A New Simplicity An Excerpt from Nurturing the Soul of Your Family Many of us feel called to simplify our lives and do less. Not a fluffy, it-would-be-nice-to-have-clean-closets simplicity, but a new way of being. This new simplicity is about purging and streamlining our thinking, our doing, our giving and receiving, and, of course, our…
This post is also featured on Modern Mom American Childbirth: A Human Rights Failure? United Nations data shows that between 1990 and 2008, the United States maternal mortality rate nearly doubled, while the overwhelming majority of countries collectively decreased their rates by 34% (Coeytauz et al 2011). We have a right to criticize the shameful state…
This week’s post is by Carl Kerridge, who goes straight to the heart of one of the big issues surrounding the American collective maternity care and that of his lovely wife, the super intelligent Jessica Durivage of Where is My Guru?. Get to know them both, they are an amazing team! Telling Our Story: The Dark Underbelly of American…
Improving Chronic Care in America Introduction Almost half of all Americans live with a chronic condition.1,2 Further complicating that statistic is approximately half of those suffering from a chronic condition have comorbities.1,2 The public health initiative Chronic Care Model, found at www.improvingchroniccare.org suggests, and I agree, that our current health care system is “reactive,” and is as Dr. Andrew Weil…
Yoga: For All Folks and All Faiths As the old Beatles’ song proclaims, “All together now!” When it comes to yoga, can we say that the family that practices yoga together, stays together? Ancient wisdom and new evidence alike says we can. But is yoga accessible to everyone? Let’s explore how it may be good…
This post appeared in Carolina Salt magazine in Ginger’s column, The Balanced Life, September/October 2013 issue. Why Every Child Can Benefit from Yoga “Mom!” I heard my middle son call out to me from the basement of my parent’s home in central North Carolina, where I was visiting with my family for a weekend this summer. I…
What is a Birth Playlist? Designer Music for Mom Music is very important in my family. I come from a family of musicians, and my husband and I are both musicians. We even play gigs together, in lieu of “date nights,” on a regular basis. So for me, laboring without music was unthinkable. I had…
Back Pain? What to Do, What to Avoid Do you have back pain? First, I am so sorry – and I hope you are feeling better soon. But don’t feel alone, more than 84% of Americans will at some point experience back pain. Second, here’s the latest evidence on what to do and what to…
Best Care Practices for Low Back Pain Despite established clinical guidelines supporting the early use of physical therapy in best care practices for the management of low back pain, physical therapy referral remains unchanged since 1990. The PT referral rate from a recent 11 year study at Beth Israel Hospital was a low 20%.1 What was startling…
Feeling Better Means Avoiding Meat’s Dark Side: Infection & Immune-System Bugs This week’s post highlights two informative posts by Rodale Press and Zen Habits. Both are independent websites with blogs – one is research-oriented and the other is lifestyle-oriented, but both bring very important information to your dinner table. EXCERPT: Here’s a shocker: Your…
Yoga is one of the top 10 CAM modalities used in the US today, according to the 2009 Health Status Report, “Costs of complementary and alternative (CAM) medicine and frequency of visits to CAM practitioners in the US.” $6 billion alone was spent on yoga and yoga related products in 2008, while the number of…
This week’s blog post is an excerpt from my interview with the Mothers’ Centers Voices Spotlight Series. Read the full interview here. A big thanks goes to the National Association of Mothers Centers for all their hard work in raising awareness about mothers rights in America. We inadvertently become researchers of life and motherhood when we study our own as…