What's a bagel without cream cheese?

TV's Lisa Edelstein who gained fame for her role in "House" and currently stars in "The Girlfriend's Guide to Divorce," would say a bagel without cream cheese is unenjoyable but, she'd like her cream cheese to be vegan, please.

Edelstein, who once posed nude for PETA on a bed of greens to encourage people to eat a vegetarian diet, is working with the animal rights organization again. This time, she's encouraging Einstein Bros. Bagels "to consider adding vegan cream cheese options to your menus so that people who cant or wont consume dairy foods might still be able to enjoy a good bagel with shmear at your many establishments.

Those are the words she wrote to Einstein CEO and President Mike Tattersfield, according to The Know.

Einstein doesn't have to invent the plant-based schmear (which can also be spelled shmear, for anyone wondering). In Edelstein's letter, she pointed to several grocery store brands .

Whether it's called schmear, spread or cream cheese, everyone should have a vegan option. (Photo: Moving Moment/Shutterstock)

When thinking about Edelstein's request, I also thought about the dairy-free, vegan Ben & Jerry's desserts I tried a few days ago. Some of them were so delicious, I'd happily choose them over milk-based ice cream, knowing that plant-based foods are better for the planet. Is there a vegan cream cheese that's as flavorful, creamy and delicious as milk-based cream cheese? I don't know, but if there is and Einstein or some other place sold it, I would opt for it. If taste and quality are the same, plant-based is the smarter choice.

So someone get Edelstein some vegan schmear. And make it really, really good vegan schmear to entice people like me who are embracing vegan foods, one plant-based product at a time.

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Get this lady some vegan schmear, stat! - Mother Nature Network (blog)

PORTLAND, Ore.

After moving from New York City to Portland in the early 2000s, Emiko Badillo and her husband Chad Miller found that they had to schlep to a bunch of different stores to satisfy their vegan diet.

We couldn't get all the things we wanted in one store when we were grocery shopping so we just decided to go for it and open our own -- and get super into credit card debt, Miller said from behind the counter of the couples second all-vegan store, Food Fight!

The couples first store opened at 21st and Southeast Division Street in 2003, and then moved to Southeast 12 and Stark Street. They share a building with like-minded vegan business owners Herbivore Clothing, Scapegoat Tattoo and Sweetpea Baking Company.

Miller said the building came to be known as the vegan mini-mall, a name customers adopted and later out-of-town visitors discovered as a tourist stop, a particularly Portland, niche attraction.

From the beginning they tried to stock their shelves with more than old hippie, granola-heavy products. That includes coconut bacon and even vegan haggis and caviar to go along with meatless jerky and dozens of other non-dairy, non-meat products.

We try to make it seem like less like self-flagellation, self-sacrifice and make it a bunch of fun food, Miller said. You don't have to give up corn dogs"

The couples second Food Fight! opened two weeks ago at 11155 NE Halsey Street, in the changing and up-and-coming Gateway neighborhood.

The area is attracting new small business owners, including a new coffee shop called Jet Black, one of the first independent coffee shops in the neighborhood that shares the building with Food Fight! The coffee shop is looking at an early March opening.

For Rosalind and Clayton McCallard, Food Fight is one of dozens of locations the husband/wife team sell their vegan sandwiches under the own brand, Snackrilege Foods.

Snackrilege really provides a niche in terms of providing healthy, delicious vegan grab-and-go food when you dont want to stop and cook and you dont want lentils, Rosalind McCallard said. Good, hearty sandwiches without the meat or dairy.

Clayton McCallard helps design and name the sandwiches, which sport such names as Lord of the Wings, he BBQ Bunslawter, Steak Bite Love and the Notorious B.L.T.

The McCallards made their first ever delivery of their sandwiches to Food Fight! three years ago this month, but you can find the sandwiches at 35 locations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

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Vegan convenience store Food Fight! expands to second location in Gateway district - KATU

From ReneePress atPlant Based on a Budget

Today I share with you one of my all time favorite Indian dishes, Malai Kofta. Traditionally, this dish is a rich combination of fried potato, veggie and cheese meatball/dumplings floating in a creamy spiced tomato sauce. Served with rice or flat bread, it really is a treat. Of course, we modified this recipe and made it both vegan and gluten-free, but kept all of the tastiness and fragrant flavors.

It does take a bit of prep work, so save it for a weekend or a day when you have a bit of extra time. If you want to make ahead, you can preparethe sauce inadvanceit actually tastes better when made a day aheadand simply reheat and drop in the freshly made dumplings. These crispypotato delights can be baked as I show you here, or fried until golden brown on all sides. This was probably the dish that got me hooked on Indian cuisine back in the day, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Vegan Malai Kofta (Potato Dumplings in Spiced Tomato Sauce)

30 minPrep Time

30 minCook Time

1 hrTotal Time

Ingredients

Instructions

6.6.15

For more recipes follow Plant Based on a Budget onFacebookandTwitter.

Photo Credit: Plant Based on a Budget

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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Vegan Malai Kofta (Potato Dumplings in Spiced Tomato Sauce) - Care2.com

Picture yourself lying on a beach and sipping out of a coconut while listening to todays top hits. Thats pretty much the relaxed feel you get from the 2017 album Mr. Optimist Blues by Jonathan Roy.

I dont usually enjoy reggae music, but Mr. Optimist Blues perfectly mixes an island-like sound with pop to ease listeners such as myself into the genre.

Freeze Time is one of the quicker tunes on the album, and has a definite pop feel. This song is the perfect start for newbies to Roys music. Itll attract new listeners with its strong beat and catchy vocals. The feel of this tune is similar to Scottish producer Calvin Harris recent popular hits, including My Way and Summer.

If the song Good Things (track four on the album) were categorized like a high school senior superlative, it would receive Most Likely to Make Me Bawl My Eyes Out. The whole song is about how the hardest part of a breakup is no longer having someone special in your life with whom to share the good moments. The slow, drawn out notes in this song are reminiscent of a cry of pain, while still being musical.

The song isnt so slow that you get upset by the lyrics; it has a great beat that keeps the song grooving while still letting the power of Roys voice take over the song.

The title track on the album, Mr. Optimist Blues, mixes a tropical island-like, reggae sound with a bouncy pop beat, making it an easier listen for people who prefer pop over reggae. The energetic, percussive beat keeps things danceable and fun. Early on, the paradoxical title of this song (and album) is what drew me to listen closely to it.

There are few songs in this world that are purely happy songs, containing no sadness, love or other complex human emotions. Rare is the song that plainly and cheerfully says: I have a great life, and there are pretty birds flying all around. And yet, Beautiful Day, the seventh track on the album, is purely a happy song. It uses an islandly beat to relax the listener into feeling like they want to dance. The lyrics are repetitive and simple enough to be catchy, but still unique enough to keep it interesting.

While Roy sings, I aint givin up, no way, the listener can truly feel optimistic about the day ahead.

The last song on the album, Daniella Denmark (Dream), is the song that perplexes me most. As a self-proclaimed hater of sequels and remixes, I shouldnt like this alternate version of the first song on the album. But Roy does what possibly no other artist has been effectively able to do: he mixes the song into a less poppy sound while avoiding the mistake of making the song too slow or boring.

This version takes Daniella Denmark at a slower tempo, with more of a piano base, allowing listeners to focus more on Roys strong vocals that can easily draw them into the dreamlike feel of the song (thus the name).

The most impressive part of this album is how powerful Roys vocals are. Auto-tune can make most artists sound decent, but Roy has true, raw talent. His mixing of untraditional beats, reggae feel and pop music create a fresh new style of music that is easy to listen to, while still being intriguing and a pleasant surprise to the ear.

New albums can get old quickly, but Mr. Optimist Blues can play on repeat for hours without getting annoying. Even the most pessimistic person wouldnt be able to get the blues while listening to this uplifting and relaxing album.

McKenzie Jamieson is a junior at West Valley High School and is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republics Unleashed program for teen journalists.

McKenzie Jamieson is a junior at West Valley High School and is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republics Unleashed program for teen journalists.

The rest is here:

Music Review: Roy makes it easy to get into the reggae groove - Yakima Herald-Republic

A first-time mum has told how she ditched pain relief to give birth to twins naturally using hypnobirthing techniques.

Proud Josie Penn was so chilled-out at points during her 14 hour labour she almost fell asleep in the hospital birthing pool.

She also claims the final hour of her delivery was merely uncomfortable, as opposed to outright painful.

And now the 31-year-old has urged other mothers to follow in her footsteps, saying birthing twins doesnt have to be traumatic.

Nutritional therapist Josie, who welcomed gorgeous, non-identical girls Margot and Devon into the world on January 27 this year, said: Would I recommend hypnobirthing to other mums and dads? Definitely. Absolutely.

Having twins through hypnobirth, totally naturally and without any pain relief, certainly seems to be fairly unusual. The midwives definitely appeared fairly surprised!

And whether youre planning a home birth or youre having a C-section, I definitely think that it gives you so much confidence going into the labour.

It enables you look ahead to childbirth with real positivity, rather than feeling like its something scary, looming on the horizon.

Discomfort is unavoidable when youre giving birth, but it doesnt have to be excruciatingly painful.

Hypnotherapy for childbirth - first discussed by scientists in the 1940s but which has only recently gained real weight - is the art of allowing yourself to sink into a deep state of relaxation whilst in labour so that your body does everything it needs to do quickly, easily, comfortably and sometimes even painlessly.

Josies husband, advertising director Thomas, 31, explains: When we went for our three month scan, the sonographer said, Im glad that youre both sitting down because I have some news - youre having twins.

Initially I had a real sense of fear and found myself thinking How on earth are we going to manage? Everything is double, everything is twice as expensive, are we ever going to sleep?

We went through a month or two of real anxiety. Josie was getting worried about the birth itself, and I was just blown sideways.

And thats when we started thinking about hypnobirthing more and more.

Luckily for Josie and Thomas, Josies sister is Emily Street, one of the UKs leading hypnobirth practitioners and acclaimed midwife with Cheshires Reproductive Health Group.

Emily explained the benefits to Josie and Thomas who then undertook an evening class with London based HypnoBirthing Practitioner Michelle Pearson.

Michelle taught them how to utilise relaxing music, light touch massage and calming visualisation techniques.

She also shared positive affirmations and scripts that Josie used leading up to the birth such as, My babys in the safest position possible and, I was made to do this. My body is designed to do this. Theres nothing to fear.

Thomas - like many others in the UK - admits that he held scepticism about the controversial technique considered by some to be New Age.

He admits: If Im being honest, initially I was quite sceptical about hypnobirthing. When we first started learning it, I thought, Hmmm, Is this a bit of a nonsense..?

But Josie and I had already found that it was often best not to talk about our birth with anyone else. Because when you tell people that youre expecting twins, everyone says, Oh, you poor things. How are you going to cope?

All that negative energy builds up a sense of real anxiety, and we were desperate to get rid of it.

As a result I was willing to try anything to help Josie feel more confident and empowered about our situation.

That, however, was at odds with NHS specialists advising them.

Due to the increased risk of complications with twins, Josie, from Hackney, east London, was told that the home birth that she'd hoped for was out of the question whilst the idea of a birthing pool for twins was frowned upon.

Josies doctors also continued to raise the spectre of an emergency Caesarian section and of the potential need to have an episiotomy - a surgical cut in the area between the vagina and the anus to help the babys delivery.

Josie says: We were getting more and more nervous. It felt like we were losing control of our own birth scenario.

And what hypnobirthing did was give us a way of learning how to keep relaxed despite the stress that was building up around us. It empowered us.

Determined to maximise her relaxation levels, Josie also took part in a pregnancy yoga class and standard antenatal classes.

And on January 26, at around 11pm, Josies contractions began as she cuddled hubby Thomas in bed.

Bizarrely, Josie felt a sense of bliss rather than blind panic

She reveals: Its funny, it felt like the most blissful moment, heavenly even.

Its so strange. The contractions were quite intense and close together, but all I could think was, We can do this! Its only two babies, for Gods sake. Lets stay at home, run a nice warm bath and forget about all the doctors!

There wasnt a moment where I thought, Oh crap, what happens now? I wasnt scared of what was coming. I definitely attribute that to hypnobirthing.

Thomas eventually took Josie to Homerton University Hospital at around 2am and by 7.30am she was in a birthing pool.

But Thomas laughs: Josie was so relaxed, she started nodding off and her contractions stopped!

They eventually exited the pool in a bid to get the contractions started again and by mid afternoon Josies labour was in full swing - and she was still desperate not to have any pain relief.

In the hours previously shed had a few gulps of gas and air, but in the final few hours she went without it entirely.

Josie, originally from Hale, Cheshire, said: We were never going to put either myself or my babies at risk. We just wanted a chance to prove that hypnobirthing could work without drugs or intervention.

There were points early on where I was in pain. A handful of the contractions were horrible.

But I honestly didnt have that feeling when I was pushing during labour.

The feeling was more discomfort, and confusion about what my body was doing, rather than extreme pain and being stretched.

And whats really important is that I didnt feel scared. I was just completely focused. I was calm. At no point did I think my body couldnt do what it was trying to do.

And that was a powerful thing, something that really surprised me.

Margot arrived first, followed by Devon ten minutes later.

Josie beams: I just couldnt believe it. I was stunned, and beyond happy to have done it without an episiotomy or a C-section, which I thought wed been destined for.

Meanwhile Thomas adds: Because of the hypnobirthing techniques, Josie had gone somewhere deep inside herself. Shed shut off her fear reflex, and was just allowing her body to progress with the birth naturally.

There was no screaming.

Despite the fact that she was exhausted, it was as if something primal had taken over and was delivering our babies for us.

And Ill never, until the day I die, forget the look on Josies face after Margot was born.

It was like she was on a beach somewhere, with the biggest smile Id ever seen in the world.

Reproductive Health Group Hypnobirth expert Emily says Josie can be proud of her amazing achievements.

She adds: Any pregnancy involving twins is higher risk than with one baby.

And with added complications comes added stress. Thats not good for mum or the babies.

We are also conditioned to believe that labour is going to be hell. The worst pain you have ever imagined, times ten.

Because of this, mums-to-be have a huge amount of fear about giving birth. So when we feel that first twinge of labour, our body tenses and our muscles tighten.

Imagine the bottom of your uterus as a clench fist - its gonna hurt to get a baby through that!

Hypnobirth teaches you skills so that instead your muscles relax, soften, open and babies are born easily and euphorically.

And its not just about the days leading up to giving birth, its about your entire pregnancy and beyond.

Giving birth to twins means you might have a lot more scans that normal. And while those scans can offer reassurance, they can also be stressful as you ride on a rollercoaster of emotions.

The last thing you want is for twin babies to be swimming in their mothers adrenaline.

And hypnobirthing techniques can help mum to stay calm and collected throughout the process.

Its about making people feel safe and with the fundamental belief that birth is normal and our bodies work.

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'Hypnobirthing' mum who shunned pain relief so 'chilled out' delivering twins she almost fell ASLEEP in birthing pool - Mirror.co.uk

If you're looking for a song to help you fall asleep at night, a new study claims that there is one track that might do the job better than any other.

A study of 40 women found that the song Weightless by the band Marconi Union reduced anxiety by 65 percent. It also claims listeners' heart rates and blood pressure fell significantly. Part of the reason that the song, which was created with help from the British Academy of Sound Therapy in 2011, and the study claims is relaxing, the study claims, is its lack of a repeating melody and how slowly it goes along.

"Neurons in the brain entrain, that is they fire in synchrony to the tempo of music," Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, a professor of psychology and music at McGill University and author of the new book Weaponized Lies, told ATTN:. "Some people find that relaxing. If you're listening to slow music and your brain activity slows down a bit, that can cause you to feel relaxed."

Bill Thompson, a professor of psychology at Macquarie University in Australia, told ATTN: that certain chemicals also get involved.

"Music has a number of 'design features' that interact with mood and arousal systems in the brain, these systems involve the release of neurochemicals such as dopamine and adrenaline, and activation of various areas of the brain," Thompson said. Dopamine is thought of as the happiness chemical, while adrenaline is an energizing chemical that can stress you out.

Different rhythms that your body and brain synchronize with will typically create different reactions. "In matching our bodily rhythm with the music we experience the mood and energy associated with that pace, a slow pace is associated with slower, calmer emotions (reduced anxiety); a fast pace is associated with higher energy," Thompson said.

Thompson claims through human evolution, the brain learned to respond to some sounds or rhythms as threatening and other as representing calm, which can impact how people interpret music. "Slow rhythms and smooth harmonies will be perceived as calm; rapid tempos and dissonance will be perceived as tense," Thompson said.

Another reason we find some music calming, he claims, is we often have emotional memories attached to certain songs.

Levitin did have one problem with a study claiming a certain song will be relaxing to you, which is that he said music taste is so subjective that a song that might be relaxing for many will not be relaxing for some.

"I did a study once where we asked tens of thousands of people what music they listen to [in order] to relax and what music they listen to to pump themselves up, and one song showed up in both columns," Levitin said. "It was AC/DC's 'Back in Black.' It turned out that the person who used it to relax was spending his days listening to Swedish speed metal, so it was relaxing by contrast. It's quite individualistic."

Thompson agreed, saying that while some people might find something like death metal aggravating, others will find it empowering or energizing.

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How Could One Song Help You Fall Asleep? - ATTN

Eat better, drink less, exercise more, sleep enough: its common advice for heart health and its frequently ignored. Few North American adults meet the standards for healthy levels of physical activity, consumption of fruit and vegetables, body fat and smoking, according to recent study.

But a major lifestyle overhaul isnt the only way to help your heart, studies suggest. Even small changes can make substantial differences.

Eventually, little changes can add up, says David Goff, director of the cardiovascular sciences division at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md.

"Any small change you make in a positive direction is good for you," he says. "Its not an all-or-nothing phenomenon."

Physical activity is a perfect example, Goff says. Official guidelines, which recommend 30 minutes of moderately intense activity on most days, are based partly on evidence of substantial health benefits from doing 150 to 300 minutes of exercise each week, according to a 2011 review study by researchers at the University of South Carolina at Columbia. Those benefits include reduced risks of coronary heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.

But the guidelines also come out of an assessment of what is obtainable for most people, Goff adds. And while it would be ideal to get at least 150 minutes of exercise weekly, getting less than that also has benefits. When the researchers looked at deaths from all causes, they saw the sharpest drop in mortality when exercise jumped from half an hour to an hour and a half each week.

Just getting up for a minute or two to interrupt bouts of sitting may also improve health, the study noted. And moving for as little as eight minutes a few times a day provides the same cardiovascular benefits as 30 uninterrupted minutes.

"If you cant find 30 minutes a day, try to find five or 10 or 15," Goff says. "Anything is better than nothing."

The "some is better than none" philosophy applies to dietary improvements, too, Goff says. According to the National Institutes of Health, an ideal meal plan includes lots of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, with limited amounts of fatty meat and tropical oils.

But eating an imperfect diet with more of the good stuff is better than giving up entirely. Thats a conclusion from a 2016 study that created food-quality scores from the self-reported diets of about 200,000 people. Over about 25 years, the study found, people whose diets scored lowest had a 13 per cent higher risk of coronary artery disease than did people in the second-worst group.

Even just switching out soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages can help eliminate a couple hundred calories a day and control weight. That helps lower blood pressure, levels of harmful cholesterol and the potential for diabetes all risk factors for heart disease, Goff says. Large long-term studies have shown that people who average one sugary drink a day have a 20 per cent higher risk of heart attack than people who rarely drink any.

Its not just food and diet, adds Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and author of Heal Your Heart: The Positive Emotions Prescription to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Heart strength can also come from battling stress by boosting emotional health in simple and unexpected ways, he says, such as enjoying a good laugh.

In a small 2005 study, Miller played movie clips for 20 people. When participants watched a scene that made them laugh, 19 of them experienced dilation of the blood vessels. In contrast, a stressful scene led to constriction in 14 of the 20 viewers. Since then, Miller says, other small studies have found similar results, including one showing that vessels stayed dilated for 24 hours. Dilation allows more blood to flow, decreasing blood pressure and heart rate.

"Cross-talk" between the brain and heart explains the potential long-term benefits of laughter, Miller says, particularly when laughter is intense enough to induce crying. Belly laughing releases endorphins, triggering receptors in blood vessels to produce nitric oxide, which in turn, dilates blood vessels, increases blood flow, reduces the risk of blood clots, and more.

People are far more likely to laugh when theyre with friends, Miller adds, adding yet more evidence of the health benefits of being social.

Accumulating evidence suggests that another easy and enjoyable way to help your heart is to listen to music. During recovery from surgery, several studies have shown, listening to relaxing music leads to a reduction in anxiety and heart rate. And in a 2015 study, Greek researchers found reductions in how hard the hearts of 20 healthy young adults were working after 30 minutes of listening to rock or classical music.

"I tell my patients to dust off their old LPs now that LPs are coming back and listen to a piece of music they have not heard in a long time but in the past made them feel really good," Miller says.

Also on his list of recommendations: mindfulness meditation and hugging. Both, he says, look promising in studies of heart health and heart repair.

"Considering that stress probably accounts for a third of heart attacks," he says, "it can have a dramatic effect if you do all of these things in sync."

The Washington Post

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Give your heart a little love - Winnipeg Free Press

Demand for organic food has grown exponentially in the United States over the past decade.

Grocery stores are adapting the products they offer to keep up with growing demand for organic and local food.

According to the Organic Trade Association, the amount of money Americans spend on organic food has more than doubled in the past decade, to more than $43 billion in 2015.

Hoosier grocers are responding to a demand for organic and local food by opening more stores and offering more products. Its a good thing for consumers, but its a gamble for some stores as they work to differentiate themselves from their competition and earn consumer business.

Marissa Foosaner shops at Bloomingfoods for most of her groceries. She says she likes the personalized feel of a co-op.

I think Bloomingfoods is special because it has so many organic products and its a more intimate store, Foosaner says. Kroger and all the other ones are so big that its hard to find everything. Everyone here is so nice and helpful.

Bloomingfoods also recognizes the importance of its relationship with customers.

Everybody that contacts me gets an answer or a phone call or a discussion because we care, says Bloomingfoods General Manager Tony Alongi. And Ive had people contact me: Please stop selling this product, please bring in this product, I dont like this policy. Everybody gets kinda personal attention.

But now other stores are starting to recognize the value of specialty products, and theyre beginning to implement them as well.

Kroger, for example, is beginning to move toward a more specialized approach with its products. The chain has 8.5 million customers everyday across the country, but each persons voice is still important.

I would say more and more is based on customer feedback, says Krogers manager of public affairs Eric Halvorson. We try to be open and if somebody wants to come in and say, Wed really like to see that, well listen. So I think its amazing how influential a few phone calls can be.

Along with more organic produce, Kroger stores have begun to carry more specialized products, just like Bloomingfoods has for years. That includes everything from coffee beans to organic soaps that are made in Indiana.

This reflects the growing need for organic products: a demand that grows 4to 8 percenteach year.

Organic Trade Association by Indiana Public Media News on Scribd

Along with a demand for organic products comes a demand for local products. Producers and retailers have even begun to affix Indiana Grown labels to their products to make it easier for customers to identify things that are local.

Ted McKinney, the director of the Indiana State Department Of Agriculture, says the need for local products is on the rise.

There is a desire on the part of many consumers to support that local farmer in his or her products. And I tell ya, its heartwarming to see that.

Ted McKinney, Ind. Dept. of Agriculture Director

There is a desire on the part of many consumers to support that local farmer in his or her products, McKinney said. And I tell ya, its heartwarming to see that.

Workers are finishing up construction on a Fresh Thyme store, opening in Bloomington next month. The store will specialize in local, organic food.

Then, a 365 by Whole Foods will open this fall within walking distance of Bloomingfoods flagship store.

Its a familiar situation for Bloomingfoods. Luckys, another specialized grocer that opened in Bloomington in 2015, siphoned a lot of business away from Bloomingfoods forcing the co-op to close the doors at its Elm Heights location the following Spring.

Bloomingfoods execs are taking a more aggressive stance this time. A group flew to Portland recently to see what theyre up against when Whole Foods opens.

So we wanted to get a jump on what the store was, what its gonna be, what might we need to do to compete better against that? Alongi says. So no, its not something we can wait. I think in fairness if you look at what happened when Luckys opened in town, we waited. And were not in a position to do that anymore.

The future, McKinney says, is about diversification. He thinks theres room for everyone because he doesnt anticipate demand slowing down.

The whole movement toward niche markets continues to grow nationwide and the same goes for here in Indiana, he says.

Excerpt from:

Indiana Grocers Adapt To Growing Demand For Local, Organic Food - Indiana Public Media

Meditation has surged in popularity in recent years, from a fringe interest to a mainstream trend championed by therapists, scientists and celebrities. As part of this shift, misconceptions and dismissals have given way to the emerging recognition of meditation as a science. There are, however, those who would challenge this view. As both a scientist and a meditator, I feel a duty to respond.

In doing so, I must first acknowledge the huge number of activities commonly referred to as meditation. Many of those activities are not in any sense scientific. However, I will argue that some meditation practices, including the method I describe in The Mind Illuminated and other practices within the Buddhist tradition, do qualify as science. I will confine my discussion to those practices.

We can define science as the systematic study of the natural world through observation and experiment, yielding an organized body of knowledge on a particular subject. The human mind is undeniably a suitable subject for scientific study, and one purpose of meditation is careful observation of ones own mind. This observation reveals consistent patterns that meditators share with one another and with teachers who direct their practice. Master meditators weigh these observations against their own experience and knowledge passed down from previous generations of meditation masters, thereby generating models of the mind. Over thousands of years, meditators have tested, refined and reworked their models of the mind based on new insights as later generations developed new meditative techniques. Thus, over time, an organized body of knowledge has accumulated describing the nature and behavior of the mind at a very fine level of resolution. This is one sense in which certain forms of meditation qualify as science.

However, meditation is not simply passive observation, nor could it be, since the very act of observation is itself an activity of mind. Rather the meditator intentionally employs attention, awareness and other mental faculties in a variety of ways to better understand the functional behavior of the mind. (The effect of observation on the thing observed is not different than what occurs in quantum physics.) Precisely how these mental faculties are used in the investigation of the mind is subject to modification that can increase or decrease the efficacy of this endeavor. Thus meditation is also technology.

In the history of meditation practices that qualify as scientific, meditation masters have used models of the mind generated by meditation to modify meditation techniques for increased efficacy. Such modifications can be viewed as hypotheses, and their implementation as experiments. When these modifications are subsequently preserved because they are effective, the experimental results have passed the tests of replicability and falsifiability required by the scientific method. The picture of meditation as science is complete. The hypotheses generated in response to observation and analysis have been tested, validated and incorporated into the expanding body of knowledge. Such meditation practices are justifiably described as an evolving science, and the laboratory in which this science is carried out is the mind.

Some would argue that the results must be objective in a sense that precludes any element of subjectivity. This requirement is ultimately indefensible and would exclude much of the important work being done today in psychology and social sciences. On the other hand, we are increasingly able to verify brain changes in subject populations employing particular meditation techniques. Thus there is an emerging ability of third-person science to corroborate the models created through the first-person mind science of meditation.

When discussing meditation as a science and technology, its important to acknowledge the ultimate goal is a profound cognitive shift to a more accurate perception of ones self and ones relationship to the world. This cognitive shift, is traditionally known as liberation, enlightenment or awakening (the latter being my preferred term), which in turn, produces a dramatic and persistent increase in well-being. Therefore, both knowledge acquisition and its consequence also serve as outcome measures by which to evaluate efficacy.

We are fortunate to live in a time when the investigation of the mind through meditative science comes face-to-face with the investigation of the brain through material science. The conjunction of these different but complementary approaches provides us with an incredible opportunity. What is the mind other than the brain as experienced from the inside? And what is the brain other than the mind experienced from the outside? We have succeeded in identifying the neural correlates of many behavioral and experiential phenomena and can expect the rapid acceleration of this process. (NB: This is not a description reflecting materialistic reductionism but is equally compatible with philosophical positions of idealistic reductionism and non-dualism.)

The knowledge of the mind that meditation provides can be of enormous value in guiding the future research of neuroscientists. On the other hand, this continued unfolding of our knowledge of the physical brain can allow us to understand more clearly the most amazing and powerful experiences of adept meditators, including awakening. This cognitive transformation, characterized by wisdom, compassion and freedom from most forms of suffering, might ultimately become available to millions, completely transforming human society and helping us solve the enormous threats our species and our planet now face.

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Your brain as laboratory: The science of meditation - Salon

The Rochester Meditation Center is a community rooted in Metta. Metta is the Buddhist term for loving-kindness and refers to a state of awareness rooted in selflessness and connectedness.

The center's founding member, Doug McGill, finds Metta to be such a grounding concept that he requested the word be stamped into his personalized license plates. McGill returned to his hometown of Rochester in 2004 after reporting for the New York Times and Bloomberg News. McGill continues to write and also finds a deep sense of purpose in his work at the center.

In describing what meditation is all about, McGill described, "Meditation is a way to develop the positive and healthy states of mind." Meditation nurtures awareness, and that awareness is an important component of learning to regulate one's emotions with intention.

On Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings, about 12 to 25 people gather at the RMC, a house just a few blocks from Mayo Clinic. Sundays begin with a 30-minute silent meditation in the living room, followed by an hourlong conversation about a reading. Then there's another brief meditation and a coffee hour. Thursday evenings usually include a silent meditation and then an opportunity to listen to a speaker and hear what is referred to as a dharma talk.

The RMC seeks to be "a safe space for people to come and to sit in the middle of all their troubles and find a way to deal with them skillfully," McGill said.

For McGill, there is a lot of benefit in having other people with whom to practice meditation. While meditation can be an individual practice, it also can be done in community with others.

"Having a group to sit with and practice with is enriching on a lot of levels," he said. "The heart of the practice is always a kind of collaboration with others. It's a discovery that you thought you were alone but you recognize over time that we all share one consciousness. When I work on my consciousness to make it healthy and happy, there's an immediate effect on others and then you start to recognize that you never were alone."

A deep sense of connectedness and mutual respect is central not only to the form of Buddhist meditation taught at Rochester Meditation Center but also to the mission of the people who come each week.

It isn't just a shared desire to experience the benefits of meditation that connects the people who support the Rochester Meditation Center. It's also an appreciation for service and fellowship. The RMC community gathers for a monthly service time at Channel One. They also enjoy movie nights together and seasonal volunteering opportunities.

When asked what he most wants people to know about the Rochester Meditation Center, McGill said, "I want people to know that we're here. So come on down."

All programs and classes are free and on a drop-in basis unless otherwise noted on the website. McGill said visitors can expect to "get an opportunity to sit quietly, to enjoy peaceful quiet presence with themselves and others, and they also get the chance to learn a bit of the traditional spiritual wisdom from Buddhism."

Worship Life is a new column giving a behind-the-scenes look of local churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship. Suggest one to be featured email life@postbulletin.com or call 507-285-7748.

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Worship Life: In Metta meditation, you never are alone - Post-Bulletin