Rachel teaches Nia dance every week.  Join the fun!


I recently began a course on Positive Psychology at New York University where I’m completing my Masters in Social Work. Positive psychology asks the question what is authentic happiness and how does one raise his or her level of well-being or life satisfaction?

The founder of Positive Psychology, Martin E. P. Seligman writes in his book, Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment , about an important element of a fulfilled and meaningful life called flow.

Flow is the state that a person experiences when they are doing an activity in which they are so engaged that time seems to stop. Seligman describes flow as a time when “our sense of self vanishes” and there is a “deep, effortless involvement.”

Seligman says one of the keys to a more fulfilling life is identifying your strengths or the experiences that bring the sense of flow and crafting your life in such a way to include more moments to utilize those strengths.

Taking it a step further, Seligman says you can find even more fulfillment by using your strengths and applying them to a cause that is greater than yourself.

Seligman is very vocal about the fact that Positive Psychology and the study of mental well-being, just like the study of mental illness, is backed by scientific research.

It is nice to know that there is a technique for increasing one’s happiness that has been backed by science, but regardless of this, I find the concept of flow and applying it to a higher purpose quite beautiful. It is also somewhat simple and relatable, I have to say.

I think many of us can identify times in our lives when we were so engaged, that time stopped. Even more beautiful is to be engaged in such an activity knowing that the results will be for the benefit of something greater than yourself.

If instead of seeking simple pleasures and instant gratifications we all sought moments of flow in service of others, how different would the world be?


Rachel teaches Nia dance every week.  Join the fun!

I’m Dutch, German and Irish— so how could I not be a potato freak?  I like them roasted and scalloped, baked, mashed and stuffed, au gratin, steamed, grated, parboiled, plain and in any sauce served.  And of course, as chips and fries.

My dad likes to joke that if I’m ever autopsied, they’ll find chips.

Segue to my professional life in women’s health….gynecology and reproductive health, fertility, body image, eating issues and women’s identity concerns, aging. 

I once had a dream that I was lying on a gurney outside an operating room in a hospital with hundreds of IV’s leading out of my arm transporting my blood into the OR where women were giving birth and having miraculous recoveries.  This doctor comes out of the OR and says, “I need a sample of your blood. I want to know what’s in it that’s making all these women well.”  So he comes back with his report and shows it to me and tells me my bloodwork is perfect except for one thing:  I’m high in potatoes.

My husband loves this dream. He says it’s my conscience playing with me when I’m overboard on the chips.  He says I hold my chip bag like its gold bullion, protecting it lest anyone try to wrest it from me.

So what if chips and fries have evil hydrogenated oils, which are not only carcinogens but contribute to neurodegeneration—both of which relate to arachidonic acid metabolism and tumor initiation.  Once you know anything about fried food, it’s kind of hard to choose it on the menu.  And Did I mention artery clogging?

I’m good with the fries. It’s the chips that undo me.  Even if you can dismiss the hidden health risks from your mind in a chip-fever, there’s still what I call the “butt-enhancing” effect.   Potatoes are in the same category as pasta and bread:  in the mouth, straight to the thighs.

So as my incredible assistant – Liz—and I were trying to assuage our guilt around this afternoon’s butt-enhancing, cancer risking, artery clogging, brain degenerating snack, she turned to me and said, “We’ll just have to take the karmic view, it might be killing us now, but we’ll live again.”

Belly laughs between us.

At Oriens we layer the 80/20 rule with the Pleasure Principle when it comes to food.  80 percent of the time you make choices that build your health and a super solid foundation that can’t be rocked by anything you do with that other 20 percent.  The Pleasure Principle states that food and eating should be enjoyable…pleasure is a nutrient.  So when Kathryn Flynn builds the Oriens Weight Optimization programs or her Hormone Balance meal plans, or develops any kind of Nutrition protocol for our clients, she’s always making sure you will LOVE your food.

For me, potatoes are here to stay…and are a staple on my 20% list.  Yum!

Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac., CEFP, Founder and Director of Oriens

PS:  Although I am a big advocate of 80/20 – remember what the 80 really means. Attend to your nutrition, and exercise, and choose a lifestyle that reduces stress and  entertains all the feelings and identity shifts around this issue and this time of one’s life.  (At Oriens, we always feature the Big 4 of self care: Nutrition, Acupuncture, MAM, and Spiritual Counseling.) And LOVE the 20 – it’s a vital part of THIS amazing life!

About Elizabeth Carpenter:  I maintain an ongoing dialogue with collaborators, mentors and role models in my commitment to women’s health and women’s issues. Specialties: Patient Evaluation & Program Planning, Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, Bowen Therapy, Natural Facelift Alternatives