Our bodies encounter microorganisms throughout the year, and our immune systems respond to those encounters continuously. Some exposures result in infection, others are successfully contained, and many pass without our ever becoming aware of them. Previous immunity, the particular microorganism, and the amount of exposure all influence what happens. But our overall health and the conditions in which our bodies are functioning are also worth considering.

Being “in a mood” isn’t necessarily a character flaw. Our moods are influenced by what is happening around us, what we are carrying emotionally, and what is happening inside our bodies. Sleep, food, daylight, and our health all have a part to play.

We often think about changing our moods through positive thinking, changing our circumstances, or finding something enjoyable to do. Yet there is another avenue available to us, one that works through our senses and doesn't require us to reason our way into a different emotional state.

Have you ever finished a day feeling completely exhausted, even though you've spent most of it sitting? You've answered messages, solved problems, made decisions, worked through unexpected difficulties, and spent a considerable amount of time worrying about things you cannot immediately change.

Have you ever been absolutely convinced that someone was upset with you, only to discover later that they had something entirely different on their mind?

Have you ever walked into a room and immediately recognized a fragrance before identifying where it was coming from? The unmistakable smell of freshly brewed coffee may bring a sense of anticipation, while the scent of a forest after rainfall can change our experience of the surroundings almost immediately.

if food provides our body with energy, why doesn't eating more always leave us feeling more energetic? The answer begins with understanding that the energy contained in food and the energy our bodies can actually use are not quite the same thing. Food supplies the raw materials, but our bodies must digest, absorb, transport, and transform those materials before they become useful to our cells. Every part of that process depends on a remarkable collection of nutrients, enz

Before we can become more discerning about what we experience in the presence of another person, it is valuable to become familiar with how we feel when we are comfortably centred within ourselves.

We began by noticing how a person or a place can affect the way we feel. Perhaps the next question is what others experience in our presence.

There is always more to a conversation than just words. Understanding energy exchanges, personal boundaries, and the part we play in how we feel. Most of us have experienced it. We spend an hour with someone, sometimes considerably less, and afterward feel as though we have worked an entire day. Our body feels heavy, our thoughts are scattered, and the enthusiasm we had before the encounter seems to have disappeared. Nothing particularly physical has taken place. We may have

Most people first meet aromatherapy through the nose. They smell lavender and decide whether it appeals to them; they recognize peppermint almost immediately, and they often have a much stronger reaction to something like patchouli because it carries such a distinctive personality. One person may love it, another may associate it with a particular decade or person, and someone else may decide instantly that it is not an aroma they want anywhere near them.

We spend a great deal of time thinking about whether we are moving our bodies enough, but there is another kind of inactivity that receives much less attention. We can be surrounded by stimulation all day and still use a surprisingly narrow range of our senses. A television can give us colour, movement and sound. A phone can give us photographs, voices, music, maps, conversations and entertainment without requiring us to move more than our eyes and a finger.

There was a time when feeding a family involved a great deal more than deciding what to pick up on the way home. Meals were planned around what was available, what could be afforded, what was growing, what had been preserved, and what could be made from the ingredients already in the house. Cooking was not treated as a special interest or hobby because, for many families, it was part of running a household. The person preparing the food learned through repetition.

What Happens When Kindness Doesn't Stop With You? Gratitude recognizes that something good has reached us. Generosity decides it doesn't have to end there.

What is it about sincere gratitude that touches us and brings us closer together? For me, gratitude reaches beyond courtesy and appreciation. In its deepest form, it doesn’t even need to be for something. It is an energy, an attitude, a direction in which we turn ourselves. I can feel grateful before I have made a list of reasons, much as I can feel love without stopping to explain why.

Most of us do not think very much about the mechanics of walking across a room. We decide to go somewhere, and our body follows. We stand up, turn, walk around the dog, step over something left on the floor, reach into a cupboard and carry what we need back to the table, all while thinking about something entirely different. When movement is working well, it feels almost automatic, which may be one of the reasons we give it so little attention until something changes.

Have We Forgotten How Remarkable It Is to Have Enough? There is a moment at Thanksgiving when the food finally reaches the table. After the shopping, peeling, chopping, stirring, roasting, and last-minute rush to get everything hot at approximately the same time, the serving dishes begin to arrive. There may be turkey and stuffing, potatoes and vegetables, cranberry sauce and gravy, followed later by the pie that everyone insists they are too full to eat until the plates app

Have you ever listened to yourself describe an ordinary day? It might be interesting to try, because most of us probably don't realize how much commentary is running through our day. We wake up and notice that it is raining. We get into the car and notice the traffic. We stop at the grocery store and notice how crowded it is. Something costs more than it did the last time we bought it, someone says something irritating, the house needs cleaning, and by the time we sit down at

There is something valuable about looking three months ahead because it gives us enough distance to imagine a meaningful difference without pushing the future so far away that it becomes vague. Ninety days is long enough for strength to improve, routines to settle, meals to become easier, a project to move forward, or one neglected part of life to receive the attention it has been waiting for, yet it is still close enough that we can picture ourselves standing there and looki

In the cycle I think of as the Fire Cycle, the time between the fall equinox and the winter solstice, we gather in the results of our choices. We see what our attention helped to grow, what we neglected, and what took root without our noticing. It is a good time to ask: What will I carry forward?