Take a deep breath and slowly let it out — 2022 is here. All the unsettling news from 2021 seems not to have noticed the change and galloped right into the New Year. Another surge of the pandemic. The same political strife. The aches and pains in our bodies and psyches can seem overwhelming. It’s [...]
Winter officially begins December 21, but freezing temperatures are already common across much of the US. With the days getting shorter, darker, and colder, curl up in a cozy spot and broaden your horizons for some new ways to nurture yourself. From lagom, which means “good enough” in Sweden, to kakkukahvit, the Finnish term for [...]
There’s something you do that can lower your blood pressure, improve your immune system, deepen your relationships, and make you more optimistic, happy, and compassionate. Can you guess what it is? Practice gratitude. Gratitude is defined as “the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful.” As emotions go, it’s hard to think of one [...]
October is Emotional Wellness Month. Who knew? Let’s take a look at some of the ways that mindfulness improves emotional wellness, as well as some simple practices you can do to create calm in the daily chaos of life. Emotional Wellness Month reminds us to “disconnect and take a time-out for our brain” amid our [...]
Just when we thought the pandemic was going away, cases are again surging as the Delta variant spreads among us, landing the unvaccinated people in the hospital and overwhelming our medical system. This is creating a whole new wave of stress over how to cope. Parents sending kids back to school or off to college, [...]
In 2006, I thought that I might have a brain tumor. The wrong words kept coming out of my mouth: “captino” instead of “cappuccino,” “maginal” instead of “magical,” “bunkey burvey” instead of “topsy turvy.” I went to a neurologist fearing the worst; after a thorough exam the doctor asked me about my life; what my [...]
I slipped the thin soft cotton top over my head, smiling at the memory long ago from the Del Mar Fair, where I found this great t-shirt. The image of the woman is faded to the perfect shadow, grey on black. Looking in the mirror, I was stunned that I couldn’t pull up her name. [...]
Do you take time to check in on loved ones as a regular part of your routine? If not, let this be your invitation to start! Not everyone is great at staying connected with others — even during times when they crave connection most. The pandemic has given us new inspiration and taught us new [...]
Practice Mindful Self-Compassion even when you don’t think you need it. Why? Because then you’ll have that familiar safe space to step into when you need it most. So, what is Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) anyway? The practice of MSC was created by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer as an expansion of mindfulness practice that centers [...]
Terrible stuff happens, and it seems so random. Yet there it is, happening when you least expect it. And when it does, the pain can seem overwhelming. The hurt, the sorrow, the shock — it can all seem so unbearable. As with everything though, your experience of it changes and transforms over time; change is [...]
