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Eric Nelson

As seen in: LinkedIn, Medium, BuzzFeed, Kickstarter, WCCO-TV (Minneapolis, MN), SFGate, The Globe and Mail, The New Yorker, JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), Patch and
Covers:  health/fitness/wellness, mental health, healthcare, healthy living, spirituality, health care, complementary and alternative medicine, mind-body medicine
#ChristianScience practitioner & teacher living in #NorCal + baseball fan + wannabe winner of the Tour de France
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How prayer defuses violence

How prayer defuses violence

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, Oct. 6, 2017 - All it took for Roger to decide not to kill someone was to be reminded he was a child of God. Roger (not his real name) was an inmate in a Pennsylvania jail when my friend Dave met him.
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The most important thing we can teach our kids

The most important thing we can teach our kids

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, Sept. 25, 2017 - There are plenty of things we should be teaching our kids in order to ensure their happiness, health and success, but by far the most important is how to love. It's unlikely, however, that you'll find any mention of this in most school's core curriculum.
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What should be the top health question in every state?

What should be the top health question in every state?

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, Sept. 11, 2017 - One would think, based on a recent analysis of the top-searched health questions in every state, that the most pressing concern here in California is how long cold sores last, confirmation perhaps of our well publicized vanity.
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Is there a cure for racism?

Is there a cure for racism?

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, Aug. 28, 2017 - "I've heard some people that I know and like saying quite offensive things," said Carol Lindsay, a white, 80-year-old Londoner speaking with NPR about the uptick in racially motivated hostility she witnessed following last year's Brexit vote. "You know, just nastiness. I think it's like a contagion."
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The one thing that will keep mind-body medicine out of the mud

The one thing that will keep mind-body medicine out of the mud

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, Aug. 14, 2017 - As trailblazing as it may seem, the field of mind-body medicine appears to be stuck in the mud, still trying to extract itself from the not-as-widely-accepted-as-it-used-to-be notion that matter is the be-all and end-all of existence.
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Lessons learned (or not) from the 'Summer of Love'

Lessons learned (or not) from the 'Summer of Love'

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, Aug. 7, 2017 - It's been 50 years since San Francisco played host to the Summer of Love, a months-long gathering of mostly young people drawn to the "turn on, tune in, drop out" philosophy of Timothy Leary and other like-minded counterculturists.
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The (spiritual) limits to technology

The (spiritual) limits to technology

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, July 24, 2017 - Technology has its limits, not the least of which is its ability to provide any real connection with the ineffable, the transcendent, or the divine. This is essentially the point I tried to make during a recent dinner conversation.
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A survey of one: Spiritual practice key to religion's survival

A survey of one: Spiritual practice key to religion's survival

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, July 10, 2017 - By their own admission, the results of San Francisco radio station KALW's recent religious survey are "not necessarily statistically valid." Even so, they reinforce what many of the more scientific studies have been suggesting for some time: Religion is in decline.
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Expanding our definition of spiritual competence

Expanding our definition of spiritual competence

KevinMD.com — The first thing I remember as I regained consciousness, lying in a hospital emergency room, was hearing a nurse ask my mom if I was allergic to any foods. With my eyes still closed, I said, "asparagus," thinking this might reduce the chances of anyone serving me what was then a dreaded vegetable.
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Expanding our definition of 'spiritual competence'

Expanding our definition of 'spiritual competence'

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, June 27, 2017 - The first thing I remember as I regained consciousness, lying in a hospital emergency room, was hearing a nurse ask my mom if I was allergic to any foods. With my eyes still closed, I thought to say, "Asparagus," thinking this might reduce the chances of anyone serving me what was then a dreaded vegetable.
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A letter to my goddaughter on her first communion

A letter to my goddaughter on her first communion

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, Calif., June 19, 2017 - Dear Isabella, What a joy it was to watch you taking part in your first Holy Communion. Everything about the event - the music, the prayers, the cheerful priest, you in your pretty white dress - all of it made for a truly memorable day.
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Where does wisdom come from?

Where does wisdom come from?

Communities Digital News — PETALUMA, CA, June 5, 2017 - "It's interesting to be in San Francisco, to be near Silicon Valley, [where] we get so titillated by the idea of our machines becoming intelligent," said Krista Tippett during a recent interview with Alan Jones, Dean Emeritus of San Francisco's Grace Cathedral.
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The difference between placebos and prayer

The difference between placebos and prayer

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, CA, May 1, 2017 - "The difference between placebos and prayer," said Dr. Harold Koenig during a workshop he was giving at Duke University's Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health, "is that with placebos we know there's no active ingredient, whereas with prayer we know there is."
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How to know if you're being lied to

How to know if you're being lied to

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, CA, April 24, 2017 - Even if you're not much of a Bible reader, you've likely heard the story. God creates Adam, and out of Adam he creates Eve. He tells them both not to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," but a talking snake convinces them to do otherwise.
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Easter through the eyes of a woman

Easter through the eyes of a woman

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, CA, April 10, 2017 - I find it fitting that each year, right on the heals of Women's History Month, Christians around the world unite in celebrating Mary Magdalene, one of the most significant women of all time. That celebration, in case you're wondering, is Easter. Well, not exactly.
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Honest politicians begin with honest voters

Honest politicians begin with honest voters

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, CA, March 26, 2017 - Just before the 2012 presidential election, researchers from the University of Notre Dame determined that the less people lie, the better they feel, both mentally and physically.
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Explaining my religion to my nonreligious friends

Explaining my religion to my nonreligious friends

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, CA, March 13, 2017 - Although I have no scientific evidence to back me up, I'd say a good number of religious people, as engaged and compassionate as they may be, live in a bubble. I should know. I'm one of them. This bubble is enormous.
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How to heal hate

How to heal hate

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, Calif., March 5, 2017 - It's ironic that an essential element in healing hate was articulated so simply, so profoundly, by someone who was just convicted of a hate crime. "That is not me," said Kayla Norton, after a judge sentenced her to 15 years in prison for shouting racial slurs and threatening violence at a child's birthday party.
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How to win the World Series (and a whole lot more)

How to win the World Series (and a whole lot more)

commdiginews.com — PETALUMA, CA, Feb. 20, 2017 - Spring training has only just begun, but already I can tell that my favorite baseball team is not going to make it to the World Series. (I'm too embarrassed to mention the team by name.)
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How to defend yourself against (mental) despotism

How to defend yourself against (mental) despotism

commdiginews.com — 'I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man' - Thomas Jefferson PETALUMA, CA, Feb. 6, 2017 - Mention the word "despotism" to most people and it will likely conjure up stark images of political, military, or religious suppression and aggression, both past and present.
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Does spiritual health produce material wealth?

Does spiritual health produce material wealth?

commdiginews.com — There's a big difference between those who are receptive to God's grace and those who assume that they can somehow insert themselves into the driver's seat of the Divine. PETALUMA, CA, Jan. 30, 2017 - When I was in high school, I remember one night sitting down at the kitchen table with my dad.
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World explorer discovers 'her own in another's good'

World explorer discovers 'her own in another's good'

commdiginews.com — By setting aside whatever notions she had about preserving her freedom and flexibility, British adventurer Sarah Outen succeeded in changing another's life. PETALUMA, CA, Jan.
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'The greatest moment in the history of human imagination'

'The greatest moment in the history of human imagination'

commdiginews.com — Could it be that by looking past the apparent fixedness of matter we might find our way to better health? PETALUMA, CA, Jan. 16, 2017 - Jay Walker described it as "the greatest moment in the history of human imagination," a period some 300 years ago when mankind first began to accept the idea that the sun, and not the earth, was at the center of our solar system.
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Rethinking aging in the New Year

Rethinking aging in the New Year

commdiginews.com — According to Wall Street Journal reporter Anne Tergesen, it's possible that everything we think about aging may be wrong. PETALUMA, CA, Dec. 29, 2016 - A few years back, former Obama administration advisor and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel insisted he would rather not stick around until he reaches what most consider to be a ripe old age.
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