“Good writing isn’t a science. It’s an art, and the horizon is infinite. You can always get better.” That’s a quote from an article about David Foster Wallace that was published last week on one of my favorite websites: Brain Pickings. I love it because the implications go far beyond writing—to so many aspects of our lives. It also reminded…
Readers of Rewire Me know how much I admire Congressman Tim Ryan, author of A Mindful Nation, so of course I was excited to read Molly Ball’s article about him in the most recent issue of The Atlantic. I was especially struck by his comment on how he travels a two-way street—not only does he work hard to convince people…
Fifteen years ago I decided to start meditating. An astute friend at the time likened me to a gerbil racing on a wheel in a cage: I was always rushing between work, power yoga, business dinners, and parties. You could find no trace of a sofa or a comfy chair in my little studio apartment in downtown Manhattan—I kid you…
By Douglas LaBier, Ph.D. In a previous post I described new research showing that a sense of purpose in life is linked with greater longevity. That’s just one of an increasing number of studies that add to the recognition that we are biological-psychological-spiritual-social beings. All dimensions—internal and external—interact with each other and shape our total experience of life: our overall health, level…
I bought it as an expensive, therapeutically perfect gift for a stressed-out friend with back, foot, teeth, and job pain. What better present to give her than one hour of being held, with no obligations or responsibilities to the holder (which, in this case, is 10 inches of skin-temperature water with so much Epsom salts—1,000 pounds—that you are weightless and…
I read a terrific article in Outside magazine about “The Best Meditation Retreats in the U.S.,” and it reminded me that sometimes it’s important to take time for ourselves and get out of our day-to-day routines to really rewire. I was fortunate enough to visit two of the places on Outside’s list, and each of them contributed to my rewiring…
How can anyone not love magnets? They’re about as close as we can get to magic, with their ability to move things around invisibly and defy gravity by picking up nails right off the floor. And how about the North Pole, which manages to make a tiny compass needle thousands of miles away point toward it? Physicists long ago determined…
Writing about visiting her mother who has Alzheimer’s disease, Priscilla Warner observes, “I try not to go with expectations, but that’s hard, since… I want my visits to go well. But it’s hard to define ‘well’ when my mother doesn’t know who I am.” Watching her mother deteriorate over time, Warner sometimes forgets herself and asks (then immediately regrets), “What…
I have some great news: Rewire Me was mentioned on iHeartRadio’s The Melting Pot last week! Inspired by our suggestions for a digital detox, the hosts, Tim Mihalsky and Ashleigh Speidel, and their guests talked about the importance of unplugging from their phones, social media apps, online alarms, and other assorted gadgetry. “Let’s face it: Technology is an integral part of our…
