Eva Norlyk Smith, Ph.D.

"Maintaining order rather than correcting disorder is the ultimate principle of wisdom." -- Nei Jing, 2nd Cent. B.C.

Do human beings have the capacity to cultivate happiness and emotional equilibrium by learning to fine tune mind and body, much as we can learn to fine tune a rare and...

It's hard to read any yoga blog these days without coming across the lengthy, messy break-up currently unfolding in the Anusara yoga community following the disclosure of allegations about Anusara founder John Friend's, well, rather philandering ways.

In the wake of the New York Times yoga wreckgate,...

What is the most plentiful tissue in the body -- and the most ignored?

The answer is fascia -- the gooey, gliding stuff that holds you together. Fascia is a broad term for the extracellular matrix of fibers, "glue" and water surrounding all your cells, and wrapping like plastic...

Can yoga wreck your body? A recent article in the New York Times argues that it can, quoting the increase of yoga-related injuries in recent years as the number of yoga practitioners has soared.

Indeed, the number of yoga injuries treated in emergency rooms or doctors' offices...

Whether you're a beginning or experienced yoga student, chances are that you've faced off with your hamstrings in one way or another.

Tight hamstrings are a common cause of injuries not just in yoga, but also for athletes. Tight hamstrings are a hidden source of many lower back pain issues...

My husband, a body worker specializing in injuries and chronic pain issues, recently was called to make an emergency visit at a birthday party, where the host was in an awkward predicament. The host had been getting out of his chair to greet a guest, when suddenly his back froze...

Depression affects 121 million people worldwide. In the U.S. alone, as much as 10 percent of the population is being treated with antidepressants during any given year, and antidepressant use in this country has more than doubled since 1996.

But are we getting any better?...

It was one of those butterfly wing events: a butterfly flaps its wings and an earthquake erupts on the other side of the world. Well, in this case it was far less dramatic--my husband took a trip to Walmart in a last-ditch effort to put a few more Christmas presents...

"Okay, let's do a drop-back. Who wants to show how to do a drop-back?"

It's the second day of the Anusara Yoga Grand Gathering at the annual Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park, CO. We've just finished a long flow of yoga twists, forward bends, and back bends. Now it's...

In the age of Shakespeare, life was really quite simple. The existential question of the day was a simple one: to eat or not to eat. Or, if you were of the privileged classes, with enough time on your hands to suffer from existential angst, the question du jour was...

The other day, I sat down in the dentist's chair for a cleaning, and my hands automatically started looking for the buckle to fasten my seat belt. That's when it struck me: I've been traveling too much lately.

I guess I should have realized it earlier, because a couple...

Do you believe in miracles?

Oprah does.

On the website for her new Oprah Winfrey Network, Oprah is looking for people who have experienced a miracle.

Wanna be on Oprah? Just write up your miracle story and send it in to Oprah's "Miracle Detectives." It's that simple.

Ah, a New Year. And with it, a whole new round of New Year's resolutions. Most of us by now have made our New Year's resolutions, and checked them twice. If you're particularly zealous, you have even written yours down.

Our New Year's resolutions are really not so much pledges...

With Senate Dems furiously scrambling to arrive at a compromise health care bill, progressives have reached a point where most fear a health care bill more than they initially hoped for it.

For politicians with reputations to manicure, a health care bill, any health care bill, at any cost,...

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, here comes a letter from Citigroup. To toss or not to toss? On the one hand, it could be just one more boring letter with changes to account terms in illegible font. On the other hand, it could be a nice little...