In Ayurveda, every human being is a unique composition of three vital bio-energies called doshas—Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The cookbook includes a chart to help you discern your dominant dosha, as well as a key above each recipe explaining how it balances, pacifies and decreases each dosha.

After the defeat of Proposition 37, the “California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act,” on Nov. 6, proponents of GMO food labeling say they’re regrouping, fueled by a new wave of awareness about the issue that’s rippled across the state.

Sitting. It seems as innocent and natural as breathing or sipping a cup of tea. And yet, some health experts warn that too much of it could be deadly. Most people understand the connection between obesity and poor health, and the importance of being physically active every day. But public health guidelines rarely mention the importance of reducing sitting time—even if you’re active—and they probably should.

Dr. Bradley Nelson, holistic physician and author of The Emotion Code believes barriers resulting from traumas—what he calls “heart walls”—limit our ability to connect with our true selves and honor our true desires.

When I was about four years old I had a play date at Meryl Streep’s house. It was just an informal kind of a thing where my dad, who built sculptures designed by Streep’s husband, Don Gummer, dumped me off at the front door and picked me up a few hours later. I remember very little: getting lost in a maze of hallways, losing my velcro-fastened shoes and hanging out with the Gummer girls in a large bathroom, where they seemed to do a lot of their hanging out.

These days, doctors aren’t just writing more prescriptions, they’re piling them on. In a 2010 study by Dr. Ramin Mojitabai, doctors were found to prescribe two or more medicines during a single office visit 60 percent of the time—a 20 percent increase since 2000.

Several weeks ago, an adventurous friend of mine told me about a local medical center’s “B12 Happy Hour” shots. No, not the kind thrown down the gullet and finished with lime, she clarified, the kind that is injected: 1,500 water-soluble migrograms of the coveted B vitamin delivered directly to the tender tissue of the rump—$17 between 3 and 6 in the afternoon every Wednesday.

New students trickling into town for the first time are getting a crash course on Santa Cruzan identity, thanks to a 30-foot-long caricature map of Santa Cruz now plastered on the corner of Bay and Mission streets. The mural is the work of Kirby Scudder, Tannery artist and co-founder of First Friday, who happened to have an obscenely large version of his recently released poster “The Cruz.”

For landscape designer and writer Zachiah Murray, walking into a garden is like walking into a meditation hall. She becomes grounded. Like the conscious energy that lingers even after the practitioners have gone, the plants call her to the present.