One of the best introductions to the power of mindfulness and relaxation is a simple exercise you can do while lying down and listening. That’s all you have to do. It’s called the body scan and if you are like me you will be surprised at how effective it is at calming the mind and…
Join Our Stress Management Group
I will be leading a virtual group where we will practice techniques for relaxing the body and mind. While stress is a normal part of life, you can change how you relate to stressful thoughts andsituations, lessening the emotional and physical impact stress has on your life. Our bodies have a natural relaxation system that…
Exercise and Cancer
Movement does a body good. Regular exercise reduces your chance of getting any of the common diseases of our modern age: diabetes, heart disease, and many forms of cancer. In terms of cancer, how and why this is true is still being investigated but there are some clear ways that the body responds to movement…
Care for your Arteries
Healthy arteries may be the key to preventing many of the common long term diseases like heart attacks, strokes, and kidney disease. Arteries are not static tubes, they are living tissue that needs to be flexible, expanding and contracting with changes in blood flow and blood pressure. Arteries have a thin line of cells called…
Meditation Challenge Week 3: how not to be perfect.
“Perfect is the enemy of the good.” Perfection will never happen so why do hold ourselves to this standard? Don’t let meditation be one more place where you are getting it wrong. It doesn’t matter if you are good at meditating or following your breath. What matters is the practice which helps you be more…
Meditation Challenge Week Two
Empowerment. Or how to increase resilience, inner strength and flexibility. Meditation is a technique to increase your self-reliance and ability to do hard things. This practice helps build self trust to respond to life’s challenges in ways that decrease your suffering and increase your freedom. As Tuere Sala states during one of this week’s guided…
Meditation Challenge Week 1
Notice and let go. Meditation can feel complicated and strange, but really it is very simple. Just sit quietly, notice what is going on and relax. Thoughts, physical sensations, sounds all come and go. Your job is to keep relaxing, letting go. Simple doesn’t mean easy. Sitting quietly can be incredibly foreign, in many ways…
New Year’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge
Each year at the Free Clinic we organize a New Year’s challenge to engage with each other and take advantage of the motivation for health improvement that is part of our culture this time of year. Managing stress is our focus this year, for obvious reasons. Along with many other things, 2020 was the year…
Three Ways You Can Practice Lifestyle Medicine
What are the most important factors in your health? It’s not your genetics. In fact, according to the CDC: 50% of health status is due to health behaviors——exercise, smoking, and diet. 20% is genetics 10-15% is environment and access to health care. Narrowing it down even more, what people are and are not eating is…
Lifestyle is Medicine: You Are Your Primary Care Provider
Join me for a free talk on the power of healthy habits. I hope to see you there! To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bnQ_ZKwsQoi0paGfJG5Xvw
San Francisco Free Clinic Dietitian 