I’ve long been a fan and practitioner of aromatherapy. Of course, I’m not being scientific here, but from practical experience, I know that lavender relaxes me, peppermint stimulates me and cures (yes, cures) headaches and lemon always energizes me. There is most likely a memory factor here. I’ll always link the scent of cloves to … Read more
Happy 2018! Here’s my “bah humbug” beginning to the new year and my take on New Year’s resolutions that are most often broken before the champagne bottles are carried to recycling (you do recycle, don’t you?). I think New Year’s resolutions are a source of stress and most often set you up for failure. If … Read more
Summer—is it your time of languid summer days floating on a tube down the river or balmy evenings listening to the tree frogs – or are you exhausted from endless guest, barbecues, family crisis and any manner of stress inducers? I’ll have to admit that this summer, most often I fall into the latter category. … Read more
Here’s an article Kathleen wrote for Natural Awakenings magazine, published in September, 2016. As primeval drumbeats echo across an African savannah, the rhythms circle the globe, picked up by the chants and rattles of shamans gracing Amazonian jungles and Siberian tundra. They’re repeated in Gregorian chants filling medieval cathedrals and Om meditations resounding in Himalayan … Read more
If you’re a regular reader, you know I talk a lot about stress. We all have it, and in our modern life, where we are almost always plugged in, it is becoming increasingly difficult to break the toxic stress cycle that can have profoundly negative effects on your health. Largely, I’ve talked about natural ways … Read more
Are you stressed? I’m sure most of you said, “Oh, yeah!” If you said you’re not stressed, I’d probably cock my eyebrow at you or assume you are a Zen master. Stress is a part of our every day lives. It’s unavoidable. It’s not a question of whether we have stress, but how we cope … 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
We’re headed into the holiday season already. Can you feel it? I sure can. The rush is already upon us. Every year, I make a pledge to minimize the stress of the holiday season with mixed results. I don’t mean to stress you even more, but the health-destroying effects of long-term stress are just about … Read more
Note: I wrote this article for Natural Awakenings magazine a few months back. It seems very appropriate in view of the deaths that many have so painfully suffered in recent months. Grief can come suddenly as the result of an unexpected death, the loss of a job or a serious illness. Or grief can be … Read more
We can live for weeks without food and days without water, but we can only live for a few minutes without air. Breath is the stuff of life. But the air we breathe goes far beyond the scientific composition of air, the nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other elements. The power of prana In the practice … Read more