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RetreatFinder.com
July 2007
If It Feels Good to Be Good,
It Might Be Only Natural

The e-mail came from the next room.

"You gotta see this!" Jorge Moll had written. Moll and Jordan Grafman, neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health, had been scanning the brains of volunteers as they were asked to think about a scenario involving either donating a sum of money to charity or keeping it for themselves.

As Grafman read the e-mail, Moll came bursting in. The scientists stared at each other. Grafman was thinking, "Whoa -- wait a minute!"

The results were showing that when the volunteers placed the interests of others before their own, the generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex. Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable.

Their 2006 finding that unselfishness can feel good lends scientific support to the admonitions of spiritual leaders such as Saint Francis of Assisi, who said, "For it is in giving that we receive." But it is also a dramatic example of the way neuroscience has begun to elbow its way into discussions about morality and has opened up a new window on what it means to be good.

Read more at WashingtonPost.com
Spirits in the Sky
(Cloud image by Adrian Beckett)
•	Cloud image by Adrian Beckett

At The Cloud Appreciation Society they love clouds, they're not ashamed to say it and they've had enough of people moaning about wanting more sunny skies.

  • The World Famous Cloud Photo Gallery
  • Enjoy their website which hosts:
    • Cloud of the Month
    • Photos of Clouds that Look Like Things
    • Cloud Chat (talk about clouds)
    • Cloud Verse (cloud-inspired poetry)
    • Cloud Art (paintings of clouds)

    Visit the Cloud Appreciation Society
    Songs for Retreats
    Earth Chants - Earth Songs

    A collection of 18 songs that will have you singing every day...to affirm your life, to move you past obstacles, to inspire your Soul, to be closer to Mother Earth. Even if you are not someone who considers yourself musical or a "singer", you will benefit from these mini songs and chants. Sing these with your kids, your partner; in the car, while walking, upon rising. These songs are designed to sing at retreats, with groups of women and couples and other gatherings of the heart.

    EARTH CHANTS EARTH SONGS CD
    Songs on the Earth Chants CD include:
    1. Metta
    2. Earth My Body
    3. I Am Rooted
    4. Woman Am I
    5. The River is Flowing
    6. Chant for the Earth*
    7. One of These Days
    8. Keep it Simple
    9. Every Little Cell
    10. Step Into the Flow
    11. Hold Me Mother Earth
    12. May the Circle Be Open
    13. Fireside
    14. Simple Gifts
    15. Acceleration Syndrome
    16. Peace Like A River
    17. I'm Going On
    18. Peace Will Come


    See Songs for Retreats for more information. CDs are $20 and include the price of postage!

    Find out more from Mountain Coaching
    Sedona-Grand Canyon Yoga & Hiking Retreat
    October 6-13

    Sedona. AZ
    8 days (7 nights) of luxurious time-share accommodations at the Sedona Springs Resort Deluxe apartments with kitchen facilities, pools, hot tubs, and spa with fitness machines Elegant lodging in the heart of Sedona with views & a variety of restaurants in walking distance

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    Spiritual Healing & Weight Loss Retreats
    Facility for Rent

    Durham, NC
    Focusing on coaching you in overcoming limitations. Techniques used are in speech, the written word, meditations and laying on of hands. The week of healing includes house exploration - a Victorian property, guided tours of the Medieval towns and the Cotswolds...

    More details
    La Casa De Maria
    Facililty for Rent

    Santa Barbara, CA
    La Casa de Maria is a beloved sanctuary of peace in Santa Barbara, California, 90 miles north of Los Angeles. The grounds abound in a rustic setting of natural beauty amid a native oak grove nestled at the foot of the Santa Ynez Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

    More details
    Wood Valley Retreat Center
    Facility for Rent

    Pahala, HI
    Wood Valley Temple and Retreat Center is located in Ka'u on the slopes of Mauna Loa on the Island of Hawaii. It is a non-sectarian Buddhist retreat center open to groups and individuals. It was founded by Nechung Rinpoche in 1973 and dedicated by HH the Dalai Lama in 1980.

    More details
    Sacred Windows to the Divine: Icon Writing Retreat/ W orkshop
    July 22-28

    La Crosse, WI
    Directed by Master Iconographer Philip ZimmermanThe icon of Extreme Humility, Jesus after the scourging and crowning, will be painted during the July workshop. Icons will be written from start to finish, guided in a step-by-step gradual process by Phil Zimmerman, ending with a completed icon, varnished and ready to display.

    More details
    Light Institute Intensive with Chris Griscom:
    July 26-31 in Hawaii

    Oahu, HI
    This intimate Intensive on the island of Oahu will provide an especially powerful opportunity to reinvent your relationships! Explore the essence of relationship and dissolve old patterns, whether you are working on the relationship to yourself, your family, colleagues or lovers.

    More details
    Mind/Body/Spirit
    October 18-22

    Ithaca, NY
    October is the season of change as upstate New York gifts us with the brilliant colors of the Fall foliage. Likewise, it is a beautiful time to embrace change in your own personal growth and life experiencing. Join us for a five day journey to understand and heal the Mind/Body/Spirit Connection.

    More Details
    Back to Nature & Your Own True Nature
    August 5-11

    Costa Rica
    Have you ever gone on vacation and then returned home to find that all the enjoyment and relaxation quickly went down the drain, and you're just as stressed out as before? Instead, imagine a one-week retreat with the power to make your entire day-to-day life at home more peaceful, happy, and healthy. This program emphasizes YOUR REAL LIFE and how to bring these practices home in a way that's feasible and effective.

    More Details
    BOOK REVIEW
    Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships: Healing the Wound of the Heart by John Welwood

    Trumpeter Books, Boston, MA, 2006. $19.95

    First comes attraction, then wooing, followed by making love and maybe even marriage, but with each successive stage your longing remains unsatisfied. So you try having kids or try to change your partner and you land in couples therapy or Tantric sex workshops hoping to find a way to quench your longing, your never quite satiated desire for the perfect love in which you feel completely and consistently satisfied in just the right way. Rather than focusing on how to be more loving, Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships teaches that nothing needs to be fixed in either yourself or your beloved, instead you only need to recognize what it is you truly desire and remove your blocks to receiving it. "Desire focused on a person can never be totally satisfied. This is because the one we love stirs our passion for something that lies beyond this finite person." Taking the psycho spiritual approach John Welwood, psychotherapist and teacher, examines the nature and origin of desire itself and the ways we cut ourselves off from the very love we are seeking. Where his previous books focused on the challenges of relationships as opportunities for personal transformation and spiritual awakening, Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships, reveals the root source of all relational problems: our wounded relationship to love itself. With gentle exercises, examples from his clients, and wisdom from the Buddhist and Hindu traditions Welwood expertly guides you into the gentle arms of "the living presence of absolute love" found within your own heart.

    Reveiwed by Alec Franklor


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