Stress Less For Health

I didn't leave home this summer thinking I was going on a weight-loss journey. Actually, quite the opposite. Before I left, I had been frustrated. I felt like I had hit a plateau. The scale wasn't moving the way I wanted it to, and there were even times when I wondered if I was gaining. I was thinking about my weight. Watching the numbers. Wondering what I was doing wrong. And then I left. I packed up my car, loaded up Zen, and headed out on the road. What happened next surprised me. I started living differently. I wasn't following a strict workout program. I wasn't spending hours in a gym. I wasn't counting every step because I was trying to reach some magic number. I was simply moving because there were places I wanted to explore. I was walking through state parks. Walking along beaches. Exploring new towns. Hiking around campgrounds. Walking because I wanted to see what was around the next corner. I was outside for much of the day instead of sitting inside watchi...

For a long time, I was really good at living in my head. Thinking things through. Analyzing. Planning. Wondering what could go wrong. Waiting until I knew the right answer, the right time, or the right next step. And honestly? Sometimes our minds are helpful. They help us plan. They help us prepare. They help us make wise decisions. But there comes a point when thinking becomes overthinking. And that's when we can miss life. This summer, I decided to do something different. I left home and travelled through North America without having every detail mapped out. I had places I wanted to see and a general direction I wanted to go, but I didn't have an exact plan for every day. I chose to allow the journey to unfold. And for me, that meant something bigger than travelling. It meant learning to trust. To listen. To be willing to change direction. To say yes to an opportunity that wasn't on the original plan. And sometimes, to simply see what was around the next corner. Getting o...

Today I’m wearing a shirt that says RESILIENCE. It got me thinking about what resilience really means — and how closely it connects to something we don’t talk about nearly enough: Capacity. We often celebrate resilience as the ability to keep going no matter what. To push through. To handle hard things. To get back up. To keep moving forward. And yes, resilience matters. But what if resilience isn’t about becoming better at carrying more? What if it’s also about becoming better at recognizing our capacity? Because there is a difference between: “I can handle it.” “I should have to handle it.” “I have the capacity for this right now.” And… “I need to pause and replenish before I take on more.” Sometimes we become so good at pushing through that we stop asking ourselves whether we actually have the capacity for what we're carrying. We keep saying yes. We keep adding more. We keep putting ourselves last. And then we wonder why we're exhausted. Knowing your capacity isn't weakn...

Life is full of peaks and valleys. Always has been. Always will be. There are seasons when everything seems to be flowing. Things fall into place. We feel confident, energized and excited about what's ahead. And then there are the valleys. The delays. The unexpected changes. The challenges we didn't ask for. The moments when we're not sure what's next or why something is happening the way it is. For a long time, I think many of us are taught to look at the valleys as something we need to get through as quickly as possible. Get back to the peak. Get back to normal. Get back to where everything feels comfortable. But I'm learning to see things differently. What if the valley has something to teach us? I'm realizing that I can't always control what happens in my life. But I can choose how I respond to it. And that changes everything. Changing your mindset doesn't mean pretending that difficult things aren't difficult. It doesn't mean putting a posit...

The quiet evidence of growth Sometimes growth is obvious. You reach a goal. You check something off your list. You accomplish the thing you’ve been working toward. But sometimes growth is much quieter. It shows up in something that suddenly feels normal. And you don't even realize it until you stop and think: Wait… when did I become this person? That thought hit me recently while I was driving. Not because I was doing anything particularly extraordinary. I was just driving. And that’s exactly what made me realize how much had changed. A few years ago, I was scared to drive. I had hit black ice, and after that experience, driving could put me on high alert. It changed how comfortable I felt behind the wheel. Even the last time I drove in the United States, back in 2018, it didn't feel like something I particularly enjoyed. I remember the feeling of being much more cautious. Much more aware. Much more nervous about what could happen. Fast forward to now. I'm driving through t...

We're often told to keep our eyes on the goal. Look ahead. Set the next target. Push harder. Do more. Be better. And while I absolutely believe in growth, goals and upleveling, I've learned something along the way: Sometimes the most important thing you can do before moving forward is look back. Not to live in the past. Not to judge yourself. Not to criticize everything you didn't do. But to recognize how far you've come. My Month-End Review One of the practices I've developed is doing a review at the end of each month. I look at the month that just ended, but I also like to compare it to previous years. This month, I decided to go back to 2024. That year is significant for me because I remember being on a cruise, seeing a picture of myself and having a very clear thought: “What?! No. That's not the wellness image I want to share with the world.” It wasn't about hating myself. It wasn't about deciding I wasn't enough. It was simply a moment of awaren...