Excerpted from Our Toxic World: A Survivor’s Guide by Kathleen Barnes We all love our cozy cotton T-shirts, shirts, pants, underwear, towels and sheets. They feel comfy and safe. The cotton industry fosters that illusion with its “fabric of our lives” campaign, pushing the notion that this “natural “ fiber is healthy and creates happiness. … Read more
If you’re anything like me, music plays an important part in your life. I walk around humming singing out loud, serenading my horses in the barn and my dogs over their morning cookies. Pandora plays in the background much of my workday and occasionally I stop to look up the lyrics so I can belt … Read more
Now that much-anticipated beach vacations, gardening, outdoor sports and other outside summer activities are on our calendars, it’s time to practice ways to protect skin from sun damage. The medical profession has reported loud and clear that too much exposure causes dryness, wrinkling, premature aging and even skin cancer. Yet, many people don’t understand that … Read more
I’ve written a lot lately about our toxic world, about contaminants in our food, water and nearly everything that surrounds us. In fact, I’ve even written a book about surviving in a toxic world. But it was just this week, when I was talking with a group of nurses that I realized an important element … Read more
Are you getting enough of the sunshine vitamin? It may not surprise you to learn that most of us are not. In fact, prominent vitamin D researchers like Michael Holick, M.D., Ph.D. of Boston University, estimates that 95% of us are deficient in the winter. The number doesn’t change substantially in summer, when we’re out … Read more
Last weekend, I had the great fortune to accompany three teenaged girls on a horrific bus ride from our town in Western North Carolina to Raleigh, about five hours drive to the east. I won’t go into all the details, but the painful journey began with meeting them and their mothers at 2:45 a.m. That … Read more
Giving your time for a good cause is unquestionably a mental health booster. Anytime you do something for someone else, without any thought of personal gain, you get in the feel-good zone, raising your feel-good neurotransmitter, dopamine. I’ve always been a firm believer that taking my mind off my own troubles and giving something to … Read more
Are you feeling a bit down in the dumps? Got the winter blues? It’s not surprising at this time of the year, especially if you live just about anywhere that has winter. Here’s a simple explanation why this is happening: Your vitamin D levels have been depleted. Just think about it: When did you stop … Read more
(An article Kathleen wrote for Natural Awakenings magazine) For more than 50 years, women have appreciated the freedom that birth control pills offer. They simply take a little pill every day and rest easy, fairly assured that an unplanned pregnancy won’t occur. However, there’s actually a lot not to love about “The Pill”, especially its … Read more
On my recent wondrous trip to Peru’s Amazon River basin, we stayed in a retreat center far from any city. There was electricity only for a handful of hours a day from a generator and no waste disposal system. Because of the delicate ecology of this most precious part of our planet, we were asked … Read more