I was inspired to write this week’s blog after I had an email from a regular reader who is a physiotherapist-turned yoga instructor, and who wanted to know how I’m finding time to take care of my physical body whilst juggling full-time work, parenting, wife-ing, whole-food cooking, and all the mindfulness meditating that I’m committed to as part of my new film project. As a health journalist who lives with an autoimmune disease (the most recent diagnosis is Sjogren’s disease) I’m all-too aware of the importance of moving my body regularly. I’ve interviewed leading experts, written a ton of blogs,... Read full article »

If you ask any parent in my generation what influence sugar has on their kids, it’s likely they’ll say with deep conviction that sugar makes their children certifiably crazy. We see it time and time again after birthday parties and special holiday outings. Shortly after filling up on candies, cookies and cake our little darlings transform into wailing, complaining, fractious beasts.  So you can imagine my surprise when I sat down this week to review the research connecting sugar consumption to poor mood and discovered that there is no compelling evidence to prove this “known fact.” Indeed meta-analysis published in... Read full article »

This time last week I found myself weeping in hotel room in the Middle East.I had just spent my day filming in a dusty refugee camp on the border of Syria and Jordan where I had interviewed a single mother of six children who’s answer to my question, “If you could wish for anything in the world right now, what would it be?” was “Anything? If I could have anything, it would be a tarpaulin for the roof because it leaks in the rain and winter is coming.”I was in Jordan; a country on the front line of a global... 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 »

The other day I was standing in my kitchen deep in thought and on the verge of solving a challenging work conundrum when my husband walked in and asked me what was wrong. “Nothing,” I said. “I’m just thinking.” My caring husband had seen my stern looking face and thought that something was up. But there wasn’t anything wrong. I was just thinking deeply and wearing a face expression that, with thanks to media observations of Hilary Clinton and other women in the public spotlight, has become known as “resting bitch face.”This seemingly harmless and minor interaction got me thinking... Read full article »

Around this time last year I found myself in the midst of a professional crisis of conscience. The credibility of my work as a health journalist was being put to the test after I read an academic paper in which a group of 15 well-respected neuroscientists, mindfulness researchers, and meditation teachers warned that mindfulness is being over-sold and over-hyped and that some people are being misled, cheated, disappointed and even harmed. The paper inspired a series of alarming headlines such as Mindfulness Is a Meaningless Word With Shoddy Science Behind It and Is Mindfulness Meditation BS? I say alarming, because... Read full article »