rrsr- 32 thursday nov 18 1999 economist sun stouffville tribune etcetera o0lt tv were dancing to gentle rhythms pondering simple thoughts in silence stretching our muscles and our minds with yoga were seeking our spiritual side in a busy stressful world staff pkotomikbbarrett esan domellas levine is a meditation teacher bydawnliersch staff writer waying softly in a dark ened room fit only by a candle her hands linked with the hands of those around her barbara herring has found a way to escape the rigours of the outside world and become more in tune with her spiritual ity her face is relaxed revealing a hint of a smile for a short while she is at peace herring is participating in a meditative circle dance also called sacred circle dance a collection of international folk dances done in a circle holding hands used to express spiritual ity through dance herring has gotten a new lease on life i needed a new balance people think the body is simply a house for the mind through dance i found my body is alive in ways i never imagined it told me youre living in your head too much she said my friends saw a greatdif- ference they said i was more at peace once head of a company the markham resident quit her job so she could work from home to provide a more peaces fullife herring is one of many turn ing to new age practices for personal growth and spiritual development using tools such- as crystals candles incense meditation yoga moodalter ing music and drums new agers seek to transcend into various states of consciousness and to ultimately look inside themselves for understanding and awareness new age was primarily a movement of the younger gen erations in the late 60s who demanded to play a greater part in society it was originally given the name the age of aquarius to signify the new era of spiritual enfoldment as fore told in astrology in the early 70s the name new age was adopted today the movement is growing in momentum some people may not even consider themselves to be new agers because many new age con cepts and techniques are acceptable to the general pub uc zmore people are searching- theyre turning to all sorts of- thmgs herring said im from the age of the baby boomers now some of us are seeing the end of pur careers and are having an older view of the world were seeing that maybe its not all about position and money f maybe theres something else were searching for something bigger thanthe material see new page 34 wim n i r s 1 1999 mcdonalds restaurants of canada limited for me exclusive use of mcoonakfi restaurants ol canada umited and its franchisees at participating mcoonakts restaurants vwfoi