Month: March 2017

8 Good Reasons to Take a Hike

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Lush scene from a hike in the Pacific Northwest

I’m lucky to live in a beautiful place that offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation.  This year, my husband and I made a New Year’s resolution to go hiking at least once a month.  We felt like we hadn’t been taking full advantage of the landscape around us, and we thought the resolution would be a good incentive to spend more time together and work our way through our guidebooks to local trails and waterfalls.  We’ve really enjoyed our hikes so far and are looking forward to exploring a new spot this weekend.  If you need some inspiration to hit the trails, here are eight good reasons to get outside.

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Listen to the Music

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A pair of wireless ear buds

I’m on year two of my One Line a Day journal, so for the past two and a half months, I’ve received a daily reminder of what I was doing and thinking on that day a year ago.  My March 21, 2016 entry mentioned exchanging favorite Dolly Parton songs with a couple of friends (we were planning a trip to Dollywood) and closed with this line:

“I think listening to music makes me more thoughtful – I should do it more often.”

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Learn How to Meditate: An Introductory Meditation Class Recap

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A rocky beach with blue water and a clear blue sky

Yesterday, I attended an introductory meditation class at the Appalachian Dharma & Meditation Center in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I’ve participated in group meditation sessions before, and I’ve picked up meditation tips from various books, YouTube videos, podcasts, and yoga teachers, but I had never taken a class like this. It offered a nice overview of different meditation methods. The teacher, Jody Palm, identified herself as a Tibetan Buddhist, but I appreciated that the class material was secular in nature and free from the religious and pseudo-scientific claims I’ve sometimes encountered in yoga classes.

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The Weekend Listen

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A pair of wireless headphones for podcast listening

I listen to a lot of podcasts while driving, working out, and doing chores around the house. In this weekly feature, I’ll tell you about one episode I particularly enjoyed that week.

I try not to post about legal topics too often because I know most of my readers aren’t lawyers.  I think this subject will be interesting even to people who aren’t immersed in the law on a daily basis, though.  This week’s podcast recommendation is the ABA Journal’s Modern Law Library episode What Can Neuroscience Tell Us About Crime?  This episode is an interview of Kevin Davis about his new book, The Brain Defense: Murder in Manhattan and the Dawn of Neuroscience in America’s Courtrooms.  He discusses how jurors perceive and understand science and the potential benefits and drawbacks of using brain scans in court.

Are you listening to a podcast I haven’t mentioned yet?  Let us know about it in the comments!