I have battled insomnia off and on for the last three years. At first I tried sleep medication (Lunesta and a few others) but they made me more depressed and anxious, so I have experimented with all kinds of natural remedies, many of them suggestions from fellow friends with sleep problems. Here are a few of them.  ...

Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Giving feels good. We’ve all experienced that high from doing something good: donating our used books to the library, feeding the homeless at the soup kitchen, walking for AIDS or another cause, calling or visiting...

We’ve been told since our first pimple arrived to look in the mirror and say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and today is going to be a GREAT day, despite this mammoth zit on my chin” while plastering a fake grin on our face. Positive psychologists have force-fed us affirmations, telling us that the...

I thought I’d share the following excerpt from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book Mindfulness for Beginners because it has been very helpful for me lately. I’ll be sharing more quotes and excerpts in the next weeks and months. Feel free to share your favorite passages, as well. It is a big step toward reclaiming our lives when...

This post is from my archives. Nine years ago I decided to wean off all my meds and take natural supplements instead. One evening I was fixing a magnesium concoction, chatting with a friend. We were talking about my depression, and this new holistic route I was taking. “You have everything you need inside you...