Quiet the mind. Slow down your breath. Awaken your chakras. It's time to meditate! I'll be the first one to admit that I used to be like Ms. Paltrow, in that I didn't have the slightest idea how to meditate. I would dim the lights, make sure the apartment was quiet, and try to focus on my breath. Problem was, I was so focused on "conquering meditation" that my mind couldn't relax and just "be." Read more

Meditation helps with many things: it can help you destress, become more self-aware, and even reduce your sensation of pain. And a new study has found yet another benefit: meditation helps you tune out distractions even when you aren't in the midst of a mediation itself. The study, published in the Brain Research Bulletin, looked at 12 adults, some of whom took an eight-week class training in Read more

Have you experienced the positive benefits of meditation? A new study that looked at 18 healthy young adults who had never meditated before found that with just 20-minute instructional sessions in mindfulness meditation, there was a significant reduction in pain when subjects were exposed to painful stimuli. I already knew that regular meditation has been shown to have significant therapeutic Read more

Whenever I get asked if I'm a morning person, I drift off for a moment, imagining my hands wrapped around a mug, sipping hot tea as I sit cross-legged in a cozy chair, watching the sunrise over the ocean. Then reality slaps me in the face, and I hesitate to say I'm a morning person. Forget the fantasy morning, because I've learned over the years to create my own morning ritual that helps me start Read more

Stressed out? Grab a pen or pencil and some paper, and do this relaxation exercise from the OnSugar blog goddessbody. I call this exercise the Phone Cord (before the cell phone and cordless phone). It promotes calmness and relaxation and relieves inner tension. It also helps improve balance and coordination. Learn how to do this easy exercise when you read more Read more

Every few weeks I'm hit with a bad case of insomnia, and it's beyond frustrating. I've tried every trick in the book to deal with it, but I usually end up lying in bed for an hour before giving up and getting up again. One thing I've tried to lull me to sleep is the old wives tale of counting sheep. I haven't had much success with it and it looks like I am not alone. According to a sleep Read more

This year Gwyneth Paltrow is going to clear her mind and give meditation a try. Before you write this off as another one of Gwyneth's questionable health practices or categorize meditation as something hippies, Buddhists, and the new agey do in incense filled rooms, hear me out. Meditation is an easy way to alleviate stress and anxiety and it doesn't cost a dime. Also, it can be done anywhere in Read more

The yoga studio where I teach just started offering Vajra yoga classes, so I decided to try something new and took a class last week. The only thing I knew before heading into the studio was that this was a more meditative kind of yoga. Since the class began at noon, it was small: only four other students. The small group made for a calm and peaceful environment, and the teacher had a single Read more