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.

I have noticed in the last couple of weeks, as the weather has turned colder and my anxiety has gone up, that my digestive system has been a little out of whack. At first I thought it was just a period of “bad eating” around Thanksgiving that was causing this out of balance, but then I realized that it’s probably my general diet that is not in line with the season! If you also struggle with anxiety and are feeling “off” as we approach the holidays, then this blog is for you. Today I’m going to share the importance of applying ayurvedic principles to your diet to help reduce your anxiety and ease your digestive system

According to WebMD, about 80% of Americans experience a back problem at some point in their lives. And, according to the Journal of American Osteopathic Association, Americans spend $100 billion each year on low back pain alone. Yikes. After teaching yoga for 20 years, I can also add that probably in 9 out of 10 classes I teach, at least one person (if not more) will share that they are experiencing low back pain. And, let’s just add that low back pain is no joke! I personally know what it feels like to be stuck on the living room floor, unable to move thanks to back spasms. But the good news is that there is something we can do about it. Today I’m sharing how you can improve or even eliminate your low back pain with awareness, self care and specific yoga postures designed to rebalance your muscles.

Usually the first thing people tell you when you feel overwhelmed, anxious or panicked is to “take a deep breath”. More often than not, you do end up feeling calmer when you take a moment to focus on your breath. But why? In yoga, the practices of breathing are called Pranayama. In today’s crazy, chaotic world, my pranayama practice helps keep me grounded, even if I can only practice for 5 minutes a day. That’s the power of it! It’s amazing how just a little bit of breath work can impact my energy and change my mood almost instantly. Today I’m sharing the foundations of a pranayama practice so you can start using the breath to reduce your anxiety, especially in the moment, so you can feel more grounded and calm.

If you already have a morning routine, you probably understand the power that it has on the rest of your day. If you don’t have a morning routine, you have probably heard that it’s a good idea to start one. My own morning routine really didn’t take shape until COVID-19 slowed everything down. Before COVID, I found myself flailing about, reading all sorts of advice and trying to find that perfect mix of things to do so that my day would start out “right”. Unfortunately all the advice just made me feel anxious - not only did I not have a morning routine but I was also frustrated that the “text book” ideas were not working for me! If you can relate, today’s blog will help! Today I’m sharing how you can feel more grounded and confident to create your perfect individualized morning routine so that the rest of your day is a whole lot better.

I don’t know about you, but occasionally I go through periods of time where I don't sleep well or at all. Sometimes it’s just one or two nights and other times it can be much more. And when this happens, I am a crank-pot. I’m less productive, I’m quick to snap at family and friends and I generally just feel more anxious about most of life’s worries. We all know how important it is to get a good night’s sleep, but we don’t always know what to do when you can’t seem to make it happen. And although I’m not a sleep expert, I have figured out a few tools to help me sleep better when these restless nights occur. And I want the same for you! Today I’m sharing my favorite yoga, mindfulness and general tips and tricks to help you get a better night’s sleep in order to improve your overall health.

As the heat and humidity of summer comes to an end, the days become darker and the air becomes more crisp and cold as the season shifts into fall and then ultimately into winter. Warm sweaters, boots, scarfs and hats make their return from the back of our closets as we crave warm comforting foods and desserts. (YES!)  Winter can also be a wonderful time for self-reflection as we prepare for the new beginnings of spring.  The only problem is that this time of year also means excess cold, feeling overwhelmed and dealing with restless, anxious emotions.  And if you already struggle with anxiety, winter can be an extremely difficult time of year for you.  Thankfully, like with the other seasons, there is something you can do to feel more calm and grounded during the dark days of winter. Here’s how to better manage your health and anxiety during the fall and winter seasons with clarity and ease by applying ayurvedic principles to your daily life.