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.
In early scientific experiments, scientists would give a drug to a group of test subjects and then report, for instance, that “70% of the participants improved due to this drug.” But some smarty pointed out that some of those people might have gotten better without…
In this video, Dr. Peter Borten explains the basics of Body Centered Releasing, and the powerfully positive effect this practice can have on your life. Learning to use your body to make peace with inner conflicts and let things go is always preferable to resisting…
I once took a required course in a subtle form of bodywork called Jin Shin Do. Rather than pressing, kneading, or stroking, the practitioner simply rests her fingers on specific combinations of acupuncture points and intends for healing to occur. During the first few classes,…
The crown chakra, called Sahasrara, is situated at the very top of the head, which is an energetic center or portal recognized by cultures worldwide. It’s part of why Jews and Muslims wear head coverings. If the soles of the feet are our closest connection…
Briana and I have spent the last year developing the curriculum for our coach training program, and I was recently fine-tuning the section on applying the wisdom of the Five Elements when it occurred to me to share the “three treasures” mentioned in the Daoist…
The sixth chakra, called Ajna, is an energy center located between the eyebrows. It’s in the region that’s often referred to as the “third eye.” Even if you don’t know anything about chakras, you’re probably familiar with the notion of the third eye. You’ve seen…
In so many ways, the human social experience today is different than it has ever been. One of the most interesting developments is how the internet serves as a platform for public expression. It enables individuals to broadcast their voices to huge audiences they could…
A few years ago, we were in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign to get our first book funded and suddenly the money stopped coming in. We had raised about $20,000 of our $25,000 goal and there were just five days left. If we didn’t…
Your third chakra is an important center of power. To understand it, it’s useful to see it in the context of the other chakras, so let’s start with a little review. The first chakra is associated with the earth element, which represents stability. It’s our…
In the last article, we looked at the root chakra, Muladhara, which is associated with the earth element. Earth, more than any of the other elements of nature, exemplifies stability. Thus, this chakra governs the experience of stability in life, having our basic needs met,…
A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article introducing the Indian concept of chakras and explained them from a variety of different perspectives. The prevailing classical perspective is that they are distinct centers of the subtle anatomy of the human body, affecting our physical, emotional,…
For her birthday, my daughter received a “magic chakra pendant” which consisted of cheap, dyed crystals glued together to form a rainbow in the shape of a pyramid. Shortly thereafter, she and I were shopping and we saw a set of seven “chakra teas” in…
In Chinese Philosophy, the season associated with the Water Element is Winter. One of the great lessons of Winter is that it is a time of stillness. We all need stillness in everyday life. Most of us get plenty of physical stillness, but even more…
Do you remember the first time you drove 100 miles per hour? I was 18 years old. Somewhere between Boston and New York, at about 3:00 AM on an empty stretch of highway, I floored my mom’s Mitsubishi Galant, broke 100, and held it for…
Back when I was a graduate student doing my internship in Chinese Medicine, I got my first patient whose chief complaint was a lingering cough, and I remember thinking, “This will be easy.” Boy, was I naïve. Even under the guidance of an elder practitioner,…
When I was a teenager, I invested $400 in 20 years of anger and a big, hard, life-changing lesson. I had seen this guy around – a friend of a friend named Justin – carrying the exact model of guitar that I wanted, and there…
One of the most gratifying parts of my work is getting to watch people support each other using the concepts we teach in our books and courses (and, of course, their own gifts and experience). There are about 11,000 people in the online groups we…
Several months ago, Briana (my wife) started feeling drawn to do a different kind of healing work. She began getting strong intuitive impressions about what was at the root of people’s challenges – sometimes health related, sometimes whole-life related – and this came with a sense of…
In 1984, followers of the spiritual guru Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, 1931-1990) sprinkled salmonella bacteria into the salad bars of ten restaurants in Oregon, sickening 751 people. A few years earlier, Osho had left his commune in India due to pressure from authorities and…
The Dragontee is honored to be partnering with CopperH2o, and will soon be offering their copper water bottles in all of our spa locations. Water stored in a copper vessel (which is known as “tamra jal” in Ayurvedic medicine) balances the three doshas in your…
If we hear a saying enough – especially at an impressionable time and/or spoken by someone we respect – we may accept it without applying critical thinking to determine if it’s actually true. For me, one such saying was, “People don’t change.” As a young…