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Meet the Author of . . . Spark Change

Jennie Lee — October 26, 2020

The Author

Jennie Lee is the author of Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions for Spiritual Evolution. In addition to being an author, she is a recognized expert in the fields of yoga therapy and spiritual living. She has taught classical yoga and meditation for more than 20 years, and coached private clients in the practices that integrate life spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. She is also the author of the award-winning books True Yoga: Practicing With the Yoga Sutras for Happiness & Spiritual Fulfillment and Breathing Love: Meditation in Action. She lives in Hawai‘i with her husband and bunnies. For more, see jennieleeyogatherapy.com.

The Book

Spark Change Book It’s been said that finding the right question is as important as finding its answer. As author Jennie Lee writes, “Quality questions lead to quality answers. Questions promote deeper thought, connection, authenticity, and humility.” In Spark Change, Lee shows you how to identify your most important personal questions and explore how they might redefine the trajectory of your life.

Send us a photo of you and your pet (and let us know if your pet had any role in helping you write your book)!

Jennie Lee and Toki

Most evenings I share a little couch time with my house bunny Toki. As prey animals, rabbits sense energy, so if I have had a tense day and carry any agitation into snuggle time, Toki will nip my leg as if to say, “calm down!” Relaxing with the bun reminds me to let go of what I can’t control, and to practice being peaceful in the present moment. Toki time in the evening reinforces what I write about in Spark Change—the necessity of self-reflection and accountability for what needs changing within myself. And he is a darn cute teacher.

What is something about you that doesn’t make it into your author bio? It could be something that impacts your work, or something totally random and entertaining!

Jennie Lee Surf

Although I grew up in Southern California, I was always a bit afraid of the ocean. When I moved to Hawai‘i, I wanted to get beyond this fear, so I taught myself how to surf. Now, paddling out at dawn into the gorgeous turquoise water is one of the best things about my day. The focus that is required to catch a wave is an apt metaphor for accomplishing anything in life, and the exhilaration that comes when I make the drop and take the ride is pure joy.

What was your favorite book as a child?

Harold Purple Crayon

As an only child, I played alone a lot. I loved Harold and the Purple Crayon because Harold drew himself into his own adventures, created his own frightening dragons, and saved his own life by imagining a new way home. Imagination is essential to living a creative life and this story illustrates how we craft our experiences through our thoughts. Ever since childhood, I have been learning how to design, with greater intention, the life of my dreams by eliminating dead ends in my thinking and replacing them with new roads home.

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5 Ways to Bring Nature into Playtime: The Biophilia Ef...

Clemens G. Arvay — May 8, 2018

The childhood capacity to play creatively helps kids learn how to solve problems more effectively. Children develop their motor and mechanical skills, as well as planning skills and teamwork. The fact that many of our children now spend little time playing outdoors, growing up instead with commercial toys, video game consoles, computer games, and television prevents them from learning practical things in such a simple and joyful way as playing creatively in nature. Spending more time in nature or in a garden can bring this aspect back into the development of our children.

Spending time in nature can also significantly help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Richard Louv, a contributor to the New York Times and the Washington Post, speaks of the “Ritalin of nature” and advocates that children be treated with time in nature instead of with medication. But even for children without ADHD, the effects of being in nature boost attention and concentration.

Patrik Grahn—professor in environmental psychology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences—and his team compared children in two kindergartens. One group played regularly on a playground that was mostly paved over, had few plants, and was surrounded by high-rise buildings. The other playground was in the middle of woods and meadows, bordering an overgrown orchard with old fruit trees. The children played there in almost any weather. Professor Grahn showed that these children exhibited better physical coordination and significantly better concentration skills in comparison to the children going to a playground with less nature.

Children’s ability to communicate also increases, as the researchers from the University of Illinois found in the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory. They also proved that symptoms of restlessness and hyperactivity can be alleviated even in ADHD patients by regularly playing in nature. I recommend the following to parents and teachers who wish to improve their children’s attention, communication skills, and concentration:

If possible, try to set up your children’s playroom/bedroom in a room that has a view of nature.
Motivate children to play outside in green surroundings whenever possible—even in the rain or snow!
Be an advocate for natural schoolyards at your children’s school. It is especially important for the recovery of the child’s ability to concentrate and interact.
Plant and care for trees and other vegetation at home, or work with your landlord to establish a community garden in your apartment area.
Get creative and make toys and other crafts from natural “supplies” from nature, such as this gourd music maker:

Musical Instruments from Gourds: Here’s How to Do It!

Dried gourds from your garden—whether short and spherical, long and cone-shaped, or those with a huge, bulbous, resounding body—make excellent rattles for children. Any variety of bottle gourds, also known as calabashes, is good for making a rattle.

Harvest the ripe calabashes in autumn. Now let the spongy flesh inside dry up and shrink. To do this, hang the calabashes at home in a way that allows sufficient air circulation around them; above a heater is particularly suitable. Drying is best done during the cold season, when home heaters are on, since low humidity is important for success. The calabashes must not touch one another, for this encourages decomposition.

During drying, it is hard to avoid a slight mold coating on the shell. This can be regularly wiped off with a cloth. You only have to take care that the gourd doesn’t get soft or rotten in spots. Occasionally it is possible to keep the calabash entirely mold-free by scraping off the outermost skin early in the drying process. Once the fruit is dried, the rattle is ready. The fruit flesh inside is sufficiently dried and shrunk so that the seeds are now free in the resulting cavity and will rattle when shaken.

Of course, calabashes can be further crafted into more sophisticated musical instruments, such as the finger piano (kalimba), which children especially like. If you enjoy working with your hands, bongos or a sitar—an Indian string instrument—can also be created from bottle gourds, as these offer an optimal resounding space. There are also types of gourds with very long, narrow fruits that, after drying and scraping, can produce a didgeridoo with proper bass and rich overtones. The Australian Aborigines traditionally made didgeridoos from branches and trunks of eucalyptus trees that were naturally hollowed out by termites in the wild.

Children will love to play instruments that they watched growing in the garden. This creates a connection that is so much more valuable than any store-bought rattle or toy drum. Other items of daily use can be produced from gourds, such as bottles, spoons, pitchers, dolls, ornamental objects, and many others. There is no limit to your creativity, and the internet is full of instructions for the use of calabashes as musical instruments and utensils.

Born in 1980, Clemens G. Arvay is an Austrian engineer and biologist. He studied landscape ecology (BSc) at Graz University and applied plant sciences (MSc) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Arvay examines the relationship between humans and nature, focusing on the health-promoting effects of contact with plants, animals, and landscapes. The author also addresses a second range of topics that includes ecologically produced food along with the economics of large food conglomerates. Clemens G. Arvay has written numerous books, including his bestseller The Biophilia Effect. For more, please visit clemensarvay.com.

Buy your copy of The Biophilia Effect: A Scientific and Spiritual Exploration of the Healing Bond Between Humans and Nature at your favorite bookseller!

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Nourishing Loving Relationships – a live worksho...

Tara Brach — March 31, 2015

We cherish the important relationships in our lives. But when so many of us have experienced these relationships as a source of insecurity, hurt, and betrayal, how do we overcome the obstacles between us and cultivate genuine bonds of trust, understanding, intimacy, and love?

Nourishing Loving Relationships brings you a two–day intensive workshop with Dr. Tara Brach in Tucson, Arizona. Through talks, experiential reflections and meditations, journaling, and periods of questions and sharing, we will explore the beliefs and feelings that separate us—and how to heal and nourish the loving relationships we all long for.

“At the end of our lives, as we look back,” reflects Dr. Brach, “what will most matter will be the moments of loving presence in our relationships.” Join us in the warm weather of Tucson as she brings her signature blend of Western psychology and Eastern wisdom practices for bringing mindful attention to our inner lives and engaging in our outer world fully and compassionately.

Continuing education credits available. Learn more here.

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Daniel Pinchbeck: The Many Angles of 2012

Daniel Pinchbeck — April 8, 2009

Tami Simon interviews journalist Daniel Pinchbeck, the author of 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, in an exploration of the various views on the meaning of 2012 and examine their validity. By doing so we dive into the broad array of different perspectives, held across the world, on the importance of this quickly approaching date. (49 minutes)

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The Guru Question

— May 17, 2011

Tami Simon speaks with Mariana Caplan, PhD, a psychotherapist, cultural anthropologist, and professor of yogic and transpersonal psychologies at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is the author of six books in the fields of psychology and spirituality, including Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path and her newest book with Sounds True, The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher. In this episode, Tami speaks with Mariana about who needs a dedicated spiritual mentor, what to look for and what to avoid when seeking a teacher for yourself, and the path of “conscious discipleship”—what it means to be a great student. (72 minutes)

podcast

Post Views: 535

Meditation as Loving Life

Lorin Roche — July 23, 2013

Tami Simon speaks with Lorin Roche, a renowned meditation teacher who teaches an approach called Instinctive Meditation. Lorin is the author of several popular books, including Meditation Made Easy and the forthcoming book The Radiance Sutras from Sounds True. He has also created the Sounds True audio learning program Meditation for Yoga Lovers. In this episode, Tami speaks with Lorin about the “posture” of welcoming all experience, ways that we can allow the body to teach the mind, and his radical understanding of desire, which plays a key part in his teaching on how we can create an individual approach to our spiritual practice. (68 minutes)

Meet the Author of . . . Spark Change

The Author

The Book

Learn More

Sounds True | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | IndieBound

5 Ways to Bring Nature into Playtime: The Biophilia Ef...

Nourishing Loving Relationships – a live worksho...

Daniel Pinchbeck: The Many Angles of 2012

The Guru Question

Meditation as Loving Life

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