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Barbara Biziou, Owner, Blue Lotus Productions

About Barbara Biziou: Barbara Biziou, author of The joy of ritual and The Joy of Family Rituals, is an internationally acclaimed teacher of practical spirituality. A national television and radio guest, she is president of Blue Lotus Productions, a multi-media company, specializing in wellness and personal growth. Barbara inspires her clients to create goals that reflect their values and dreams and offers them the tools, options, and courage to turn those dreams into realities. Her teachings, practices, and rituals gently allow others to incorporate spirituality into their hectic schedules and existing lifestyles without creating extra work or stress! In her words, "it's practical spirituality," a modern approach to age-old customs and traditions from a variety of cultures around the globe. Barbara is a certified coach, hypnotherapist, voice dialogue facilitator, meditation teacher and Inter-faith minister whose workshops attract an eclectic crowd of upwardly mobile professionals, artists, celebrities, high profile personalities, and Fortune 500 corporations. She has consulted for the likes of Coca-Cola, Weight Watchers, JP Morgan Chase, International Red Cross, Lord & Taylor, Equinox Gym, and Calvary Hospital. With her never-ending wealth of knowledge, warm, inviting heart, open mind, and natural gift for teaching, she brings her global travels, from Bali to South America, and personal experience to her work, enlightening everyone she meets along the way. She is on the faculty of the American Management Association (AMA), The New York Open Center, East West Living, and One Spirit Learning Alliance. She is also on the board of the New York Women's Wellness Society and Miriam's Well. Barbara has been featured in Body & Soul, Harper's Bazaar, New York Magazine, and Parents Magazine. She also starred on Morgan Spurlock's hit F/X show 30 Days and was the everyday ritual expert on New Morning airing on the Hallmark Channel.

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LM: You have often been described as a teacher of "practical spirituality," can you tell us a little bit more about this?

BB: I believe that we need to integrate spirituality into our everyday lives. It is easy to be centered when you are away in a retreat, but the key is how to do it in the midst of chaos. I have studied with many amazing teachers and like to integrate many modalities into my work.

LM: Can you tell us a little bit about your practice with rituals and life coaching?

BB: I became passionate about using rituals after a very personal experience. I lost my sister when I was 6 weeks pregnant and because I was fearful of harming my child, I never really grieved. Years later, while in retreat in Arizona, I found myself creating a ritual to honor my sister. Without knowing it, I brought in elements of Native American, Balinese and ancient women's rituals. When I was finished, I felt a feeling of lightness that I had not experienced for years. I realized

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Simone in Gujarat Desert: Innovation TV Series.
About Simone:Simone Ahuja is the founder and Principal of Blood Orange Media a vertically integrated media company based in Minneapolis, USA. She began her Art career by performing and teaching improvisational and traditional theater, eventually moving into film and television. Her company, Blood Orange, develops, produces and distributes non-fiction television programs in genres that include travel, history, lifestyle, business and world culture for US and international broadcast, and develops concepts for fiction programming.

Simone has produced award-winning programming for CNBC, USA, founded an online film competition, and produced and directed the 2007 travel series Indique - Untold Stories of Contemporary India that airs nationally in the US, on international airlines including Northwest Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. In India, the series aired on Zee TV and the Indique DVD was launched at Crossword Bookstore by Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose and Ness Wadia. The series was most recently supported by Fortune 100 company, Best Buy. Simone is based out of Minneapolis, USA, and Bombay, India.

INDIQUE– Untold Stories of Contemporary India

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LM: I read recently that you fund a great deal of your movies through your own means, by way of your dental practice. Do you find it hard to juggle the creative process with the business demands - i.e., distribution, marketing, etc?

SA: Though I've been involved in film and television for several years, last year I was able to make a complete transition out of dentistry. I now have the ability to exclusively create films, write, and pursue India-related academic studies both formally and informally. It was challenging to balance both careers - and the ability to focus on one career certainly has catalyzed a forward momentum. All filmmakers struggle with balancing the creative and business sides of our medium. Initially, I resented that so much time has to be spent on marketing, distribution, etc, but now

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About Jill: Jill Blakeway is the Clinic Director of the Yinova Center in New York City. A licensed and board certified acupuncturist and clinical herbalist, she specializes in the care of women and children. A gifted acupuncturist and herbalist, Jill's skill is in taking a system of medicine that is 3,500 years old and focusing this wisdom on the problems of modern women living in New York City. Women come to her for help with a range of conditions from PMS to menopause and New York Moms appreciate her safe, natural solutions for a wide variety of childhood ailments from constipation to bed wetting. In 2005, the New York Times named Jill as one of the top acupuncturists of the year, referring to her as a "fertility goddess," as Jill is known for her work enhancing the fertility of women who are having trouble conceiving... "When women consult me about getting pregnant my first task is to reconnect them with their reproductive cycle" says Jill, "I teach them how to recognize their most fertile period and give diet and lifestyle advice. From there I begin to help them improve their general health, balancing hormones, building the uterine lining, eliminating premenstrual symptoms and regulating the menses. Often this is all that is needed for conception to occur. If assisted reproduction techniques are needed, however, research has shown that acupuncture can increase the efficacy of IVF by up to 50%."
Jill divides her time between New York City and Upstate New York where she lives with her husband Noah, daughter Emma and their dog Louie.
-- LM: As a gifted herbalist and acupuncturist, how did you get interested in Acupuncture and Asian Medicine initially? JB: Years ago, I struggled with a chronic medical condition, swallowing antibiotics for six months with no improvement. My doctor said he was out of options, and finally sent me to a Chinese medicine doctor. Just a couple weeks of acupuncture and Chinese herbs sorted out the problem. My whole world turned upside down! This was a completely different paradigm than I'd ever been exposed to. That it worked at all was, frankly, a bit hard for me to believe, even though I'd experienced it myself in such a profound way. But I was drawn to understanding it better. I started reading everything I could get my hands on, and asked a lot of questions. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know, and ultimately I went back to graduate school for a M.S. Degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine. LM: What type of acupuncture training/education did you receive prior to obtaining your license? JB: I complete a four-year M.S. In Traditional Oriental Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego, California. LM: Was there a defining moment or experience that showed you your path, or did it come about gradually? JB: While in school I went to a lecture by a doctor who changed my life again. She was trained in China in both conventional gynecology and in acupuncture and herbology, and so she talked about what Chinese Medicine could do that Western medicine couldn't. But she also covered what Western medicine could do that Chinese medicine couldn't. This vision of collaborative medicine excited and inspired me, and I've strived for that complementarity in the way I've worked ever since. I have worked in several hospitals including San Diego Hospice, Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle, NY and Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, where I founded the inpatient acupuncture program. This experience gave me insight into how to integrate Chinese medicine into a Western medical system and how to communicate with doctors in a way that helped them to understand Chinese medicine better. My patients appreciate that I regularly consult with their doctors about their case. I want to keep the doctors apprised of what I'm doing, and I want to fully understand their plans. I want to be sure our efforts will work together well. There are herbs I won't give, for example, if I know a woman is taking drugs that function in a similar way. Most doctors are very receptive to working with me, and I believe that's because my hospital training means that I speak their language. So I don't call up and say "I'm treating So-and-So for kidney yang deficiency with blood deficiency." I translate for them just as I translate for my patients, talking about hormone imbalance, and how herbs and acupuncture can level the hormones out. Doctors' biggest complaint about alternative medicine is

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Robin and Michael Mastro are the leaders in the field of Vastu Shastra. Through their vast experience, they have created a unique system that offers life-enhancing yet simple principles. This exciting technique is presented in their groundbreaking award-winning books, Altars of Power and Grace and The Way of Vastu. By following these dynamic tools anyone can transform their life and make their dreams a reality.

Robin Mastro instructs people worldwide to enhance living and working environments through Vastu Shastra . Her work in this inspiring field took her to Egypt and India, where she studied ancient concepts of sacred space and Vastu Shastra. In 1998 she received her masters in Whole Systems Design from Antioch University, combining systems theory and creative design to develop transformative tools for environmental harmony and personal growth. Robin is dedicated to adapting the wisdom of ancient systems to enhance the reality of modern life. She is the creator of AltarWear, a jewelry and clothing line based on Vedic teachings. We recently had the distinct honor and privilege to speak with Robin about the life enhancing work she and her husband have been doing in the area of Vastu.

LM: Over the past several years Vastu Shastra has become a very popular phrase, yet only a few have a true understanding of the meaning and philosophy behind it. Can you explain what the basic principles of Vastu Shastra are?

RM: By aligning our homes and workspaces with universal energy that is alive and ever-present we experience nature's support. The basic principles of Vastu Shastra, the science of building, are