...SOMETIMES LIFE FEELS LIKE THIS...

The way one feels when swimming laps, almost done, strokes getting sloppy, breath getting more and more ragged:

eyes rhythmically shifting from the peaceful underwater where cellulite-laden thighs and bellies float with the grace of jellyfish; alternating with:

the harsh chlorine vapor and fluorescent lighting, the sight of pale flesh kowtowing and vibrating to the pull of gravity, the bored lifegaurds turning their acne-pocked faces back and forth and blowing whistles at children who keep bursting into a run:

the feeling of being the graceful underwater organism and the heaviness of the arm heaving up for another stroke: all if it jumbled into a crazy collage of sensation, smell, sound, and effort:

and the sound! the fury! all of it going by so fast!

And in it are you lost in your thoughts, projecting your mind into the next 10 minutes (you'll be in the shower), the next hour (you'll be home having dinner), the next week (you'll finally get to see that movie everyone's been raving about), the next year (maybe you'll finally get out of this dead-end job you've been in for so long and do something real with your life?)

I realized quite recently, after about 15 years of studying yoga and several years of teaching it to others, that although I thought I knew what it meant to Be Present, I had actually been faking it. I had been adopting the posture and the demeanor of someone who Knows How to Be Present.

~Spirituality & Health

Wake Up Call on Ethics

Normative ethics is the attempt to provide a general theory that tells us how we ought to live. Unlike metaethics, normative ethics does not attempt to tell us what moral properties are, and unlike applied ethics, it does not attempt to tell us what specific things have those properties. Normative ethics just seeks to tell us how we can find out what things have what moral properties, to provide a framework for ethics.

Normative Ethics

For any act, there are three things that might be thought to be morally interesting: first, there is the agent, the person performing the act; second, there is the act itself; third, there are the consequences of the act. There are three types of normative ethical theory--virtue, deontological, and consequentialist--each emphasising one of these elements.

Virtue Ethics

This first normative ethical theory, virtue theory, concentrates on the moral character of the agent. According to virtue theory, we ought to possess certain character traits--courage, generosity, compassion, etc.--and these ought to be manifest in our actions. We therefore ought to act in ways that exhibit the virtues, even if that means doing what might generally be seen as bad or bringing about undesirable consequences.

Deontology

Normative theories of the second type, deontological theories, concentrate on the act being performed. According to deontological theories, certain types of act are intrinsically good or bad, i.e. good or bad in themselves. These acts ought or ought not to be performed, irrespective of the consequences.

Consequentialism

The third approach to normative ethics is consequentialism. Consequentialist theories hold that we ought always to act in the way that brings about the best consequences. It doesn’t matter what those acts are; the end justifies the means. All that matters for ethics is making the world a better place.

Application

To give an example, then, suppose that a man bravely intervenes to prevent a youth from being assaulted.

The virtue theorist will be most interested in the bravery that the man exhibits; this suggests that he has a good character. The deontologist will be more interested in what the man did; he stood up for someone in need of protection, and that kind of behaviour is intrinsically good. The consequentialist will care only about the consequences of the man’s actions; what he did was good, according to the consequentialist, because he prevented the youth from suffering injury.

What Are Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & Blogging All About?

Are you caught in the computing slow lane while everyone around you seems to be texting or posting things on Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube? Does "blogging" sound like somethign you'd do in the snow, or "podcasting" something coming from outer space? Don't worry, you're not alone. We're here to help get you up to speed. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter are online communities and they're fast becoming an everyday way for hundreds of millions of people to communicate and share information. I will help you set up your own Facebook, Twitter accounts and maneuver through them. You'll learn how to blog and podcast, and find out what makes Youtube so addictive. Discover ideas and methods for using these fun and fascinating sites to communicate with friends and business associates, including how to advertise your products or services and broaden your network of contacts. So come on in and join us!!

In Balance- The Best Posture for Meditation

by Matthieu Ricard

Your physical posture can affect your mental state. If you assume a pose that is too relaxed, and especially if you lie down, chances are that your meditation will stray into drowsiness. One that is too rigid and tense, on the other hand, might laed to mental agitation. Buddhist texts recommended what is known as the "seventh-point posture."

Whole Living

Volunteer! It'll Pay You Back in Surprising Ways

We know: You’re busy, money-crunched and probably working more than ever. How can you possibly volunteer now? Because the payoff for you is huge. Consider: 63 percent of volunteers say giving back has positively affected their careers, one survey found. And another survey showed that more than 78 percent of professional women who volunteer say the experience helped them develop leadership and communication skills.

Volunteering may also make you healthier: Studies show that those who donate their time (less than an hour a week!) have lower incidences of heart disease and depression, plus longer life expectancies. And with this historic recession driving up rates of unemployment, hunger and homelessness, let’s face it: There’s more need now than ever for volunteers.

OK, you’re convinced. So how to find the time? Input your zip code and interests at volunteermatch.org for opportunities in your area. For the very busy check the “Virtual

Opportunities” box for ways to help from the comfort of your couch. “This offers the most flexible schedule and let’s you donate skills like building non-profit’s website or writing a business plan,” explains Robert Rosenthal, spokesman for volunteermatch.org.

“You gain experience, and they gain critical services they couldn’t otherwise afford.”

And it doesn’t have to be a multiyear commitment. Glamour features director Veronica Chambers took one hour to read poems to fifth graders at a school near her house during National Poetry Month. “You think, Oh, volunteering, I’m way to busy right now,’ she says. “But I loved feeling like I was part of my neighborhood.” Encouraged, she volunteered again with a teen journalism program. That time, “I met an editor who gave me one of the best jobs of my career.” Inspiring a future poet or community leader while getting ahead yourself? Not bad for less time than it takes to get your cut and color.

Find more ways to give back at glamour.com/about/glamourgives.

Glamour