Every time you surf the web or pick up a magazine there seems to be something about meditation practice, its benefits and why you should be doing it. And yet you resist undertaking this currently trendy road to nirvana, weight loss, treatment for depression, and stress -free, healthy living. Let's...

Just over a year ago, I posted my first column for Huffington Post called Putting Life on Pause:Three Mini-Meditations for People Who Don't Have Time to Meditate. It addressed ways to incorporate some aspects of stress reduction and meditation practice into small moments of our lives. Here are some...

Some days are like a running a slalom- exhilarating, challenging and satisfying. Other days, we seem to hit all the road blocks or our mind naturally is drawn to the one thing that we did not think went so well. That one thing, those little missteps sudden loom large in...

I was reading a food reference book just the other day to see if I could find any proof that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Next to me sat a bag of chocolate chips from which I was popping an occasional single chip for inspiration. I came across the following,...

Hope, This Morning's Dream

I'm not twentysomething -- not even close. But I am fortunate to know a lot of bright, sweet, beautiful and talented people who are. At the beginning of this New Year, I offer these thoughts for all of you twentysomethings out there.

You are in a major life...

"You work in the happiness industry!" he said excitedly, morning coffee in hand, as he peered over the New York Times article, "Even if You Can't Buy It, Happiness Is Big Business". I thought about how to incorporate that on my business card. It certainly had a nice ring....

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more... it can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend." - Melody Beattie

Thanksgiving is a quintessentially American holiday, and not surprisingly so. From our beginnings...

In a recent meditation class a parent brought up how he was undergoing a great deal of external stress and finding it hard to do everything to support the busy and challenging level of activities of their teenage daughter. There was a collective sigh emanating from the other parents in...

Okay. The election is over and we reluctantly or eagerly head back to some older routine, perhaps -- like work, play, shopping, reading fiction, exercise, sleep. It has been a relentless process, sandwiching real life between polls, debates, rallies, canvassing and just worrying. With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, let's...

In a post just a few weeks ago, Six Spiritual Principles for the Politically Perplexed, I suggested that political passion need not divert us from a spiritually directed life and vice versa (i.e. no hate mongering, becoming informed and working for the issues that matter to you, etc.). Who...

Before their births it seemed I was already obsessed with my children's nutrition, mixing up a little concoction of brewer's yeast, yogurt, molasses and orange juice every day to drink while pregnant. Then there was the calves liver orgy one afternoon, reminiscent of "Rosemary's Baby" (though I did finish...

I have often been asked to comment on music as a tool to access the deeper realms of meditation. Each person who meditates has their own way of attuning themselves to their inner dialogue. What might be a very calming and reflective piece for one person may sound jarring or...

I have been noticing what happens when one expresses her opinion about anything political. You've heard of REMs (rapid eye movements). I call politically altered states RIJs (Rapid I Judgments). No sooner does someone express support for a certain candidate or idea than we immediately put them in a box,...

"Flowers keep us close to the earth and show us what repetition can do. When we are good planters and caretakers we see results- not just once, but many times in many ways...
But the garden in the mind stretches much farther than just flowers and vegetables. It...

In my last Inviting Health blog, I began addressing a question about meditation practices that enhance the healing process. In it, I introduced an exercise using guided meditation and visual imagery to enlist a single healthy cell in our bodies to help us entrain or coach other cells how...

Q. In your post, "Mind/Body/Spirit: The Meditation Connection"( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kay-goldstein/mindbodyspirit-the-medita_b_109041.html ), you spoke about how meditation helps us integrate the various parts of ourselves and said, "What could be a better basis for physical and mental health?" Can you talk more about practices that enhance the healing process and lay the...

"Our mindstream, our choice"- David Michie

I have a lot of moving parts to coordinate these days. I was sorting laundry, fixing breakfast, and suddenly, while hanging up clothes in my closet, I stopped and listened to my stream of thoughts -- the background noise of my life. What was...

Last week I was privileged to see a performance of End Days written by Deborah Zoe Laufer and directed by Claudia Weill at the Martha's Vineyard Playhouse. This quirky family comedy underscores the vulnerabilities and aspirations of human beings who have survived trauma and even the threat of annihilation. I...

It was a hectic day- all day. Phones ringing, emails to answer, a bobcat rumbling through my yard with the requisite high pitch warning beeps each time it backed up. There were table saws and hammers, workmen dropping in to ask questions, my husband toiling nearby on a computer, a...