I’ll never forget Maggie, one of the first women I taught to practice the Transcendental Meditation technique. As a young TM teacher in the 1970s, I was feeling less stressed and happier with daily meditation, yet the dramatic improvements in other people sometimes startled me. Maggie tearfully told me in the interview before instruction that…
BY LINDA EGENES We all do it. We make grand resolutions on New Year’s day and break them the next. Yet there are ways to make your healthy resolutions stick. Here are some ideas. 1. Break it into baby steps. Most resolutions involve long-term goals, which can be daunting. If your dream is to get into…
The first day my husband and I arrived on Kauai’s north shore we were resting after meditation. Suddenly we became aware of two small eyes peering at us from the top of the stairs. Soon we were chatting with Micah, aged six, like we’d known him his whole life. Micah and his brother London, nine,…
I just interviewed Dr. Pam Peeke about her new book, The Hunger Fix: The Three-Stage Detox and Recovery Plan for Overeating and Food Addiction, and I have to say it was one of my favorite interviews of all time. Known as the “doc who walks her talk,” she is also a marathon runner, NIH researcher,…
One of the best things about spending last winter in Oakland, California, was the availability of fresh, locally grown produce. Coming from the frozen Iowa farmscape, this felt miraculous. There’s a farmer’s market for every day of the week and more—four in Oakland and four in Berkeley. Being a fresh-foodie, I decided to sample a different…
Here is my friend Jane Dean’s book review of SUPER HEALTHY KIDS: A PARENT’S GUIDE TO MAHARISHI AYURVEDA. Jane is a writer and former radio host who is the executive assistant to the Director of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment and mother of two. In the past three years she has traveled to…
I love it when you happen into a sustainability pocket while you’re traveling. Last summer my husband Tom and I were vacationing in Traverse City, Michigan, with our niece Carina. Here’s what I wrote in my journal about the trip. July 21, 2010 We’ve swapped houses for the week with our friends Joe and Victoria,…
During the past twenty years, the average American diet has become substantially higher in saturated fats and trans-fats, and deficient in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Meals, snacks, and fast foods consumed by children reflect this trend. For instance, a typical serving of french fries contains more than 13.2 percent hydrogenated oil, and a serving…
Last weekend my husband and I were invited to a 4th of July celebration at the home of Claudia Petrick, my editor at the Iowa Source. Tom and I drove a mile or two north of Fairfield, turned onto a country road, and entered another world. Claudia lives on a five-acre spread with organic gardens,…
We’re spending the winter in Vero Beach, Florida, and while kayaking on the Indian River Lagoon, the intracoastal waterway that is home to one of the most diverse plant and animal populations in the world, I found out that many of the dolphins here have tummy aches because they are ingesting so many toxins from…