How chronically ill people exhaust themselves before even addressing their health. A friend from abroad wrote to me that her chronic illness feels like it’s closing in. She recently started experiencing new symptoms of breathlessness and insomnia. It’s disorienting and feels like flirting with madness because these symptoms aren’t “presenting” in an established pattern. A diagnosis can’t be given.

We are now dropped into the chute between Thanksgiving and New Year’s which can be full of grasping and confusion (for me). To turn in another direction, I wanted to share some lovely, thought-provoking content I came across recently that seems so appropriate for this newsletter. It’s necessary to be…

A video conversation with my longtime colleague. You form a certain bond with someone after spending several mornings a week standing still in front of them, quietly ordering your arms and neck to relax and then bringing your hands to rest on their cranium. This is the bond I have with Morgan Rysdon , an energizing, kind…

I Became Disabled, Didn’t Become Jewish, and Joined a Synagogue. Thank you to everyone who offered financial support for The In-Between and my book-in-progress last week. Your readership and generosity mean so much to me. If you didn’t get a chance, you can support this newsletter and the hiring of an editor for my book project through or . …

An unexpected Election Day victory. This amazing thing happened to me on Election Day. I was having an Alexander Technique lesson with a mentor teacher and, during those 45 minutes, a pain went away in my knees that has been off and on for at least 10 years. She diagnosed it, taught me how to…

Taking Our Imperfections in Stride It’s an act of generosity that we don’t endlessly hassle ourselves to be better or different. We can grant ourselves permission to be as we are right now. Moody, tight, buoyant, or excited. This is also an act of generosity to others. Without realizing it, many of us are paranoid…

There’s something to be discovered right where we don’t want to find it. One of the things that you often don’t imagine when you begin, or want to begin, meditation is that you will likely be in pain at times. Instead of clear-headed bliss or peace, your knees will be bothering you, your back will be stiffening, or you will be chased by…

What I’m learning from taking Alexander Technique lessons with a great teacher It Always Comes Back to This. When I trained to be an Alexander Technique teacher, I learned a zillion anatomical details about the eight carpal bones in the wrist (which look like pebbles on a river bottom), the basin-like structure of the pelvis, and the comings and goings of the…

How to Be a Normal Person Who Practices Bodywork. In the early days of my training and teaching, there was nothing like getting together with a group of Alexander Technique teachers to make my neck hurt like hell. Just being around other colleagues would produce this needling, pestering narrative: my posture was crappy and needed correcting. …