Making neurons responsive to light may lead the way to everything from erasing painful memories to restoring vision
“It is interesting what one can experience when circumstances shock the system,” writes Anandhi Narasimhan, M.D., in Psychiatric Times. My upcoming surgery to correct my now-deformed dominant hand is just a warning shot—an inconvenience, not a life threat. But I suspect that it will shock my system nonetheless. The trick of good aging, says my dear friend Zelda, who turned…
“Injustice and corruption will never be transformed by keeping them hidden, but only by bringing them out into the light and confronting them with the power of love.”—Martin Luther King Jr. One-third of women across the globe experience some kind of physical or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, and another one-third to one-half experience at least some form of psychological…
Reality has stiff competition these days. Wild fantasies are coming “true” right before our eyes via “virtual reality” or VR: the use of high-tech simulations that allow us to interact with environments and situations that seem incredibly authentic but aren’t really there. VR is claiming more territory in our perceptual landscape, thanks to simulated discussion groups (Usenet, Chat, ICQ), virtual…
Did you know that according to the American Chiropractic Association, 31 million Americans experience low back pain on any given day? It’s the leading cause of disability and the most common reason for missing work, and it costs us more than $50 billion per year! But most back pain isn’t the result of serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture, or…
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…
Shaking is a complicated thing—for me, at times, all-consuming. I’ve had a paralyzing fear of the kind of uncontrolled internal terror and shaking that I’ve experienced with panic attacks. Then there is the full-body vibration, like electricity coursing through me, during bodywork therapy that has not only evoked uncontrolled noises but eventually numbed my hands, making me feel as though…
