Stress Management
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…
Read MoreSacred 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,…
Read MoreMental 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…
Read MoreKeepin' 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…
Read MoreReCAP 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…
Read MoreSake Bombs or Kale? Vacation Review
At the risk of sounding insufferable, I have to share some thoughts on two side-by-side vacations. Let me preface our discussion with two disclosures: I have adrenal dysregulation and two young kids. While I’m in adrenal “recovery,” as many of you know who are on this path with me — recovery takes a long,…
Read MoreBeginnings of the Ends: Telomere Storytime
I’ve been talking up telomeres a lot lately, which are emerging as the key biomarker of biological aging. Think you look younger than your chronological age? Here’s your marker. Telomeres are a lot like the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces – in this case, telomeres keep DNA on the ends of chromosomes from…
Read MoreStuck at the Corner of Fat and Unhappy? The Intersection of Dating & Hormones (+ 3 Ways to Solve Your Dating Dilemmas)
All the single ladies (all the single ladies) All the single ladies, now put your hands up – Beyonce, Put a Ring On It Is your hand in the air right now? Does the thought of dressing up, meeting someone new, and making sparkling conversation sound next to impossible? If yes, I’d put all my…
Read MoreOrganically Fit: Togs for The Dailey Method & Yoga
I was imagining the rolled eyes at The Dailey Method, which is the exercise I favor and find better than working out with a trainer. But if you aren’t sporting the latest Lululemon during your workout, you’re a bit of a freak. Whatever. I think they know by now I’m a bit of a…
Read MorePrayer for Overwhelm
I want to shred the rad, but I’m a bit weary today. Need a little intervention, a dose of burn-out prevention. Not sure what flavor. Please renew my spirit and particularly my good humor. When I feel frustrated and like a victim/martyr: fill me with hope, the present moment and get me out of the…
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