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Religion / Spirituality 24 results
Mindfulness originated in ancient Buddhism, but the practice has expanded to companies that offer some form of mindfulness training for their workers. Artists and sisters Nina (left) and Sonya Montenegro own The Far Woods, a creative studio that reflects their dedication to mindful living. Other local businesses make it part of their everyday approach, as well, by taking into consideration “the well-being of the environment, the consumer, and the business owner alike.” | Courtesy photo

Mindfulness Widens Its Sphere from Personal Mantra to Business Practice
Shannon Livengood
Though mindfulness originated in Buddhism, the practice has expanded to companies that offer some form of mindfulness for their workers. And, as Shannon Livengood writes, several local businesses have made it part of their everyday approach “in obvious and maybe not-so obvious ways,” taking into consideration “the well-being of the environment, the consumer, and the business owner alike.” Become more mindful here.
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Activists gathered at the Monroe County Courthouse in 2022 for the “Take to the Streets — Defend Roe!” rally and march. Later that year, the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protection of abortion rights across the country. Indiana then became the first state to pass an anti-abortion law, which, according to advocates for women’s health, has created confusion among doctors and endangered the lives of pregnant women. | Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian

Advocates for Women’s Healthcare Have Plans for Stricter Bans Groups provide abortion access despite further restrictions
Rebecca Hill
Poorly written anti-abortion laws in Indiana and other states have forced pregnant women to leave home for life-saving healthcare. Many women rely on networks of groups to help with travel to medical clinics and access to safe medication. Some of those groups have taken cues from the underground networks of the early 1970s. Read the in-depth report here.
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Private schools that get public money in Indiana can reject students for a number of discriminatory reasons, including their religion. Despite growing evidence that voucher students who switch from public to private schools fall behind academically, Indiana legislators increased the cost of the voucher program 40 percent in the 2023–2024 school year — to $439 million. | Photo by Pixabay

School Matters: 439 Million ‘Dollars to Discriminate’ with School Vouchers
Steve Hinnefeld
Despite growing evidence that voucher students fall behind academically when they switch from public to private schools, Indiana legislators have increased the cost of the state’s voucher program to $439 million. Education writer Steve Hinnefeld looks at the latest voucher report from the Indiana Department of Education, and asks, should Hoosier taxpayers pay for schools that discriminate? Read Hinnefeld’s column here.
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Rick Clayton is a hospice chaplain and the executive director of Harmony Palliative Arts Collective, a nonprofit end-of-life facility planned to open this summer in Brown County, Indiana. | Photo by Alayna Wilkening

Dying Well: Chaplain Offers ‘Perfect Place’ to Have a ‘Good Death’
Haley Miller
Many Hoosiers can’t access comfort care, and so they are less likely to experience a “good death,” writes Haley Miller. As defined, a good death avoids unnecessary suffering, maintains a family presence, manages pain, and upholds the patient’s dignity. A hospice chaplain in Brown County wants to create a place for more good deaths. Read about dying well.
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“Tactility,” a triptych by Rejon Taylor. Among the work of more than two dozen artists featured in the Regional Artist Exhibit at Juniper Art Gallery in Bloomington are two other paintings by Rejon Taylor, an inmate on death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute. Laura Lasuertmer, Taylor’s “Minister of Record,” writes about Taylor’s artwork and how it relates to the “depravity of his current environment.”

Juniper Gallery To Show Art of Death Row Inmate Rejon Taylor Special to Limestone Post
Laura Lasuertmer
Laura Lasuertmer is the “Minister of Record” for death row inmate Rejon Taylor, who’s among more than 25 artists featured in the Regional Artist Exhibit at Juniper Art Gallery this spring. Some of Taylor’s artwork, LaSuertmer writes, captures both “what he remembers of the natural world … and the depravity of his current environment.” See and read about Rejon Taylor’s art.
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One out of ten Bloomington residents struggles with food insecurity. A patchwork system of food banks, community kitchens, food-assistance programs, and other initiatives helps people get healthful food, but experts say it doesn’t address the root of the problem: poverty. | Photo by Olivia Bianco

‘Patchwork’ of Aid for Food Insecurity Doesn’t Address Its Cause Deep Dive: WFHB & Limestone Post Investigate Food Insecurity, Part 2
Christina Avery and Haley Miller
One out of ten Bloomington residents struggles with food insecurity — having limited or uncertain access to food. A patchwork system of food banks, community kitchens, food-assistance programs, and other initiatives helps people get healthful food, but experts say it doesn’t address the root of the problem: poverty. Read part 2 of our Deep Dive into food insecurity.
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Some visitors enjoy New Harmony, a “wonderfully preserved” town along the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana, for its unusual history. Others are attracted by a more spiritual connection. (center) Interdenominational Roofless Church, (clockwise from top left) Harmonist Labyrinth, cabin at Harmonie State Park, Working Men’s Institute, Yellow Tavern, A.C. Thomas House (courtesy photo), and Atheneum Visitor Center. | Photos by Laurie D. Borman

Travel with Laurie: Historical and Spiritual New Harmony, ‘a Thin Space’
Laurie D. Borman
In Laurie D. Borman’s second travel piece for Limestone Post, she takes us to New Harmony, a town along the Wabash River in southwestern Indiana. Some visitors enjoy the “wonderfully preserved” town and its unusual history. Others are attracted by a more spiritual connection. As one shop owner puts it, “This is a town you feel.” Click here to travel with Laurie to New Harmony.
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Over thousands of years and across diverse landscapes, Indigenous peoples developed traditional ecological knowledge about the bison and their ecosystems, writes Indigenous scholar Rosalyn R. LaPier. Meanwhile, they also developed religious customs and sacred places important to their relationship with bison. | Limestone Post

Bison Are Sacred to Native Americans — But Each Tribe Has Its Own Special Relationship to Them
Rosalyn R. LaPier
Over thousands of years and across diverse landscapes, Indigenous peoples developed traditional ecological knowledge about the bison and their ecosystems, writes Indigenous scholar Rosalyn R. LaPier, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe. Meanwhile, tribes also developed religious customs and sacred places important to their relationship with bison. Click here for this article from The Conversation.
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In the 1960s and ’70s, a generation that was told not to trust anyone over 30 nevertheless adored Hoosier writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | Photo by Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

Why Kurt Vonnegut’s Advice To College Graduates Still Matters Today
Susan Farrell
Kurt Vonnegut gave dozens of quirky commencement addresses in his lifetime. He made some preposterous claims, made people laugh, and made them think. They were speeches college graduates remembered, says Susan Farrell, an English professor and founding member of the international Kurt Vonnegut Society. Vonnegut’s advice, she says, still matters to graduates today. Click here to read why, and so on.
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Not only does Virginia Githiri, Ph.D., hold four degrees and teach at Indiana University, she’s also a certified Wellness Coach, life strategist, motivational speaker, social media influencer, and the founder and owner of PopKorn Kernels with a Twist. | Photo by Shannon Livengood

Virginia Githiri, Ph.D., Entrepreneur, Wellness Coach, Life Strategist, and More
Shannon Livengood
Not only does Virginia Githiri, Ph.D., hold four degrees and teach at Indiana University, she’s also an entrepreneur, certified Wellness Coach, life strategist, motivational speaker, and social media influencer. She has also written, recorded, and produced gospel music. Shannon Livengood shows us even more in her profile of the founder of PopKorn Kernels with a Twist. Click here to read about Dr. Githiri.
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Alvin H. Rosenfeld is a professor of English and Jewish Studies; the Irving M. Glazer Chair, Jewish Studies; and the director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. | Photo by Gale Nichols

Times of Israel Podcast with IU Prof. Alvin Rosenfeld ‘Antisemitism is now a form of entertainment — and that’s new’
Amanda Borschel-Dan
Prof. Alvin H. Rosenfeld is the founder and director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University. On a recent trip to Jerusalem, he was interviewed on a podcast by Amanda Borschel-Dan, an IU alumna who is now deputy editor at The Times of Israel. Among other topics, they discussed how antisemitism is now “a form of entertainment.” Click here to hear the podcast and read the transcript.
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