Affirmative Prayer

The title of Franz Wizner's book is Honeymoon With My Brother. Can you guess the NO he received? That's right, he was jilted before the wedding, just after the guests started arriving and the catered food was ready to go. Then he got fired. Ouch. Franz took his brother to the honeymoon destination rather than waste the reservation money for the trip. That's where the real adventure of his life began! With no more to lose, they sold what they had and the two took off for a two-year odyssey, chasing the sun around the globe. Franz' second book is How the World Makes Love. He's married now.

Winning a stay in a villa in Tuscany would seem like a dream come true for most of us, but for Joy Goodman, getting there was a fear-filled challenge from the beginning. Could she go alone? How would she survive in a strange country? What if she got lost and no one would help? Joy learned lessons about trust, opportunity, free-fall, and free flight during her journey into the unknown. What a 'joy' that letting go and letting loose is available to all of us, no matter what challenges we are facing!

Jason Hamacher was a drummer in several punk rock bands that had a positive message. Setting out to write heavy metal music to old Christian chants, Jason was surprised to learn that precious little had been done to preserve the ancient prayers, hallowed rituals, and sacred music of Syria's religious minority communities. Beginning nearly 10 years ago, he began his travels to Aleppo, Syria, and has been working on several preservation projects through Smithsonian Folkways, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and the Sephardic Heritage Museum. The kind archbishop who provided Syrian entre' to Jason has since been kidnapped by rebels; and Aleppo is in shambles. His company, Lost Origin Productions, has preserved the music and photos of a life that barely exists today. For more information about Jason's projects, go to lostorigins.com.

Ron Chapman has spent 30 years fine-tuning his meditation skills; and if you haven't been doing that, this is a great show for you. He points out how beginning with simple meditation practices can produce 'metanoya"-a profound change of heart. Breath work is also helpful for tending to those unattended sorrows, illuminating the darkness that is in our hearts and minds, and moving from a feeling of emptiness to wholeness of the heart. To find out more about his books, services, and CDs, Breathing, Releasing, and Breaking Through: A Practice for Seeing True, go to seeingtrue.com.

Koorosh Ostowari is a first-generation Iranian who saw his single mother overcome great financial and cultural obstacles to provide her family with the American Dream. He realized his dream was different and started combining money with mindfulness ... a Buddhist approach to the material world. If you are held captive by your idea of money, this show is for you. Koorosh shows us how we can shift from scarcity to flow. Get ready to change your money story-you ARE good enough to have it and use it well.

"Whatever life hands us, we have to pick up and dance with it," says Sheila K. Collins, Ph.D., and author of Warrior Mother: Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss and Rituals That Heal. After experiencing the kind of personal loss few of us could imagine, Sheila found "some stories are too big for the body to hold." She learned to relax and release through Interplay, and the group support she received, and is teaching others to have their own interplay experience. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Interplay has groups in five continents and 60 United States cities.

Katie Silcox is a 34-year-old woman who has already been named one of "70 Yogis Changing the World." She is bringing Ayurveda Wisdom for Modern Women to all of us, with a new way of looking at our three pillars of health-food, sleep, and sex. Having trouble with your eyes? Make sure you are giving them something beautiful to look at, as they are the gateway to your soul. Want to slow the aging process? Don't hurry up so much! Feeling sick or despondent? Shake it off! You'll have fun with this show as Katie describes the ancient ways of living well in an easy-to-understand manner for women of today. To find out about Katie's book, her teaching, and her November trip to Morocco, go to katiesilcox.com.

Patrice Vecchione was a New York City kid and a long-distance bicyclist who didn't really discover nature until she was 50 years old. From her home in California, she began to branch out and discovered the park land was close to where she lived. Her book reminds you, "Nature accepts us exactly as we are-bedazzled or bedraggled, lonely or lively, willful or wistful. Wander a little while, and wonder will take hold." Earth Day is April 22. Listen to this show and get your heart, mind, and spirit to celebrate the earth by stepping into nature! Get your children outside, too, so their imaginations can soar with the winds and the clouds and the birds. Ahhh, what a beautiful world! For information on Patrice's blogs, books, and workshops, go to www.patricevecchione.com.

Barbara Rubel is an expert in traumatic loss, death by suicide, and bereavement. Why? Because she had to find a way to get through it herself. Her dad committed suicide on the same day she gave birth to triplets. If you are suffering from grief, do yourself a life-changing favor and go to her website www.griefworkcenter.com, read her book But I Didn't Say Goodbye, read Thin Threads: Grief to Renewal, and look her up at www.opentohope.com. Instead of posttraumatic stress, we talk about posttraumatic growth. You won't treat your grief the same way after listening to this show.

Grieving is not a linear process. Sometimes everything crashes in at once; sometimes there is a feeling of grace; sometimes you just don't know what to think or do. Chaz Wesley is a grief expert and host of From Grief to Grace on Unity Online Radio. He says the grief journey really begins when we can accept that the loss is real. Then we experience the pain. The New Normal is where we learn how to move on and live fully, even in the absence of what we lost. Chaz describes his own grief journey and how he eventually found his New Normal. There is grace, mercy, and goodness in your personal journey as well.

How do you survive a maximum security psychiatric/medical facility with inmates who have nothing to lose and guards who have one answer to everything: NO. Fleet Maull dug deep into his Buddhist training to find some kind of contemplative calm and ended up founding the Prison Mindfulness Institute, Path of Freedom, and National Prison Hospice Association. You've never heard prison and possibility described so clearly. This is a man who is changing the world because he first changed himself.

Peace and Planetary Transformation are available, even despite evidence to the contrary. Gregory Toole shows us there is a spiritual evolution taking place: even as it appears parts of the world are falling apart ... they are getting ready to fall together in many ways. And we are the ones who can make that happen! Gregory explains how ... after one small step takes place. Rev. Angela Harmon, ordained minister with Centers for Spiritual Living, joins us to talk about her global experience on a spiritual level. For more information about Gregory's book, go to gregorytoole.com.

There's nothing "magic" about using Science of Mind principles, but it sure helps to know how they work. Whether in health, prosperity, relationships, or creative self-expression, Joan McCall, author of The Science of Mind Way to Success, Wealth, and Love, shows how naturally you can use these principles every day to get results you want. The Science of Mind is a law that works any way you tell it to work, so pay attention about how you are Activating the Power of Yes with everything you think, say, and do! Instead of saying, "I've been so tired lately," say, "How can I energize myself today?" Happy discoveries out of the Science of Mind Way!

Dr. Elliott Maynard is a futurist, global ecologist, sculptor, musician, underwater photographer, and documentary film producer, so it seems we could be intimidated by a Renaissance man talking about Brave New Mind: Living in a Future-Science World. On the contrary, this mind-bending conversation causes us to stretch and realize all things are possible. The statement that can change your life and your attitude can be heard twice in the show. Have a listen and leap into quantum thought!

We may feel lacking when we get swept up in the I 'heart' Valentine's Day mentality, but most of us want more than that anyway. Tziporah Kingsbury, penned "Love Guru" by The Bachelor TV show, which airs February 2 (tonight), shares how we can combine love and intimacy with spirituality, sexuality, and sensuality-a healthy and happy combination! Kanta Bosniak joins us with her series of poetry and art books that gives a sense of intimacy on a worldly and spiritual level.