In the first half, astrologer, teacher, and speaker Leslie McGuirk shared insights on astrology, which she views as an interpretive science. She compared astrological patterns to weather systems in that if we know what's coming, we can be better prepared to navigate life's situations and less stressed out by stormy situations. 2023 has not been an easy year with wars and various issues. "We are basically under the cloud of Neptune, and Neptune makes everything confusing... I describe it as like putting Vaseline all over the mirror. You cannot see clearly," she said. And yet 2024 will also be a rough time-- the "year of ugly truth," she continued, with mid-April 2024 having a particularly aggressive energy. She does foresee things getting better by 2026.
During turbulent times, McGuirk suggested staying centered and connecting with nature, as this can make a person more grounded. A period of Mercury retrograde is coming up between December 13th and January 1st, and it might seem like more things go wrong or break down during this time, but McGuirk believes these intervals have a positive value as they encourage us to slow down and be more communicative or observant. Interestingly, she noted that those born when Mercury is retrograde (about 20% of the population) experience things actually running smoother during that cycle. For more insights, visit her YouTube channel, which features various interviews.
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Bill Douglas, founder of World Healing Day and World Tai Chi Day, has taught meditation to large corporations and medical centers for over 30 years. In the latter half, he spoke about the science of consciousness and how meditative practices and other mind-body techniques have quantifiable global transformative effects. Just recently, Douglas demonstrated an amazing feat-- shooting 51 free throws in a row on the basketball court and making 46 of them-- a shooting percentage higher than most NBA professional basketball players (view video). He credits his accuracy to his mind-body practices, and views this demonstration as a "laboratory for the possibility of focus consciousness."
The five mind-body practices he cited are meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and mindfulness training, and all have science-backed positive effects associated with them. "In fact, they change our DNA, and they can even reverse the aging process. Regular meditators are on average about 12 years younger than other people that were born the same year as them biologically," he marveled. Further, mind-body practices have been shown to increase a person's IQ and boost their immune system. Douglas announced his petition for a UN resolution to make science-backed mind-body practices part of students' public education worldwide.
During the last half-hour, George featured a replay of his interview with "spiritual warrior" Bill Bean from 2/22/19.
News segment guests: John M. Curtis, Charles Coppes