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The Noise If you are following social media at all, then you have noticed the outpouring of advice on everything from how to stay safe in the pandemic, to how to work from home, to how to turn your kitchen into a classroom for your children's at-home learning.  Another wave has washed over us with … Continue reading Living in the Tension: Should I be Surviving or Thriving in this Pandemic?

Authors note: "Write from the white hot space."  That phrase describes the conditions for this blog's creation, written while sitting on my deck last summer, minutes before I had to leave for the office, words tumbling out of my brain into my typing fingertips. The blog has gone unpublished for months, but I reflect on … Continue reading What I Learned from a Facebook Fast

I have long been an exercise evangelist as it relates to boosting mental health. Most of us know intuitively that time outdoors similarly improves our mood and sense of well-being. Research is now beginning to help us understand the mechanisms for this improvement and the optimal dosage and types of nature immersion needed to attain … Continue reading Nature Immersion: A Tool for Optimizing Mental Health

Fitness of body is often a mirror, or at least a window, into what is happening in life. And what happens in life is often mirrored in fitness. An example of this recently happened to me in yoga. I have never been able to get my heels fully to the floor in Garland Pose (aka … Continue reading What Does Your Body Reveal about Your Life?

My dad once told me that years after his mother passed away, he would wake up in the night crying because he missed her. My grandmother died in her 80s. She lived a long and full life. She was loved by her many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And yet, years after her peaceful passing, my … Continue reading On Losing Dad and Listening to Lives

We come with beautiful secrets, we come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls. We come to every new morning, with possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold. I want to add to the beauty, to tell a better story. I want to shine with the light, that's burning … Continue reading Adding to the Beauty

One week ago today I stood on the floor of an original slave cabin, a 12x30 brick dwelling where African slaves labored, lived, and died in bondage on Boone Hall Plantation. Just outside of Charleston, South Carolina, "Slave Street" features nine original brick structures situated between the 10,000 square foot Boone mansion and the famous "Avenue of Oaks," where trees planted … Continue reading Slave Quilts and the Human Spirit

I recently visited South Carolina during a week without rain. You cannot make your way through this coastal state without encountering the grandeur of the oak trees. I have often admired the canopy of oak-lined Carolina avenues, both in movies and in rare visits, but this time I learned something new about the foliage that … Continue reading What in Your Life Needs Watering?

  Today in yoga I risked believing, once again, that I am beautiful.  There is a strange and cruel phenomenon that I've witnessed in my counseling practice -- and I've certainly known it in my own skin. I call it "reflection whiplash"-- that jarring experience in which one moment the mirror magnifies flaws and failures,  followed by another when … Continue reading Yoga and Your Inner Swan

  Journaling Exercises When taking the courageous step to reclaim and honor your body, many feelings will arise. Destructive patterns of thinking may threaten to block your progress. Journaling your feelings and thoughts surrounding food and emotional triggers can be helpful. Pull out your journal when you are tempted to restrict your food intake. Consider … Continue reading Food, Nourishment, and the Healing Journey, Part 5 — Journaling Exercises