I woke up at 3:30 Tuesday morning with a pain in my eye. It felt as if sand had drifted in under my contact, but I wasn’t wearing my contacts and I was in bed, not at the beach. I assumed I must have an eyelash or random piece of hair in my eye, so I rinsed it with water and then with saline but it still didn’t feel better. I had a feeling that this was something that might not go away on its own.
Read MoreIt's easy not to start something when we feel that the outcome has to be perfect. It prevents us from starting. It deflates our self-esteem.
If we change our mindset to focus on progress and not perfection as the outcome, it changes our willingness to practice. Our willingness to begin. And my friends, beginning is more than half the battle.
The magic of just beginning is based on a principle called behavioral activation. The idea is that even if you aren’t feeling like doing something, you start it in a small way, knowing that once you start the behavior, you will feel activated to continue.
Read MoreLast weekend we had friends over to celebrate an old friend moving to town. The kids were laughitn while chasing one another through the house until they settled on Mario Kart, never to be seen again…until we announced they could have dessert :)
The adults were listening to music, eating good food, telling stories, and laughing…a lot! It was the kind of laughter that makes your cheeks hurt the next day. The kind of laughter that makes you smile just remembering it. Laughter feels good in your body, and science supports its positive benefits.
Read MoreMy clients look at me with a puzzled expression when we talk about what they do to cultivate joy in their life. These high-achieving, lovely people can’t come up with any hobbies or pleasurable activities that they currently do, and they fumble to remember hobbies and activities that they once enjoyed.
They are not a lone. Loss of joy is a real epidemic in our society today.
Read MoreLet’s get real about overwhelm. It’s a real thing. It happens. We’ve all been there. That feeling of having so much to do but not having a clue where to start. You want to scream or cry or run away while doing both.
I've been helping my clients who feel overwhelmed for many years. It happens when little things accumulate over time. That overwhelmed feeling can happen when a few big things, often unexpected things, happen. Helping people deal with overwhelm comes easily to me, but following my own strategies is a bit more challenging.
Read MoreWe all know someone who, from the outside, has checked all of the boxes. She seems to have it all. She shows up with freshly baked muffins at the PTA fundraiser, cooks dinner for her family, smiles when she’s with her husband, shuttles her children to and from endless activities, has the cutest pics on Facebook, had the great education that has led to a 6-figure corporate 9 to 5 gig. From the outside.
Read MoreSelf-care. Here we go again. I know. I preach self-care in most every facet of my interactions with clients, friends, and family. The two reasons that it comes up in most every conversation are: 1) Self-care is vital to healing mental or physical issues and for preventing mental and physical issues, and 2) I need to hear the need for self-care on repeat for my own benefit, because if I am not taking care of myself, I can't take care of (or even provide high-vibe information) for others.
Read MoreOverwhelm. Sometimes we feel it occasionally around the holidays, near work deadlines, etc. Other times it seems to be as omnipresent as summer humidity in the south (I've spent some time in the south this summer and....wowza).
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