I feel most alive amidst The lilting arpeggio of birdsong– Shoes crunching through scattered leaves And my eyes lifted to a sky shimmering With a web of verdant limbs I feel most alive when My fingers pluck at nylon strings– Eyes closed, head tossed back, Mouth bursting at the seams with Thought-felt phrases knitted from the soul. I feel most alive when The melody of pure laughter … [Read more...]
This Saturday, my husband and I are heading to Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI, for the very first time, and I can’t even explain how much I’m looking forward to this unique experience. It’s been more than a decade since I last visited a major zoo, but getting the chance to have close-up encounters with snow leopards and giraffes isn’t the main reason that I’m itching to get to Providence. … [Read more...]
Dr. Joaquin Farias, a leading specialist in treating dystonia, has been helping people with this debilitating movement disorder to recover control over their brains, bodies and lives for more than 20 years. As a featured speaker at the 2018 international conference on Movement: Brain, Body and Cognition, held July 27-29 at Harvard University School of Medicine, he gave an enlightening talk that … [Read more...]
At age 60, Bob Kuhn decided to tackle the 50cc Quest, driving his motorcycle 3800 km from San Diego, Calif. to Jacksonville, Fla. in just over two days. In a recent TEDx Talk, the lawyer, who lives with the neurodegenerative movement disorder called Parkinson’s, explained why he decided to take the grueling challenge to cross the United States in 50 hours or less. “In one word: Adventure," he … [Read more...]
It's been a tremendously empowering and emotionally stirring week of Sounds True's The Healing Summit. At the start, Peter Levine, PhD, coached listeners on how to "tune in and drop into" the body–through the gentle presence, compassionate awareness and rhythmic movement of Somatic Experiencing–in order to dislodge the "tremendous compression of survival energy" locked into the physical form by … [Read more...]
I know I’m not alone in trying to process the terror and violence that recently erupted in Charlottesville, VA. The brutal altercation between rallying white supremacists and counter-protestors has slammed more tidal waves of horror, disbelief and sorrow about race relations against the rocky foundation of our country. It has compelled a period of deep reflection on what the United States of … [Read more...]
In a world where technology is advancing so rapidly that computing power doubles every two years and a new, more powerful iPhone is released every autumn, we have grown to expect our own personal transformation will occur just as swiftly. Wanna-be wellness entrepreneurs are promised that, with this or that expensive program, we can build a highly profitable health or life coaching business in just … [Read more...]
It would be an unequivocal understatement to say that the month of January has been a momentous one for me in my health journey. It was during the second week of January some 17 years ago, when I got into the bike-car accident that resulted in muscle tears, bone bruises and a vicious cycle of chronic pain, insomnia and stress that eventually triggered the full-blown manifestation of autoimmune, … [Read more...]
Rather than list a myriad of well-meaning resolutions and share a stream of optimistic goals for the upcoming year, I’ve decided to welcome the new year here in a more unconventional manner. One of the greatest endeavors I embarked upon during 2016 was working toward a true recovery of my creative expression. So perhaps it’s not too surprising that I felt inspired to commemorate my journey … [Read more...]
Yesterday, like so many of you, I woke up in a state of shock and sadness. When I got out of bed, it was after hours of insomnia followed by restless sleep of nightmare after nightmare, from which I could not force myself to wake. When I did finally regain consciousness, I was covered in sweat, congested, driven crazy by neuropathic itching and muscle twitching, and feeling disoriented. That … [Read more...]