Health & Wellness

Do you sometimes get stuck eating the same foods over and over that you know you like? They might even be healthy foods, but a little variety (or a lot!) is important when it comes to getting phytochemicals, the plant-based chemicals that are believed to boost our immune systems and protect against disease.

If you’re trying to add more activity and movement to your life, one place to look for inspiration is your children. When we were kids, we never said, “I have to go exercise.” We just wanted to play and move. Here are four things about being active and healthy that you can learn from kids:

My main goal at 12 years of age was to own a pair of plastic mouse ears, a salute to Mickey Mouse. Of course, this would require a vacation to Disney World, something every kid in my neighborhood had achieved. Getting there was possible … but sure looked unlikely. My parents, you see, saw no point in traveling to a fantasy world when the real world was so fantastical. I never did acquire that mouse-ear crown.

If you are heavy, it could be making you sick and tired and age prematurely. And I don’t mean heavy with fat …

I mean heavy with heavy metals — like mercury!  There’s no doubt about it, mercury is the most alarming, disease-causing source of environmental toxicity that I see daily in my practice. Many of my patients have toxic levels of mercury — and they’re not alone.

I dream of a meditation retreat. But, with three high-energy children, three dogs, three cats, a rabbit, an absent-minded husband and a career guiding others to mindful living and travel, that dream remains a long way off. Peace, for now, often comes in the form of clean sheets and a soft pillow each night. I’ve learned, however, that in order to be my best, I need to seek out those Zen moments. Those all-too-fleeting times in my busy day when I get filled from within. When all else falls away and there’s only me. In the moment.

Your body may be a toxic waste dump. Worried? You should be ….

We are exposed to 6 million pounds of mercury and 2.5 billion pounds of other toxic chemicals each year.

80,000 toxic chemicals have been released into our environment since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, and very few have been tested for their long-term impact on human health. And let me tell you, the results aren’t pretty for those that have been tested …

Back in my college years, along with practicing Iyengar and Sivananda yoga, I studied dance, including modern, ballet, jazz, African, Butoh and more. The part of class I loved the most was doing the warm-ups. I totally sucked at the combinations and the jumps, so once the warm-ups ended, I often dashed out of class without being noticed. Those first 20 minutes just felt so good! They melted away my stress and chipped through my body frozen from my winter-logged Chicago campus.

If you’ve had the good fortune to pamper yourself at a fancy spa, you know how fabulous it feels to be steamed, sprayed, scrubbed, stroked and soothed. Chances are you may have been too distracted to notice the large volumes of water used, or to tally up the number of chalk-white robes and towels that must be laundered and bleached every day. But over-the-top indulgence doesn’t have to mean being environmentally profligate.

How about all three?

I am so excited to share with you my latest discovery … DELICIOUS LOVE. The kind of love that makes you shout with glee. You know, that love that makes your heart pump and every moment is filled with great expectancy? The love that makes you want to dress up and look your best, keeps a smile on your face and invites you to write incredible poetry. Think about a moment when everything in you felt radiant and excited to be alive … a moment when you were so sure that you were desirable and desired. Recall that moment and let it fill your body. Notice how you tingle and joy forms in your mind.