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…
We know that stress—especially of the traumatic variety—can affect the shape and function of structures in the brain. For example, studies on survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reveal that the amygdala (the almond-shaped threat and danger detection center of the brain) can actually enlarge in the presence of an ongoing, unmitigated survival response. Conversely, the hippocampus (a horseshoe-shaped entity…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, current life expectancy in the United States is about 79 years. Of course, many factors determine life span, and the aging process is accelerated by stress, disease, and trauma, both physical and emotional. But can we reverse the aging process? Findings reported in Genome Journal by Steve Horvath, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor of…
I have never been one to sit at my desk for long periods of time. I’ve always deliberately let my tea get cold so I’d need to walk down the hall for a refill (while leaving my glass of water empty to necessitate a separate refill trip). I take the stairs every chance I get and often stand up when…
The baby was due on July 4. Independence Day always ranked low on my list of treasured holidays, but now the date felt significant, like something written in the stars. In truth, no one really knew when our baby would arrive, thanks to my lackadaisical approach to biological record keeping. An exasperated midwife insisted I supply a best-guess date of…
Janine was the biggest bully in my elementary school—and she was assigned to the desk next to mine in fifth grade. Short and obese with cropped black hair and bulging black eyes, she wore a constant sneer beneath her olive complexion. We were complete opposites: I loved school and excelled in it; Janine hated it and did poorly. I wore…
I have many a fond memory of spending summer afternoons and evenings with my dad and neighbors playing Ping-Pong on a regulation table set up in my driveway. Whether competitive tournaments that attracted everyone under the age of 12 on my block or relaxing volleys with my parents, it was always fun. But I never imagined that what seemed like…
