Welcome to The Skillful Living Room blog!
But what exactly does this mean?
Consider this – How long does it take a professional basketball player to cultivate his three-pointer? How much trial-and-error does it take for a chef to whip up the perfect soufflé or an elaborate five-course meal?
These skills and many others require practice, dedication, intention, and attention. And so does the skill of living. The concept of “Skillful Living” advises individuals to approach life – health, wellness and overall happiness – as a skill that needs to be developed.
Skillful Living is to commit intention and purpose to being and living well. I encourage my patients to examine their lives as a whole and to meet each obstacle as an opportunity for introspection, personal growth and improvement, emphasizing the significance of taking control of their own life. Results are proportional to the work and mindfulness dedicated to each individual’s efforts.
By carefully and closely looking at all of the elements in your life and approaching them with serious purpose and dedication, your health, relationships, career, and entire life can be lived skillfully and can lead to improved overall well-being.
Everything in our lives is related, from the food we eat to the relationships and careers we choose, and true healing and balance comes from addressing everything holistically, as a integrated unit. This is Skillful Living.
The Skillful Living Room blog will be an interactive home for information on how to live life more skillfully. Please use the Q & A section to ask your own questions. I will select one question to answer each week, and even if it is not yours, I hope you will find it interesting and useful. So please check back. Also, please check out the Skillful Thoughts page – this is where I will share information and ideas as they come, providing you with additional insights needed to begin and continue on your own path to Skillful Living.
It is my sincerest hope that this blog helps you live more skillfully!
Please do tune in to my nationally broadcast weekly radio show, The Skillful Living Room, and visit my healthy living center, SunRaven, if you are in or around the New York City-metro area.
ABOUT Michael Finkelstein, M.D.
Founder, SunRaven
Former Chief of Integrative Medicine,
Northern Westchester Hospital, New York
An expert in holistic, skillful living, Michael Finkelstein, M.D., has gained acclaim for his pioneering approach to integrative medicine since beginning his private practice more than twenty years ago.
Board-certified in both internal medicine and holistic medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a graduate of the Associate Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine, Dr. Finkelstein is a self-professed “Doctor of Common Sense.” He is a dedicated healer who views health and well-being as a wholly singular unit, one that must be taken seriously, and considered with compassion, intention and commitment.
Dr. Finkelstein’s concept of “skillful living” applies this holistic approach to overall well-being – the business of living must be developed, like a skill, with mindful, dedicated attention.
Dr. Finkelstein is the founder and director of the holistic healing and living center SunRaven, a Westchester-county destination for anyone looking to take control of their own health and happiness. Through personal consultation, special programs and activities, like book readings and group juice fasts, SunRaven is a healing space that offers classes and workshops to provide individuals with the skills to make better choices and move toward a greater, more whole, state of health and well-being.
Formerly serving as Chief of Integrative Medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., Dr. Finkelstein’s skillful living approach continues to help patients lead healthier, happier and more balanced lives.
Skillful Living 
nanette Garcia said,
November 4, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
Hello: I was told about you and your work by Klaudia Rabb (an ex client). I am a musician residing in Yorktown Heights and am very interested in a life style change due to a recent abnormal breast biopsy result (pre-cancer condition). I lead a very healthy life eating about 50% raw food and lots of exercise, however, since this diagnosis I know there is an imbalance in my body and need to take responibilty for this immediately. I do not believe I will find this balance in conventional health care and have been looking for an alternative method. Klaudia told me you have book readings which I would be very interested in attending, and I wonder if there is a possibility of a consultation. I am extemely discipline and am capable of sticking to big life changes. I would so appreciate hearing from you.
Thank you, Nanette Garcia
skillfuldoc said,
May 27, 2010 @ 5:00 pm
Hello Nanette,
Please email michael@sunraven.org if you haven’t already!
Cindy Rosenbaum said,
September 23, 2010 @ 6:49 pm
Hi Michael,
I’ve spent the last 5 weeks or so letting go of a very dear friend who just passed on Sunday. We had a very satisfying visit with her in August which included a group meditation with her and her family. Then, last week I sent her flowers which she did enjoy before her death. I also felt very strongly that I wanted to tell her how important her friendship was to me, so I mailed her a very heartfelt card that she received the day before her death. I was told that she was alert on that day and was able to hear my card. I feel extreme sadness about her death, but I also feel totally complete about it, which is highly unusual for me, when it comes to death. I feel that my honesty, sincerity and love was fully expressed to my friend and heard by her. The lesson that I’ve learned about letting go of a loved one is to express my loving feelings to achieve a sense of completion.