MAKING MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANTS WORTH THE PRICE WHERE ARE THE WINES? OUR FAVORITE ONLINE SHOPS AND SELLERS
TRENDING FOR FALL 2026: HOMESCHOOLING, BUT MAKE IT FANCY
HOW LONG DOES YOUR BRAIN REMAINS ACTIVE AFTER DEATH? WHAT THE IVY LEAGUE IS REALLY SELLING YOUR FALL CLOSET THE CASE FOR NEUTRALS IS 'STAYING THE COURSE' YOUR BEST OPTION?
SUMMER BLOCKBUSTERS AT THE MOVIES IN MAY
AWAKENING YOUR INNER VISIONARY
Sophisticated force. Graceful power. The journey and the destination.
CULLINAN II SERIES
Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand Publisher
Joshua Jakobitz Editor-in-Chief
William Smith Copy Editor & Wine Contributor
Claire Barrett Head of Photography
Dana Romita Luxury Real Estate Contributor
Amritlal अमृत Monarch Visionary Contributor
Polo Photographers
Katerina Morgan
Justine Jacquemot
Irina Kazaridi
Helen Cruden
Pascal Renauldon
Kathrin Gralla
K. Kerley
Dr. Michael J. Snell Lifestyles & Luxury Automobile Contributor
Joey Velez Wellness Contributor
Raabi Benadada Polo Contributor
Raphael K. Dapaah Art Contributor
Brand Representatives
Dr. Michael J. Snell - NYC
Miriam P. Owens - NYC
Contributing Photographers
Xavier Merchet-Thau
Aubrey Chandler Eric Carré
Eva Espresso
Rob Miskowitch
Margarita Crotto
Polo Lifestyles is a publication of HT Polo Publishing Co. Created in the Polo Lifestyles Design Lab Concord, Calif., U.S.A.
A proud partner of Issuu, U.S. Polo Assn., USPA, Global Polo Sports, The Impression and Mixam
GRAND CHAMPIONS
USPA North American Cup
USPA National 20-Goal
Legends of Polo International Cup
LA PALMERAIE MOROCCO
The Autumn Cup
PATAGONES POLO CLUB
Inglehart Cup
Outback Cup
DOMAINE DE CHANTILLY
Coupe PGH
Trophee Bourbon
Polo Nations
Tournoi des Legendes
GUARDS POLO CLUB
Cartier Cup
La Martina Queen Elizabeth the Queen
Mother Centenary Trophy
Hurlingham Polo Club
Coronation Trophy
Cowdray Park Gold Cup
The Queen's Cup
SCOREBOARDS & COCKTAILS
DOMAINE DE CHANTILLY
POLO LIFESTYLES EDITORS & CONTRIBUTORS
Joey Velez
Dana Romita
Michael
The scientifically unproven peptide craze, page xx
FW26 collections favor embellishments, page xx
Perfect powder in Japan's Hakuba Valley, page xx
Fifteen laptops on the cutting edge of A.I. and more, page xx
BRAIN ACTIVITY DOESN'T STOP AT DEATH
MY INSTAGRAM FEED IS NON-STOP PEPTIDE POSTS, REELS AND VIDEOS. MY ENTIRE KNOWLEDGE OF PEPTIDES IS BASED ON THE INGREDIENTS OF MY FAVORITE SKINCARE PRODUCTS, SO I WASN’T SURE THE ALGORITHM WAS ALGORITHMING, BUT, CURIOUS, I WATCHED A FEW REELS.
One very aesthetically inclined trainer was injecting himself with a “self-tanning peptide” over the course of two weeks. His progress videos showed him rather rapidly turning the color of a tired carrot (you know, the kind you find forgotten in the back of the refrigerator when you’re cleaning out the drawers) over 14 days. He seemed incredibly pleased with his “natural tan,” but I didn’t order the injectable from his link in bio. I’ll stick to my infrequent spray tans and my natural sun-kissed look.
There are, apparently, peptides for everything from hair regrowth to weight loss and melanin-boosters. As of press time, the American Food and Drug Administration still does not recognize any of them as approved or regulated. Only time will tell if they enter the official drug marketplace anytime soon.
Click and comment on our choices... Tag @pololifestyles . We will share noteworthy comments with you next month.
@polofromtheair
@oscardelarenta
@chopard
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GLOBAL POLO
U.S. OPEN POLO CHAMPIONSHIP
THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS TOURNAMENT IN AMERICAN POLO DELIVERED ELITE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, WORLDWIDE BROADCAST EXPOSURE ON ESPN, AND AN EXCITING CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY EXPERIENCE THAT RESONATED BOTH ON AND OFF THE FIELD BEFORE A RECORD CROWD.
The third and final chapter of the three-tournament Gauntlet of Polo series brought together 11 top teams and many of the sport’s most accomplished players, including 10-goal standouts Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso, Hilario Ulloa, Tomas Panelo, and Jeta and Barto Castagnola. Other standout talents include Jesse Bray (7-goal), Lorenzo Chavanne (7-goal), Mackenzie Weisz (6-goal), Rufino Merlos (6-goal), Nico Escobar (6-goal), and Timmy Dutta (4-goal), to name a few. Rising stars and seasoned competitors
alike, along with their equine partners, contributed to a highly competitive season that culminated in a Final that showcased something for everyone.
The BTA Team made history with its first-ever appearance in the U.S. Open Polo Championship Final, featuring a husband-and-wife duo competing side-by-side. The game also marked a significant moment for the sport, with the BTA’s female player making her U.S. Open Polo Championship debut, the
U.S. POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
first woman to make it to the Finals since Gillian Johnston won the U.S. Open Polo Championship in 2002, reflecting the sport’s unique format where men and women play together on the field. Team Pilot entered the Final with strong momentum, seeking back-to-back major titles following their 2026 USPA Gold Cup victory.
Pilot controlled the pace from the open-
ing chukker, maintaining a strong multigoal advantage that stretched to five goals midway through the third chukker. Despite the deficit, BTA regrouped at halftime and mounted an impressive push, narrowing the gap to a one-goal game in the second half.
Pilot, however, never relinquished control, responding with precision to halt the momentum and rebuild their lead. In
the final chukker, Pilot added two more goals to secure a 15-10 victory and backto-back tournament wins following the USPA Gold Cup. Lorenzo Chavanne and Camilo ‘Jeta’ Castagnola led all scorers, each tallying seven goals in a standout offensive performance for the U.S. Open Polo Championship Final.
U.S. POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GLOBAL POLO
U.S. POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GLOBAL POLO
U.S. POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
PHOTOS
USPA GOVERNOR'S CUP AT GRAND CHAMPIONS
USPA GOVERNOR'S CUP AT GRAND CHAMPIONS
TOPICAL INSULIN THERAPY GOOD NEWS FOR DIABETICS
ABREAKTHROUGH IN INSULIN DELIVERY COULD ONE DAY SPELL AN END TO THE INVASIVE NEEDLES ON WHICH MANY PEOPLE WITH DIABETES RELY.
Using mice, minipigs, and lab-grown human skin samples, scientists have demonstrated a topical insulin treatment – an achievement long assumed impossible due to the large size of insu-
lin molecules and their strong attraction to water, which prevents them from slipping through the skin’s oily outer layers.
“The skin-permeable polymer may enable non-invasive transdermal delivery of insulin,” writes a team led by scientists in China, “relieving patients with diabetes from subcutaneous injections and potentially facilitating patient-friendly use of other proteinand peptide-based therapeutics through transdermal delivery.”
The delivery of drugs through the skin has many benefits. It’s easy to do at home, is pain-free, and ensures a controlled, gentle release into the body.
However, skin is, by design, a barrier that helps protect your body from harmful substances. Its outer barrier, the stratum corneum, consists of multiple layers of dead skin cells glued together by fats and oils, or lipids.
Topical drugs work around the skin’s defenses; they have small molecules that slip through the skin easily, as well as an ability to interact with the lipids they encounter.
Insulin – the hormone that regulates glucose levels – has neither of these properties. The molecules are on the larger side and have a water-loving (hydrophilic) exterior, which makes them chemically incompatible with the skin’s oils. Rather than sliding past or through the oils, they bounce off.
This sounds impenetrable, but the researchers thought another property of skin may help insulin enter: its acidity. Skin naturally has a pH gradient, starting slightly acidic at the surface and rising towards pH neutrality in deeper layers.
The researchers set to work engineering a delivery system that would interact with this gradient to admit the insulin as a plus-one to the exclusive body club.
The result is based on a polymer called poly[2-(N-oxide-N,N-dimethylamino)
ethyl methacrylate], or OP, the properties of which change with shifting pH levels, shown to be biocompatible in earlier tests.
On the surface of the skin, OP has a positive charge, which allows it to stick to skin lipids. However, at neutral pH, it loses that charge and lets go of the lipids, by which point it has slipped through the skin barrier and into the body.
Binding insulin to the OP polymer as a conjugate called OP-1 allows the all-important hormone treatment to hitchhike through.
Sounds good in theory, right? Well, it sounds even better in practice. In human skin models and diabetic mice, OP-I was more effective at carrying insulin past the skin than insulin alone or insulin combined with a different polymer, PEG, as a control. PEG is widely used across a range of pharmaceutical applications.
In the mice, the treatment brought blood glucose concentrations to normal levels within an hour with an efficacy on par with insulin injections. The levels then remained stable for 12 hours.
The next step was diabetic minipigs, which are biologically more similar to humans than mice are. The effects were comparable. The pigs’ blood glucose levels dropped to normal within two hours
and also remained stable for 12 hours.
Once it gets inside the body, OP–I accumulates in key glucose-regulating tissues, including the liver, fat, and skeletal muscles, where cells take up the conjugate and release the insulin inside. OP-I activates insulin receptors and enhances glucose uptake and metabolism, just like injected insulin does.
Perhaps most importantly, it does so in a more sustained manner than injected insulin, resulting in a smoother, more prolonged effect.
The researchers found no signs of inflammation, suggesting that the treatment may confer minimal, if any, harmful side effects – although we’d have to wait for stronger human testing to be sure.
Nevertheless, the results could mean that frequent insulin injections may one day be a thing of the past. And the system may even work with other drugs.
“The OP conjugation,” the researchers write, “is versatile for transdermal delivery of biomacromolecules such as peptides, proteins and nucleic acids, with broad therapeutic applications, warranting further investigation in future studies.”
HOMESCHOOL BUT MAKE IT FANCY
Getting
into private schools has long been a bloodsport among the wealthy and ambitious. So why are some sending their progeny to tech-forward alternatives, or keeping them home altogether?
IN APRIL 2024 JACKIE
BARBA, A MOTHER OF TWO GIRLS, HEARD ABOUT ALPHA SCHOOL, A NEW, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE–SUPPORTED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION THAT WAS SLATED TO OPEN IN HER HOME CITY OF MIAMI FOR THE 2024–5 ACADEMIC YEAR.
At $50,000 per year, the school’s cost rivaled that of high-end private institutions found mainly in New England. But unlike its legacy rivals, Alpha (which was founded in Austin, Texas) promised a more modern and real world–applicable learning platform, one where, Alpha claims, technology helps cram a day’s worth of academics into a two-hour window, thus opening up the rest of the day for a student’s personal progress, skill-building, and social development.
Barba had always made sure that the education her daughters received was most appropriate to their learning styles. During the Covid pandemic, she and her husband pulled their preteen girls out of a Montessori school. They set up a classroom in their house, made their girls wear uniforms, and hired a private teacher, who came to their home and taught their daughters in a hyperpersonalized setting. Barba became less worried about grades and test scores, focusing more on her daughters’ passions and worldly
development. The family traveled a lot, both domestically and internationally, and brought the teacher along with them. “We made it very structured, and we thought, It can’t get better than this,” Barba says.
But Alpha piqued her interest. The school is at the center of emerging learning modalities that have begun to infiltrate the way parents plan their kids’ educations. What’s more, many of the country’s richest and most powerful people have been evangelizing that there’s a better way to educate children. It has been hard to miss the headlines that have popped up over the past half-decade: Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg (himself a Harvard dropout) and his wife Priscilla Chan founded a tech-forward learning platform, Summit Learning. (The couple also set up a pandemic-era homeschooling pod that included their daughters and a dozen other local children.) Elon Musk has been a vocal critic of traditional education, and Alex Karp, CEO of the defense tech company Palantir, recently lamented that a Yale graduate with no specialized knowledge or applicable skills is “effed.” Palantir has even launched an alternative to higher education: Meritocracy Fellowship, which will be, Karp claims, the antidote to the “platitudes” taught at traditional universities.
These are the most visible examples of public figures bucking the traditions of legacy education, but it’s not just a few rogue billionaires seeking out new and
arguably more effective learning ideologies. Many upper-middle-class parents—like Jackie Barba—are giving equal weight to emerging schools and educational systems. Alpha itself has used its AI-driven methods (and tech-fueled marketing shtick) to entice wealthy parents, who would normally send their kids to high-echelon private schools like Andover or Dalton, to try out a school that, Alpha claims, will better prepare their child for adulthood. Whether the tech track is truly more beneficial than the legacy route hasn’t yet been settled, and a fierce debate over its efficacy has begun. On one side, some AIschool parents humblebrag their kids’ progress on X; on the other, press reports have emerged questioning methodologies and stated results.
Barba went to an educational seminar hosted by MacKenzie Price, Alpha’s co-founder, who graduated from Stanford and “always knew that education needed revolution,” according to her website. Price explained the philosophy behind her school, namely that traditional education does not adequately prepare students for the modern world. Barba was struck by how much Price’s values mirrored her own. But she had a question: “MacKenzie, what is the attendance policy?” Barba’s best memories were made while traveling with her kids and
not adhering to a strict educational calendar. She didn’t want to give that up.
Price replied that Alpha doesn’t have a mandatory attendance policy, because the students can take their laptops and do their work from wherever they are. Then Price smiled. “But I have a feeling they’re going to love school so much that they’re not going to want to take a vacation.”
Barba was skeptical about that, but she was captivated and decided to enroll her
children in the fledgling Miami campus.
“These girls need to learn things to be ready for the real world,” Barba says, adding that she also wants her daughters to have unique attributes that may stand out to college admissions departments, should they choose to pursue higher education. Her kids fell in love with it.
“MacKenzie was correct,” Barba says. “We have spent more time in Miami, because they don’t want to miss a schoolday.”
The helicopter parents of yesteryear—
with their zealous dedication to ex tracurricular activities, 4.0 GPAs, and perfect SAT scores—still exist, but they are slowly being superseded by parents who are skeptical of legacy education and obsessed with optimizing their children for a society increasingly influenced by, and reliant on, technology. They’re asking: Is our education system too antiquated and mired in Kafkaesque bureaucracy to adequately prepare children for the demands of modern society? Is there a better way?
Parents have reason to worry about their kids’ future. Beyond labor market considerations—artificial intelligence has begun to supplant entry-level jobs, leaving recent college graduates with a 5.6 percent unemployment rate—the efficacy of public education in America isn’t very reassuring. A national teacher shortage has led to more kids in each classroom, which has led to teachers across the country going on strike to lower class sizes so they can do their jobs more effectively. And learning gaps born of the pandemic have proven stubbornly difficult to rectify.
In some pockets of the country, there has even been an exodus from the public school system. In Massachusetts, for example, a Boston University study found that public school enrollment had declined by 4 percent since 2019, with the largest drops coming in the state’s wealthiest areas. Private school enrollment has sustained its Covid-era bump, and competition for coveted slots at Ivy League colleges has increased, leading schools to look to attributes beyond academic excellence. “They’re tired of the same thing,” says Katie Rybakova, associate professor of education and chair of the Lunder School of Education at Thomas College, in Maine. “They want to hear the story of someone who has taken a risk and failed, and what they did to shift—what this person experienced that is different, that will help them succeed in a world where interpersonal relationships and resiliency and persistence are going to be highly valued.”
A new sense of urgency has entered the educational conversation. Parents are beginning to feel that their children are up against greater odds, and the status quo may not cut it in preparing them for an ever evolving world. The archetype of the Ivy-bound, overachieving middle-schooler is starting to lose ground to a value system that prioritizes applicable life skills over academic rigor and technical acumen over AP classes. If Ivy League schools, coveted internships, and high-paying white collar jobs all demand
something different from what legacy education provides, shouldn’t parents at least consider other options for their children?
In the 1970s educational theorist John Holt founded the modern homeschooling movement, which he hoped would push back against the traditional educational system, which existed only, he argued, to mold children into compliant employees. Although homeschooling expanded to encompass an array of participants—mainly those with a specific religious or political value system—institutional skepticism remained a constant in alternative education. Today proponents of homeschooling see it as a way to fully customize a child’s educational experience, which may explain why the practice is having a renaissance. The number of homeschooled K–12 students in America has more than doubled since 2019; these kids make up 6 percent of the total student population.
While a young homeschooler’s curriculum may mirror that of public school, a more customized plan can be implemented once students are ready for high school. “That’s when parents typically branch off and say, ‘Okay, how can I build on his or her strengths to be more adequately prepared for American society?’ ” says Lauren Farrow, founder of Schooling America, an AI-based education and homeschooling consultancy. Farrow explains that self-determination is at the top of the list for many families, especially those that take a more bare-knuckled approach to making sure their children fare better than others in their cohort. “I often talk to parents and families about how important it is to be a problem solver, because that works in a capitalistic society.”
Online-only education has also increased in popularity. In 2019 college admissions consultancy Crimson Education launched Crimson Global Academy, an internationally accredited school that instructs students from more than 60 countries. Alyssandra Wei—who was born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, and now studies physics at Williams College
in Massachusetts—opted to enroll in Crimson over her local private schools. Wei enjoyed the autonomy of taking classes online. “There are many ways where I could learn faster and absorb more information on my own than sitting in a classroom,” she says.
Wei had a dynamic class schedule that was normally conducted between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., although some of her classes were held in the evening (which freed up time that Wei filled with additional courses). Wei admits that she sacrificed the social aspects of an in-person high school experience for the benefits of online instruction, although she did her best to keep in touch with friends from her previous local school. With more time spent on her studies, Wei was able to include more academic specializations than required for her high school diploma. In 2023 she was valedictorian of her Crimson class.
Not all parents are eager to jump on the high-tech bandwagon, especially those living in places like New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami that have hypercompetitive private school cultures. “I don’t know a lot of people on the Upper East Side who want to have their kids be the guinea pigs,” says one Manhattan mother who recently scheduled and then canceled an appointment to visit Alpha’s new Financial District outpost. “The attitude is, Let’s wait and see.” Brooke Parker, an independent counselor who specializes in kindergarten and pre-K admissions at New York private schools, says her clients have been curious but still lean toward traditional options like Dalton and Trinity. “The education model is impressive, but the school is located in an office building downtown. It looks like a WeWork space. My fingers are crossed that they move to the Upper East Side, ideally in a beautiful, cozy building to offset the screens.”
Nonetheless, as traditional routes to prosperity look less certain, even for the upper class, people are more apt to try a more
HOMESCHOOL, BUT MAKE IT FANCY
high-risk, high-reward route. “We used to have a set of norms [regarding education], and those norms are getting increasingly thrown out the window,” says Kevin Kinser, professor and head of the department of education policy studies at Penn State. “The ‘move fast and break things’ ethos has really migrated across the board, in that there are very few guardrails anymore for people making very drastic and dramatic changes to how education works and how people are prepared for work, family, and career.”
This includes the drastic step of removing your child from one of the most formidable private schools in the country in favor of an institution like Alpha. For Alana and Peter Ackerson—the former a serial technology entrepreneur and former CEO of the Thiel Foundation, the latter a venture capitalist and co-founder of Audere Capital—the decision to pull their three daughters out of Sacred Heart Greenwich, one of Connecticut’s premier private all-girls schools, was born of necessity. “When we thought about what we believed the future is going to look like,” Alana says, “shaped by AI, entrepreneurship, a lot of change, and interesting ambiguity—we wanted to make sure that they were building up a skill set that would allow them to navigate the world with critical thinking and emotional intelligence, as much as academics.”
To be fair, the Ackersons were early adopters of a contrarian and critical disposition regarding legacy education. While at the Thiel Foundation a decade ago, Alana (despite being a Stanford graduate) oversaw the Thiel Fellowship, which provides grants to students who have decided to forgo or drop out of college to try their hand at entrepreneurship. For his part, Peter says he came to realize how much of the energy employed by legacy schools “is dedicated toward compliance, toward conformity, and toward consistency, which is just getting everybody to a minimum standard.”
After visiting Alpha’s Austin campus and
seeing how much their three daughters enjoyed what the school had to offer, the Ackersons enrolled their kids and moved to Texas at the start of the 2024–5 school year. “The objective of education should not simply be to get into a school that may or may not be a good fit for you but has some type of prestige,” Peter says, “but rather whether education equips you to solve the challenges in your lived reality, in your life, in your communities, and in the world.”
This mindset—that the world needs to be fixed, and training children to become altruistic problem solvers is the best way to optimize the future—is at the center of this philosophical shift in education. “We have an educational system that has been around since the Industrial Revolution, and we’re starting to realize that there are really massive fissures in that. AI is only accelerating how much those are cracking,” Rybakova says.
To date, the use-case of AI as a foundation of the educational landscape has not been clearly defined. Is it just a tool to make education more efficient and effective, or will it have a larger role? “We are a year or two away from someone proposing a fully AI university,” Kinser says. “I believe that that institution will get accredited in some way, shape, or form, and we’ll have those as other kinds of options for students to choose from.” Despite the promises of technology, Kinser warns, we cannot become complacent about the potential pitfalls of AI. “A calculator is always going to say two plus two equals four. AI may not, depending on the kind of prompt that it’s given,” he says.
Jackie Barba was thrilled to see how Alpha was including AI in the education of her daughters, who are now 15 and 13 and about to finish their second year at the school. When they first enrolled they were lagging their peers in certain areas, but Alpha’s testing rubric was able to identify specific knowledge gaps. “My little one is in seventh grade, but she’s
in ninth grade language. My older one is in ninth grade, but she’s in 12th grade reading.”
Beyond what she perceives as Alpha’s efficiency, Barba credits its gamification of education for keeping her daughters engaged. For example, younger students are able to earn Alpha Coins, which have real-world value and can purchase items from the school store. Students also have Alpha Rings, which digitally rack up points the more the students accomplish. “They’re self-motivated, with self-imposed goals,” Barba says.
She believes her daughters’ progress via Alpha is proof that the legacy education system in America needs to change. She also thinks about her nephew, who followed the well-worn path of the overachiever: varsity sports, straight A’s, church every Sunday, community leadership. “He was the perfect student for these Ivy League schools, and he did not get into any of his top choices, because he didn’t stand out,” Barba says. “There were so many amazing boys just like him that were at the top in every single way. But what makes you special? You want those top schools to say, ‘Oh, you’re amazing, but you also have this one more thing that really makes you stand out.’ ”
REMAIN CONSCIOUS THE BRAIN CAN
HOURS AFTER
DEATH
THE HUMAN BRAIN MAY MAINTAIN CONSCIOUSNESS FOR A CONSIDERABLE PERIOD FOLLOWING CLINICAL DEATH, ACCORDING TO RESEARCH PRESENTED AT A MAJOR SCIENTIFIC GATHERING IN THE UNITED STATES.
Anna Fowler, a researcher at Arizona State University, shared her analysis at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
Her work examined numerous studies exploring near-death experiences among cardiac arrest survivors. The findings challenge conventional understanding of death.
“Emerging evidence suggests that biological and neural functions do not cease abruptly,” Ms Fowler told the conference. “Instead, they steadily decline from minutes to hours, suggesting that death unfolds as a process rather than an instantaneous event.”
She has called for a fundamental reassessment of what she terms the “reversibility of death”.
Fowler’s analysis drew upon more than twenty studies examining both human near-death experiences and animal research into post-mortem brain activity. “Cardiac arrest studies show that up to 20 per cent of survivors recall conscious experiences during periods of absent cortical activity, with some reporting verifiable perceptions,” she said.
Research published in 2019 demonstrated that the brain can generate electrical signals for many minutes after death, potentially extending to hours under preserved conditions. A separate investigation from 2023, appearing in the Resuscitation journal, indicated that awareness and mental processes may continue for up to sixty minutes during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Dr Sam Parnia, who leads critical care and resuscitation research at New York University, suggested dying hospital patients likely remain aware longer than
medical staff realize, with many potentially hearing their own time of death being announced.
The research carries significant implications for medical practice, with Fowler urging hospitals to reconsider both their resuscitation protocols and the timing of organ retrieval procedures. Approximately one-third of organ donations take place after cardiac arrest, with medical teams typically aiming to harvest organs within minutes of death being declared to ensure viability for transplantation.
However, Fowler warned that donors in such circumstances might still possess some degree of consciousness during the procedure. Speaking to journalists at the conference, she expressed her belief that organs have indeed been removed from individuals who remained aware.
“Understanding the biological timing of death can help ensure these decisions are made with scientific accuracy and ethical clarity,” she noted in her presentation. Fowler proposed that mortality should
be understood as a phased phenomenon rather than a singular moment. “You have stage three cancer, stage two cancer. Well, there are stages of death,” she argued.
The researcher is advocating for an update to the American definition of
death, which was established during the 1980s. “What does happen when we die? Nobody really knows,” she remarked. “I really want people to think and consider what it means to truly die.”
Her conclusions suggest that what was once considered an absolute boundary
may in fact be far more fluid. “These findings invite a redefinition of death as a gradual, interruptible process, one that science may increasingly learn not just to delay but to challenge outright,” Ms Fowler stated.
WHAT THE IVY LEAGUE IS REALLY SELLING (NOT WHAT YOU THINK)
SHOULD YOU PAY FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT?
My fiancé and I are starting to think about having kids in the next few years, and naturally, as the child of two Soviet immigrants who put education above all else, I was quick to raise the question of private schooling for our future children. Although we disagree on the merits of private schooling, there is no question that my Chicago private high school was leagues ahead of his Miami public school in educational rigor.
In English, I read Macbeth while he read Percy Jackson. In math, I had the option to take linear algebra and discrete
math as early as tenth grade. I became interested in philosophy early in life because my high school assigned Nietzsche in tenth grade, and I spent hours memorizing John Keats’s poems after my English teacher encouraged me to enter a poetry competition. Even on the STEM side, my high school gave me the chance to explore college-level math and science courses that rounded out my academic development.
That’s not to mention my private school’s abundant resources: premier college counseling, connections to prestigious internships, funding for more than 300 student clubs, and access to the University of Chicago’s library system.
And, of course, my private school gave a no-name immigrant kid (me) the chance to attend an Ivy League university.
I am forever indebted to my high school for enhancing my intellectual development, and I would argue that the private school price tag is worth it for that reason alone. You won’t find a single public school in America that encourages fifteen-year-olds to grapple with Hegel or think through the limitations of the Collatz conjecture. In fact, my high school was so rigorous that I assumed I would find a similarly thriving educational environment at the nation’s most elite hub of intellectual inquiry: the Ivy League.
But at Columbia University, where I completed both my undergraduate and graduate degrees in English, students and professors were not only disinterested in the spirit of classical academic inquiry but actively opposed to it. The search for objective truth was deemed racist and colonialist, and all heterodox or otherwise contrarian opinions were immediately stamped out by professors or administrators trained on Stasi playbooks.
But the issue cuts deeper than ideology.
In STEM, where ideology has thankfully had minimal effect on classroom learning, I saw virtually no difference between the math courses my friends at
Columbia were taking and the courses my younger brother later completed at our local state university. Similarly, because professors secure tenure-track positions based almost exclusively on availability, my Ivy League education was not necessarily equipped with quality professors. Worse, hiring in academia is now based on diversity rather than merit.
In other words, the Ivies have lost their educational edge.
So why do we still live in the era of the “Ivy League” hype? And does paying up for an Ivy League school still make sense?
Let me start by saying that I do not believe you will receive the same level of education from Columbia University as you would from, say, Weber State University. What I do believe, however, is that the difference between a Columbia education and a Rutgers education—at least in terms of the basic information students absorb over four years—is negligible. You might have a slightly deeper discussion of Hegel at Columbia than at Rutgers, depending on the professor, but if you enroll in a “Philosophy 101” course at either university, the syllabi will look more or less identical.
Nevertheless, when comparing salary outcomes between your typical Ivy
League kid and your typical large state school kid, the narrative is clear: the Ivy League will set you up for much better financial success than your typical large state school, with Columbia students earning a median of $102,491 ten years out of college and Rutgers students earning almost $30,000 less ($74,479). Compare Columbia’s number to that of the University of Alabama ($59,221), and the value of an Ivy League education could not be clearer.
From an ROI perspective, then, the price tag of an Ivy League education is justified. What is less clear is why, if course content at four-year universities is broadly similar, large earnings discrepancies persist.
The simplest answer is the pipeline to top-tier firms. Columbia and other Ivy League schools benefit from extensive alumni networks, many of whose members are willing to offer referrals that help graduates secure jobs at prestigious firms. Similarly, many employers use the “Ivy League brand” as a heuristic for competence: the mere appearance of “Columbia” at the top of a résumé signals intellectual worth.
While there is an argument that the Ivy League, on average, leads to better professional outcomes, the question remains whether the price tag is justified. After all, learning for its own sake has gone out the window at many of these schools. And in an age where college has become more of a pre-professional training facility than a Platonic symposium, is it real-
ly worth paying up for the Ivy League?
I would argue yes—and not for the educational quality or the connections to prestigious firms. The primary reason that it is still worth paying for the Ivy League today is to upgrade your social circles—and your social status—in a way that no amount of money can ever buy.
The social psychologist Rob Henderson has a fascinating explanation for this phenomenon through The Great Gatsby. “The central tragedy of Gatsby,” writes Henderson, is “his belief that access can be purchased. Gatsby has the external symbols (money, clothes, mansion, charm, etc.) but not the habitus.” On the other hand, Gatsby’s friend Nick Carraway, who attended Yale, easily blends into the old-money social world—even though he is not nearly as wealthy as Gatsby. In other words, Ivy League schooling provides a sort of social refinement based on the people you spend your time with. (Read “Gatsby Warned Us About Party Culture.”)
The idea of social refinement is hazy in itself, but I’ll attempt to explain what I mean through my own experiences of gravitating in these circles for almost ten years now.
For one, Ivy League students are versed in a certain elite “code speak.” At Columbia, we were taught the history of Western literature, art, music, and philosophy through the famous Core Curriculum. Columbia often markets the Core not only for its intellectual value
but also for its social value. Students of the Core are told they will better understand how society works. Indeed, two of my professors independently claimed that studying the Core texts would make us more interesting at dinner parties— and they were not wrong. In my current social circles, the ability to casually reference art, politics, literature, or history functions as a form of social currency.
There is, however, another aspect of Ivy League circles that matters even more: their relationship to risk and ambition. Ivy League students normalize “elite” outcomes by making them feel attainable. Since I was 18, I have watched my peers found companies, appear on podcasts, run for office, or publish books. In that environment, pursuits that seem like distant dreams to most people were treated as ordinary ambitions. That normalization—being surrounded by people who make extraordinary goals feel achievable—may be the greatest value of an Ivy League education.
So, while the value of a private school might be the intellectual foundation and the early exposure to ideas, the value of the Ivy League is different—the Ivy League not only embeds you in a certain class but also provides you with the builtin social circle to chase your dreams.
And I believe that that’s priceless.
ASIA’S SPIRALING SUPPLY SHOCK IS COMING FOR AMERICA
GAS STATIONS ARE RATIONING FUEL.
HOSPITALS ARE RUNNING OUT OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES. PEOPLE ARE HOARDING PLASTIC BAGS, AND FACTORIES FACE PACKAGING SHORTAGES.
That’s all happening in Asia now.
That could become a problem for the United States: About half the stuff Americans buy comes from Asia. If Asian factories are dealing with a lack of supplies, should Americans expect shortages, too?
Possibly – but not just yet. At least not in any widespread or severe manner. But the longer the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the harder it will become for the United States to avoid the problems piling up elsewhere.
US IS ‘MORE EXPOSED THAN WE REALIZE’
Certainly, the red flags are waving. War with Iran has threatened the world’s supplies of aluminum, plastics and rubber in particular. The Middle East ships about 25% of the world’s polypropylene and 20% of polyethylene, two of the most-used plastics. It also accounts for a quarter of the world’s sulphur and 15% of its fertilizer.
“You hear a lot about crude oil and the impacts to diesel and gasoline – but feedstocks and petrochemicals are in short supply, too,” said Angie Gildea, KPMG global head of oil and gas.
Several major petrochemical producers, including South Korea’s Yeochun and PCS in Singapore, have declared “force majeure,” noted Stephen Brown, chief North American economist at Capital Economics. That means they’re
unable to fulfill their commitments to customers.
Other companies say they’re running out of plastic packaging for their products. A condom maker said Tuesday that prices would surge because it can’t access manufacturing materials.
The S&P 500’s global supply shortages indicator, a key measure of major companies’ reports of supply constraints, has shot higher in recent weeks, creeping above its long-term average for the first time in three years.
“We’re [the United States] more exposed than we realize,” said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategist at Baird.
Unlike tariffs, which Trump telegraphed months in advance, the war surprised many companies and gave them little time to prepare – particularly businesses heavily reliant on Asian goods.
DAVID GOLDMAN/SPECIAL TO POLO LIFESTYLES
“Tariffs were levied by the administration and could be pulled back by the administration,” noted Mayfield. “It’s much harder to extricate America from this cleanly.”
Repeated fits and starts with negotiations between the United States and Iran suggest no end in sight to the closure of the strait. Kpler forecasts oil supply losses from the strait closure will total 700 million barrels by the end of April.
Those oil shortages could lead to US goods shortages down the road, Gildea said. For example, fuel shortages in Asia could hinder factory employees from getting to work, Gildea said, potentially slowing export production. “Thus the story for the US is mainly about prices rather than availability,” noted Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citigroup.
The last shipments of energy products from the Middle East from before the war just arrived in Asia, so it will take time for shortages to grow severe enough that factories need to make major adjust-
ments to their production.
Supply shortages probably won’t approach pandemic levels, Brown said. But time is not our friend. The oil and gas industry expects widespread shortages across multiple categories of goods if the strait remains closed heading into the summer, Gildea said.
“The length of this is everything now,” said Mayfield.
WHY IT HASN’T HAPPENED YET
The US economy is feeling pressure from the war in the Middle East – mainly through higher oil and gas prices. But only a tiny fraction (roughly 7%) of US energy imports ship through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The US produces the bulk of its energy at home.
It’s hard to put a precise timeframe on how long the disruption in the strait would need to last to trigger supply shortages in the United States, Brown noted. Plastics and especially aluminum
aren’t warehoused in large supplies.
Still, Brown predicted it could take three months for plastic shortages to spread around the world and four months until automakers need to cut production because of aluminum shortages.
Companies hardened and diversified their supply chains following the pandemic and during the recent tariff campaign, insulating US importers from some of the disruptions they’d otherwise have faced sooner.
And world trade was in good shape just ahead of the war: US tariffs fell after the Supreme Court knocked down the bulk of the White House’s import taxes. Global exports gained a bit in February, and early March data seems solid so far – even out of Asia, although that could be because demand for Chinese electric vehicles grew.
That could change.
“Clearly a lot that could go wrong if the strait isn’t properly re-opened,” Brown noted.
AT THE IN MAY MOVIES
WHEN “THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA” WAS RELEASED IN 2006, THE BITING COMEDY SET IN THE WORLD OF FASHION WAS SCHEDULED AS LIGHT COUNTER-PROGRAMMING AGAINST A COMIC-BOOK BEHEMOTH, “SUPERMAN RETURNS.”
Now, 20 years later, there’s no question that Miranda Priestly and company are
the box office’s main attraction. The long-awaited sequel “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is targeting a massive debut of $75 million to $80 million from 4,100 North American theaters. Some are expecting ticket sales to near $90 million to $100 million, given the original’s enduring appeal as well as the recent over-performance of “Michael.” Last weekend’s champ “Michael,” a musical biopic about Michael Jackson, was projected to earn $70 million and ended up wildly exceeding expectations with $97.2 million to start.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” should earn another $100 million at the international box office, which would bring global ticket sales to roughly $175 million to $190 million for the weekend. Disney’s 20th Century Studios spent lavishly on the sequel, which was produced for roughly $100 million, not including the worldwide marketing budget. To compare, the first film carried a price tag around $40 million.
Disney’s investment in more “Prada” looks to be money well spent. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is poised to outgross
the original’s lifetime haul in a matter of weeks. The first film launched to $27.5 million in North America and ended its theatrical run with $125 million domestically and $326 million worldwide. With endlessly quotable lines (“That’s all” and “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking…”) and a starry cast that’s only ascended on the A-list, “The Devil Wears Prada” has remained a cultural touchstone.
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all returned for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” along with the original director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. The
sequel picks up with Hathaway’s Andy Sachs returning to Runway magazine as a features editor two decades after she worked as the assistant to Streep’s powerful editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. Vogue editor Anna Wintour is, of course, the inspiration behind Streep’s character. Though she denied the use of her likeness on the first film, Wintour has embraced her association with all things “Prada” this time around, even posing on the cover of her magazine alongside Streep with the tagline “When Miranda met Anna…”
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” will easily notch the No. 1 spot at the box office. Elsewhere, “Michael” is expected to stay
strong with $45 million to $50 million in its second weekend, a roughly 50% to 55% decline. So far, the Lionsgate film has generated $104.9 million domestically and $226 million globally. Meanwhile, holdovers including Universal’s animated “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi epic “Project Hail Mary” should continue to pack in crowds. As movie theater owners prepare for a busy weekend at multiplexes, they’d be wise to heed the advice of Tucci’s Nigel Kipling: “Gird your loins!”
THE MOST-EXPENSIVE MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD
STORY BY LEAH AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY INEZ & VINOODH
THE MOST-EXPENSIVE MICHELIN-STAR RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD
IF YOU’RE SEARCHING FOR A PLACE TO EAT, AND YOU SEE THE WORD “MICHELIN” MENTIONED, YOU KNOW YOU’RE IN FOR A TREAT. INTRODUCED A CENTURY AGO, A MICHELIN STAR IS A UNIVERSAL SYMBOL OF CULINARY GREATNESS. IF A RESTAURANT HAS TWO MICHELIN STARS, THAT MEANS THE FOOD IS NOT JUST GOOD, IT’S FULL OF A CHEF’S UNIQUE PERSONALITY, TOO. THREE MICHELIN STARS? THAT’S PURE EXCELLENCE.
Because of the skill and talent involved, you don’t expect Michelin-starred restaurants to be cheap (although there are certainly some more affordable starred eateries out there). But some really do break the bank when it comes to tasting menus and wine pairings. If you’ve ever wondered what the most expensive Michelin-starred restaurants across the globe are like (and how much they actually charge), you’ve come to the right place.
Join us as we feast our way from Japan to Europe at some of the world’s most expensive Michelin-starred eateries on the planet. All prices and conversions were current at the time of writing.
AZABU KADOWAKI TOKYO, JAPAN
It’s been more than a quarter of a century since Toshiya Kadowaki first opened Azabu Kadowaki in a quiet pocket of Tokyo. The chef, who grew up in the restaurant business, was ready to branch out on his own after years of working in other people’s eateries. And it was a smart move. His skill, creativity, and instincts in the kitchen have earned him no less than three Michelin stars.
One of the lowest-priced options on the dinner menu is a seasonal omakase course including blowfish sashimi and deep-fried blowfish, which costs 53,240 Japanese yen (about $340 USD). One of the most expensive is a course includ-
ing matsuba crab, blowfish and black truffle sashimi, and deep-fried shark fin, which is 117,370 yen (about $756). If you’re dining out with a friend or partner, the food alone could set you back more than $1,500.
“Is it worth it?” we hear you ask. Well, according to people who have visited Kadowaki’s restaurant, which is small and intimate with a six-person counter, the dishes are innovative, and the flavors are outstanding. One key criticism from some, though, is that the whole experience feels a little rushed, and if you’re paying more than $1,500, you’re probably going to want to savor every bite.
azabukadowaki.com
+81 3-5772-2553
2-7-2 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 106-0045, Japan
THE FRENCH LAUNDRY YOUNTVILLE, CALIF., U.S.
The French Laundry is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic restaurants in the U.S. Not only is it the proud owner of three Michelin stars, but in 2019, it was given a coveted spot in the Best of the Best hall of fame by the World’s 50 Best. The restaurant was opened by chef Thomas Keller in the 1990s — the chef had been looking for a spot where he could showcase highend French cuisine. He came across the site of an old French laundry in Napa Valley, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Those who have dined at The French Laundry say it is a once-in-a-lifetime culinary experience, worthy of a place at the very top of everyone’s bucket list. You can expect to spend $700 on one meal, with wine pairings, of course. Even the mac and cheese, featuring shaved Australian black winter truffles, costs $160.
If you do decide to spend your hardearned cash at The French Laundry, make sure to plan well in advance, as last-minute reservations are virtually impossible. That said, former customers say there are ways to nab a table sooner
if you’re savvy. Ring up regularly to ask about cancellations, or, if you’re staying nearby, ask your hotel concierge for help.
thomaskeller.com/tfl (707) 944-2380
6640 Washington St, Yountville, CA 94599
MASA - N.Y., U.S.A.
In New York, if you want a truly outstanding omakase experience, Masa is hard to
beat. Omakase is unique — the dishes are carefully selected for you by the chef rather than chosen from a menu — but it’s usually well worth giving up control. The Michelin guide says omakase at Masa, which was opened by chef Masa Takayama in 2004, is like “ballet.” Everything at this two-starred Japanese spot is crafted with elegance, precision, and harmony.
Reviews also consistently praise Masa’s in-
novative flavor combinations, exceptional presentation, and unwavering commitment to craftsmanship and next-level service. It rarely gets bad reviews, but sometimes customers have given it low marks for the prices. That’s not surprising; since it opened, Masa has been one of the most expensive restaurants in the whole of New York City.
For the Hinoki Counter Omakase, for example, you can expect to pay $950. And bear in mind that this price excludes tax, gratuity, and beverages. Still, you can trust that Masa doesn’t skimp on food. The Hinoki Counter Omakase includes five to six small appetizers, which are followed by 15 to 17 pieces of sushi and seasonal fruit for dessert. If you prefer
a more affordable a la carte menu, the neighboring Bar Masa is slightly more accessible. For example, you can order soy chicken wings for $26 or eggplant yuzu miso for $18.
masanyc.com (212) 823-9807
The Shops at Columbus Circle, 10 Columbus Circle, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10019
SAZENKA - TOKYO, JAPAN
Tokyo’s peaceful neighborhood of Azabu is the place to go for impressive, Michelin-starred cuisine. Not only is it home to Azabu Kadowaki, but there is also another three-starred restaurant in its midst: Sazenka. Unlike Kadowaki, though, Sazenka offers a fusion of Japanese and Chinese cuisine. The chef, Tomoya Kawada, has long been fascinated with Chinese food and tea culture, so it fits that his restaurant is a tribute to the country’s long-held culinary traditions.
Customers have praised the Chinese tea pairings, the careful attention to detail, the relaxing atmosphere, and the friendly service. So it makes sense that it has made the World’s 50 Best Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list twice. In 2024, it was ranked number 39, and in 2025, it moved up to 34. The pricing is steep, of course. For example, a special crab course with alcohol drink pairing, enjoyed in a private room, was listed at 244,000 yen (that’s about $1,560 USD). The special course, without the crab, was 205,000 yen (just over $1,300).
sazenka.com
+81 50-3188-8819
4-7-5 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 1060047, Japan
ALCHEMIST – COPENHAGEN
According to the Michelin guide, this two-starred Copenhagen restaurant is more like a theater than an eatery. With each dish, customers can expect a show. This tracks perfectly, because Alchemist, founded by chef Rasmus Munk, is actually based in an old set-building workshop.
Customers have praised the restaurant’s commitment to fun, surreality, and, of course, exceptional food. “For a few hours, we were completely immersed in a world of beautiful madness and we simply didn’t want it to end,” wrote one Google reviewer. Some reviewers recall being served snowballs that taste like tomatoes, glow-in-the-dark drinks, and even herbs in the shape of Hans Christian Andersen’s face.
To state the obvious, an experience like this isn’t cheap. The standard Alchemist Experience is 5,600 Danish krone, which is just over $880. That’s without wine pairings, though; the cheapest of which is 2,000 Danish krone (around $316). If you want to go all out, there’s also the option of The Sommelier Table. It’s 16,600 Danish krone (around $2,600), but everything is carefully selected just for you from the Alchemist’s own wine cellar.
Have you ever wanted to visit the best restaurant in the world? According to La Liste, you can find it in Paris. Well, one of them anyway. There are actually 10 restaurants that share the gourmet dining guide’s almost-perfect score of 99.5, which is calculated based on online reviews and professional critic opinions. But one of them is Restaurant Guy Savoy, founded by chef Guy Savoy, of course. Since the 1980s, this two-starred Parisian fine-dining spot has been committed to the highest standard of classic French cuisine.
Customer reviews praise everything from the warm, welcoming vibe to the scenic views to the refined, elegant food. This spot is the opposite of Alchemist. It’s more about understated beauty and quality than over-the-top performance. But much like the prestigious Copenhagen restaurant, Restaurant Guy Savoy’s prices are out of this world. The 13-course set menu of Colours, Textures, and Flavours is priced at 740 euros (around $873 USD) without drinks.
That said, it’s worth noting that the tasting menu price is for the whole table rather than per person, like many of the other restaurants on this list. The restaurant also offers an a la carte menu, which offers dishes like Normandy scallops with sea foam for 145 euros ($171 USD) or lobster for 210 euros (nearly $250).
guysavoy.com
+33 1 43 80 40 61
11 quai de Conti, Paris, 75006, France
LE CINQ – PARIS
If you’ve ever dreamed of dining in a Parisian palace, Le Cinq can make it happen. The three-starred restaurant is housed inside the Four Seasons George V, which is one of only 12 Palaces in the city. But before we go any further, we ought to tell you that, in this context, a Palace actually refers to the most prestigious
honor in French hospitality. It’s more a mark of excellence than one of royalty, but should be respected all the same.
The Four Seasons George V is the epitome of luxury, with three Michelin keys itself. Of course, it is also home to three Michelin-starred restaurants, including Le Cinq. Those who have dined there say the food is innovative yet elegant, and the service leaves nothing to be desired. Some have criticized the small portion sizes and the prices, though.
The tasting menu, dubbed The Epicurean Escape of Christian Le Squer, is 620 euros (about $732 USD), excluding drinks. There is the option to choose a la carte, but the cheapest starter available is 120 euros (nearly $105). Still, of course, this isn’t a place you visit when you want to budget. It’s designed for pure indulgence. As well as three Michelin stars, Le Cinq
also has the Michelin Passion Dessert award, reserved only for the best pastry chefs, for its sweet menu.
fourseasons.com/paris/dining/restaurants/ le_cinq
+33 1 49 52 71 54
Four Seasons Hotel George V, 31 avenue George-V, Paris, 75008, France
CIEL BLEU – AMSTERDAM
Caviar is the epitome of luxurious, highend cuisine. Less than one kilogram of the most expensive variety in the world, harvested from the Iranian beluga, often sells for more than $20,000. So, of course, a restaurant that specializes in caviar is going to be one of the most expensive eateries on the planet. But Ciel Blue in Amsterdam is not so elite that it would charge thousands of dollars for one plate. The two-starred restaurant, which boasts panoramic views of the city thanks to
its location on the 23rd floor of Hotel Okura, charges 595 euros (about $700 USD) for its Caviar Experience.
The caviar is a key draw for many diners at Ciel Blue, but it’s far from the only reason that customers love this Michelinstarred spot. It also serves dishes like seabass, pigeon, and steak. People have also praised the views, of course, as well as the friendly service, the wine selection, and the warm atmosphere. Some criticized the vegetarian options, though, and a couple of people said the raw food made them feel unwell. That said, overall, this restaurant draws mostly five-star reviews.
cielbleu.nl
+31 20 678 7450
Ferdinand Bolstraat 333, Amsterdam, 1072 LH, Netherlands
THE FAT DUCK – BERKSHIRE, U.K.
If you’re familiar with triple-cooked fries, you’re familiar with Heston Blumenthal. The renowned British chef actually invented this dish (now a staple of the U.K. pub scene) in the early 1990s, just a few years before he opened The Fat Duck, his three-Michelin-star restaurant, in Berkshire.
If you dine there, you probably won’t be served triple-cooked fries, but you will be treated to a range of weird and wonderful, Willy Wonka-esque creations. Think bacon and egg cereal (yes, really), a crab and passionfruit 99 (which is a twist on the classic British ice cream in a cone, but with seafood), and the Sound of the Sea. The latter is a multi-sensory experience; as well as a box of edible sand and shellfish, customers get a conch shell with headphones playing seagulls chirping and waves crashing.
Similar to Copenhagen’s Alchemist, The Fat Duck is more than just food. It’s a whole experience. So, of course, it’s expensive. You can expect to pay between 225 and 450 GBP (that’s between around $305 and $609 USD) per person. If there are two of you dining, the cost is likely to exceed $1,000. That said, diners say it’s worth it. «There are no words to describe the experience,» said one Google reviewer. «My dinner last night at The Fat Duck was truly beyond anything I have
ever experienced,» added another. «It was mind-blowing.»
thefatduck.co.uk
+44 1628 580333
High Street, Bray, SL6 2AQ, United Kingdom
LA VAGUE D’OR
ST-TROPEZ, FRANCE
As you might expect from a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Saint-Tropez,
La Vague d’Or excels in Mediterranean cuisine. Situated in the luxury Cheval Blanc hotel and run by renowned French chef Arnaud Donckele, the restaurant is known for its local fish dishes, but its specially curated menus also make impressive use of land ingredients, like meat and seasonal vegetables.
As you’d expect for the South of France, La Vague d’Or, which opens during the
summer months, isn’t a cheap date. The Epicurean Adventure tasting menu with local cheese is 510 euros (about $602 USD), for example. Wine pairings are extra, at 250 euros (which is just under $300).
But many customers who have dined at La Vague d’Or claim it is one of the best establishments on the whole French Riviera. They have praised the refined cuisine, the artistic presentation of local
ingredients, and the welcoming service staff. «For those who seek more than food, and instead crave emotion, memory, and beauty on a plate, Le Vague d’Or delivers with quiet grandeur,» reads one Google review.
Plage de la Bouillabaisse, Saint-Tropez, 83990, France
FASHION & STYLE
CHANEL CRUISE COLLECTION 2026-2027
THE CASE FOR NEUTRALS
HERMES PRESENTS HOMEGOODS IN MILAN
CHANEL CRUISE
26/27
PRESENTED IN A MIRRORED SALON JUTTING LIKE A PROMONTORY INTO THE BIARRITZ OCEAN, BLAZY’S FIRST EVER CRUISE COLLECTION LIFTED CHANEL ICONOGRAPHIES FROM OVER A CENTURY AGO
In a mirrored salon jutting like a promontory into the Biarritz ocean, Matthieu Blazy presented his first ever cruise collection for Chanel, literally framed by the sea. Cruise is important here, not just because this collection sits in Chanel stores longer than just about anything else (although, currently, those boutiques don’t contain very much at all, difficult as it is to keep Blazy’s clothes in stock). But because cruise connects innately to Chanel’s heritage. It was in Biarritz that Gabrielle Chanel made her first haute couture clothes – she’d opened a hat shop in Paris, and stocked casual, readymade sportswear clothes in a boutique in Deauville, but 111 years ago her made-to-measure operations began here, along with her first collections. And there’s something of the ideology of this place’s leisurely, thrill-seeking clothes to Chanel generally: Chanel’s observation of swimmers and sailors and holidaymakers translated to pieces inflected with the modern ease of those great vacation hubs rather than the stuffy formality of Paris. The former house of Chanel here, down by the beach, is now a bookstore.
Backstage after the show, Blazy said this was the only place he wanted to show his first cruise show, because it was about going
back to Gabrielle’s roots – “to her first step into clothes.” The first look was a little black dress, crissed with topstitching, fittingly a throwback to 1926 and the style Vogue dubbed ‘Chanel’s Ford’. There was also a skirt, a lost design from the 1920s curled with the double-C logo at each hip before breaking into pleats, that Blazy had reproduced from sketches. “We call them blasts from the past,” he said. “They are things that are so, so good, you don’t need to do anything.” They’re also remarkably modern, yet a whole sequence of logo-emblazoned styles, curves forming the intersection
emblem of Chanel on the sides of jackets, on cuffs or even across the whole front of a dress bodice, were based on Chanel designs from 1929. “The whole clothes are the logo,” Blazy said of those designs. “It’s amazing.”
This show was amazing too, amazing in its lifting of Chanel iconographies from over a century ago, which, as Blazy said, needed nothing done to them to make them relevant. That tennis skirt, in a lawn green with a sleeveless black-banded white shell top, had an off-the-cuff ease that characterised this entire show. This
was a collection with a sense of vacation, ideas seemingly dashed off fast and easy, although they are nothing of the sort. Dresses were composed of layers of flowing carré silk like scarves, knotted and dripping into handkerchief hems – and that aforementioned ‘frame’ of the ocean waves had meaning, with cuddly textiles resembling tufted towels, or the sunbleached Basque striped canvases used for beach huts, or models wearing knit caps and tricot tunics like HoyningenHuene bathers, albeit with slightly less chic rubber waders. A lace dress wriggled like coral over the body, and a sequence
of newspaper patterns in trench coats and evening dresses reminded anyone British of Mirror-wrapped fish and chips on deserted seaside promenades. The final sequinned dresses, embroidered by Lesage in blazing azure and a koi orange with frills of fins, were supposed to look like mermaids dredged from the ocean. They even had bedraggled hair, as if they’d just hauled themselves out of the brine to walk on land.
Some people disparage cruise collections as commercial fodder, as somehow lesser than main biannual collections. Blazy
had no such qualms: this collection was as rich and multi-layered as anything else he’s created. That’s because it was, of course, another chance to get his message across – and as a collection, it felt like this was about building, expanding and exploring the world Blazy has begun to build. Each season, there are riffs that he returns to – elaborate full skirts worn with sloppy sweaters, suits and dresses of intricate macramé (this time tangled with gilded flotsam), and reiterations of the tweed suit. Blazy’s external chain weighted hems once more, a carryover from his very first collection, and second
ever look: but this time, the suits were executed in more carré silk, coats billowing like sea swell. Blasts from the past these were not.
At a remarkable clip, Blazy has nailed his Chanel – not just what it should look like, which is, as evidenced, highly appealing, part of a grand house tradition yet also distinct. But, more complex, how it should feel, physically (eased fits, lower armholes, freer movement) and more interestingly, philosophically. “Joyful” was his word. As usual, Blazy’s right.
THE CASE FOR NEUTRALS
STYLING THIS SEASON'S STANDOUT DENIM TREND
THE UBIQUITOUS BLUE JEAN WILL FOREVER REMAIN A WARDROBE STAPLE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T EXPERIMENT WITH OTHER WASHES. FOR SPRING, A NEW WAVE OF COLORFUL DENIM IS SHAPING UP TO BE A MAJOR FASHION TREND, AND CHIEF AMONG THE MOST WEARABLE HUES ARE EARTH TONES.
Softer than stark white yet fresher than traditional indigo, jeans in tan, beige, or taupe washes strike the perfect balance for the season ahead. They serve as a sophisticated alternative to your old faithful blue and black pairs, and the neutral colorway makes them uber versatile, seasonless, and easy to dress up and down with a range of looks.
There, of course, is a key to mastering the trend, but the formula is pretty straightforward. In the same way styling classic blue jeans is easy, beige denim acts as a blank canvas for any outfit.
They pair seamlessly with other neutrals and can be styled in a gazillion different ways, whether with a simple black tee and ballet flats, a crisp button down shirt and trench coat, or beautiful evening jacket and pumps. You can even mix and match with other washes of denim, like a true blue jean jacket, or go for a tonal look as Sienna Miller so chicly did a few years back.
But let’s say, you wanted to incorporate some color into your ensemble with a bright sweater or low-profile sneakers (it is spring after all!), a neutral pair
of jeans allows vibrant shades and bold prints to shine. Beige denim is really a style you can’t go wrong with, especially
since you can wear it year-round.
HERMES HOME OBJECTS
AT MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2026, THE HOUSE EXTENDS ITS HOME UNIVERSE THROUGH HAMMERED METAL OBJECTS AND TEXTILE PIECES ROOTED IN ARTISANAL PRECISION.
Hermès used Milan Design Week 2026 to sharpen the identity of its home category, unveiling a new “Collections for the Home” presentation built around material dialogue, artisanal process, and a refined sense of domestic storytelling. The presentation brings together sculptural
objects in hammered palladium-finish metal with a series of textile works that explore weaving, dyeing, embroidery, and construction as design languages in their own right.
At the center of the object offering is Palladion d’Hermès, a new line of home pieces in hammered metal combined with leather, horsehair, or wood. The collection draws on the figure of Pallas Athena and frames the pieces as contemporary protective objects, with Hermès emphasizing the visual texture created by the silversmith’s hammer and the tension between reflective metal surfac-
es and warmer natural materials. The line includes a vase sheathed in black horsehair and calfskin, a jug with a cassia wood handle, a leather-clad cylindrical vase that nods to the house’s equestrian heritage, and a centrepiece finished with two-tone leather lacing.
The launch also reinforces a broader strategic constant for Hermès: the ability to translate core house codes into adjacent categories without losing coherence. In these pieces, saddle-making references, leatherwork, and the brand’s long investment in surface, finish, and touch move into the home with clarity. The result
feels aligned with a larger luxury market appetite for interiors that communicate authorship and permanence rather than seasonal novelty.
Alongside the metal objects, Hermès presented a textile group that places craft process at the forefront. The house describes the category as an ongoing site of experimentation, with hand-woven cashmere throws produced in Nepal and finished through resist-dyeing, embroidery stitching, ribbed webbing, and
intricate panel construction. The Clamp & Dye throw uses four joined panels to build a geometric composition, while H Letter, designed by Hyunjee Jung, applies the traditional Korean art of bojagi to linen voile and cashmere, requiring hundreds of hours of work and revealing a discreet oversized H within its structure. Other pieces include Sangles Sellier, edged with ribbed webbing inspired by equestrian straps, and Aventure, a handdyed cashmere throw finished with long velvet lambskin fringing in sunset-like
tonal gradients.
What stands out in Milan is Hermès’ continued confidence in slow luxury as a positioning tool. The presentation leans into time-intensive making, elevated raw materials, and restrained but highly legible design codes. That approach keeps the home division closely tied to the values that anchor the wider house, while giving clients another way to buy into the Hermès worldview through objects meant to endure.
MONARCH VISIONARY
THE NECTAR WITHIN THE ANCIENT QUEST
“From darkness lead me to light. From death lead me to immortality.”
IN CAMBODIA, THE SACRED ARCHITECTURE OF ANGKOR REVEALS AN ANCIENT LAW: TRUE POWER IS NEVER MERELY DISPLAYED. IT IS HARNESSED, STORED, PURIFIED, PROTECTED, AND CULTIVATED.
Through the dynastic rise of the Khmer kings, the myth of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, the yogic science of the subtle body, and the modern language of ATP, NAD+, and NMN, a single truth comes into focus - the deepest kingdom is hidden, and the nectar we seek has always flowed within the temple of the self.
THE TREASURE
BENEATH THE SPLENDOR
“The greatest civilizations do not merely accumulate power; they learned how to harness the cosmic life force and store it.”
Before Angkor became history, it was atmosphere.
It is dawn over still water. It is lotus towers rising from mirrored light.
It is mist threading through stone corridors older than memory.
It is a causeway pulling the body inward, as though the land itself remembers a path the mind has forgotten.
This is why Angkor still arrests the soul. It does not merely present beauty. It reveals a law.
Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1992, Angkor was never only a city of temples. It was a civilization of reservoirs, thresholds, alignments, processional ways, dynastic rites, sacred geometries, and carefully
held abundance. Its moats and barays were not incidental ornaments to grandeur. They were part of grandeur’s secret. What shone above the tree line depended upon what had been retained below it. What rose in stone depended upon what had first been gathered in water, ritual, cosmic measure, and kingly intention.
Built between the ninth and 13th centuries by successive Khmer kings, Angkor spread across a vast sacred landscape and joined wealth from rice, trade, hydrology, and sacred architecture into one of the world’s most astonishing civilizational achievements.
This remains the first wisdom of the hidden treasury: every radiance rests upon reserve.
A kingdom shines because its inner treasury is stored, guarded, and renewed. A temple rises because its foundation has been sanctified and made stable. Human beings become luminous because they have unleashed a hidden source from which life force energy can be replenished. Modern biology names part of that hidden
source in molecules such as NAD+, which participate in the deeper energy-and-repair economy beneath immediate expenditure. Ancient temple architecture knew the principle long before the laboratory named the mechanism: visible brilliance depends upon hidden wealth.
To deepen this living bridge between sacred site intelligence and the restoration of inner power, this feature turns to Aelita Leto - founder of Zenity Bio Labs, Daoist Priestess, Master Feng Shui Consultant, and Doctor of Chinese Energy Medicine. Her wisdom serves as a contemporary echo of an older priestly science: that power must be aligned before it is amplified.
“The ancients did not build temples merely to honor the sacred; they built them to store, direct, and magnify it. A true power site is a reservoir of consciousness, a place where heaven, Earth, and human intention are braided into one interpenetrating field of living intelligence.”
- Aelita Leto
What Angkor stored in water, stone, serpent, and axis, the human temple
must learn to store in breath, blood, nerve, heart, and consciousness. The real luxury of life is not endless output. It is the recovery of an inner economy so coherent that vitality rises again as beauty, steadiness, devotion, courage, and light.
THE KINGS WHO BUILT THE RESERVOIR OF EMPIRE
“The greatest rulers do not merely command force; they protect the hidden source from which force arises.”
Ankgor holds a vast history of lineages, contests, consecrations, expansions, humiliations, and rebirth. The dynastic arc of Angkor reveals that power must be founded, refined, defended, restored, and re-consecrated.
Angkor’s dynastic history dramatizes, in human and political form, the same law the temple later perfects in stone. Each great ruler of the Angkor line solves a different problem of power struggle and energy conservation.
Jayavarman II gathers center from fragmentation. His significance lies not only in kingship, but in consolidation. He shows that before a civilization may radiate, it must first stop leaking. Yashovarman I teaches another lesson: no ascent is sustainable without stored abundance. With mountain and reservoir, he binds elevation to containment, vision to treasury, glory to reserve. Rajendravarman and Jayavarman V refine force into geometry. Their monuments teach that power becomes magnificent through discipline. It must be shaped, not merely possessed.
Then comes Suryavarman II, whose answer to instability is one of the most exacting sacred monuments ever conceived: Angkor Wat itself. Here the empire crowns its aspiration in stone. The temple is not born from ease. It is born from contest, solar will, royal authority, and the refusal to let disorder define the age.
And then, as all true epics
must, the story breaks.
Invasion comes. The center is violated. The visible magnificence remains, but the hidden reserve is strained. And from this rupture rises Jayavarman VII, one of Angkor’s great restorers, rebuilding sacred and civic life with a force made wiser by suffering. This is why the dynastic story still matters now. It is not only medieval history. It is an initiatory map.
Power must be gathered.
Power must be stored. Power must be refined. Power must be elevated. Power must be restored after trauma.
That is true of empires. It is equally true of people. Aelita Leto names the distinction modern culture most often misses:
“What most people call power is often only expenditure. Real power is reserve. It is the quiet abundance that has been cultivated, protected, and refined until it can nourish life with-
out violence. This is true of a sacred landscape, a kingdom, and the human body alike.”
— Aelita Leto
In an age addicted to stimulation, this feels almost revolutionary. We have mistaken output for force, noise for significance, acceleration for vitality. Angkor teaches another way. It teaches that hidden strength is not frantic. It is patient, cultivated, and inwardly sovereign.
RESERVOIR CONSCIOUSNESS
The barays, moats, canals, and hydraulic systems of the Khmer world are not merely feats of engineering. They are a sacred psychology of retention. They teach that abundance is not created only by what is produced, but by what is preserved. Water becomes the visible form of the invisible treasury. It is the held field from which life, ceremony, beauty, and continuity emerge.
This is why Angkor feels so urgently relevant to modern existence. Ours is a world of relentless expenditure. We spend attention, nervous energy, metabolic energy, emotional energy, spiritual energy. We are trained to produce more than we restore, display more than we digest, react more than we recollect.
Angkor answers with a different image: the reservoir. The reservoir does not symbolize stagnation. It symbolizes potential under protection. Alongside water appears the naga, the serpent of threshold, land, ancestry, and hidden current. The naga belongs to waters and roots, to the underflow beneath visible order. In yogic language, this is immediately legible as kundalini — latent force curled at the base, waiting for a worthy channel, waiting for sacred timing, waiting for a body and a life no longer too fractured to hold it.
Thus Angkor offers one of the article’s deepest equations:
water as stored life, Serpent as latent power, Axis as direction, Temple as consecrated ascent.
The same law governs the human interior. If the hidden treasury is to yield nectar, the field must first be able to hold force without spilling it.
THE GREAT CHURNING
“The nectar is not found by escaping tension, but by sanctifying it.”
At the heart of Angkor Wat appears the myth that gives the whole monument its spiritual spine: the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.
Gods and anti-gods pull upon the serpent that is wound around the cosmic mountain to recover amrit, the nectar of immortality, from the primordial sea. Yet the story does not begin with sweetness. It begins with strain. It begins with clashing polarities. And, before the nectar rises, poison first emerges.
This is one of the great truths ever given to consciousness.
Before nectar, shadow. Before illumination, upheaval.
Before sweetness, toxin. Before resurrection, the buried pain must surface into the light.
The myth is not only cosmological. It is anatomical. It is psychological. It is civilizational.
The ocean is the deep field of potential.
The mountain is axis. The serpent is force.
The opposing hosts are polarity itself.
The poison is what emerges when the depths are stirred. The nectar is what remains when the process is sanctified.
This is equally the law of human life. Breath churns. Emotion churns. Memory churns. Trauma churns. Desire churns. Metabolism churns. Societies churn.
Dynasties churn. Cells churn. The question is never whether churning will occur. It already does. The question is what it will yield.
Here Aelita Leto gives the myth its most practical spiritual interpretation:
“The poison rises first whenever true transformation begins. This is not failure; it is revelation. When the hidden is stirred, all that has been buried seeks the light. The work of the practitioner is not to fear this moment, but to consecrate it - to turn turbulence into medicine and shadow into nectar.”
— Aelita Leto
That is the law of the hidden treasury. One does not recover sacred energy by fleeing darkness. One recovers it by converting darkness into fuel without allowing the poison to reign.
When center is weak, the churning yields exhaustion, aggression, fragmentation, and despair. When center is sacred, the same churning
yields wisdom, sweetness, repaired reserve, and a power that no longer feels merely exerted, but quietly renewable.
THE OUTER TEMPLE AND THE INNER TEMPLE
Angkor Wat is not only a monument to be seen. It is a body to be entered.
The moat forms the field.
The western bridge establishes threshold.
The causeway becomes axis.
The galleries refine awareness through enclosure.
The upper terraces intensify ascent.
The central tower rises as Meru, crown, summit, and divine seat.
The temple teaches by movement what the subtle body teaches by direct experience: the path inward is also the ascent upward.
Within the human being, the chakras form a treasury of consciousness - earth, water, fire, love, sound, light, thought. They are a living architecture of reception, transformation, and transmission. Together they form the Rainbow Bridge between matter and spirit, body and heaven, manifestation and liberation.
The human being is not merely an observer of Angkor’s wisdom. The human being is its continuation.
The body is not a prison to escape.
cosmic life force may be refined.
It is a temple to align.
It is a vessel through which
Aelita Leto articulates this with unusual clarity:
“The body is not a container for consciousness; it is one of consciousness’s most exquisite instruments. When its channels are clear, its rhythm is aligned, and its inner kingdom is protected, the body becomes capable of holding much greater light, wisdom, and spiritual force.”
- Aelita Leto
This is why infinite energy, rightly understood, is not manic output. It is the state that becomes possible when the instrument is no longer at war with itself. When the lower centers are not fractured from the higher. When the heart is not cut off from the will. When the mind is not ruling without reverence. When the serpent rises through a channel worthy of its ascent.
Angkor teaches this in stone. The subtle body teaches it in silence. Both insist that hidden energy must be organized before it may become illumination.
THE MOLECULAR TREASURY
At this point, modern physiology enters the story not as contradiction, but as a second language for the same mystery. The body spends ATP like immediate energetic currency. ATP powers movement, signaling, transport, muscular work, and action. It is what the temple spends in the moment. But no kingdom survives by coin alone.
Beneath immediate expenditure lies a deeper economy - one concerned with mitochondrial function, redox balance, repair, and resilience. Here NAD+ becomes decisive. NAD+ belongs to the body’s hidden energy-and-repair treasury. It participates in the deeper systems that help determine whether clean power can continue to be generated rather than merely burned through.
In the language of this article:
ATP is the coin the temple spends.
NAD+ belongs to the treasury beneath the palace.
That single relationship should remain with the reader, because it is the cleanest modern mirror of the Angkor thesis. Visible power depends on hidden reserve.
This is where NMN is relevant in a particularly elegant way. NMN emerges not as a miracle, but as a restorative precursor - one contemporary provision that may help support the replenishment of NAD+, and thus part of the body’s deeper reserve.
The ancients dramatized the hidden treasury as amrit. Yoga internalized it as subtle reserve.
Biology begins to observe it as the inner economy by which power, repair, and resilience remain possible.
Different languages. One archetype.
THE WAR ON CONSCIOUSNESS
If the heart is the kingdom of heaven, then modern life
must be understood as a prolonged siege upon the inner kingdom.
The great weapons are often ordinary:
Fractured sleep
Chronic stress
Unresolved trauma
Social isolation
Fragmented attention
Over stimulation
Nourishment stripped of living intelligence
And a culture that teaches the soul to spend more than it restores.
These do not merely make people tired. They raid the treasury. They diminish repair. They distort rhythm. They scatter will. They burden the nervous system. They thin the walls of the kingdom.
They make the sacred mission harder to intuitively sense.
Most people do not experience this as a biochemical concept. They experience it as dimmed devotion, shallower courage, thinner joy, metabolic fatigue, emotional heaviness, and an increasing distance from what once felt holy or alive in them.
This is the modern sack of the inner city.
What Angkor suffered historically through invasion, the contemporary person often suffers psychically through chronic depletion. The outer
structures may remain standing. The visible life may continue to function. But the hidden reserve has been drawn down.
That is why the restoration of consciousness cannot begin with more pressure. It must begin with protection.
The hidden must be guarded. The reservoir must be rebuilt. The kingdom must be re-walled in light.
ZENITY BIO LABS AND THE RITUAL RESTORATION OF RESERVE
In a culture that teaches the body to live on borrowed force, the rise of ritual-based longevity work marks a return to older wisdom: the temple must be replenished if consciousness is to remain luminous.
Zenity Bio Labs is a contemporary steward of the hidden treasury motif. A science-led longevity brand offering daily rituals to restore the body’s natural intelligence, support vitality, clarity, and graceful aging, and serving people seeking holistic longevity and sustainable vitality.
Zenity may be understood as a modern ritual house for the restoration of sacred reserve: a science-led longevity philosophy shaped around daily practices that support vitality, clarity, and inner resilience. Within this frame, NMN becomes more than a supplement trend. It becomes part of a larger act of stewardship — a contemporary means of supporting the body’s hidden treasury rather than merely stimulating its surface performance.
Aelita Leto, as founder of Zenity Bio Labs, names the modern condition with unusual precision:
“In our era, many people are trying to live on borrowed energy. The deeper task is to restore the treasury itself. When the cells are supported, when the nervous system is less burdened, and when the spirit is no longer forced to fight the body for dominion, remem-
brance becomes easier. Vitality is then no longer performance — it becomes alignment.”
— Aelita Leto
That distinction is essential.
The point is not simply to feel more energized.
The point is to stop living from depletion.
When the body is chronically under-restored, sacred mission can feel remote. Not because it has disappeared, but because the temple lacks the reserve to embody it steadily. A replenished treasury does not create purpose from nowhere. It removes some of the interference that keeps purpose from becoming audible.
Thus Zenity’s presence in this article is most powerful when framed not as commerce, but as ritual restoration. The supplement does not replace prayer, trauma healing, devotion, belonging, or inner work. It belongs within a hierarchy of replenishment that includes sleep, nervous-system repair, nourishment, and reverent practice. It becomes meaningful because it serves the larger task of rebuilding the hidden kingdom.
THE RETURN OF THE NECTAR AND ASCENSION OF AMRIT
Angkor’s final lesson is not simply to admire the sacred, but to become a steward of its law.
Power must be gathered. Power must be stored.
Power must be purified. Power must be raised.
Power must be replenished. Power must be consecrated.
That is the true meaning of the hidden treasury of infinite energy. It is not endless stimulation. It is not manic output. It is not domination disguised as vitality. It is the restoration of a source so well governed that power can arise again as sweetness, clarity, courage, devotion, and illumined purpose.
body knows this. The cell itself begins to whisper the same truth.
The ancient city knew this. The subtle
The hidden treasury is within. The kingdom is within.
The serpent is within.
The churning is within.
The nectar is within.
And the future will belong to those who learn how to protect it.
As a special gift, use coupon code MonarchVisionary for 5% off your entire Zenity purchase at www.zenitybiolabs. com
Visit www.MonarchVisionary.com to receive regular updates through our newsletter.
This article is for educational and lifestyle purposes and is not medical advice. Dietary supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. Use only as directed on the label; consult a qualified clinician if pregnant/nursing, taking medications, or managing a medical condition.
MANSION OF THE MONTH
Exquisite period mansion in the heart of Surrey
PERCHED ON 53.74 ACRES OF UNDULATING GROUNDS, THIS AMBASSADORIAL MANSION IS AN IDYLLIC SANCTUARY, SPANNING A STAGGERING 29,840 SQ FT. IMMACULATELY LANDSCAPED GARDENS
LEAD TO THE MAIN MANSION, CREATING A DISTINGUISHED ENTRANCE.
A galleried hall flows seamlessly into the living areas. The reception, measuring an impressive 58’, has multiple floor-to-ceiling bay windows that usher in abundant natural light. The adjoining dining hall is equal in grandeur, as is the library. The large kitchen comes with a dedicated breakfast area, while the striking rear garden features a pool.
The first floor unfolds over nine generously proportioned bedrooms. The 35’ principal suite features a sitting room and dual dressing rooms, each with an ensuite. Further west, there are four bedrooms – three ensuites – sharing a cozy kitchen. Four additional ensuite bedrooms complete the floor. The remain-
ing three ensuite bedrooms are located on the second floor. Separate from the mansion, there’s a self-contained studio with a shower room and a kitchenette. Additional accommodations include the east lodge and west lodges. A dedicated leisure annexe offers a plunge pool, sauna, and gym. Further highlights include the triple garage, wine cellar, laundry room, and storage rooms.
Located in Chobham, residents enjoy the serenity of village life and the rich beauty of Surrey’s countryside — all while being 35-45 minutes away from Central London. Sunningdale is a five-minute drive away, and Ascot and Woking can be accessed in under 20 minutes.
MANSION OF THE MONTH
2680 TRADER ROAD
JACKSON, WYOMING, 83001 UNITED STATES
$23,000,000 USD
BEDROOMS 6 | BATHROOMS 6 FULL AND 2 PARTIAL | INTERIOR
Located in the gated Gros Ventre North subdivision, in the heart of Jackson, Wyoming, is this newly constructed architectural masterpiece. Boasting exquisite craftsmanship and attention to detail, this home offers an unparalleled living experience amidst the breathtaking backdrop of the Teton Range.
At the heart of the main level is the expansive Great Room adorned with vaulted ceilings and exposed steel beams. Gather around the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace or express your culinary creativity in the chef’s kitchen, outfitted with top-of-theline appliances, tailor-made finishes, and a butler’s pantry.
Floor-to-ceiling windows and telescoping doors flood this room with natural light and provide seamless access to the expansive deck, complete with a covered outdoor dining area, a built-in grill, and an outdoor fireplace, perfect for entertaining against the backdrop of Wyoming’s natural splendor.
Step into opulence as you enter the spacious Primary Suite. Featuring his and her walk-in closets and a spa-like bathroom complete with a double vanity, double showers, a freestanding bathtub, and an outdoor shower, this retreat boasts privacy and comfort.
Relax and unwind on the private deck, offering a sweeping panorama of the Teton Range, or enjoy the warmth and comfort of the double-sided fireplace perfectly situated in front of a built-in reading nook. There is a private office located between the Primary Suite and the Great Room, designed for productivity and inspiration. With a private covered deck offering sweeping views of the surrounding mountains, this office becomes a private retreat within the expansive home.
Adjacent to the office is the mudroom, a transitional space crafted with custom millwork and thoughtful design elements. Here, gear, jackets, and shoes find a styl-
ish home, keeping the main living area pristine and clutter-free. Adjacent to the mudroom, is the upstairs laundry room and an additional coat closet to meet all your storage and cleaning needs. At the center of the home where the main level and lower level meet is a causeway flanked by expansive two-story windows which saturate the home with natural light while providing endless views of the surrounding wilderness.
Located on the lower level is the entertainment and media room. Unwind in the sprawling Media Room, equipped
with a full-sized wet bar featuring a wine fridge, ice machine, and dishwasher. Built-in shelves offer ample space for entertainment, books, and art. Indulge in recreation and relaxation within the gym and sauna, with seamless outdoor access to the meticulously landscaped backyard and built-in hot tub, creating an oasis of luxury and relaxation.
Additionally, attached to the Media Room is a spare Flex Room with an en-suite bathroom that is perfect for supplementary accommodations for guests. The south wing of the lower level is the dedicated
guest wing, with four en-suite bedrooms, each offering incredible wilderness and mountain views.
The garage is a haven for recreation enthusiasts, with expansive storage solutions ensuring that every vehicle, tool, recreational equipment, or seasonal gear finds its designated place. This six car garage bay designed to provide maximum utility and with over 1,500 square feet this space can easily house all of your standard and recreational vehicles.
BLENDED WITH NATURE IN THE HEART OF SAGAPONACK
A STORYBOOK ESTATE IN THE HEART OF SAGAPONACK
Set on three enchanting acres in Sagaponack, “Whimsy Farm” is a one-ofa-kind estate blending Hamptons farmhouse charm with French countryside elegance and Palm Beach flair. From the
original barn-turned-great room to the lush, sculpture-filled grounds, saltwater pool, dual kitchens and separate guest quarters, every detail invites relaxation, celebration and timeless style.
PROPERTY DETAILS
790 Sagg Road, Sagaponack, New York
5 Bedrooms | 6 Bathrooms
$6,995,000
Listed by Douglas Elliman Adam Hofer adam.hofer@elliman.com 631.236.8659
In Search of Solace Where the Wines Are
EXCLUSIVE SELECTIONS, LAST BOTTLES AND FREE SHIPPING ONLINE WINE SHOPS
WILLIAM SMITH @willismith_2000 COPY EDITOR & CONTRIBUTOR
AS I PUT THE FINISHING
TOUCHES
TO THIS PIECE, I’M A BIT CRUNCHED FOR TIME AS I WANT TO MAKE MY WAY TO NOT ONE, BUT TWO, LOCAL WINE STORES THAT ARE HOSTING WINE TASTINGS –ONE FOCUSED ON FRENCH WINES IN ROSENTHAL’S IMPORT PORTFOLIO OF SMALL, FAMILY-OWNED WINES AND THE SECOND WITH A SMALL PRODUCER FROM SICILY.
I’ll be like a kid in a candy store in just a few hours.
There is simply no substitute for local wine stores. Even in my small city of Santa Fe – which though it consistently punches above its weight in terms of culinary and oenophilic prowess, is nonetheless still a small city of less than 100,000 people in one of the least populated states – our local wine purveyors create opportunities to learn, taste, gather and experience the world of wine at home. They need and deserve our patronage and gratitude.
Yet, the system of how any particular wine arrives at that local shop is multitiered and many decisions have been made on your behalf that limit what you will find on the shelves. When it comes to larger retailers like grocery chains and big box stores, those decisions tend to create even more limited offerings,
WILLIAM SMITH /WINE CONTRIBUTOR
and frankly, far inferior ones that tend to favor quantity and volume over quality.
There is a place for all these options, of course, but when you can’t find what you are desiring locally, online wine sellers are an excellent go-to. The offers are endless and for consumers, the decline in overall wine consumption globally has created tremendous values from entrepreneurial online sellers with connections and plum negotiating skills.
With many options out there, these are a few of my favorite online stores.
As Always, Salud!
WINE EXPRESS
The universe of Wine Enthusiast remains one of my favorite online retailers for all things wine, and that extends to their online wine shop, Wine Express
(wineexpress.com). Among the most impressive aspects of Wine Express is the breadth and depth of wine they offer to consumers. Every country’s main growing regions are well covered and there are even smaller producers you won’t find anywhere else.
Helmed by Marshall Tilden III, who also heads their wine education, Marshall’s videos of wines he is recommending are compelling and informative, meaning you are not buying even unknown labels in the total dark. They also offer a “wine concierge” service to help guide your buying proclivities and domestic U.S. shipping is free on order over $149. Prices are terrific too, with frequent sales creating real bargains like Chappellet’s drink-now 2023 Mountain Cuvee Proprietor’s Blend from Napa for $38, Idda’s 2023 Etna Bianco for under $50, and the eminently age-worthy 2023 Corton-Charlemagne from Maison Louis Latour for under $240.
LAST BOTTLE
Founded in 2011, Napa Valley-based Last Bottle (www.lastbottlewines) is a no frills, high payoff wine seller offering exceptional bottles at a great price.
Rather than functioning as a wine seller with a vast inventory, Last Bottle chooses one bottle per day and sells it until it is gone, which often happens quickly given the massive 30%-70% discount off retail prices. More than once, I’ve clicked through to an offer from a few-hoursold email, only to be told the offer had sold out. Alas... that is part of the fun.
Offerings run the gamut of countries and appellations and a few recent bottles from Napa Cabernet Sauvignon producers from the stellar 2019 vintage have been ringers. As we went to press, their offering was a single vineyard Blanc de Blancs from Willamette Valley’s Argyle for a fraction of the cost it originally sold at the Vineyard (and yes, I bought it). Their information on each bottle is often extensive and insightful and can always be found under the “Nerdy Details” tab for the current wine being offered. They also have an app that makes keeping track of the current offer a simple matter. Shipping is free on orders of six bottles or more and if you are the lucky shopper to literally buy the “last bottle” of that offering, you’ll receive a $50 credit to your account.
WINES ‘TIL SOLD OUT
My own love affair with WTSO.com long predates when I began writing about wine, likely back when the online wine seller was established in 2006 and I was still in my public health career. To date, they’ve sold over 26 million bottles of wine and I’m sure a couple of hundred of those were to me. I’ve also turned many friends on to the platform over the years, largely because the values are considerable and the producers are frequently small and boutique and whose wines you cannot find elsewhere.
The site has evolved considerably over the years. In fact, it once operated very much like Last Bottle, with one bottle offered for sale at a time, until it sold out, and then a new offering would replace it.
This now appears on WTSO as the “Flash Deal,” and it is consistently a tremendous value and as of late, their Italian wine offerings have been phenomenal.
Other areas of the site offer deals on “Last Chance Wines,” a “Collectors Drop,” and other upcoming special sale events. At press time, one of the wines featured in “Last Chance” was the fabulous 2018 Château Giscours Margaux (James Suckling scored it a 97) for half off retail at under $75 and the “Collector’s Drop” featured a magnum of Kathryn Hall 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at a 40% discount for just under $300.
The founders of WTSO have also launched a sister online market site, The Wine Market (www.thewinemarket.com) that has a more traditional online marketplace feel. Finally, there are always specials on shipping which, more than any other online wine seller, magnify the values you can find at WTSO.
In Search of Solace Where the Wines Are
K&L WINE MERCHANTS
Even traditional brick and mortar wine retailers dominate online wine sales.
Begun in 1976, family-owned K&L Wine Merchants have five retails stores (four in California and a fifth in New York City) and a vast online marketplace with over 5,000 wines at great prices – largely thanks to decades of relationship-building with the world’s best wine
producers, big and small alike. If you can’t find it locally, chances are you will find it here.
Their “Anonymous Wine Collective,” their own private label launched last year, also brings world class wine to consumers at great value. Done in collaboration with top producers and almost always under strict NDAs, K&L is rolling out incredible wines under
the label. I loved their newly released 2025 Contra Costa County Rosé of Mourvèdre from 120-year-old vines. I am also a huge fan of wines from Portugal which are becoming increasingly available in the U.S., largely due to insane quality to price ratios, but K&L has more than 100 to choose from. Customary shipping charges apply to online orders.
MONARCH VISIONARY HEAL
YOURSELF AND HEAL THE WORLD
SPIRITUALITY FAITH
QUESTIONS GROWTH · FOCUS
WHEN THE INNER VISIONARY AWAKENS
“Imagination
is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” - Albert Einstein
IN AN AGE OF INFINITE IMAGES AND DIMINISHING INNER VISION, MONARCH VISIONARY INVITES READERS INTO THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON AS A LIVING TEMPLE OF IMAGINATION, HEALING, AND COSMIC REMEMBRANCE.
Braiding UNICEF’s defense of childhood wellbeing with Ayahuasca, inner child restoration, biofrequencies, and Indigenous guardianship, the article explores how the
soul learns to see again when the body, heart, and nervous system return to harmony.
The rainforest is more than destination; she is a living library of intelligence, where river, root, medicine, song, and silence help cleanse the veils of fear, grief, shame, and disconnection. Through Monarch Visionary’s fourfold path, the wounded inner child is revealed as the first visionary waiting to be loved back into purpose, no longer seeking escape from the world but awakened to the radiant, coherent truth of cosmic existence.
THE WORLD HAS FORGOTTEN HOW TO SEE
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” -
Carl Jung
In an age of luminous screens, artificial intelligence, luxury convenience, and infinite information, human-
ity is suffering from a quieter poverty: the loss of inner vision. We have never seen more images, yet perhaps we have never been less able to truly perceive. The modern eye is overstimulated, while the soul is undernourished. The nervous system is flooded, while the heart is starving for meaning.
This is not only poetic concern. It is a civilizational signal. Across the world, anxiety, loneliness, depression, and spiritual fatigue reveal a deeper hunger beneath modern life: the hunger to feel connected, purposeful, and alive. The World Health Organization reports that one in seven adolescents experiences a mental disorder, while loneliness affects roughly one in six people globally.
Beneath these statistics is a spiritual emergency. Many are surrounded by content, but deprived of communion. They are trained to optimize
performance, but not to cultivate wonder. They are taught to brand the self, but rarely to behold the soul.
This is where imagination becomes sacred.
Imagination is not child ish fantasy. It is the faculty through which human beings envision possibility, translate pain into meaning, rehearse new futures, and receive the symbolic language of the soul. Without imagination, trauma becomes fate. With imagination, suffering be comes initiation.
Yet imagination does not live only in the mind. It requires a body capable of holding light. A depleted nervous system struggles to dream beyond survival. A heart burdened by grief struggles to receive beauty. A body flooded by chronic stress may interpret life through threat rather than trust.
To awaken the inner vision-
RENEWAL
ary is therefore to restore perception, rhythm, and life force. The great healing work of our time is not only to calm the mind, but to cleanse the lens through which the soul sees the world.
UNICEF AND THE SACRED RIGHT TO IMAGINATION
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.” - Kahlil Gibran
UNICEF’s work offers a powerful humanitarian doorway into this conversation. Across the world, UNICEF protects the conditions children need to grow, learn, belong, and flourish. In 2024, UNICEF expanded integrated mental health and psychosocial support programming across 130 countries, reaching more than
66 million children, adolescents, and caregivers.
This is not only institutional achievement. It is global guardianship.
UNICEF’s advocacy around play is especially important here. Play is not entertainment alone; it is developmental medicine. Through play, children build connection, resilience, leadership, courage, and the ability to navigate emotional and social challenges.
To protect play is to protect imagination. To protect imagination is to protect the child’s ability to see beyond fear.
The child is the first visionary. Before the adult learns strategy, status, guardedness, and self-protection, the child knows how to experience
life as animated by meaning. A stick becomes a wand. A tree becomes a guardian. The moon becomes a companion. A song becomes shelter. The child lives in symbolic intimacy with the universe.
Many adults call this innocence. Perhaps it is perception before exile.
A child does not imagine only with the brain. Wonder widens the eyes. Joy moves the limbs. Fear tightens the belly. Love warms the chest. Curiosity leans the whole body forward into life. Childhood imagination is embodied perception: the body and soul discovering that the world speaks.
What UNICEF defends in the child, the spiritual path asks us to resurrect in ourselves.
THE INNER CHILD AS THE FIRST VISIONARY
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.” - Carl Jung
The inner child is often described as the wounded younger self. Yet in a deeper spiritual sense, the inner child is also the first seer: the part of us that trusted wonder before survival taught contraction; the part that felt beauty before needing to possess it; the part that dreamed before the world demanded realism.
When trauma, abandonment, shame, neglect, or chronic stress enter the psyche, perception narrows. The child learns to scan for danger. The body learns to brace. The heart learns to hide. The imagination, once a field of possibility, becomes a theater of fear.
Spiritually, this means the visionary child can become trapped beneath the armor of the survivor.
Inner child healing is therefore not sentimental regression. It is soul retrieval. It is the adult turning inward and saying: the part of me that was frightened, silenced, shamed, or abandoned is not broken. It is waiting to be loved back into vision.
MONARCH VISIONARY HEAL
YOURSELF AND HEAL THE
WORLD
SPIRITUALITY
But the child is not retrieved by thought alone. The body must be invited into safety. The breath must soften. The belly must unclench. The heart must be allowed to feel without collapse. The nervous system must learn that the present moment is not always the past returning in disguise.
This is why deep healing is energetic as well as psychological. The wound lives not only as memory, but as contraction: in the jaw that tightens before speaking, the shoulders that brace before love, the stomach that knots before risk, the throat that closes before truth.
In Monarch Visionary language, this is Initiation: the moment when the ache of disconnection becomes the call. The inner child knocks from behind the walls of
FAITH
QUESTIONS GROWTH · FOCUS
accomplishment. The body reveals where the soul has been hiding.
BIOFREQUENCIES, SPIRIT VISION AND THE FIRE OF PURPOSE
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
- John Muir
The body is not a machine sealed off from the world. It is a rhythmic vessel: breathing, pulsing, sensing, receiving, and transmitting. Every heartbeat carries information. Every breath changes the nervous system. Every emotion alters the body’s inner atmosphere. Every sunrise, song, drumbeat, river, insect chorus, and ceremonial chant participates in the subtle architecture of perception.
In this sense, biofrequencies
are not fantasy. They are the language of living rhythm.
The brain moves in waves. The heart speaks through rhythm. The lungs create tides. The endocrine system pulses according to light, sleep, nourishment, stress, and time. Ancient traditions call this prana, chi, ruach, or spiritus - the breath of life moving through matter. Modern science uses different language: oscillation, coherence, entrainment, circadian rhythm, autonomic regulation, and neuroplasticity.
The wisdom is the same: life is rhythm, and healing is the restoration of harmony.
Research on light exposure and heart-rate variability gives scientific language to this ancient insight: the body and mind are shaped by rhythm, coherence, and environmental signal. A large Nature Mental Health study linked greater daytime light exposure with lower risk for several psychiatric outcomes and greater nighttime light exposure with higher risk. A 2025 Scientific Reports study analyzing 1.8 million HRV biofeedback sessions found that emotional states were associated with measurable differences in coherence and heart-rhythm patterns.
This is why the Amazon is such a powerful ceremonial environment. The rainforest is not silent; it is orchestral.
Rain pulses on leaves. Rivers move like the bloodstream of Earth. Birds call across the canopy. Insects vibrate through the night. Removed from artificial light, mechanical noise, digital urgency, and concrete compression, the human nervous system begins to remember older rhythms.
The body begins to listen again.
Purpose cannot be forced through willpower alone. Purpose requires coherence. When the heart, breath, brain, and body organize around safety, gratitude, courage, and devotion, perception changes. The inner child no longer dreams from hiding. The soul no longer has to shout through exhaustion. The body becomes a clear instrument through which guidance can be received.
This is not manifestation as fantasy. It is manifestation as coherence.
When perception clarifies, choices align. When choices align, energy returns.
When energy returns, creativity awakens. When creativity awakens, purpose begins to move through the body as fire.
This fire is not ambition. It is purified life force. It is the inner child’s wonder matured
into wisdom. It is imagination becoming service. It is light moving through the human vessel with enough clarity to bless the world.
AYAHUASCA AND THE CLEANSING OF PERCEPTION
“Nature loves to hide.” - Heraclitus
Ayahuasca is often misunderstood by the modern world as a psychedelic experience, visionary journey, or exotic encounter with the unknown. Yet within Amazonian Indigenous wisdom traditions, it is something far more sacred: a medicine of revelation, remembrance, and relationship.
It does not merely show images. It invites the soul to see what has been concealed beneath fear, grief, shame, conditioning, and the inherited noise of survival.
In this sense, ayahuasca may be understood as a cleansing of perception through a profound encounter with the veils through which human beings see.
Trauma can narrow vision. Anxiety can distort meaning. Shame can turn the gaze inward with cruelty. Grief can dim the colors of life. Fear can convince the nervous system that the world is enemy rather than teacher. Over time, the senses no longer receive reality directly; they receive reality through the wound, and the heart becomes enchained by the mind’s stored pain.
Ayahuasca dissolves this veil.
Modern science is beginning to approach ayahuasca with the seriousness Indigenous cultures have carried for generations. Emerging research suggests promising effects on depression, emotional processing, self-insight, cognitive
flexibility, and social connection, while also emphasizing the need for safety, screening, and integration.
Yet beyond the language of research, ayahuasca is best understood as a mirror. It does not simply create visions; it reveals the veils through which we have been seeing. Fear, grief, shame, childhood memory, ancestral longing, and forgotten purpose may rise not as punishment, but as material ready to be loved back into wholeness.
A serpent may not simply be a serpent. A river may not simply be a river. A childhood memory may emerge not as nostalgia, but as a living fragment of the self asking to be reclaimed.
What the Western mind calls imagery, the ceremonial mind may call teaching. What neuroscience may interpret as altered perception, Indigenous wisdom may understand as communication with medicine, forest, and spirit.
Both lenses can coexist.
The scientific view protects discernment. The spiritual view protects reverence.
Approached with respect, safety, and sincere intention, ayahuasca becomes a mirror through which the soul begins to recognize itself again.
The heart may soften.
The senses may become more truthful. The inner child may rise from beneath the armor.
The nervous system may remember safety, wonder, and belonging. The soul may hear again the quiet instruction of purpose.
This is the deeper promise of the medicine: restoration of clarity and depth of vision.
THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON AS A LIVING LIBRARY OF INTELLIGENCE
“To create a little flower is the labor of ages.” - William Blake
The Ecuadorian Amazon is not merely a destination. She is a living library.
Her intelligence is not stored on shelves, but in roots, rivers, fungi, insects, seeds, birdsong, medicinal plants, soil, weather, memory, and Indigenous relationship. To enter the rainforest with humility is to enter a field of intelligence older than empire, older than industry, older than the modern idea that consciousness belongs only to the human brain.
Science helps honor this metaphor without reducing its mystery. Research on Amazonian rainforest ecology shows deep relationships among plants, fungi, invertebrates, and forest network structures. The forest is not a collection of isolated species. It is a complex web of reciprocal life.
A vine climbs toward light. A fungus exchanges minerals. A bird spreads seeds. A river carries memory across land. A medicinal plant concentrates chemistry refined through evolutionary time. A jaguar moves like a thought through the green body of the world. The canopy breathes. The soil communicates. The rain writes.
This is why the phrase “the jungle that never forgets” feels true. The forest remembers through pattern, adaptation, lineage, seed, song, and ceremonial practice.
For the reader drawn to ayahuasca, this distinction is essential. The medicine is not separate from the forest. The cere-
MONARCH VISIONARY HEAL
YOURSELF AND HEAL THE
WORLD
SPIRITUALITY
mony is not separate from the ecosystem. The healing is not separate from the living field.
The Amazon does not simply surround the ceremony; it participates in it.
Its rivers mirror the nervous system. Its mycelial alliances mirror synaptic connectivity. Its canopy resembles the branching architecture of the brain. Its darkness invites surrender. Its stars restore cosmic scale.
To heal in the Amazon is to remember oneself as part of a planetary body- a star-seed awakening to its galactic, interstellar family.
GUARDIANSHIP,
RECIPROCITY, AND THE NEW MEANING OF LUXURY
FAITH
QUESTIONS GROWTH · FOCUS
“For every thing that lives is Holy.” - William Blake
A true Amazonian retreat must be grounded in reverence for Indigenous peoples. The forest is not a backdrop for personal transformation. It is home, history, medicine, law, cosmology, and kin.
Amazon Frontlines describes the ancestral territories of the Kofan, Secoya, Siona, and Waorani peoples of Ecuador’s northern Amazon as home: a place that provides food, medicine, shelter, stories, spirituality, education, and cultural survival. The organization also notes that the Waorani, numbering around 2,000, once maintained one of the largest territories of all Indigenous Amazonians in Ecuador and have faced severe pressures from mission-
ary contact, oil extraction, logging, colonist settlement, and reduced lands.
The modern seeker must not approach the Amazon as a consumer of ceremony, but as an initiate of divine co-creation. Ayahuasca is not a product. Indigenous wisdom is not a luxury accessory. The forest is not a psychedelic spa. Sacred encounter requires humility, reciprocity, protection, and respect.
Amazonian Guardians of the Light is an invitation into a more conscious model of retreat: one that honors Indigenous guidance, rainforest immersion, plant medicine, inner child restoration, and the awakening of purpose within a living ecological temple. A sacred ayahuasca retreat in
the Ecuadorian Amazon, guided by Waorani people and Secoya elders, and a seven-day, six-night immersion in Yasuní National Park with 4 nights of ayahuasca medicine ceremonies, daily Indigenous guidance, forest walks, community visits, and integration.
This is a refinement of luxury. True luxury is not excess. It is access to what is rare, sacred, and transformative. It is time away from noise. It is the courage to enter silence. It is the privilege of being guided by those who still remember how to listen to the Earth.
To heal the self while ignoring the forest would be incomplete. To awaken spiritually while remaining extractive would be contradiction. The true medicine path asks the participant to become more generous, more ethical, more protective, more alive.
The forest opens most deeply to those who arrive not to take, but to remember how to belong.
MONARCH VISIONARY AND THE RETURN OF COSMIC
CONSCIOUSNESS
“Follow your bliss.” - Joseph Campbell
The journey into the Amazon is not meant to end
RENEWAL
in the jungle. It is meant to return with the traveler.
This is the essence of Monarch Visionary’s four-fold path: Initiation, Crystallization, Actualization, and Ascension.
Initiation begins with the ache. The exhaustion of the old life. The performance. The pressure. The hidden grief. The inner child stirring beneath accomplishment. The soul asking to be heard.
Crystallization begins as perception clears. In ceremony, silence, and the living field of the rainforest, the participant begins to see the patterns that shaped their life. Fear is recognized. Shame is witnessed. Guilt, blame, greed, lust, and the lower vibrations of contraction are not condemned, but illuminated.
Actualization begins when vision becomes embodied. The healed inner child does not remain in dream. It
becomes creativity, courage, leadership, compassion, philanthropy, artistry, and devotion to life. Purpose is no longer an idea. It becomes a way of walking.
Ascension is the recognition that consciousness is not merely personal. It is planetary and cosmic. The same intelligence that moves through neurons also moves through rivers. The same branching patterns that appear in the brain appear in roots, lightning, lungs, deltas, and galaxies. The awakened human being understands that healing the self and serving the Earth are not separate assignments.
Cosmic consciousness is not an escape from the world. It is renewed, awakened and sensually complete intimacy with the intelligence that nourishes the fulfillment all existence.
It is the recognition that the inner child and the cosmic
Christ are inseparably linked - our true self is almightyonly our self-perception has become indoctrinated.
UNICEF’s protection of children, Indigenous protection of forests, ayahuasca’s restoration of perception, and Monarch Visionary’s path of spiritual leadership all belong to one larger movement: the awakening of humanity from fragmentation into coherence.
To enter the jungle that never forgets is to remember that nothing true is ever lost. The child who once imagined worlds still lives beneath the armor. The soul that came with purpose still waits beneath the noise. The senses numbed by fear can become luminous again. The heart that was chained can become a listening organ.
And when perception is cleansed, the world does not become less real.
She becomes radiant.
For those called to experience this path not as concept, but as lived initiation, Amazonian Guardians of the Light offers a doorway into the Ecuadorian Amazon as a living temple of healing, cultural reverence, and spiritual remembrance.
This is not an invitation to consume the jungle. It is an invitation to be humbled by it.
To listen before asking. To prepare before entering. To honor the medicine.
To respect the elders.
To return with responsibility.
Because the jungle that never forgets does not merely show us visions.
It asks us to become worthy of them.
Visit Amazonian Guardians of the Light at www. GuardiansoftheLight.com
MOLD YOUR MIND
STAY THE COURSE
WHY AND WHEN CONSISTENCY MATTERS
THOUGHTS MATTER
"THE
MENTAL BREAK-DOWN" PODCAST IS NOW ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS
COACH JOEY VELEZ MENTAL WELLNESS CONTRIBUTOR
@velezmentalperformance
WHEN YOU FIRST LEARNED HOW TO WALK, MY GUESS IS THAT YOU FELL DOWN SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE GETTING IT RIGHT. WHEN YOU FIRST LEARNED TO RIDE A BIKE, MY GUESS IS THAT YOU FELL DOWN SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE GETTING IT RIGHT. WHEN YOU FIRST LEARNED TO DRIVE A CAR, MY GUESS IS THAT IT WAS NOT PRETTY IN THE BEGINNING, BUT EVENTUALLY GOT BETTER.
Unfortunately, it is easy to give up in moments like these, which may subconsciously be an ego-protecting defense mechanism, rather than staying the course and trying to figure it out. However, just because you fail, does not always mean that you must change strategies and try something new. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to keep going. The longer you stay with a task, the more skilled you may become at it.
WHY DO PEOPLE CHANGE STRATEGIES ANYWAY?
There are a variety of reasons why people choose to change their strategies at the first sign of trouble. One of those is that people are impatient with their
desired results. People expect quick wins. When progress is slower than anticipated, they assume the strategy is not working rather than recognizing that meaningful outcomes often take time. We live in a “fast feedback” world (social media, instant results), which distorts expectations.
For example, let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds. We think that working out for a week and throwing in a coupe of cardio sessions will get us there, but when we check the scale, we have only lost 1 pound, so we feel like we are doing something correctly, and we change courses. Sometimes, strategies have a delayed payoff, and just because it does not work right away, does not mean that it will not pay off in the end.
Another reason could be due to emotional discomfort. Failure triggers frustration, embarrassment or selfdoubt. Changing strategies becomes a way to escape those feelings. While switching strategies gives a temporary sense of control and relief and it feels better to “try something new” than sit with uncertainty, sometimes sitting with that uncertainty can pay off more in the long run. For example, when you invest in something like a Roth IRA, that fund will neither mature nor see the true benefits for at least 10 years.
Another reason could be due to a fear of wasting one’s time. Ironically, people quit early to avoid wasting time, but end up wasting more by restarting repeatedly. People think that, if this is not working now, I need to pivot fast, but constant switching resets progress back to zero. While it may feel like you are doing the right thing, switching strategies adds more time to your timeline
than taking away.
Lastly, the idea of comparing yourself to others makes us feel like we need to switch strategies. Comparing to others who appear to be succeeding faster can make someone feel like their strategy is inferior. For example, one might think, if it worked for them, why is it not working for me? This often leads to abandoning a solid plan prematurely. Comparison is often viewed as the thief of joy, and in this case, the thief of personal progress and development.
Granted, there are times when you do need to adjust your strategy. However, this usually takes place after extended amount of repetition with that strategy. I am a firm believer that there is no use beating your head against the wall by doing the same thing over and over again and experiencing the same results; but if you are early on in the process, then you do not actually know if your strategy is working or not because there is not enough data. Changing strategies is perfectly acceptable, but only if you have given your original strategy time to show its true colors.
HOW TO BE CONSISTENT
There are a few different strategies to consider to maintain consistency. One of those is to commit to a defined timeframe before evaluating your strategy. One of the biggest mistakes people make is judging a strategy too early. Instead, set a non-negotiable evaluation window. Whether that be a 30-, 60- or 90-day benchmark, focus attention on executing strategy instead of analyzing strategy. Once that benchmark is reached,
MOLD YOUR MIND
then you can begin to analyze your results from a more objective stance.
What this does is remove emotion from the decision-making process and protects you from quitting and changing strategies during normal dips of performance or when the progress is slower than expected.
Another strategy to consider is to track progress as opposed to outcomes. Most people quit because they do not see progress, so you must find ways to make progress more visible. Track what you can control. For example, if you wanted to lose weight, tracking workouts, complete or miles ran can be a way to track progress. Using a simple system, such as a checklist or habit tracker, can bring light to the progress you have made instead of the outcome that you have
not achieved. Even when results lag, you can prove that you are moving forward, which builds momentum and confidence. Consistency feels pointless when you cannot see it, so you must measure what matters so that you can see it.
Finally, decide your strategy in advance and remove emotions from the equation. Switching strategies is often an emotional reaction, not a logical one. You can ask yourself questions ahead of time, such as “What does success looks like?” “What does failure looks like?” or “What would justify a change in strategy?”
Write these answers down before you start, which can help you prevent yourself from making decisions from an emotional standpoint. If you do not have a plan in place for when progress is slow,
than your emotions will make a rash decision for you.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Most people do not fail because their strategy is wrong, they fail because they abandon it before it has time to work. You can stay consistent by controlling how long you commit for, measuring progress over outcomes, and when you are allowed to change. Stay the course and trust yourself in knowing that your strategy will set you up for success in the long run.
