Three trillion dollars are spent in this country on healthcare each year, with over 150 billion dollars being spent on obesity alone. A lot of the illnesses and pain doctors treat are caused by inflammation preceded by lack of sleep, diet and stress in our everyday lives. These are known as lifestyle diseases and some examples are cancer, diabetes and heart disease just to name a few. Reducing inflammation can help shorten the duration of many of these conditions and in some cases alter the severity or eliminate them altogether. When I think of optimal health and general overall...

It’s always something. My kids/spouse/pets/fill-in-the-blank all need so much from me every day. My job is demanding. I don’t get paid nearly enough for the work I do. Bills are due. I can’t make ends meet. The house is a mess. I’m so tired all the time. I’ve tried to focus on me before, but it didn’t work and made me even more stressed out. I just can’t seem to catch a break. Life doesn’t discriminate: 99% of the population can relate to one or more of the above stressors, all of which can, and has, taken a serious...

Are you excited about your vacation plans but also concerned about sabotaging your diet when you are eating away from home? Many of you are either learning or have learned how to incorporate a healthy lifestyle plan that works for you on a daily basis. You try to eat balanced meals with fresh, whole foods from your favorite grocery store. You may have set exercise routines that you enjoy along with daily, healthy habits that you easily sustain such as getting to bed and waking up at the same time every day. The biggest challenge for many of us...

Finally! Menopause brings many freedoms such as no concerns about periods and birth control. With the life changes that usually accompany menopause such as the “empty nest” one would think that this would be the ideal time to reconnect with your partner and reestablish that intimacy you both crave. However there are many changes that menopause brings that present new challenges to this intimacy. The first challenge that women face is the vanishing libido. As annoying as periods were the hormones that caused those periods to happen also help you to feel “in the mood”…at least for a few...

Talk about mindfulness is everywhere now. Exercise, food, even parenting – we can be mindful in nearly every aspect of our lives. We can also be mindful of our money. If you’re not making active decisions around your finances, you’re likely not using your money to enrich your life. Our finances are an integral part of our overall well-being, and if they are not under control, the rest of our lives won’t be balanced. If you’re kept awake at night worrying about whether your money is going to last until your next paycheck, your health, productivity at work, and...

The Greek Goddess Hygeia was the Goddess of Good Health. Thus her name has become synonymous with preventative medicine practices to improve the quality of life. Sleep hygiene refers to the common sense and environmental aspects that contribute towards a good night sleep, and are often considered cornerstones of sleep medicine. Doing your best to create a restful environment and a bedtime routine can improve the quality and duration of sleep. A restful environment includes the following: A darkened room. The room does not need to be pitch black if that is uncomfortable for you, but ideally the windows...

What would it take for you to get out of bed when you’re depressed and just want to sleep the day away? How can you get yourself to go to the gym instead of sitting back down on the couch to watch the 5th episode of Master of None? Is there something you can do so that the next time your spouse is asking you a question at the same time that your kids are clamoring for snacks, you don’t snap at one of them? How many things do you want to be different in your life? How many...

When I first heard of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping, I thought it was a little crazy! What was tapping on my body going to do for me? Well, I soon found out just how powerful EFT is. Have you ever found yourself procrastinating to the point of feeling frozen or paralyzed at the thought of doing a task like going to the dentist or even making a phone call? You’re not alone. What if you knew you could tap on nine energy meridian points on your body and actually feel lasting relief from the following “short list”...

Every year millions of books on diet and weight loss are sold in this country alone yet the statistics focusing on obesity and being overweight in America are extremely startling. According to the Center of Disease Control’s website, 69% of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight or obese. Over 20% of the younger population is either overweight or obese and this rate has more than doubled from the early 80’s until now. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of 35 major diseases including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, sleep apnea and cancer. Obviously the information in...

It is always exciting when the cucumber harvest starts, but within a few weeks of the season we are often overrun with their abundance. My solution to this dilemma is to adopt the old motto, “variety is the spice of life”. Getting creative with the use of cucumbers keeps things fresh and interesting so that I can enjoy them throughout the entirety of the growing season. There is something irresistible about the cool crunch of cucumber. Thus, it is not surprising that cucumbers can be found in most major international cuisines. They are related to other members of the...

My name is Dr. Sarah Kotzur and I’m a ridiculously happy, licensed naturopathic doctor practicing in Portland, Maine. In my beautiful seaside clinic, I’ve helped thousands of patients regain their health and vitality using a natural approach and I’d love to help you too. We can enjoy great health naturally if we give ourselves the nourishment we need, let go of the things that sap our energy, and allow the body to heal itself. The whole point of having an energetic and vital body and mind is so you can do the things you love, like working, playing, raising...

The women’s self-help health movement was started in the 1970’s by lay women who set out to demystify women’s bodies by sharing information with other women. Key players in this movement were the Feminist Women’s Health Centers, the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (which published Our Bodies, Our Selves) and numerous other grass roots organizations. I myself was a part of Women’s Community Health Center, a center run by and for women in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Now, in the age of the internet and social media, we as women have more access to...

Anxiety and Depression:  Lifestyle Basics Anxiety and depression account for the vast majority of cases of mental/emotional illness in our society, affecting people of all ages and, increasingly, children. Over 1 out of 5 children between the ages of 13 and 18 have had a seriously debilitating mental disorder, either currently or at some point during their life. Also, according to the CDC, about 13% of children aged 8-15 had a diagnosable mental disorder within the year prior to a large survey.  Depression in children is estimated at approximately 2% of school age children and 8% of adolescents. The...

Let’s think of “children” being between four and twelve years old (the age range I have worked with in hypnosis). Younger children are believed to be unable to benefit from hypnosis, while teenagers usually respond well to adult hypnotic techniques.  The four-to-twelve-year-olds tend to be very creative and imaginative and often slip into hypnosis without need of a formal induction. They are used to going into an altered state of consciousness spontaneously on their own. Their ability to day-dream and fantasize makes them ideal subjects for hypnosis. Much of who we are and who we become takes hold within...