Sometimes life does not go as planned. Sometimes you're cruising down the road to one destination and you slam right into a DETOUR sign. I was working hard to build up my fitness this summer. Hiking steeper and longer trails in order to prepare for a 14er in September. There is no variety of exercise I love more than hiking. Even though I’ve had three foot surgeries and my foot and ankle surgeon told me to “find another hobby” two years ago. Can you say stubborn? Two weeks ago, I suffered another foot injury. #$!@%#@!!! Injuries happen. Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to go. And - we cannot let that stop us from living our lives. We can wallow in self-pity. Which, in all honesty, I have chosen … [Read more...] about Unexpected Detours
Self Care
Meet Yourself Where You Are
Tom Petty’s Wildflowers has been my favorite song for much of my adult life. You belong among the wildflowersYou belong in a boat out at seaYou belong with your love on your armYou belong somewhere you feel free. Nature is my happy place. I can breathe. Unwind. Create. Feel at peace in mind and body. Route 3 loomed above my childhood home. A major highway in New Jersey that will lead you to the Lincoln Tunnel - and ultimately, New York City. The weed infested hillside next to the Route 3 offramp was my sacred space as a child. A place to collect ladybugs. To pretend I was on safari. To find stillness. When my then boyfriend, now husband, asked me to move to Colorado in 1998, I didn’t hesitate for a second. Three weeks ago, … [Read more...] about Meet Yourself Where You Are
Best Self. Burn it Down.
January. The time of year when we tend to put pressure on ourselves to improve. To make resolutions. To strive to do better than the year before. To become our best self (whatever the f#@$ that means). Don’t get me wrong. I’m all about (achievable) goals and doing better. I mean, I’m a coach, so you know – I better be into this stuff. It’s just that we usually go about it in a way that leads to feeling like a failure. Striving to become your “best self” is inherently painful. Because no matter how good you get, you’re always comparing the here and now to a best version that is likely impossible to achieve. And so - it is never good enough. Perhaps it’s time to toss the idea of a “best self” in the proverbial trash along with a big … [Read more...] about Best Self. Burn it Down.
Two Modes
There are times to preserve – and there are times to push. 2021 was a year of preservation. A year of not backsliding too much. A year of leaning on foundational habits (whole foods as much as possible, prioritizing sleep, staying hydrated, getting outside for fresh air and walks). Given that I work with most clients for a year, we’re bound to bump up against challenging periods. It can be tempting to let healthy habits slip entirely when life is hard. To check out. To stop showing up for ourselves. Or – we can practice preservation during the trying phases of life. One of the many lessons I learned while caring for my mom was how to maintain a baseline level of self-care when bandwidth was consistently low. There were no … [Read more...] about Two Modes