Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Ph.D. is a clinical research scientist, medical anthropologist, writer, speaker, thought leader, and change consultant. Her work over the past three decades explores the interface of consciousness, science, and healing. She  grew up in Detroit Michigan and received  a Bachelor of Philosophy Degree from Montieth College, Wayne State University. She went on to gain a Master's Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas, San Antonio and she received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Texas, Austin. She also earned two post doctoral fellowships: one from the Cognitive Sciences Laboratory at Science Applications International Corporation and one in Psychology at Stanford University.

 She is currently Vice President for Research and Education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Senior Scientist at the Research Institute at California Pacific Medical Center, and co-founder and Chief Learning Officer for the Integral Learning Corporation.

She has published hundreds of articles on consciousness studies in both scholarly and popular journals and has lectured widely on a number of topics, including talks at the United Nations, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Explorers Club. She has taught at Trinity University, Stanford University, and Harvard Medical Centers, as well as lecturing to community groups and book stores across the United States.

She is an engaging speaker with a rare ability to translate complex ideas into a common sense language that excites the imaginations of her audiences worldwide. Her books include: Consciousness and Healing. Integral Approaches to Mind Body Medicine (Churchill Livingston/Elsevier, 2005) and Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation in Everyday Life (New Harbinger/Noetic, 2008). Visit her website.

Gabriel Cousens received his MD from Columbia Medical School and has over 30 years experience in healing diabetes naturally. He is a member of the American Board of Holistic medicine and a diplomat in Ayurveda. He also facilitates the spiritual, nutritional and lifestyle tele-seminars, 'Alive with Gabriel.'

Recognized as the leading world-wide medical authority on live-food nutrition and as an internationally known spiritual teacher, he is a holistic physician, psychiatrist, family therapist, international lecturer, medical researcher, and the author of six books including Spiritual Nutrition, Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine, Tachyon Energy, Depression-Free for Life, Sevenfold Peace, and Conscious Eating. Cousens is the founder and director of the Tree of Life Foundation and the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Patagonia, Arizona. Visit his website.

Visit Janette Merrill's forum and blog.

Dr. Joellyn St. Pierre is an ordained interfaith minister with a doctorate in divinity focused on Death as a Transition. Previously and for 25 years, she enjoyed a professional career in theatre with 7 Broadway shows under her belt, including âA Chorus Line,â? and âPippin.â?  Visit her website.

Bill Plotkin, Ph.D., is the author of Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World and Soulcraft: Crossing the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche. In his work at the Animas Valley Institute  - and around the world  - Bill draws on dreams, the natural world, poetry, depth psychology and many cross-cultural soul-encounter practices such as vision-fasting, council, trance-rhythms and conversations across species boundaries. Visit him online at http://www.animas.org.

Visit Janette Merrill's forum and blog.

]]> Spirituality Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:27:00 GMT http://birthingsoul.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=309434# keep_smyling@hotmail.com 01:06:38 spirituality, soul growth, community, bill plotkin, janette merrill, birthing soul, psychjourney Janette Merrill Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World Clean http://birthingsoul.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=300135# Ms. Janette Merrill, host of Birthing Soul, interviews Mr. Wayne Gray Huxhold, author of From Roots to Branches: a Journey through the Tree of Life  published by Infinity Publishing.

Wayne Gray Huxhold has a rich and varied inkpot of history in which to dip his quill. He was reared in the small factory town of New Castle, Indiana, was educated as a maritime navigator who briefly traveled the world, yet settled back into the perceived safety of familiar and mundane routines of his former home. After struggling for seventeen years with failed marriages, financial woes and an unfulfilling career, he knew it was time to change. Wayne, as the poet David Whyte relates, "arranged to become good and tired of himself." At this point, he began his journey of writing From Roots to Branches, an act that transformed him. Now as an author, poet and artist, he shares studio and living space with his lovely wife, the ceramic sculptor Diana Huxold.

From Roots to Branches: a Journey through the Tree of Life is the account of Wayne's psychological, spiritual and mythic journey of radical transformation. As Wayne began to explore the ever-growing depths of his roots, he began to uncover truths and wisdoms that he could neither deny nor ignore. Truths and wisdoms that conflicted with the self-manufactured reality of all he believed was true. His very identity was challenged and eventually collapsed, freeing up space for a new life to emerge.

From Roots to Branches is a modern mythology, a universal story of finding and living ones authentic self. Throughout the book the author identifies, confronts and breaks lifelong patterns of living for the approval of others. He encounters and overcomes the fright associated with living beyond the familiar aspects of his known world. To the reader, the book becomes a mirror as they begin to recognize aspects of themselves within it, yet finds hope as they see how the author's authentic self begins to emerge.  Visit Wayne Gray Huxhold's blog.

Visit Janette's blog and website.

Mark Michaels (Swami Umeshanand Saraswati) and Patricia Johnson (Devi Veenanand)a devoted married couple who have been teaching Tantra and Kriya Yoga together since 1999. Their popular workshops have been featured in several publications, including the Village Voice, Now magazine, and Breathe magazine.

The two seek to combine a traditional, lineage-based approach with the best contemporary, Neo-Tantric methods. Their approach includes breath work, meditation, chanting, and puja (a type of Hindu devotional ritual), and their "initiated Kriya yoga" practices aim to lay a spiritual foundation for bringing the heightened awareness and pleasure of sex into everyday life.

The authors are senior students of Dr. John Mumford (Swami Anandakapila Saraswati) and have been named lineage holders of the OM-Kara Kriya system for the Americas and Sunyata, coauthor of The Jewel in the Lotus, named Michaels his lineage holder in 2001.

Michaels and Johnson have studied Bhakti Yoga with Bhagavan Das and Tantra with Dr. Rudy Ballentine, and they have been featured in Dr. Judy Kuriansky's The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tantric Sex.

 Michaels is a graduate of New York University School of Law, is a member of the Bar in New York State, and holds master's degrees in American Studies from NYU and Yale. A playwright and translator, he translated and adapted Goldoni's The Mistress of the Inn, The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Debate, which premiered at New York's Primary Stages.

Patricia Johnson is a professional operatic soprano who tours extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and South America and has performed with the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Berlin Komsiche Opera.  Visit their website.

Visit Janette's blog and website.

Introduction To Birthing Soul by Janette Merrill

Janette Merrill is a mother of three, living in Portland Oregon. She will be presenting the Podcast series entitled Birthing Soul which will focus on the Feminine, women's issues and inner growth with a wide range of topics including feminine archetypes, sacred sexuality, parenting, natural childbirth and childcare, partnership studies, raising kids body-positive, reconnecting to the body, menarche and menopause celebrations, and holistic psycho-spirituality.

Janette has a B.A. in Social Science and intends to pursue an M.A. in Transpersonal Psychology

Visit Ms. Janette Merrill's blog.  Visit Dr. Kevin Keough's website and blog.