Not everything is broken. To heal, find the parts that are not. Jackie Levin RN, MS Years ago, in the studio where I apprenticed as a Pilates instructor, a woman in her early 70’s, bent and arthritic, walked slowly across…

Recently, a charge nurse of a busy telemetry unit set up a coaching appointment to talk about a career change. But instead, when she arrived at my office and sat down, tears started streaming down her cheeks even before she…

Mark Silver, one of my business teachers, is also a Sufi. As part of my yearlong program with him, he taught a practice that helped us find the “perfect thirst”. The perfect thirst is how we get enough emotional, mental and…

“Now that all your worry has proved such an unlucrative business, why not find a better job?” ~ Hafiz (14th Century Poet) Last week I woke in the middle of the night with a patient on my mind. It’s not…

Have you ever been waiting in line for a cuppa something at the local cafe? The line’s not too long, but the friendly conversation between the barista and the customer in front of you, is. You look at your watch,…

Recently a patient said to me, “If I get a bar code implanted, you can just scan me. Then I won’t even have to talk!” She was referring to the presence of the computer, a.k.a. the Electronic Health Record (EHR),…

With the New Year’s arrival, there usually comes a flurry of resolutions; the year’s to-do “better” or “differently” list. This year I’m making a “Not to-do” list, but it’s not my usual kind. It’s not about not-to-drink too much coffee or not-to-skip a day of meditation….

About 15 years ago I was walking down the street with my mom, complaining (really really kvetching) about how I wasn’t making enough of difference at the hospital or in the world. Suddenly she stopped, grabbed me by the shoulders…

The holidays can be tough, especially when you see such need around you. As a caregiver your natural gift to give (and give) of yourself can get out of balance with your receiving. One sign that that this is happening…

If you’ve been to or live in New York City, you know that people are on the go. Once at Penn Station during evening rush hour, I saw a young mother struggle to pick up her daughter in a stroller to walk down the long flight of stairs. Against the tide of humans coming at her, a gentleman, without so much as a hello or a goodbye, grabbed the stroller, jogged it down to the bottom of the steps and continued on his way.