Sometimes we want movies to distract us; other times we want them to remind us—of our humanity, of magic, of meaning. The Spiritual Cinema Circle offers films that aim to do the latter with its monthly DVD club. Sign up and you’ll get a disc filled with four short and feature films, a blend of U.S. and international, some exclusive to club members, others that you might see elsewhere. Though there are hits and misses among this “heart and soul of cinema,” a few are cringefests, plenty are actually quite touching and good.
Take tai-chi, yoga, and dance. Stir. And you have Nia, one of a spate of newish fusion-fitness methods. It’s an acronym for “Neuromuscular Integrative Action,” though the method’s founders point out that in Swahili Nia also happens to mean “with purpose” and “a small tiny movement” in Hebrew.
Regardless, Nia reaches for a body-mind “fusion fitness” with classes that are like a slow-motion aerobics session. It’s cardiovascular, caters to all fitness levels, and encourages relaxation, even when you’re drenched and panting. Among other jargony tenets (“intrinsic and extrinsic muscular movement that is multi-dynamic and multi-directional”), Nia is based on the “Pleasure Principle,” the idea that exercise should be fun and joyful, not painful or hard. Its founders claim that all this leads to enhanced chi, better immunity, flexibility, clear thinking, strength, and weight loss.
Interests: Horseback riding, watching the silence of the snow, obviously anything creative, cooking
Inspiration: Like most of you, when I heard of recycling to save the earth, I naturally assumed I needed to separate my plastics, newspapers and glass. I was helping. That was all I needed to do. Then one day, I was searching around for something fun, some art, and I came across this abstract piece. It was gorgeous - it looked like a naturally formed wave of icy white water bursting into the air. When I looked closer at it, I saw that it was made from recycled plastic caps. I was in shock. What kind of imagination and talent does that take to look at a plastic cap and see more to it then what it actually is? How can someone be so ingenious that they can take something that we normally throw away and create such a piece of beauty with it? This is the thought process that I could not stop pondering and it took over my mind, body and soul and soon enough became my muse.
I began Earth's Journey for this reason. I wanted to show the world that there was more to saving the earth than just recycling. There is beauty in things we can't even imagine, and so many ways to help our planet flourish. There are products out there that we all could use to completely decorate, furnish and run a home... all environmentally safe. You can buy organic bedding, non-toxic cleaning detergents, solar power, or make a change in a small way by using energy-efficient light bulbs. But the best part of recycling and being eco-friendly is the beauty that you'll find here, with all of our different artisans. As you can see I'm very passionate about this type of artistic creativity, and I hope you will be too.
I invite you to sit back, relax and ... Be Inspired by Green!