Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/962709
April/May 2018 27 art & soul MUSIC N eed some tunes to reconnect you to your Earth Mother muse? In honor of Earth Day, yoga music label White Swan Records has curated a heart-centered soundtrack on their Spotify channel that will get you in the mood. The 19 tracks, fueled with inspiring messages about rising up together, engaging in loving activism, practicing ahimsa (the yogic principle of non-harming), seeing the sun, the sky, and the ocean in our own bodies, and becoming the change we want to see in the world, are imbued with a purity of heart that's so alluring, you may keep this playlist on repeat for days and weeks to come. It's the perfect accompaniment for an earth-honoring yoga practice, meditation ritual, or a walk (or dance) in the woods. The playlist moves and grooves through a variety of genres, including pop (Tina Malia's "Heal This Land," Donna de Lory's "Be the Change"); hip hop (MC Yogi's "Ahimsa"); medicine music (Xavier Rudd's "Spirit Bird"); roots and folk (Trevor Hall's "Mother" and Miten's "River Man"); modern mantra music (Deva Premal's "Om Dhara" and Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band's "Unity"); and trance (Liquid Bloom's "Roots of the Earth" and Deva Doya's "Myth of the Cave"). As Deva Premal & Miten observe, "Let's be conscious of our actions today and see where we choose to support ourselves rather than the Earth. Then let's do what we can to give back in some way to the Great Mother." One thing is for sure: Earth Warriors will pull your heart back to Mother Earth — and inspire you to honor (and protect her) from a place of love — on Earth Day, and every other day. (Listen at tinyurl.com/wsearth.) —Tori Rose O ur outer world is in strife. Suppressed identities struggle for equality, battling male chauvinism, racial, and ethnic dominance. In personal terms however, to coerce is to lose the chimera of intimacy. In light of this, how can we maintain the inner harmony needed for true intimacy within an uncaring social context? In Carl Studna's Evolution of Loving, new insights have emerged to re-assert mutual respect and compassion in place of dominance. Mr. Studna, an innovative and exquisite photographer, has allowed his outward-looking art to lead him inward. Combining intimate portraits of couples with imaginative interviews that allow each couple to speak their truths, he has elucidated one of the great human mysteries: the sustained love between couples. This book is both profound and accessible. It embraces yet transcends sex, while delving deeply into the complex lives of diverse couples. Studna addresses how to be one's authentic self while accepting one's partner's differences, as issues rise and fall in a relationship. He repeatedly shows us paths to a love that sustains. Studna demonstrates that enduring love, in its largest sense, is an inborn human instinct available to those who cultivate it. He traces the steps of eight couples to provide the tools that make enduring relationships possible. If sustained intimate love is available to all, why are so many couples unsuccessful in attaining it? I believe there is one main reason: Couples don't know how to achieve it and/ or they don't believe that attaining sustained intimate love is possible. In the midst of today's social upheavals and increasing pressures, Studna ignites a sense of empowerment in the reader and shows us that it is indeed possible, as he offers moving examples of how couples make the process their greatest joy. (Motivational Press) —Rick Chertoff By Carl Studna Evolution of Loving Earth Warriors: Singing Peace into the World BOOKS Various Artists Curated by White Swan Records Carl Studna Tools and Practices by Cynthia James "In the Evolution of Loving, Carl Studna presents an intimate portrait of eight healthy, committed, evolving couples and distills the secrets to their fulfillment into easy-to-implement principles and practices. A must read for any couple wanting to restore or deepen the intimacy in their relationship." - Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Happy for No Reason Evolution LOVING LOVING of