MICHAEL GURIAN is a social philosopher, family therapist, educator, and the bestselling author of fifteen books. The Gurian Institute, which he co-founded, conducts research internationally, launches pilot programs and trains professionals. Michael has been called "the people's philosopher" for his ability to bring together people's ordinary lives and scientific ideas.

A revolutionary vision for parents and educators alike -- indeed, for all who love children -- The Soul of the Child is a deft blend of inspiring stories, common sense, and scientific observations that demonstrates what the soul is and how it works. This insightful and groundbreaking book urges its readers to become aware of our children's divine inheritance, and learn how to nurture that divinity. Sensible and informed, it shows how to protect childhood from the complexities of our age, and provides, as no book ever has, the means for bestowing upon our children the gifts of compassion, security, discipline, humility, and enlightenment. 

The Soul of the Child is a passionate and practical book that puts forth a finely wrought argument for greater attention to the spiritual side of childhood, to the very life of the human soul. And it couldn't have come at a better time. 

In addition to convincing us that our children are "light", Gurian presents an intriguing perspective on the body and soul's oneness by supporting his philosophy using science and wisdom from the world's religions.  He asks us to look at our children in a new "light", for the betterment of their souls and our society.   

Thank you, Michael, for teaching us about nurturing the souls of our children.

IRIS KRASNOW - Best-selling author and journalist Iris Krasnow redefines self-discovery with her new book written to urge all of us "to think life-lifts, not facelifts." A chronicle of what she terms the "most difficult and most important surrender" and "a journey into the soul of self," Surrendering to Yourself: You Are Your Own Soul Mate (Miramax Books;$ 23.95) completes the trilogy she began with Surrendering to Motherhood and Surrendering to Marriage. Her over-riding message is this: "You cannot count on other people to make you happy. You must do that for yourself", by leading a life propelled by what she terms the "three Ps" -- purpose, passion, and perseverance".

"Surrendering to yourself means boldly chasing dreams with focus and urgency, no matter your age, and plugging into the passions of your soul, those selves of truth that got buried with responsibility and time," writes Krasnow. "It's time right now to become who you always wanted to be, the self you were meant to be all along."

MARTIN L. ROSSMAN, M.D., is the cofounder and president of the Academy for Guided Imagery and is on the faculty of the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. The author of Guided Imagery for Self-Healing and Fighting Cancer from Within: How to Use the Power of Your Mind For Healing, he lives in Mill Valley, California. 

Recent research has shown that your mind has the power not only to alleviate the daily anxiety of living with cancer but also to improve your chances of overcoming it. In this important new book, leading complementary medicine expert Dr. Martin Rossman teaches you about the healing powers of imagery, providing techniques that can help you relax, alleviate stress, and relieve pain.

In more than thirty years of practice, Dr. Rossman has seen the power of imagery work for thousands of his patients. Now he shares these life-changing techniques in a practical and accessible guide for anyone who wants to tip the balance of health and illness in the direction of healing. 

KAARINA MERIKAARTO: Raised on a rural organic farm and art studio in Vermont in the late 1960s and 1970s, Kaarina Merikaarto found her entertainment and imagination was fueled by books, stories, visual arts and the natural environment.  She often skied cross-country to attend school, because after snowstorms the road would not be plowed for days.

In high school, Merikaarto had several poems published in anthologies.  Among her recent publications is an article on handicap-accessible recreation, written for "Sports and Spokes," a magazine for wheelchair sports and recreation.   Interviews with employees of the National Park Service have appeared in a variety of journals, including "La Prensa San Diego," which also published an article exploring the threats to the white abalone along the Southern California coast.

Merikaarto spent 8 years living between the Olympic Peninsula in Washington and Northern California.  Now she splits her time between Whidbey Island and Seattle, Washington, where she and her husband Jonathan Geurkink share life with two cats and a dog. On Whidbey Island, they find peace and the opportunity to return to the activities they love.

CHARLIE COMSTOCK is 51, was born in Santa Monica, and raised in Texas.  He moved back to California in the 80's then to Seattle in the 90's. In the middle of an amicable divorce with a genuine "soul mate"  he accepted a marketing job in a remote coastal community on the Washington coast that looks across the water to Canada where he currently resides.  His career consists of behavior modification on a mass scale.  

Charlie has started a new life for himself and now looks at the world with the same awe and wonder that he had when he was 6 years old.  He plans to explore photography and digital manipulation/expression and would like to learn how to be a writer so he can chronicle his observations and experiences on this planet.  However, he is not yet certain who his target audience is and how they would access his work.  We are happy that SpirituallyFit.com gives him a venue to share his writing.

PATRICK LOAFMAN is a wildlife biologist who has been working in the Olympic Mountains of Washington for ten years.  Patrick  has written  two chapbooks: Desert Journal is published by Lone Willow Press and Song of the Winter Wren was self-published.

NANCY L. NEWMAN is a writer, trainer, facilitator, and coach. She facilitates retreats for developing vision, values, and purpose. She also leads workshops and retreats for women and has coordinated several women’s conferences. Nancy will be facilitating A Summer Retreat for Women on Saturday, July 12th, at Lost Mountain Ranch in Sequim, Washington. For more information, call Nancy at (360) 452-1188 or e-mail her at econancy@olypen.com.

AMELIA ANDALEON is the Chief Editor of SpirituallyFit.com.  Educated in computer science and programming she left an international corporate career in the California Bay Area and moved back to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State to simplify her life.  She founded SpirituallyFit.com in 1999 to apply her computer skills to her love of writing, nature and music.  She and her husband Thad Ferre' share a love of the outdoors, adventure, travel, and sports.  Amelia and Thad now make their home in Port Angeles, Washington.

KENNETH P. GURNEY lives west of Port Angeles where he enjoys being between the mountains and the ocean.  Some years he is a poet who works at a bookstore.  Other years he is a bookstore clerk who writes poetry.  He is the editor of a poetry web site, http//:www.tmpoetry.com.

About Sudden Irreverence: This is just a summer evening down at the harbor park in Port Angeles, near sunset and the park is nearly empty of people. It is a place I go upon occasion and read my poetry to my gulls. In the poem, it is a musician, because people think more of musicians when they think of stages, especially park concert stages. The "boy" is calling for a mate (singing) just as the birds do. 

About Past the Tree Limb Graveyard: In this poem, Paul is recovering his positive spirit as well as his physical endurance a year or so after an accident where he loses a leg. Much of his life was wrapped up in running, track events, and the accident took away what gave him his "glory," his sense of value. Now he is running again and that is restoring him, helping him see he is not crippled or emotionally empty. Once he feels himself again, he will feel whole enough, confident enough, to pursue women. 

He will never ask the waitress out, because she is a person who collects emotionally empty men. Paul still has issues to deal with you can tell, because he drinks too much whisky and smokes weed. But running, physically running in races, competition and accomplishment, will help him face those trials down the road.

MICHAEL LEVY has recently established the Point of Life Foundation, a National Heritage Foundation dedicated to bridging the gap between science and religion and to bringing a clear, unbiased message to the general public to help them lead a meaningful, sharing and enjoyable existence. Starting in 2003 the Point of Life Foundation will present seminars and conferences bringing together opinion leaders from the fields of science, religion, medicine, philosophy and nutrition to help find common guidelines for leading a purposeful life.

DAVID ROTHENBERG:  Philosopher and musician David Rothenberg returns to SpirituallyFit.com with an excerpt, Day Four, from his latest book, Always the Mountains.  Welcome back David! 

About Always the Mountains: 

In settings that range from the wildness of philosophy to his own back porch in the Hudson Valley, Rothenberg discusses the meaning of mountains, the hazy provenance of Chief Seattle¹s famous speech, ecoterrorism, suburbia, the difference between knowledge and information, and the art of humans vs elephants.  A crazed Norwegian novelist traps him in a mountain cabin.  He writes a twenty page poem connecting Chernobyl, the Unabomber, and seventeen-year cicadas.  He wanders Manhattan with John Cage and climbs Mt. Ventoux with Petrarch and, with Zen master Dogen, walks along with the blue mountains constantly walking.

DR. ASOKA SELVARAJAH is an active author/researcher on personal development and esoteric spirituality. Asoka's work helps people achieve their full potential, deepen their understanding of mystical truth, and find joy in their true soul's purpose.

In You Have NO Excuse To Be Poor & Needy the theme of this hard-hitting article is that there is almost no reason why a person in the modern world should remain in poverty.  It examines the mental attitude that is required for creating wealth, and encourages the reader to adopt it.

ELEANORA SCARPETTA brightens our summer with the Best of Summer and scrumptious, healthy and colorful recipes for Italian Red Russet Potato Salad, Crab Arabiata, and tips on using Cucuzza.  Bring them to a fourth of July picnic or just make them at hom. Thank you again Eleanora for being a part of our webzine!

PEGGY DE BROUX:  "Backyards" paints a picture of the backyard in Peggy's own West Texas town of San Angelo, fictionally chronicling the life of a backyard in a very dry country: mesquite trees abound in this area (and this backyard); always sunny, the weather welcomes hanging clothes out to dry which acquire that marvelous smell of summer sun, and wild winds that pass through whip the laundry. Pecan trees also reside in this grassy backyard; indoors, near Christmas, the "green" pecans are shelled for holiday pies. The nostalgic memory carries the voice of the poem to another era, another backyard far east. Mosquitoes still buzz, but the heat is quite different: damp, not dry, and a group of friends gather on the porch to share conversation and wine.

Peggy is a poet, teaches French and is currently writing a manuscript.  We are grateful to Peggy for volunteering her valuable editorial talent to our webzine.  Thank you Peggy!