I’m a firm believer that one of the core tenets of optimal health is good nutrition. In my practice, food is the first medicine and no visit is complete without discussion about the challenges of eating well and a few tips on how to do it well on a budget. This is where my love of fruit comes in handy. …
Aloe Vera Gel: The Super Plant for Digestive Health
March is National Nutrition Month and the 2018 theme is “Go Further With Food.” This can mean many things but for me it means remembering the bountiful harvest nature gives us to maintain our health and well-being. You can “go further with food” by remembering that plants were our original medicine, long before factories and chemists figured out how to …
Magnesium: Nature’s Miracle Mineral
Many years ago while working as an Emergency Room nurse, I remember magnesium as the “miracle” mineral. If a patient had a life-threatening arrythmia (irregular heartbeat), you’d see one of us nurses rushing to the medication cart to grab the IV equipment. In the maternity ward, if a woman had pregnancy induced hypertension or was in danger of pre-term labor, …
Every Day Mindfulness: Cultivating ‘Beginner’s Mind’
Beginnings noun: the point in time or space at which something starts synonyms: dawn, birth, inception, origination, genesis, emergence, start, point, launch Recently I stumbled on a LinkedIn post that deeply resonated. The title was ‘September is the new January.’ The author described how the energy of autumn coupled with her memories of childhood make the season a perfect opportunity to consider new beginnings. When I …
Seasonal Wellness: What Can Spring Teach Us?
Restoration (ress-tor-ray-shun) (n): to renew; repair to bring back to former strength; to rebuild; to heal or cure; to amend; to reclaim True knowledge of health and healing is scattered everywhere, among cultures throughout the world. Ancient wisdom teaches us that natural health is more than taking steps to avoid illness. The greatest natural medicine comes from our own life choices, which …
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Hiring A Health Coach? 5 Key Questions to Ask First
The times we are living in are absolutely amazing. There’s no shortage of information and anything we need to know seems right at our fingertips. From heart disease to hanging roof shingles, it seems we’ve reached a point where there’s literally nothing we cannot teach ourselves. If there’s a medical topic that we’re unsure of, no problem! In five seconds …
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Confidence as the Vehicle of Joy
One week from now I will compete in my first T’ai Chi tournament. Am I nervous? Yes. Am I afraid of forgetting my form? Yes. Am I worried about the possibility of disappointment if I don’t do as well as I’d like? Yes. Then why am I doing this, you ask? There are a lot of reasons but the most …
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Stress Is The Precursor of Every Disease: Notes on Redefining Balance and Self-Care
I’m a strong believer in reciprocity: we learn our own best lessons through the teaching that we offer to others. Claire* was one of my favorite patients in my former practice. A university professional with a deep love for the arts and literature, Claire loved spending long weekends in my hometown of New York, immersed in theater or wandering through …
Getting Serious About Self-Care
Lately there’s a lot of talk about finding balance in a world that seems to move non-stop. With 24-7 responsibility to our families, friends and employers how do we find the time to nurture ourselves? What practices can we incorporate into our lives to bring a sense of calm? Beyond just taking a day off or spending a weekend at …
Your T’ai Chi Prescription is Ready for Pick Up
Two weeks ago I read an article that began “January feels like a month full of Mondays.” As I considered what Mondays feel like for most of us—fatigue, lack of energy, lack of motivation—I immediately understood what the author meant. Unlike all of the other months of the year, January is both the beginning and the end. The beginning of …