Kindness is Key for Cognitive Health and Longevity

Spiritual Fitness is the fourth pillar of Cognitive Health and Longevity, a course starting soon!  The first pillar is Diet, the second is Supplements, the third is Exercise, and the fourth is Spiritual Fitness.  Kindness is one aspect of Spiritual Fitness and this blog post is based on my study ... Read More

The Last Book My Father Gave Me

As a diplomat, my father had always been informed of world events, often before they made media headlines.  When he retired, he turned his attention to the history that had shaped the world of his generation.  He was interested in how religion, culture, war,  and political events had intersected ... Read More

Did Yoga Fail Me?

Yoga Failed Me…Or So I Thought Preparing all morning to leave on a Tuesday afternoon in August, I was startled to receive a text that my flight had been canceled. My destination was Asheville, where my mother is in assisted living, and I was flying there via Newark until that flight was canceled ... Read More

The Healing Power of Yoga

We come to yoga for healing. Some focus on the body, healing injuries or illness, coping with physical conditions and challenges. Others seek solace, comfort, and peace on an emotional level while others have a sense that yoga may help to quiet down some of the noise in the mind. And some have ex... Read More

A Love Story: Two Social Workers and A Plan

Based on many conversations with my mother in law, Johanna Robbins, she recounts the love story between two social workers but also the evolution of social work over the 20th century and her personal journey from social work to meditation teacher: Johanna Weiss was majoring in psychology and Engl... Read More

Death At The Door

I thought this one would be easier. My mother in law, Johanna, was 96 and had been expressing the wish to die for over six years. As we watched her vitality diminish and her dementia progress, our hearts broke. But we learned to accept the reality of what was happening and with that came a deepen... Read More

Emotional Freedom: Letting Go of Expectations

The holidays are over, we are almost mid January, and I am just barely catching up with myself. As Christmas, 2023, approached, I felt more like the Grinch than like Santa. After an intense year of death and birth, I was depleted and drained. With democracy in danger, and climate change escalatin... Read More

The Art of Completion

To end well, truly completing a task, a project, or a process, will lay the groundwork so that we may begin well, building on a strong foundation that is clear, grounded and ready for whatever is coming next. Marking the completion of another calendar year, we have an opportunity to end well. Thi... Read More

Self Care Is Not A Treat

We all hear advice like: get enough sleep, do restorative yoga, take time out to get together with a friend, do more barefoot walking on the grass, or keep a gratitude journal. These are all good ideas. Yet, no one act alone will satisfy our dissatisfaction, reduce our craving, or relieve our suf... Read More

Yoga is Not About Flexibility

Starting something is not hard. Sticking to a routine is where it gets more tricky. You are more likely to stick to something that you understand. That is why I want to explain that yoga is about building a stronger body, a more flexible mind, and a more resilient central nervous system: CNS I pr... Read More