Register ​Ever feel overwhelmed with health issues?  Not sure what to do next? In these moments, you may not realize all the ways that you are taking care of yourself.   I just heard about a practice that might be helpful.   Get an empty jar and some pennies. Each time you do something that is part of the healing process, put a penny in the jar. Take a deep breath and put a penny in the jar.  Make a cup of tea, put a penny in the jar.  Make a phone call to one of your health care providers, put a penny in the jar.  Call a friend, put a penny in t ..read more

Have you ever had the experience of going on vacation and finding that whatever aches and pains you had been experiencing go away? You’re freed of responsibility, given time to enjoy yourself and suddenly you feel healthier. ​ This is your spirit, alive and well.  East Asian Medicine refers to the spirit as an essential part of our being.  In this system of medicine, all the organs have a physical, emotional and spiritual element.  The heart is the ruler of the different spiritual elements.  It houses the Shen, translated as mind or spirit.  It is our consciousness ..read more

​Sometimes we have to carry illness with grace. By grace I mean deep acceptance and compassion for what our bodies are going through.   While we may not be able to recover full health, grace gives us the courage to continue on when the path is rocky.   Most of you know that three months ago, I had a kidney transplant.   I was incredibly lucky.  I found an altruistic living donor, an angel who gave me years of life and health. My transplant team couldn’t have nicer or more available.  My nephrologist of twenty years assured me that he would help me get through wh ..read more

​Have you heard the term “glimmers?”  In books I’ve been reading about trauma, it is the opposite of triggers – those instances when we feel anxious and afraid.    Our brains are wired to look for and remember those moments as a way to keep us safe.  We learn pretty early in life not to touch a hot stove and to look both ways when crossing the street.   We also remember the highlights of our lives – things like weddings and graduations, travel to faraway places and professional successes.   But what about the smaller moments when the world seems to align and we ..read more

​One of the real gifts of going through a kidney transplant, aside from the obvious, was being told that healing would take time.    No one expected that I would feel fine right away.   They told me that I would have medical appointments and blood work each week for a month and physical therapy twice a week.   After that initial month, PT would end and appointments would be every other week, then monthly.   Because I was given this information, I was able to have reasonable expectations while I was going through the healing process.   I could plan on taking ..read more

Life sometimes throws us curveballs.  If you’ve lived long enough, you’ve encountered illness, pain or emotional discomfort -- often all three at once.   This recently happened to me when it became apparent that my best chance for a long and healthy life was a kidney transplant.   On my own, I honestly couldn’t imagine it.  It seemed like my doctors were suggesting the equivalent of space travel to Mars.  It took me many months to get to the place of acceptance.    I didn't know how to get there when all I wanted was for the problem to go away.  Here's w ..read more

​Sometimes our lives need a little reset. I realized the importance of this when I took a day trip to Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.  I left my house a bit frazzled.  I was in a hurry and had just enough gas in the car to make it most of the way to Lenox.   Fortunately, after a pit stop in Lee, I arrived. Once I got there, my whole frame of mind shifted.  I parked the car, put my phone in a locker and had a full day to do whatever I wanted to with no responsibilities.  I took a dance yoga class, went on a mindfulness kayak ride and had a delicious lunch and ..read more

​I recently watched the movie "Air," the story behind Air Jordans and was drawn to the line "A shoe is always just a shoe until someone steps in it." Our bodies are like that.  For the most part, we share the same organs, muscles, tendons and body parts.  These tend to work in similar ways.  Our hearts beat, our lungs fill with air, our stomach and intestines digest food.  We all have this in common. But the container that we live in is just that, a container.  A group of living organs.  I've been exploring for most of my life what it means to step into thi ..read more

This is a follow-up to last week's blog.  Here’s why something as simple as walking outdoors for 20 minutes each morning can radically improve your health.   Walking briskly for one hour increases your life expectancy by two hours. Twenty minutes outdoors gives most people the adequate amount of vitamin D they need each day. Walking gets the pineal gland to stop producing melatonin. Melatonin is released when it is dark out and causes you to fall asleep.  Reduced levels of melatonin help you wake up. Walking is good for the heart, keeps muscles strong, keeps tendons and ligamen ..read more

A patient of mine inspired me to send you write this blog.  She agreed to allow me to share some of her story.   We’ve been working together for just under 6 months focusing on stress management and better sleep.    In addition to treatments, this patient decided to make 2 simple lifestyle changes.  She began walking outdoors for 20 minutes each morning and gave up caffeine.   She reported feeling better overall and experiencing less stress.  She particularly noticed this on her drive to work in the morning.   Wondering why this is?  In this email I ..read more