Please enjoy the hundreds of articles that Dr. Borten has written over the past 20+ years. There’s something for everyone, including explorations of spirituality, learning from the natural world, exercise and stretching, nutrition, psychology, posture, breathing, pain management, Eastern medicine and philosophy, and much more.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve written on the very popular, sometimes faddish topic of cleansing and when it is and isn’t appropriate. We’ve looked at fasting, sweating, and skin brushing as means of stimulating detoxification. This week, I’m going to cover some dietary interventions…
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing about the practice of cleansing, what benefits it might have and when it might be appropriate. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic medicine see patterns of human health as being closely tied to the fluctuations of the…
Last week, I wrote about “cleansing” and who it might be appropriate for. We established that it’s often difficult to know whether your symptoms are the result of depletion (being worn out or deficient in some manner) or accumulation (carrying around something “extra” – infection,…
Hi there! We’re so excited that you’re going to be joining us for 9-weeks of strategic and heart centered action to create a meaningful life. For years, people have been asking us how we do it. Starting in our 20s, we launched several…
As our world sheds the chill of winter, your pets shed their fur all over your clothes and furniture, and you shed your coat and long johns, you might feel moved to facilitate the shedding of some of the gunk you acquired through the past…
I have a long history of not living up to my potential. I had some talent in music, art, and academics, but I spent years noodling around and not making anything of it. I started a lot of things I didn’t finish. This trend started…
As a healthcare practitioner, I feel an obligation to keep up with health-related research. Luckily, I’m a total science geek, so it isn’t a burden at all. It seems the majority of our news today is negative, medical news included, so my intention is to…
Over the past few centuries, while we’ve made some advances in understanding the vastness of our universe, the prevailing trend in science and medicine has been to understand the world on a smaller and smaller scale. We’ve come to accept that our bodies are composed…
Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been posting excerpts from our upcoming book on our three-part foundation for forging a successful and balanced life: structure, sweetness, and space. First, I explained how sweetness can be scheduled liberally into our lives, and how we can infuse…
Last week I introduced the three elements of a balanced life – sweetness, structure, and space – which we discuss in our upcoming book, The Well Life. My previous article was titled, “Why Sweet Stuff is Actually Good for You.” To everyone who excitedly emailed…
Briana and I started out in healthcare careers. She’s a massage therapist and Ayurvedic specialist and I’m a doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine (yeah, they still use the word Oriental), and for most of our professional lives, we’ve been focused on helping people achieve…
For the past two weeks, I’ve been writing about Daoism (Taoism), the nature-based philosophy that originated in China around 500 BC, and which seems to be ripe for modern humans. Previously, we explored jian or simplicity – one of the “three treasures” mentioned in the…
In our last newsletter, I introduced some of the basics of Daoist philosophy, including one of its “three treasures” – the concept of Jian, which means simplicity. The foundation of this simplicity is the understanding that the virtuous qualities we so strongly desire, yet often…
So you aspire to draw gasps of delight, rather than horror, as you pedal through Portland in the nude. Or, perhaps you just want to look good in a thong by summer. Well, you’re reading the right article. Your friends won’t tell you this, so…
In the great global sharing of wisdom that the past few decades have brought, Westerners have been exposed to all sorts of Eastern jewels. One of my favorites is Daoism (you may know it by its older spelling, Taoism). Daoism is a philosophy based on…
Around this time of year, I like to educate my clients on ways to live in harmony with the natural dynamics of winter. What winter represents is so vital and yet so absent from most Americans’ lives. In Chinese Five Element theory, winter is related…
This month I’ve been writing about ritual. Rituals can be quite mundane or magnificently ceremonious. Because I frequently encounter people who associate ritual with religion and have an ambivalence or even an aversion toward religion, I generally present ritual as something that’s yours to create…
As a young adult, buying an album was such a sweet experience. I’d browse the shelves of my favorite music stores in Boston. Next, I’d head over to the tight cobblestone streets of the North End for a giant piece of pizza at Giorgio’s. Then,…
Over the past couple years, our family has been rediscovering ritual. For many Westerners, the word ritual has religious connotations. We see religious ritual most prominently in the form of liturgy, the ceremonial services that are a major facet of Christianity (especially Catholicism and orthodox…
As 2016 approaches, perhaps your mind has been on certain lifestyle changes you plan to make or some goals you intend to achieve over the next 12 months. I think it’s important to be able to see where you want to go or who you…
They won’t be able to guess what it is by shaking it. It’s a healthier alternative to a bottle of whiskey for relaxation. Every time you call them to ask if they’ve made an appointment yet, they get a little reminder of how much you…