Our bodies and minds are experiencing the current global crisis as a serious threat to survival and all that feels familiar and safe. Living in a constant state of fight, flight, or freeze is exhausting. We must find ways to release this stress on a daily basis. Connect with friends and family, exercise, knit, scream…
self-care
Focus on Values, Not Resolutions
The hope of change and renewal accompanies most of us as we part with one year and enter another. Some people feel confident and energized as they vow to exercise more, spend quality time with their children, learn to play an instrument, be kinder, change jobs. Others voice their aspirations more timidly or not at…
Acupuncture: Balancing Body and Mind
What inspired me to become an acupuncturist is the desire to help people return to nature as well as their own true nature. Our bodies are microcosms reflecting the world around us, each with its own internal seasons, weather systems and rhythms. Puberty is a season, new motherhood is a season, and so is menopause.…
New Year’s resolutions: Reflections on change and growth
2019 has arrived. Many of us greet the New Year with hopeful goals and plans that reflect what matters to us, be it health, family, career, and frequently, what we have not given sufficient attention to in the previous year. As a psychotherapist, I love this optimistic period of renewed commitment to deeply personal values…
On the Many Joys of Cultivating Gratitude
Gratitude is an emotional experience that may arise in us spontaneously, swelling our hearts with love and appreciation, and contributing to our sense of connection – to people close to us, to our community, to the many things that ultimately ground us and infuse our lives with meaning. Gratitude is also a practice that can…
The ABCs of Postpartum Self-Care
All life transitions, even the joyful ones which mark the beginning of a new, wished-for chapter, are tough. The transition to motherhood is even more challenging than a move to a foreign country, getting married, or setting on a different career path. Why is that? The arrival of a baby forces changes that are abrupt,…
Self-care as a mindset and a practice: Redefining an oft-misunderstood concept
“There is simply not enough time for everything” is probably the most common complaint I hear in my psychotherapy practice from busy moms, busy executives, busy students, busy colleagues. The other day as I helplessly looked at my mile-long task list, I caught myself yearning for a quick fix — a magic pill that could…
