Blog
What do you want to do with your precious life?
July 11, 2016 by Gretchen Newmark
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" --Mary Oliver
At the beginning of my work, when eating disorders were first being named and talked about, I was very naïve. I thought that once people understood the harm that our “thin ideal” body image created, the obsession with weight loss and thinness would disappear or at least gradually diminish. Instead, over these three plus decades what I have witnessed is that it’s only gotten worse.
Spiritual Hunger
June 6, 2016 by Gretchen Newmark, MA, RDN
Spirtual Hunger
Mother Teresa, responding to a question about her impressions of the United States, said that we are poorer here than even the “poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.” She said that Americans are spiritually poor, worse by far than the worst material poverty.
Mediation Basics
June 6, 2016 by Gretchen Newmark, MA, RDN
Meditation Basics for Yourself and to Help Others
There are many books and a mountain of scientific articles on meditation and its benefits. This article is a brief overview, and reflects my Buddhist training. Keep in mind however, that many traditions have meditation, including Christian and Jewish.
The word, “meditation” is used for many activities, including contemplation, however, it actually refers to training in mindfulness, or being aware of and accepting all moment-to-moment experience, inner (thoughts, feelings, sensations) and outer (sounds, sights, events). Meditation can also be described as “relaxed focus.”