In this blog post, I’ve put together the most helpful information I’ve found on how you can support organizations working to fight against racism, police brutality, and policy reform, along with educational resources for understanding white privilege, resources for unlearning + learning, and more sources of perspective to fill our brains with: books, movies, articles, and more.
Read More
No matter who you are or what you do, if you are a human with a functional brain and bodily system, you experience stress. From CEO’s to scientists to stay-at-home moms to bus drivers, stress affects us all. Because of this universally shared experience, we are bombarded with advice articles on “best ways to eliminate stress,” “how to de-stress,” and there are so many products sold that promise to help make you melt or “bust” the stress out of your life.
Read More
Over the last few years, SAD, otherwise known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, has gained recognition and been the butt of many a meme joke on social media— but one of those jokes that everyone painfully relates to… it me. While nothing will completely take away those feelings magically, there ARE a lot of factors we can manage in order to support our brains and bodies during this (literally) dark time in our lives when feeling seasonal depression.
Read More
…But the other day as I walked out of my therapist’s office onto a sunshine-doused sidewalk with spring blossoms scattered about, I closed my eyes and stood there for a moment; overwhelmed, not only by my gratitude to my situation that allows me to see a therapist regularly again, but also the fact that I started on this journey some 5 years ago. I was then reminded that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it finally felt like the right time to talk more in depth about my process with therapy over the past few years and why I think there is not a single person on this earth that can’t benefit from it in spades.
Read More
The concept of confidence was demonstrated and told to me in so many different ways while growing up. Particularly in my formative years, while struggling to transition out of an athletic career that was all I had known my whole life, knowing who I was outside of the bravado of competitive skating was a completely disruptive experience. All I desperately wanted was to feel confident and comfortable in my own skin, so I started chasing after what I had been told what confidence truly meant.
After reflecting on what helps root my self-confidence now, I narrowed it down to these 5 specific habits that I've established over the years to help me gain genuine self-confidence-- and I hope these help you!
Read More
I always love the concept of taking stock of the progressions that have happened in a given period of time in order to appreciate and remind myself of the bigger picture, but I didn't think I wanted to write a 2017 recap post until yesterday. I did little recaps the past two years (2016, 2015), but this year I want to do a little bit of a different recap than just taking this past year into stock. I want to remind you that it is a New Year, yes, but you are the same amazing you you've been in all the years past-- and that is the same person entering 2018.
Read More
This is not just a post about paying gratitude and wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving-- while I will do that here as well, the series of events that happened over the past 36 hours made me think about gratitude in a deeper way.
The word, "gratitude," is thrown around so often nowadays in this age during which people are realizing more and more how integral our mental health + mindset is to our quality of life. But the concept of what it means to live with gratitude and having an active practice of gratitude tends to get a little muddled up along the way. And sometimes the way we describe it can feel...
Read More
Going to work, eating dinner, flopping in bed with some Netflix going, wake up, repeat; it's a vicious and mindless cycle that can make it feel like you never have time for yourself to just take a breath. I know, because I've been there. I've grown to understand the enormous impact a solid nightly routine and wind-down can have on your stress and overall health...
Read More
How I start my day is so important to me- having a healthy morning routine in place can totally set the tone for the entire day. Clearer mindset, better mood, and increased productivity are some major benefits you can experience when you have a calmer morning routine established, instead of that frenzied 10 minute rush to get out the door after 5 alarm snoozes that we are all familiar with.
Morning routines are also the perfect opportunity to establish some healthier habits towards a better lifestyle shift. I've written about my 5 easy hacks for a better morning routine, but I wanted to share some specific things I've been doing lately in mine that have made notable differences.
Read More
Well. Just did two things I've never done before. I posted a video of myself deadlifting yesterday on my Instagram Stories, and then I just posted a full-body mirror selfie on Instagram for the purposes of this message. Recently I asked one of my old co-workers from Equinox and trusted fellow trainer to train me and program for me. This may come as a surprise or even might make some of you confused-- after all, I'm a trainer, so why on earth would I need someone to train me?
I'm sharing this with you all today because I want to dispel the negative stigma around asking for help.
Two primary reasons: Firstly, I am busier and more stressed than I've ever been, leaving me very little brain + energy left to be a coach to myself. My second reason is that
Read More
Here's the thing. Living authentically doesn't mean being chipper and happy all the time-- living authentically means owning your reality, facing our fears, and chasing wholeness over happiness. For me, it was only lately that I realized how out of touch with myself I had gotten this past year, because I have been feeling more like myself than I have in a long time. After all, it's only when you come up for air, do you realize you had been holding your breath...
Read More
Of all things, a tweet about the recent Bachelor finale got me thinking about how we as a society regard the display of emotions. During the finale, the bachelor had to break up with one girl before he went onto propose to another, naturally (lolz), so this girl gets her heart broken on national television; which, is feasibly quite a mortifying and emotional event.
Then former contestant of the show applauded the runner-up on Twitter as "the strongest bachelorette I've ever seen. She didn't fall to pieces after all that. Bravo."
...Wait. So if she...
Read More
We all fail. I'm not talking about the inevitable life failures that happen. I'm talking about the fact that we tell ourselves that we fail, all the time. And that is the one way we sabotage our contentment in life.
Don't think you do this? Sounds ludicrous, right-- why would you tell yourself you fail, all the time? Have you guys thought any of these things, even just this morning?
Read More
Today is Monday. Today is the last Monday in January, and in two days, we'll be into February. 30 days from the New Year goes by rather quickly, doesn't it. What did you set out to accomplish and attend to at the beginning of this month? Was it to pick back up on a hobby? Re-establish good habits? Spend more time with your friends/family? Cleaning up your act?
Now let me ask this: How are things going with that?
If they're going well, hurray! You're a lil overachiever, aren't ya. Because by this time, more than 75% of us have waned or given up completely on changes we set out to make at the beginning of the year (resolutions- achoo!). After all, life gets busy and things fall by the wayside that aren't of emergent urgency. But what if one day, we wake up and those things are no longer available to us? Would not being able to have or do those things make it feel like you should have prioritized it as urgent earlier?
Read More
It's that time of the year again! Blue Monday has come and gone, and research shows that by the third week of January, more than 50% of New Years Resolutions will have faded away. It's understandable- it's cold and drearier out than usual, that initial boost of motivation for your New Year goals have faded and your willpower is struggling.
With this cold I'm currently on the struggle bus with not helping things, I'm right there with ya.
I was going to write a post on tactics on beating those unmotivated feelings, but then I realized I've already written a lot of posts about getting your mojo back-- so today, I've rounded up some of my favorite motivational blog posts to help you get back into your groove! I'm dividing things up into different categories, so you can find what you're most in need of now or some posts to bookmark for later. Without further ado, here we go!
Read More
Starting right now, this season, let's live intentionally instead of passively.
Don't let yourself get lazy and live out of habit rather than intent.
The life, connection, and deeper fulfillment we all desire doesn't just happen upon us.
It's a result of practicing intentional living, day by day.
Being intentional with...
Soooo I posted a shorter blurb of this on my Instagram a few months ago, but I wanted to give you guys some (literal) food for thought this Wellness Wednesday!
I overheard an interesting conversation at a coffeeshop one day. A man was telling his friend how his trainer told him that coffee/caffeine is horrible for you and it was off limits. He then proceeded...
Read More