The Blue Marble Project is cultivating the attitude of gratitude for our wondrous planet and spinning it around the world. You can join this fund raising project and make a difference by purchasing a bag of blue marbles that will join 1 million other marbles traveling around the world to spread a message of hope and ocean kindness. Once you have yours, you can play the "blue game". (For those of you who like collecting great t-shirts, there's a wonderful Gratitude line -thank you in 12 languages- that is donating $5 to the Blue Marble Project for every shirt purchased in the month of April).
The Blue Marble Project was started by an internationally known, joyful and committed marine biologist named J Nichols. One of the things I like about it is its interface with neuroscience and a phenomenon called the Blue Pearl. In Kundalini the Secret of Life Muktananda writes:
"In the center of that effulgence lies a tiny and fascinatingly beautiful light, the Blue Pearl, and when your meditation deepens you begin to see it, sparkling and scintillating. Sometimes it comes out of the eyes and stands in front of you. It moves with the speed of lightning, and it is so subtle that when it passes through the eye, the eye doesn't feel its movement.
"The vision of the Blue Pearl is the most significant of all the experiences I have described. Everyone should see this Blue Pearl at least once. The scriptures describe this Blue Pearl as the divine light of Consciousness which dwells within everyone. It is the actual form of the Self, our innermost reality, the form of God which lives within us. ... within the Blue Pearl are millions and millions of universes. The Blue Pearl contains the entire cosmos."
So I must thank my scientist brother J Nichols and writer and activist Sarah Kornfeld for bringing us the gift of the cosmos in portable form.

LIVE LIKE YOU LOVE THE OCEAN

Photo by Lawrence Lawry Courtesy of Getty Images

Halvah (or halva) is a sweetmeat found throughout the Middle East, Turkey, Eastern Europe, India and other parts of Asia. It can be made with semolina or nut butter depending on the country of origin. I make mine a tad less sweet than some versions, with good organic tahini and honey, and loaded with nuts and seeds. Sesame Tahini Halvah is a simple base recipe to which you can add many variations.

Spring is bouncing like a yo-yo. One day it's cool and rainy, the next is 80'. Some folks are still getting snow, but the energy is rising everywhere. It's the nature of April, the month I was born in, and I love its unpredictable rhythms. It's a little early to start a full-blown cleanse, but on hot days we are enjoying a major increase in raw food.

I prefer smoothies to juicing because you get all the plant fiber in your drink, and I'm a big fan of green smoothies in particular. Drinks like the Ultra Green Smoothie, the Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie, and the Mango Pineapple Green Smoothie are all really delicious, liver-loving cocktails.
Other times it's nice to just have a meal in a glass, and the Strawberry Coconut Super Smoothie is a nutrient-packed creamy concoction that is both yummy and waistline friendly.

With the advent of spring, our bodies naturally lean towards lighter, cleaner foods. We also tend to crave lighter, less dense vegetables, and steamed or lightly sautéed foods rather than baked, stewed, or roasted ones.

Steam Sautéed Ginger Green Beans and Steam Sautéed Cauliflower are both light, fragrant vegetable dishes that are prepared by "steam sautéing", which is a combination of a light sauté followed by steam cooking. Steam Sautéed Squash with Sweet Herbs is another example, as is Steam Sautéed Asparagus with Ginger. It is a very simple technique and yields the best of both worlds: the delicacy of steam and the flavor of sauté.

Photo by Jody Hoy