Writings about the intersection of mind, brain, body, relationships, and health.
Learn how to apply modern science and ageless wisdom to maximize your health and wellness.
Love and Connection: the twin pillars of longing and being that prop up the roof under which we live our lives. Getting intimately close to someone triggers a cascade of chemicals throughout our brains and bodies, including opioids, morphine-like molecules also found in heroin...How can we reduce the odds that our love doesn’t go haywire? Read on to learn about surprising skills that help love last.
Love, in all its endless variety, for better or worse, often runs our lives. About 60% of songs croon about love. One music survey found that among the chart-topping pop songs, over 90% yowl about sex, not love. Love and sex aren’t the same, of course. Many people lament the confusion, broken-heartedness and unrequited yearnings that develop when a person or couple sadly settles for sexless love or loveless sex. Many clients come to my office bearing witness to the challenges of sustaining longer-term connections that are supported by both love and sex, which is ultimately about authentic, intimate connectedness. Read on to learn more about inserting "healthy danger" into your love life.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “I don’t know if I’m coming or going.” I’ve certainly thought that, and felt it, too. It is an experience of (hopefully) temporary confusion and internal conflict. For me, it is often reflected in a moment when I feel pulled in two directions making it a personal struggle to decide what to do next. While this feeling can arise when I’m simply tired and “brain drained,” operating in a sort of mental fog, I can also experience this mental tug-of-war when there are compelling reasons for two equal but opposing options and I can’t for the life of me figure out which is best. Read on to learn to reduce this confusion by exercising BOTH sides of your brain...
Children seem to have no trouble being wide “awake to life.” Neither do puppies for whom every walk involves unbounded enthusiasm and sheer ecstasy at the wonder of it all. The boundless joyfulness and inquisitiveness they show is inborn. It is a natural endowment for being born into this world. Where does that sense of wonder and awe go with time’s passing? Is it recoverable? What is the path by which we can recover it? Read on to learn the steps to "wake up" your brain and reinvigorate your life.
The more things change, the more they seem to change ever faster, transforming us and propelling our world in profound and unpredictable directions. Eric Schmidt of Google estimates that the total amount of information generated in the world, whether by selfie photos, tweets, texts, and hurriedly dispatched emails and memos, doubles every two days. Read on to learn how you can build a brave new brain in our rapidly changing world.
Modern medicine has brought us revolutionary advances that support better health. But, is the health that modern medicine supports what we mean by true healing? I think not. True healing is not just revolutionary but actually evolutionary. Over millions of years, we have gradually evolved to become self-organizing creatures capable of self-correcting and self-healing in the face of the vast majority of problems that beset us.
What is the recipe for living a full and fulfilling human life? What are the essential ingredients? Can they be mixed together quickly or does the recipe require slow cooking? These questions actually have science-based answers that align well with ancient wisdom. The real conundrum is why, when the “answers” are at hand, do relatively few people take full advantage of them and adjust their lives accordingly.
December. Winter break. Kids on vacation. Time off work. The Holiday Season. Christmas and Hannukah, which this year begin on the same day, reminding us, if we choose to remember, that an invitation to rededicate ourselves and renew our world is upon us. The Winter Solstice. Lights, smiles, fireplaces and burning logs, get-togethers, hugs and laughter. For many, lots of joy. For others, bittersweet memories, unfulfilled dreams and unsatisfied wishes, maybe even loneliness or melancholy. And, of course, there is counting off yet another year of a finite but unknowable number. The ledger is longer, fuller but still not complete.
Sean Carroll*, a physicist who explores the universe said, “Life is not a substance, like water or rock; it’s a process, like fire or a wave crashing on the shore. It’s a process that begins, lasts for a while, and ultimately ends. Long or short, our moments are brief against the expanse of eternity.” How does this strike you? Does this view leave you feeling small or even frightened by our insignificance in the vastness of the universe? If our lives are just a fleeting process, how can we make the process as meaningful and fulfilling as possible? How can we make our mortal time here matter and make a lasting impact?
