Thich Nhat Hanh

If you could attend a workshop with Gandhi, the Dalai Lama or Martin Luther King, Jr., you’d sign up just as fast as you could, wouldn’t you? I felt just as excited when I heard that Thich Nhat Hanh — a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, master meditation teacher and renowned advocate for peace — was offering a day of mindfulness near my home. The day-long program was put on by the Omega Institute at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, meaning all this Brooklynite mom had to do was arrange for childcare and get on the subway. Done.

One of the easiest things we can do to make our homes, and ourselves, healthier is to remove our shoes. This simple ‘step’ helps keep all that nasty stuff (dirt, pesticides, you name it) out of our indoor environments, helping to keep toxins and pollutants out of our homes.