"A number of people look at yoga as preventive medicine," says yoga instructor and massage therapist Lance Lorenzo. "And a lot of people come to yoga to relieve old injuries." Both groups often also find that it relieves stress and increases energy; many students talk of improved eating habits and sleep patterns.

A Tempe pastor, working with national pollster George Gallup Jr., is the co-creator of a method to measure how Christians are faring in their faith journeys and what their spiritual strengths and deficiencies are.

"Is love enough to make a marriage work?"

"Is love enough to make a marriage work?"

In one of Hinduism's most sacred poems, the lord and sustainer of the universe chooses to be incarnated in human form -- the ancient term is "avatar" -- to help the Pandava people fight evil invaders and defend what is right. Sound familiar?

Here's a list of activities and events at churches and spiritual centers around the Valley.

A while ago, my kids and I were rocking out in the car to Vertigo by U2. We had the windows down and the volume obnoxiously loud. I was one cool mama chick, cruising Ahwatukee with my cool baby-chicks in my way cool minivan. Basking in this most excellent coolness I turned to the kids. "You know guys, I listened to U2 when I was in high school." Their jaws dropped open and their eyes nearly bugged out of their heads in disbelief. "And U2 is still alive?!" Ouch. I'm not cool. Apparently I'm ancient. That's bad news for Bono. Anyone who owned Joshua Tree on cassette can understand - wasn't it just yesterday? My daughter asks me questions about "back then," meaning when cars were new and television had yet to be invented. She expects me to answer from personal experience. I feel like I was just 19 but my daughter thinks I can tell her about what life was like without electricity and running water. Kids have a way of humbling you. Repeatedly in the Bible we are encouraged to be humble. One of the surest ways to develop humility is to become a parent. Just when you start thinking you have figured it out, your children will show you don't. Just when you start thinking you're pretty cool, your children remind you that you're not. Kids tell it like it is - and usually in earshot of strangers. The thing is, humility is one of the key ingredients of motherhood. From the moment of conception we are pressed into the humble service of children, body and soul. We bear them, labor and deliver them, change their diapers, wipe their noses, wash their clothes, answer their never-ending questions, kiss away their tears and stay up all night while they toss with a fever. We struggle through the math homework almost as bewildered as they are, drive them to school even though we're still in our pink flannel pajamas, drive back to school with the forgotten lunch and, after school, drive them to piano practice, soccer practice or gymnastics practice. We paste together book reports and biomes, plan birthday parties, search eBay for the most wanted Nintendo DS game, paint rooms hot pink and lime green, drive to urgent care with the broken arm in the Spiderman suit and bear the rolled eyes and injured sighs over requests to unload the dishwasher. Why? Because we love them. Because we're moms. Humility is the key to being able to persevere in the sometimes dreary tasks of motherhood without bitterness and resentment. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." We need humility to face the daily tasks. We need humility to ask for help. We need humility to be willing to suspend our own lives and dreams for a while. We need humility to say sorry, I was wrong. We need humility to fall to our knees and say, "Lord I'm empty and I need to be filled up if I am going to make it through today." The good news is we are promised in the book of Proverbs that with humility comes wisdom, another key ingredient for success in motherhood. I can't tell my daughter about life "back then" but I can lead her in life here and now and yet to come, showing her the path that is straight and level. I wish I was cool but I'd rather be wise. Humble me Lord, and give me that wisdom You promise - I sure need it to be the best mom I can be. --Jennifer Zach lives in Ahwatukee Foothills with her family and is director of Women's Ministry at Bridgeway Community Church.

A while ago, my kids and I were rocking out in the car to Vertigo by U2. We had the windows down and the volume obnoxiously loud. I was one cool mama chick, cruising Ahwatukee with my cool baby-chicks in my way cool minivan. Basking in this most excellent coolness I turned to the kids. "You know guys, I listened to U2 when I was in high school." Their jaws dropped open and their eyes nearly bugged out of their heads in disbelief. "And U2 is still alive?!" Ouch. I'm not cool. Apparently I'm ancient. That's bad news for Bono. Anyone who owned Joshua Tree on cassette can understand - wasn't it just yesterday? My daughter asks me questions about "back then," meaning when cars were new and television had yet to be invented. She expects me to answer from personal experience. I feel like I was just 19 but my daughter thinks I can tell her about what life was like without electricity and running water. Kids have a way of humbling you. Repeatedly in the Bible we are encouraged to be humble. One of the surest ways to develop humility is to become a parent. Just when you start thinking you have figured it out, your children will show you don't. Just when you start thinking you're pretty cool, your children remind you that you're not. Kids tell it like it is - and usually in earshot of strangers. The thing is, humility is one of the key ingredients of motherhood. From the moment of conception we are pressed into the humble service of children, body and soul. We bear them, labor and deliver them, change their diapers, wipe their noses, wash their clothes, answer their never-ending questions, kiss away their tears and stay up all night while they toss with a fever. We struggle through the math homework almost as bewildered as they are, drive them to school even though we're still in our pink flannel pajamas, drive back to school with the forgotten lunch and, after school, drive them to piano practice, soccer practice or gymnastics practice. We paste together book reports and biomes, plan birthday parties, search eBay for the most wanted Nintendo DS game, paint rooms hot pink and lime green, drive to urgent care with the broken arm in the Spiderman suit and bear the rolled eyes and injured sighs over requests to unload the dishwasher. Why? Because we love them. Because we're moms. Humility is the key to being able to persevere in the sometimes dreary tasks of motherhood without bitterness and resentment. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." We need humility to face the daily tasks. We need humility to ask for help. We need humility to be willing to suspend our own lives and dreams for a while. We need humility to say sorry, I was wrong. We need humility to fall to our knees and say, "Lord I'm empty and I need to be filled up if I am going to make it through today." The good news is we are promised in the book of Proverbs that with humility comes wisdom, another key ingredient for success in motherhood. I can't tell my daughter about life "back then" but I can lead her in life here and now and yet to come, showing her the path that is straight and level. I wish I was cool but I'd rather be wise. Humble me Lord, and give me that wisdom You promise - I sure need it to be the best mom I can be. --Jennifer Zach lives in Ahwatukee Foothills with her family and is director of Women's Ministry at Bridgeway Community Church.

Hold a discussion on people's beliefs, and within minutes, someone will pipe up, "I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious." For some, spirituality is an open field, and religion represents fences and restrictions.

Forty some years ago I was in a small town on the Fourth of July. There was the usual kind of celebrating going on but there was also a group of men passing out fliers. On one side was a peace symbol and, in large block letters, “Footprint of the American Chicken.” The war in Vietnam was still on and still dividing at home.

Forty some years ago I was in a small town on the Fourth of July. There was the usual kind of celebrating going on but there was also a group of men passing out fliers. On one side was a peace symbol and, in large block letters, “Footprint of the American Chicken.” The war in Vietnam was still on and still dividing at home.

Linda Turley-Hansen: Is it really over - the life we're accustomed to? It seems that's the case. No matter whom I talk with, there's a consensus that things have shifted across the land. And most are convinced our world will continue to wobble in 2010.

For the last 20 years, Tim and Theresa Bourges of Gold Canyon have kept up a tradition of what they call rebirth and spiritual renewal in their favorite green-and-gold cathedral where the baseball gods of their hometown team, the Oakland A’s, spend their spring — Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

They're two registered nurses - a Catholic and a Protestant - who have carved out a niche market providing private duty nursing care for the Valley's VIPs.

Like a growing number of Americans, some East Valley residents have lost faith in organized religion and are seeking a connection to God on their own.

PORT MATILDA, Pa. — The walk down a hill at the St. Joseph Institute ends at the Forest Chapel, nestled in the woods between two streams. Only the sounds of chirping birds and a breeze blowing through leaves pierce the silence.

The first slab of marble has been laid in what the Valley’s Jain community believes can become America’s grandest Jain temple when it is dedicated in December 2008, with some 3,000 Jains from all over the world expected.

While protestors took to the streets of Phoenix, life in the East Valley — as viewed from the sidewalks of Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler — seemed pretty routine on Monday.

Three years have passed since Jim Walters shepherded construction of a "green church" in Scottsdale that incorporated 71 items aimed at saving energy, water and earth resources. His pride in the project continues to parallel his passion for environmental stewardship.

Meditation is without a doubt, an alternative way to make your life more vivacious than to constantly discourage yourself about getting back in shape; however there are misconceptions about this “Ommmm”technique. For example, meditation does not solely include the people that meet the criteria of a vegetarian, a religious person or, someone in a cult. That is just preposterous! “Meditation is a practice of calm, focused thinking and attention that is available to and effective for, everyone” (Sarma).

Christian Science lecturer Robert Gilbert, who has worked at the church’s world headquarters in Boston as an authority on spiritual healing and medicine, will give a free onehour lecture in March in Scottsdale and Mesa on the theme “Spirituality, Health and Well-Being: Explore the Healing Connection.”