REACH
Another shooting and another round of whys, though they seem to be quieter now. We’re exhausted trying to figure it out. What can we do? The ACLU sued the government in the 1970s to stop mentally ill and homeless from being institutionalized. The state-run mental hospitals, of which several had questionable practices, soon closed. We […]
Change This One Thing and Lose Weight
3rd in a series on information from a 6-day retreat I attended in August-September The field of chronobiology—the rhythms of the natural world and our bodies—is a growing area of research in modern medicine. Many findings so far are things we expected, like how important sleep is, why it matters that we move, get outside, […]
Be a Spiritual Warrior
(2nd in a series on thoughts from a 6-day silent retreat in August-September) A recent retreat opened my eyes once again to how much we depend on the availability of our electronics. We have a tendency to use them to distract us from whatever is going on, or not going on, within us. What I […]
It Doesn’t Matter
(One of the big takeaways from a recent Silent Retreat.) I spent 9 days at the Asilomar Conference Center with my fellow Chopra Center attendees, of which 6 were in silence. No TV, no electronic devices, no phones. It takes a while to settle in, but then it is one of the best experiences ever. […]
You will find what you seek
If you look for the instances of prejudice you will find them If you look for instances of hatred they won’t be far away If you look for reasons to be offended they will line up If you look for instances of kindness you will find them If you look for instances of love […]
We Have Become so Angry
The 7 steps we can take to calm it down In 2003 I wrote a column for the local paper about the growing lack of civility in politics and news media. Here we are 15 years later and culturally we are angrier, ruder, more quarrelsome, more anxious and stressed, and have a new outlet for […]
An Elevated View
Crossing the wide span Of a tall river bridge I want to freeze the moment As I gaze out across the endless wide water. It always makes me ecstatic Uplifting me to some Other plane of existence As if I were flying high above All troubles and strife. I feel every cell In my body […]
Comparing Ourselves to Others
In this day and age where we have so many outlets for intimately seeing other’s lives, and it’s important we aren’t distracted from our own. Comparisons can be dangerous—and can lead to feeling of inadequacy, sadness, inferiority, even depression. Comparing yourself to those you admire or comparing your family to other families you think are […]
The Relevance of Meditation
When someone comes to me with concerns, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, the first strategy I recommend for coping and healing is to learn to meditate. When the body is sending stress signals of discomfort, when the mind is bouncing from worries to regrets and back again, when a person never finds the time look inward […]
What Is Health?
What is health anyway? With all the talk about the flu lately, and how seemingly healthy individuals can have very serious cases of it, it brought to mind how we think of health. In the tradition of western medicine, the definition of health is an absence of symptoms of illness or disease. In actuality, one […]