Lessons in Friendship

It’s 3 o’clock on a Friday afternoon and I’m standing in front of the elementary school, waiting for my first-grader.  Any moment, the brick building’s front doors will swing open and my girl will appear, smiling as she catches my eye from the top of the concrete steps, then bounding towards me, taking two steps [...]

No Place Like Home

Ahhhhh, January.  It’s finally here.  After months of what feels like non-stop activity, there’s something so nurturing about the cold, dark days of January.  We retreat inward, taking time and space to reflect on the previous year and look ahead to all that can be.  We take comfort in the warmth of our homes and [...]

Move Over Ferris Bueller

I have a love/hate relationship with most parenting magazines.  I love them for their dead-on interpretations and resolutions to baffling behaviors and childhood challenges.  I hate them for their perfectly perky parents and crazy cute kiddos in the glossy photographs, not to mention their obsession while celebrity families. But this week, a headline on Parenting’s [...]

Coffee Calls

It’s Day 14 of the Whole Living 28-day Action Plan, the exact midpoint, and my email in-box is telling me to have some coffee.   Easy enough, right?  Oh, except….I’m pretty sure they’re telling me to have it for the first time since the detox began. Right.  14 days without coffee.  Despite my best intentions [...]

New Years in December

Today is my New Year’s Day. While most people spend the month of December overindulging in food, slacking off on sleep and ignoring their normal exercise routine, I decided to make my new year’s resolution now and start taking better care of myself.  Today is Day One of the 28-Day Mind Body Challenge on Whole [...]

Boobie-licious? Not how I see it.

There.  It’s done.  The will-I, won’t-I decision is finally made, and I’ve stopped breastfeeding my nearly-9-month-old son.  There’s all kinds of guilt going on, as I imagine there is for any mom deciding whether to start, continue or stop nursing.  But for me, it’s about remembering to value my own health and happiness, which is [...]

Gratitude in the Face of Challenge

They say whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.  If that is true (and I do believe it is), 2011 will go down as my body-building year.  It hasn’t been easy…my husband’s unemployment, a difficult birth, family illness and strained friendships have made 2011 a year to remember.  But like the pilgrims, who had suffered [...]

Follow the Leader

“Let him who would be moved to convince others, be first moved to convince himself.”  — Thomas Carlyle It’s somewhere between seven and eight in the morning, and I’m practicing in my favorite studio in the seacoast.  I’ve stayed focused on my breath through most of the standing asanas.  The details of my day are furthest [...]

Family and Fitness: Tie Score

It’s 5 o’clock in the afternoon on a crisp, October day.  I’m driving home from work, my head swirling with to-do’s, my body aching to move after a long day at behind a desk.    It’s been a full five years since I last spent so much time on my rear end, and I’ve never [...]

Kids in Motion

Fall has arrived in New England and with it comes some of the most spectacular weather we see all year.  It’s the perfect time to get kids outside moving – neither too hot nor too cold – no excuses! If your kids are like mine, they sometimes need a nudge out the door.  Many health [...]

Buzz Lightyear, to the Rescue!

Pop Quiz.  What do Dora the Explorer, Lightening McQueen and Ariel the Mermaid have in common?  I mean, of course, besides the fact that they entertain our kids while we unload the dishwasher?  Give up?  In my world, they have a less-than-helpful role in my weekly grocery shopping.  Their wide eyes and flashy smiles seem [...]

On Today’s Menu: Taco Surprise

Double Thumbs Down. That’s what my six-year-old Sarah gave the tacos her school served her for lunch this week.  To say I was proud would be the understatement of the year.  After all, my kid’s desire to buy lunch in the cafeteria has been the source of all of my going-off-to-first-grade anxiety since the moment [...]

I Grow With Yoga (The Kids Yoga Resource)

This spring, my kids and I have returned to “Little Family” Yoga Class with ChildLight Yoga.  It has prompted me to reflect on the impact this company has had on my family’s wellness, and I’ve done so on The Kids Yoga Resource, the ChildLight Yoga blog for which I am a regular contributor. It’s really [...]

Celebrate National Nutrition Month!

March is National Nutrition Month, and the good folks at the American Dietetic Association have inspired bloggers to write a post based on this year’s theme, “Nutrition from the Ground Up.”  In honor of their work, as well as Michelle Obama’s campaign to end childhood obesity, I’m happy to oblige! As a mom, it’s hard [...]

Yoga Inspires Discipline and Other Values in Children (The Kids Yoga Resource)

How great is it to know that yoga can help you teach your kids important values and inspire them to adopt healthy habits for life?  This article on The Kids Yoga Resource explains how…. CLICK HERE, and enjoy the helpful list of children’s books and other resources included.

Breaking Out of The Comfort Zone

Facing the dilemma of what to write about tonight, it was going to be one of two possible topics. One: a recent weekend getaway with friends and family to an area never before visited.  Two: a new recipe using tempeh, an ingredient never before introduced at my dinner table. As I procastinated a bit, switching [...]

Personal Reflections on Post Partum Depression (Project Happily Ever After)

A friend recently linked this article, and although the show they mentioned has already aired, I think the insight of the writer and the dozens of comments by affected readers is invaluable.  If you have suffered from Post Partum depression, or if you have ever denied your negative feelings as a new mother, this link [...]

Sorry Boy Scouts…Being Prepared Sometimes Doesn’t Matter!

The last 48 hours have given me quite the yoga lesson. Yoga teaches us to be present…no regrets about the past, no worries about the future.  Learn to let go of the control, and let life happen. Of the hundreds of thousands of us affected by Thursday night’s storm here in the Northeast, who really [...]

The Great Grocery Smackdown (The Atlantic)

“It’s getting harder and harder to hate Wal-mart,” — Michelle Harvey of the Environmental Defense Fund If you’re a mom who cares about sustainable agriculture and supports local farmers, but worry about blowing the food budget at high-end organic markets like Whole Foods, this article will surprise and delight you! In the past, I’ve shopped [...]

Overcoming Doubt on and off the Mat

Tonight it was the number 2.75 staring at me from my training schedule.  Last week it was a roll of adhesive laminating paper.  Two years ago it was the sheer exhaustion of a baby who would wake up for the day at 4:00 a.m. And right now, as I sit in front of the TV [...]

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