health

by Nina Sun Behind Clouds by Melina Meza One of the worst fears I think we all share about getting older is of developing dementia. Just recently I had a long phone conversation with a woman who is trying to deal with a mother in the early stages of Alzheimer�s Disease, and it was just so sad. I had some advice for her, but no solutions, of course. Then I heard a news piece on NPR �Brains Sweep Themselves Clean of Toxins During Sleep�   that gave me  glimmer of hope. For a very long time, scientists have been trying to figure out the purpose of sleep. Now, a recent study � Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain �  by University of Rochester researchers that was published in Science Magazine proposed a fascinating new theory about sleep. The researchers discovered that while you are asleep, your brain clears out harmful toxins! During sleep there is a dramatic increase in  flow of cerebrospinal fluid in your brain, and this washes away the toxic waste ...

by Nina Horses Grazing by Brad Gibson It's a running joke in our family that when Brad gets impatient with me�because I often do various household tasks a bit slower than he does�he says to me, "Take your time!" He swears that Bill Murray said this repeatedly in the movie Caddy Shack, but when we watched it again recently, no one actually ever uttered that line. Regardless, I always reply, "You take your time." But many worthwhile things really do take time. For example, if you want to cook a really good meal instead of eating fast food, you need to shop for fresh ingredients and prepare everything from scratch. And if you want to turn a new acquaintance into a close friend, you need to spend a lot of time together, getting to know and trust each other. The same is true for seeing results from yoga practice. Obviously, one Downward-Facing Dog pose doesn't instantly make your arms stronger, though with regular practice, it definitely will increase your str...