The junctures between the seasons are the perfect time to cleanse the body of any excesses which might have built up, both in the body and the mind. Failure to do this is an invitation for diseases to set in, if the body/mind is in a weakened state. Why Expelling Excess Summer Heat Leads to […]
By now you might know about my penchant for rowing boats. Not the racing kind, but the slow, gliding across the lake, looking at the clouds kind of rowing. It makes my heart skip a beat just to know that I’ll be heave-hoing in just a few days. I had a taste of it last weekend […]
Pitta Season is just around the corner here in NYC. We’ve had a few hot days but also lots of cool windy ones. My guess is that all of a sudden we’re going to be in the middle of a heat wave and I want to be prepared. I know that many of you reading […]
“Solid as a rock, cool as a glimmering stream in the white moonlight; such is the essence of Kapha. Kapha is the archetypal Mother Earth.” –Maya Tiwari If you live anywhere in the world where it’s late winter, then this information will apply to you. And if you’re one of my friends around the globe […]
Inevitably in our lives we find ourselves dealing with trauma. It might be ours or a friend or loved one’s. I have learned that no one is immune, and no one’s trauma is any more or less important than someone else’s. This is a very crucial lesson we need to learn. Because the danger lies […]
I love to read. I have always loved to read. I used to climb up into our backyard tree or hide in a fort I had constructed with sheets and settle in with a good book. Sometimes I would ride my bike to the park at the end of our street in Detroit and sit […]
I’ve been looking at this photo of my beloved cactus that I’ve decorated the last couple of years for inspiration/motivation. It’s been like pulling teeth getting me to put up any decorations this year. The “H” word still provokes feelings of intense anxiety for me. I was in a store at the end of October […]
Vata Season has hit me hard this year. I love fall and seeing the trees bursting with color, but my nerves are begging to be plunged into a vat of warm Vata oil. In lieu of that happening, I’ve been treating myself to almost-weekly abhyanga massages at a local Ayurvedic spa, and doing self-massage in […]
“It is the summer’s great last heat, It is the fall’s first chill: They meet.” – Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt Transitioning into Fall Vata Season Here in the Northeastern US where I live, fall is in the air. Well, sort of. It’s ever so subtle, but you can sense it. Apples have arrived at the […]
The “not enough” syndrome–you know what I’m talking about. “I’m not good enough, I don’t do enough, I’m not this enough, I’m not that enough.” Seems like even if we have pretty decent self-esteem we sabotage ourselves with these statements. I’m working on changing that for myself and taking a totally different approach. A positive […]
Almost every day, weather permitting, I ride my bike down by the Hudson River. I often pass the North Cove Marina with its extravagant yachts hovering over the little red sailboats of the Manhattan Sailing School. And there, woven right into the railing, are the words of the writer and poet Frank O’Hara. “One need […]
I love coconuts, especially during the summer months. From coconut water to coconut ice cream, there’s something about them that’s synonymous with hot weather. As always, Mother Nature has provided a good reason. Coconut water is a natural source of electrolytes and low on the glycemic index. I have had a few unlucky incidences of […]
Today is the Summer Solstice for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere. Here in New York City where I live, the weather bounced back and forth like a ping-pong ball for several weeks. I love ping-pong, but my body had a really hard time adjusting to all of the weather fluctuations. In the […]
It’s a funny thing how sometimes we inspire ourselves! I published a post yesterday called Creativity in Bloom, and all morning, that little voice was whispering to me to heed my own advice. It was a picture-perfect spring day here in NYC, and I had an Ayurvedic consultation scheduled at 4:00 pm Uptown, so I […]
Most people think of the tulip as the poster flower of spring. But for me, it’s the ranunculus. The first time I laid eyes on this precious flower was not in a garden bed but at my corner market in New York City many years ago. When I saw the little tissue paper flowers it […]
I’m falling in love again…with Nature. It’s easy to do this as a child, of course. Wonderment and childhood go hand in hand. But to do this later in life, well, there’s a special something that happens. That wonderment has a maturity and childlike quality that together feed the soul like nothing else. I’ve never […]
My favorite spring flower is the ranunculus! Ever since I’ve been a student of Ayurveda, I’ve begun paying more attention to the nuances of the seasons. It has changed my life so profoundly that frankly, I want everyone else to jump on board! Just the simple act of aligning with Mother Nature can reverse health […]
According to Ayurveda, the 7,000-year-old system of mind, body, and spirit holistic health, if you’re anywhere in the world where winter is transitioning into spring, it’s Kapha season. Here in the Northeastern United States where I live, the transition is evident. Although there’s still a lot of wind (Vata element) we’re seeing more moisture in […]
People here in NYC are downright panicking over the flu. Many states, including New York, have declared a public health emergency and hospitals are overflowing with sick people. On her Facebook page, Dr. Christiane Northrup had this to say: “Well, the media (and big Pharma) are at it again–Whipping everyone into a frenzy about the […]
It seems that every year when December is just around the corner and the holiday frenzy is underway, the subject of self-care shows up. Recently, during a conversation with a friend, I gently suggested that she might feel better if she focused a little more on herself and her own needs rather than on everyone […]
My teacher recently asked a group of her students what we were grateful for, as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. Easy answers would have been my children, my family and friends, and my good health, but somehow I knew she wanted us to dig deeper. So I raised my hand and said that I was grateful […]
No embarrassment, no shame, I’m changing my mind and owning it. I’m not moving to North Carolina in October. Maybe someday in the near or far future I’ll get there, but for now NYC will remain my home. What happened? I had all these signs and synchronicities pointing me there. I blogged about it. I visited three […]
Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons–sunny days, sweater weather and the breathtakingly beautiful changing leaves. But for as long as I can remember it has also been a time of agitation. I would experience uncertainty, anxiety and an overall feeling of being unsettled. This seasonal shift confused me for years, until I […]
“Within all of us is the archetype of the Divine healer. This Divine healer is the true healer in all beings, not any particular individual or special personality. To heal ourselves we must set this Divine healer in motion within ourselves.” – Sri Dhanvantari Namah In the wee hours of March 31, 2012, I awoke […]
Wednesday is Stacey Day. With my big move looming ahead, Wednesdays are becoming more precious to me. It’s my friend, Stacey’s day off and if I’m lucky, I find myself plopped at her kitchen table. This has been my “safe zone” for many of my NYC years. Stacey doesn’t have to say “me casa su […]
