Although it’s readily available at many stores now, freshly made ghee is delicious and easy to make, if a bit messy and time-consuming. Ghee, also known as clarified butter, is an Āyurvedic superfood.

A recipe for Ginger Mint Raisin Tea

Have you ever internalized anger, frustration or criticism? Here’s what happened to me.

This week, I’m staying in a cabin perched on the north shore of a lake. Looking out from my writing spot, I see a horseshoe-shaped cove, enormous pine trees and mountains framing a long stretch of water and sky.

Spending my summers in western Maine as a kid was idyllic because of the setting, but also because my sister and I had unusual pets for kids that spent most of their lives in Boston. One year we had rabbits. Another summer, my sister raised a pig. When I was 9, my aunt Eva was rearing ducklings and gave one to my sister and me. We named the duckling Quackers. I know, so original.

Like, leap-onto-a-chair, screechy afraid.

And then I met my husband-to-be who had a snake living in a terrarium at his house. He named her Madeline, and she had flat, unblinking eyes. She was one long sinewy muscle wrapped in smooth, cool skin.

I open my eyes to murky light filtering in from a window at the end of the room. The walls look misty and distant, the sheets seem gray. The only color is an orange number on a lightly buzzing machine. A man arrives, I know because of his title that his stiff coat must be white but it looks like he is wearing a jacket of brushed metal, even his name conjures metal: Dr. Pierce.

Don’t abandon yourself.

These quiet words echo in my mind. I feel dreadful. My husband is quietly eating his dinner unaware of my distress. I want to get up from the table, and do anything but sit here with my feelings. Anything.

My bare feet absorb the warm, honey glow of the wood floor. My arms hover in front of me as if I were hugging a beach ball. But I’m not, there’s nothing in my arms and they are beginning to quiver a bit from the effort. I am exactly mirroring the teacher at the front of the room. Knees slightly bent, spine straight. Or at least I think I am. He moves his arms over his head, I do too. It takes me a minute to register his words.