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 I’m not interested in business, productivity, and learning for its own sake.
Much of my passion for learning, productivity, business, and knowledge are as means to focusing on what matters to each person, whatever that might be. For me, it’s spending more time with family and friends, thinking and laughing, balancing my vocations and my avocations.
This section of Learnativity.com focuses on helping you balance, simplify, or just enjoy life more. I’ve begun by providing websites with all sorts of great resources, articles on how others have achieved balance, books and magazines that are the perfect companion to some downtime, away from the buzzz. Books are on simplicity & spirituality, balance at work, and health & exercise, As with most all the pages on this site, I’ve listed related resources in the sidebar under “Quick Jump.” Interspersed throughout are opinions, suggestions, and tips I’ve picked up over the years. I'll be adding more of own examples and suggestions over time.
Enjoy.
Websites that help you Balance
Working Woman Magazine’s Work/Life Balance site links to articles, resources, newsgroups, and newsletters for working women.
Fitness Online offers various resources on Mind and Body.
Ask Dr. Weil! Dr. Andrew Weil’s website.
The Simple Living website is for those who want to learn how to live a more concsious, simple, healthy, resorative life.
Meditation Center includes rooms for relaxing, healing, and centering.
Thrive Online has a good section on Serenity.
Simplerwork “Where more-better-faster meets enough-is-enough!”
GreenSense’s resources for sustainable living.
Articles about Balance
Programming in the Lotus Position Naked Business, Tia O'Brian, Upside July 29, 1999. Normally, I don't think of IBM engineers as Buddhist monks. Especially in Silicon Valley, where adrenaline rushes are the naturally occurring addictive drug of choice. But such a character does exist, and he's now trying to revolutionize the way high tech's worker bees cope with their 24/7, stock-option-driven lives. Meet Les Kaye, a retired IBM engineer turned abbot of the local Zen Meditation Center turned corporate meditation trainer.
Finding time to Meditate. Dr. Dean Ornish. Like most things in life, getting started is the hardest part, so if I meditate for one minute, chances are I'm going to continue doing it for longer. But even a minute of meditation has benefits. Have you ever listened to a song on the radio in the morning and found yourself humming it later in the day? Similarly, on a subconscious level, you continue meditating throughout the day. The consistency is even more important than the duration.
Is it really possible to simplify? Elaine St. James column from Universal Press Syndicate. Many of us are the product of our culture, which says that having too much and doing too much are the accepted standard we should all strive for. But so many of us are finding that that standard complicates our lives and keeps us from enjoying the things that really matter.
Keep It Simple. Article about Elaine St. James by Michael Warshaw in Fast Company Magazine, June 1998. The entire issue was devoted to Getting a Life. “One way to get a life is to simplify the one you have. Simplicity guru Elaine St. James offers principles and techniques to make your life less complicated and more rewarding at work and at home. Now, what's so complicated about that?”
Writing for self-awareness. Keeping a journal can change your life. RealSimple.
Yoga Simplified. Jillian Pransky. Simplycity. It seems as if everyone is practicing yoga today, but what exactly are the benefits of this ancient art?
Serendipity: A wink from the cosmos. Meg Lundstrom. From a Persuit of Happenstance.
Cyberclick: The Internet can really simplify your life. Aliza Sherman. Simplycity. Take this quiz to find out if you need to jumpstart a stalled life.
Why Simplify? Linda Breen Pierce. Simplycity. “We still hear the cry of Henry David Thoreau of Walden Pond fame, ‘Simplify, Simplify!’ echoing more than a century after Thoreau uttered these words. In fact, we hear his call to action with a special urgency at this time in history. At no other time have we experienced such a long ride of high living. We enjoy the fruits of a booming economy that not only provide our basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, but also seemingly limitless luxuries. A visit to almost any other country reveals how well we live from a material point of view. So, what's wrong with this picture? For starters, a little voice inside many of us whines, ‘I have a nice home, great family, good health, a decent job. How come I'm not happy? Something is just not right.’”
Magazines
Real Simple is a wonderful new magazine about a simpler life, home, body, and soul. The editor-in-chief comes from Martha Stewart Magazine but brings her simpler styles and insight to this magazine. Marcia has read issue the day it arrives. Some articles aren’t as much about simplicity as they are balance and appreciating life. Subscribe to RealSimple and get 2-months free. You’ll be glad you did 
 UtneReader, a guide for balanced living, includes original essays and the best articles from more than 2,000 alternative media sources. The magazine provides new perspectives on social change, environment, gender, community, society, creativity, and humor. Receive 3-months free when you subscribe to Utne Reader with enews.com.
 Yoga Journal is a wonderful guide to more healthful living, published seven times a year. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced practitioner of yoga, you'll find plenty of useful information designed to stretch your body, mind and soul. Subscribe to Yoga Journal with enews.com.
 Martha Stewart Living has been a staple at the Conner house for years. While others enjoy mocking Martha, she (and her magazine) offer terrific ideas, styles, and inspiration each month. The magazine is itself, beautiful, and the recipes are straightforward, creative and delicious. The decorating suggestions can be a little over the top but always interesting. Subscribe to Martha Stewart Living from MagazineOutlet.com to get 2-free months.
 O Magazine is Oprah Winfrey’s personal-growth guide for the new century. While it may seem to be just one more vanity-mag, Marcia found it thorough, well-written, and more personal than similar mags on the market. “It gives smart women the tools they need to explore and reach their dreams, express their individual style, and make choices that will lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. Subscribe to O.
 Dr. Andrew Weil's Self Healing Newsletter is from the renowned Harvard trained physician and New York Times best-selling author. Dr. Weil's unique knowledge of alternative medicine gives “Self Healing” readers the latest and best information about natural health and healing every month. See Dr. Weil’s website.
 Natural Health provides a practical guide to good health. Each issue includes information on naturally-oriented food and nutrition, alternative health practices, exercise and self-care. Natural Health focuses on the mind/body connection, illustrated exercise, preventative medicine, healthy cuisines, creating a healthy lifestyle and consumer guides to natural products. Subscribe to Natural Health from MagazineOutlet.com.
 Throughout its simple, artful pages, Herb Companion shares the joy of gardening, cooking, and crafting with herbs, plus information on using plants for medicinal purposes and personal care. Subscribe to Herb Companion with enews.com
Wallpaper* is the world's only global style magazine, covering architecture, industrial design, entertaining, and travel. Published ten times a year and targeting an international readership of savvy opinion leaders, Wallpaper* delivers information that will help you engineer a better life. Subscribe to Wallpaper* from enews.com.
 Organic Styles is brand new, but I read the sample issue from cover to cover. The topics covered here are ones I haven’t seen in any other magazine and their website (though still quite incomplete) has some terrific tips. The natural focus is a great angle. Because a charter subscriber to Organic Style.
 Simplycity is also brand new (see a theme here?!) and frankly, doesn’t exactly have the editorial style (or topics) I’d expect from a magazine on voluntary simplicity, but it does contain good ideas, an attractive style, and great intentions. See for yourself by subscribing to Simplycity from enews.com.
 Visit WorkingWoman.com. Subscribe to Working Women at the guaranteed lowest price. This is a terrific magazine providing news, trends, information and insights into the workplace for business women. It emphasizes a life that balances career and family, edited specifically for women executives, managers and entrepreneurs. Marcia is partial to the statistics and quotations on the on the back page.
Books on Balance, Simplification, and Spirituality
A Simpler Way Margaret J. Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers. Berrett-Kohler, 1996. Outstanding!
Leadership and the New Science: Learning About Organization from an Orderly Universe, Updated! Margaret J. Wheatley, 1999. This beautifully written has been a favorite of mine for years. Completely revised you’ll thoroughly enjoy this book if you missed it the first time around. If you read it in 1994, you might want to look again!
 Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter. Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1994. This is the single most influential book in my life. Quick to read, long to influent. Thank you, Elaine!
Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More. Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1998 reprint. Also, very influential, but covering far more topics so didn’t have quite the same impact on me Simplify.
Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways to Regain Peace and Nourish Your Soul. Elaine St. James. Hyperion, 1995. This was one of the hardest books I’ve every read, not because it written poorly (it’s beautifully written) but because it asks you to reflect on important topics and take time to slow down. I still turn to it when I need inspiration and insight.
 Take Time for Your Life: A Personal Coach's Seven-Step Program for Creating the Life You Want. Cheryl Richardson. 1999. This CoachU graduate provides simple solutions for creating a better life. (See more on coaching.)
Slowing Down to the Speed of Life: How to Create a More Peaceful, Simpler Life from the Inside Out
Aveda Rituals: A Daily Guide to Natural Health and Beauty. Horst Rechelbacher Owl Books, 1999.
 The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. Don Miguel Ruiz. This simple books point out that the key to changing your life is making 4 agreements with youself. This easy read can give you a whole new, very liberating, perspective.
The Invitation. Oriah Mountain Dreamer. Harper, 1999.
Time and the Art of Living Robert Grudin.
The Power of Mindful Learning. Ellen J. Langer. Persius, 1998.
How Much Joy Can You Stand: A Creative Guide to Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True (Revised, updated, and with new chapters). Susanne Falter-Barns. Wellspring, 2000.
Wholeness and the Implicate Order David Bohm, Routledge Press 1980
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Stephen R. Covey Fireside, Reprint 1990. Paperback.
First Things First Stephen Covey, Roger Merrill, Rebecca Merrill, Paperback 1994
Books on Balance at Work and in Business
 Balanced Life and Leadership Excellence Madan Birla. Balance Group 1997. Madan is head of ... at FedEx with a wonderful writing style and a terrific book.
Reclaiming Higher Ground: Creating Organizations That Inspire the Soul. Lance H. K. Secretan, Hardcover 1997
The Hungry Spirit: Beyond Capitalism A Quest for Purpose in the Modern World Charles Handy. Broadway Books, Reprint edition 1999.
 Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage. Bill Jenson. 2000. A great contribution to the business literature. Read some Simpler Bites.
Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity. Jakob Nielsen. New Riders 1999.
The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism Richard Sennett, Norton 1998. Business Week review.
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership Joseph Jaworski, 1996
Books on Health and Exercise
The Herbfarm Cookbook: A Guide to the Vivid Flavors of Fresh Herbs. Jerry Traunfeld.
 Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength. Bill Phillips and Michael D'Orso. Harper Collins, 1999.
The Five Tibetans: Five Dynamic Exercises for Health, Energy and Personal Power. Christopher S. Kilham.
Also check out Amazon.com’s new Video Yoga Center.
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