Carla Sanders, a longtime Planet Waves reader and commenter going by “Diva Carla,” shares here some of her writing as a sex educator. As violence and desperation continue on all continents, she is offering an article on foreplay — and for excellent, crucial reasons.

Apropos of Eric’s recent writings on the Great Attractor, Amanda Painter introduces two interviews from The Yoga Lunchbox. Does a healthy close friendship necessarily run counter to a healthy teacher-student dynamic? Does the hierarchy in most Yoga classes encourage students to give up their power? Or is everyone simply too afraid?

Although this piece by guest-writer Christina Louise Dietrich has nothing to do with David Bowie, the themes of death, transformation and performing gender rang a distinct bell this week. As she faces the immanent mortality of her mother, Christina traces the arc of how she has and has not ‘performed’ femininity, right down to her orgasms and releasing expectations around them.

In this guest-post, a man named Paul Grice who used to be a cellmate of “Enceno Macy” (an occasional Planet Waves contributor) speaks of the serenity, forgiveness and sense of responsibility that have been awakened within him. Written as a letter to his son, it speaks eloquently of a deep and authentic spiritual self-understanding in one who could have easily given up in reaction to his incarceration.