The Dalai Lama, sponsored by Emory University, speaks in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, the same park where Balancing the World began over one year ago.

He began his talk, Educating the Heart and Mind, A Path to Universal Responsibility with a discussion on the affects of positive and negative emotions and how these can affect one's health. This was basically what I taught in a Touch for Health class the day before. The Dalai Lama continued by emphasizing the importance of love and compassion for everyone, and particularly for one's self which is necessary before we can truly love others.

We consider the Dalai Lama's talk and presence as a group balance and is why these photos are included in Balancing the World.

The 14th Dalai Lama was exiled from his homeland of Tibet in 1959 as China invaded and has occupied Tibet since that time. The U.S. Congress and President Bush awarded the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal the week before this event. China made a very vocal protest against the U.S. for honoring the Dalai Lama in this way.

The Summer Olympics are about to be played in China. In powerful ways, circles came together today in Olympic Centennial Park.

Norma Harnack, RN, LMT, IKC U.S. Faculty Member and Touch for Health instructor from St. Louis, balances a gentleman in front of this street stand in Cape Town, South Africa, a beautiful city at the southern tip of the African Continent.

On one side of South Africa is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other is the Indian Ocean.

As a medical nurse, Norma has worked for many years assisting surgeons in the operating room. She says about this experience, "I have seen it all." Norma balances this experience with her long-time dedication to TFH energy kinesiology as an instructor, practitioner and volunteer.

Photos from South Africa

Cape Town Info

Larry Green, right, with his brother Michael and 8-month old, Dylan, stand in front of majestic Redwoods in Northern California.

Larry is known to many as a former TFHKA President, the emcee at the annual TFHKA conferences with an endless supply of humor, instructor/practitioner and a volunteer that continually contributes with his newsletter articles. Larry partners with Arlene at US Kinesiology College.

A redwood is listed as the tallest living thing on Earth. One of the trees that held the record, the Dyerville Giant, was 113.4 meters (373 ft.) tall and was estimated to be 1,600 years old when it fell in March 1991. Today, the tallest tree is Hyperion which is over 90 m (300 ft.) and is located in the Redwood National Park.

We were told by a Park Ranger that Sequoias (cousin of the Redwoods) have only one natural enemy, erosion of the soil around their base. Insects can not kill them and even damage caused by fires from lightening strikes and other fires were self-healed, but they can not overcome erosion.

Save the Redwoods.org

Here is a valuable guide, “Donating to National Parks: How to Give Back and Save on Your Next Trip”.

This resource guides readers through the many ways they can support the preservation of our National Parks. Includes a list of travel hacks on how to save on your next National Parks trip, including:

Visiting in off seasons
Taking advantage of fee-free days
Minimizing travel & lodging expense

Geoff balances Susan overlooking the ocean in
Madeira, Portugal while Benny supervises.

Madeira is a small island in the Atlantic Ocean about 300 miles off the eastern coast of Morocco. It is known as "The Pearl or the Floating Garden of the Atlantic" because of its abundance and variety of flowers and plants. It is also famous for its Levada Walks.

Levadas are watercourses used to distribute water from the wetter to the drier regions. Built from the 1400's to 1956, they wind through picturesque mountains and along scenic ocean vistas. The Levada Walks are along the maintenance trails of these watercourses.

Geoff and Susan Lomas work for the 4-star Hotel Calheta Beach and manage and operate the ONDA VITAL natural health spa which also uses Touch for Health. Susan is a trainer and runs certificated training courses in Mehta Face Lift Therapy.

Anne Hiitola-Pedersen, a TFH Instructor and IKC Trainer from Denmark, checks the Quadriceps of Ida, her youngest child, on a holiday to Sweden in February. Anne comments that TFH is a always a big help when they are skiing.

Anne's husband, Peder is also a TFH instructor.

Anne's website

Swedish Ski Resorts

Standing in front of Lake Tahoe is a great place to check the Quadratus Lumborum.

Lake Tahoe averages 1645 feet (501 meters) in depth and is one of the highest alpine lakes of its size at 6228 feet (1898 meters) in altitude. It is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.

Settlers camped along its northern boundaries as they traveled across country to the gold country and to San Francisco.

Lake Tahoe Wikipedia

Balancing a Balancer

Bill Dan of Sausalito, California is famous for his ability to balance rocks ever so delicately into beautiful little temporary sculptures. It was a pleasure meeting a man of such impeccable balancing ability in the shadows of the Golden Gate Bridge and with San Francisco in the background.

Here I give Bill Dan a quick demonstration of my balancing ability. I have a feeling that if we lived in the Bay Area, Bill and I would be buddies as he teaches me how to balance these rocks and I teach him how to balance people.

Here's a close look at Dan's balancing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Links for Bill Dan:

Official Website: http://rock-on-rock-on.com/

Dan's Blog: http://billdan.blogspot.com/

Video of Dan: http://rock-on-rock-on.com/gallery-rock-balancing.html

Tony Bennett sang his iconic song, (I left my heart in) San Francisco in 1954. Here, we check the Subscapularis (Heart Meridian).

Here is an interesting story about Bennett's song. Make sure to hit the Listen button. Tony Bennett

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most famous and elegant bridges in the world. An icon of strength, it spans great distances while not impeding ship traffic into the beautiful historic port.

Golden Gate NPS

Golden Gate

Golden Gate Wikipedia

The cost of fuel is skyrocketing in the U.S. Gasoline was once relatively cheap and travel by car was fun and inexpensive but now the cost of touring is going up!

Of course, many parts of the world will think this is a good deal.

Amado Samia, Jr. (center kneeling), is a facilitator in the Philippines of a small group of volunteer workers doing outreach healing ministry for their community. Amada and his group include Touch for Health in their work.

Most are senior citizens and pensioners coming from private and public institutions. They work together with one common goal: to help alleviate the deteriorating health care system and economic conditions prevailing in their country.

In this photo, senior citizens perform muscle testing while in one of their local parks. Many teach various forms of touch therapies in their own respective communities.

The Philippines