In the interactive Gingerbread Adventures exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden, children learn about the different plant parts used in creating one of their favorite holiday snacks, gingerbread. The Everett Children’s Adventure Garden is home of Gingerbread Adventures, through January 10, 2010.Vibrant vignettes of a gingerbread town deck the halls of the Discovery Center. A gingerbread jazz band, ice skaters and a gingerbread farmer are among the colorful characters displayed in the exhibit.

Youngsters will experience that cinnamon comes from the bark of a tree and ginger is derived from an underground stem, as they explore these and other plant ingredients that go into the classic gingerbread recipe. Children are invited to grind and examine gingerbread ingredients under a microscope and develop a field research notebook about their visit. Less research-oriented children may also enjoy decorating pots with faces and planting wheat seeds that will quickly sprout into miniature heads of wheat, once the pots are brought home to root on sunny windowsills, a lasting reminder that flour (a key ingredient in gingerbread) comes from a plant.

Gingerbread Adventures also features a whimsical display of gingerbread houses. Some of New York’s most imaginative bakers have prepared unique gingerbread creations, certain to capture the imaginations of both children and adults, while evoking the wonder and delicious joys of the holiday season. This year the bakers creating the fairy-tale themed confections are Jill Adams, The Cake Studio, Brooklyn; Kate Almond, Sugar and Spice Bake Shop, the Bronx; Liv Hansen, Riviera Bakehouse, Ardsley; Kate Sullivan, Lovin Sullivan Cakes, Manhattan; and Mark Tasker, Balthazar Bakery, Manhattan.

For more information visit: nybg.com.

Popular Medium Now Available in Manhattan for Private Sessions and Appointments
For fifteen years, internationally renowned psychic medium Glenn Klausner has reunited thousands of people from all walks of life with loved ones who have “crossed over.”

Glenn’s passion for his work, his down-to-earth personality, and his accurate and detailed messages have earned him a vast and loyal following. Bob Olson, Editor from OfSpirit.com Magazine writes that Glenn’s sincerity and popularity will help him follow in the footsteps of psychic mediums James Van Praagh and John Edward. Glen has appeared on ABC, CBS and NBC News (in a documentary entitled After Death Communication: Fact or Fiction), and on various radio programs throughout the United States.

He’s also hosted his own show on Contact Talk Radio, and is a regular guest contributor on internet programs for Hay House Radio and Blog Talk Radio. Glenn is available for private sessions and consultations.

To contact Glenn Klausner and learn more about his work, call 
212-496-3151 or visit glennklausner.com.

Integrated Medicine & Nutrition Brings Concierge Practice 
to NYC

Dr. Michael B. Wald and Dr. Nilay Shah of Integrated Medicine of Mount Kisco have additionally brought their practice to New York City with the opening of new offices at 48 West 68th Street. Integrated Medicine & Nutrition offers Concierge Medicine to their patients. Concierge Service is relatively new in the U.S. and offers unique services to patients.

Dr. Wald and Dr. Shah appreciate the balance of traditional medical and complimentary medical approaches for the prevention and treatment of all varieties of health issues. Their mission is to be their patients’ trusted source for wellness. To accomplish this goal, they see fewer patients, maximizing time spent with each person.  Individualized attention is an extremely rare commodity in health care today and the Integrated Medicine & Nutrition Physicians ensure each patient has enough time to fully express health concerns and goals. They also provide lifestyle education in a practical and individualized style, always with the goal of teaching their patients how to get and stay healthy.

As Director of Nutritional Services, Dr. Michael B. Wald provides detailed and highly specific consultations and recommends appropriate tests to assess nutritional needs. Dr. Wald’s training allows him to incorporate medical health history, nutritional tests and dietary recommendations into a holistic, comprehensive program that addresses each person’s health concerns.

Dr. Nilay Shah, Director of Medical Services, combines traditional medical training with a ‘nutritional and holistic spin,’ ensuring his patients receive a wide range of health care options – including those from both natural and conventional medicine.

Appreciating the diverse needs and schedules of New Yorkers, Integrated Medicine & Nutrition has 24-hour accessibility for scheduling and rescheduling and can arrange special appointments on off-hours or weekends and will even come to your home, for an additional fee.  Dr. Shah and Dr. Wald look forward to becoming New Yorker’s gateway for internal medicine, neurologic and nutrition expertise.

To celebrate their NYC launch, Integrated Medicine & Nutrition is offering complimentary 15-minute consultations. For more information about services or appointments call 914-242-8844 or visit their website: intmedny.com.

by George Costa

Giving pets bed privileges is an age-old issue, with convincing arguments on both sides. The history of the pros and cons are evident in The International Encyclopedia of Dogs, which reports that 
in pre-Aztec Mexico, the Xoloitzcuintl, now known as the Mexican hairless breed, was a pet and a bed warmer.

Today, an American Pet Products Association survey indicates that nearly half of all dogs, 46 percent, at least sometimes sleep in the owner’s or a child’s bed. Cats fare even better, with 79 percent sleeping with their people when they’re in the mood. When he worked as medical director of the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, Dr. John W. Shepard, Jr. discovered that a significant percentage of his haggard patients slept with their animals.

After surveying to see how much the pets disturbed their sleep, he declared that about half the pet sleepers asserted that their animal woke them more than once a night. On the other hand, pet owners who desire to sleep with their four-legged companions will be delighted with a survey of veterinary behaviorists, who concluded that as long as a pet is a good sleeping companion, it’s fine to count sheep with them. Dr. Marsha Reich, a vet with a private animal behavior practice in Maryland, agrees. “Unless a dog growls when you roll over, I don’t have a problem with a dog in the bed.”

How To Be Your Dog’s Best Friend, the dog obedience manual by the Monks of New Skete, disagrees, advising that a dog should sleep on the floor, rather than in a person’s bed. Dog behavior specialists, such as Dr. Ian Dunbar and British behaviorist John Rogerson, side with the monks’ opinion, pointing out that if a bossy dog thinks the bed is his and he’s sharing his space, it’s the symptom of an unhealthy relationship.

Other concerns about sleeping with furry friends focus on pets that 
suffer from anxiety. Clingy, needy Fluffys or Fidos should not share bed space, because nightly cuddling fuels a pet’s codependence. A dog that suffers separation anxiety needs a little practice in feeling secure. Nighttime is a great time for a rehearsal.
Sleeping with cats is also a two-sided coin. According to Dr. Lynne Seibert, a behaviorist at the Veterinary Specialty Center in Lynnwood, Washington, the most common problem is that cats may not sleep at night.

Seibert observes that cats are home sleeping all day, which leaves them ready to party all night. She recommends supplying cats with more daytime stimulation and engaging them in a play session before bed.

A positive outlook on animal bed companions, offered by Dr. Roger Valentine, a holistic veterinarian in Santa Monica, California, sheds light on why pet owners often experience lower blood pressure and cholesterol, fewer minor health problems and better psychological well-being. “It’s a comfort to have a pet with you,” observes Valentine, also pointing out that, “Sleeping with your pet can reduce stress and put you in a relaxed frame of mind for more restful sleep.”

Presents allow us to express our love and gratitude. 
Why, then, do we get so stressed out over them, and how can we bring sense and significance back to the season? Though many complain about the commercialism of the holiday season, no one—not even the two-sizes-too-small-hearted Grinch—would wish to get rid of presents.

At its core, the exchange of gifts is a joyous ritual. Those robes, orchids and batches of oatmeal cookies we bestow every year let us acknowledge important relationships and strengthen bonds with friends, family and our community. “To give a gift to someone is to say, ‘I am connected to you, and I know you well enough to know what you like,’” advises M.J. Ryan, author of Attitudes of Gratitude.

Faced with a holiday season that’s too often fraught with chaos, stress, waste and debt, it’s easy to lose track of the pleasure and meaning of giving. But, by remembering what lies at the heart of this singular season and looking afresh at our impulses to give and receive, we can make these days feel more like the spiritual celebrations they were meant to be.

Look for the meaning
One way to bring meaning back to the holidays is to remember that they are holy days. “Welcome in the spirit of whatever you’re celebrating, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah or the solstice,” says Barbara Biziou, author of The Joys of Everyday Ritual and The Joy of Family Rituals. Biziou advocates reviving the family’s traditional ways of celebrating or creating new rituals, such as making ornaments together or cooking a meal for a neighbor or stranger, if the old ones no longer feel meaningful. Instead of obsessing about presents, we can spend this season connecting with people through the sharing of food, warmth and hospitality.

Ryan has found a way to make sure that everyone around her table remembers the holiday’s true meaning: At her dinner, each person takes a turn listening, as the others tell what they appreciate about her or him. “When we feel gratitude for what we have received, we have an experience of fullness,” comments Ryan. “From that fullness, you naturally want to give back. This is true generosity, not obligatory giving. It’s the natural process of recognizing what we have, and then sharing it.”

The good gift
Great pleasure is found in giving—or receiving—just the right gift. Last Christmas, for example, Ryan’s husband gave her a box of 12 envelopes, one for each month; inside each envelope was a picture of one of her favorite flowers that she could then trade in for an actual bouquet. This was a successful present, she explains, because it demonstrated how well her husband knew her—plus, it lasted all year long.

Ultimately, the best gifts are the ones given from the heart, gifts that infuse these rituals with feelings and values. They’re the ones that bring joy to the recipient and the giver—joy to the world. Even the Grinch realized this, right before his heart grew three sizes: “’Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.’”
Who could argue with Dr. Seuss?

Frances Lefkowitz is an award-winning writer, editor and reviewer whose work is widely published via print and subscription radio.

5 Great Gifts
According to the Center for a New American Dream, 54 percent of 21st century Americans surveyed, “feel that spending less money on gifts will allow them to focus on the true meaning of the holidays.” Here are some gift ideas that won’t break the time or money bank.

Personalized cookbook. Give friends recipes for the kinds of food they enjoy. Throughout the year, clip items from magazines and newspapers, and then compile them into a store-bought journal.

Something of your own. Giving away things we love to people we love is always meaningful, whether it’s a family heirloom, a piece of jewelry or a favorite book.

Photographs. Who doesn’t adore a picture of the grandkids, a childhood snapshot of ourselves with our best friend, or a visual memento from last summer’s camping trip? Frame a single photo, put a series in an album, or pick 12 and have them made into a calendar at the photo shop.

Gift of experience. 
Giving activities—a spa day for two, a wine tasting lesson or sports tickets—brings people together. Concert dates, brunch or a trip to a favorite hiking spot are other good options.

A donation.
Send a check to someone’s favorite charity in lieu of a gift (make sure it’s their favorite cause, not ours). Or, ask friends if we can join them in their volunteer work.

Intention statements, framed negatively, evoke the opposite and do not work. For example, rather than say, “I intend I am not sick anymore,” as Intenders, we would assert, “I intend that I am in perfect health.” Because we haven’t mentioned anything about sickness or disease, it cannot be created from our statement.
As Intenders, we are successful at manifesting because we add strong statements at the end of our intentions. When we finish stating an intention, we emphatically say, “So be it,” “So it is,” or “So it is done.”

These words are powerful because they allow us to see our intentions as already having 
manifested. For us, the key to manifesting anything is to picture the end result from the beginning—to see it as “a done deal,” and then hold that vision in mind until it actually appears in our three-dimensional world. In order for our intentions to manifest, they must serve the highest and best good of the Universe, including ourselves and everyone concerned.

We would never make an intention without including a “highest good” clause, as it ensures that only those intentions which are truly for our highest good will manifest. All other intentions that do not serve us or our fellow men and women will not be created. Intenders place tremendous value in coming together in community to make intentions with other like-minded and lighthearted people. At every opportunity, we take advantage of the fact that there is strength in numbers. We create Intenders Circles, in which we get together with others who align with us and who help us to envision our intentions as already manifested.

This makes everything manifest more swiftly and easily. In 15 years of observing Intenders Circles in action, we have learned that it is of prime importance that we gather and work together in community in order to create a world where we live in peace, freedom, abundance and fulfillment.

For more information about the Intenders of the Highest Good, visit Intenders.com.

Every family has their favorite holiday cookies. This is the time of year we all dig up our long-cherished recipes that have been handed down from one generation to another.  Eventually some cookies become tiresome, and are rotated out of the roster. But other recipes stand the test of time to become standards, replayed every year like classic holiday carols.  

In our home Pecan Puff Ball cookies have become a Christmas tradition. I enjoy serving them when friends drop in and everyone seems to love them. These are simply my favorite cookie to bake and give away to family and friends. Sometimes a homemade gift can give the most pleasure to those you love, especially when they’re this delicious. I usually make several batches to keep up with the requests for more, more, more!!! These can also be made ahead and frozen for holiday giving. Just make sure they’re packed in tightly-sealed, freezer-friendly containers.

Pecan Puff Balls
Yields about 3 dozen cookies

½ cup, plus ¼ cup confectioner’s 
(powdered) sugar
2 sticks unsalted soft butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup of coarsely-chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with a “silpat” sheet, or parchment paper.
Into medium-sized mixing bowl, sift ½ cup of the powdered sugar (for dusting pecan cookies), set aside.
In separate mixing bowl, cream butter and ¼ cup powdered sugar; add vanilla and almond extracts.
Stir flour and salt into the mixture.
Blend in pecans.
Roll teaspoon-sized dough into neatly shaped balls and place 1” apart on cookie sheets.
Bake about 20 minute but check them at 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a rack, about 5 minutes.
Roll cookies into sifted powdered sugar. When cookies have cooled completely, roll them in the powdered sugar for a second coating.
Stir in airtight containers or tins.

It’s the holiday season and there’s no better place to enjoy the holidays than New York.  The city is crowded, noisy and bright with activity. And this is maybe the one time of year no one seems to mind (much). One of the attractions offered here is the New York Botanical Garden’s Annual Holiday Train Show. It’s a great treat for both children and adults.

This month’s inspirational Natural Heroes  are the students, teachers and administrators of The George Jackson Academy. This empowering private Middle School for boys, offers students from less-advantaged economic backgrounds, educational opportunities that are fast-tracking them to successful academic futures.

In Be Inspired…Give From the Heart This Season , shows how we can hit the “restart” button on all the pressures surrounding holiday presents and bring sense and significance back into the season. Children are an important part of this runaway-present equation that threatens to takeover the holidays in many homes. Gifts for Good, Instilling Generosity and Joy in Children , discusses ideas for introducing your child to alternative gift giving.

Many people plan to entertain family and friends this month. Maybe this is the year you Throw a Green Holiday Party. Green Living contributing writers, Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell, have some great ideas. For many, the holidays can be a time of great stress. In Emotional Fitness, Kathleen Noone offers suggestions on ways to trade that stress for an opportunity of introspection and growth.

If you’re tired of talking about the health care controversy, this month’s Natural Pet  offers another heavy topic of almost equal controversy…“Should Fido and Fluffy share your bed?” In this month’s Local Greens Robin Mattson temporarily puts down her heavy load of C.S.A. vegetables and shares her family’s favorite Christmas cookie recipe, Pecan Puff Balls. Go ahead and enjoy the cookies. You can always work off some of the extra calories ice skating in Central Park.

And speaking of calories, the fun doesn’t stop with Robin’s beloved Pecan Puff Balls. Conscious Eating includes a half-dozen additional holiday favorites with a healthy slate of ingredients. And if the ice skating doesn’t keep you ahead of the calorie count, supplement with cross-country skiing in the park, or power-shopping on Madison Avenue.

No matter what you’re celebrating this month, enjoy the holidays! New York is an incredibly diverse city. There is arguably something here for everyone. In this month’s Calendar of Events  we’re featuring a special holiday calendar, chock full of special events and things to do during this special time in our city. So find something to celebrate and make a holiday of it.

Tom Citrano
Publisher

Every December, parents like me lament the “gimme” culture that so easily overtakes the holidays. But with environmental and social justice issues gaining ground and everyone rethinking economic priorities, introducing your child to opportunities for alternative giving can make a world of difference.

Even little changes—such as adding a charity to the family’s giving tradition—can have a profound impact on how a child approaches the holidays. The idea is not to make a child feel bad about wanting stuff or be guilted into giving to others. Only cheerful giving makes a lasting difference. The following tips will help everyone tap into a deeper joy this holiday season by embracing altruistic and Earth-friendly gifts.

Reframe the List
Rather than instituting a blanket prohibition on traditional gifts, consider asking your child to name the two or three items he or she most wants to receive. Then, gently turn the focus outward by generating a new list, asking, “What do you love the most?”

Aside from the obvious (“Cookies!” “My iPod!”), try to capture your child’s fondness for certain things: animals, people, places or hobbies. Then ask, “How can we give a gift to that?” For example, if your daughter says “Bears,” ask if she’d like to give money to help protect panda or grizzly habitats. Play up your son’s fondness for tree forts by donating to a tree-planting group. There are endless ways to creatively encourage giving to a cause that matters to a child.

Go Eco
When nothing but a tangible gift will do, scour natural shops, where you’ll find high-quality items made with personal and planetary health in mind. Options abound: adorable, organic, stuffed animals and nontoxic wooden toys make babies and toddlers smile. Even picky teens might appreciate a sustainable-harvest bamboo skateboard (reportedly stronger than conventional decks), or trendy, organic-fiber apparel.

Also consider scouting high-end consignment stores for barely used and cost-conscious clothes and toys. Then, encourage low-impact wrappings, such as cloth napkins, kitchen towels or an old standby, the Sunday comics.

Give and Do Good
When shopping, look for fair-trade items, which means that producers were paid honest wages for their wares. Jewelry, chocolates, toys and more can be sourced from such fair-trade companies as those found at WorldofGood.org and BeadforLife.org.

The nifty, solar-powered BOGO (Buy One/Give One) flashlight at BogoLight.com does more than illuminate your keyhole; for every light purchased, another is donated to a grateful community in the developing world. When you buy the UN World Food Programme’s reversible burlap and muslin FEED bag, proceeds feed one impoverished child for one school year; it’s available at Amazon.com.

Volunteer
Return to the list you generated with your child and pick something you can do together in your town as a gift to your family’s place in the world. Do your kids love outings near the water? Spend an hour picking up trash along a local shoreline or creek. Do they enjoy the company of other kids? Have them box up gently used or new clothes, books and toys and deliver them to a family shelter housing homeless children. Whatever you do, make it your child’s choice. You’ll likely find that altruistic giving is a lot like cooking: Once kids get involved, they eat it up.

We can recognize the solstice as a powerful moment of annual turning by lighting a candle or burning a Yule log, in keeping with ancient traditions. It’s a time to seek warmth by surrounding ourselves with friends and family dear to our hearts. It’s a time to bring mistletoe, holly, ivy and piney evergreens home, gather around the table, laugh over shared stories, read poetry and renew our spirits with photographed memories of recent vacations.

Solstice brings a time of stillness and reflection. Placing seeds such as acorns into an offering bowl serves as a gentle reminder of nature’s empowering renewal of life through rebirth. Children will enjoy venturing outdoors to look at the stars through a telescope. Stargazing on a clear night is a humbling experience that can shift and lift our mood and perspective.

Source: Adapted from Shambhala.org.

Nuts Over Pistachios

Green—a theme of this holiday season—can benefit us even more when packaged in the form of pistachio nuts, say researchers at Penn State University. Pistachios, the researchers note, contain both beneficial plant sterols and fiber and an important enzyme involved in the body’s synthesis of fatty acids, especially cholesterol. They see the nuts as a valuable addition to any healthy diet aimed at reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease.

In this new, first study considering the cholesterol lowering effects of the heart-healthy party favorite, participants ate a general cholesterol-lowering diet that included pistachios in meals and as snacks, as a substitute for other fats. The control group ate the cholesterol-lowering diet only, with the same fat content, but without the nuts. In comparison with the control group, the pistachio group lowered their LDL, or bad cholesterol, by about 12 percent.

The Green Healer

It turns out that broccoli is a super way to green holiday menus. This wonder veggie, which has been found to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer, now has been found to even reverse damage done to heart vessels as a result of diabetes, according to UK researchers.

People with diabetes are evidently up to five times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than others. With diabetes on the rise, we have good reason this season not to shy away from having seconds of the green stuff.

SOURCE: MEDICAL NEWS TODAY

GREEN LIGHTS
New energy-saving LED holiday lights 
use 90 percent less energy than conventional 
bulbs and can save up to $50 on the household
 energy bill through the holiday season.   Source: SierraClub.org

It’s easiest to start with just a few categories. Challenge the whole family to get on board and have some fun. For example: Reusing the same decorations, tableware and activities year after year creates treasured traditions among family and friends.

Remember to emphasize quality over quantity: buy 25 percent less than normal when shopping, for everything from trimmings to hors d’oeuvres. It’s likely that no one will miss the excess, and every effort aids the planet.
Here are some ideas to kick-start the celebrations:

Trees — Invest in a live tree to plant in the yard after the holidays, and patronize a local, pesticide-free, sustainable farm or grower if possible. For a cut tree, chip and compost it later. (Many communities offer post-holiday curbside pickup, composting trees for mulch. Call your public works or waste management department for details.)

Lights — New light-emitting diode (LED), fluorescent or solar holiday lights are preferred replacements when old-style lights fail. Put them on a timer and use conservatively. With traditional lights, pick strings with smaller bulbs, which use less energy and emit less heat.

Ornaments and décor — The best decorations are handcrafted, made from 100 percent natural materials, and created at home, locally or by artisans in other countries earning fair wages. Avoid products containing non-recyclable plastics, lead, phthalates or other toxins.

Creating zero-waste home decorations can become a cherished family tradition, eagerly anticipated each year and enjoyed by all ages. Consider designing recycled-paper snowflake cutouts; wreaths and centerpieces from collected tree trimmings; non-microwave popcorn and cranberry garlands; gingerbread houses; soy or beeswax candles; and stockings made from fabric scraps or knit natural fibers.

Tableware — Favor reusable plates, glasses, utensils, napkins and tablecloths. For larger gatherings, borrow extra place settings from friends or family, rent them, or stock up at a consignment or thrift store.

Cards — Send e-cards or email the family newsletter, or find snail-mail cards, invitations and thank-you notes made from recycled or tree-free materials and soy-based inks, via the Internet (search “eco-friendly cards” and “recycled holiday cards”). Find creative ways to parlay incoming cards by searching “reuse holiday cards.”

Gifts — Ideal presents sare handmade, activity-based, consumable or charitable. Look for a fair trade stamp of approval, as well as use of natural, sustainable, reused or recycled materials. Forego anything overpackaged, mass-produced, disposable, cheaply made, of unknown origin or requiring lots of additional components.

Wrapping — Creative giftwrap options include reusing decorative papers and traditional ribbons, raffia ribbons and repurposed fabrics.

Food and drink — Enjoy healthy holiday meals made from local and organic foods, to avoid genetically modified ingredients (see Natural Awakenings November 2008 issue). Cut down on meats, while upping the fruit and veggie quotient. Select organic drinks and liqueurs, and wine with real cork stoppers. Finally, compost table scraps.

Hosting a splashy party during the holidays, or anytime, can be as enjoyable as it is eco-friendly. The key to going green is to plan ahead, get everyone involved, and make it fun.

Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell are mother and daughter coauthors of Celebrate Green! – Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations & Traditions for the Whole Family, from which this article was adapted. Find more ideas for enlivening occasions throughout the year at CelebrateGreen.net.