ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVES: AMANDLA STENBERG CHANNELS 'THE FORCE'
Spirituality & Health|July/August 2024
Journalist KAREN BRAILSFORD was over the moon when actress and musician AMANDLA STENBERG agreed to meet her over Zoom for this heart-to-heart about spiritual matters for Spirituality & Health: A Unity Publication. Brailsford, a lifelong seeker who feels blessed to be Stenberg's mother, once captioned an Instagram photo of her daughter with Michael Bernard Beckwith of the Agape International Spiritual Center: "When your master teachers run into one another at a Hollywood event." Brailsford says she has learned a great deal from each one.
KAREN BRAILSFORD
ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVES: AMANDLA STENBERG CHANNELS 'THE FORCE'

Stenberg's latest project, The Acolyte, an eight-part series airing on Disney+ starting June 4, marks her launch into the Star Wars universe. Stenberg plays the titular character. It's an adventure she was destined to take after a string of acclaimed roles in The Hunger Games, The Hate U Give, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies, and more. "Amandla" means "power" in Zulu, and George Lucas' world is all about "The Force." Talk about a match made in heaven. Here is their mother-daughter exploration of the spiritual underpinnings of Stenberg's life.

KAREN BRAILSFORD: I thought it would feel centering to begin by playing the Gayatri Mantra [considered the most powerful of all Hindu mantras] because it encapsulates what I think of you and spirituality. I remember trying to memorize the words, but you listened to it once and, boom. You got it. It's just one example of how magical and mystical you've always been.

AMANDLA STENBERG: Aww, you're going to make me cry.

KB: Crying's okay. It's healing!

AS: Crying's great! I love crying. It's very important to me.

KB: So, why did you say yes to this conversation with me?

AS: Recently I've been reflecting on my relationship to spirituality and what I deem my higher power. Life accumulates with responsibilities and events that can decenter you from a sense of groundedness. This past year I've realized there are practices indispensable to my being fully connected to my reality, to my body, and to my loved ones, and ultimately, they service my ability to navigate my life. This spotlight is an amazing way to reflect on this with you because spirituality has fundamentally shaped me as a person because of how you raised me.

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SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Let's Not Limit Nature- According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, nature is first defined as "the external world in its entirety," with etymological roots from multiple cultures and originating meanings
Spirituality & Health

Let's Not Limit Nature- According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, nature is first defined as "the external world in its entirety," with etymological roots from multiple cultures and originating meanings

The ancient Greeks had no word for art. Many indigenous people have no word for religion. Art and religion were inherent to human life until outsiders needed to critique and study these concepts-so they named them. The legacy of the word nature is similar. We speak about nature as if we are separate from itas if, like a starkly delineated shadow on a sidewalk, you can stand with one foot in nature and one foot outside of it.

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3 dak  |
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QUEEN DIAMBI KABATUSUILA SHEDS A NEW LIGHT ON AFRICA
Spirituality & Health

QUEEN DIAMBI KABATUSUILA SHEDS A NEW LIGHT ON AFRICA

In 2016, before she became queen of the Bakwa Luntu people of the Dimbelenge territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Queen Diambi Kabatusuila was a 48-year-old therapist going through a difficult divorce, living in Boca Raton, Florida, and having a recurring dream about an old woman in an African village.

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Over the MOON About Helping Animals (and Their People)
Spirituality & Health

Over the MOON About Helping Animals (and Their People)

Since I was a child, I've had a ritual: Every night, I go outside and search the sky for the moon and stars. I marvel at the magnificence of a dark, crisp, clear, midnight blue sky and its symphony of constellations, occasional meteors, and the glorious moon herself-each illuminating the vastness. This simple practice always gives me the deepest peace and centeredness. It aligns my internal compass every night before bed.

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6 dak  |
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Unlikely Lightworkers from Liverpool
Spirituality & Health

Unlikely Lightworkers from Liverpool

The Beatles were more than musical masters-they were spiritual pioneers.

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ENTER THE SAUNA
Spirituality & Health

ENTER THE SAUNA

Journalist Emily O’Kelly shares some uplifting research on the benefits of sweat bathing, a global healing practice not just limited to Northern climes.

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LEAVING MESA VERDE
Spirituality & Health

LEAVING MESA VERDE

After 21 years of service at Mesa Verde National Park, RANGER DAVID FRANKS recently guided his last tour of the pueblos and cliff dwellings. He says he was fortunate to assist the archeologists with a variety of work and never lost his amazement with their ability to figure out how and when things happened. The question he still wrestles with is much deeper: Why they left?

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MY SMILING NEIGHBOR CALLS ME A CHRIST KILLER...
Spirituality & Health

MY SMILING NEIGHBOR CALLS ME A CHRIST KILLER...

ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FOR THE SPIRITUAL TRAVELER

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FEATURED ARTIST - Paul Lewin
Spirituality & Health

FEATURED ARTIST - Paul Lewin

Lead digital editor Brenna Lilly spoke with artist Paul Lewin about ancestral inspiration, visions for the future, and the art of patience.

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3 Poses for Awakening
Spirituality & Health

3 Poses for Awakening

The difference between yoga and many other forms of exercise is that while you are doing it, you are paying attention. You notice your breath, your rhythm, the specific ways the body feels in each posture. Yoga can be a form of moving meditation. This can be true for any pose, but these three advanced poses, which bring energy into the head, heart, and throat, are especially helpful for awakening.

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3 dak  |
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THE SIMPLE THERMODYNAMICS OF ENLIGHTENMENT
Spirituality & Health

THE SIMPLE THERMODYNAMICS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

When S+H was conceived, evolutionary neuroscientist PEGGY LA CERRA, PhD, awakened to a new understanding of the nature of the mind created by evolution. It’s not widely taught, but the science seems pretty obvious.

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5 dak  |
July/August 2023