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Explore the latest articles by Dr. Sara Szal, where she blends science and holistic wisdom to address the most pressing issues in women’s health, longevity, and personal transformation.
Knitting as Mantra
I cannot get enough knitting time. It’s my favorite meditation and I love the product. It’s therapeutically and aesthetically rocking my world right now. Why? I think Herb Benson, MD, a mentor of mine from the Harvard Mind-Body Institute articulated it best. “Working with yarn provides stress relief. Like meditation or prayer, knitting allows for…
Sacred Socks & Pablo Neruda
Maybe you didn’t quite get just how obsessed I am with knitting. Here’s an example: I could not properly express the joy I feel with my new socks, knitted from delicious “soft girl” yarn from local Petaluma sheep, until I came across Pablo Neruda’s Ode to Socks, excerpted way below in English and Spanish. Thank you,…
Converted
Was getting a little veggie henna applied to my lashes today on Fourth Street in Berkeley when I stumbled upon a new eco boutique in the ‘hood: CONVERT. WOW. Waltzed in and explained my organic experiment: one year – 100% organic in what I wear and schmear. No blank stare. Instead: efficient march through store, all arms…
Organic Right Up Next to Your Skin: Undies
Perhaps the most important layer in my organic experiment is my undies. Right up next to your privateness, you want no endocrine disruptors or heavy metals. Surprisingly, I found this to be one of the harder items to procure before January 1, 2011 when my experiment begins. Here in Berkeley, there’s a foxy brand called Pact. Check…
Dr. Sara’s Book Club #3: Hardwiring Happiness: The Hidden Power of Everyday Experiences
I wanted to let you know about a new book that I think you’ll like…. Because I LOVE it. It’s called Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence. It’s written by my colleague — neuropsychologist and bestselling author Rick Hanson, Ph.D. — and it lays out a simple method that uses…
Mental Vitamin: Sewing | Knitting | Cooking
Love this idea from neuroscientist Kelly Lambert, PhD’s book on depression, about choosing alternatives to the conventional quick-fix of changing your neurotransmitter mix with a prescription for Lexapro, Prozac or Wellbutryn or some new pill. “Lambert shows how when you knit a sweater or plant a garden, when you prepare a meal or simply…
Organically Jeaned: Change Up the Paradigm
Learned today that the European Union has rigid boundaries on the type of cotton they import – no toxic dyes, no cheap cotton laced with DDT, as several cottons from China and India were recently demonstrated to contain. The EU regularly tests their imported textiles carefully; we in the US do not. One of the worst…
Keepin' It Real: Bolinas for Holiday
Signing off for a week of reading, doodling, strolling, yoga, meditating, cooking, writing, and, oh yeah, hanging out with my kids and DH. Guess where I am? Thinking I need more honor system in my life, like this Gospel Farm stand. Let’s develop that idea…. Back in a week or two. Officially off duty as…
ReCAP of 2010: Dr. Sara Puts It Out There
Ok, friends: It’s D-2 for the start of my organic experiment. As I look back on the crazy-assed testing I’ve done to measure my toxic load this month, and look to Saturday 1.1.11 as the start of my experiment, I’m systematizing some of the delicious gems I’ve uncovered in the past year of prep. Here…