The word “mindfulness” gets tossed around a lot these days. I think a lot of us that use it on a regular basis assume that the definition is pretty straightforward.

But is it?

I’m not entirely sure that the word itself explains its true meaning. And, I think a lot of people who struggle with anxiety don’t practice mindfulness because they aren’t exactly sure how to do it, how it will benefit them, or how much time it will take to feel a difference. So today I thought I’d break down the meaning of mindfulness so that you can start practicing these techniques (without spending a lot of time!) in order to feel relief from your anxious mind right away.

Medical journals, instagram posts, and everything in-between have highlighted the benefits of a regular yoga practice. Yoga can help improve strength, balance and flexibility. It has been linked to stress reduction, lower blood pressure, and a stronger immune system. But while these benefits are found across all demographics, statistically less than 30% of yoga practitioners in the U.S. identify as male. So guys….what’s it going to take to get you to a class Here are a few frequently asked questions that may help you decide to experience the benefits of yoga for yourself.

The word “overwhelmed” seems to be how most people explain how they are feeling these days.  There seems to be too much to do and not enough time.  Tough projects seem impossible and even knowing where to start is a challenge when there is so much on your plate.  It’s all just too much. I completely get it.  But what if I told you there are ways you can rethink overwhelm in order to reduce your stress?  Today I’m sharing how reframing the issue can create the space you need to stop feeling overwhelmed and start being productive.  

For me, when I’m feeling my most anxious, I tend to reach out for help. Even if it’s just a quick text to my bestie saying, “Wow, my anxiety is high today” can be helpful. But sometimes, it’s hard for me to share exactly how I’m feeling and I find myself in situations with people that aren’t necessarily helpful. My favorite non-helpful response is, “Oh, just don’t worry about that.” Sure - if it was that easy, I would already be doing that.

If you have loved ones that never know what to say or do when you are feeling anxious, then be sure to send this blog to them! And if you are someone that wants to be more helpful, but doesn’t know how, then definitely read on because today I’m sharing five ways you can be more effective at supporting someone with anxiety so that you can help them live a more confident and happier life.

In September 2021, I shared 40 Supportive Quotes that you could use as reminders and to feel supported to better manage your anxiety. Since then it feels like our lives and our world have become even more hectic, chaotic and downright hard to understand. I don’t know about you, but this environment makes my anxiety go through the roof!

But one thing still really helps - reading motivation quotes. There is something very calming about these little reminders that “this too shall pass” and that I am not alone. When I connect with these quotes, I feel a perspective shift that creates a sense of ease and freedom from my overthinking mind.

It seems like everywhere I go, someone is talking about how stressed or anxious they are right now. And to me, sometimes I feel completely powerless over the stress and anxiety in my life. I don’t think I can manage it and even if I could, I sometimes don’t have a clue where to start. Thankfully, self-observation without judgment can help. When you are aware that you are having anxious thoughts, you take their power away. Which then creates a space for you to take a step back from the situation and choose to react in a way that helps you feel better. And even if you feel just a small amount of relief, you’ll begin to realize you can better manage your anxiety and learn what techniques work best for you! So today I’m sharing how to develop this self-awareness without judgment so you can build the confidence and resourcefulness you need to better manage your anxiety.

Headaches are the worst. And they usually show up at exactly the wrong time. Even though there are so many types and tons of causes, headaches have one thing in common - they are unpleasant, extremely painful and can be down-right debilitating. Thankfully the practice of yoga can help. Whether it’s a specific movement or pose, simply breathing or practicing meditation, the practice of staying present allows you to reduce stress and tension in your body and mind, become more aware of what might be triggering your headaches (so that you can avoid those things in the future) and build resilience to life’s challenges so that you can handle difficult situations with more awareness, calmness and ease. Personally, when I have a headache, I find that my mind and body want to rest, which is why I turn toward restorative yoga postures to reduce the tension, stress and pain I’m experiencing. The below postures and techniques work really well for me and I hope they help you reduce your head pain and feel more at ease as well.

A few months ago I shared how my personal struggle with anxiety began, how it impacts me on a regular basis and that learning how to manage it is truly a daily practice. Since that blog, I have had some significant twists and turns with my mental health that were both incredibly difficult to move through and enlightening at the same time.  At first I did not want to tell anyone what had happened.  The situation was too raw and emotional. How am I supposed to help people if I can’t even help myself? But now, after time has passed and some healing has occurred, I think it’s important for me to share - especially in honor of May being Mental Health Awareness Month - to remind you that you aren’t alone when you feel paralyzed by your own anxiety.  And, it’s not always easy to manage your anxiety, even when you know what to do.  

After teaching yoga for 20 years, in addition to low back pain and head and neck pain, the third most common request I get before class is, “can we stretch our hips? Mine are so tight!” Trust me, I get it - my hips are sore and ache most of the time. And tight hips are not only really uncomfortable, but they also limit your range of motion but may also put you at an increased risk for injury due to the increased demand on tissues that aren’t moving like they should be. The good news is that there is something we can do about it. Today I’m sharing how you improve your hip health with specific yoga postures designed to increase mobility, flexibility and strength.

You probably know exactly how it feels to be stuck in a thought loop for hours at a time, worrying about the past or thinking about the future, and not actually finding relief or resolve. It’s exhausting!  Thankfully there’s a way we can slow down our overthinking mind and reduce our anxiety - by moving!  Today I’m sharing 10 yoga poses you can do right now to bring your awareness to the present moment, slow down your nervous system and reduce your anxiety.  

And the best part?  No prior yoga experience is required!  If you can breathe, you can do these poses! 

If you know me, you probably know I say, “I don’t like outside” a lot.

Although there is some truth to that statement, it’s not entirely correct.  I do like outside, particularly when I am feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious.  If you’ve experienced this too, you might be wondering why.  Thankfully the science of Ayurveda has helped me understand how nature directly impacts our overall well-being. And today I’m sharing this powerful information with you!  Learn why it’s important to spend time in nature, especially when you are feeling overwhelmed and anxious, and simple outdoor techniques you can do to reduce your anxiety and feel more grounded within minutes.  

When I was younger, I tended to view life with a “glass half empty” attitude.  Toss anxiety on top of that viewpoint and you can imagine my inner critic had a few things to say about that!  It’s a tough way to live. It feels like you are constantly swimming upstream as the world continues to prove that your inner critic is correct.  But what if I told you that you could change all that with one very simple task that you can start doing right away?  You can!  With a gratitude journal. Today I’m sharing exactly why gratitude can help shift your perspective and how to keep a gratitude journal so that you can reduce your anxiety and increase your overall happiness.  

When you struggle with anxiety, it’s like sitting in a rocking chair. You are using all your energy to rock forward and back, but you are going nowhere. Or, it’s like a low-grade fever … subtle and in the background, while you still function in your everyday tasks, but you know it’s there. And then every once and a while your anxiety becomes extremely debilitating. You notice nervousness, a racing heart beat, muscle tension, sweating, trembling and an overactive mind that sneaks into your experience as anxiety completely takes over. Trust me - I completely get it because I’ve experienced all this too. And even though I still have anxious moments, I’ve learned how to remain more calm and relaxed, and I want the same for you. Today I’m sharing three ways you can better manage and experience relief from your anxiety with a technique called One-Pointedness.

Us humans LOVE a good story. I believe they are one of the most powerful tools we have to grow, connect and drive change.  We bond through storytelling.  Stories build empathy, create deeper connections, build trust and can persuade you to take action.  They tie emotions together with the meaning and intention of a situation and create opportunities for interaction.  And, they bring context to a subject.  Which can sometimes be an issue if we aren’t fully aware of the intention and power of our story.  Especially with the stories we tell ourselves - because what we believe will actually turn into our reality and eventually become our destiny.  In this blog I’m breaking down how to become more aware of the stories you tell yourself (especially the ones that cause you anxiety) so that you can begin to break the cycle of your overthinking mind, reduce your anxiety and feel more freedom in your life. 

Awe February … the month of love.

Or at least that’s what Hallmark would like us to believe!

And I believe we could all use a little more love in our lives these days. Our world is a pretty chaotic and divided place right now. Whether the topic is politics, the pandemic, the vaccine or social justice issues, opinions from both sides are very high and heated. People can no longer have a conversation with someone they disagree with for fear of being judged or canceled. Family and friends are divided and some no longer talk to each other. In general, we seem to have lost the ability as a society to see the good in people and to be open to another’s opinion and perspective.

And this saddens me deeply. It seems there is nothing that can be done to stop these dividing conversations. But, I’m here to tell you that there is something we can do - we can practice gratitude and loving-kindness. It starts with self-love and moves toward seeing our shared humanity and experiences with others. In today’s blog I’m sharing how a gratitude practice can begin to shift your own negativity bias so you can improve social connections and feel happier in life.

Some stress is good.  Even some anxiety is good.  But too much of either is bad, which is the case with most everything in life, right?  So how are you supposed to know if it’s time to get help for your anxiety, or if it’s just the “healthy kind” that’s keeping you moving forward in life?  I get this question a lot, and honestly the answer is not black and white.  Everyone’s “Ah-ha moment” will be at a different time in their journey.  So how are you supposed to know?  Don’t worry - I got you!  Today, I’m sharing the difference between healthy and unhealthy anxiety, along with certain signs that it might be time for you to get help so that you can start to live a more grounded and happier life.   

About a week ago my anxiety was so high that I found myself crying, standing in a deep squat in my kitchen, trying every trick I know to stop the voices in my head. My inner critic was ruthless and I couldn’t figure out a way to get out of her grip. I don’t know about you, but some days my anxiety feels very manageable and other days it feels like a hell that I would never wish on even my biggest enemy. Today I’m sharing my own story in hopes that you feel encouraged and supported to either start or continue to take action toward better managing your own anxiety. Although I still struggle, I hope you learn from my experiences that you too can learn to live a happier and more balanced life, even when your anxiety is hard to manage.

It seems most people I talk to these days have trouble sleeping. Either they fall right to sleep when their head hits the pillow, but wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, or they never fall asleep at all. I’m personally in the first camp. Either way, it seems most of us are just going about our days in a sleepy fog because we aren’t getting enough rest at night. Thankfully, the calming benefits of yoga can help! By lowering stress levels, calming the mind and relieving tension in the body, a soothing practice can be an effective and natural sleep remedy.

There are days when my anxiety is so high that I don’t even feel like trying to manage it.  It feels like too much. I’d rather be stuck experiencing unpleasant anxious feelings than spend a ton of energy trying to reduce it. I’ve been thinking a lot about these moments and why I don’t take action to better manage my anxiety.  If you want to figure this out for yourself as well, then this blog is for you. I’m diving into the reasons why we sometimes don’t pursue feeling better to help encourage you to get out of your own way and take the actions you need to reduce your anxiety and feel more peace and ease throughout your day. 

For some reason we all know that self-care is important, but we tend to put it at the bottom of our to-do list. If we can just push through the “important” things, we’ll make time for ourselves … eventually. Right? Yeah, I used to feel that way too, especially when I worked in Corporate America. So, even if you are convinced that self-care is important, I know you have a seriously busy schedule and it might seem impossible to somehow find extra time to squeeze in self-care activities. Thankfully, after struggling with this myself for many years, I figured out how to fit it all in! In today’s blog I’m sharing how to make time for yourself, even with an extremely busy schedule, so that you can make better decisions, be more productive, have healthier relationships, and reduce your overall stress and anxiety.