
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
intimacy

The great adventure for me can be summed up as intimacy. Intimacy is a love dance, with the currents of life streaming through us and around us everywhere. This body pulsates in communion with the larger body of nature, of the Earth, of our vast, mysterious universe. This heart resonates with every other heart, all vibrating with terror and courage, making life up as we go along. We are in this dance together.
Intimacy evokes my wonder and awe, at the implausible fact of our existence, of consciousness, of love. In this divine display, every thought, emotion, and sensation is a wise movement within me, a teacher, a guide, always leading me into deeper union.
This love is a flow of giving and receiving, an exchange of energy. Each new expression is a stretch. Can my senses open to the wild, wondrous beauty of the natural world? Can I gaze into the eyes of another and marvel at the unique, brilliant creation they are? Can I embrace my husband in his vastness and his vulnerability, cherishing each precious moment we share? Can I surrender in deeper passion, pleasure, and joy, and accept more intensity of connection?
Intimacy requires a softening of body, heart, and mind, a letting go of control and outmoded habits of protection. Yet, for intimacy to be healthy and vibrant, I must exercise its complement, sovereignty. I must move in both directions simultaneously, with awareness.
Sovereignty means I am unto my self, at one with my own soul. It means I’m not owned by anyone or anything. I inhabit my fullness and breathe in my own nourishing atmosphere. I take 100% responsibility for my experience. Sovereignty is having appropriate boundaries, not giving the outer world power over my well being nor allowing my nervous system to be hijacked by fear.
When I get caught, when I’m “beside myself” in some way, I stop in my tracks and mend. With loving care, I tend to every level of my being – physical, emotional, mental, spiritual. I keep my energies circulating freely and creatively with meditation and movement on a daily, almost continual basis. Then, when I sense constriction or reactivity, I more easily return to the flow. I remember. I am at home in my body, at home on the Earth, at home in the Cosmos, playing my part in this unfolding dance of life.
– Camille Maurine
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