MIND • BODY • SPIRIT • ECO RESOURCES IN THE MARYLAND - DC - VIRGINIA REGION PATH WAYS SUMMER 2026 • FREE NOW IN OUR 51st YEAR
Third Spaces: Who Uses Them And Who Benefits • Embracing Wonder, Awe And Reverence Urban Foraging For Beginners • Gender Fluidity In Buddhism & Hinduism • Angels On Call Signs & Symbols In Spirit Communication • Coherence, Disease And Longevity … And Much More Summer 2026 Natural Living Expo • Sunday, June 7, College Park, MD — Preliminary Program Inside!
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PATHWAYS—Summer 26—3
4—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
Integrative Medicine for Optimal Health Leaders in Integrative & Functional Medicine, Holistic Dentistry and Healing Therapies – One Convenient Location –
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National Integrated Health Associates 5225 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 402 Washington, DC 20015 Friendship Heights Metro, Garage parking www.nihadc.com • Call (202) 237-7000
PATHWAYS—Summer 26—5
Erin deSabla Owner & Publisher; Events + Operations + Business Development Michelle Alonso
MInd • Body • Spirit • Environmental Resources Since 1979
Editor, Magazine + Web Content; Social Media + Marketing, Events Amaya Roberson
What We Are About Pathways Productions is a full-service advertising, marketing, event and publishing company serving the mind, body, spirit community since 1979. From the start, we have been a small, family-run busi- ness. Today, we have a women-led team dedicated to helping all businesses — local, small & inde- pendent — succeed and thrive. Over the years, we have expanded our offerings to include live events, most notably the widely successful and always popular Natural Living Expo. The articles and resources offered by Pathways Magazine and its affiliated hosted events demon - strate a common belief on the part of local individuals, businesses and contributors that sharing ideas and expertise builds community and commerce in a spirit of unity, cooperation and under- standing while maintaining a high level of integrity, responsibility and service. Our content em- braces these ideals; we are a conduit — a pathway — for the most loving and dynamic insights and information that enable all of us to live more consciously. The views and opinions expressed in Pathways Magazine, and by vendor materials for our hosted events, are those of the contributing writers, editors and merchants, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Pathways ownership or any Pathways staff. Any content provided by our contributors is of their opinion and is not intended to malign any religious, ethnic, or cultur- al group, organization, company or individual. Furthermore, the products and services presented herein and at our hosted events do not necessarily constitute an endorsement of use or a recommen- dation on the part of Pathways and its staff, and are largely paid advertising and vending. Making Connections Join our Pathways Community! Through our quarterly and online publications, and our sched- uled hosted events, we are committed to providing the public with free or affordable access to local resources focused on holistic health and wellness practices, spirituality and personal growth, com- munity activism and outreach, and stewardship to the environment. We foster these opportunities through information, ideas, events, goods and services. Our goal is to provide a platform for businesses to reach the public in a comprehensive and cost-ef- fective way. Through advertising, packaged marketing, live events and retreats, and event planning support, we offer businesses opportunities to market themselves through a variety of channels, and use our expertise to facilitate this growing network. Pathways is your one-stop resource to make connections, nurture growth and achieve success. Finding Pathways Pathways Magazine print edition is distributed through dozens of outlets in Maryland, DC and Virginia. Visit our “Where To Find” page online for the nearest locations to pick up your print copy. More distribution outlets are being added with each issue. We also provide an online digital edition with interactive links to references, resources and businesses for each issue. Our website features our current issue, as well as a magazine archive, where you can view issues dating back to 2010. Subscriptions for Pathways Magazine are available for $20/year and direct-mailed. Order online at: www.PathwaysProductions.com, under the Magazine dropdown menu. Advertising In Pathways Pathways advertising opportunities are available through all of our outreach channels: our free quarterly journal, Pathways Magazine, distributed in print and digitally; our hosted events; and our comprehensive website and growing social media presence. We offer ad rate discounts with custom packages for Expo exhibitors, and provide design services for low one-time fees. For more informa- tion, upcoming deadlines and our editorial calendar, visit us online.
Event Support Ann Silberlicht Graphic Design
MayaRose Creative LLC Magazine & Website, Design + Production Contributing Editors Kathy Jentz Cam MacQueen Contributing Writers Helena Amos, M.A., L.AC. Carol Burbank Alex Edgar Carmen Froment Rev. Cheryl Gander-Spagnolo Therisia “Trish” Hall, D.Div. Candise Jordan Misty Kuceris Mercedes Laney
Annie Larson Hanh Nguyen Patricia Pfost Kerri Souilliard Violet Warner Adora Winquist Soule Sheer Zed On The Cover MESSAGES By Rosana Azar Circulation 12K copies by Pathways Staff SUMMER 2026 Volume 51, Number 2 Published quarterly with the season change by ERIN DESABLA PATHWAYS PRODUCTIONS, LLC 7407 Aspen Ave. Takoma Park, MD 20912 www.pathwaysproductions.com PH: 240-429-7850 (Mon. – Thurs. • 12 PM to 5 PM) ADVERTISING EMAIL: pathwaysads@gmail.com Ad Rates Available Online: www.pathwaysmagazineonline.com Deadlines for Editorial and Advertising are 2/10, 5/10, 8/10 and 11/10. Publication is approximately four weeks after the deadlines. Please email all arti- cles as file attachments to the Editor at: pathwaysarticles@gmail.com. © 2026 Pathways Productions, LLC
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6—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMER 2026 — What’s Inside
PATHWAYS MAGAZINE and the SUMMER OF COHERENCE Plus An Invitation To Our Summer 2026 Natural Living Expo A Message From Your Pathways Team The word of the season is coherence , in all its definitions and applications: logic and consistency, clarity and order, the quality of forming a unified whole. The concept recurs throughout this issue’s content, contributed by diverse voices and seemingly on behalf of all of us who are yearning for coherence during these fraught times. We are happy to share these perspectives with you to offer some light, joy, and hope. We continue to be purveyors of good energy with the upcoming Summer Natural Living Expo on June 7, in College Park, MD. Join us for this joyful day of inclusion, exploration and connection — our Radical Resistance against chaos and hate — where you can contribute your energy while finding ways to invest in yourself and your community. It’s a very special experience, and we want to see you all there. And until then, let’s invite in the beginning of summer, and remember to take care of one another and Mother Earth. MIND-BODY-SPIRIT Wonder, Awe and Reverence ................................................................................................................9 By Therisia “Trish” Hall BUILDING COMMUNITY Third Spaces: Who Uses Them and Who Benefits ..............................................................................11 By Mercedes Laney CULTIVATING COMPASSION Are You Resisting Feeling Good? On Coherence, the Science of Scent, and What One Breath of Nature Can Begin To Restore ......................................................................13 By Adora Winquist Soule ASTROLOGICAL INSIGHTS Summer 2026: The Dance That Brings Understanding .....................................................................16 By Misty Kuceris ACCESSING YOUR INTUITION Bridging the Gap: Signs and Symbols in Spirit Communication ......................................................20 By Annie Larson ESOTERIC THOUGHT Gender Fluidity in Buddhism and Hinduism: A Perspective of Transformative Magic ....................23 By Sheer Zed TO YOUR HEALTH Coherent Organization, Disease, and Longevity: A Systems View of Why We Age — and How We Stay Well .........................................................................................................................31 By Helena Amos, M.Ac., L.Ac., Euro. Physician YOUTH VOICES Announcing Letters to America: Perspectives from the Generation Shaping America’s Next 250 Years .....................................................................................................................................36 By Alex Edgar GREEN NEWS & VIEWS Write Like a Tree: Mindful Creativity as Connection with Nature .....................................................55 By Carol Burbank YOGA HOY | YOGA TODAY Yoga para la salud (en español) ..........................................................................................................64 De NIH News in Health WASHINGTON GARDENER Why I Quit the Weed Warriors ..........................................................................................................68 By Kathy Jentz
There are areas on this Earth that are more than places. They are thresholds — vibrational doorways into a different reality altogether. Campbell’s Lane Farm is one of them, a New Earth entity and special third space… with donkeys. Learn more. Page 27
In the DMV, we are surrounded by food as soon as we step outdoors. Whether it’s an edible weed growing in the yard, or edible flowers hanging from the trees, we have plenty of food outside. Forest Garden Educator Candise Jordan shares her tips for urban foraging. Page 34
ON THE COVER: MESSAGES, by Rosana Azar. Artist profile, page 72
MORE RESOURCES FOR CREATIVE LIVING • Angels On Call, by Kerri Souilliard - pg 58 • Unlocking Your Intuition and Your Higher Self, by Carmen Froment - pg 60 • When Politics Tears the Family Table Apart: A Guide to Survival, by Hanh Nguyen - pg 63 • Finding Your Inner Artist, by Violet Warner - pg 69 • Embodying Unity Consciousness, by Rev. Cheryl Gander-Spagnolo - pg 71 • Pathways Summer Natural Living Expo Preliminary Program - pg 38 • Summer Events Calendar - pg 48 • Advertiser Index - pg 74
PATHWAYS—Summer 26—7
Join Our UNIQUE CSA - TARIFF-FREE FROM LOCAL FARMERS Are YOU interested in healthily-grown fruits, vegetables, and in-season honey and apple cider straight from the farm? With our weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), you take home a wide, seasonal variety grown with NO chemical pesticides on vegetables, and NO GMOs.
Convenient order pickups in Takoma Park, Md., and at our DC Adams Morgan market location. Partial list of summer/fall produce — basket contents & quantities vary weekly: Apple cider Beans Blackberries Broccoli Brussels sprouts Carrots Cauliflower Cucumbers Honey Kale (red, curly, Tuscan) Onions Spinach Squash Strawberries Sweet potatoes Tomatoes (cherrys, heirlooms, beefsteaks) Watermelons
Four CSA Sessions:
June–July • Aug–Sept • Oct • Nov
(8-9 weeks each, depending on calendar pick-up day)
MEMBERSHIP PRICING*: $320 / 8 weeks • $360 / 9 weeks *Our prices have not changed in two years!
Wide assortment of Medicinal Herbs and Roots are also available:
For more information & to join, email:
Amaranth Burdock Chicory/Chicory flower
Clover Comfrey Elderberries
Dandelion greens Lamb’s Quarter Purslane
esiegel2@igc.org
2026 Market Date | CSA Pickups Affordably-priced, pesticide-free grown vegetables and fruit delivered weekly to the DC/MD area.
CSA PICKUPS WEDNESDAYS: 5pm - 8pm Takoma Park, MD Address given when you join.
ADAMS MORGAN FARMERS MARKET SATURDAYS: June 6 - Dec. 19, 8:30am –1pm Unity Park, in front of the Line Hotel, Columbia Rd/ Euclid and Champlain Streets, NW, DC *VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Help staff the farm stand in exchange for take-home produce. Email for more information!
Staff meet-n-greet, farm tour, plant, harvest, plant or pick your own Christmas tree, share food, music, and more. See our website for visit day details and directions. SUNDAY, MAY 31 ~ FREE EVENT! 2026 FARM VISIT DAY!
SATURDAYS: • DC Farmers Market, 8:30am - 1pm • Takoma Park, MD, 4pm - 7pm Address given when you join.
info@lickingcreekbendfarm.com • 1-301-587-1739 www.lickingcreekbendfarm.com Instagram @lickingcreekbendfarm
8—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
MIND-BODY-SPIRIT
Wonder, Awe and Reverence
BY THERISIA “TRISH” HALL Summer reverence evokes lush responses… the opportunity to lie in the grass and see a world of fantasy in the clouds… to go bird-watch- ing or bird-listening… to plant seeds and plants and watch them grow… to be in amazement over compost or hike and gaze out at the vastness of the countryside or the sheltered stillness of the forest…. I invite you to, as author Ernest Holmes declared, “Change your thinking, Change your Life.” Join an ongoing “spiritual adventure” — a challenge that will recast how you open to and experience your world. In this adventure, you will alter the “how” of how you engage with life. What you engage with may remain the same, however, it is very likely you will be inclined to make different choices. Author Wayne Dyer also declared, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. ” This applies to everything! Your perspective matters. Perceptions are altered by how you see and sense your world, and everything and everyone in it. You are the com - mon denominator that causes how you experience everything! How you look at and interact within every moment of your life changes the way it will seem to you. Choose how you wish to participate with life. Shift your behavior and your perspective. You will discover a brand- new world! Children tend to live naturally in a perpetual state of won- der and awe. In Matthew 18:3 (NIV) Jesus is quoted as having said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” That kingdom of heaven is the state of being truly alive and keenly alert to the wonders of your environment. The first step in this direction is to adopt the practice of taking “rev - erence respites.” If one has the luxury of long expanses of time, a rev- erence respite could be a whole day or more. Or, as I am more inclined to do, you can insert snippets of reverence respites throughout the day. They are amazingly restorative. Stop what you are doing. Invite in distraction rather than trying to exclude it. Open to your environ- ment — a flower in the yard, a pesky fly buzzing in your office, what - ever — and drop into wonder, awe and reverence. Fling open your curiosity! Investigate! Marvel! It’s quite simple: Let go of “must-get-this-done” compulsiveness and take a bit of a detour. It will actually reenergize you so you will accomplish more with less effort when you return to whatever it was you were working on. Let Yourself Be Guided Let your intuition guide your focus. I lean toward the natural world, yet I can be absolutely fascinated by the wonders of science, art, ar- chitecture and technology. I am in awe at the amazing capacities of the human mind, including its feelings, emotions, creativity and in- tellectual pursuits. Have you ever spent time just wondering about wonder? To engage in wonder, we have to get out of ourselves (a good thing) and open to exploration — whether droplets of water or giant ocean waves, the vastness of the cosmos or the intricacies of microbes, to the texture of a beach’s grittiness and how that might correlate with sandcastles and the Swiss Alps or Himalayas. Do you question how this or that came about? Do you ask, how is it all sustaining? Or is it? So much is evolving before our eyes when we simply wake up and wonder. If you are already questioning, I compliment you for your curiosity. If not yet, I hope this challenge will pique your interest, and engage you in a new way of being alive throughout your days. When we ponder what we are within creation — our roles and re-
Son Doong Cave, Vietnam. Image Credit: Dave Bunnell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
sponsibilities within original creation and/or human creativity — our perceptions begin to transform. Do we accept responsibility for what we may consciously or otherwise be putting in motion? Whether you are the cause that packs a child’s lunch or launches a spaceship, imple - ments a program to deliver clean water to remote villages, discovers a cure for cancer or gently comforts a friend — whatever your contri- bution — it is essential to the well-being of all the rest of us who share this life journey. You matter! Your unique passion and perception are vital to the collective. I dance between awe and wonder. My curiosity stimulates my won - der and awe is my response. Sometimes I feel small, perhaps insig- nificant, in the presence of the greatness that has preceded, and will succeed, me. I am humbled by the expansiveness and minuteness of nature, by the exponential progress of science — by the intensity of it all. The beauty and pure potentiality stun me. In awe, I open to as much as I can grasp. The entirety of creation is made of atoms and quarks; each is essential to the whole. We are all individuations of the Creator. Through time, I am finding more and more people who identify themselves as “spiritual.” Some practice a religion. Many don’t. What they commonly share is a sense there is a Creator (by myriad names) that is expressing as all creation — the cosmos and all its occupants. “Spiritual rather than religious” is a phrase used to describe a way of engaging with meaning, purpose, and the sacred that is grounded per- sonally within each individual rather than institutionally defined. It points to a reliance on direct, lived experience — inner awareness, per- sonal relationship with the sacred (however defined), and an evolving sense of truth that may draw from multiple sources. These individuals feel a direct connection to the sacred, which is real and deeply import- ant to them. They are intuitively seeking congruence — alignment of inner experience with outer expression, often resulting in a sense that they no longer feel their beliefs fit neatly inside a single tradition, doc - trine or institution. As with many of my fellow spiritual beings, I believe there is one Creator in expression as all creation, so it is all sacred and worthy of respect and care. The slip from awe to reverence is natural and in- stantaneous. Reverence is a felt-sense that is also relational and ethi -
continued on page 26
PATHWAYS—Summer 26—9
Takoma Metaphysical Chapel
Sunday 11:00 Services now virtual at Zoom (81385184622) and Facebook Live. Other activities via conf. at 717-908-1636 (635833#) A Spiritual Community That Supports Your Individual Development
Imagine A Place Where…. Your beliefs are supported and embraced. Everyday events are explored from the physical, mental and spiritual perspective. Like-minded individuals support you in your spiritual journey. At the Takoma Metaphysical Chapel, you will find such a place. The Takoma Metaphysical Chapel is a growing community of people committed to spiritual growth and development resulting in transformation and emotional well-being. You’ll find uplifting services, you’ll feel the spirit of Love, and you’ll learn practical ways to put this energy to work for your greatest good. Relevant, Practical Themes. Teachings based on numerous “new thought” spiritual traditions that show you how to apply timeless spiritual principles in practical ways to navigate your life with more peace, joy and grace. Come As You Are Come experience uplifting music, meditation, prayer and messages designed to touch your heart and uplift your spirit. Experience wisdom from various spiritual traditions to heal your heart, mind and soul. The Takoma Metaphysical Chapel meets on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. on Zoom (Meeting Code 81385184622) and on Facebook Live.
Our Mailing Address Is: 1901 Powder Mill Road, Silver Spring, MD 20903
Classes and Workshops Include: CHANNELING AND BEYOND Personal Spiritual Transformation Mondays at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom HEALING THE INNER CHILD Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom See website www.takomametaphysicalchapel.org for other classes, online support and more details. Many classes available via conference call also.
OTHER EVENTS INCLUDE: Wednesday Evening Healing/ Meditation Circles 7:15 – 8:30 p.m. via conf. 717-908-1636 (635833#) 3rd Sunday Goddess Circle 7:30 p.m via conf. 717-908-1636 (635833#) A Course In Miracles Calls M-F 6:55 a.m. via conf Sunday 9:30 a.m. via conf 717-908-1636 (635833#)
(301) 587-7200 • takomachapel@netzero.com www.takomametaphysicalchapel.org
10—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Third Spaces: Who Uses Them and Who Benefits
The “third place” label has become a marketing category, applied in ways that abandon its original meaning. Research on corporate coffee-chain environments has consistently found that the franchise, despite its advertising, provides almost none of Oldenburg’s criteria; it is a fast-food model dressed in third space aesthetics. Reframing Third Spaces
BY MERCEDES LANEY
The intuitive answer, “everyone,” is wrong. Recent research sug - gests third spaces are used unevenly and benefit unevenly. The con - cept emerged in 1982 in an article by sociologist Ray Oldenburg and
Dennis Brissett titled, “The Third Place.” It was originally popularized by Olden - burg’s 1989 book The Great Good Place . Since roughly 2019, the phrase has re - surfaced in popular culture alongside re- newed interest in preserving the spaces it describes. But the third space itself is old - er than the term. The earliest document- ed third space institutions emerged not in Europe but in the Arabian Peninsula; and the most sociologically sophisticated con- versational traditions come from China, Japan, South Asia, and Central Asia. Oldenburg called it “a generic desig- nation for a great variety of public places that host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of in- dividuals beyond the realms of home and work.” “The first place” being the home, “the second place” the workplace, and “the third place” everywhere else that matters to us. But the space he sought to describe, the informal, recurring, non-transaction- al gathering place that is neither home nor work, is ancient and cross-cultural. Sufi mystics in fifteenth-century Yemen used coffee to stay awake through long nights of devotion, and the coffeehous - es that grew from that practice became, within a century, the “schools of the wise” of Mecca, Cairo, and Istanbul. Chinese teahouses were serving as conversation- al and commercial arbitration spaces as
In present-day America, especially in urban centers like the DMV, historical third spaces like malls, diners, bowling alleys, and independent cafes are simul- taneously vanishing and being reinvent- ed into run clubs, bookstore revivals, online communities, coworking hybrids, and contemplative spaces. The answer to who they benefit most is counterintu - itive. The heaviest beneficiaries are not the socially abundant but the socially vulnerable: older adults, adolescents, the chronically ill, immigrants, and members of minoritized communities for whom the third space doubles as political, eco- nomic, and emotional infrastructure. Sociologist Eric Klinenberg’s work on social infrastructure has sought to re- frame third spaces as a category of pro- tective public good whose loss correlates with isolation, polarization, and even mortality during climate events. The 2023 U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on loneliness and isolation has since echoed this framing, classifying social discon- nection as a public health crisis with a mortality impact comparable to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the social fracture of our society and accelerated the shut- tering of these spaces centered on hold-
Photo by Mercedes Laney
ing community in a non-transactional way. The loss that has followed has cemented the idea of third spaces as essential to human connec- tion and vitality. While the language is clinical, the root is structural. Third spaces didn’t just become harder to find after the pandemic; they had been quietly dismantled long before it. The third space was never simply social. It was neurological. There is a network in the brain often referred to by the scientific community as the “default mode network,” which becomes active when the mind is not directed toward a task. It’s where reflection happens. Where meaning organizes itself. Where the self, in a deeper sense, begins to cohere. But this network requires something increasingly rare: un - claimed attention. The third space used to provide that by default. Nothing was being optimized. Nothing was being produced. Atten - tion was allowed to drift, to settle, to return on its own terms. It had somewhere to go that wasn’t immediately captured. Now, attention has nowhere to rest. Coffee shops have become of - fices, their conversational atmosphere compromised by Wi-Fi-driven laptop culture and the “alone together” dynamic. This has also bled into parks and shared outdoor spaces filled with headphones, run clubs, pickleball, and other organized social meetups, which have ex - panded rapidly since 2022, particularly among young 20-somethings seeking sober social interactions. Even the remaining spaces, like li- braries and religious and spiritual spaces, have absorbed the logic of productivity and competition. It wasn’t just a loss of physical places. It was a loss of spaces that allow the nervous system to settle and be supported in familiar environments surrounded by a safe communi- ty.
early as the Tang dynasty, more than a thousand years before Olden- burg named the category. Bengali adda , the hours-long unstructured conversation held in tea stalls and coffeehouses, was a culturally codi - fied practice by the early nineteenth century. In other words, the third space was not invented in 1982; it was named. The spaces Oldenburg celebrated, such as colonial American tav - erns, English coffeehouses, Viennese cafes and French bistros, were notoriously gendered, often racially bounded, and maintained high barriers to entry. The mixed company of different nations and reli - gions that Alexander Hamilton praised in his colonial tavern was almost entirely male and white. Subsequent scholarship has had to account for the fact that third spaces are not only integrating spaces but also sorting ones: they produce inclusion for some by producing exclusion for others. Four populations surface repeatedly in the literature as dispropor- tionate beneficiaries. The literature sometimes treats third spaces as universally beneficial, but the data is less clean. For already socially abundant people, well-networked professionals with robust first and second spaces, third spaces are pleasant additions rather than necessi- ties. This complicates the common policy argument. “Everyone needs a third place” is not quite true. Closer to the truth is that the people who need third spaces most are the ones most structurally excluded from accessing them. Monetized luxury coworking spaces marketed as third spaces often serve the first group while the closure of the public library branch that served the second goes unnoticed. Oldenburg himself observed that chain establishments are less enduring third spaces than independent ones because they extract economic value from the local community instead of circulating it.
continued on page 12
PATHWAYS—Summer 26—11
BUILDING COMMUNITY
Third Spaces... ...continued from page 11
walked into a space, and your system adjusted because the structure of the environment allowed it. Now, because those structures have erod- ed, they must be created with intention. And when they are, the effect is immediate, even if it’s subtle. The breath softens. The body takes up space differently. Time feels less segmented, less urgent. You be - gin to notice things again, not as information, but as experience. Not everything needs to be done. Some things just need to be allowed. The third space of the next twenty years will be more intentional, more af- finity-based, more digitally hybrid, and less democratically open than those of the past. In the last decade, contemplative spaces have grown substantially. Meditation studios, Yoga sanctuaries, sound-bath rooms, tea ceremony rooms in their Western adaptations, and quiet libraries occupy an edge of the third space category that Oldenburg’s emphasis on conversation-as-main-activity does not quite capture. The Japanese chashitsu tradition suggests these spaces have always been “third places” — just ones organized around silence rather than talk. The mood is contemplative rather than playful. The main activity is shared presence rather than conversation, but the neutral-ground, leveling, regulars, and home-away-from-home functions are present. Research on these spaces as “third places” is thin; most of the medi - tation and wellness literature approaches them as sites of individual practice rather than social infrastructure. That is probably a gap worth closing. The early evidence, from studies of Buddhist sanghas, Quaker meetings, and contemplative congregations, suggests that silent third spaces perform public-health functions comparable to conversational ones. The difference lies in the mechanisms: reduction in nervous-sys - tem dysregulation, the formation of weak-tie communities through sustained co-presence, and the cultivation of attention as a shared civ- ic capacity. The “third place” is an old idea dressed in a new phrase. What Old- enburg named in 1982 had been practiced in Mecca, Istanbul, Kyo - to, Kolkata, Samarkand, and New Orleans for centuries before him. continued on page 30
As Johann Hari argues in Stolen Focus , attention isn’t just an indi - vidual habit; it’s an environment. And that environment has changed. The systems surrounding us are designed to capture, fragment, and redirect. What once required effort to interrupt is now the baseline condition. The third space used to be exempt from this. It isn’t any - more. So, what did it offer? Oldenburg identified a few core qualities: neu - trality, accessibility, a leveling of status, conversation as the primary activity, and what he described as a “playful mood.” But these aren’t just sociological features. They are physiological ones. In a true third space, no one owns you. Your status doesn’t follow you in. There is nothing to prove, nothing to perform, nothing to maintain. The body registers this before the mind names it. It’s a subtle recalibration, a shift out of vigilance, into something more open. Other traditions have been describing this condition for centuries. In many Bantu philosophies, often expressed through the idea of Ubun - tu, “I am because we are,” personhood is not defined by function, but by relationship. You exist not as a role, but as a presence among oth - ers. The third space is where that kind of personhood becomes possi- ble. In Japanese philosophy, there is the concept of ma — the interval, the negative space, the pause that gives shape to everything around it. It is not emptiness as absence, but emptiness as meaning. The space between things is not wasted space. It is what allows anything to exist at all. A true third space operates on this logic. It does not fill you. It does not improve you. It creates the conditions where something quieter can emerge, something that was already there, obscured by constant demand. This is why these spaces matter. Not just for com- munity, but for coherence. Not just for connection, but for the simple, often overlooked experience of being a person without a role attached. Historically, this kind of stabilization happened naturally. You
12—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Are You Resisting Feeling Good? On Coherence, the Science of Scent, and What One Breath of Nature Can Begin To Restore BY ADORA WINQUIST SOULE
Stand in front of your mirror and ask yourself this question out loud: “Am I resisting feeling good?” At first, it may sound too simple and obvious to answer. Of course I want to feel good. Who wouldn’t? But I am not talking about the temporary lift that comes from morning coffee, an evening cocktail, a purchase, or a scroll on social media. I am talking about the deeper, daily, moment-by-moment capacity to feel steady in your body, clear in your mind, connected in your heart, and present enough in your life to choose your next response. That kind of feeling good is not indulgent. It is foundational. It is connected to your health, your immunity, your relationships, your de- cisions, and your capacity to thrive. In the DC metro area, we are well acquainted with pressure. This is a region shaped by service, leadership and consequence. Whether you are a caregiver, a healer, a policy advocate, an educator, a first responder, or simply a person trying to hold a life together with grace, the nervous system can become trained to scan for what is wrong be- fore it ever notices what is right. So when I ask, “Are you resisting feeling good?” I am also asking something deeper. Has your body become more familiar with stress than peace? Has vigilance started to feel safer than ease? Has worry become a way of proving that you care? There is no shame in this. Your body has been trying to protect you by design. The human brain was built to look for threats. The amygdala, of- ten described as the brain’s alarm center, receives sensory input and mobilizes a protective response before the thinking mind has even registered what is happening. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for pausing, assessing, and choosing a more considered response, can ef- fectively go quiet when the alarm is persistent enough. In a true emergency, this is elegant design. But most of us are not navigating emergencies. We are navigating chronic stress, economic pressure, grief, broken sleep, relentless stimulation, and the invisible weight of always being “on.” When the body lives in that state long enough, ease begins to feel foreign. Calm begins to feel like a risk. Feeling good can start to feel like letting down your guard. Coherence is the state where body, brain, heart, mind, and aware- ness begin moving in harmony — calm without numbness, focus with- out force, strength without armoring. Research from the HeartMath Institute shows that coherent heart-brain states are measurably linked to improved cognitive performance, immune function, and emotional resilience. Coherence is not a philosophy, it is a physiology. And it is the state from which we can relate before we react, respond before we regret, and meet the moment with more presence than protection. This is also why the senses are not supplemental to healing. They are the pathway in. When an aromatic molecule is inhaled, it travels through the olfac- tory nerve directly to the limbic system — the brain’s emotional and memory center — in as little as ten milliseconds. No other sense has this rapid access. Scent bypasses the rational, analyzing mind entirely and arrives first in the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus: the structures that govern threat response, memory, and hormone regulation. Research published by Nature in 2024 demonstrated that The Science of Scent At the core human level, coherence must come first.
Adora facilitating a healing retreat in Boone, NC.
individual neurons in the human olfactory system encode specific odors with remarkable precision. Studies on aromatherapy and heart rate variability show measurable autonomic shifts — increased para- sympathetic activity, reduced heart rate — within seconds to minutes of inhalation, particularly when paired with an extended exhale. That longer exhale is not incidental. It directly signals the vagus nerve, the body’s primary regulator of the stress response, to begin moving the system from alert into recovery. Inhale a pure essential oil, exhale slowly for a count of six or eight, and within two minutes the nervous system has already begun to change. This is not a metaphor; it is measurable. Of all the plants I have worked with over more than three decades, bergamot holds a particular place of reverence. Cold-pressed from the rind of the bergamot orange, grown primarily along the coastal hills of Calabria in southern Italy, this oil carries a luminous, complex scent that bridges citrus brightness with a soft floral depth. Its primary constituents — linalyl acetate, linalool, and limonene — are known to interact with GABAergic and serotonergic pathways in the brain, the same neurochemical systems involved in anxiety regulation and mood stabilization. Studies have documented bergamot’s capacity to reduce cortisol, improve heart rate variability, and lower self-reported anxi- ety. In one investigation examining aromatherapy in clinical waiting environments, bergamot inhalation significantly reduced both anxiety and fatigue. What moves me most, though, is not only the data. It is the felt quality of the plant itself — what I would call its “solar frequency.” Bergamot carries something uplifting and clarifying, a kind of gentle dissolving of the contracted places where grief or anxiety or shame has taken up residence. The science and the spirit of this plant point toward the same thing: the body remembering that safety is available. Tactical Alchemy I have spent years bringing these principles into rooms where that remembering is desperately needed. My husband John — a retired Air Force Major, flight nurse, and neurotrauma critical care specialist who spent decades caring for war- riors and their families — and I began working together in military wellness settings out of a shared conviction: that the body keeps score, and that the body also needs tools. At the Warrior Games and Invic -
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PATHWAYS—Summer 26—13
CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Resisting Feeling Good... ...continued from page 13
tus Games, I led hands-on sessions where warriors, their families, and their children created their own essential oil formulas and moved through a multisensory nervous system practice together. I have sat in those rooms and watched people who have carried unimaginable weight — physical injury, invisible wounds, years of sacrifice — take one intentional breath with a plant ally in their hands and visibly soft- en; not because a single breath resolves decades of burden, but be- cause the nervous system received something it recognized as safe. In that moment of recognition, something becomes possible that was not possible before. We have also had the privilege of piloting what we believe to be a first-of-its-kind pre-deployment program with the Louisiana Army National Guard, designed to address stress response and sleep hygiene before Soldiers deploy rather than only after they return. Inadequate sleep affects roughly three-quarters of active-duty service members, and the strain of preparing to deploy is its own profound weight — car- ried not only by the soldier but by every person in the household. The protocols we brought are simple, portable, and grounded in the same science: essential oil inhalation paired with breath, targeted acupres - sure, sound, and intentional practice. Field-ready. Repeatable. Some - thing a soldier can carry into deployment and come home to. Because nervous systems are that deeply interconnected, when one person in a household begins to regulate, the people around them feel it. None of this work is separate from the question I began with. Wheth- er I am sitting with a warrior, a healer, a mother, a caregiver, or a per- son who simply feels worn thin by the relentless pace of modern life, I come back to the same place. The body is not broken. It is exhausted from performing safety it does not feel. And the pathway back does not require years, or expense, or a complete rearrangement of one’s life. It
requires a practice small enough to begin right now. This is the heart of what I call “Tactical Alchemy” — not a program to sell, but a way of understanding that the senses are medicine. That plant intelligence is real. A breath, an aroma, a hand on the heart, a sip of water taken slowly, can begin to rewire a nervous system trained in vigilance back toward something it has been longing for. The founda- tion of all of it remains the simplest teaching I know: Inhale Nature. Deploying soldiers and their families learn Tactical Alchemy protocols and aromatherapeutics.
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14—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Step outside. Exhale slowly. Let your eyes find something living or natural — a tree, the sky, water, stone, a single blade of grass. Let your shoulders drop. Feel the air move through your body. Inhale as if na- ture itself is reminding you that you belong to life, not just to pressure. You are nature. You have just forgotten it. Trauma does not live only in the mind. It echoes through the body, the family system, and across generations in ways science is still learn- ing to articulate. This is why nature is such a profound force for heal- ing. It does not ask us to perform. It does not ask us to explain but sim- ply invites us to remember. Now speak again to the mirror: “I choose to feel good.” Take one breath knowing your body deserves relief. Inhale nature. Exhale slowly. Let coherence begin with one breath. Let feeling good become not an indulgence, but a bridge — to freedom in your body, your mind, your heart, and your soul. You may find yourself saying, “I feel great!” Adora Winquist Soule is an internationally recognized aromather - apist, pioneer in vibrational medicine, and creator of Tactical Alche - my and Aromatic Neural Repatterning — proprietary techniques that support nervous system regulation and trauma recovery. She serves as the Aromatherapy Expert to the Department of Defense’s sanctioned Alternative Medicine Team, the Healing Hut, and is co-author of Detox, Nourish, Activate . All photos courtesy of Adora. adorawinquist.com
— About the ‘Cultivating Compassion’ Column — Cam MacQueen, MSW, is the creator and curator of ‘Cultivating Compassion.’ She attended Howard University School of Divinity where she specialized in Social Justice Ethics. Cam continues to dedicate this year’s columns to various forms of activism, resistance, and dissent necessary to help save our democra- cy and progress toward a more perfect union. The world desperately needs each one of us to be motivated and engaged, now! The type of inner action that’s currently required calls us to be our highest selves. By dropping the persistent resistance to personal growth, self compassion, individual well-being, and the expansion of our comfort zones, we can allow for the requisite time and space to prioritize our inner beings. When we begin to actualize our potential and move differently in our spheres of influence — not only for ourselves but those closest to us — the broader community, and ultimately, the greater good benefits. Now is that time to be in touch with, nurture, and shore up our inner spirtual warrior selves so we can contribute more effectively in making this world a more loving, inclusive, compassionate, equita- ble place for all. Contemplate the questions: If not now, when?; and, what are you waiting for? Perhaps, you’ll heed the call and find that a new, enriching life of (spirtual) activism awaits. Thanks to Adora for giving us fresh, insightful tools to help us on this journey.
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PATHWAYS—Summer 26—15
ASTROLOGICAL INSIGHTS
Summer 2026: The Dance That Brings Understanding
start pushing bound- aries until you mature to the point in your life when you realize your path is one you can de- termine, and not one that has to be deter- mined by others. On a mundane lev- el, Jupiter represents commerce, advertis- ing, and currency, as well as judicial and regulatory matters in both local and global settings. To under- stand what to expect in these areas, look to the sign that Jupiter is en-
BY MISTY KUCERIS
There’s a dance between various important astrological energies this Summer of 2026 that emphasizes the importance of paradigm shifts already underway and paradigm shifts still to come. Whether caused by AI, space travel, political and global events, and more likely “all of the above,” reality as you know it is changing, and the dance you experience during the next several months will help you understand your place in this tapestry of changes. Summer officially starts on June 21 st as the Sun enters the sign of Cancer and the summer solstice occurs at 4:26 am EDT. As the second quarter of the astrological year begins, you realize it’s important to reflect on what you began when the new astrological year started on March 20, 2026, the time of the Spring Equinox. With the Sun now forming a square to Neptune, you want to review your dreams and aspirations. Were they realistic? Did they bring the spiritual enlight - enment you sought? Or, do you need to make changes to those dreams and aspirations in order to bring more security and safety into your life? And, with the Sun forming a quincunx to Pluto retrograde, you may determine it’s best to keep your own counsel and restrain your emotional expressions so others can’t take advantage of you, especial - ly with Mercury in Cancer turning retrograde from June 29 th to July 23 rd and the full Moon with Sun in Cancer and Moon in Capricorn occurring later in the day on June 29 th . The day after Mercury goes retrograde and the full Moon occurs on June 29 th , Jupiter enters the sign of Leo. Jupiter enters a new sign ap- proximately every year and a half. This means that approximately ev- ery 12 years and a few months it returns to the same sign — we call this a “Jupiter return.” You experience your own Jupiter return every 12 years as well. When you experience your personal Jupiter return, you
Image by u_0xqcqp9f6q from Pixabay tering. So when Jupiter is in the sign of Leo, there’s a desire to be gen - erous but also a tendency to take things personally to the point where pride can lead to downfall. There’s also a desire to bring out your inner child through play and recreation. In the positive this could lead to more entertainment venues; but in the negative, this can lead to in- creased gambling addictions. It can also lead to more country leaders emphasizing the importance of birthing more children and increas - ing the population. And because Jupiter in Leo represents the need to push boundaries that increase self-awareness and identity, you’ll see more grandiose approaches to matters such as social media, art, political negotiations and maneuvering.
16—PATHWAYS—Summer 26
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