We all need hugs every single day. We keep hearing there is a loneliness epidemic with some of us isolated, lonely and, perhaps afraid. Some have only close family, some may be totally alone. As you’ll see from this article, human contact is vital for physical and emotional survival. The Surgeon General’s May 2023 warning … Read more
If you’re as old as I am, you’ll remember “Laughter is the Best Medicine” was the name of the humor column in Reader’s Digest. It was good advice 50 years ago and it’s even better advice, backed by science, today. In today’s world, it’s probably the redeeming value of Facebook, where I can count on … Read more
Last night, I was sitting around with some friends and one woman mentioned that she suddenly had an outbreak of psoriasis, a nasty itchy, scaly skin problem. She wanted to know if there were natural treatments instead of the steroids and immune suppressant drugs doctors usually prescribe. So, I whipped out my trusty iPhone and … Read more
We tend to think of noise as something we hear. Traffic. Television. Conversations in the background. But there is another kind of noise that follows us all day. Notifications. Scrolling. Mental checklists. Constant input that never really stops. Even in quiet rooms, the mind is rarely still. This kind of ongoing stimulation may feel normal, … Read more
There is a quiet belief many people carry that they rarely say out loud. “I’m lazy.”“I have no discipline.”“Other people can handle life. Why can’t I?” You stare at simple tasks and feel nothing move inside. Emails sit unanswered. Dishes pile up. Projects you care about stay untouched. You are not even enjoying resting, yet … Read more
It’s that time of year. The holidays are over, the decorations packed away for another year, presents unwrapped and half of them returned. The party laughter has faded, the credit card bills are coming in and the world outside is gray and cold. So January makes you feel a little blue as the long winter … Read more
Life today often moves at a speed that leaves us feeling disconnected and worn out. Our routines revolve around screens, schedules, and deadlines instead of the natural flow of the world around us. But what if the secret to balance has been right outside our window all along? Living with the seasons invites us to … Read more
Mood Magic: 7 Everyday Things That Secretly Mess With Your Emotions Have you ever woken up in a decent mood, only to feel irritated or unmotivated by lunchtime for no clear reason? It is easy to blame stress, lack of sleep, or a bad day at work, but often the truth is more subtle. Your … Read more
How many e-mails do you get a day? How much time to you spend online other than for actual work? I’m sure you are getting an inkling about where I’m going with this: Online time clutters up your day and contributes to stress. Stress is an underlying cause of many physical ailments and it’s something … Read more
When I was growing up, school always started in early September, followed by a “Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up” week in which we and our families were urged to clean out unneeded “stuff,” and give our homes and yards a tune-up and face lift. Maybe that’s why my mind always turns to de-cluttering and … Read more