371 days ago things weren’t pretty. I was an anxious insomniac and I never felt as though there was enough time in the day. There were also some troubling signs that my illness, which causes arthritic chronic pain and fatigue when I let my stress get out of control, was going to flare.It’s ironic that the final chapter in my book was called Lasting Change because the single most important change that I had made in order to live well despite my illness was the one that I had allowed to slip. My daily meditation and yoga practice had made... Read full article »

In my 37 years of living as a human being I’ve noticed a very distinct pattern which goes something like this: I throw myself into life with gusto and enthusiasm, be it with work or home life commitments A trigger wakes me up to the fact that I’m neglecting my health. For example, I’ve had one too many sleepless nights in a row or I “suddenly” can’t fit into my skinny jeans. The trigger causes me to identity the “problem” and I sign up to a program that promises a fix. This week I was prompted to do a little... Read full article »

A leading health researcher recently told me a provocative definition of the word “addiction.” He defined it as “continued use, despite adverse consequences.” In other words, you’re addicted to something if you keep doing it, despite the fact that it’s bad for you. If he’s right, then I may be in trouble. It means that, among other things, I’m possibly addicted to… filmmaking.Ever since my husband (and co producer), Jules, and I decided to make another film, life has been mad. Despite the glamorous reputation that the movie industry has, the reality is far from it. We’re independent filmmakers, which... Read full article »

In the last five years, in my work as a health journalist, I estimate that I’ve read at least 2000 scientific studies. In all that time, with all that reading, there is one study that has left me utterly gobsmacked. The study involved more than 3000 people and looked at how they used their smartphones. It found that if partipcants didn’t have a wrist watch or an alarm clock, they had significantly less time in their lives to spend on non-smartphone leisure activities. In the study, people who reported using both a wristwatch and an alarm clock had an average... Read full article »

As a health journalist who shares my story of recovery from a chronic disease in hope of encouraging others, it can be tempting to only share the highlights of my whole-health life, and to engage in the hashtag-driven, insta-world where wellness icons and lifestyle gurus post moment-by-moment mythology about their unblemished lives. And although I’d probably sell more books if I did, as anyone who’s been following my blog will tell you, that’s not what I’m about.While my message to those looking for ways to get healthy or stay healthy is that there is a solid foundation of evidence from... Read full article »

I had the great pleasure of spending last weekend with a group of people who had just been through an amazing transformative experience.   All week they had been eating amazingly healthy food, exercising, meditating and practicing mindful activities like Tai Chi and Yoga. They had no alcohol, caffeine or chocolate, which some of you might think sounds like torture, but these people all had the healthy-shiny-glowy look of well people.   They’d been through a program at The Golden Door health retreat and it culminated with a screening of my film The Connection, followed by a Q and A... Read full article »