Did you know that the brain has the same chemical reaction to sugary and fatty foods as it does to cocaine or nicotine? According to Dr. Pam Peeke, author of The Hunger Fix, the chemical reaction happens before you even eat the food — all you have to do is think about it!

Dr. Peeke recently appeared on GaiamTV.com’s Gaiam Inspirations to talk about America’s food addiction and how to retrain your brain to make healthier choices. Dr. Peeke’s interest in the topic of food addiction started because of the way her patients talked about food. “I can’t get off this stuff.” “The withdrawal is killing me.” They sounded like drug addicts, and she started to wonder if there was a connection between food and addiction.

She found that there’s a very striking connection — and the same centers of the brain are involved that regulate drug addiction. And, she says, don’t think for a second the food industry hasn’t figured this out.

Despite your stance on the ethics of radio-collaring wild animals, it can’t be denied that such endeavors provide scientists with reams of valuable data, such as information on where and how animals move and migrate, the nuisance activity they engage in, their reproduction and mortality rates, and how to establish wise management practices regarding them.

That’s why when a collared research animal is lost, it’s not just a detriment to that animal’s social group or species but to our understanding of nature, as well.

Usually, the death of a collared animal goes unnoticed, except within a few scientific circles. But when Wolf No. 754, a popular Yellowstone National Park research animal, was recently shot by a hunter in Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest, a few miles outside the national park boundary, reverberations and outrage were felt around the world.

It’s causing some to ask: Should research animals be given full, legal protection?

Happy New Year! Isn’t it wonderful that we all get to start a new time in our lives? This is the perfect time to open to the emerging “you”!

As I was doing my morning practice, I began to envision my new year. During my meditation I called in the life I want to create this year. I don’t like goal-setting and resolutions because I do not believe they create enough synergy for my life. I like the possibilities that come in the forms of what I am creating and manifesting through the expansion of my consciousness. Moving into a new year from that place allows me to fully understand that I am “creating” the life that I live.

Regular exercisers know that music can make or break a workout. Listening to the right playlist during exercise can motivate you to work longer and at a higher intensity. It can make the workout seem easier and leave you feeling great afterwards. It can reduce perceptions of fatigue and improve performance. Choose the wrong playlist or forget to charge your MP3 player? You might as well go home now!

What to consider when choosing music that enhances an exercise experience?

While we all recognize the ‘right’ music when we hear it, choosing an hour’s worth of workout-friendly selections isn’t as easy as it sounds. Is fast better than slow? Strong rhythms preferential to weak? Are lyrics important? What about musical genre? And how about bass?

It is important that we change with the seasons just as nature does by adapting our daily habits, yoga practice and food choices. During the winter season, the energy of the Earth and its creatures is drawn inward. We can use this time for restoration and introspection, just as many plants and animals use it for hibernation. In preparation for the spring, it is important to slow down and rejuvenate.

An Ayurvedic approach to winter

There is a rule in Ayurveda that “like attracts like.” That is why the kapha and vata doshas can become provoked and aggravated during the dry, dark, cold months of winter. This is because the climate is alike the qualities of these two doshas. If kapha or vata are triggered, digestive fire plummets, leaving you more susceptible to colds, poor circulation, joint pains and negative emotions. Here are some yoga and lifestyle tips that can help you to balance your doshas this season.

This January, Spiritual Cinema Circle features films about new beginnings .

Shuffle is a complex and engrossing film about the choices we make as our lives unfold. In the spirit of both Memento and It’s a Wonderful Life, we encounter a man who suddenly begins to experience the events of his life out of sequence, as he slowly realizes that his biggest challenge is also his most dazzling opportunity. Shuffle stars T.J. Thyne (from Bones) and was written and directed by Kurt Kuenne, the same team behind the delightful short Validation.

Baby Monitor and Lobster are both from filmmaker Jocelyn Jansons, our in-studio guest on this month’s DVD program. The first is powerful short about overcoming the past, while the second is a humorous look at the existence of the soul.

Washed Up Love, set in Ireland, is a lighthearted story about a woman who meets a younger man when he literally washes ashore, causing her to question the path of her life.

Jill Miller met fellow yogi Elena Brower this past October when they both presented at the Ojai Yoga Crib, and the two immediately struck up a friendship. When Jill found out Elena was about to publish a yoga workbook called Art of Attention (co-authored by Erica Jago), she knew she wanted to have a heart-to-heart interview: teacher-to-teacher, innovator-to-innovator and woman-to-woman. Here is Part Two of her interview. To read Part One, click here.

Becoming a yoga teacher was never one of my life ambitions.

For over five years, my yoga practice brought me joy and fulfillment, but solely from my studentship. Teachers had always intrigued me with their beauty, strength, confidence and presence, but to actually become a yoga teacher seemed like entering a different realm — one that I thought could not possibly be as blissful as the space on my favorite coral-colored yoga mat.

But every now and then I would think about what it would be like to lead a class, spreading pieces of possibility and shining smiles to all the students. I would cue and they would flow, moving with ease to the perfect music I was playing that matched all the perfect words I was saying.

But then my daydreams would subside, and I would find myself happy to only be responsible for my own moves, my own mind. Why would I want to teach anyway? It would take up so much time. When would I get to do my practice? If I was teaching, I wouldn’t be learning.

But are the two job descriptions — writer and yoga teacher — really that dissimilar? As a writer, my true calling has always been found in the power of connection and inspiration, traits any good yoga teacher should possess. I like to set my own schedule, travel a lot, wear comfy clothes and work in bare feet. I love sharing my insights and experiences, spreading words of wisdom wherever I go.

So, yes, now I am not only a writer. My career of word crafting has united with my passion for movement.

This is the time of year when people are often either excited to celebrate the holidays or they are feeling a sense of dread about what might be coming during this sometimes stressful season. But the one thing that we all have in common is that we want to be happy.

As I was thinking about happiness, it came to me that a key to happiness involves circulation. By that I mean that true happiness comes from giving and receiving. The kind of sharing that involves the heart and the willingness to share without any expectations.

Slow, in our culture, is a four-letter word. Slow is lazy. It’s unmotivated. It’s got an attitude problem.

Fast is where it’s at. Fast-track your career. Fast-burn your fat. Get results … fast!

I like fast as much as the next mom. I badger my children to tie their shoelaces faster, eat their dinner faster, make their beds faster. We run for the school bus, race to piano lessons, zip to the grocery store.