Writing

Mindfulness. The word may conjure up images of sitting on a meditation cushion for at least 30 minutes a day and night as you focus upon the rise and fall of your breath. That’s one way to practice mindfulness, certainly, but its applications are far broader. Kripalu...

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, many of us make that celebratory toast to the New Year. Waking up on January 1st, we often resolve to make changes in our lives that we believe will bring us greater health, wealth, happiness, and peace of mind. We...

Growing up, I was one of those. You know, the irritating, exceptional student who showed up to every class fully prepared, having read every assignment, homework completed--not in a frenzy, but with attention and care. I studied hard for every test--even harder than...

“Humans fundamentally need connection,” says life, career, and wellness coach Izzy Lenihan, a faculty member at Kripalu. “It’s the neurobiological reason why we’re all here. We long for intimacy, closeness, comradeship, warmth, understanding, and acceptance.”...

As the winter wanes and the weather warms up, we tend to feel the need to purge our closets of clothes we no longer wear, and our drawers of papers and odds and ends we no longer need. Added daylight might prompt us to get the oil changed in our cars or at least to...

I’ve always been a cautious type, and my caution has generally served me well throughout life. I haven’t landed in a lot of uncompromising or dangerous situations. My fear, on the other hand, has held me back—in one area of my life, specifically. I’d go so far as to...

For 18 years, I was in a committed romantic relationship with a man who eventually became my husband. I never left his side when he was hospitalized for a brain tumor in our mid-20s. And he was equally tethered to me. When I was feeling increasingly exhausted by the...

When I moved to Los Angeles some years ago, I started taking a writing class with a teacher who wanted us to start the class as centered and alert as possible. Before we began writing, she’d have one of her students lead us in Kundalini Yoga. I always enjoyed the...

By the time I was 15 years old, I had a fully developed body. I was five-foot-seven and 145 pounds. I had D-cup breasts and ample hips. I wanted to jump out of my skin. I didn’t resemble the pencil-thin models in the fashion magazines, and I certainly didn’t resemble...

I’ve always been a doer. Not one to wait for things to come to me, I’m the type to take action, pick up the phone, initiate the project, ask the guy out rather than wait to be asked. It’s a worthwhile trait that’s created opportunities for me, but I've begun to find...

The feeling is visceral. I liken it to furiously paddling in a vast, dark ocean, unable to find land. There’s nothing to grab onto. It's an abyss of nothingness that largely appears, for me, at night, when I find myself alone after the end of a treasured romantic...

I freelanced for nearly two decades as a television host, producer, writer, and voice-over talent, even as an actor on occasion. Sometimes, I was crazy busy, juggling a number of projects; sometimes, everything would wrap up at once and I wouldn't know how I'd support...

Three mornings a week, I get up early and head to a gym where I work out with a trainer. He has me do lunges and sumo squats; he works my triceps, biceps, and back muscles with free weights; he directs me to hold planks and do sit-ups on an ab bench. I do three sets...

Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. I love the crispness in the air, the warm-but-not-too-hot days, the cooler nights, the vibrantly colored leaves shimmering in the trees. But it’s also a bittersweet time of year—a time tinged with feelings of loss. I...

Like many people I know, I’ve experienced depression and anxiety at various points in my life. I seem to be part of a growing group. The World Health Organization has stated that by the year 2030, depression and anxiety will be our number-one global disease burden,...

Years ago, I conducted a television interview with a Zen Buddhist priest about the transformative power of meditation. At the time, I’d dabbled with various types of meditation, but certainly didn’t practice it regularly and couldn’t attest to its benefits. While I...

I was living in Los Angeles the summer of 2013 when I received some unexpected news—the lovely condo I was renting was being put up for sale. The fact that I had to move forced me to ask myself whether I wanted to pack up my life on the West Coast and head back East....

The nights. I didn’t realize how difficult they were until my ex-husband and I parted and I found myself living alone—no one to come home to, no one to have dinner with, no one to crawl into bed beside at day’s end. I felt adrift, unsupported, disconnected, lost....

It was 6:30 in the morning. I was in the Shadowbrook Room at Kripalu, taking an intermediate yoga class with Kripalu Yoga teacher and faculty member Jurian Hughes. I’d come to get away for a few days, to take a break from the merry-go-round of daily life. I’d been...

If asked to describe some of my better qualities, I'd say I'm thoughtful, honest, loyal, hard-working, level-headed, intelligent, articulate, and discerning. But happy? I don’t like to admit this, but I wouldn't describe my natural state as "happy." Perhaps because of...

No matter how blessed our lives may be, none of us gets through life on this earth without coming up against struggle or loss in some form. “We’re all recovering from something,” says Dawn Nickel, PhD, founder of She Recovers, an international movement of women in or...

In my mid 20s, I left Manhattan and moved to Vermont. I was trying to decide what I was going to do with myself if I wasn’t going to be an actor—the only profession I'd ever considered. I went to see a career coach. I answered a series of questionnaires, filled out...

Is there anything more satisfying than sitting down to a yummy, home-cooked meal prepared with fresh ingredients and with love? I’m embarrassed to admit that there are weeks when I don’t get that satisfaction for several days in a row, and I know I’m not alone. “Many...

I’ll be honest here, maybe a bit sappy even. Want to know what my favorite song is? It’s “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" as sung by James Ingram and Patti Austin. Accompanied by some heartfelt harmonies, the lyrics ask the poignant question: How do you keep...

I worked as a freelancer for 20 years. I liked my freedom, and preferred not to be tied down to one workplace. Looking a bit deeper, though, I realize that another underlying reason was my wariness about the interpersonal dynamics that inevitably arise in workplaces....

On the one hand, I have my act together. I work full-time as a producer and writer at a documentary film company, creating films for broadcast and for museums. I also do acting, TV hosting, and voice-over gigs when they arise. I own a sweet condo in a beautiful town...

I have a pet peeve. For me, it’s like the sound of nails scraping a chalkboard: people who talk and talk about themselves and don’t inquire about others. Drives me batty. My mother trained me early not to go on and on about myself, but to take an interest in others....

More than 35 million Americans practice yoga. Many turn to it to improve strength, balance, and flexibility, as well as to reduce stress. Some also turn to it as a spiritual practice, a way to quiet the mind and develop deeper awareness of themselves and all that is....

Energy. We use that word often. When we meet someone we really like, we might exclaim, “She has great energy.” When someone is on the mend after being ill, we often announce, “His energy is better.” Or we might turn down an invitation by saying, “I don’t have the...

As an early adolescent, I spent a lot of time looking at Vogue magazine. I was especially taken by Brooke Shields and her high-fashion spreads. She and I were the same age, yet she had pencil-thin legs and a mostly flat chest. By age 13, my body was already quite...

When I was growing up, my mother encouraged me to watch old black-and-white movies with her. None of my peers was familiar with Rebecca, Mildred Pierce, or All About Eve, but I was. Mom would also play Broadway show tunes in the house, from musicals like Mame and...

Whenever I attempt to commit to a regular meditation practice, I come up against the same wall: It’s really hard for me to sit motionless for stretches of time and observe my breath in silence. Eventually, the nothingness is more than I can bear. When I engage in...

Never do I appreciate my good health more than when I’ve come down with one bug or another and find it difficult to get out of bed. Aches, pains, chills, fatigue—they all remind me that, most of the time, my body functions pretty well. A large part of what I take for...

When I awake in the morning before the busyness of the day begins, I think about my life. I ask myself whether I’m living on purpose. The truth is, if my life ended today and I was asked if I had any regrets, I’d say yes. I know that I’ve been living with a fear...

It was a Friday in December around 7:30 in the evening. I was a sophomore in college at NYU. That night, I was meeting a friend, so I was getting cash out of an ATM in Greenwich Village. I came out of the bank holding onto the strap of my red leather bag. I hadn’t...

More is better—at least that’s what most Americans are brought up to believe. If we try harder, work faster, and expend more energy, we’ll achieve better results, more success, and greater satisfaction. I’ve bought into this notion just as much as anyone else. If I’m...

After 18 years together, my ex-husband and I separated in 2008. We divorced in 2010. It was the most painful experience of my life, bar none. Relinquishing the safe and peaceful home I’d shared with the man who’d loved me into the marrow of his bones for almost two...

Talent. It’s a word we use most frequently to describe artists and athletes—individuals who demonstrate great potential and, ultimately, great performance, throwing that winning pass or painting that memorable image. We might also say that someone is a talented...

At least once a year, before winter arrives, I take my car in for a tune-up. My mechanic adds fluids, cleans the filters, and returns it to me like it’s brand new. I wouldn’t think of not giving my car this annual cleanup, but offering my body an internal cleanse is...

I called New York City home for almost eight years. I went there to attend college and stayed. As a young person, I loved the vibrancy of the city, the choices it offered, and the creative, intelligent people it seemed to attract. After about six years in Manhattan,...

Change is a fact of life. Even if we take no steps to improve our lives, we’ll still grow older. Time will march forward. The question is whether we’ll move in a direction that leads somewhere we want to go or somewhere we don’t. So often, we think that if we want to...

Every year, I go for an annual physical. Having lived in a number of cities and states over the course of my adult life, I’ve had a number of primary care physicians. Only one has ever asked me about my diet. In all my years of filling out medical history forms at...

No matter how successful we may be, how many friends we may have, or how much work we’ve done on ourselves, most of us experience the same old issues cropping up again and again. We’ve all noticed certain themes and challenges running through our lives. We know what...

“You’re so lucky,” my mother reminds me whenever I visit. “You have such beautiful, thick hair, and mine’s like cotton candy!” With her thin, straw-like strands, my mother has always felt lacking in the hair department, as her “crowning glory” hardly resembles a...

When I was in my early 20s, I was visiting a friend out of town one weekend. In her large fireplace, we found a small bird that had somehow gotten into her chimney. It was barely clinging to life. She took it outside to let it die and went indoors. I stayed outside...

I once saw a therapist who worked with crystals to help clients gain insight into the qualities they’re looking to augment in themselves. Apparently, when asked to select a crystal that calls to us, we choose the one whose core qualities we need the most. I chose a...

When my ex-husband and I were first splitting up, I was overcome by a powerful need to share the story of our breakup with my dearest friends. Over and over, I detailed the subtle series of events that led up to our eventual decision to part ways. In telling the story...

When we look at family photographs, it’s easy to see where our physical characteristics come from. We may have our fathers’ smiles, our mothers’ eyes. Our grandfather may have had long, skinny legs and so do we, or our curly red hair might be the spitting image of our...

I’ve been on the earth long enough at this point to have accumulated a stockpile of experiences. I’ve lived in different parts of the country, gotten a graduate degree, been married and divorced, traveled internationally, created a national television show, and met...

When I lived in Los Angeles, I worked for a handful of months with a savvy life coach. You know, those people who force you to get clear on your values, identify your goals, and then hold you accountable to doing what you need to do to achieve them. While talking to...

When I think about improving my overall health and increasing my longevity, I suspect I’m not that different from most. I imagine making physical adjustments: practicing yoga or another form of fitness more regularly, eating more vegetables and less sugar, drinking...

I spent a week in Paris to celebrate my 40th birthday. It was one of the happiest times of my life. As I strolled the streets of that breathtakingly beautiful city, it wasn’t just the stunning architecture, the carefully manicured gardens, or the twinkling lights of...

Many of us—and an especially high percentage of those of us who identify as female—suffer from the “disease to please.” We’re more apt to say “yes” than “no.” We’re more apt to self-sacrifice, putting others’ needs above our own. We’re more apt keep our mouths shut...

In any life, no matter how fortunate or blessed, there are challenges. There may be health problems or financial strain. Relationships can dissolve; loved ones pass away. When pain occurs, resistance is our natural tendency. We may distract ourselves with work,...

Read or listen to the news and it’s clear that we are a country divided. There are red states and blue. Americans are at opposite ends of the spectrum on issues like gun control, abortion, climate change, gay marriage, taxation, and more. Put people with opposing...

One of the things I appreciate most the wellness topics I cover is that they often lend themselves to self-evaluation and self-improvement, if not transformation. When I write about nutrition, yoga, meditation, and spirituality, I not only have the opportunity to turn...

The last decade of my life hasn't been easy. Since my ex-husband and I separated in 2008, I’ve been trying to build a new life. But I’ve had a hard time believing that good things are on the horizon for me since I lost the foundation that my marriage provided. I...

Many years ago, when I was living in Vermont, I taught English as a Second Language. I created my own little business tutoring the many engineers and scientists who came to Burlington to work at places like IBM and UVM and needed to improve their communication skills....

I’m a very grounded person. People use that word to describe me all the time. I’m down-to-earth, practical, not easily swayed by trends. I have a strong sense of self. While I appreciate my inner sturdiness, I know that my spiritual muscles, so to speak, are weaker. I...

I think of myself as a fairly gutsy person. Though I grew up in a Midwestern suburb with a stay-at-home mother and a business executive father, I chose to go to acting school in New York City, where I had no ties and knew no one. I’ve moved from one state to another...

Some years ago, I had my dream job. I was the host and executive producer of a national television talk show about natural health, wellness, and alternative ways to heal the body and mind. But I was a total hypocrite: Here I was interviewing well-regarded experts from...

When I was a girl, my mother would ask my younger brother and me if we wanted to go grocery shopping with her or if we’d rather stay home. My brother would invariably jump at the chance to scan the supermarket aisles with Mom. He thought perusing all the gastronomic...

Whenever I travel for work or pleasure, I’m always struck by the infinite number of ways there are to live this thing called life. In a developed nation like the United States, the choices are especially vast. We might live in bustling cities, small towns, or the...

We’re a nation fixated on youth—perhaps because our country isn’t even a quarter of a century old yet. Our anti-aging obsession has morphed into a multibillion dollar industry replete with cosmetics, creams, pills, work-out regimens, injections, and surgical...

In Chinese astrology, I’m a Snake. We Snakes apparently prefer mental activity to physical activity. We’re the kind of people who don’t mind being curled up all day with a good book. I don’t know that I possess every characteristic that the ancient Chinese deemed...

Over the last couple of months, I’ve received a few text messages from my eye doctor’s office alerting me that it’s time to schedule my next check-up. I haven’t followed through, and I know why. If I show up for an appointment, my eye doctor will likely increase my...

“The only thing that is constant is change.” It’s a quote attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, but the sentiment is as pertinent in the 21st century as it was thousands of years ago. Life doesn’t stand still. Change is inevitable. Whether you’re a...

If asked to name the factors that have the greatest effect on overall health and well-being, we might list good nutrition, regular exercise, and adequate sleep. Good gut health, however, probably wouldn’t come to mind. Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein, founder of the Terrain...

My ex-husband and I were together for 18 years. He’d always said he wanted to have one child someday; I’d always said I didn’t. Though most couples wouldn’t marry with such an uncompromisable issue between them, we forged ahead. I think we both thought the other would...

After my freshman year of college, I went on a 10-day meditation retreat with my boyfriend at the time. A budding meditator himself, he hoped the experience would offer me the inner tranquility it was beginning to offer him. It didn’t. During those 10 days, I squirmed...

The wind was whipping through my hair as my body zipped above the honking taxis, glittering lights, and throngs of people strolling along Fifth Avenue. It was the middle of the night, and my body was literally flying above New York City. I was a freshman in college at...

There’s no greater feeling than love. Most of us would not dispute that statement. Romantic love is especially intoxicating. When we’re in love, our senses come alive. Colors become more vibrant. Food tastes more delicious. The feel of our partner’s skin next to ours...

In 2002, Ray Crist, my Kripalu Perspectives guest, was diagnosed with kidney cancer. “I was given quite a grim image of what awaited me,” he said, “namely several surgeries and perhaps not a positive outcome.” At that moment, Ray suddenly remembered a line from the...

Yesterday morning, while I was on the way to work, a dear friend of 30 years gave me a ring. We talk fairly frequently during my traffic-laden commutes. While we cover a range of topics, one that comes up frequently is the subject of relationships. I certainly have my...

During the holiday season—replete with travel, family visits, extra spending, and the pressure to feel jolly and filled with good cheer—even the happiest and most high-functioning couples can experience challenges. Married since 1972, relationship...

When I was 12 years old, I would pour through the high-fashion pages of Vogue magazine. I honestly wish I hadn’t been allowed to. I’d developed early. By 12 years old, I could already fit into women’s clothing. With just a bit of makeup, I could easily pass for a...

Healing. I personally like the sound of the word, but what does it really mean? Many believe healing is synonymous with curing and it certainly can be, but it’s possible to be cured and not to have healed. Returning to wholeness is one definition of healing, and I...

I moved myself across the country a few years ago – left everything familiar to begin life anew. After 18 years together, my ex-husband and I divorced. It sounds so cliché, but we seemed to be growing in different directions. Even though we were two peas in a pod for...

If you have any interest in natural medicine, you’re certainly familiar with acupuncture and have maybe even tried it. In fact, even if your medicine cabinet is chock full of prescription drugs, you’ve at least heard of acupuncture.  It’s become that mainstream. But...

I’m not much of a shopper. I bore quickly browsing through stores. But there was a store I loved when I lived in New York City many years ago: Steuben. Their impressive collection of crystal captivated me. There was something magical about the delicate objects shining...

I’ve worked in television, film, and video production for two decades now. While it can be fun and creative, it can also be grueling, full of 60- and 70- and 80-hour weeks at the height of production. And for someone like me who has a tendency to burn the candle at...

When it comes to natural ways to relieve stress and reduce anxiety, I’m always up for something new. While visiting Canyon Ranch (www.canyonranch.com) in Lenox, Massachusetts, I got the chance to try out a healing system that needle phobics can embrace. It’s called...