I catch sight of Heather Nagel’s red hair first, ablaze in the noontime sun as she stands on the sidewalk and waves. She leads me up the stairs of an apartment building tucked away off Center Street and into Aushadi Santa Cruz, the first non-profit Ayurvedic clinic in town.

Mike Baldwin wouldn’t call himself a spiritual person—he isn’t interested in prana or chakras, and he’d probably rather be programming software than chanting Om shanti shanti shanti. But he’s a yogi, through and through. His practice is an integral part of his life.

Seven years ago, John was in crisis, cut off from the rest of humanity and disconnected from the people he loved. He was suffering extreme anxiety in social situations and having trouble sleeping, and even when he did sleep he was waking suddenly with night terrors. He was 23, fresh out of a five-year stint in the U.S. military, including six months fighting in Iraq, and could see no help in sight.

Inside the classroom in the Louden Nelson Center, the Wednesday afternoon traffic is a distant hum. It’s not that Center Street has gone quiet, by any means—it’s just been absorbed into a great stream of concentration and a calmness that fills the room. Time itself appears to have slowed.

Most people will love and appreciate the unnecessary material good you’ve carefully selected—it’s the thought that counts, anyway, right? But when it comes to the impassioned activist on your list, holiday shopping becomes a little more challenging. For the Occupier in the family, there is only one type of gift that will flatter and please without offending their anti-corporate, nonconsumerist and eco-conscious values: the made-in-Santa Cruz gift. This guide locates some nifty locally made gifts anyone can feel warm and fuzzy about giving or receiving.

For a city whose violent crime history includes four serial killers during the ’70s and early ’80s and enough stabbings in recent years that one guy started a website to track them, it’s difficult to imagine combating violence without the police. But a few community-minded citizens in Santa Cruz are trying.

Adrenaline junkies, beware: the 2011 Radical Reels Film Tour hits town this Saturday, and it’s been put together with the thrill-seeking population in mind. The spin-off of the Banff Mountain Film Festival represents the cream of the extreme sports crop.

For Mark Primack, the key to the future is not conforming. That goes for people, ideas and the buildings they live and work in. “A planning director once observed that if you asked people in Santa Cruz to identify the places, the buildings or businesses that most expressed the unique character and spirit of this town,” says the local architect and former Santa Cruz councilmember, “guaranteed every one of those would be ‘existing non-conforming,’ meaning they violate current rules and standards.”

Wood shavings fly through the air and a fine film of sawdust settles on the cement floor of the Atrium. It’s just another Sunday at the Museum of Art and History (MAH), and the Makers at the MAH pilot program is in full swing.