In an ideal world, we would all get eight hours of sleep every night, and wake up with enough energy for that 6 a.m. spin class before work. But when you’re struggling to balance the responsibilities of everyday life, cutting back on sleep can seem like the only solution. Many of us rely on coffee or energy drinks to…
Sondra Barrett is a biochemist whom you are as likely to find meditating or performing a qigong movement to drum music as peering into a microscope. For her, the visible and the invisible are not so much reflections of each other as places along a great continuum. Biological cells are more than the basic constituents of life, she says in her…
To beat back the Great Bleakness that is clinical depression takes a lot of falling sick. For the depressive, there is often no choice about sinking into despair—darkness so overpowering that it would shock the uninitiated. For us, it can be a daily occurrence. But to fall sick mindfully, to observe our experience of depression—that skulking trickster, part physical malady…
5 steps to prevent excessive worrying
From sick and stressed to healthy and happy
After months of bitter cold and darkness (especially in the north this year), we think spring will never come. We long to be outside without the constraint of heavy coats and boots, but winter persists. And then one day the new season arrives. Streets and parks are filled with people seeking warmth and light and enjoying the longer days. Our…
A simple meditation to quiet the mind and find stillness
Dogs are friendly, loyal animals that make our lives better. They offer us companionship, love, and utter friendship. But, did you know that owning a dog actually had real health benefits? And not just physical ones. They’re also great for our mental health, and all in all, just make the quality of our life better. They bring happiness to the…
By Jason Drwal Kevin Schjerning, a 48-year-old film and video editor, doesn’t simply dislike social gatherings; he finds them overwhelming. “I basically feel claustrophobic,” he says. “I have to get out of there.” An estimated 22 million people in the U.S. have social anxiety disorder, an intense and disabling fear of being judged or humiliated in social situations. Living with…
