Food Rituals We enjoy the ritual of eating with friends and family. And when we eat alone, we can be awash in memories complete with replays of bits of old conversations. Jewish tradition considers a meal as any repast in which bread is consumed, so they begin a meal with the blessing over bread and then the sharing of bread together. The blessing below is widely known to most Jews, "who have heard it since childhood and who may even have memorized it just by having said it so often". A...

Hi Reader, The rockin' chair Sitting in its massive cradle of arms, back, and seat, I wondered out loud, “Why does it keep rocking? “ “Because you’re little.” Like that was an answer. I could curl up in the seat of my grandmother’s rocker and once I got it moving it would keep it up for a surprisingly long time… long time in kid-time. Only a grown-up could move this massive wooden piece of furniture to wherever it was needed. There it seemed to just wait quietly and patiently. And, like a...

Shallow breathing is good if you are stalking an animal to bring home for dinner or if you need to give a quick explanation when a boss asks you about a project. But if practiced habitually, small and restricted chest movements can cause many unwanted results and symptoms in your body, such as awkward posture, painful structures, and poorly functioning organs. Although subtle, the relentless clenching of being ready for something requires the sympathetic nervous system to be “on” and results...