Everyday mystic
Thanksgiving: What Gratitude Does to Your Brain
Dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin walk into a bar . . . No, I’m not going to torture you with a bad joke. Instead, I want to discuss about what gratitude does to the brain. Recent research findings are a call to action for a sense of thanksgiving every day, not just the fourth Thursday in…
Read More5 FAQs about Yoga and Hormones: Yoga Changes Your Adrenaline, Cortisol, and Melatonin
After practicing for four decades, I believe yoga helps with that uncomfortable “rev” in the body. You probably know what I’m talking about – that sense that you don’t like something in the present moment, like your belly or butt or thighs, or the feeling that you should be doing more in your career, or that you deserve to be paid more than you are, or you somehow don’t measure up to an impossible standard.
Read MoreAna Forrest Wants You to Clear Your Stuck Patterns with Yoga
My first impression when I met Ana Forrest in 2005 at a yoga workshop in St. Helena, CA? FIERCE. I gathered with 75 other yogis, mat-to-mat, in a hot room as Ana coaxed us to clear the junk, the stuck emotional debris, that hardens us and eventually sickens the body. My companion at the workshop…
Read MoreDr. Sara’s Genius Bar: The Best Natural Beauty Brands
Since I talk so much about the importance of clean eating, I think it’s only fair to also address “clean beauty” – and how important it is to choose natural products for your hair, skin, and body. I won’t lie: It’s easy to get confused these days. Labels like “natural,” “chemical free,” “noncomedogenic” (the products…
Read MoreHow I Fixed My Exercise, Got Lean, and Rocked My Growth Hormone (IGF-1)
First the bold news: I hacked my growth hormone with exercise and raised it 53%. But allow me to back up so we can put this in context. What Is Growth Hormone? Growth hormone is a misunderstood stress hormone that raises the level of glucose in your blood, and stimulates the production of an important…
Read MoreDr. Sara’s Book Club #3: Hardwiring Happiness: The Hidden Power of Everyday Experiences
I wanted to let you know about a new book that I think you’ll like…. Because I LOVE it. It’s called Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence. It’s written by my colleague — neuropsychologist and bestselling author Rick Hanson, Ph.D. — and it lays out a simple method that uses…
Read MoreMadonna My Thyroid, Please
One comment personal trainers hear daily from overweight, middle-aged women is: “I want Madonna arms.” It makes them want to shoot themselves. Actually, um, I want Madonna arms. While she is controversial, chameleonic and doesn’t always comment wisely on her art, she is arguably looking might fine for her age. In fact, I think she…
Read MoreMenopause Poem by Adair Lara
Adair Lara sent this phresh poem to me, and got me thinking I need to banish people-pleasing from my life far in advance of menopause. You? And start self basting in this Bulgarian hotel I call my body. Adair connects me to another time and place – to the refreshingly honest voice of Annie Lamott’s…
Read MoreOrganic GYN Goes to Portland for Baby Shower
Been to an organic baby shower? Me neither! I’m in Portland, helping to throw a baby shower for my beloved sister, Anna. That would be her diaper cake, made by a friend, above. I’ve taken my organic show on the road twice now: first to Point Reyes at New Years, and then to Tahoe…
Read MoreMystic Danielle Laporte: There's a Bigger Story to Your Story
I’m madly, crazy, over-the-moon in love with a new mystic named Danielle Laporte. She is rocking my integrative, hormone-infused world and getting me totally reconnected to integrative medicine, and how to firestart the health of others on a larger scale. That’s her line in the title: There’s a bigger story to your story. Danielle…
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