We saw the room where the “flying” happens and a video about it. It was so interesting that the still images make the people look like they are floating/flying, but then you see a video and what they put their bodies through is bonkers!

My husband loves yoga but hates even the vague spirituality stuff, like “visualize a ball of energy in your third eye, making its way down into your lower abdomen...” so he signed up for a paid secular yoga app. Which is weird, but we both had a hard time finding 100% spirituality-free stuff for him to use.

We were a group of faculty from another institution who asked for a tour, and they obliged. I think we just called their main office. We didn’t do any of the meditations or treatments, though we did get to see a video of the “flying” yogis, and inside one of the large meditation centers (though once we were in there…

I’ve been to the Maharishi in Fairfield, Iowa. I fancy myself a super open-minded person, but that place really freaked me out. It had a “alright everyone, gather up and drink this koolaid, the space ship is near” vibe to it. I feel terrible even passing that judgment, but the hairs on my neck were at attention the…

I was interning in Iowa for folks running for congress in 2005-06. Obama, from neighboring Illinois, would show up at random small-town townhall meet-and-greet things for the Congressional candidates. I, a college student at the time, was like “why tf is this guy always around?” He interacted with a few of us on a…

I’m a sexual health educator and met Dr. Ruth at a fundraising event in the early 2010s. She is so smart, hilarious, and all-around accessible. I love the persona she has developed that allows people to laugh at sex and themselves while learning something new and addressing old hangups. When it was time for my…

My Dad has always had a beard, since high school in the 70s. 29 years into their marriage, my dad was picking my mom up from the airport after she was abroad for 2 months. He wanted to do something exciting, so he completely shaved off his beard. She walked right past him (holding flowers and all) in the receiving…

Yeah, one of my first (ill-informed) Tinder hookups was a guy who kept talking about how great he was at goin’ down and then asked to show me. Sure, why not? OMG it was not good, and then he got irritated with me and acted like something was wrong with *me* that I didn’t like it. “I’ve never had any complaints…

Hi, I’m an educator who also works in abortion care AND is trying to track down bio family I’ve never met. Do you have any sources you can share about this phenomenon you’ve mentioned? I’ve been in the field for 15 years and never thought about the struggles and legal hurdles if an already-parent wanted to seek…

I am a white-presenting woman born to a Mexican mother who is trying to trace my heritage. It is slow moving but we’re finding some “Christian (Catholic charity) intervention” going on. Thank you for this book recommendation, ordering stat.

As someone who got married less than 2 years ago in a DIY-type ceremony and reception at a park....it was still a ton of fucking work and made the lead up a pain in the ass. While the huge production I’ve seen from friends (and on a larger scale, celebrities) does not mesh with our wants or needs at all, I came around…

I just finished their book of the same name Shout Your Abortion by Amelia Bonow and Emily Nokes with forward by Lindy West. It is a surprisingly beautiful coffee table book that features over 40 first-person stories (with photos and names, WOW!) of people who have had abortions. I’ve worked in abortion care for over…

What a great ad. I cried!

My one and only Tinder-induced-one-night-stand resulted in a lost condom. I couldn’t reach it so I asked him to dig around to fetch it. When he acted a bit put off by the request I said, “you’re the one who bought the wrong size condoms dude!” He fished it out with some embarrassment and then took me out for breakfast…

And increased rates in those populations might be due to better testing and education about the importance of getting tested. I’ve been a sexual educator for over 15 years and every new community I work in, rates go up solely because people are finally getting tested at one of our many events. Those events didn’t…

I’m a vegan-leaning vegetarian (too Midwestern polite to turn away food after someone informs me there is dairy or eggs in it 3 bites in), married to a meat-eating-and-cooking chef. Both of us agree the impossible burger is gross and would much rather eat seitan or even soy-based faux meat. Although when we go out to…

FYI: If the “he” in your comment is referring to the article’s author listed in this post, Dr. Gupta is a woman.

I do this too, and have for years, apparently, but did not know it about myself. When I met my husband, another over-sharer, I mentioned something to my best girlfriend about it. Her eyes got wide and she searched my face in silence. Finally she asked, “are you joking? That’s *exactly* what you do!” Now my husband and…

Donations are a great way to help patients, but don’t do much for providers (besides let them treat patients with a tiny bit less stress on the patient’s part, if they needed financial help getting birth control or other testing). Also, PP regularly touts “only 3% of what we do is abortion!” so donating to them is…

Honest question: As a “no kill” shelter, do you still send animals to be euthanized at other shelters when they are not adoptable? Or do you not take on high-need animals that may risk not being adopted? My neighbor works for animal control, which I always thought of as like a police station for animals to get them to…