I raised my children on Nantucket Island. I have often described it as living for 28 years on a ship at sea.  In the eighties and nineties, we did not get off the island much; I had a demanding business and with the kids in school our travel calendar  was limited by both time and budget. I am hoping that now with the internet and more frequent options to come and go things might be different for families living on island.  Small town life (especially isolated small town life) has it's pros and cons. The pros are innumerable , but the...

Alexis Soloski begins her article ," The playwright Adrienne Kennedy never wanted to move to Virginia. She spent 30 years living on the fourth floor of a brownstone on West 89th Street — her “little Victorian palace,” she called it. But the rent went higher. Her breath on the stairs came shorter. Just before she turned 80, she traveled down to Williamsburg, Va., to visit her younger son, Adam Kennedy, and she stayed.“Unfortunately, I’ve been here six years,” she said of her new city. “I hate it.” She may hate it, but it hasn't stopped her from creating new work...

From the past 20 years, I have taught many exercise methodologies, including Pilates, Zumba, TRX, Yoga, and Gyrotonic. My clients often ask me what things they can do at home to add to the fitness training we do together; depending on their goals and the time they have to workout I'll recommend a plan that seems doable. Now more and more I am asking them to examine their daily habits; how much do you stand? Walk? Do you cross your legs when seated? How much of each day do you spend looking at a screen? How well do you sleep? Etc....

How do you feel about growing older?  A 2016 research study published  in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, showed that our outlook on aging could affect how we deal with the stress of daily life.Past research on how older adults react to stress has produced a variety of results, according to Jennifer Bellingtier, Ph.D. North Carolina State University, and lead author on the study. Some studies show that older individuals handle stress better compared to their younger peers, while others find older adults are worse off. Some show that both groups fare about the same. “We thought aging attitudes could...

Norway topped the World Happiness Report for 2017, edging out Denmark which came in first in 2016. Increasing happiness is a lofty goal often linked to increasing social progress. The report is based on an annual survey of 1,000 people in more than 150 countries that simply asks them to rank, on a scale of zero to 10, whether they are living their best life. The U.S. keeps falling behind in 2017 we were ranked 14.  Jeffrey D. Sachs, one of the editors of the report, "suggests five means by which to improve social trust: campaign finance reform, policies aimed at reducing income...