
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
her

My relationship with the divine chi force inside me affects my work, my writing, my creativity, and my other relationships. Pretty much anything meaningful or authentic comes from it. It’s where I come from and where I really blossom. Some people call that force the soul or divine force. I call her my lady.
I was born feeling connected to that force, but the only framework I had was Catholicism, so I was madly in love with God, but kind of ridiculously so. I’d write “I heart God” on the top of my homework assignments. I felt so much joy in that relationship, which was really personal, but because it didn’t match what I was taught in church, at the age of 12 I left the Catholic church. That led me on a wild ride of exploring different spiritualities, reading a ton of books, and eventually studying comparative religions in college and graduate school. I travelled the world and interviewed mystics and laypeople.
When I was a little girl, I naturally experienced an expression of that which was divine to me. I was hooked up. I had moments of tingly awe about the world and people and the universe. Then that got covered up and the safest route for continuing to explore was to study. Exploring the divine became more of an intellectual pursuit and a safe way for me to talk about what was most meaningful to me. I created a career of talking about and sharing about the topic, but I’m now realizing that those are side-products.
A growing edge for me is to not only talk about spirituality and the soul, but to be it – that’s the only thing my soul is really interested in doing this time around. This direction scares me. In order to step closer to what the soul wants to be doing here – not just what my ego or even my passions want – I’ve found that everything that has resisted that gets brought up. Every fear, every self-consciousness, every trauma comes up for a face-off. It feels odd and honest and human, all at the same time.
I can tell when I feel disconnected from that center, that conscious place inside. It’s worth doing whatever I need to do to reconnect, because I’m not going to be able to make things work unless I do.
– Sera Beak


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technology reductionist. jungle adventurer. nutrition connoisseur.
A catalyst for nourishment epiphanies, Tamara is a holistic nutrition coach and the inspiration behind the Tailwind Jungle Lodge & Yoga Retreat Center. She's passionate about guiding others on unique journeys of body and mind. [www.junglegirlhealth.com]
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