Reflections

November 6, 2024 “Part of the goal of a healer is to bear the unbearable pain...

Preamble: I’m not an expert on this subject. Just a student of it, and these are some current thoughts on it. I was biking the other day and was finding so much joy in the speed and forward-motion, and was reflecting on how much of...

I once read (in My Gita, by Devdutt Pattanaik) something like that the main difference between gods and demons is that gods can see possibilities beyond the measurable. This insight resonates deeply when I consider the role of storytelling in our lives. By sharing our personal...

Alert husband Jim recently noticed a report on a study exploring the link between menopause and longevity. The study shows that the evolution of menopause in toothed whales is strikingly similar to the evolution of menopause in humans. Menopause in both species came about through the...

रागादिरोगान् सततानुषक्तानशेषकायप्रसृतानशेषान् औत्सुक्यमोहारतिदान् जघान योऽपूर्ववैद्याय नमोस्तुतस्मैः Aṣṭāṅga Hṛdayam:I:1  rāgādi-rogān satatānuṣaktān-aśeṣa-kāya-prasṛtān-aśeṣān autsukya-mohāratidān jaghāna yo’pūrva-vaidyāya namo’stu-tasmai //1//   Obeisance be unto that unique and rare (incomparable) physician [that’d be God] who has completely eliminated limitless diseases that are closely associated with and spreading all over the body and mind, perpetually causing...

ऋ॒तं च॑ स॒त्यं चा॒भी॑द्धा॒त्तप॒सोऽध्य॑जायत ṛtaṃ ca satyaṃ cābhīddhāt tapaso 'dhy ajāyata Truth was born and the order of truth from the kindled fire of energy of consciousness. Rig Veda 10.190.1 I’ve been reflecting on the relationship between the Sanskrit words, “satyam” and, “ṛta” or, “ṛtam.” Satyam: The Chandogya Upanishad tells us...

By Dr. Ramkumar, Dr. Robert Svoboda & Dr. Claudia Welch Note: This is an evolving work. We have already changed the title and edited the article a bit in response to thoughtful input from readers. We have added links at the bottom of this article to...

By Dr. Claudia Welch Disclaimer,  Introduction and entry into svādhyāya (self-introspection): While certainly Black people and people outside the US are welcome to read this, I am a white woman, and it is generally intended to speak to the perspective and perhaps shared experience of other...

Dear Friends, I hope this finds you finding, good in the, “bad” and with a strong footing in the, “good.” I recently returned to North America from Eastern & Northern Europe where, among other things, I co-taught some events with my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Robert...

By Dr. Claudia Welch For a long time I have reflected on something that my guru said on more than one occasion. Here are the exact words, in one case: “And then we should have confidence, because a coward can never achieve any success. Only a strong-hearted...

(Like the pithy title?) I just finished the second of two books I read back-to-back. Well, actually I listened to them on Audible (www.audible.com). (While in many cases I prefer reading books, this one is particularly wonderful to listen to I find the reader, Simon Vance,...

Today, in the wake of the 2016 US Presidential election, there is shock, daze, awe, grief, disbelief, or all of the above, on all sides of the political totem. It feels familiar to me. I think maybe because I have been involved in birth and death before. What the...

By Dr. Claudia Welch As of January 2011, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that, if you were an average young American, you would be spending almost every waking minute, outside of time in school, on either a smart phone, computer, TV or some other electronic...

Gentle Reader, I am guilty of this too. I could pretend I’m not, but then there would be pretense on top of pretense. In 2011, the New York Times reported a study that led to conclusions about fake versus genuine emotions, that we probably already knew. (One...

I was thinking lately… I was thinking that traditionally the Aghora sect of Hinduism has, at least in part, at least according to my understanding, embraced practices that would seem extreme to non-Aghori Hindus. Or just about anybody else. Meditating in graveyards, maybe on corpses, inviting a...

Some of us are exercise junkies. Some not. Some of us enjoy a good, brisk, long walk. Provided some tidy conditions are met: the weather must be perfect and there must be a perfect chat companion. If the weather is cold, companion taciturn or absent, or...

“Alas, I have good news.” In late May 2010, I got this cheerful voicemail message from Renee Sedliar, the affable and talented Executive Editor at Da Capo. I stood in the Baltimore airport, between flights, slightly confused. She quickly corrected, “I mean, at last, I have good news.” Da...

Hi all. I just spent a couple weeks in New Zealand, or “Aotearoa”– “land of the long white cloud,” as a stopover on my way to teach in Australia. There is a reason clouds occupy a prominent position in the Maori name for New Zealand. [caption id="attachment_55521" align="alignnone"...

I just spent such a delightful weekend with the Kripalu School of Ayurveda students, who should be graduating, like, any minute now. It was truly, madly, deeply enjoyable for me to spend time with them. Hopefully it wasn’t lousy for them either. I am also aware...

Sometime in maybe the 2000s, I started hearing a lot about, “oil pulling.” How it was an ancient Ayurvedic practice used extensively for thousands of years. And it seemed to cure everything from cavities to cancer. I had never heard of it. I had been studying Ayurveda...

This article was actually guest-written for Diaforlife.com, a resource-full website dedicated to Connecting and inspiring people around the world to live their full potential and become part of a growing change for the planet. But they graciously let me repurpose it for my October 7, 2012...

New: Menopause Chronicles, an honest conversation about transformation with Dr. Claudia Welch and friends.