Pick up lines. Not surprisingly, a quick scan on Google brings up a plethora of sites counting down the best (and worst) ever uttered. You’ll find ‘Lines That Are Good’, which has over 1300 lines broken down to how many attempts were “made,” and how often they were successful. A classic example: “Use index finger to call someone over then say, ‘I made you come with one finger, imagine what I could do with my whole hand’”…uh, yeah. There’s also ‘Pickup artists unite,’ which is apparently where pickup lines go to die (a long, slow, horrible death). Thank God this one was buried: “Hey do you have any Irish in you?” [blank stare] “You want some?”

In American culture, we are bombarded daily with the marketing of innumerable products, television shows, and even people. These are pleasures that can be isolated, packaged, purchased and consumed at will in order to fulfill our every desire. Car dealers promise the pleasure of status; soft drink companies promise happy memories with good friends; make-up manufacturers promise sexual desirability. All of these promised results (if they ever happen) may certainly be pleasurable, but they are also often fleeting and misleading. By habitually satiating ourselves with purchased pleasures, we miss out on the fulfillment of other, more life-affirming pleasures. Pleasure begins with desire—one of the most powerful forces in human nature.

Here’s what you need to know first.
What does “holistic health” mean anyway? Well, if you do a quick Google search, you’ll find definitions such as a wellness approach that addresses the body, mind and spirit or the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of an individual, or a term used to describe therapies that attempt to treat the patient as a whole person.
Ok, then.
What does that mean??!! And what does it mean when alternative practitioners advertise that they are practicing holistic health? What can you expect? Juju and …

Ahh, the eternal question.
Where are we to begin with anything, really? Guess what, it’s time to pull out that key I gave you access to back in 101. Can’t find it? Better go back and do some reading.
Those of you who have it, but were left wondering what the hell to do with it, here’s some helpful hints. Or strategies, if you will.
First, think long and hard about what you really enjoy in your life. Going out and partying with your friends? The ten or fifteen cigarette and coffee …

Oh man, when did holistic health advertising get taken over by former car salesmen? Puulease. I’m here to break the news that you will still have issues after starting to pay attention to that which you may have been avoiding (and at first, those problems may suddenly seem ten-fold).

They do not magically disappear. And you will never, EVER reach perfect health. Because guess what? It’s an enigma.

I’m trying to save you a lot of pain and heartache here, because I long believed there was some pie in the sky that I would eventually obtain by living to the supposed holistic-T, and instead I got smacked around with a little reality.

Here’s my claim up front: working with your dreams (that you have while sleeping) will revitalize your career, rekindle your love life, and unleash your creativity so you can go after what you really want in life.
I admit it’s an arrogant claim that paying attention to those nightly dreams can revitalize every aspect of our lives. But it’s true. Dreaming is a window into our most naked needs, desires, fears and aspirations. So if you are looking for a quick path to invigorate your unique skills and passions, tending your dreams is an easy first step.

A couple of months before my Australian and European adventures during the summer and fall of 2007, I had decided on a whim to participate in a retreat at Amma’s ashram in San Ramon, CA.

For those who don’t know Amma, she is known as the “hugging guru,” and Indian woman who travels all over the world and gives everyone who comes to her ashram during her open visits a heartfelt hug.

The feeling a person gets from her hug is almost impossible to explain; it might be likened to how people who had their feet washed by Jesus must have felt, or those who heard dharma directly from Buddha’s mouth.