Your Brain on Love
The state of being "in love," my therapist told me, is pretty close to insanity. A Jungian, she said that she would not take new patients who were in love; they were unlikely to make any progress. Now, she wasn't referring to the deep love and affection you have for your long-term partner or your mother. She's talking about the all-consuming, heart-pounding, wide-eyed stuff you've experienced during those first days of a new love—being madly in love—the substance of romantic poetry.
Excuses, Excuses
When it comes to exercise, or avoiding it, some of us have creative, if lame, excuses—my cat will miss me, for example. For the most part, though, our excuses aren't unique.
Change Is Vital
Lose weight, exercise, quit smoking—no one wants to hear it again. Most of us, especially when we're young and healthy, just ignore the advice. We stopped listening a long time ago, and precious few of us are making any changes in our behavior, at the cost of billions of health-care dollars, not to mention the impact on millions of lives.
Healthy Chic
Brigitte Malaaya Britton, 49, was born in Morocco and moved to New York City in 1960, when she was 3 years old. She went to boarding school in Westchester and spent her summers in Europe. Upon graduating, she studied haute couture (high fashion) for two years under the apprenticeship of designer Jean-Louis in Beverly Hills, before starting her own line of clothing and costume design. She went on to design costumes for Patti La Belle and Billy Idol, among others.
Never Say Die
I am surrounded by people with low back pain. It hurts to watch them—walking with that "can't stand up straight" shuffle, getting up from a chair and pausing to catch a breath, grimacing every time another searing pain shoots down their leg. Ouch. I remember it well.
No Easy Fix, Dang It
I no longer need an alarm clock. These days I can count on my body to wake me up in plenty of time to get an early start. But it's not good news. Instead of a gentle beep, beep, I wake to a right hand and arm screaming in pain and yet numb. We're not talking an "oh my goodness, it went to sleep," tingly hand. We're talking a "red hot, ice cold, stiff and feeling like a catcher's mitt" hand. It always goes away once I get up and moving, but the problem is I have no choice in the matter of when I get moving. The silly thing has no timer to set and lately it's been "going off" at 2:58, 3:26 and 4:44 a.m. Good grief. Time to research carpal tunnel again.
‘Iron Wrapped In Cotton'
Whatever you call it—T'ai Chi Ch'uan or Taijiquan (Supreme Ultimate Fist), T'ai Chi, Tai Chi, or Taiji—it's still an internal Chinese martial art that comes in many flavors, each with its own special style.
Come Fly With Her
Sometimes we need help. Whether it's getting out of a job, getting out of your head or getting a whole new life, some things just aren't do-it-yourself projects if you want to do them well.
In Survival Mode
I would daresay during the past two weeks, most of the population of Mississippi has been stressed out. In graduate school I once had a professor who made it her mission to dispel ideas about language that she believed weren't very conducive to true communication. The word "stress" was one of them—focusing most of her time convincing us that the idea of stress was a social construct, much like the idea of race. There were days toward the end of the semester where I truly felt what my mouth might not be able to explain as "stress," but my body would have absolutely no problem pinning down.
How I Stay Healthy
Carla Gayle Simpson, 24, is a fourth-year dental student at the University Medical Center. She takes classes six hours a week and sees patients from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. But even though she has a very busy and hectic schedule, she still manages to work out on a regular basis.
A Lunch To Grow On
Our lazy summer days are coming to an end, and school is around the corner. Cafeteria food might taste good, but those steak fingers and fries do not have much nutritional values. The rate of obesity in our country is on the rise, with bad eating habits starting in grade school. For a more nutritious lunch, here are a few healthy, tasty on-the-go lunch options.
Vine-Ripened Health
There's nothing much better tasting than a fresh vine-ripened tomato. It could be that Southern standard, the tomato sandwich—sliced tomatoes on white bread, slathered with mayo. It might be a classic Italian salad, the caprese—a quarter-inch slice of tomato, sprinkled with a touch of olive oil and some sea salt, topped with a basil leaf and a slice of fresh buffalo mozzarella.
I Resolve, I Resolve, I Resolve
I just took a glorious week off. This hasn't happened to me much since we started the Free Press two and a half years ago. We managed to get away for a week in August to the Pacific Northwest—but, truth be known, I stayed on the laptop editing and perhaps even micromanaging a little from across the country as the home team put the paper out.
The Road to Wellness: Week 1
Ah, the South. The smell of the pine trees, the thrill of a cool evening after a storm, and … the fried food. I like to joke with friends in other parts of the country that even the vegetables are chicken-fried. The unfortunate part—for the weight conscious, at least—is that it isn't much of a joke.
The Road to Wellness, Week 2
Zen and the Art of Monkey Training
"I don't think there are barbecue chips on the Road to Wellness," Ms. D opined, as we ambled away from the Semiahmoo Marina in Blaine, Wash., after enjoying a sunset cruise around Semiahmoo Bay complete with wine, cheese and chips. But we'd had a great time, and it was Friday (cheating day), so we cut ourselves some slack.