A recent report in the journal of Health Affairs revealed that six climate change-related events from 2000-2009 cost the United States approximately $14 billion in health costs. About $740 million of these costs originated in 760,000 encounters with the health care system while about 95%, most of the costs were attributed to the value of lost lives. The co-authors of this research are affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council, UC Berkeley's Boalt Law School in Berkeley and UC San Francisco, they stated that their study was a first attempt to synthesize health data from the literature available on events that are related to climate change, and to develop a uniform method of quantifying their health costs. This study should aid policy makers in planning for the effects of climate change in the coming decades.

I was recently talking with a friend about the different retreats we've gone on over the years. Reflecting back on the many retreats I've had the pleasure of going on, I eventually came to realize that through the variety of locations and types of retreats, one common thread really made a difference to my overall experience…and that is discount car rental! Honestly, in thinking of it, I came to appreciate how much I loved the freedom to explore the beautiful places in which the retreats took place. Sometimes, I'd take other retreatants with me to go on an excursion-of course, at a time when the retreat schedule permitted-and they were always so appreciative of the chance to expand their awareness of the area that were in.

Of course, I didn't ever use this as a diversion, but, as I said, as an enhancement to contemplating whatever my retreat was about…the type of yoga or meditation, etc. Often, having the car-and I would always go for discount car rental, to make having a car more affordable-allowed me to go to places to connect with nature. Though many retreat centers are already located smack dab in the middle of gorgeous natural areas, with access to trails or meadows, or whatever the natural context, some are just inside of the town nearest to the area of natural beauty. In cases like this, without a car it wouldn't be possible to actually take in the natural beauty, at least not much more than at a distant view. In many retreats, having a car has enabled me to go on some magnificent hikes, while contemplating what I was learning about. Logistically, it has also allowed me to maximize my time in the area. Often the timing of shuttles going to and from the airport-while, of course, convenient to have at all-can eat into your time at your destination, while with your own car, you can make the most of the time you have.

A scientific study of Buddhist spiritual retreats suggests that eastern relaxation techniques can protect our chromosomes from the degenerating affects of aging. Visitors to the Shambhala Mountain Centre high in the mountains of northern Colorado meditate in silence for up to 10 hours every day, emulating the lifestyle that monks have chosen for centuries in mountain refuges from India to Japan.

For a period of 6 months in 2007, scientists set up a lab in the basement here that included brain and hart monitors, video cameras and centrifuges as part of an effort to scientifically document exactly what happens to people when they meditate. The data from the so-called Shamatha project is now starting to me made public, and so far the research has shown that there are significant improvements in perception and well-being from meditation. It also shows that meditation can protect caps on the end of chromosomes called telomeres, and this can delay the process of aging.