For weeks I’ve been staring out my window at bare forsythia branches, almost willing them to reveal the slightest whisper of yellow. Finally, the other day, I saw it—the hint of yellow I’d been squinting so hard to detect seems suddenly to have arrived in full flower. Snowdrops and purple and white crocus had already […]
One Year Later, Remembering the Boston Marathon: An Inspiring Story of Strength and Passion
One year ago yesterday, we suffered a terrible tragedy, and it hit so close to home here in Connecticut. On April 15, 2013, three lives were lost and hundreds of lives were forever changed when two bombs went off near the finish line of the 177th Boston Marathon. But out of such a terrible tragedy […]
Rebooting with Mother Nature – Something to Inspire You
Here in the northeast, we’ve gone through quite a winter. Now I know it could always be worse (and there are other places in the world that got hit a whole lot harder than we did), but I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever see flowers blooming again. And to top it all off, […]
What Will Your Greatest Accomplishment Be? (Revisited)
One of my long-time heroes, the renowned feminist activist, Ms. Gloria Steinem, recently celebrated her 80th birthday, and it got me thinking about something I posted last summer. It was about the time I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Steinem at the University of Connecticut Women’s Center. You see, I helped found the Women’s […]
The Power of a Question and the Support of a Community
Could 2,500 practitioners commit to making three small food changes over 10 days? We called it the Power of 3 Challenge, and we promised that if 2,500 practitioners pledged to give it a try, we would donate $25,000 to feed Syrian refugee children who were experiencing so much trauma and malnutrition (even starvation) in the […]
How to Help People Overcome Social Anxiety (and Change Their Brain Response)
There’s something that affects about 15 million people in the United States alone . . . . . . and it can make simple things like talking to others, or even looking in the mirror, seem absolutely terrifying. I’m talking about social anxiety disorder (SAD) – a feeling of overwhelming emotional distress that, for so […]
Could Mindfulness Affect Gene Expression?
I’m always interested to see the deep and lasting changes that can come from a regular meditation regimen… …especially when those changes can be measured on a physical level. Meditation has long been touted as a go-to source for stress reduction, and in recent years, researchers have been compiling evidence to back up those claims, […]
Using Mindfulness to Change the Brain: A Different Way to Deal with Pain
It’s probably safe to say that most people have experienced pain at some point in their lives, be it acute or chronic. . . . . . and many of us have heard the phrase “mind over matter,” but when it comes to pain, does it actually work? It turns out that there is a […]
Brain Science Has No Borders: Changing Brains (and Transforming Lives) Around the World
Brain science is one of the most fertile areas that we, as practitioners, have right now to help our patients . . . . . . from improving relationships, to strengthening focus, and turning negative experiences into positive ones, the benefits of brain change are astounding. And better yet, the pool of knowledge about neuroplasticity […]
Why The Brain Series Means So Much To Me
Have you ever felt like you were meant to do something? I guess you could say it’s a calling, or maybe just an instinct. For me, it came in the summer of 2005 . . . . . . the three people I was closest to were all touched by some kind of negative neuroplasticity […]