Happy Thursday, readers!

We’ve made it through the first month of 2013, and I hope it’s been a great one for you!

I’m writing this post to let you know that as of today, Your Body, Your Mind is taking a brief hiatus.

Psych Central and I began Your Body, Your Mind nearly one year ago with the goal of providing a place for people to learn more about how what we do for our bodies (food and fitness) goes hand-in-hand with what we do for our minds.

This post is part of a week-long yoga series at Your Body, Your Mind.

Happy Friday, readers!

If you haven’t been able to check out the blog lately, you’ve missed out on a week-long yoga series that covered everything from depression and anxiety to sleep and sex, and how yoga can help with it all!

Well, never fear! You have all weekend to get caught up (and maybe get to work on your practice!), and I have the posts listed below for your convenience.

Happy New Year, readers!

Well, we’re one week into 2013! How’s it treating you so far? Did you have a nice holiday? Are you back to school or work yet?

Have you…

…made (or at this point, broken) your New Year’s resolutions yet?

I know, I know, I know!

New Year’s resolutions are, for many, a joke.

I mean, if you want to change something, just change it. Right? Don’t wait around for a specific month, day, and year – especially not a month, day, and year that puts so much pressure on you.

Yet, New Year’s Resolutions (or, at least, the making of them) stick around for a reason: Fresh starts.

Who doesn’t get excited about the chance at a fresh start?

Psych Central and I launched “Your Body, Your Mind” just a few months into 2012, and we’ve enjoyed a blessed year, to say the least.

So blessed, in fact, I had to come up with some new criteria in order to cut the list of most popular posts down from nearly 30 to just 15.

So, instead of going by viewing statistics only, I also included tweets, posts, and pins.

That’s right, the following 15 “Your Body, Your Mind” posts were the most viewed and shared on social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

So sit back, get your bookmark button ready, and check out some of the best body, mind, and spirit posts we had to offer this year.

Happy Tuesday, beautiful readers!

We’ve survived Thanksgiving, but with Christmas just a week away and New Year’s just a week after that, it’s safe to say we’re still in the thick of the holiday season.

Which means, for some of us, there are still a lot of stress and anxiety triggers coming our way.

As such, the good people over at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) are hosting a Twitter chat on using complementary health practices like yoga, meditation, and tai chi to manage stress and anxiety – specifically, the safety and efficacy of these mind and body practices.

During the chat, you’ll get to meet John Glowa, Ph.D., the NCCAM expert who oversees the organization’s behavioral health research portfolio, and Daniel Pine, M.D. from the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Note that:

• The chat is today (Tuesday, December 18, 2012) at 3:30 p.m. EST. (Got a free minute between now and then? Check out highlights from a previous NIH NCCAM Twitter chat: 5 Resources for Depression and Complementary Health Practices)
• You should go ahead and follow the NIH NCCAM on Twitter at @NCCAM.
• The hashtag for the chat is #nccamchat.

Hope to see you there!

Image Credit

Oh! I have exciting news for you, readers!

On Friday, November 9, 2012 at 1 p.m. EST (that’s tomorrow!), the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) will host a Twitter chat the safety and efficacy of complementary health approaches for depression.

Two experts will help facilitate the chat, both of whom I expect will bring a lot of valuable information to the table.

First, you’ll meet research psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist Dr. Matthew Rudorfer. Dr. Rudorfer is with NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and can answer any general questions participants have about depression and depression treatments. Want to know more about symptoms, heredity, and ways to treat depression? This is your guy.

Then, you’ll get to know the NCCAM program officer, Dr. Wendy Weber. Dr. Weber’s has a special research interest in this area and is the lady who can step in and provide information about the use and safety of complementary approaches for depression treatments.

So, what constitutes “complementary approaches,” you ask?

Not to state the obvious, but it’s hot. So hot that most of my cooking these days consists of me staring at the oven and then ordering take-out. It’s not that I don’t want to make myself dinner, it’s just that my tiny kitchen threatens to roast me alive any time I even think of turning on the oven.

Unfortunately, my sweet tooth doesn’t seem to register that baking is out of the question. All it wanted for the last three days was pie. Raspberry, cherry, peach – it didn’t matter. Just give me pie! it kept shouting. Give me pie or I will wake you up at 3:30AM with such a craving that you will be forced to mix a spoonful of peanut butter with a spoonful of chocolate sauce in the dark. Alone. While wearing a bathrobe.

Since the aforementioned scenario was embarrassing enough the first time around, I decided that something had to be done to appease my need for sweet. I wasn’t going to be baking, so a traditional crust was out.  I was also battling a nasty head cold, so doing any kind of major prep was impossible. After leafing through some recipes, I finally decided on a raw, vegan fruit tart – it would be fast, easy and full of the sweetness I had been craving.

Since last Friday, my area has been hit pretty hard with extreme heat waves and severe winds and thunderstorms. Naturally, Mother Nature’s cranky mood led to ongoing power outages, which led to little relief from the humidity and high temperatures, a lot of spoiled food, heat-related health problems, and…

…our own cranky moods.

This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with a long-term power outage – not by a long shot. However, it might be the first time I’ve dealt with one while simultaneously dealing with unrelenting temperatures and hostile weather conditions.

Needless to say, I learned a lot about staying healthy when the heat is on (and the power is off), and I thought – now that my power’s back! – I’d share them with you.

Breakfast is my meal. I’m not sure why, but for as long as I can remember I have loved breakfast with my whole heart and soul. Brunch is even better.

I’m often mystified by people who routinely skip this meal. Whenever I skip breakfast, I become an angry, headachey hunger monster who can’t perform simple tasks. My mood darkens and I dislike everyone. I mean, really dislike them. And then eat 100 cookies for lunch.

Now that I’m gluten-free, finding satisfying breakfast choices is a bit more challenging – especially because I often need to eat breakfast on the run, or at least have something portable to bring to work. Are there ways to eat a healthy, gluten-free breakfast on the run?

I mean, of course!

Happy Friday, readers!

This week’s Your Body, Your Mind Mental Health Month Challenge #4 was to take the stairs – both literally and figuratively.

This challenge meant everything walking the few blocks to work to skipping a night of American Idol to spend more time with your family.

First, how did I do with the challenge?