwig.

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Golden Globes: who will win and who should win the film awards? - The Guardian